In order to emphasize the importance of the preaching of the gospel, the New Testament uses different figures of speech in referring to it. In Luke 14:21-23, which contains several crucial points regarding the gospel, the Lord used the figure of an invitation to a feast. These verses say, “And the slave came up and reported these things to his lord. Then the master of the house was angry and told his slave, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame. And the slave said, Lord, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room. And the lord said to the slave, Go out into the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Verse 21 says that the master of the house was angry. The Bible does not often say that our God is angry; thus, it is not a small thing for the Lord to be angry. He is angry because of the vacant seats at His banquet. He has prepared the banquet of the gospel, but not enough people have come.
The master of the house charged his slave to go out quickly to bring others. The word quickly is significant. However, almost two thousand years have passed since this word was spoken. The Lord has been angry yet patient for a very long time. The master told his slave to go into the streets and lanes of the city. The front door of people’s houses is usually accessible from the streets, whereas the back door often is approached from the lanes. This indicates that we must go to people at their front door, their back door, or in any way that we can. We must do everything we can to gain people. The slave brought in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame, but still there was room at the banquet. Because of this, the master of the house, still angry, sent his slave out again into the roads (the highways) and hedges outside the city to find those who were idle and to compel them to come in, that his house might be filled.
In Luke 19:13 the Lord used the figure of a master and his servants. The master made his servants businessmen and gave them the capital with which to do business. Verse 13 says, “And having called ten of his own slaves, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, Do business until I come.” I appreciate the word “Do business until I come.” The phrase until I come literally means while I am coming. While the Lord is on His way to come, we must be on our way to do the business of the gospel.
In Romans 1:14-15 Paul used the figure of a debtor. In these verses Paul said, “I am debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to foolish. So, as far as depends on me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
First Corinthians 9:17 says, “For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.” The word stewardship is another figure of speech used in reference to gospel preaching. Every preacher is a steward. Verses 22-25 of the same chapter say, “To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak. To all men I have become all things, that I might by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may lay hold. And everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; those, therefore, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.” In these verses Paul used the figure of contending in the Olympics to describe the importance of gospel preaching.
Philippians 1:27 says, “Only conduct yourselves worthily of the gospel of Christ, that whether coming and seeing you or being absent I may hear the things concerning you, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together in the faith of the gospel.” We need to conduct ourselves in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. Our conduct must match the gospel. We also must stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together, struggling like Olympic athletes, in the faith of the gospel.
Colossians 1:27-28 says, “To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we announce, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man full-grown in Christ.” Again, many different terms are used in these verses to refer to the gospel. The center of the gospel is Christ in us as the hope of glory, but we must bring this news to people and make it known to them. Thus, we must announce Christ as the center of the gospel, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom. Here the terms announce, warn, and teach are used in reference to the gospel. The phrase in all wisdom indicates that we must exhaust our wisdom that we may present every man, one by one, full-grown in Christ. Verse 29 says, “For which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power.” In this verse the words labor, struggling, and operation are used in relation to the gospel.