Why Should We Preach the Gospel Everywhere?

(Transcript of the video above)

God always intended the gospel to go to the ends of the earth. You read verses 18, 19, and 20. I won't reread them for you. Now, let me just summarize what they're saying. These are quotes from the Old Testament. Here's the point, here's the point. The prophet is saying, Israel has heard the message over and over and over again. Watch this, watch, what I'm going to do now here is Israel, God's chosen people. Remember what I said in Romans 9. Remember what I said? Theirs is the adoption. Theirs is the temple of worship. Theirs are the sacrifices. Theirs is the glory of God. Theirs is the adoption of sons. Theirs are the prophets. They had the Torah, they had the message, and most of all from them came the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. They had all the benefits, and over here [is] the great mass of people, the Gentile nations of the world, which is most of us, which is almost everybody in here, over here, the great mass of people.

They didn't have the adoption of sons. They didn't have the glory of God. They didn't have the promises. They didn't have the covenants. They didn't have the Old Testament. They didn't have - it wasn't from the Gentiles that the Messiah came. And here is the argument Paul is making: Paul says (and he's quoting the Old Testament), God came to his people, Israel and they said, "We're not interested." And so God came again and they said, "We're not interested." So God sent them more prophets and as Jesus said, they killed the prophets one after another. And finally, God said, "If my own people, if my own people will not listen to my message, I am going to find some people who will listen." That's the parable Jesus told. If the people who are invited will not come to the banquet, I'm going to go out into the highways, into the hedges, I'm going to find the people who weren't invited in the first place, and I'm going to bring them in so that every seat around my table will be filled. If Israel doesn't want it, that's fine. Israel heard it over and over and over again. The Gentiles never heard it and they embrace it. God always planned to include the nations.

Let me say this. This is kind of a solemn thought here. Solemn thought. Solemn thought. God said to the people of Israel, "Okay, if you don't want my word, I'll give it to someone else." That's what God does. If you don't want to listen, God will find somebody who will listen. If you don't want to respond, there are lots of people who will run and take the offer of free grace. What does the book of Genesis say? "My spirit will not strive with man forever."

There is such a thing in the Bible as the day of visitation, is there not? There is a time when God comes to a people and he says, "I have come to you in blessing and power." And if that people does not, if they do not wish to hear the word of the Lord, what will happen to them? Jesus said of Capernaum and Bethsaida, "It'll be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for you. Because Sodom and Gomorrah never really heard the word of the Lord, but you heard it from the lips of the Son of God and you had no interest in it. You did not know that the day of your visitation had come."

The flipside of that is God has not yet run out of prospects for salvation. If one group won't listen, he'll send the gospel to another group. Verse 20 says, "Isaiah boldly says, 'I was found by those who did not seek me. I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.'" You know why I like that verse? That's my verse. That's where I come in. That's where all the Gentiles come in. If the chosen people won't respond, he'll find some other people who will respond. God's plan has never been limited to a particular skin color or to one special nationality. He doesn't play favorites. He's not a parochial God. Salvation is not limited to one nation. God is always intended for the gospel to go to the ends of the earth.

(First published as "Why Should We Preach the Gospel Everywhere?" on Christianity.com on July 23, 2010)

Ray Pritchard

Keep Believing Ministries

Updated Feb 12, 2024

https://content.swncdn.com/jesusorg/mp3/why-should-we-preach-the-gospel-everywhere.mp3