A Call to Evangelism

Introduction

I want to begin with a statement. Here it is, “if you have come here tonight for a history lesson, you will be disappointed.” Why the need to discuss evangelism on a Sunday in March? The need to discuss evangelism in this particular context is to show that from our reformed heritage evangelism is at the very core of belief and doctrine. It was not something seen as secondary or a lesser important but it was seen as something that is essential, necessary, and absolute. Therefore, my goal is to string a consistent line starting with the scripture and ending with our current day working through some church history to see the consistent emphasis on evangelism. My hope is that we all leave this evening persuaded and convinced that tomorrow morning wherever we might find ourselves we would do the work and encourage others for such a task as this. If you don’t get anything else from our time together than what I am about to say, I am content with this. Listen well! There are two ingredients to evangelism, a love for God and a love for people. If you possess these two things you can evangelize to anyone!

Evangelism founded upon Christ and carried out by the early church

Now before we can get to Calvin and the Puritans, we must begin with what they did, the Word of God. I want to gloss over a few texts. One text is from Matthew and the other 3 are from the book of Acts and they are all familiar. The texts are all evangelistic as well. The texts are Matthew 4:17, Acts 2:14-41, 3:11-26, and Acts 8:25-38. The first text contains the command of Christ at the beginning of His ministry, two texts contain two sermons preached by Peter with similar themes, content, and call to action, and the fourth is from Chapter 8 , the well known account regarding Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Why bring these texts to mind? Because they all contain the same call that Calvin and the Puritans gave and the call that we are still to give today. That is the call to repent (Matthew 4:17, Acts 2:37, 3:19) and believe (Acts 8:37). What we need to understand is that at the very beginning of evangelism (from a NT context) we find our Lord Jesus and the early church faithfully doing and proclaiming such a work.

To say that Calvin and the Puritans were not evangelists is to say they did not follow the Scripture

I want to make it very plain and clear that for all of those who would say that Calvin and the Puritans did not evangelize or they were only concerned with doctrine, to say such a thing is to say, ultimately, that they did not follow the scripture. Never was it said of Calvin or the Puritans that the sovereignty of God dissuaded any evangelistic effort. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Calvin and the Puritans were very much devoted to evangelism and the reason they were devoted to evangelism is because they believed the doctrines that were the foundation of evangelism. In other words, doctrine and evangelism go hand in hand. To put it simply like this, what are you to evangelize about if there is no doctrine behind it? It would be like talking about baseball or politics or any topic but have no idea of what is going on. This would be the disconnect if this were true of Calvin and the Puritans. It must be understood that Calvin and the Puritans evangelized because they saw it clearly in the scripture. Going forward, as we look at each entity individually I hope that you will see that their arguments, their thoughts, and their mannerisms were all centered upon the written Word of God and that the Word of God propelled them to evangelize to lost people.

Evangelism according to Calvin

As we delve into Calvin’s thoughts on evangelism, I don’t want to merely put forth before you a defense as to how Calvin evangelized. Nor do I want to merely bring forth proof to you that Calvin indeed did evangelize and saw evangelism as something to a great extent. If you leave here with this mindset then I have missed my intention for the evening.

By the love of God and for the love of man

Calvin would not bring forth any kind of secret formula as to how to do evangelism or even necessarily what it would look like in a practical sense. But there are two things that you see in Calvin’s view of evangelism that are just as prevalent for us today. Contrary to what anybody would say about Calvin himself these two things were a mainstay in his life and they are, Calvin loved God and he loved people. You are also going to notice that in our brief overview of Calvin there was no evangelism class that he took nor was there a program or a 12 step idea to follow. His evangelism came forth from his love for God and his love for people. I would hope that every person in this room would nod their head in approval that these two things are true of every evangelist whether a revered reformed theologian like Calvin or the person who works a typical 9 to 5 Monday through Friday.

I must say that I am very grateful for multiple works on Calvin by Pastor Joel Beeke. Many of the quotes that will be noted in our overview of Calvin’s evangelism come from his works.

A Desire to see the kingdom grow

If you were to look at evangelism in a broad sense you could say that evangelism is the expanse of the Kingdom of God. it is the means in which the Kingdom of God expands here on Earth as more people are saved every day. I say this because throughout church history and even into our day the Kingdom of God is continuing to advance and it is continuing to expand. That we see people whether it is in the United States or elsewhere on this planet people that are being saved. Calvin was on the same wavelength. “Calvin taught evangelism by focusing on the universality of Christ’s kingdom and the responsibility of Christians to help extend that realm” (Beeke). Therefore, I ask you, as you tell people about Christ, do you have the kingdom as a whole in mind? That your evangelistic efforts are part of something that is far greater than one encounter? This led Calvin not only to speak to people and preach to people in an evangelistic tone, but it was also the means in which he set his prayer life upon. As a part of Calvin’s prayers he would pray for effectual evangelism. He said, “we must pray daily for the extension of Christ’s kingdom. Since it pleases God to use our prayers to accomplish His purposes, we must pray for the conversion of the heathen.” Calvin prayed that sinners would be saved. Did you notice that he did not pray for just the people on a list, but for men and women everywhere to come to Christ? Calvin had a far wider view in mind. Of course he prayed for those in the local congregation, but we mustn’t forget the bigger picture that exists outside of our local church walls! Assuredly, Calvin had the big picture in mind and it shaped his evangelistic efforts. This mindset that Calvin had parallels with the words of Christ in John 17:19–20 ““For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.” Christ is looking to those who would repent and trust in Him after His ascension to the Father! Christ had an expanding kingdom mindset!

Evangelism is empowered by God and the results are God’s

Another thing that is quite distinctive of Calvin is that he understood of whom the results were of. Never did Calvin look to his evangelistic efforts and say that God was not in the midst of them even if there was a significant time period where not one soul was converted by the words he spoke. Whether a man was saved or not, Calvin knew that God was with him and as long as he was faithful God would bless his efforts. Calvin said that “We must not become discouraged at a lack of visible success in evangelistic effort, but pray on. “Our Lord exercises the faith of his children, in that he doth not out of hand perform the things which he has promised them. And this thing ought specially to be applied to the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. If God pass over a day or a year [without giving fruit], it is not for us to give over, but we must in the meanwhile pray and not doubt but that he heareth our voice.” Such a response should not surprise us, because, again the scripture speaks of account after account that mimics what Calvin says here. Consider what is said in Acts 28:24–27 “And some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others were not believing. And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes; Lest they might see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I heal them.” ’” Therefore, whether it is Calvin or Paul or anyone who evangelizes it is not dependent upon the words spoken, but God who actuates faith in a ruined sinner. It was not as though the sovereignty of God prevented Calvin from evangelizing, we see that clearly. If anything the sovereignty of God more so prompted Calvin to evangelize knowing that God could use him to be the catalyst or the vessel used to see sinners come to repentance as the sinner hears the Word of God.

An active, not passive work

A further emphasis on Calvin’s view of evangelism is the urgency that he had in the work. Again, quite different from what is said of him or how people perceive him. But Calvin was very active in evangelism and he didn’t view it in a passive way. He was passionate and on fire regarding the work. He said, “We must work diligently for the extension of Christ’s kingdom, knowing that our work will not be in vain. Our salvation obligates us to work for the salvation of others. Moreover, it is not enough for every man to be busy with other ways of serving God... “Our zeal must extend yet further to the drawing of other men.” We must do everything we are capable of to draw all men on earth to God.” This is not an obligation the way that it is viewed in our day to day where we are forced or taken against our will in order to do something. This obligation is a heavenly compelling for evangelism, so important to Calvin that this quote alone clearly demonstrates his drive for evangelism. However, Calvin had much more to say regarding this topic especially the tendency that people have to keep the truth to themselves. Maybe it is out of fear or some other reason as to why people don’t evangelize but for Calvin he had some pretty sharp words about the need to tell others of Christ. He said, “Nothing could be more inconsistent concerning the nature of faith than that deadness which would lead a man to disregard his brethren, and to keep the light of knowledge … in his own breast.” These are sharp words indeed but they are a word that must be heard to day. This is not so that we can defend Calvin and tell those who would think otherwise that Calvin really wasn’t evangelist. But these words need to sink deep into the hearts of Christian people today regardless of what tradition might be followed. Regardless of the tradition or the denomination or any other human means, Calvin would argue if he were standing here that your duty, your privilege that you have as a follower of Christ to tell others of who he is his primary above everything else. He was grateful that he had the privilege to speak the truth to others. This was not burdensome for Calvin. He was grateful to tell others. Why? Because he was grateful for the very salvation that he possessed upon hearing the Word of God from someone else. Have you ever thought about that? Without someone telling you the truth you had never heard it. This is the position of which Calvin comes from. Every Christian has the same beginnings in that the Word of Truth is delivered to them. Whether it be Andrew, Peter, Paul, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Cornelius, or any other example that comes to your mind, the foundation is always the same and that is the word of God is spoken aloud.

It is this word of God that was at the very core of Puritan evangelism where we turn our attention to now.

Evangelism according to the Puritans

You will notice as we look through this time period that the Puritans lived, there will be places of intersection. This is intentional and unavoidable because the core, the foundation is the same. Both Calvin and the Puritans were grounded upon the word of God and so we will see through the life of the Puritans that there are many similarities with Calvin but I hope that you don’t see that in a negative light but a positive light in that God continues to be unchanging generation after generation.

A Prepared heart

The Puritans are known as more of a deeper thinking bunch of men that lived. I would go so far as to say that they are not necessarily just a deeper thinking people but that they considered how God actually worked in the lives of people. One of those is seeing that God prepares the human heart for the word of God. There is no one who is saved by chance or someone who just comes out of the blue and is saved. Each heart that is changed by God has been prepared by him to be changed. This centralizes the work of evangelism upon God Himself . We saw this with Calvin but the Puritans looked at it through a more specific and contrite lens. Consider the words of Richard Baxter, God converts no adult without preparing him; but ‘God breaketh not all men’s hearts alike.’ The preparation was not a stumbling block for the Puritans, they did not wait until they sensed that God prepared the heart. What they understood was that they were unaware of the condition of the heart of a fellow they may run into. Their heart could have been prepared at that very moment to receive the gospel or not. “It is a distinctive feature of the Puritan doctrine of conversion that this point, the need for ‘preparation ‘ for faith, is so stressed. Man’s first step toward conversion must be some knowledge, of God, of himself, of his duty and of his sin. The second step is conviction, both of sinfulness and of particular sins; and the wise minister, dealing with enquirers at this stage, will try to deepen conviction and make it specific, since true and sound conviction of sin is always to a greater or less degree particularised. This leads to contrition (sorrow for and hatred of sin), which begins to burn the love of sinning out of the heart and leads to real, though as yet ineffective, attempts to break off the practice of sin in the life. Meanwhile, the wise minister, seeing that the fallow ground is now ploughed up, urges the sinner to turn to Christ. This is the right advice to give to a man who has shown that with all his heart he desires to be saved from sin; for when a man wants to be saved from sin, then it is possible for him genuinely and sincerely to receive the One who presents himself to man as the Saviour from sin” (Packer). This did not stop them from telling everyone they could about the great mercy of God. And that very same truth is true today. As we walk around in the communities that God has given to us to live in, we do not know the condition of the heart of those whom we might talk to. Thomas Goodwin notes that “some conversions are sudden; the preparation is done in a moment. Some are long-drawn-out affairs; years may pass before the seeker finds Christ and peace, as in Bunyan’s case. Sometimes great sinners experience ‘great meltings’ (Giles Firmin) at the outset of the work of grace, while upright persons spend long periods in agonies of guilt and terror. No rule can be given as to how long, or how intensely, God will flay each sinner with the lash of conviction, Thus the work of effectual calling proceeds as fast, or as slow, as God wills.” Maybe we have experienced this in our evangelism efforts, I sure have. One friend of mine it was over 15 years from when I had spoken to him about Christ. Nonetheless, his heart was prepared by God and what a wonderful work God has done!

An emphasis on the Word of God

One of the most noteworthy things that is attributed to the Puritans is their unwavering commitment to the word of God. It was central and absolutely everything that they did and it was the guiding force behind their very being. This is not to say that Calvin did not have an emphasis on the scripture but it is much more noted in Puritan evangelism. Today we speak in our churches about coming back to the word of God and having a foundation upon the word of God and knowing the word of God and reading the word of God and using it to discern truth from error. All of these things are true and these are things that must be done, but for the Puritans in addition to all of this, the word of God was at the core of the work of evangelism. J.I. Packer speaks on the Puritans emphasis on the Bible saying, “Since God enlightens, convicts, humbles and converts through the Word, the task of his messengers is to communicate that word, teaching and applying law and gospel. Preachers are to declare God’s mind as set forth in the texts they expound, to show the way of salvation, to exhort the unconverted to learn the law, to meditate on the Word, to humble themselves, to pray that God will show them their sins, and enable them to come to Christ.” And this is exactly what the Puritans did.

Because the Puritans emphasized the Bible, their evangelism came from the Bible. They were known for using the Law in their evangelism, much like well known evangelist Ray Comfort does today. “The Puritans believed that, through a confrontation with the demands of the law, the Holy Spirit would bring sinners to know their helplessness before God and their need for salvation” (Beeke). In short this method of evangelism is faithfully declaring the bad news, so that the good news would be seen as truly good news. I bring this up because in our day, there seems to be a lack of using the Law. Typically the Law is seen in the background behind grace. We are saved by grace not by the Law and while this is true, it is that very Law that reveals to us our sin. As Paul said, “I would not have come to know sin except through the Law. For I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet” (Romans 7:7). It was not as though the Puritans were using a new method of evangelism. They were simply taking what the Bible said and carrying out as commissioned to.

A question that is asked today

The Puritans were thinkers and they were inquisitive. For example, a question that is commonly asked in our day is ‘why does God save some people and others He does not?’ This very questioned was asked by the Puritans. It was discussed and they answered the question. John Owen asked, why this discrimination? Why do some hear and others not? And when the gospel is heard, why do we see ‘various effects, some continuing in impenitency, others in sincerity closing with Jesus Christ?. . . In effectual working of grace. . . whence do you think it takes its rule and determination. . . that it should he directed to John, not Judas; Simon Peter, not Simon Magus? Why only from this discriminating counsel of God from eternity. . . Acts 13:48. . . The purpose of God’s election, is the rule of dispensing saving grace.” In other words, the reason that some hear and respond in repentance and others to not is so that we can with greater appreciation see the grace of God upon a human being! Let me ask you this, if people were being saved every single time you went out, would you not after a while get puffed up and maybe even get bored of evangelism? Let’s give ourselves credit, we are far more prone to sin then what we give ourselves credit for! And yet how wonderful the grace of God truly is! It may hurt that some of our loved ones might never respond to the message of salvation, a painful experience this is! But we can take courage that Christ has indeed open our eyes to see the most glorious truth and because we don’t know the condition of one’s heart, we can go forth with power from on high whether or not a person responds in saving faith or not.

Evangelism with Calvinistic roots

The Puritans evangelistic thoughts are deeply rooted in Calvinism. Here are a few lines to show the parallels between the two. Thomas Watson said regarding God’s sovereignty “Ministers knock at the door of men’s hearts (= persuasion), the Spirit comes with a key and opens the door.” Speaking on the power of God and election, Thomas Goodwin says, “such dramatic conversions are ‘visible tokens of election by such a work of calling, as all the powers in heaven and earth could not have wrought upon a man’s soul so, nor changed a man so on a sudden, but only that divine power that created the world (and) raised Christ from the dead.’” John Owen speaks on irresistible grace saying, “Grace is irresistible, not because it drags man to Christ against his will, but because it changes men’s hearts so that they ‘come most freely, being made willing by his grace.” These are just a few out of many quotes that the Puritans attributed their evangelistic endeavors upon Calvinism. Those I have not quoted that were heavily influenced by Calvin were Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and Charles Spurgeon. And all of these men were evangelists as well. These men did not evangelize because they were Calvinists. They evangelized because they loved God and they loved lost people. Today it is all to common for people to get caught up in the arguing of being for or against Calvin when what we should be most concerned about is the edifying of the church and the salvation of the lost. Not one of the Puritans ever said ‘it was because of John Calvin that they were ambassadors of the gospel.’

As we have seen thus far with Calvin and the Puritans, none of their evangelism efforts were based upon knowledge and know how. It did not matter about winning every theological debate or argument. They did not go out telling people that they were right and everyone else was wrong. They did not theologically beat people. Their wit and knowledge was secondary. All that mattered was the gospel going forward, and for us today that must be no different.

Evangelism today is not much different from the past

I want to argue in this last point that evangelism today is no different from what we see in the past. The culture is different and the conveniences we have are different but the depraved nature of man in his desperate need for Christ are the same as they were in days gone by. In the same way Christ has left His ambassadors here on Earth to share the gospel with every living human being that he puts in our way.

Only a God-centered evangelism will do

What we need to understand is the simple truth that without God in the middle evangelism is not occurring. Our words, our methods, our charm has no effect unless Christ is at the center. Ernest C. Reisinger, one of the founders of the Reformed Baptist movement said this about evangelism, “The goal of (biblical/God-centered) evangelism is very clear, 1. Make disciples – seeking to bring them into a right relationship to the Son of God, 2. Baptize them (a church ordinance) – seeking to bring them into a right relationship to the church of God, 3. Teach them – seeking to bring them into a right relationship to the Word of God.” Now you might say I don’t know how to make disciples! Very well, what was Jesus’ commission to the disciples? To make disciples! Did He give them a handbook? No. Did He give them step by step instructions as to how to make a disciple? No. What did Jesus give? That’s right, the Holy Spirit! Christian, does not this same Holy Spirit reside within you?! The reason that any one of us is able to share the gospel with anyone is because God is the empowers us to do so! Therefore, as long as our evangelism is God-centered, we can never go wrong! Does this mean that we may get in a tough spot? Of course! But it doesn’t mean that God will leave us looking like a fool!

Practical means of evangelism

But what are some practical means of evangelism? Reisinger offers a few means. “God-centered evangelism proclaims the biblical message of the lordship of Christ at the outset.” This means that evangelism includes the proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord! A person does not make Jesus Lord, but that He is Lord whether a human being believes it or not. Men and women today need to hear that Jesus Christ, not themselves, reigns on the throne. Christian this should be the very outpouring of your existence, for without this truth, you would not be saved! Reisinger offers another saying, “This is God-centered evangelism – knowing, preaching, and practicing the truth about the work of the Spirit in conversion.” This goes right in line with what we looked at at the very beginning of our time together in Acts 2. The catalyst at the day of Pentecost and beyond was and is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, men and women must know that it is not their own work that saves them but the work of God through the Holy Spirit to the glory of Christ that saves them! Another practical means we have seen before, but it is still true today. “No preacher regardless of his training, preparation, eloquence, subtlety of wit, or power of persuasion can regenerate one soul; and if man is not regenerated, he will not believe or repent.” Here, Reisinger speaks in terms of the local church pastor. I don’t think that this sentence is for only pastors. Yes, local church pastors you must be sharing the gospel. But it is the duty of every Christian to share the gospel. It is God who actuates. That is the crux of 1 Corinthians 3:5–6 which reads, “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” God does the growing whether it is bringing a sinner to Himself or growing a Christian that is already His.

A few biblical considerations

There are a few biblical considerations that will help guide us in evangelism. The first is that Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs when they were to minister to the nearby Jewish towns in Mark 6:7 “And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs.” This does not mean that we can only go out in pairs, but it is a good idea to go out with another brother, even if you might be the one to do all the talking. We see this commonly in street evangelism. Typically, it is one person who speaks and others are holding the camera or working with the audio. The street preacher is often almost never alone.

God is at work in evangelism, not because Calvin or the Puritans said so, but because the Bible does. John 16:8–9 ““And He (that is the Holy Spirit) , when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me.” When we go out into the world we do so in the power of the Holy Spirit, and not of any other means. Thus I ask you, when you are in the thick of evangelism or afraid to even begin, remember it is not you who is at work alone. Spurgeon said that there are two in the pulpit on a Lord’s Day morning. The same is true in evangelism. There are two present when evangelizing, you and the Holy Spirit. You are never left alone!

Conclusion

I hope that I have already answered the “So what” question, but in the event I have not, I leave you with this question and answer.

What does evangelism have to do with me and why does it matter? Evangelism has everything to do with you for as Calvin said you must evangelize because “You want to glorify God, you want to please God, you have a duty to God, you have a duty to fellow sinners, and you are grateful to God.” And keep these in mind the next time fear strikes from within. First, consider where you would be at this very moment if no one would have ever shared the gospel with you, and second you are never alone in evangelism. You have the guarantee of the Holy Spirit of God right alongside you as you minister. Therefore, I say press on in the power of the Holy Spirit!