The Tasks of Missionaries, Part 2

In this part of the sermon: Martin reiterates the primacy of evangelistic preaching, sharing the results of a homework assignment where a church member cataloged the verbal activities of the apostles in…

A church member's letter detailing their findings from a speed-read of Acts, listing the frequency of words describing apostolic activities, particularly preaching, is used to powerfully demonstrate the primacy of verbal proclamation in missions.

And I gave you an optional homework assignment to go through speed reading the book of Acts and seeing what it says about what these men did in fulfilling the great commission, seeking to make disciples, organize them and strengthen them into churches, provide them leadership. Well, at least one of the saints did his or her homework assignment, and I tried to call this individual, to get permission to read the letter and the fruit of the study and got a busy signal. And so I'm assuming there will be no objection. Thank you so much for the homework assignment in our adult Bible class this past ...

9:28 - 10:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Ensure that any authorized messenger sent by Trinity Baptist Church is marked by Spirit-wrought boldness in their preaching.

The analogy of a preacher with a 'pointed chin' who preaches pugnaciously is used to clarify that biblical boldness is not aggressive defiance but an unfettered pouring forth of truth.

It doesn't necessarily mean loud, though sometimes boldness will demand some decibels. It doesn't mean pugnacious. Stick your chin out, you know, and you're ready to go. You don't like it?

25:41 - 25:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Seriously question whether God has called a man to be a missionary if he lacks the ability to cultivate sufficient volume to speak so as to be heard distinctly in evangelistic settings.

The analogy of a man convinced he's called to be a finished carpenter but unable to use a hammer effectively is used to argue that a missionary must possess or cultivate the ability to speak with sufficient volume and clarity.

So if God hasn't given a man the ability to cultivate sufficient volume to speak so as to be heard in evangelistic settings, we must seriously question whether God's called him to be a missionary. A man comes to me, can't hold a hammer, can't set a nail, can't teach him how to do it, he always hits the wrong nail, and if he hits the right one, it always goes in crooked, yet he's convinced God's called him to be a finished carpenter. I say, Buddy, you've missed your call. If God called you to be a finished carpenter, he'd either give you the ability, or you'd be enabled to cultivate the ability...

29:39 - 30:20 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They were unashamed to show the emotion and the passion and even the physical accompaniments of blood earnestness in their preaching.

The comparison of Paul's 'readiness' to preach (Romans 1:14-15) with the use of the word 'ready' in the Gethsemane account (spirit is ready, flesh is weak) highlights the deep earnestness and willingness required for missionary work.

Not only boldness, but earnestness. Romans 1, 14 and 15, Paul says, I am a debtor to the Jew and to the Greek. I am ready. And you remember in our expositions of Mark, we pointed out the only other place in the New Testament where that word ready is used, except in the Gethsemane account.

42:08 - 42:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They were unashamed to show the emotion and the passion and even the physical accompaniments of blood earnestness in their preaching.

The account of Paul and Barnabas renting their garments and springing into the multitude (Acts 14:11-14) is used to illustrate their 'blood earnestness' and holy passion in preaching, demonstrating visible emotion.

The very chapter we began with. Let's go back to it to see this eagerness. Paul, in the name of Christ, has healed a man who was lame from his mother's womb. Verse 11, when the multitudes saw it, they were ready to call them gods.

42:40 - 42:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin rapidly lists and supports several other characteristics: earnestness (Romans 1:14-15, 2 Corinthians 5:11), compassion (Acts 20:19, Romans 9:1-3), joy (Acts 16:25…

The story of Paul and Silas singing psalms in jail after being beaten (Acts 16:25) is used to illustrate that missionaries preached with joy, even in suffering, and that God affirmed this joy with an earthquake.

They've been beat up. Their hands and feet are in stocks and they're singing psalms of praise to God at midnight. And it's as though God is so tickled with the whole thing. He says, I've got to let the whole bunch know what I think about this and he sends an earthquake.

44:53 - 45:07 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin rapidly lists and supports several other characteristics: earnestness (Romans 1:14-15, 2 Corinthians 5:11), compassion (Acts 20:19, Romans 9:1-3), joy (Acts 16:25…

The anecdote of Paul preaching to women by a river bank (Acts 16) is used to illustrate the apostles' 'sanctified aggressiveness' and innovativeness in finding opportunities to preach the gospel.

But they didn't just preach in a synagogue where they were called upon. They went out into the marketplace. They went to the Agora in Acts chapter 17. They would go down by a river bank in Acts chapter 16, found a few women having a prayer meeting, preached the gospel, and that's how God began the church at Philippi, with a woman's prayer meeting.

46:58 - 47:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not send a man as a co-laborer who becomes a burden; if there are areas in his public or private ministry or character that need refining or disqualify him, then we must say, 'not now.'

The story of John Mark, initially chosen, then breaking down under pressure and being refused by Paul, but later proving profitable for ministry (Acts 12, 13, 15, 2 Timothy 4), is used to illustrate that men can be disqualified and later qualified, and that the church must prove men before sending them.

Can you think of one man who got in the harness, proved he was disqualified, and after a period of time then proved he was qualified? John Mark. If you want to look it up, if we had time, I've got all the text, Acts 12.25, 13.13, 15.36,

54:29 - 54:51 Read in full sermon