The Must Of Evangelism

HoHum:

Two fellows are standing on the side of a country road. One is holding a sign that says, “The end is near!” The other one is holding a sign that says, “Repent!” Several cars pass them by and pay them no heed. In fact, all the cars speed up to get past these guys whom they consider to be religious nuts. After several more cars speed past them, one fellow looks at the other and says, “I don’t think we’re getting our message across.” The other guy replies, “Yeah. I guess your sign should say, ‘Bridge out!’ and mine should say, ‘Turn around!’” Mark 13:10: And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.

The sermon is brought to you by the word MUST

WBTU:

The church, involved in many activities (like Zumba), often loses sight of our responsibility: preaching the gospel to all nations- Matthew 28:19-20.

Thesis: Preaching is an imperative

For instances:

I. God’s imperatives

A. The must of evangelism should not surprise us

1. We live in the midst of imperatives

Do your chores! Drink liquids or die of dehydration! Eat food or starve! Be quiet and listen to the preacher! Do not walk in front of a moving vehicle!

B. Spiritual imperatives are as definite

A). Some would like to eliminate all spiritual imperatives. “Just follow your heart”. Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

B). We cannot change physical imperatives. Neither can we change spiritual imperatives.

C. Jesus was bound by imperatives

1. Luke 4:43: I MUST proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.

2. Luke 9:22: The Son of Man MUST suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he MUST be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

3. Luke 22:37: It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this MUST be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.

D. Our salvation is dependent on imperatives

1. Acts 4:12: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we MUST be saved.

2. Acts 20:21: I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they MUST turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

3. John 3:5-7: Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You MUST be born again.’

4. Some say that there is nothing we can do for our salvation. Dr. Jack Cottrell says in Set Free that God as our Redeemer has but one concern: to save us from our sins. Toward this end He gives us certain commandments or imperatives that show us how to receive salvation. We can call these gospel imperatives or gospel commands and this is on a different level than the laws commands. But isn’t this just another version of a works salvation because there is nothing we can do to earn salvation? These people are confusing the ground or means of our salvation with the way that we receive salvation. Picture this: A starving man is told where to find a banquet table filled with delicious and nutritious food, and it is all free. In order to save his life, this man must believe the message, and he must go to the banquet hall where the food has been laid out. There is nothing credible in his believing the message and showing up at the table; someone else bought the food, prepared it, and laid it out for him. Likewise, the lost sinner is told that God through Jesus Christ wants to give him salvation. He, too, must believe the message, and then go to the place where this “banquet” is being served, namely, baptism. He must chew the food and ingest it for it to be effectual. There is nothing deserving in someone believing the message and showing up for their baptism; someone else brought the salvation and made it available to him.

If there is nothing we can do for our salvation, then one of two things are true:

1. Everyone will be saved- Biblically this is untenable

2. God determines who will be saved and who will be lost (Predestination). This makes God look like a tyrant.

II. The Why of Evangelism

A. Jesus commanded it. No better reason. Mark 16:15-16: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. This should be good enough but often we need the reasons why.