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The Challenge Before Us
1 Samuel 17:8-10 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
In these verses, Goliath issues a challenge to the Israelites. “Give me a man and let us fight each other.” For 40 days Goliath came out every morning and awaited Israel to accept his challenge. But, Goliath was a giant, and this challenge terrified the Israelites. They had no soldier that was equal to Goliath. They had no soldier who was willing to go against this Philistine. One morning, a young lad named David came to the battle line to check on his brothers. He heard the challenge of Goliath and saw that no man was willing to meet him. David turned to Saul and said, “I will go”! Saul told David that he could not go because he was only a boy and had no experience fighting. David replied, 1 Samuel 17:37 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
This is a great story, and one that inspires us. But, why are we telling it? As Goliath issued a challenge to the Israelites, God has issued a challenge to all Christians. It is an awesome challenge that carries with it an awesome responsibility. That challenge is to deliver the soul-saving message of Jesus Christ to a lost and dieing world. There are millions of precious souls scattered around the world who will die in their sins if not for us. They are waiting for us to show them the way of salvation and the eternal promises of God. Ezekiel describes the awesomeness of this responsibility in Ezek. 3:17-21 “ 17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. 20 "Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself."
Just as God made Ezekiel a watchman over the house of Israel, he has made us watchman over the souls of men. If we fail in this responsibility, if we fail to meet this challenge they will lose their souls and their blood will be on our heads. That makes this an awesome challenge and responsibility, and one we cannot ignore.
God placed the responsibility for the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ squarely upon the shoulders of the Church. In his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 9-10. “9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,” As the Church of the Living God, we have the same challenge Jesus placed upon the disciples of the first century just prior to his ascension. Matthew records the challenge the Lord placed upon them in chapter 28. verses 18-20. Jesus told them, “…All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Mark also records this challenge in his gospel, chapter 16, verses 15-16. “… "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
In answering God’s challenge we are not only responsible for delivering the message of Christ, but our responsibility goes much further. Not only does God expect us to deliver his message, but he expects us to deliver it unchanged in any way. Every semester, I tell my new students, :If you learn only one thing this semester please learn this lesson. God’s will, God’s way is the only way.” God’s challenge makes us responsible for delivering his message as delivered to us. If we change his message it ceases to be his message. He has not given us the right to make any changes to his word. As a matter of fact, he has expressly forbidden it. Paul told the Galatians that even the angels are not to preach another gospel. If this should ever happen, Paul says, they were not to believe it. (Gal. 1:8-9) We must abandon the philosophy that is so prevalent in so many churches today. So many today think that the Bible is only a resource and not something that must be studied and obeyed. There is a big push across America and here in Korea as well, to soften the gospel message. Some Churches feel the message is too hard and offends the listeners. In the first place, it is not our place to make that determination. Secondly, it is not the listener we should seek to please but the living God. Paul said it plainly in Gal. 1:10. “10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Our responsibility is to deliver God message complete and in tact. Yes, some will be offended. Yes, some will reject it. But the most important thing is, that God will be pleased. There is never a good reason to compromise the truth. When we do, it ceases to be the truth and it will not make men free.
Secondly, Paul says we must teach the word with consistency. In his second letter to Timothy, chapter 4, verses 2-5, he said the Word should be preached “in season and out of season.” That means we should preach it when it is popular and when it is not. When people want to hear it and when they don’t. When they are offended by it and when they are not. We are to preach it all the time and under all circumstances.
In closing, I want to address the question, “How do we meet this challenge of God?” Do we have to travel, as the apostles did, from city to city preaching the gospel message? Do we have to travel to a foreign country with the message of Christ in order to meet God’s challenge? The answer to these questions is, yes. Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15-16) However, what we need to understand is that the world begins right where we are. The world is our family members who have not obeyed the gospel. The world is our friends and neighbors who don’t know of Jesus Christ. The people we work with, or our classmates at school. The world is all around us. We don’t have to travel very far to find people who are dieing in sin and need the salvation of God. God’s challenge is an awesome challenge, but we can answer that challenge by beginning right where we are.
Even though God has placed an awesome responsibility upon our shoulders, it is not a challenge without rewards. I am convinced that part of our reward in heaven will be the joy of looking out over that sea of faces and seeing all of those who are there because of us. Because we met the challenge of God. Because we lifted up Jesus Christ before them. Because we lit the light that led them out of their darkness of sin into the marvelous light of God. Oh, what a day that is going to be. Then we can say with the apostle Paul 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:24” May God bless us and give us strength and determination to meet the challenge before us. |
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