by Roby Ellis SPANISH/ESPAÑOL
[Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:10-15]
Introduction
A. Why would a man repeatedly jeopardize his own life in order to take this message to people who apparently did not want it?
B. People still do not understand what compels us to preach the Gospel to a world that thinks it has no need for it.
I. We persuade men because of the “terror of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:11).
A. If we refuse to persuade men, they have no hope (Romans 10:14).
B. If we refuse to persuade men, we have no hope (1 Corinthians 9:16).
II. We persuade men because of the love of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14).
A. Christ’s love has the power to transform us (Titus 3:3-8).
B. Our love for Him compels us to keep His commands (John 14:15).
C. Our love for our fellowman ought to provoke us to share the Gospel (Matthew 22:39).
III. We persuade men, because we cannot do otherwise.
A. When Jeremiah wanted to stop preaching, he found the Word was like a fire in his bones (Jeremiah 20:9).
B. When Peter and John were order to stop preaching, they said, “[W]e cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
C. We cannot keep from proclaiming the Gospel because we are debtors to all men (Romans 1:14).
Conclusion
A. In spite of the persecution and discouragement on all sides, Paul continued to persuade men (Acts 19:26; 28:23).
B. Paul could do this because he was fully persuaded in his own mind (Romans 8:38-39; 2 Timothy 1:12).