Spiritual Progress: Evangelism - Tim Conway

So, I do want us this morning

to give our attention to the topic

of evangelism.

If we think about our Christian life

and making more progress.

Let's think about reaching the lost

for these next few minutes.

Let's pray.

Father,

I can remember, think about

my own heart being stirred

reading the biography
of George Whitefield,

imagining him preaching
up and down this East Coast

to great crowds and people converted.

Men and women filling
the churches in those days.

We look at New England

and it seems to be a barren place.

But Lord, if You but speak the word,

just as it is in the desert
when the rains come,

You send those rains
and flowers break forth.

You can cause life.

And we ask You, Lord, please, life.

Spiritual life.

Conversions.

Lord, we pray that
this land may live again;

that the churches may be filled again;

that they may be praising the glories

of our Lord Jesus Christ again.

We ask You to have mercy upon our land.

But I pray, Father, that You'd
have mercy upon Your people.

May we once again have the fire,

the zeal

to take the Gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ

to the dying and to the perishing.

Lord, I pray that in some way

You would use the words

that are about to be said

to kindle a fire in my own heart,

my brothers and sisters in this place,

I ask it in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen.

Well, if you have your Bible,

I think one of the classic texts

on evangelism that we find in our Bibles

is in 1 Corinthians 9.

If you have your Bible, turn there.

1 Corinthians 9.

1 Corinthians 9:19.

The Apostle Paul says this,

"For though I am free from all,

I have made myself a servant to all

that I might win more of them."

He that winneth souls is wise.

This is not carnal
language to talk this way.

This is not Arminian
language to talk this way.

Winning souls.

Don't ever let your understanding

of the sovereignty of God

remove that kind of
verbiage from your language.

We can win souls.

Being soul-winners.

Paul - he made himself a servant to all

that he might win.

Winning - we think,

isn't that a strange word to apply

to going after souls?

It can become such common language,

maybe you don't even think about it.

We talk about winning - like a race.

Winning in sports.

To win a soul.

Over against what?
What's the opposite of winning?

If you don't win, you...?

Lose.

We lose people.

"To the Jews, I became as a Jew

in order to win Jews.

To those under the law,

I became as one under the law,

though not being myself under the law,

that I might win those under the law.

To those outside the law,
I became as one outside the law,

not being outside the law of God,
but under the law of Christ

that I might win those outside the law.

To the weak, I became weak,

that I might win the weak.

I have become all things to all people

that by all means I might save some,

and I do it all for the
sake of the Gospel."

Last night, Brother Mack

brought up C.T. Studd.

I remember several years ago,

Andy Hamilton speaking about C.T. Studd.

He said - and I saw this,

I think Dan Sem loaned
me C.T. Studd's biography

back when Dan was still in the states.

And Andy was referring to this,

that in the front part of the book,

you can find a picture of C.T. Studd

with all of his athletic friends
and his rich friends.

And you go to the end of the book,

and you find C.T. Studd
sitting around his hut in Africa

with all these converted -
were they pygmy's?

I don't remember.

C.T. Studd.

He had a way with words.

I want to give you a quote.

He was strong - sometimes caustic.

Sometimes undoubtedly offensive.

I think I chose some
words that are strong.

C.T. Studd said this,

"Christ's call is to feed the hungry,

not the full;

to save the lost, not the stiff-necked;

not to call the scoffers,

but sinners to repentance;

not to build and furnish
comfortable chapels,

churches, cathedrals at home,

in which to rock Christian
professors to sleep

by means of clever essays,

stereotyped prayers,

and artistic musical performances,

but to raise living churches of souls

among the destitute;

to capture men from the devil's clutches

and snatch them
from the very jaws of hell.

To enlist and train men
and women for Jesus

and make them into an
almighty army of God,

but this can only be accomplished

by a red hot, unconventional,

unfettered Holy Ghost religion

where neither church nor state,

neither man nor traditions

are worshiped or preached,

but only Christ and Him crucified."

He says this,
"Nail the colors to the mast.

That is the right thing to do.

And therefore, that is what we must do,

and do it now. What colors?

The colors of Christ.

The work He has given us to do.

The evangelization of the unevangelized.

Christ wants not nibblers of the possible,

but grabbers of the impossible,

by faith in the omnipotence,

fidelity, and wisdom
of the almighty Savior

who gave the command.

Is there a wall in our path?

By our God, we'll leap over it.

Are there lions and scorpions in our way?

We will trample them under our feet.

Does a mountain bar our progress?

Saying 'be thou removed
and cast into the sea'

we will march on.

Soldiers of Jesus never surrender.

Nail the colors to the mast."

Our churches should be armies

of evangelists, soul winners.

But why does it tend not to be?

I want to talk right here

by way of introduction to this message.

What are some of the reasons

that evangelism is not a priority

in many churches today?

And I'm talking especially
reformed churches.

Especially churches that lift up books

by Martyn Lloyd-Jones;

that lift up books by John G. Paton

or about him.

Why are some of the reasons?

And I'm not saying that
everybody here is unevangelistic.

And I'm not saying that
all of our churches

are unevangelistic.

But I'm just saying

that throughout those churches

that would say they
hold to this reformed faith

or identify with Calvinistic doctrine,

the truth is that many of the churches

in the reformed movement

are not very evangelistic

and I just want us to consider
some of the reasons why.

Number one.

Evangelism - think about it.

If I said, okay. We're breaking
up the service right now.

We're all heading out this door

and we're going to evangelize.

How are we going to do it?

We're going to stop people
on the street out here

and we're going to talk
to them about the Lord.

Immediately, some of you
would feel traumatized

by that reality.

There is a confrontational
sense to evangelism.

You have to break into
people's private space.

You have to confront people by a truth

that quite honestly, a lot of
people don't want to hear,

they find offensive.

There tends to be persecution.

People look at you. People laugh at you.

People will walk away from you.

People will argue with you.

There is a confrontational
nature to evangelism.

This man here who said

that he uses all these means

that he might save some,

if you follow his path
through the book of Acts,

you'll find that they bounce
stones off of his head.

Why? Because he went
places proclaiming Christ.

If you proclaim Christ, Jesus said this:

They are going to hate you.

If you're not of the world,

if you're not one of their own,

they're going to hate you.

And He said they hated Me,

and they're going to hate you too.

And that makes evangelism
right from the start

somewhat intimidating to know...

if you are a sheep, if you are a lamb,

and you go out into the midst of wolves,

you just take a lamb and you
throw it in the midst of wolves,

you know what happens.

There is something

that to our carnal self

and to our fleshly self,

we recoil from that.

Right?

I mean, who likes to be like a lamb

and just jump in the midst of wolves?

You don't like that.

That is not natural to like that.

And so there is that reality.

We don't like to make
others feel uncomfortable.

But here's the problem:

If you get a feeling for C.T. Studd,

it's: there is something
to be accomplished.

There is something the
Lord wants us to do.

God is on our side.

We can go do this.

And in the face of these things,

we need boldness.

You know what courage is.

Courage doesn't mean
that you're never afraid,

but it means that you press on

in the face of that fear.

We need courage.

Because God is on our side.

And Jesus said this.

We know this.

Jesus said that whoever is ashamed

"of Me and My words,

of him will the Son of Man be ashamed

when He comes in His glory

and the glory of the Father
and of the holy angels."

One of the things about living

in 21st century America

is that we have to admit it.

We tend to be affluent

and that affluency makes us soft.

And soft people don't
endure hardship well

and the truth is there
are certain hardships.

Yes, there are times you
can sit down with people.

There are times I have sat down

with my lost friends,
my lost family members,

my lost co-workers,

or even people in door-to-door ministry

or stopping somebody on the street.

And they are not antagonistic.

They don't want to argue.

They're very open, receptive,

and even grateful and thankful.

That happens sometimes.

But there are other times,
it does not happen.

There are times the door
will be slammed in your face.

There are times there will be persecution.

There are times - no, not in this country,

they're not going to put us to death,

but that softness in our life

can make it difficult to put ourselves

in difficult positions.

So that's one thing to think about.

We don't like this confrontational
nature of evangelism.

A second thing.

We feel inadequate.

That maybe is not a bad thing to feel.

But it's not a reason not to go.

It's not a reason to stay silent.

Inadequacy.

You know, if ever there was
a guy that was inadequate

to speak the Gospel to people,

I would say a guy that yesterday

didn't have any clothes on,

running around naked,

out in the midst of the tombs.

If we brought a guy in here

who yesterday was running around

in the cemetery down the street

with no clothes on,

and he was able to break out of jail

and bust handcuffs all the time,

and he came in here today

and he was wonderfully converted

and sitting in here clothed
and in his right mind,

you might say, well, you know,

if ever there's anybody a novice

who probably shouldn't be
out there talking to people,

it would be this guy.

And yet, it's exactly that kind of guy

that Jesus said, "No, you
can't get in the boat with Me.

You know what I want you to do?

I want you to go back home

and you tell those people

what great things the
Lord has done for you."

(incomplete thought)

We ought not to feel that our inadequacy

should keep us from doing it.

Yes, there is an inadequacy.

Paul himself said - the one who said

that he used all these means to win some -

he himself said:

who is sufficient for these things?

This is a weighty thing.

We're a fragrance of life to some;

a fragrance of death to the others.

But listen, yes, we feel inadequate.

But inadequacy didn't keep Jesus

from telling the converted demoniac

to go back to his hometown
and tell all the people.

Certainly if the demoniac was charged

by the Lord to do that,

then everyone of us should
be in the same place

to do the same.

How about a third reason

we're not more involved, more committed

to this evangelistic endeavor?

We can get discouraged by
an apparent lack of results.

I was just talking to a
couple brothers last night.

We're going to go down
to New York later today.

And I know there's a group
of brethren down there.

They've been going at it.

Trying to plant a church for four years.

Perhaps, there isn't much seen of fruit.

Let me tell you something.

When our church started,

we went 16 months -

no additions to the church.

In fact, we had subtractions
from the church.

You know what happened when William Carey

went over to India?

He preached and he preached.

And he set forth the truth.

And he began to acquire languages.

And he set up some indigo
(is that the right word?) -

he was trying to produce income

so that the churches back in England

didn't have to support him.

And he sought to be self-supporting.

And he was getting the Gospel out.

And you know it was seven years

before he had one convert.

If you've ever read the biography,

one man.

I've been at that location

there (incomplete thought) in Calcutta.

I've been there at the place on the river

where he baptized that guy.

Seven years.

Seven years.

(incomplete thought)

I preached right in
front of that baptismal

where Adoniram Judson was baptized.

I think William Marshman
baptized him there.

Adoniram Judson.

Six to seven years of laboring in Burma.

He left Calcutta.

He went over to Burma.

Providential events - he landed there.

Years.

You're in New England.

It can feel like it's burnt over here.

The Gospel was preached.

But you remember this,

there wasn't just a first Great Awakening.

There was a second Great Awakening.

There were revivals in the 1850's.

What am I saying here?

There's a cycle.

Just because the Gospel
flourished here once

and now it may not be,

does not mean that it may not again.

And even if it doesn't again,

you can look around the world

and you can find local
places where God moves.

And you remember this,

that when they walked in there to Samaria,

and all those Samaritans were coming out,

Jesus turned to His disciples

and said, "Look, you're reaping a harvest

right here where others labored."

It may be that in our day, we labor.

It may be in our day,
we lay out the Gospel seed.

And it may be that in our lifetime,

we don't see it bring forth a harvest.

But it may in the next generation.

We may take part.

There are those that sow.

There are those that reap.

Look, it's a big picture.

It's a big package.

But I can tell you this,

that after 16 months,

we began to see people added.

And we began to see people converted.

In fact, when Charles Leiter came down,

I remember him saying

speaking to people in our church,

he said most of the people had been saved

in the last three years.

The Lord began bringing us a bunch.

I'm not saying it was all necessarily

an outworking of our evangelism.

It was just that God was saving.

I'll tell you quite honestly,

Paul Washer's shocking youth message

seemed to save so many people

across this United States of ours

and around the world,

that churches were springing
up in different places

and continue to through
the Internet ministry.

And you can say,
"I'm not a Paul Washer."

Well, no, neither am I, but that's okay.

Neither was the demoniac.

Well, I don't know. Maybe he was.

But brethren, I know this.

Jesus said I've got these sheep here,

but I've got other sheep.

And I need to bring them too.

And you can be sure of this,

God has an elect people.
They're going to get saved.

And I'll tell you how they get saved.

They get saved through the
preaching of the Gospel.

Jesus said He's bringing them in.

He's going to gather them.

You know, Isaiah came along.

He said who has believed our report?

It's true, there are times we wonder

Lord, is anybody saved?

Is anybody getting saved?

There can be dry periods.

But you know, when Jesus wanted to give

a lesson on evangelism,

you know what He did?

He said hey guys, throw that net

over the side of the boat.

Peter's like Lord, we fished all night.

There was no catch.

Lord, we're fisherman.
We fished last night.

That's when you fish.

You're telling us to throw it out here.

You're a carpenter.

Anyway, they knew He
was the Lord. They did it.

And they pulled in such a catch.

And Jesus was not doing that

simply to give them some
extra cash in their pocket.

He was doing that as a lesson.

"I am going to make you fishers of men."

And the truth is that in the very place

on the very Sea of Galilee

where there was apparently little success,

no success the night before,

that day there was lots of success.

You know what we don't know?

We don't know from one day to the next

when God is going to break forth.

We know this,

that the way He breaks forth is through

the proclaimation of the truth.

You go back to the day of Pentecost.

3,000 people are saved.

But you know what?

If those disciples would have sat

in the Upper Room,
it wouldn't have happened.

Why? Because God is a God of means.

The men, the women, had to come down.

120 needed to come down
from the Upper Room

and do what? Proclaim Christ.

Proclaim His death and His resurrection.

And through that, God
brought in a great harvest.

Or how about another reason?

I'm afraid that this is a big one.

We incorrectly assume

that because we hold
to the doctrines of grace,

and because we can almost -

maybe not almost -

maybe over the top;

we can pride ourselves:

Well, we hold to the doctrine of Spurgeon.

Calvin. Luther.

And sometimes we can think

that because we have the right doctrine,

that automatically guarantees success.

Look, we need to have the right doctrine.

Undoubtedly, we need to have it right.

You know what Scripture says.

We're to contend for the faith

that was once for all
delivered to the saints.

We certainly don't want to depart.

We don't want to go off into error.

We don't want to minimize the importance

of having the truth.

But this Gospel that we are perfecting;

these doctrines of justification

that we want to work out to perfection

and sanctification and propitiation

and regeneration -

and we want to be able to articulate

all the doctrines right.

Listen, if we just pride ourselves

and carry around our big stack of books

all the time and we don't go out the door,

I'll guarantee you,
we will not see success.

Our churches will end up dying.

Now, I know today, we can reach people

other ways than by going
on our feet out the door.

And of course, we can write books

and books can reach people.

But you know what the reality is?

The people that are over across the street

in that bar right now,

they are not going to grab C.T. Studd,

Paton, or Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

They're not going to come over here

and buy the books off that table.

Maybe on the Internet -

the Internet is an incredibly useful tool.

They search. They come across things.

A lot of people were looking for

what they didn't expect to find

when they came across that
"Shocking Youth Message"

on the Internet.

Or they're looking for other things

or they're feeling an
emptiness in their soul.

There's enough stuff on the Internet

about sexual immorality and the sin of it

and people stumble across that.

But we don't want to assume.

Brethren, we don't want to assume.

You know, we can get to the place

where we're kind of like John and James.

Lord, we saw somebody out there

and they weren't one of us.

They were casting out demons

and we tried to forbid them.

We don't want them doing that.
They're not one of us.

They're not in our inner circles.

We don't want to think like that.

You remember, it's not having
the right books on your shelf

that's the real issue.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said

to the spiritual elites in His day,

"I desire mercy and not sacrifice."

Just remember that.

We need the right doctrine,

but if that right doctrine

is separated from showing mercy -

it's a mercy to take the
Gospel out that door.

And He desires mercy.

He went out that door.

And you remember when He spoke that,

He was eating with the tax collectors

and the sinners.

He desires mercy.

How about another reason

that we're sometimes slow to take up

the evangelistic endeavor?

Hyper-Calvinism.

That's one of the dangers
embracing the truths.

You know, we can distort
the truths of Scripture

to where we come up with conclusions

that we should never come up with.

We can grab hold of
the doctrine of election

and end up where God
never intended us to end up.

Listen, Romans 9.

We often go to Romans 9.

We say, see?

God loves who He's going to love

and He hates who He's going to hate.

He has compassion upon whom
He's going to have compassion,

and He hardened Pharaoh.

He showed mercy to Moses.

Isn't that what Scripture teaches?

I trust, do we not believe that God

is altogether in control and sovereign?

Do we not believe that?

I hope you believe that.

But do you know in one of the most

sovereignty-emphasized,

sovereignty-rich portions of Scripture,

have you ever really listened

to the heart of Paul there?

He said when it comes to my brethren

according to the flesh,

he said I could wish myself accursed

and cut off from Christ

for the sake of my brethren

according to the flesh.

When you get over to the
beginning of chapter 10,

he says my prayer for
them is they be saved.

Did he look at the
sovereignty of God and say:

Well, God's going to do
what God's going to do

and if these guys aren't elect,

well, God's just going to
damn them and so be it.

Just cold and calloused
and hyper-Calvinistic.

That's not what you find.

You find his heart gushed for these.

Did he recognize God was sovereign?

He did.

But his desire was, oh,
that they might be saved.

I pray that they might be saved.

If I could be cut off
from Christ for them,

I would do that.

Before we preach the
doctrines that Paul preached,

it's important that we have
the heart that Paul had.

Another reason.

Doesn't God say "come
out from among them"?

He does.

He does, and the problem is

that what can happen

is we step back from the world.

We homeschool our kids.

Everything's protected.

We do our things in this sterilized

Christian culture.

We step back from the world.

It says be separate from them.

But you remember this.

Brothers and sisters,

what did they accuse Jesus of being?

A friend of who?

Tax collectors and sinners.

Do you know Luke 15?

Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon

called "The Approachableness of Christ"

from Luke 15:1.

You know what it says there?

It says that these tax collectors

and these sinners were coming to Christ.

They found Christ approachable.

And He was glad to be with them.

What would that be like

to go to a party at Matthew's house?

With a bunch of sinners?

Real, red-blooded sinners.

You think they might have
slipped some of them?

And spoken profanity?

Probably.

But I also think that
being in the presence

of the Lord Jesus Christ -

that had a profound impact on people.

But He was there. He was there.

Did He enter into their sin?

No, but He entered into
where sinners were.

He rubbed shoulders with them.

He was a friend of sinners.

He didn't become sinful

by their sinful practices,

but He definitely was in their midst.

How about this one?

My brothers and sisters,

we can forget about the
absolute seriousness.

We can forget about the severity

of God's wrath, of God's judgment.

Very well known quote from Spurgeon.

You probably all have heard this.

"If sinners will be damned,

at least let them leap to hell

over our bodies.

If they will perish, let them perish

with our arms about their knees

imploring them to stay."

Have you ever read, "He will tread

the winepress of the fury

of the wrath of God the Almighty"?

Have you ever read things like that?

This is true.

Jesus telling sinners,

"Depart from Me

you workers of iniquity."

That's reality.

We have to think like that.

When you see people,

they're not just part of the scenery.

Well, here we are in Portland, Maine.

People are vacationing.

Well, it's part of the picture.

People are walking by in shorts.

People are walking by in their vacation

casual attire.

They've got their sandals on

and their Hawaiian shirt.

You know, it's part of the picture.

There they are at the lighthouse.

It's just part of the picture.

These are souls

who in very short years from now,

they're going to be in flames.

They know not the Lord Jesus Christ.

They have not sought salvation in Him.

They are going to perish.

And you know what the vast majority

do not know the Gospel that you know.

The vast majority of those people

have not heard what you've
heard and rejected it.

Some have but the most haven't.

The most haven't heard.

They don't know.

Nobody's told them.

They don't have anybody in their family

who's a Christian.

They don't know.

And hell is real.

We forget the severity of God's wrath.

It's eternal.

How about this?

Jesus said that the love of many

will grow cold.

Sometimes that's the issue.

Our love is cold.

Do you know when you're reading

the Sermon on the Mount,

our Lord said this:

"If you love those who love you,

what reward do you have?"

He said, "Do not even the
tax collectors do the same?"

Think about that.

We do love our children.
We do love our parents.

We do love our close friends.

We love our husbands, our wives.

That's normal.

The lost do that.

The tax collectors do that.

Our love as Christians -

we're to love our enemies.

We're to love the souls

of the people around us.

If anybody is to be a lover of mankind,

it's the disciples of Jesus Christ.

He has saved us to love.

The first aspect, the first characteristic

of the fruit of the Spirit of God is love.

It is a loving thing

to take the Gospel to people;

to give them that one message,

that one remedy that would deliver

their souls from the
wrath of Almighty God.

Don't let your love grow cold.

One of the best ways to keep that love hot

and keep that love fervant

is to stay close to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why? Because as we
behold Him, we become like Him.

From one degree of glory to the next.

That glory. He had a love for sinners.

He came to seek and save the lost.

When you're around Jesus,

you're around Him who is love.

You're around Him who loved sinners

and gave Himself for sinners.

And you spend lots of time beholding Him

and in His presence,

and that will begin to affect you

and permeate your own person.

How about a low esteem
for the glory of God?

I read somewhere like in Romans 15

that Jesus became a servant.

Why? To gather in the Gentiles

for the glory of God.

You remember the Moravian cry?

May the Lamb who was slain

receive the reward of His suffering.

Do you know Jesus Christ went to the cross

to pay His life's blood for a people?

Those people are out here.

Those elect people are out here.

And we don't know where they are.

There's no brand on their forehead.

It could be any of them.

But I'll tell you this,

as elect as they may be

and as much as Christ may
have spilled His blood for them,

they will not be brought until they hear

of a proclaimed Christ.

That's just a reality.

And if you don't do it,

then He'll use somebody else to do it.

And that brings me to my next point.

We forget about God's method of salvation.

Yes, we preach in the church.

But have you ever read?

The primary reason that
we preach in the church

is for what?

Ephesians 4.

Why were pastors/teachers
given to the church?

To equip the saints

for the work of the ministry.

You know what?

People do come into churches

and they do get saved.

People do get saved within
the walls of churches.

But, that is not what Jesus Christ

told us in the Great Commission.

He didn't say:

Stay within the confines

of your church building walls,

your meeting place, the chapel,

and preach the Gospel forever and always

right there in that context.

He did not say that.

He said, "Go!"

Is that not what the parable says?

Go into the highways

and the hedges

and compel them to come in.

It's not: Wait for them to come in.

Because listen, the reality is -

we were just up at that
lighthouse yesterday.

I have that imagery in my mind.

There was a race.
There was all sorts of people.

They're moving all around there.

All sorts of people.

By and large, the majority of which

do not know the Lord.

Are they going to come in here?

You know the reality.

90% of the people in Portland, Maine

will not come into a church.

And 99.9% would never come

into a church like this.

We are supposed to go to the nations

and make disciples.

That's our calling.

Remember, go.

Go to them.

Go find them out.

Don't simply wait for them to come to you.

That's great when people do come to us

and you should pray that
people will come to us.

You should pray for opportunities.

You should pray that people

will come and sit next
to you on the airplane

or sit next to you on the bus

or be next to you in the line

in the supermarket.

You can pray for opportunities like that.

But the reality is we are to go.

It just occurs to me as I think about it.

Listen, we are told to visit the widow.

But do you know what?
If you don't visit the widow,

there's maybe some social
program here in Portland

that would send some assistance to them.

You may not visit the orphan,

but the state's got a system set up

that deals with orphans.

That's a reality.

If you don't feed the poor,

well, some soup kitchen -

it might be secular -

down the street may do that.

But I'll tell you this,

if you don't preach the Gospel,

let me ask you this,

who is going to?

Who is going to preach the Gospel?

What? Are you going to
wait for the Arminians?

You say, well, we don't believe
they have all the truth.

We don't believe they
have the right truth.

You think the Catholics?

We don't believe they have the truth?

Are you going to let the JW's do it?

That's anathema.

We don't want them coming to our door.

See, the Mormons will run the streets.

The JW's will run the streets.

And we sit in here and we say

we've got the right stack of books.

We've got the right theology on our shelf,

and then what?

Are we going to sit tight?

We're going to let the
Mormons do it, the JW's do it.

We're going to let them
run up and down the streets.

But then what?

We're going to sit here,
curse the darkness,

but we'll stay put.

And if some lost person ventures

into our church, we all get excited.

We all key in on them.

That is good if somebody
comes in like that.

You key in on them.

But you know what?

We are to preach here

to equip the saints for the work

of the ministry.

Whatever ministry.

Now look, I'm not saying
that everybody's ministry

is necessarily and particularly

and specifically to go out

and to go up and down the streets

and to do door-to-door ministry.

There's many ways to evangelize.

There's many ways to reach people.

You may feel very comfortable

in a prison.

Some will not feel comfortable.

You may feel more comfortable
in the nursing home.

Some people - that's
not where they want to go.

Maybe as a teacher.

Mothers, you can pour
yourself into your neighbors,

into your own children,

into your family members.

There's all manner of ways.

We've got a world all around us.

How about this? We fail to realize

our neighbor's blood

is seriously our own concern.

Now listen, Paul said this

twice in the book of Acts.

He said, "When they opposed

and reviled him, he shook out his garments

and said to them,

'Your blood be on your own heads.'"

Listen to what he said.

"I am innocent.

From now on, I'll go to the Gentiles."

You need to stop and hear those words.

"I am innocent."

What is he saying?

I'll tell you what he's saying.

That if I would not have
proclaimed the Gospel to them,

I would not be innocent.

Their blood is on their heads

because I preached the Gospel to them.

I'm innocent.

Their blood's on their own head.

You know what he's saying?

If I wouldn't have
preached the Gospel to them,

I would not be innocent,

and their blood would be on me.

Listen to this.

"Therefore, I testify to you this day,

I am innocent of the blood of all of you.

For I did not shrink from declaring to you

the whole counsel of God."

That he said to the Ephesian elders.

What Paul is saying -

Paul walked around with this sense

that if I don't proclaim the whole
counsel of God to people,

their blood is on me.

Can you imagine?

You have the truth.

You live in a neighborhood

or you live in a city,

your neighbors don't even
know you're a Christian.

If you take verses like this seriously,

you have to start to believe

that if you live your life

and you don't touch those
around you with the truth,

you're not innocent.

Let us be innocent in this.

We've been talking about prayer.

Isaiah said this, "When you
spread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you.

Even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood."

Did you know our churches' hands

can be full of blood?

Because we're not innocent.

Because there's people all around us,

and we've been silent.

Our silence can cause other people's blood

to be on our heads.

You know, I'm really convinced of this,

that when churches are
very prayerfully pursuing souls

they are going to find
that the church's prayers -

you notice the connection.

You pray many prayers,

but I'm not answering those prayers

because your hands are full of blood.

Well, that may be abortion.

It may be actual bloodshed,

but people's blood can be upon us

by other ways than just murder.

People's blood can be on your head

if you withhold the cure.

How about this?

We become overly involved in our church.

On the inside, we get problems.

In fact, my first pastor in Texas

before we went out and started Grace -

Pat Horner -

I asked him one time,

brother, what's the most difficult thing

in your estimation about
being in the ministry?

And he said trying to cope

with the issues inside the church

and still stay outwardly focused.

There are problems in the church.

Jesse was saying it in his messages to us

that oftentimes, you know,

you can come into the pastorate

and you can think, yes, we're
going to guard the church

from all these heresies that
come at us from the outside,

and you end up recognizing

that like only one-tenth of one percent

of the problems that arise in the church

come from the outside.

Most all the problems come from within.

And as we're dealing
with the problems within,

you've got disciplinary situations.

You've got possible schisms

and uprisings,

or possible church splitting situations.

Different things come up.

Heresies arise within the church.

Problematic people
arise within the church.

People who are false brethren are there.

Wolves arise even in the leadership.

You've got to remove somebody

from the diaconate or from the eldership.

You've got difficulties.

Scandals arise.

Things you just didn't imagine

just come at you.

Problems arise.

And they can be very distracting.

And as a pastor, you
can spend a lot of time

losing sleep over protecting
the unity of the church,

protecting the church.

And suddenly, you're not thinking about

the people perishing all around you.

You're just trying to survive.

And you're trying to
help the church survive.

Or there's this:

We have a misconception

about who should be involved.

Now I talked about inadequacy before,

but sometimes we think:
Well, I'm not an evangelist.

I'm not a pastor.

And in some circles -

maybe even in many
of the reformed circles,

the mindset is: the pastor
should be doing that.

The pastor does that.

Look, the church is not
a one man ministry.

The pastor's primary responsibility

is to equip the saints

for the work of the ministry.

All of you have a responsibility

to be doing the ministries

that God has given to you.

God has given certain spiritual
gifts to each one of you.

Some are more evangelistic.

And you know what?

Even if you feel like Moses -

you know, you're tongue-tied

and you feel like you need your Aaron,

you can pray.

You can pray for souls.

You can attend the prayer meeting.

Prayer meetings should be rich

in praying for souls.

Listen, if in your prayer meetings,

you're praying more for health issues

than you are for souls and for salvation,

it's wrong. Get that thing right.

Look, all of us are going to die.

All of us are going to get a disease

or have some kind of accident

or some situation from which

we will not escape death.

We're all headed towards that.

I'm not saying you can't pray -

I didn't find Paul praying for Timothy

when he had some stomach ailment.

He just said drink some wine.

Here's some Advil.

But now, forget the sore toe.

Let's pray. Our children are perishing!

Our parents are perishing!

Time is ticking.

God forbid...

let the hospitals be filled,

but if we're in a time of revival,

then praise the Lord!

If people are saved and
they're on a sickbed,

that's a good place to be.

Saved! No matter what your situation,

if you're saved, you're safe!

You're secure.

You're rescued. You're redeemed.

How about an undue emphasis on academics?

And listen to me, undue emphasis.

Should we study? Yes.

Should we study to show
ourselves approved?

Absolutely.

Is there a knowledge that
needs to be increased?

Absolutely.

There is a knowledge of God

that Paul prays that we would have.

There is a knowledge that puffs up.

How can you tell when we have reached

a level of undue academics?

I would say this,

when we're learning all the time,

but nothing ever gets done.

We're learning, learning,
learning, learning,

but we're not turning
the world upside down.

Remember how they talked
about those early Christians?

These men have turned
the world upside down!

Listen, let's learn.

Let's learn. Let's study.

But so as to turn the world upside down

for the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we just study, study, study,

read our books, read our books,

so that we can argue on the Internet,

get on Facebook and argue

and try to win the doctrinal battle,

we've got it all wrong.

How about this one?

Bad leadership.

Hebrews 13: "Remember your leaders,

imitate their faith."

Some leaders don't have any faith

that God's going to save anybody.

And you can see it by the
way they lead the church

and by the actions.

They don't give much concern.

They don't talk about souls being rescued.

Or there's this:

We're lost.

And therefore, without Christian faith,

without Christian compassion and love.

Spurgeon said this:

"Have you no wish for others to be saved?

Then you are not saved. Be sure of that."

Boy, he was dogmatic there.

How about another quote from C.T. Studd?

"Too long have we been waiting

for one another to begin.

The time for waiting is past.

The hour of God has struck.

War is declared.

In God's holy name,
let us arise and build.

The God of heaven -

He will fight for us as we for Him.

We will not build on the sand,

but on the bedrock
of the sayings of Christ

and the gates and minions of hell

shall not prevail against us.

Should such men as we fear?

Before the whole world, I,

before the sleepy, lukewarm,

faithless, namby-pamby Christian world -

we will dare to trust our God.

We will venture our all for Him.

We will live and we will die for Him.

And we will do it with
His joy unspeakable,

singing aloud in our hearts.

We will a thousand times sooner

die trusting only in our God

than live trusting in man.

And when we come to this position,

the battle is already won.

And the end of the
glorious campaign in sight.

We will have the real holiness of God,

not the sickly stuff of
talk and dainty words

and pretty thoughts.

We will have a masculine holiness.

One of daring faith and
works for Jesus Christ."

Now, that was the introduction.

Here - and this will be fast -

Paul said that he used all means.

Let's just think about that.

He used all means that he might save some.

Now, let's not be cowards.

Can you talk like Paul talked?

"That I might save some."

Can you talk that way?

We don't talk that way.
We don't like to talk that way.

Paul talked that way.

"That I might save some."

That he might save some.

What I want to emphasize
is the means there.

Obviously, Paul knew that salvation

rested with God.

If anybody knew it, he knew it.

But when he said that
he's using all the means

that he might save some,

recognize that.

There is a place for means.

We need to use the means.

I was talking to a brother yesterday.

He's a fisherman.

He told me he fishes for trout,

for perch, for landlocked salmon -

I think were the three fish.

You know, since I've lived in Texas,

I haven't fished once.

But when I grew up in Michigan,
I fished a lot.

A lot of lakes.

I knew this.

That when I went fishing -
my friends and I -

we were all into lures.

What kind of lure have you got?

We wanted the good lure.

And you know, you use those lures.

They may look real good.

Some of the worst, shabby looking things

were amazing to catch all sorts of fish.

You didn't care what they looked like,

how much they cost.

You cared if they caught fish.

Maybe you used live bait.
You wanted to use what worked.

None of us ever said:

Well, God is sovereign,

and so if that fish was foreordained

to come over and sink its lips

around my hook,

it's going to happen.

And so whether I put
a night crawler on there

or I squish a ball of dough
around that treble hook...

nobody talks like that.

If you're a fly fisherman for trout,

you want the perfect fly.

It's no different. God uses means.

And those who fish with the best bait

and the best lures,

catch the most fish.

That's the reality.

That's the way it is with
evangelism as well.

Paul didn't say: God's sovereign,

so good, let's sit back,
relax, watch God save.

This should impact us.

We need to use means.

Now, let me talk about means.

Paul could plant.

Apollos could water.

But I'll tell you in the end,

we don't want to make light
of God's sovereignty in this.

Brethren, I encourage you,

pray, pray, pray.

Evangelize and pray.

Evangelize and pray.

Speak of the cross to your lost neighbors,

your lost family members,

and pray and pray and fast.

Call your churches to times

of dedicated prayer and fasting.

And plead for souls.

Plead for souls.

As I said it before,

if your prayer meetings begin to diverge

into praying for all sorts
of unnecessary things -

they're praying for Aunt Tilda's dog.

Somebody stand up and say:

Enough! Stop!

Stop.

The world is perishing.

And we can call upon the Lord God

and He said:
if you ask, you shall receive.

Put salvation right in there.

If we ask God to save -

if you ask, you will receive.

Jesus said you ask whatsoever you will

in My name, He said, "I will do it."

Did Jesus Christ come to save sinners?

Did He spill His blood?

He did.

Call upon Him.

Lord - go back to the order and argument.

Lay your arguments out there.

Lay your arguments why He should save.

Make the case.

Do you not have a case for why
He should save your children?

Have you not worked on thinking through

like Mueller did -

he would search the Scriptures for days

to come up with a promise.

Have you never searched for those promises

for your lost family members?

Your lost co-workers? Your lost neighbors?

The lost citizens of wherever you live?

Have you not thought that way?

We need to be thinking that way.

We need to come up with our case

and lay it before the Lord.

Lord, save sinners!

Save them!

We need to pray.

You talk about the means.

Lay hold on the Lord in prayer.

Fast.

Call the churches to fasting.

Why? For souls.

Listen, if the church isn't growing,

call the church to prayer and fasting.

You say, we've done that.

Continue.

Lay, cling, hold on to Him like Jacob

until you get the blessing.

Hold on to Him.

It may be 7 years like it
was with William Carey.

I guarantee you he was on his knees a lot.

Adoniram Judson - these men.

These men were prayer warriors.

And during these seasons
of drought and famine,

where would you find them?

Undoubtedly you'd find them on their knees

pleading: Lord, save this dark land.

Save these people.

(incomplete thought)

You want an argument?

Just look to the cross!

What an argument to plead!

Lord, You sent Your Son to suffer.

To suffer and to die.

Prayer.

Ask yourself this:

What message is most
likely to bait, capture?

You know what jumps out at me?

When you get to the end of John's Gospel,

John says the Lord Jesus Christ,

He did lots of miracles,

lots of signs.

We couldn't write enough books

to contain all that He did.

John said this:

I have given you a couple handfuls

of His miracles.

Why?

So that you might believe He's the Christ,

the Son of God, and in believing,

you might have life.

And you know what?

On that same note,

Jesus - He looked at those cities

in Galilee,

and He found fault with them

because they did not repent

when they saw the miracles, the works,

the signs that He did.

He expected them to repent.

You know what you want to do?

Show them the miraculous Christ.

Show them His miracles.

Show them what He did.

Tell them how He healed.

Tell them what He did for the blind.

Tell them what He did for the leper.

Tell them that He raised the dead.

Tell them that He Himself
came forth from the dead.

Show Him. Tell Him.

Do you know what His first miracle was?

Tell the world that.

He turned water into wine.

Tell people.

I mean, you can go to somebody's door

here in Portland.

Do you know the first thing

that Jesus Christ did
when He did miracles?

He turned water into wine.

You have any idea what that speaks?

What kind of Savior we have!

You tell them.

That is calculated to be good bait.

You show them the supernatural Christ.

You tell them about Him.

You tell them repent.

Change their mind.

You believe in this one.

You know, recently, just dealing

with that word "repentance."

I was down in Nicaragua

and we were having a module there

and we were talking about
evangelizing people

and telling people to repent.

You know, that idea is a change of mind.

Or actually the English word: to rethink.

Rethink and believe.

So often, we talk about turning from sin,

but the real issue is

it's the change of mind behind
why we turn from sin.

And this guy said,
you know, it's offensive

to tell people that.

And that's right. It is offensive.

When we say to the sinner:

you think all is well.

You need to rethink that.

It's not well.

You may be vacationing up here

from New York or New Hampshire

or wherever.

You may think it's great.

You can go out to the oceanside

and look at lighthouses

and enjoy the summer.

But it's not well.

You may be driving a nice car

and God may have heaped
many of His kindnesses on you,

but it is not well.

He has shown His kindnesses to you

and those kindnesses are meant

to lead you to repentance.

They're not to make
you think that it's okay.

You need to rethink that. It is not okay.

Do not think that going
out in your rebellion

like you are and trusting
in your own good works

that it's all going to
work out in the end;

don't go on thinking that
God is smiling at you

no matter how you live

because that is not right.

And that is wrong.

And stop thinking little thoughts

about this miraculous working Christ

as though you don't
need Him in your life.

Rethink that because you do.

You need a substitutionary atonement.

You need somebody to pay for your sin.

Is that offensive? Yes, that's offensive,

because it attacks man right
at his self-righteousness.

And you're touching the very
heart of the sinner there.

That's offensive to sinners.

Remember this:

Not one size fits all.

Look, I like watching Ray Comfort.

I appreciate his interaction.

He's sharp on his feet.

But did you hear Paul?

To these people over here,
I became like that.

To these people over here,
I became like that.

To these people over here,
I became like them.

Have you ever noticed

Jesus didn't have one simple system?

You can't find where He said:

"have you ever lied?"

Yes, I've lied.

"Have you ever committed adultery?"

Well, no, I've never done that.

"Have you ever looked at
a woman with lust?"

Well, yeah, I've done that.

You know, you kind of go
through the little system there.

The Bible doesn't have a system.

And so be careful there.

"To the Jews, I became as a Jew."

To those under the law, he
became as one under the law.

(incomplete thought)

Jesus used many different approaches.

Not just one system.

You know what's really important

is that we know our Bibles.

That's what's important -

that you know truth.
You have a good grasp.

Really look at how Jesus spoke to people.

Look at how the early
preachers spoke to people.

I would say this: throw seed everywhere.

Brethren, everywhere.

Have tracts. Have DVD's.

Spread it everywhere.

Get on the Internet.

Have an Internet presence.

People use the Internet. Use it.

Use the airwaves.

Use the radio.

Go everywhere.

You remember how the guy sowing the seed

in the parable of the soils -

he just threw it everywhere.

He threw it on the hard-packed path.

He threw it everywhere!

On the rocky soil.

Over here where the
weeds were likely to grow.

He's just liberal. Throw it everywhere.

Throw it everywhere.

And then come back into
the prayer meetings

and pray over that seed.

Water it with your prayers.

Just spread it everywhere.

Everywhere. Everywhere.

I'll say this again, new Christians

can make some of the best evangelists.

And we could go back to the demoniac.

Let me say this.

Willing to become dirty.

Jesse was telling us last night,

he was proclaiming the truth

and some guy out of a gang got converted.

And he said it was Christmas Eve

and he gets a call from this guy

and this guy's coming over
with his thug friends.

And it's like: we're coming.

And Jesse wasn't expecting them.
You're coming?

(incomplete thought)

I can imagine. You have a Christmas tree.

So you've got the picture in your mind.

Jesse's family - all happy.

Middle class American family

sitting around and a Christmas tree

and it's Christmas Eve.

And then the gansters call.

We're coming!

If you want to reach sinners,

you're going to get dirty.

Listen, just a snapshot.

Luke 7.

Geoffrey Thomas was at
our conference recently.

He recommended a book on evangelism.

I read it.

The author of that book targets Luke 7.

It's fantastic. Why?
What do you have there?

You have a Roman centurion

and Jesus is dealing with him.

Now you have to recognize this.

As a Jew, Gentiles were unclean.

They were defiling.

So Jesus, He gives Himself

to the Roman centurion.

And then, there's the widow of Nain

right there in Luke 7.

She's got a dead son.

Jesus touches - that's unclean.

And then you think: John the Baptist.

He sent two of his disciples to go and say

"Jesus, are you the one?

Or should we be looking for another?"

And He said, "You go tell him..."

And one of the things He said

is lepers - you remember the leper?

Lepers are cleansed.

He touched the lepers.

A woman of the city - a sinner -

there in Luke 7:37.

The defilement of a prostitute.

Jesus gave Himself to the defiled.

I know it, brethren,
there's something in us

that we want to stay clean.

We have a sister in our church -

she's married now, but
back when she was single,

we have a women's Grace House

in the East side of our city.

We take care of these ladies.

She was living over there

or helping over there - I forget which,

but she really would reach
out to these children.

This is a bad part of town.

And these kids were often dirty

and smelled horrible.

And she'd pull up and they'd be so excited

because she poured out love to these kids.

And they would come running

and they would jump in her car

when she opened the door

and jump in her lap.

And they're like wearing clothes

that haven't been washed in -

who knows? Forever.

Covered with all sorts of grime

and nastiness.

And she just is all over them.

What a picture of Christlikeness!

(incomplete thought)

Don't be weird.

I mean, when it comes to evangelism,

yes, Christians are different,

but don't be weird.

We need to get out into the world.

And just remember this.

Sometimes when we get a person,

we feel like we've got to take them

from A to Z.

Preach Genesis to Revelation.

You don't have to do that.

I remember Richard Bennett -

converted Catholic priest.

He's written a book

on converted priests and converted nuns.

None of them were ever saved

hearing one message

or one Gospel presentation.

In fact, I've heard the same

with regards to Muslims.

Muslims are not converted in one message

or one encounter.

Typically, on average, it's months

or years of being exposed to the truth.

We recognize this:

we are one piece in the machinery of God.

You don't have to say everything.

And I would say this:

Never say more than
what people want to hear.

You remember?

Shake the dust off your feet.

You remember texts like that?

Or don't throw your pearls before swine.

Listen, if people want to hear,

you recognize Paul said,

you don't count yourself worthy of this.

You remember? I think that's Acts 14?

Not worthy.

You know if people want to argue,

people want to scoff.

There's a place to shake the dust off.

You know if you're talking to somebody

and it's obvious that
they're not interested,

you can just say,

apparently you have some things

that are more important right now

and you can go.

I mean, look, what we're bringing

is the treasure of all treasures,

and if people aren't interested,

you don't need to keep going.

You don't need to go on and on.

Sometimes we have this idea

that when people are rejecting,

well, if we could just say more,

at some point they're
going to be receptive.

You know what you typically find?

Is the people that are receptive,

they're people that God
has been working on already.

Now, they may be antagonistic.

It may be something that's touching them

at very sensitive points.

You need to be discerning,

but if people just aren't interested,

you don't need to keep
going on and on and on.

I would say this:

Scrap the friendship evangelism approach.

Some people are all about that.

Look, it's great to
evangelize your friends,

but that is not the only approach.

When Jesus found the woman at the well,

that wasn't an old friend.

He didn't say, well,
I better camp out here

for months on end to befriend this lady

before I bring the Gospel to her.

That's not necessary.

And just one last thought here.

Disciple the lost.

That's what the Great Commission is.

We are to make disciples.

I would say this: disciple the lost.

We've got to get away from that one,

radical decision mindset of evangelism.

That's not what Jesus said.

He didn't say go out

and speak the Gospel and hope to get

these immediate decisions

where somebody falls down on their knees

and says the sinner's prayer.

He said make disciples.

If you're going to disciple the lost,

that means that what you're doing

is you're teaching.

You're seeking to persuade them -

just like Paul, just like Jesus did

to the rich, young ruler.

What did He do? Did He say,

fall down on your knees
and say this little prayer?

He didn't.

He's looking at his life.

He's talking to him about the law

and what's good.

And He says, "Follow Me."

That's what being
a disciple is. Follow Me.

And if you want to follow Me,

here's the path to that.

You go sell all that you have.

You pour into these people.

You're pointing them to following Christ.

That's always the issue.

Follow Christ. Trust Him.

Call upon Him.

Call upon Him.

Ask Him to forgive you of your sins.

Find what He says in the Word

and ask Him to give
you the strength to do it.

Look to Him and trust Him

and follow Him.

This is what He says.

You've got sin? Yes, you've got sin.

You confess it to Him.

Take it to Him.

Take all your weakness.

Take all your doubts.

Take your fears.

Take your hatred. You hate Him?

Some people like Martin Luther,

he said he hated God.

You take all that to Him.
You confess it to Him.

You send them to the Lord.
Send them to the Lord.

Send them to the Lord.

If they've got questions,

you send them to the Lord.

If they've got doubts,
you send them to the Lord.

Ask the Lord.

Ask the Lord to show you the truth.

Go into the book of John and read.

But discipling them -

you're wanting to pour in.

It's not just: here's Jesus.
He died on the cross for you.

Is this wonderful news?

Would you like to say this prayer?

We've got to get away from
this one-time decisional thing.

And even though we've
got examples in our church

of these really radical one-time "bang!

people are saved" kind of experiences,

with a lot of people,
that's not the way it is.

A lot of people will say

it's not like the light switch
just got turned on.

It's more like the dawning of the day.

Just kind of: the sun came up on them.

So recognize, most people you deal with

are going to be like that.

We want to be lights in the world.

That's what Jesus said we are.

And you're not being a light if you take

that bushel basket and
you cover yourself up.

The greatest light you have -

it's not like beams from you,

like that lighthouse.

The light that beams from you

is the light that comes out of this book

into your mind

and out through your life and your mouth.

That is how the light is projected by you.

You've got to be speaking.

You've got to be demonstrating.

You've got to be acting.

Well, amen.