"Preached Unto The Gentiles"

I Timothy 3:16

There is a great mystery in the fact that Christ was preached unto the Gentiles. Before he came nothing was preached to the Gentiles. The Jews looked upon Gentiles as dogs. Yet, God chose to send saved Jews to be the first preachers of the gospel to the Gentiles. And now the children of the desolate are more than the children of the married wife. The Lord multiplied Abraham's spiritual seed in the Gentile world, though his physical seed (the nation of Israel) was cut off. The Gentiles were the barbarian, immoral, idolatrous races of the world. The history of the Gentiles, until the gospel of Christ was preached among us, was a history of cruelty, superstition, witchcraft, and decadence. Yet, God sent the gospel to us (I Cor. 1:26-31).

There is also a great mystery in the method God has ordained for communicating the gospel - preaching! Mark that, my friend, God has ordained that the gospel be made known to men by preaching (I Cor. 1:21-25). The mightiest weapon of God's church for offense and defense is the pulpit from which the gospel is preached. It is by the foolishness of preaching, the foolishness of the message we preach (Christ crucified), that God is pleased to save them that believe. Our churches need no attraction but Christ crucified set forth clearly and constantly in the pulpit. Oh, how we need preachers to set him forth! The most prominent feature of the early church and the most prominent feature of every true church is the preaching of the gospel. This is the trumpet of heaven and the battering ram before which the gates of hell must fall! God's means of creating life and faith in the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners is the preaching of the gospel (James 1:18; I Pet. 1:23-25; Rom. 10:17).

Another great part of the mystery of godliness is seen in the men God uses to preach the gospel. The first were poor, unlearned fishermen. Yet, by these men the gospel was soon carried into every nation of the world! So it is to this day. A few bright lights in God's church have been men of great learning, but most are just ordinary men, saved by grace, gifted and empowered by God the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel.

Don Fortner