Do you remember the excitement you felt when it was time for you to get your driver’s license? You could barely wait to get behind the wheel and take off, right? But, before you could do that, there was something you needed to do. Do you remember what that was? You had to learn to drive!
Someone had to teach you to drive. And, no matter what we do in life that is new or different, we need somebody to help us; to train us; and to encourage us. In other words, no matter what it is, if we are doing it for the first time, we need someone more experienced than we are to teach us the ropes.
When Leonardo da Vinci was working on one of his great masterpieces, a student stood by observing everything he did, so he could eventually imitate the master artist. It seemed to take forever for da Vinci to finish the painting, but when he was down to a few last strokes of the brush, he handed the brush to the student and told him to finish.
The student backed off, and said he could never dream of touching the master’s work. Da Vinci asked the student, “If what I have done has not inspired you to do your best, what good was it that you observed me in the first place?”
As you read through the Bible, you can see the work of our Lord. In the Old Testament, you will read where the Lordw as coming. In the Gospels, you will read where the Lord had come, and in the rest of the New Testament, you will read about how the Lord has already been here, and will be coming back.
You can read the Bible and almost see where God has created this wonderful masterpiece, and then He stepped back and handed the brush to us and said, “Finish this for Me.”
I once heard a story of how God and the angels were talking right after Jesus ascended into Heaven. The angels were wondering how that was going to help bring others into salvation.
In the conversation, God told the angels that the success of the church on earth would depend on the men who had walked with Jesus as His disciples.
The angels could not believe what they heard. They said, “God, You have got to be kidding! These men are not brave, they are not overly intelligent, and they certainly do not have any education to speak of at all. Don’t you have a Plan B?”
God looked at them and said, “This is plan B. Plan A was when My Son went down there in the first place.”
There is one thing I am known for in my preaching. I preach a lot about evangelism. I think every Christian is called to be a preacher, but only very few of them are called to do it with words. In other words, every Christian is supposed to be a proper reflection of Jesus Christ. That includes what they say, what they think, what they do and how they live. That is evangelism.
Too many times, today’s Christians seem quite reluctant about telling others about Jesus Christ. We seem to think that as long as we go to church on Sundays, we can pretty much live the rest of the week like we want to, and not go out of our way to talk about salvation to others.
We cannot afford to fall into the trap of thinking that we can receive Jesus as our Savior, and then keep Him our private little secret the rest of our lives. It does not work that way.
I believe that God is getting ready to produce a time of harvest, and we need to be prepared to bring people to Him. There is a short poem that says it all.
They will not come – they must be brought.
They will not seek – they must be sought.
And, they will not learn – so they must be taught.
In ROMANS 10:14 Paul says,
How then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
In other words, Paul is asking how people can come to know Christ if we do not tell them? Remember, you and I are plan B. There is no plan C.
In LUKE 15:10, we find that there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents. See, when we share our faith with others by telling them what Jesus means to us, this pleases God more than you can even imagine. The very courts of Heaven explode in delight and jubilation.
God has all but finished His wonderful masterpiece, and how He has given the brush to us for the last few strokes. Now, before we get all intimidated and frighten ourselves out of doing His work, let me make two things very clear.
GOD BELIEVES IN US – or He would have never given us the brush. He believes we can tell others the good news. The good news of Christ.
He isn’t asking us to go out and recite the Bible for others, and He does not expect us to get into some long theological dissertation about Christianity. All God wants us to do is tell others what Jesus has done for us.
GOD GIVES US ALL THE HELP WE NEED. In ROMANS 8:27 it tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to God’s will. And if it is God’s will that we share the Gospel, then it is God’s promise that the Holy Spirit will help us do it.
In ROMANS 10:15, it reads,
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
Let me ask you the same question I asked you a few minutes ago. Do you have beautiful feet? You might not think so, but if you tell others about Jesus, God thinks you have beautiful feet.
Notice how God does not say, “How beautiful are the hands that hand out tracts.” He does not say, “How beautiful is the email that you forward to others.” And, God does not say, “How beautiful is the door-hanger that you leave on somebody’s door knob.”
Now, all these things are good, but when you actually get up and start making disciples, it is your feet that carry you to do so, and that is why God says, “How beautiful the feet of those who bring good news.
Newsweek once ran an article on religion and inner city street gangs. It told of how one preacher moved into an inner city neighborhood and immediately sought out a conversation with the local drug dealer. The preacher asked the drug dealer why the kids were not going to church.
The drug dealer told the preacher that when the little kids go to the store for their mothers, he is there. When they take a break from playing basketball, he is there. No matter what the kids do or where they are at, the drug dealer is there with them. But, the church is never there, and only sits at the end of the street waiting for everyone to come to them. What a sad commentary on how today’s church has failed God by failing to reach out to people in the way people can understand. The church seems to have all but settled for seeing itself as this place within these walls, when the real church is God’s people reacting to and in the community to save souls.
In MATTHEW 28:19, 20 Jesus said, for us to go into all the world and make disciples. That does not mean we have to rush home and sell everything we own so we can travel to a distant land and share the Word of God. To some of us, it may mean that, but for most of us, it just means that we actually look for ways to share the Gospel with those people we see in our normal daily activities.
And, as we do encounter these people, it is very important to remember how Jesus shared the Word to those He encountered. Sometimes, we have people who mean well, but the way they share does nothing at all to help people hear about Jesus. Here are a few examples.
1. THE IN-YOUR-FACE CHRISTIAN
These people are confrontationalists. They will come across as condemners rather than lovers of people. They will say something like, “Did you know you are on your way to hell?”
Jesus always used love so people would pay attention to Him. Paul became all things to all men so they would listen to him. We need to stop confronting people with a hell-fire and brimstone attitude so they will listen to us, too, as we share the good news.
2. THE HOLIER-THAN-THOU CHRISTIAN
These people are smug and self-righteous. They may have changed their Pharisees clothing for the clothing of today’s world, but their attitudes are the same. They want everyone to know that they are righteous people, and they have no qualms about shoving it down other people’s throats, too.
3. THE COSMETIC CHRISTIAN
These are people who talk the talk, but do not have any idea how to walk the walk. Non-Christians look at these people and see no difference between themselves and these so-called Christians.
It was written that if a Christian’s light is so dim they cannot spread the Gospel, they are condemning the lost to drift away in darkness.
These are three examples of people who do nothing to enhance the Word of God to the unchurched. The reason is that they are so focused on themselves that they have no room to focus on God.
From everything I have seen, I believe that the unchurched needs to see several things from those who profess to be Christians. The first thing they need to see is an honest attempt to live the Christian life. They do not expect us to be perfect, but they do expect us to really try to live a Christian life.
The second thing they need to see is that we really do have a heart for the lost. They can see right through us if we are not sincere, and they will immediately ignore us if they sense that we are faking our compassion.
The third thing I think they need to see from Christians is a willingness to confess. When you do something wrong, and we all do, confess it. Acts of contrition have made huge impacts on the non-believing heart.
There are those who will feel that, for various reasons, do not have what it takes to go out and tell others about Jesus. There was once a wealthy London banker who felt that way, so let me tell you what he did.
He would rent a fancy horse-drawn buggy and have the driver take him to a tent revival. Once there, he would tell the driver to go in and listen to the sermon for him while he sat outside and tended the horses and carriage.
Now, I doubt if any of you are going to go out and rent a horse-drawn carriage, but you can still invite people to worship with you. Mind you, I did not say invite people to church with you. I never want you to do that. But, I do want you to freely invite others to worship with you “at your church.” See, if you want someone to know about Jesus, but cannot tell them yourselves, let the people of your church do it until you feel like you can do it yourself.
Since we dedicated baby Toby Pruett this morning, and since we and our guests are looking forward to the luncheon we have prepared for Friends Day fellowship, I have kept this message a bit shorter than normal. But, the urgency of the message remains the same.
In closing, let me remind you that we are plan B. God has given us the brush to finish His work. Will we walk with Him or will we just talk about Him?
We have talked about having beautiful feet this morning. Let me ask you once again: Are your feet beautiful? They are if they carry the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. But, how can you carry the message of Jesus to others if you have never received Him yourself?
As we go into our time of invitation, let me urge each of you to listen to the inner-most parts of your heart this morning. Are you feeling pulled towards Jesus? We all seek true happiness in this life, and the only way that is possible is with Jesus Christ in your heart. If you have never formally asked Jesus into your heart, why don’t you do that this morning as you sit on holy ground, within this Godly sanctuary?
If you have known Christ, but now have distance between you and Him, why don’t you take the opportunity He is giving you right now to rejoin Him as your personal Savior? Likewise, if you have been attending this church and feel like you would like to join this body of believers, I urge each of you to quietly walk up here during our song of invitation.
LET US PRAY
