UNASHAMEDLY GOSPEL 4
GOOD NEWS
ROM 6: 11 : Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Isn’t that good news?
The month theme “Unashamedly gospel”
Gospel means good news and today’s topic is good news. We need to reckon on that good news in our live and life decisions. To kick this off I am going to talk about the dominant presence news has in peoples lives:
News in General
It is a dominant presence in people’s lives
Ever heard it said “No news is Good news?” That isn’t always the case is it?
A memory I have growing up of my father is around the getting of the daily news paper. Day after day – apart from Sundays, week after week, month by month, year by year the newspaper ritual never changed. After his daily ablution dad would go outside rain, sunshine, snow, sleet or hail pick up his newspaper from the postbox at the end of the drive, come inside and monopolize the dining room table. Everyone knew that no one was to touch the paper until he had finished with it. He had a way of going page by page, folding it over a certain way, he would start with reading the headlines of the front page. Even when he eventually ended up in a dementia unit, we got a newspaper sent to him. Sad to see it sitting on his knee untouched in the end, once it was upside down and I asked him what he had been reading at which he replied he didn’t know nor understand what he was reading.
When TV came along the 6 pm News slot also was a not negotiable thing. It didn’t matter what was on another channel, Dad WOULD watch the news – it always came first - even if he fell asleep during them! This was something that bothered us more and more as we got older but there was never an argument about it.
It was a big deal in our home - getting the news, listening to news on radio / TV and discussing the big topics or those that we found interesting. Dad being a teacher would often bring up topics at the Dinner table as part of our education.
Out of all those years and years of news, news and more news most of it is forgotten although a few things stuck out never to be forgotten:
The shooting of JF Kennedy - not so much because I understood much about America, politics and such but because the radio, newspaper, and TV played excerpts over and over again of the scene.
1975: I was 19 - The still Unsolved Mona Blades murder in NZ - and 18 year old gal hitchhiking. Interestingly enough a TV show called “Cold case” aired in 2018 has brought up some new evidence which is being followed up. IT was a good age to hear about his as I did very little hitchhiking as a result in my teen years and beyond.
1997: when Princess Diana died in a car crash - I can tell you where I was and what I was doing on that occasion . I was 41, and on a yacht out on the WLG harbor with a bunch of other young women as part of a 5 day Executive Assistants intensive training course.
2001: More recently the twin towers terrorist attack was news that I woke up to early in the morning and thought it was a hoax. We turned on the TV to see if what we were hearing was true and there it was unravelling before our eyes. The disbelief and shock was profound!
So much Bad news
The common thread of these news stories is they were very bad events! Shocking! Unbelievable and upsetting! When preparing for this message I tried to think of equally outstanding good news stories and found it much more difficult to come up with anything of real note. There was Prince Charles wedding at long last to Diana. It was a world wide spectacle, her dress was ridiculously original as it had to be, all seemed to be such good news ….but that ended up in a bitter divorce not long before Diana was killed in that car crash. We won the Rugby world cup, NZ won the America’s cup.
I still remember vividly the day I raced out to the mailbox in fear and trepidation to open the letter that would be mailed to me that only I would open. My dad was watching from the window to see my reaction. I ripped open the letter, my stomach all tied up in knots, fully expecting to fail my School Certificate Examination because of my lack of application turned to incredulous amazement that I passed 4 out of the 5 subjects!! That was very good news!!
Fake news is now a thing of today. Who knows what is true or not true?
From the scriptures we know Satan is the Prince of the World and has massive influence on media in all its forms. Despite popular belief that man is intrinsically good, we know that is not the case,
Ez : The heart of man is desperately wicked who can know it?
We can choose to NOT listen to fake news, to check out facts.
There is Good news!
Proverbs 25:25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
Don’t we all love to hear good news?
A few years back now Caleb and Maghan announced they were getting engaged!
Then they got married in March of 2016
Then we got a baby joining the Smith family? Then we heard baby is healthy, then we heard more good news, baby is going to be a boy …
Being in the US it is great to hear of engagements, weddings, births, graduations and new jobs started with anticipation.
The word “Good” is used over 720 times in the KJV
Deut 8:13: Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
Deut 10: 13: To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
Deut 12:28: Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.
Deut 26:11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
Deut 28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
Deut 30:9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF GOOD NEWS:
OT Examples:
Abe and Sarah gave birth to a son
After some negotiation between Abe and God, some of Abe’s family were saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
David beating Goliath!
NT examples:
Peter and the Lame Man
Acts 3: “Silver and Gold have I none but such as I have give I thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk”. The miracle took place on a guy who was over 40 ; His response “Walking and leaping and praising God”
Gospel preached to the Gentiles
Acts 10: 22 - 38 : Good news came to the gentiles : the story of Cornelius
Paul pronounced good news at the Shipwreck
Acts 27: “ And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship
THE GOSPEL - The Ultimate GOOD NEWS
These words only appears in the New Testament and its Greek meaning is Good News / Glad tidings
Handy link : https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=gospel&t=KJV#s=s_lexiconc
What is the GOSPEL? What is the GOOD NEWS? GLAD TIDINGS?
As we have shared each week the gospel is as summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:3 – 4
It includes a whole range of benefits that reflect it is the power of God. Because of Jesus death we can do all of these things:
1.The message of “the Gospel of the Kingdom”
Mar 1:14, 15 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2. Includes healings/ the dead raised / Victory over Death
Matt: 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Matt 9:35 : And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Matt 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them
Matt 24: 14: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
3. Deliverance / Set people free
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 7:22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Lu 9:6: And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere.
4. The POWER OF GOD!!
Rom 1: 16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 10:15: And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Rom 15: 19: Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
Rom 16: 25: Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began
5. WHOLENESS for HUMANITY - He took our shame
Hebrews 12: 2: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The word “shame” is the Greek word aischune, which describes something that is base, ugly, revolting, and grotesque. By using this word, the writer of Hebrews was telling us that Jesus’ experience on the Cross as He hung naked and broken in full view of the world was disgraceful, deplorable, despicable, and reprehensible. Paintings and sculptures of the Crucifixion always portray Jesus with a towel wrapped around His waist, but this was simply not the case. Romans were not so kind as to cover the male anatomy — Jesus was stripped of all clothing and hung naked before the jeering crowd. For a Jew who respected the human body as something made in the holy image of God and who abhorred the naked idols of paganism, this indignity was utterly repugnant and embarrassing.
Imagine if you were beaten to a pulp and then hung physically naked in front of your friends, family, coworkers, and acquaintances. How would you feel? According to the Greek word aischune used in Hebrews 12:2, the Lord Jesus felt a deep sense of “shame” and “embarrassment” in that horrific moment.
Jesus paid the price for sin, for sickness and disease, for mental suffering, and for shame. Just as Jesus endured the scourging to procure our physical healing (see Isaiah 53:5), He literally took our shame upon Himself to pay the price for any humiliation that would ever try to poison our lives. Oh, how God wants us to experience His great love for us every moment of our lives! Because of His suffering on the Cross, He paid the ultimate price for us to experience His loving presence. This is possible not by any work of righteousness that we have done, but by trusting in what He has done.
So don’t listen to the lies of the devil about your past. Don’t let him convince you to give up. Instead, seek God’s face, and listen to the loving words of truth from God’s Spirit that are there for you. Jesus’ flesh was not ripped apart in vain. It was for your deliverance and freedom to become the person God planned for you to be!
Jesus took all your shame and fear so you wouldn’t have to be tormented by its wicked hold. In exchange, He freely offered you His glory and healing power. All you have to do is receive by faith what He has already given you. You are free from the bondage of shame in Him. Now it’s time to live free in Jesus’ Name!
Have you ever felt publicly humiliated? Have you ever been ashamed because of something you’ve been through or because of something someone said? Have you felt the discomfort, pain, and even torture of embarrassment and humiliation?
If you’ve experienced these feelings, take comfort in the fact that Jesus felt them too. He took those emotions upon Himself as part of His sacrificial work on the Cross so that you and I could be set free. We don’t have to be encumbered with feelings of shame for the rest of our lives. He literally took our shame so we could be free from it!
Regardless of what has happened in your past that might have made you feel embarrassed or ridiculed, know that Jesus took your shame upon Himself and set you free. Your freedom from shame and humiliation was included in His work on the Cross, and you never have to be tormented with those hellish thoughts again — because of Jesus!
SHAME:
Repentance - a real thing takes place, that feeling of being washed clean at the born again experience is one aspect of what God does for us.
Removes the shame of our past. – at an eternal level
Ongoing empowers us to face the consequences of our past – Phil / adultery is something he will live with for his whole life
Keys to dealing with this kind of shame
OWN IT
Bury it, crucify it - deal with the consequences, the person that did that is dead.
Put off, / Put on - whatever our past is, there is a future and a hope - Paul was a murderer…
We worry about what people think, are we good enough,
Abiding daily with Christ to show you the way on how to deal with shame in as situations come up.
B.I.D
Roms 10: Lets preach the gospel / the Good News where ever we can and to whom ever we can. It is a free gift.
This should include opportunities to bring healing / deliverance
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them (his disciples), Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
2 Co 4: 3: But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
1 Co 1:17 : For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.