|
|
THE GOSPEL WILL BE UNHINDERED
[Acts 28:31]:
[The Apostle Paul was] preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered."
"unhindered" = The last word in the Greek text FOR EMPHASIS.
Robert Wilkin states, (audio tape #510 entitled "The Unhindered Gospel", Grace Evangelical Society, Irving, Tx):
"God Himself makes a guarantee...that no one who is seeking Him...is going to fail to hear the gospel...and that means no matter what obstacles lie in the way. God will bring the gospel to people who are seeking Him... We have a God Who is sovereign and Who sees to it that people... who want the gospel and are seeking the gospel will receive it...
The Book of Acts is a book that actually has this as its theme...
[Acts 1:8]:
(v. 1) ''' "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
(v. 2) until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
(v. 3) After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
(v. 4) On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
(v. 5) For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
(v. 6) So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
(v. 7) He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
(v. 8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." '''
In the first chapter the Lord told His disciples that they were going to go out and they were going to proclaim His gospel, beginning in Jerusalem which..was the capital city of Israel. And then they going to go to Judea..and into Samaria...and...to the ends of the earth... They were going to take the gospel even to the Gentiles.. [The gospel] was for everyone... Now the Lord here was not saying what He hoped might happen... He was prophesying. He was guaranteeing that that was what they were going to do... And He guaranteed this no matter what opposition might come, no matter whether the government stood in the way... the Jewish people... the idolators... Christians even in the new church...
One commentator has said... 'Nothing that men can do... can stop the progress and ultimate victory of the gospel'...
In spite of the fact that it seems completely hindered, it is unhindered because God is sovereign and the gospel is the power of God...
We find... [the concept of an unhindered gospel] ...six other times... ...Each [occurrence] ends one section in the Book of Acts and each one shows that despite problems and opposition the Word of God went out, people accepted the gospel and the church grew...
[Acts 6:7]: " "
[Acts 9:31]: " "
[Acts 12:24]: " "
[Acts 16:5]: " "
[Acts 19:20]: " "
[Acts 28:16]:
" "
[Even today the gospel is unhindered]
[Ro 1:16]:
" "
Robert Wilken goes on to say that
[This is not to say that] "The majority of unbelievers we talk to therefore are going to trust Christ because God is sovereign and the gospel itself is unhindered... But...we find at the end of the Book of Acts it wasn't the vast majority of people who would come to faith... There is no guarantee because the message is unhindered that the majority of people will put their trust in it. It [the doctrine of the unhindered gospel] simply says that those that are seeking God are going to receive the message and [that] nothing can hinder them from receiving that message. It doesn't say that people who are rejecting the message... are going to be forced by God to accept something they don't want to accept. Secondly, we might think that since the gospel is unhindered that that guarantees we'll never be persecuted or ridiculed for our faith... We find in the Book of Acts repeated opposition... In fact.. the Lord in the Sermon on the Mount said, 'Blessed are you when men persecute you and revile you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on account of Me."
Jesus said, "In this world you have tribulation." He said, 'I came to set members of the family against one another.' And so the fact that the gospel is unhindered does not in any way mean that we are going to have witnessing that's free from any hassles... difficulties... any persecution. A third false application is [that] we might think that because the gospel is unhindered, the majority of people who are claiming to share the gospel message will do so clearly. We might think [that] God in His sovereignty simply wouldn't allow someone to share a false gospel... We find in the Scriptures in the New Testament many examples of people who were not sharing the gospel clearly. The Book of Galatians is a prime example with the Judaizers that were bringing in a distorted, false gospel message. And that's true today as well. There's no guarantee that any certain percentage who are claiming to represent Christianity are going to share the gospel clearly...
[THE DOCTRINE OF THE UNHINDERED GOSPEL MEANS A NUMBER OF THINGS]
[1] THE UNHINDERED GOSPEL WILL WIN OUT]
[The doctrine of the unhindered gospel] ...does mean that cults and liberalism and work salvation and all people who are claiming a false gospel are never going to win. They're never going to completely take over. There's always a remnant of people who come to simple faith in Jesus Christ and continue to proclaim that message regardless of how dark it is. Even in the darkest of the Dark Ages there were people who were coming to faith in Christ and who were proclaiming that message. And even with martyrdom and everything else the message still went out...
Although the gospel is under attack and it's always been under attack, it's guaranteed to win... because God Himself guarantees the victory. ...no matter how... ...many people [are] proclaiming false messages and adding things to the simple message of trust in Christ and Him alone for eternal life... ...the gospel itself is the power of God unto salvation and it is indeed unhindered.
[2] THE UNHINDERED GOSPEL MEANS THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE]
[Wilken, cont., op. cit.]:
"...Elijah had a.. ...similar complex...[of thinking he was all alone]. There's always a remnant... We're not alone... There are others... ...throughout the world... who hold and continue to hold fast to the unhindered gospel message...
[3] NO ONE WHO IS SEEKING GOD IS GOING TO FAIL TO FIND HIM]
...No one that is genuinely seeking God will ever die without hearing and accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is just an impossibility. It won't and can't happen because God is sovereign and God's gospel is unhindered. Therefore anybody who wants to hear it and is seeking God will hear it and will have their chance to respond to the message...
[But what about passages such as Ro 3:10-11=]:
[Ro 3:10-11]:
(v. 10) "As it is written,
'There is none righteous, not even one;
(v. 11) There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God"]
...Many people have applied this to say that that means that there is no such thing as anyone seeking God, therefore the only way people are saved is by God giving them the gift of faith and basically forcing them to being saved - a very wrong conclusion from Romans 3:10[-11]. [This passage] does not say that [unbelievers] are incapable of responding to God's drawing. It says that no one seeks God in his own initiative. But God takes the initiative. John 16 says the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin righteousness and judgment. And the world of John 16 is the same world of John 3:16. Same Greek world, 'kosmos". "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son" And the Holy Spirit is convicting this same world of sin, [un]righteousness and judgment. According to Romans 1, nature - natural revelation is a witness to everyone that God exists. Now many suppress the truth of God and they may receive no further light. but those who welcome the truth of natural revelation and seek God with the light they have will receive more light and more information from God. The Scriptures indicate that God is drawing all people... Romans 3:1-[-11] is simply saying that man in his own initiative - left to himself - would never seek God. But since God is seeking us, we are indeed free to respond...
[Compare Acts 17:27]:
"That they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one us;"]
This is something God has granted to all - that they can seek Him in response to Him seeking them. Thus the fact that the gospel is unhindered means that there is no one who is seeking God who is going to fail to find God, because nothing can hinder the message to get to the person that wants to receive it...
[Compare Heb 11:6]:
"God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."]
That applies both to the unbeliever and to the believer...
...God is bigger than our failures... ...even if we fail to share our faith it's not going to assign someone to Hell... ...even if we ...share it unclearly...
[If this false idea were true then that would make the individual more sovereign than God over the matter of another individual's eternal destiny]
...If [a] person was genuinely seeking God, God would've gotten the message to them... [Any individual] cannot take responsibility [for another's eternal destiny]...
[If an individual for what ever reason missed an opportunity properly share the gospel message of salvation] God would have raised up someone else if that person would have been responsive to that message...
This is simply an opportunity [for the believer] to serve Christ, to lay up treasure in heaven, and to have some joy and pleasure and benefit now as [the believer serves God and walks with Him]. And [the faithful believer's actions] ... avoid God's displeasure if [he fails] to share his faith [adequately]...
It's not up to me at all, now it's all up to God and the other person's response. And I'm simply a vessel... a conduit..."