CRYSTALLIZATION-STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF GOD
in the Epistle to the Romans

Message Twenty-Five

The Announcing of the Gospel
(1)

OUTLINE

1. The apostle Paul’s perfect example and high standard in announcing the gospel:
   1. Chosen to be a vessel—not a carrier but a vessel to contain Christ—Acts 9:15.
   2. Appointed to be a minister and a witness of Christ— Acts 26:16.
   3. Given to be a steward of the grace of God—Eph. 3:2.
   4. Separated unto the gospel of God—Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:15-16.
   5. Commissioned as a herald—1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11.
   6. Sent by God, the highest authority, as His ambassador to the sinners to speak in boldness the mystery of the gospel—Eph. 6:19-20.
   7. Laboring as a priest of the gospel to offer the believing sinners to God—Rom. 15:16.
   8. To announce:
      1. Christ as the objective Savior and the subjective indwelling Life-imparter—1 Tim. 1:15; Gal. 1:15-16.
      2. The unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel— Eph. 3:8.
      3. The mystery of Christ—Eph. 3:4.
      4. The mystery of the gospel—Eph. 6:19.
   9. To beget the believers through the gospel—1 Cor. 4:15.
   10. For the building up of the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:11-12.
   11. Burdened:
       1. To bear fruit among all the Gentiles—Rom. 1:13.
       2. To pay his debt of the gospel as a debtor to all kinds of people—v. 14.
       3. To announce the gospel to the Romans, being not ashamed of it, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes—vv. 15-16.
       4. To stress the beauty of the one who announces the gospel as the news of good things— 10:14-15.
       5. To enslave himself to all that he might gain the more and to become all things to all men that he might by all means save some, doing all things for the sake of the gospel; otherwise, it would be a woe to him, for he was entrusted with a stewardship which would bring him a reward as an incentive—1 Cor. 9:16-23.
       6. To charge his young co-worker Timothy to proclaim the word in season and out of season while he was ready to receive his martyrdom— 2 Tim. 4:2, 6.
       7. To have the saints as his partners in the gospel, striving for the gospel—Phil. 1:5, 27.
       8. To fully preach the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum— Rom. 15:19; cf. 2 Cor. 10:15-16.

In this message we come to another point of the crystallization-study. This point is the announcing of the gospel. According to the Greek text, we prefer to use announcing instead of preaching. It is not just a matter of preaching but a matter of announcing. The announcing of the gospel is not a simple thing; it is not a small matter.