sf952 - Let The Church Be The Church (Ecuador 2004)
LET THE CHURCH BE THE CHURCH
ECUADOR 2004
O You Vainglorious Churches! 1
A Biblical Understanding of Worship 2
A Biblical Understanding of the Gospel 5
A Biblical Understanding of Conversion 8
A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism 12
O you vainglorious churches!
(Adapted from Spurgeon's sermon, "A Most Needful Prayer Concerning the Holy Spirit" #954 Psalm 51:11)
'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty. Zech. 4:6
Everybody may be saying, "How wondrously that church flourishes! What power! What influence! What numbers!"
And suddenly some radical evil which had been eating out the very soul of the church may come to its issue, and then in a moment all the apparent prosperity will subside, and the Philistines will rejoice.
When the Spirit of God departs from a church, what remains is but its old records, ancient creeds, title deeds, traditions, histories and memories.
The great power of the church does not lie in the power of her organizations. You may have good schemes for work, wisely arranged and managed, but they will be a failure without the divine energy.
Too often excellent methods are rigidly adhered to, and confidently relied upon, and yet without the Holy Spirit they are sheer folly.
Formal routine satisfies many.
Souls are not saved by systems, but by the Spirit.
Organizations without the Holy Spirit are windmills without wind.
Methods and arrangements without grace are lamps without oil.
Even the most scriptural forms of church government and effort, are null and void without the "power from on high."
Nor does the strength of a church lie in her wealth. Money avails nothing to a church devoid of grace; it does but increase the evil which is corrupting within.
O you vainglorious churches, you may gild your domes, you may make your pillars of alabaster, and cover your altars with precious stones, you may clothe your priests in scarlet and in fair white linen, you may make your ceremonies imposing, your processions gorgeous, and your music enchanting, but all this avails nothing if the Spirit of God is gone; all that remains to you is as sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal.
Nor does the strength of a church lie in her numbers. What is a large church without the Lord's presence, but a mass of chaff to be scattered with a whirlwind, or to rot on the threshing floor?
Nor does the strength of a church lie in her doctrines. The Laodicea church did not hold false doctrines, yet she was nauseous to the Lord.
Truth may be held in unrighteousness.
Orthodox churches may become lifeless corpses.
'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty. Zech. 4:6
A BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING OF WORSHIP
Psalm 100:1-5
Introduction
When you think of Church, what do you think of?
Are your thoughts positive?
Ø Friends
Ø Fellowship
Ø Spiritual growth
Ø Support
Ø God
Are your thoughts negative?
Ø Rules
Ø Hypocrites
Ø Long sermons
Ø Boring music
More specifically when you think of Worship, what do you think of?
Positive things…
Ø God's presence
Ø Upbeat tempo
Ø Positive, practical messages
Negative things…
Ø Irrelevant messages
Ø Music that you can't understand
Ø Boring, Boring, Boring
Lets look at what the psalmist thought about concerning worship…
1A Notice How we are to Worship
1B. We are to celebrate God's presence (100:1-2)
With our music (100:1)
Shout, this is the sound the trumpets!
Psalm 98:6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.
Psalm 33:2 Praise the LORD with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
With our mouths (100:2)
Psalm 95:2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
2B. We are to anticipate God's blessings (100:44)
We are to come to worship with a thankful heart (100:4a)
Psalm 116:17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the LORD.
Psalm 103:1-Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
We are to continue in worship with a joyful heart (100:4b)
Psalm 68:26 Bless God in the congregations, The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
Psalm 106:1 Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
2A. Notice Whom we are to Worship (100:3)
1B. He is the God of the Covenant "the Lord, He is God" (100:3a)
He is the God who keeps His promises
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD had said to Abram: Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
He is the God who cares for His people
John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
2B. He is the God of creation (100:3b)
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Everyone and everything were made by Him and for Him!
3B. He is the God of Compassion (100:3c)
John 10:14-15 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
He knows us intimately (John 10:15a)
He loves us passionately (John 10 15b)
3A. Notice Why we are to Worship
1B. There is an essential reason - His goodness! (100:5a)
1 Chronicles 16:34 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Good speaks of some thing that is of value
2B. There is an eternal reason - His mercy! (100:5b)
Psalm 106:1 Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Forty One Times this phrase appears in the Bible
3B. There is an enduring reason - His truth! (100:5c)
Psalm 108:4 For Your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds.
Psalm 119:90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.
Twenty times the OT reminds that He is a Faithful God!
Application
The child and the Prince
A little boy went to London to visit the king. However, he could not get into the palace. The guards at the gate and the policemen on the sidewalk would not let him in. He was very disappointed…
A well-dressed gentleman came along and heard the conversation between the policeman and the boy. He asked the boy what was wrong and he explained his dilemma. The man took the boy by the hand and said "come with me."
He led the boy past the police and the guards right into the palace, even into the very presence of the king. Why? Because the man was the king's son, the Prince of Wales and he had access to the king!!!!
Do you have an escort to see the King?
That is the only way you can go into His presence!
May I introduce you to the Prince, the King's son?
Will you commit today to introduce other's to the son?
A Biblical Understanding of the Gospel
Romans 1:16-17
Introduction
We live in the “information age.”
We have more sources of “information” and news than ever before in the history of man. There are over 12,000 newspapers printed in the US alone. With satellite, cable TV, and the Internet, we get news as it happens. Speed sometimes even triumphs over accuracy in news reporting. Sometimes the news services do not get it right.
Dr. Mark Dever relates the following story, taken from an English newspaper. Somehow the paper confused a story about a local pastor and a pig-killing sausage-making machine and the two stories became one.
Several of Rev. Dr. Mudge’s friends called upon him yesterday, and after a conversation the unsuspecting pig was seized by the hind leg, and slid along a beam until he reached the hot-water tank…in less time than it takes to write it, the pig was cut into fragments and worked up into a delicious sausage. The occasion will be long remembered by the doctor’s friends as one of the most delightful of their lives.[1]
Unfortunately, the gospel message has become as confused in many churches as the story of poor Rev. Mudge.
1A. What The Gospel Is Not.
1B. The gospel is not simply that we are “okay.”
We are not “okay” because we are “dead in our sins”
Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins”
We are not "okay" because we have sinned against God.
James 2:10-11 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not commit murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”
The laws of God are an expression of His character, so to break these laws is to go against God. It says something about our relationship with God if we disregard Him and set aside His laws whenever it suits us.
We are not “okay” because we are all guilty of sin.
We not only feel guilty, we are guilty.
Romans 1: Gentiles have sinned; Romans 2: Jews have sinned; Romans 3: All have sinned. Through the law, we become conscious of sin, which is fundamentally against God.
2B. The gospel is not just that God is love.
That is true (1 John 4:8), but that is not all there is.
The Bible also says that God is a spirit——holy, perfect, unique.
How can such a being love? How can you know unless He tells you? God reveals Himself as the God who requires holiness.
3B. The gospel is not just “Jesus wants to be our friend (or example).”
We each have a real past, real sins to be dealt with.
What did Christ say He came to do?
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
The images used to describe the death of Christ reveal His purpose.
Ø Sacrifice (Ephesians 2:3)
Ø Redemption from (buying out of) slavery
Ø Relational (restoration of fellowship),
Ø Legal (our penalty transferred to Him, His righteousness transferred to us),
Ø Military (spiritual warfare), reconciliation, propitiation of God's just wrath.
God actually accomplished His ends through Christ's sacrifice——it is not just available but ensured. Christ is our friend, but He is so much more.
4B. The gospel is not just the message that we should live right.
Christianity is not merely about our love or our power, or anything we can do ourselves.
2A. What The Gospel Is.[2]
1B. The gospel tells us that salvation is the result of God’s grace.
Heaven is a free gift. (Romans 6:23)
Heaven is not earned or deserved.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast.
2B. The gospel is honest about man’s condition.
Man is a sinner.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Man cannot save himself.
Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
3B. The gospel recognizes God’s uniqueness.
God is merciful (1 John 4:8b)
God is just
Exodus 34:7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty...
4B. The gospel presents Christ as God’s only answer to man’s sin.
Who He is—Christ is the infinite God-Man.
John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us….
What He did—Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for the sins of all who would repent and believe, and to purchase a place in heaven for them.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
5B. The gospel teaches us that saving faith is the key to heaven.
Saving faith is not merely head knowledge.
James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”
Saving faith is not mere temporal faith.
Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life
Acts 16:31 …Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved….
Application
The gospel is the good news that in Christ we have the promise and assurance of eternal life.
We must…
Repent of our sin
Luke 13:3 …unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
Place our faith in Christ alone (believe)
Mark 1:15 …Repent, and believe in the gospel.
Publicly confess our faith in Christ
Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized…
A Biblical Understanding of Conversion
John 3:1-21
Introduction
Can a person really change?
The world says no, but the Bible says yes—it is called regeneration, new birth! It should be noted that regeneration is only one aspect of salvation. Scripture teaches us that there are at least three aspects of salvation.
Ø A Christian is truly saved right now (Ephesians 2:8-9, “have been saved”).
Ø A Christian is in the process of being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18)
Ø A Christian is waiting in hope to be fully saved in the future (Romans 5:10)
“Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are “born again,” for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it-the being “born again,” is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.’
Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one; God alone can do the other.
If you have then, been ‘born again,’ your acknowledgment will be, ‘O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, thou art my spiritual Parent; unless thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ My heavenly life is wholly derived from thee, to thee I ascribe it. ‘My life is hid with Christ in God.’ It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me.’ May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope.”[3]
In John 3, Jesus answers two critical questions for us. First, why is the new birth needed? Second, what is the new birth?
1A. Why is the New Birth Needed?
1B. Because of the nature of man
Nicodemus was a good man (3:1)
Ø He was a Pharisee
Religiously exclusive
Separatist by belief and practice
Maintained the oral law—traditions of men
Ø He was ruler of the people
Literally "great man"
Member of the Sanhedrin
One of the three richest men in Jerusalem
Nicodemus was a sincere man (3:2)
Ø He believed that Jesus was a good teacher
“Teacher” (didaskalos) teacher, doctor
He believed that Jesus was only a teacher
Nicodemus was a lost man (3:3)
Ø Nobody by nature delights so much in the character of God that he hungers after the true God.
We are “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).
Ø As David said in Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me."
We come into the world bent on being independent from God and loving the things of the world. Something has to happen to us if we are to be saved from the wrath of God (1 Thessalonians 1:10). We must be profoundly changed.
2B. Because of the nature of the new birth
We are slaves who must change masters; we must cease from being slaves of sin and become slaves of God (Romans 6:17-23).
We must die with Christ and be raised to newness of life (Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 2:12).
We must put off the old man and put on the new man created after the likeness of God (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10).
We must repent, that is, we must experience a change of mind that causes us to turn from trusting man to trusting God's mercy (Acts 2:38; Luke 3:3, 8).
We must receive a new heart according to Ezekiel's prophecy
Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh
We must become a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
We must become like children.
Matthew 18:3 Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
From cover to cover the Bible declares that human beings must change. If we do not change, we will not be saved: no peace with God, no hope for eternal life, but only wrath and fury (Romans 2:8).
So there is nothing more important for any individual than that he experience this change, this new birth, as Jesus called it.
2A. What is the New Birth?
1B. The new birth is spiritual, not physical (3:4-6)
The word “flesh” in John refers to our humanity.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Ø Jesus is saying here that your human birth merely makes you human.
Ø Paul's terms for the person before and after new birth are natural man and spiritual man.
1 Corinthians 2:14-15 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.”
Ø The connection then between verses 5 and 6 of John 3 is this: We must be born of the Spirit, because until we are, we are unfit for the Kingdom of heaven.
2B. The new birth is supernatural not natural (3:7-13)
A fundamental change must take place in the sinner’s heart (John 3:7)
Ø Faith is the most beautiful, God-honoring and humble act that a human can perform, and therefore we must not imagine that it can be performed by a natural man who does not welcome the things of the Spirit of God. (Romans 8:7)
Romans 8:5-8 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
The new birth operates independent of man’s control (3:8)
Ø Therefore, for you or I to try to determine or control God’s exercise of His grace is pointless.
Ø The new birth is mandated, “you must be born again.”
Ø The new birth is mysterious; men can neither control nor predict it.
God both initiates and completes salvation.
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:64-65 But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.
John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Regeneration (new birth) always results in repentance and faith (Acts 2:37-38)
It must be remembered that the new birth (regeneration), repentance, and faith are so closely connected that in experience we cannot distinguish them.
3B. The new birth is the result of God, by the Holy Spirit and through His Word, calling men to Himself and unto saving faith. (Romans 10:8-17)
The emphasis in Scripture is not on the manner, process, or order in which God calls and saves men, but on the means by which He does so.
The means is the preaching of the gospel.
God’s Spirit takes God’s Word and applies it to the hearts of lost men in such a way that those who once opposed God now desire Him and willingly turn from their sins and place their faith in Christ.
Only God can accomplish this work and He has chosen the means of the proclaimed gospel to do so.
Application
Six biblical truths concerning salvation…
1. Man must repent and believe in order to be saved. (Acts 16:30-31)
2. Every one who repents and believes the gospel will be saved. (John 6:37)
3. Man must personally, knowingly, and willingly repent of his sin and place his faith in Christ. (Luke 13:3).
4. Man in his natural lost condition will not and indeed cannot repent and believe. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
5. God in His grace must change man through regeneration before man can and will repent and believe. (Titus 3:4-7)
6. Faith and repentance are the evidences, not the cause, of regeneration. (John 3:3; Acts 16:14)
A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
Acts 1:8
Introduction
What do you think of when you hear the word “evangelist?”
It is a tangled topic today. It is so often done so badly, should we not leave it to the professionals?
Is it even right to try to get others to change their beliefs?
A biblical understanding of and practice of evangelism is necessary. We have talked about the message of salvation (the gospel) and the moment of salvation (conversion). Now we will examine the method and motive for sharing the gospel.
We will answer four questions.
Who should evangelize?
How should we evangelize?
What is evangelism?
Why should we evangelize?
1A. Who Should Evangelize? – “But You…”
1B. The prominence of evangelism in the Bible.
Romans 1:14-15 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Matthew 28:18-20 …All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
2B. The people are the evangelists in the Bible.
All believers, not just preachers (Acts 8:1-4; Acts 11:19-21)
1 Peter 3:15 …but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence
The expression of our love for each other is essential to our evangelism.
John 13:34-35 …love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
2A. How Should We Evangelize? – “You shall be my witnesses…”
1B. We must tell people that if they repent and believe they will be saved—but it will be costly.
We must tell people that they are lost and sinful and separated from God.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Telling people they are lost sinners will not be popular.
To illustrate this truth Dr. Mark Dever quotes Robert Schuller, “I don’t think that anything has been done in the name of Christ under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality, and hence counter-productive to the evangelistic enterprise, than the unchristian, uncouth strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition.”[4]
But whether it is popular or not the Bible is clear that men without Christ are lost and doomed (see Romans 6:23).
2B. We must tell people with urgency that if they repent and believe they will be saved.
They should not wait until a better deal comes along. (John 14:6)
We do not have an unlimited amount of time. (Luke 13:6-9)
Hebrews 4:7 …Today if you hear His voice, DO not harden your hearts.
3B. Tell people with joy that if they repent and believe they will be saved. However difficult it may be, it is worth it.
Being a Christian involves suffering and pain.
Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
The gain far outweighs the costs.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot)
4B. We must use the Bible as the primary source of the gospel.
Isaiah 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
5B. We must live in such a way as to validate our witness.
This is one reason church membership is so important.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
6B. We must pray, because salvation is the work of God.
3A. What is evangelism? – “You shall be my witnesses”
Evangelism is simply obeying God's command and proclaiming the good news with love.
Evangelism is sharing the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.
1B. Evangelism is NOT an imposition of your beliefs on someone else.
The gospel is made up of facts, not simply opinions.
Ø These facts are not uniquely yours; they are the same for everyone.
We do not impose anything on others because we cannot—the fruit of evangelism comes from God.
1 Corinthians 3:5-7 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
It involves no coercion, only proclamation and love.
2B. Evangelism is NOT simply your personal testimony.
A personal testimony makes no claim on the person with whom you share it.
3B. Evangelism is NOT social action or recruiting for the church.
4B. Evangelism is NOT apologetics, answering questions and defending the faith.
Apologetics responds to the agenda others set; evangelism responds to Christ's agenda.
5B. Evangelism is NOT the same as the results of evangelism: conversion.
Confusing the practice of evangelism with the results of evangelism may lead you to think it is within your power to convert others.
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
Ø Paul preached the same gospel to everybody, but it had two different effects.
We cannot judge the correctness of our evangelism by the results.
Ø The parable of the soils (Matthew 13:1-23)
Much of modern evangelism has become emotionally manipulative, but true evangelism is not persuading people to make a decision. Rather, it is telling the truth, and trusting God to bring them to repentance and faith.
4A. Why should we evangelize? – “to the remotest part of the earth.”
1B. We evangelize NOT in order to draw a crowd.
We must resist the temptation to do evangelism so we can boast about our numbers.
2B. We evangelize in order to be obedient to the Great Commission
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
1 Corinthians 9:16-17 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
3B. We evangelize because we love the lost.
Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.
4B. We evangelize because we desire to see God glorified.
God is glorified when we proclaim the gospel and leave the results to Him.
Ø What have we done to the gospel by the way we have evangelized?
Ø The redemption of an eternal soul is not a sale to be closed by the witness.
Ø We must proclaim the gospel, knowing that we cannot convert anyone, but allowing God to use us and work through us to accomplish His purposes.
God is glorified when He receives all the credit for the conversion of sinners.
Ø Some have said if you believe in election, you will not evangelize.
Do not tell that to Whitefield, Edwards, Carey, Judson, Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, Francis Schaeffer, D. James Kennedy, John Piper, or the Apostle Paul.
Acts 18:9-10 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.
Application
May God help all of us to be involved in the ministry of evangelism.
When the message of the cross captures your heart, your tongue will follow.
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[1] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2000), 64.
[2] This portion of the outline is a modified version of the Evangelism Explosion gospel outline by D. James Kennedy.
[3] Spurgeon, Charles H., Morning and Evening, March 6 Morning.
[4] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2000), 112.
