Many are expectant and want to see the life of Christ evident in us. So, it is required of us to take our spiritual advancement seriously.
The Lord spoke to the Israelites to leave Horeb. They were already content with that location. Whereas had a better plan that he God commanded them to go to where he would show them. They had expected that God would continue to bless them, so, they remained with the past glory of Horeb. That the Lord asked them to go out of that land did not guarantee that they will have a safe ride to the next place he will show them.
God is with us always and all time, so whatever we experience will not overcome us. We tend to experience a lot of challenges as we try to advance. The attitude and response we bring on when tried is what determines if we have truly advanced. This is why growth is very important. Advancement brings about spiritual growth.
No trial should come our way and we remain complaining. We should rather deal with it outrightly.
1 Corinthians 15:3
The gospel must be spoken. But men will not hear about this gospel if there is no preacher. Believers today only sit with the gospel. They learn of the gospel but do not advance it. Seating and taking in so much cannot advance the gospel but until we give ourselves to preaching. We preach the finished works of Christ. We are witnesses of the Gospel. We go with the truth of forgiveness of sins. That every man is accepted in the beloved. God has forgiven everyone. God has prepared a place for each person, so we have to declare this gospel because it is our commission
Regardless of what you may have done, God has forgiven us. Paul likens us to an athlete. Who keep running till the end. Finishing is the goal. The gospel is to be preached. This is our life. We are soldiers for Christ. We obey the last command.
It is the heart beat of the father. We are sent as soldiers for the gospel. The last command we received is that we should go out and make disciples of all men. When converts are not receptive, we give in to prayer because their hearts are in the father’s hands. He will make the conversion of souls easier because he is also interested in it.
1 Corinthians 15:4-10
The gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is as simple as that. A man only needs to believe with his heart and confess with his mouth. If they believe then they can boldly say. It isn’t a physical exercise. It happens in the spirit. The heavens are involved. There’s no way you’d be about the father’s business, putting a smile on his face that he would not reciprocate same.
Vs 6
After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Paul laboured in studying. He took enough time to learn and be grounded. He spent about 3 years away from the disciples to be properly groomed. He eventually did more in the gospel. He went far and wide with the good news. He appeared before men of different calibres. He wrote letters to churches he could not visit, he stood before kings defending this Gospel.
Acts 26:23-24
“And as he thus spoke for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.”
Paul’s manner of labor in scriptures was evident to all that someone at a point said his too much studies had made him mad. In all his teachings he expounds.
John 5:39
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
The implication of this statement is that eternal life is spoken of in all the scriptures. Jesus said that the prophets wrote concerning him so if those men had truly studied they should have seen Jesus revealed. It reflects a need to diligently search the scriptures beyond the stories and events to see Jesus.
John 5:46 says:
“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.”
While we chose to be deliberate about studying the scriptures. We should be keen to pray that our understanding be opened.
We need to comprehend the scriptures so that we don’t settle with just the stories. The theme of the scriptures is Jesus. The Bible is saying just one thing but we tend to see many different things because we read our perspectives into the scriptures. Many are tossed to and fro because they listen to divergent teachings and they do not have roots in the truth. They move from one local assembly to another when they should be planted in one assembly.
Luke 24:44-46*: Jesus also said,
“These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.”
Jesus said all that the prophets wrote about was pointing to him.
Many ignorantly abuse the scriptures for their own gain. When we tend to hear the same thing being preached over and over again, we should not complain because it is done to help us gain proper understanding.
Paul was not distracted by the cares of life. He was whole. He didn’t have any children or spouse to make him think twice. He was fully committed to the advancement of the gospel. He could go to any city to reside without looking back because he didn’t have any other priorities.
He laboured more than the other disciples. He lived on what was available to him. He was content with all that he had. He didn’t ration his income like we do today because he didn’t have commitments. These things helped him run the race focused and he didn’t give up.
This work of the gospel requires concentration. While praying and studying we must give our total attention to the course. We see many who go out of their comfort zones to ensure they are totally given to prayer and study of the word. This they do because they desire utmost concentration. Paul faced the gospel. He took it as a priority. It was a race for him. Paul boldly said he has finished his race
Seeing the gospel as a priority brings about the level of commitment we bring in. We should ensure we improve in our commitment to the gospel. Jesus showed us an example of this commitment to advance. He taught his disciples. He expounded the scriptures. He interpreted the writings of the prophets to them. That’s a level of commitment to ensure the gospel advances. The same is expected of us to advance the gospel.