I Must Preach the Gospel

"For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!" -I Corinthians 9:16 [KJV]The most humbling and challenging thing I face—the great concern of my heart—is that my generation experience a return to the preaching of the gospel of God’s glory. We are plagued today with a gospel of works, a religion of form and ceremony, and a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (see Romans 10:2).I pray for a return to the message God was pleased to use in other days to awaken sinners to their need for mercy; that message that reveals the redemptive glory of God in Christ; that message which humbles the proud Pharisee and gives hope to the chief of sinners.If God is pleased to restore that message, then will we once again sense the awesome Holy presence of the Living God. Gone will be the voice of the proud sinner who inwardly debates whether he will accept Jesus or reject Him. Gone will be the haughty spirit that refuses to bow to the Lordship of Christ. Gone will be the bragging of the religionist who boasts of his righteousness and what he has done for God. Once again we may hear men cry:“Depth of mercy! Can there be,Mercy still reserved for me?Can my God His wrath forebearMe, the chief of sinners, spare?”It may be that we will hear someone ask:“And can it be that I should gain An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?”I know not what course others may take, but I am determined to put forth every effort to preach that gospel every time I step into the pulpit. “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” -I Corinthians 9:16

 

-preacher Henry Mahan

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