INTRO.- The apostle Paul bore the marks of Jesus on his body. What did he mean? Many commentators suggest that those “marks” were scars from being beaten as a Christian.
Do you have any distinguishing marks that you are a Christian?
ILL. - I heard it said years ago that if you were sent to prison for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you? That’s very thought provoking.
Let’s think about the marks of a Christian or rather earmarks. An earmark is some kind identifying mark or characteristic. An earmark could apply to a person, a place, or business.
ILL. - For example, what would you say is the earmark of the McDonald’s restaurant? What about Ron’s Catfish restaurant? What about DQ? Graceland? Las Vegas? New York City? New Orleans?
People also have earmarks or distinguishing marks.
ILL. - For example, name what you think is the earmark or distinguishing mark of these various people:
- Donald Trump
- Martha Stewart
- Oprah Winfrey
- Dr. Phil
- Judge Judy
- Billy Graham
- Lance Armstrong
- Michael Jordan
- Michael Jackson
- Mark McGuire
- Brad Pitt
- Angelina Jolie
- Noah
- Abraham
- Lot
- Moses
- Enoch
- David
- Daniel
- Jonah
- Job
Every living person has some kind of distinguishing mark about their lives, the way they live, the things they do, etc.
Likewise, businesses, churches, etc. have certain distinguishing earmarks.
ILL. - Preacher Ed Bousman from Lynchburg, OH, has a sermon entitled, “Earmarks of the New Testament Church.” What do you suppose they are?
1- The Bible (as the inspired Word of God)
2- The Banner (meaning the name Christian. We are not the only Christians but we prefer to be Christians only.)
3- The Bishops (that is, the elders, the overseers in the church)
4- The Breaking of the bread (meaning the Lord’s Supper – Acts 20:7)
5- The Baptism (Jesus commanded us to baptize people in the name of the Godhead, which must mean it is important!)
PROP.- In this message, let’s consider some earmarks of the Christian. 1- Faith 2- Evangelism
I. FAITH
Romans 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.”
Their faith was known throughout the world at that time. What about our faith? Your faith? Mine? Are we known in our neighborhood or our town for our faith? For living by faith?
ILL. - For the umpteenth time Mrs. Young came to her preacher to tell him, "I’m so scared! Joe says he’s going to kill me if I continue to come to your church."
"Yes, I understand," replied the preacher, more than a little tired of hearing this over and over. "I will continue to pray for you, Mrs. Young. Have faith that the Lord will watch over you."
"Oh yes, he has kept me safe thus far, only....."
"Only what?" the preacher said.
"Well, now he says if I keep coming to your church, he’s going to kill YOU!"
"Well, now," said the preacher, "Perhaps it’s time to check out that little church on the other side of town."
That preacher suddenly had a loss of faith. And true, many times when we’re faced with difficulty in life our faith seems to “go out the window.”
ILL. - One man was having so much trouble in life that he said, “All of this trouble could make a man lose his religion!” A friend suggested, “It looks to me like it would make a man ‘use’ his religion.”
Difficulties in life with generally do one of those two things to us: make us better or bitter. Make us use our faith or lose our faith.
ILL. - Someone told of overhearing two little girls, playmates, who were counting their pennies.
One said, “I have five pennies.”
The other said, “I have ten.”
“No,” said the first little girl, “You have just five cents, the same as I have.”
“But,” the second child quickly replied, “my father said that when he came home tonight, he would give me five cents, and so I have ten cents.”
That little girl counted that five cents as already hers, because it had been promised by her father. That’s faith.
Brothers and sisters, this is somewhat similar to our heavenly Father. He has promised us many things in life that we may not have at this moment, but faith means that we will trust Him for it just like it was already ours.
Doubt sees the obstacles.
Faith sees the way!
Doubt sees the darkest night,
Faith sees the day!
Doubt dreads to take a step.
Faith soars on high!
Doubt questions, “Who believes?”
Faith answers, “I!”
ILL. - Someone said, “Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Faith means that we believe in the Lord and trust Him to direct our lives and care for us. Faith means that we will talk to the Lord every day as though He is our best friend and Father. And He is! Faith means that we can talk to Him about anything, knowing that He loves us more than anyone else.
ILL. - My good friend Tom Emmerson is the General Manager of the Trees ‘n Trend company. When his mother was living, she always said to Tom when he left her house or her presence, “I love you, son, but Jesus loves you more.”
She was a woman of faith! And she was right and right on! Even though she loved her son she had the good sense and the faith to know that Jesus loved him even more.
That’s the way faith lives.
II Timothy 1:12 “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”
Faith says, “I know whom I believe!” What do you believe in for sure? Is anything that you believe in for sure?
ILL. - An American scientist once visited the offices of the great Nobel-prize-winning physicist, Niels Bohr, in Copenhagen. He was amazed to find that over Bohr’s desk was a horseshoe, securely nailed to the wall, with the open end up in the approved manner (so it would catch the good luck and not let it spill out). The American said with a nervous laugh, "surely you don’t believe the horseshoe will bring you good luck, do you, Professor Bohr?" Bohr chuckled and said, "I believe no such thing, my good friend. Not at all. I am scarcely likely to believe in such foolish nonsense. However, I am told that a horseshoe will bring you good luck whether you believe in it or not."
I think that’s about all the faith some people have today. They believe in the good luck of a horseshoe. They may not be really sure, but they hope it works. But the apostle Paul said, “I know whom I believe and am convinced that he is able….” Paul trusted the Lord to guard him, protect him, care for him, and provide for him.
ILL. - Preacher Dwight L. Moody once said, “Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment. Trust in your friends and they will die and leave you. Trust in money and you may have it taken from you. Trust in your reputation and some slanderous tongue may blast it. But trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity.” That’s the kind of faith we need!
II Cor 5:6-8 “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Do we really live by faith? Are we confident of our eternal salvation? Are we sure about heaven?
ILL. - A lady once asked John Wesley that suppose he were to know that he would die at 12:00 midnight tomorrow, how would he spend the intervening time. His reply: “Why madam, just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning; after that I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I would then go to Rev. Martin’s house, who expects to entertain me, talk and pray with the family as usual, retire to my room at 10 o’clock, commend myself to my heavenly Father, lie down to rest, and wake up in Glory.” Now that’s faith!
ILL. - Whenever I think of Billy Graham I think of a man of faith. Of course, his life has been far more visible than most others. But all through the years he has always preached the faith, stood for the faith and has lived the faith. In a recent interview with Larry King, Larry asked him about dying. Graham’s faith was as strong as ever, saying confidently, how he looked forward to seeing the Lord.
ILL. - We had an older man in our church in Bayard, IA many years ago who would pray in church, “Lord, we know not what tomorrow holds but we know who holds tomorrow.” That’s faith and the kind of faith we all need. And faith should be an earmark of our lives.
II. EVANGELISM
Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Evangelism is a matter of making believers out of unbelievers and making people into followers of Christ. Have you convinced anyone lately to follow Christ, to read the Bible or come to church?
I think we have to admit that new converts seem to have the most zeal for witnessing. After a period of time we all seem to lose our zip and zeal for talking about the Lord.
ILL. - I was baptized into Christ at the age of 20 while working for Safeway in Joplin, MO. That was 40 years ago. Do you know there was hardly a soul that worked in that store that didn’t know I was a Christian? The reason was because if they hadn’t heard from someone else then I made it my mission to talk to everyone of them about Christ. I WAS STOKED, as some people might say today. I was excited about my new found relationship to Christ and I wanted everybody else to know about it.
WHERE YOU EVER THAT WAY? If so, what has happened to us? What has happened to our fire? And I’m not talking about spreading the word about the church. I’m talking about us talking to others about Christ! Why don’t we do this anymore?
Proverbs 26:20 “Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.”
Brothers and sisters, there are some fires that need to be put out and others that need to be stoked! The fire of gossip needs to be put out. How? By not putting any more wood on the fire. If you don’t fuel the fire it will go out.
Now on the other hand, the fire of evangelism needs to be stoked. That fire needs to be enlarged. How? By putting wood on the fire. By talking about it. By doing it. By living it. By making it our goal. By living it and breathing it.
If we stop talking about witnessing and ways to witness then no one will think about it and get excited about it and do it.
ILL. - Life is a great teacher. I have noticed that the more I fish the more I want to fish (of course, it helps if you catch fish). I also find myself wanting to watch those bass fishing shows on TV. Many years ago I used to read Bassmaster magazine, which also stoked the fire of fishing.
The same principle applies to evangelism, witnessing and making disciples. THE MORE WE DO IT, THE MORE WE’LL WANT TO DO IT! Why? Because we’ll catch some fish; that is, we’ll catch some men and women, boys and girls. And we’ll get excited about it and want to do it more and more.
I think perhaps we have stopped trying. We have stopped trying to witness or talk to people about Christ.
I am not suggesting that we go out door-to-door inviting people to come to church and trying to talk to them about Christ. I’m saying that as we go about our every day lives that we watch for opportunities to speak a good word for Jesus.
I Pet 3:15 “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
We must be armed and ready to speak for Christ and the church. But we must also do this kindly, gently, respectfully. Trying to cram the gospel down someone’s throat will not work. And besides, that’s not the way of Jesus. But speak we must!
If you believe in something strongly enough you can’t stop talking about it.
ILL. - One day a lady criticized D. L. Moody for his methods of evangelism in attempting to win people to the Lord. Moody’s reply was "I agree with you. I don’t like the way I do it either. Tell me, how do you do it?" The lady replied, "I don’t do it." Moody retorted, "Then I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it."
ILL. - One time, two professed Christians worked together for ten years in the same business office. Over the years, however, neither of them knew that the other was a Christian. One of the men said to his minister, “wasn’t it funny that Bill and I were friends in the same office and yet neither of us knew until recently that the other was Christian?”
The minister replied, “Funny? Why that’s not funny at all! It’s a tragedy. In my opinion neither of you have ever experienced the new birth. If you had you would not have hid your faith from others.”
Brothers and sisters, I wouldn’t go as far as that minister, saying that neither of those men were Christian just because they didn’t talk about Christ and Christianity. But if people don’t know by your life, your conduct, and your speech that you are a person of faith then it’s possible that something is lacking in your faith.
ILL. - Some time ago an 18-year-old girl from Washington state attended a worship service. For the first time in her life she heard the gospel message. The following Tuesday the members of the church received a letter from her. It read:
“Dear Church members,
"Last Sunday I attended your church, and I heard the preacher. In the sermon the preacher said that all men have sinned and rebelled against God. Because of their rebellion and disobedience they all face eternal damnation and separation from God.
"But then he also said God loved men and sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to redeem men from their sins and that all those who believe in him would go to heaven and live with God eternally.
"My parents recently died in rapid succession. I know they did not believe in Jesus Christ, whom you call the Savior of the world. If what you believe is true, they are damned.
“You compel me to believe that, either the message is true, that you yourself don’t believe this message, or that you don’t care. You see, we live only three blocks from your church, and no one ever told us.”
One of the earmarks of the Christian is that we witness whenever we can.
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------
ILL. - I read one time that a high-class, well-known restaurant hired some men to carry signs out front of their restaurant to advertise the business, the meals, the service, etc. But these men wore shabby clothing and looked thin and emaciated. THEY WERE NOT A GOOD ADVERTISEMENT FOR A HIGH-CLASS RESTAURANT.
Likewise, there may be times when we are not the best advertisement for Christ and His church. When would that be?
When we are not on our best behavior. When we are not acting the best, speaking the best, etc.
"I am my neighbor’s Bible
He reads me when we meet;
Today he reads me in my home
Tomorrow, in the street.
He may be a relative or friend,
Or slight acquaintance be;
He may not even know my name,
Yet he is reading me."
We are earmarks for Christ whether we want to be or not. May the earmark of faith and evangelism be evident and clear in our lives.
