75a) The Church Evangelizing #2

Driving home: You see, anybody that goes beyond needing the full complex of biblical motivation in the Christian life has gone too far.

Just as Christian life has complex motivations (escaping hell, love of Christ, fear of apostasy), so does evangelism. No single motive is sufficient or always dominant.

We come now, large letter B, to the biblical motives which ought to impel us towards and accompany us in the fulfillment of the task. And let me say by way of introduction that perhaps few matters of greater difficulty at the level of articulation and implementation than is this matter of motivation in conjunction with the task of evangelism. But I want to say two things by way of introduction that the motivation is not simple but complex. The Bible sets before us more than one motive that ought to impel us towards and accompany us in this task and recognize that in that complex of motivation ...

0:02 - 1:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Our regular ministry to our people should feed the springs of motivation, of love to the glory of God, the majesty of God, the privilege of knowing God, to increase their capacity to be grieved by those who do not glorif…

Paul's spirit being stirred in Athens by idols illustrates how passionate love for God makes one grieved by the dishonor done to Him.

See how important then is our regular ministry to our people in seeking to feed the springs of motivation, of love to the glory of God, the majesty of God, the privilege of knowing God. As our people grow in those realities, their capacity to be grieved in the presence of those who do not glorify God, who do not honor God, that capacity will be increased. You remember that clear illustration of this when Paul comes into the city of Athens and he sees people given over to idols. His spirit is stirred within him.

8:10 - 8:44 Read in full sermon

The point: In our regular ministry, we must set forth the glory of Christ and the magnitude of our provisions in Him, so that the stream of love to Christ is constantly fed, motivating people to evangelism.

The mouth is described as the 'echo chamber of the heart' and the 'visible stream of the hidden springs of the heart,' illustrating that verbal witness to Christ flows from the heart's condition.

Matthew chapter 12 and verse 34. You offspring of Vikings, how can you being evil speak good things for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks? The mouth is the echo of what fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good things and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil things.

10:56 - 11:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first aspect of love to men is a longing for them to enjoy the wonderful and distinctive privileges of the gospel. This is illustrated through David's desire for others to…

David, exiled and in a cave with outcasts, still blesses the Lord and yearns for others to 'taste and see that the Lord is good,' illustrating a love that desires others to enjoy gospel privileges.

And surely, this is the motivation of the psalmist in Psalm 34 in verse 8. You remember the setting of that psalm. David has been exiled. He's found with a group of off-caste in a cave.

12:55 - 13:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first aspect of love to men is a longing for them to enjoy the wonderful and distinctive privileges of the gospel. This is illustrated through David's desire for others to…

Isaiah 55:1-3 is depicted as God taking the posture of a street hawker, offering His wares (salvation) freely, unlike others who seek money, illustrating His yearning love for humanity.

He that will, let Him take the water of life freely. Here is the voice of love yearning that others will know the blessedness of what it is to partake of gospel realities. And then that moving imagery of Isaiah 55, 1 to 3, where God says through the prophet, taking the posture of a street hawker, a hawker of goods, who unlike others is out to make a few shekels by hawking his wares. This one comes hawking his wares free of charge.

14:43 - 15:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Our overall ministry to our people must constantly remind them of their privileges in Christ, of what they are and what they have in Christ, so they are moved to say, 'We do not well to keep silence.'

The lepers in 2 Kings 7:9, finding abundant spoils, realize they 'do not well' to keep silent, illustrating how love for fellow countrymen compels sharing good tidings.

Reaching out in that yearning that they would know the refreshing water of life that is found in him and him alone. And then in 2 Kings 7 and verse 9, that fascinating incident of those lepers who came upon the spoils of the Syrians. And this was a marvelous discovery to which they had come. And all around them is this plenty of food and other things of the spoils left when God sovereignly intervened and gave them and routed the Syrians and they left all of their food and their goods and accoutrements behind them.

16:34 - 17:10 Read in full sermon

The point: The general overall climate of our ministry must give due place to the doctrine of eternal retribution and the ultimate state of the impenitent, as it is impossible to sustain biblical motivation for evangelism without i…

John Wesley's self-identification as a 'brand plucked from the burning' (Jude 23) illustrates the urgency and love involved in snatching others from the fire of judgment.

This is the text that John Wesley said was the explanation of his life. He regarded himself as a brand plucked from the burning. And after urging the people of God in the midst of a period of declension surrounded by false teachers and false prophets, they are to build up themselves in their most holy faith. Verse 20.

21:45 - 22:09 Read in full sermon

The point: The general overall climate of our ministry must give due place to the doctrine of eternal retribution and the ultimate state of the impenitent, as it is impossible to sustain biblical motivation for evangelism without i…

A lengthy quote from Bridges describes the combined emotions of grief, amazement, detestation, and compassionate yearnings that force tears from a heart constrained by Christ's love, motivating evangelism.

You view them as just about to drop into the pit and you're snatching. them from that horrible fate and on some have mercy with fear hating even the garments spotted by the flesh he assumes that within the hearts of the people of god within their hearts will be this presence of love that is the fruit of the spirit of love that cannot but be moved at the thought of the ultimate destiny of those who are yet impenitent and then i've listed second corinthians 5 10 and 11 we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of christ that each may receive the things done in his body whether good o...

22:35 - 24:01 Read in full sermon

The point: The general overall climate of our ministry must give due place to the doctrine of eternal retribution and the ultimate state of the impenitent, as it is impossible to sustain biblical motivation for evangelism without i…

A hymn (author unknown) expresses a deep yearning and pity for dying men, desiring to snatch them from the flame and dedicate one's heart to their salvation, reflecting Christ's compassion.

and ruin all combined to force tears of the deepest sorrow from a heart enlightened and constrained by the influence of the saviour's love and then he gives probably a hymn i don't know he doesn't state who the author was my god i feel the mournful scene my bowels yearn or dying men and fame my pity would reclaim and snatch the firebrands from the flame this as we have seen was our master's spirit and the firebrands of the firebrands of the firebrands of the firebrands of the firebrands and let none presume themselves to be christians if they are utterly destitute of this mind that was in chri...

24:01 - 25:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Acquire recommended books (Packer, Metzger, Reisinger, Kuyper) to shape your thinking and draw materials for teaching your people in the area of evangelistic ministry.

George Müller's denial of a special gift of faith, despite clear evidence, illustrates how those with peculiar gifts often deny them, leading to potential imbalance when teaching generically.

communicate these things to your own people now i've listed here by way of some bibliography several books that i trust if you don't have them in your library you will seek to acquire them and it will be helpful to you in shaping your own thinking and in drawing materials with which you can help teach your people in this area of the evangelistic ministry the mandate and task of the church of course packers evangelism and the sovereignty of god perhaps never equaled and surpassed in anything that i've read though it's now becoming something you could almost call a 20th century classic and it's ...

28:15 - 29:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Acquire recommended books (Packer, Metzger, Reisinger, Kuyper) to shape your thinking and draw materials for teaching your people in the area of evangelistic ministry.

Pastor Blaise's denial of a special gift of intercession, despite his intense and prolonged prayer, further illustrates how unique gifts can be overlooked by their possessors, impacting how they teach others.

we've had it we might as well pack it and ask the lord to take us home and my dear friend pastor blaise he would deny he has any special gift of intercession but if you've prayed with him for an hour and you say god giving him something he ain't never given me and you realize that god has given a peculiar gift of intercession and ability to take hold of god with great intensity for long periods of time more than once in praying with him i'd say brother i said i poop out after 45 minutes you gotta let me get my get my second wind and uh... and i had to come to grips with that or i'd leave our p...

29:38 - 30:47 Read in full sermon