Keith Battle - Regarding the Good News

My subject today is concerning the good news. Regarding the good news, let me read this passage again; it has so much in it. Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the good news that I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this good news that saves you, thank the Lord, if you continue to believe the message I told you, unless of course you believed something that was never true in the first place. I have to deal with that. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Here’s what I passed on to you: Christ died for our sins just as the Scripture said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day just as the Scripture said. I want to use as a subject again in reference to this good news. I want to point out six things about this passage—maybe six, maybe more, but six major things about this passage and this good news that Paul the Apostle writes about. The first one I want to point out is that he says the gospel, or the good news—which is interchangeable—is something we need to be reminded of. I like that he says that right in verse 4. He states, «Let me remind you.» Here’s something else we need to remember: the good news of Jesus Christ—that he died, that he was buried, and that he rose again. He was raised from the dead according to Scripture—that’s something we need to be reminded of. It’s not something that just needs to be heard; it needs to be remembered, and I think that’s very important because, for many of us, that good news changed everything for us. It has made a huge difference in our lives. That good news—many of you listening to me right now—has changed how you spend your Sundays. It’s changed how you use your money, how you behave, how you interact with people, and how you feel about things. Before, you just didn’t even bother to think about them. If we think about where we were and how we were on our way before we received the good news, there isn’t enough time in this service to talk about our stories—our «BC» days before we met Christ and before we came into this good news—and how radically our lives have been impacted by it. Even if our behavior hasn’t changed completely, the way we feel about the things we used to do wrong, and the way we feel about them now, indicates the impact this good news has had on us. We need to be reminded that this good news gave us access to a holy and perfect God and put us in right standing with Him. That’s something to be reminded of. In fact, that’s not just good news; that’s great news! But not only do I want to point that out; it also says in that first verse that Paul mentions this good news is something he preached to you. That’s another good reminder for me, especially as a minister of the Word of God: this good news is to be preached, and I need to be reminded of that. This good news should not be lost in our homilies, in our sermons, or in our messages. It shouldn’t just be left off the page because we have become so familiar with it that we can do without it and move on to the more weighty and practical things of the Word of God. Don’t leave out the good news; don’t exclude it from our messages. The good news must be preached! In fact, listen to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, verses 13 to 15 is a beautiful passage in the New International Version. It states, «For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!» That’s great news! But how, verse 14 says, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, «How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!» It’s our job; it is our assignment to preach this good news—to not leave it out of our messages and to not exclude it from our conversations, but to preach this good news, especially for those of us who are sent. I want to challenge every preacher, every minister, and everyone who has a call on their life to share God’s word with people, to teach Scripture, whatever it may be: don’t leave out the good news; preach it. Then, there’s a third thing I want to point out about this good news, and that is Paul mentions that the Corinthian believers didn’t just hear this good news; they welcomed it. They received it. This good news is not just something we’re reminded of and something that should be preached; it is something we are supposed to welcome into our lives. We are supposed to take it personally. Yes, I am supposed to take the good news personally.