John Chapman on What’s really important

Posted on July 18, 2023 
Filed under Encouragement, Evangelism

John Chapman wrote this article for ACL News in 2001. While set in that particular moment in time, and directed initially to ACL members,  these words speak to us all today —

“There never was a time when gospelling was more important. Freedom of speech and freedom to assemble, unknown in many countries of the world, we take for granted. Do not assume that this will last. It is a great privilege and carries with it a great responsibility.”

With the Gospel, there is never time to relax.

I have just returned from the funeral of a friend who was also a clergyman. He is, in every way, Mr. Valiant-for-Truth. He preached with clarity and passion about the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He urged people to ‘turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the coming wrath’.

He could be trusted to do this whenever you heard him. However, he also worked hard for the defence of that gospel. He was determined that he would take whatever steps were necessary to see that the gospel was available when another generation came along.

As I thought about his life and witness, I thought about the ACL. Its members are dedicated to see that, to the best of their ability, the gospel will be known and passed on to generations yet to come.

Much of the League’s work could be described as ‘behind the scenes’ work. They help us by finding committed Christians, who know and understand the gospel, to serve on the many councils and committees which comprise the working groups in our Diocesan life.

Have you ever noticed, as you have read the messages which the Glorified Christ gives to the Seven Churches in the Revelation, that by the close of the Apostolic Age many of them have lost or forgotten the gospel message? Some are on the brink of extinction. Some are warned by the Risen Christ that if they do not repent they will be abandoned by Him! It is an easy thing to ‘let the gospel slip through our fingers’.

We are in a period of change. Peter Jensen has become our Archbishop. The ACL has a new President, Zac Veron. This is a time to recommit ourselves to the preaching and preservation of the gospel.

From a denominational point of view we may be happy and have a feeling that ‘all is well’. However it is to the world around us that we need to look.

We need, as never before, to be trying with every means at our disposal to get the gospel out to our city and country. At a time when God has brought the nations to us, our opportunities seem limitless.

There never was a time when gospelling was more important. Freedom of speech and freedom to assemble, unknown in many countries of the world, we take for granted. Do not assume that this will last. It is a great privilege and carries with it a great responsibility.

Nothing matters more than that a person should come to know Christ!

– John C Chapman.

ACL News October-November 2001Published in ACL News, October–November 2001.

John Chapman, 1930-2012, was one of Australia’s best-known and loved evangelists.

He was also a long-serving member of the ACL’s Council.

Top photo courtesy of Matthias Media.