Title: The Labor of Dissolution
Contents
Text: Galatians 4:12-20
The apostle Paul lived for evangelism.
He was born for evangelism, was called for evangelism, gave his youth to God for evangelism, gave his knowledge, talents, time, and everything, and even gave his life for evangelism. Luke, who was Paul's co-worker and doctor, records the footsteps of Paul's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd missionary journeys to preach the gospel in the book of Acts. Furthermore, the book of Acts ends with the figure of Paul leaving Jerusalem where persecution awaits and leaving Rome where death awaits to preach the gospel. That is why the book of Acts is also called Acts of the Holy Spirit, Acts of the Church, and Acts of Evangelism.
The ‘Acts of the Holy Spirit’ is because it records what the apostles did through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The ‘Acts of the Church’ is because it tells how the early church began.
This is because ‘Acts of Evangelism’ shows us the most powerful form of evangelism.
If a pastor has the 'Acts of the Pastor', you must have your own 'Acts of Evangelism'. You should be able to tell how you evangelized and what sacrifices you made for this.
The Apostle Paul was beaten and killed in Lystra for the purpose of evangelism (Acts 14:19; 2 Corinthians 11:25). ② He went to prison a lot (2 Corinthians 11:23). A typical example is the casting out of the demons from Philippi and being imprisoned. There was also a history of saving the jailer's entire family (Acts 16:16-34) ③ He was beaten a lot. By the Jews, I was beaten with 40 rods minus one five times, and I was beaten with rods three times (2 Corinthians 11:25). ④During the outreach trip, the ship was wrecked and overcame the three hurdles of death, and the ship was broken by a storm and was pushed and floated by waves for a week. ⑤ Other than that, despite the incalculable suffering such as threats from robbers, threats from rivers, and threats from my people, my passion for evangelism never stopped, and the footsteps of evangelism did not stop. So he became ‘a great evangelist of the Gentiles’.
In today's text for the salvation of souls, Paul says, "For your sake I labor in childbirth."
‘Dissolution’ means giving birth to a child at the risk of death. That is why childbirth is so difficult and difficult, yet why does Paul carry on the burden of childbirth without avoiding it?
1. Because evangelism is the great command of Jesus.
In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Behold, I am with you until the end of the world. I will always be with you.” Go for evangelism, seek out, and meet people. Do it with all your life until the end of the world. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, reorganized the church system in a military way to evangelize, and he said, "If I were to save one soul, even if I was asked to stand upside down and dance while standing at the head of a tree, even though I was 75 years old, I would still stand." I did. It is this passion for evangelism that gave birth to the Salvation Army today.
2. Evangelism is a representative work of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 says, “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 to the ends of the earth.” Why did the Holy Spirit come? If Jesus came to save us, the Holy Spirit came to defend and testify to our Savior Jesus. In other words, he came to use those who believe in Jesus as a temple and use that person as an evangelist, and he is still carrying out that work. Therefore, Jesus did not teach us how to evangelize, but said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
3. Evangelism is the key to the solution.
We can solve problems through prayer, but we can also solve them through evangelism. A butler had a dream. When I stand before God's judgment seat, God asks, "Have you lived your life truthfully?" and "Have you lived a good life?" Thinking about the past, I lowered my head and said, 'I'm wrong, I should prepare to go to hell'. , Jesus suddenly appeared and said, “God, this man was neither sincere nor good, but he believed in me, who died for me, and devoted his life to evangelism. Please let me through.” At that time, the gates of heaven opened wide.
Dear members of Shepherd Church,
I hope that your various problems, weaknesses, and salvation will be resolved through evangelism. I pray that God's wonderful grace and blessings will overflow in the present and in the future through evangelism.
Hallelujah, Amen.