74a) The Church Evangelizing #1

The point: Be armed with a layman's polemic to challenge articulate theonomists who misinterpret 'disciple the nations' in Matthew 28.

Martin uses the example of theonomic reconstructionist friends interpreting 'disciple the nations' to mean bringing whole nations under Christ's rule, to illustrate a specific interpretive error he wants to guard against.

More literally, disciple the nations. Now our theonomic and our reconstructionist friends say, aha, you see what the text says? Disciple the nations. Not a remnant out of the nations, but disciple the nations.

10:47 - 11:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Teach our people again and again that evangelism is not a human activity dependent on carnal motivation or cleverness, but a task where Christ's authority and presence are mediated by the Holy Spirit.

He uses the medical terms myopia (near-sightedness) and hyperopia (far-sightedness) to describe common errors in church's evangelistic focus: either exclusively local or exclusively global, arguing Acts 1:8 corrects both.

Most of you have heard of myopia near-sightedness. You probably haven't heard of that, that's far-sightedness. And left to ourselves whole churches are guilty of one or the other. And you have churches that say the great mark of a God-honoring church is its missionary program and the whole preoccupation is the uttermost part of the earth.

27:12 - 27:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Nurture your people into the fullness of the stature of Christ, so they become blameless and harmless children of God, shining as lights and verbally communicating the gospel, validating your apostolic labors.

Martin quotes extensively from John Stone's commentary on Philippians 2:14-16 to elaborate on what it means for Christians to 'shine as lights in the world' and 'hold forth the word of life,' emphasizing both consistent character and verbal proclamation.

of life's perplexities and difficulties that you are seen as bright shining luminaries against the horrible darkness of the paganism all around you there in that Roman colony of Philippi you stand out as bright shining luminaries against that terrible darkness holding fast to or holding forth the word of life and here I commend to you for any of you who have been able to obtain a copy of John Stone's commentary on Philippians it was one of my most helpful companions when I preached through Philippians some years ago and he opens up this text in the most helpful way he says the thought of respo...

33:11 - 34:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not fail to give evangelism its proper place in the overall life and ministry of the people of God, even while reacting against false views that make it the sole or supreme task.

Martin quotes J.E. Conan's book to illustrate a truncated, unbiblical view of the pastor's role, where the 'one all-inclusive reason' for pastors is to make members successful in soul winning, which Martin explicitly rejects.

let us not fail to give it its proper place in the overall life and ministry of the people of God surely the combined testimony of these verses is that the church is to be a witnessing discipling evangelizing inviting community of saints now for some of you to appreciate what some of us have come out of and struggled through let me read you can see this book was well used back in the days when things had a real influence on my thinking it's called every member evangelism by J.E. Conan to D.D.

47:54 - 48:30 Read in full sermon