The Church Evangelizing, Part 3

The point: Encourage your people to view stated meetings as the 'great evangelistic crucible' for their children and a framework for bringing unbelieving contacts to hear the Word.

Martin commends J.I. Packer's 'Evangelism in the Sovereignty of God' for its clear address on the cooperative effort of personal testimony and bringing people to the gathered assembly for preaching.

They will look upon the stated meetings as the framework into which they should seek to bring those contacts that they have established in their neighborhoods, in their place of work, or business, or school associations, and they will not have this idea that I must win the person to Christ out of the church, outside of the church, and then get them into the church to be built up in Christ, but rather they will see this vision of a cooperative effort. They will see that whatever they are able to do by way of personal testimony, opening up the scriptures, and bearing witness one to one in the sh...

4:34 - 5:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Encourage your people to view stated meetings as the 'great evangelistic crucible' for their children and a framework for bringing unbelieving contacts to hear the Word.

Martin describes Paul's shift in 2 Corinthians 5 as 'flipping a switch' and 'putting on his evangelist hat' to illustrate how a teacher naturally moves into an evangelistic mode.

And this dichotomy that we only evangelize in the marketplace but in the church we have a purely didactic ministry to the sage simply will not stand up to a passage such as 1 Corinthians 14.23-25. Furthermore, in the second epistle of Paul to the Corinthians here we have the example of how someone engaged in the work of teaching will imperceptibly slide into the task of evangelism even in an epistle written to a church that is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 having described the glorious reality of the new creation in Christ he says in verse 18 b...

7:45 - 9:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Instruct your people to cultivate a consciousness that their prayers for the Lord's Supper should focus not only on God's people but also on the gospel preaching inherent in the sacrament.

Martin describes his personal experience of being blessed by 'hearing' the gospel preached by other congregants as they partake of the Lord's Supper, seeing their act as a testimony to Christ crucified.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Speaking and admonishing one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And if it is right that we should speak one to another with each other's edification in view we preach one to another. And I find it a tremendous blessing when sitting particularly when I'm sitting in the congregation at the Lord's table to try to as it were hear the many whose testimony I've heard in the elders circle to think about what they are saying as I see them take that bread and see them take that cup and they are preaching Christ crucified Christ in his poured ...

13:01 - 14:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Instruct your people to cultivate a consciousness that their prayers for the Lord's Supper should focus not only on God's people but also on the gospel preaching inherent in the sacrament.

The Passover meal, where children ask 'what meaneth this?', is used as an analogy to encourage parents to explain the gospel to their children during the Lord's Supper.

That's why we encourage the children to sit with their families. The great principle that is extrapolated from the Passover meal that when they're eating the Passover meal God says and when your child your son shall ask you what meaneth this? Then as he has seen you eating not an ordinary meal but this special meal you're able then to recount to him the glories of God's redemptive activity in which that Passover meal was instituted. So we preach it to our children.

14:41 - 15:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Instruct your people to cultivate a consciousness that their prayers for the Lord's Supper should focus not only on God's people but also on the gospel preaching inherent in the sacrament.

Martin recounts exhilarating moments of extemporaneous gospel preaching while standing in the baptismal waters, emphasizing how the physical act of baptism powerfully conveys the gospel.

We preach it to the unconverted amongst us. And so we must never never despise or think lightly of this and seek to cultivate in our people that consciousness that as they pray for God's blessing upon the supper of remembrance that will not only will their prayers be focused upon the blessing of God upon God's people but upon this preaching of the gospel that goes on in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and to a lesser degree this is also true with regard to baptism especially if we're in climates and in a context where we baptize inside and can have a service that precedes or attends the bap...

15:14 - 16:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Encourage your people to look upon their homes as potential evangelistic centers and all natural contacts as divinely ordained opportunities to live out and speak forth the gospel.

Jesus's example of having meaningful relationships with 'real lost defined ungodly publicans and sinners' is used to model how believers should engage with the world, turning contacts into bridges of opportunity.

extortioners and idolaters isn't that the assumption as long as you're in your world that's the kind of people you're going to rub shoulders with well we need to instruct our people not only not only with the warnings be not conformed to this world be not deceived evil companions corrupt good morals we need to give those warnings that they not be corrupted by their contacts with the world but we also need to instruct them that they should look upon every such contact as a bridge of witness a bridge of evangelistic opportunity a bridge by which they may be able to address a man's mind and consc...

25:35 - 27:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Encourage your people to look upon their homes as potential evangelistic centers and all natural contacts as divinely ordained opportunities to live out and speak forth the gospel.

Martin uses the phrase 'Main Street Sodom' to describe the pervasive wickedness of contemporary society, acknowledging the vexation believers feel but urging them to see it as an opportunity for the gospel.

with real lost defined ungodly publicans and sinners and it was those relationships that became the bridge of opportunity to display his own glory as the one who came to seek and to save that which was lost so we must encourage our people to look upon all of these contacts not as an irritant to their Christian sensitivity though it may well be that in a sense we feel like wherever we go in our country today it's main street Sodom and with and with lot our righteous souls are vexed from day to day with the filthy conversation of the wicked but it's just such people who need the gospel such were...

27:04 - 28:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Instruct your people to look upon their children as the most natural evangelistic opportunity God has entrusted to them.

Martin shares a personal anecdote about his parents' consistent efforts to evangelize him, confronting his sin and linking it to his need for conversion, and his mother's 'little evangelistic drops' through hymns.

by an alternate lifestyle and when appropriate given a number of variables to speak forth the gospel by word of mouth by piece of literature by tape by many other means some of which we'll mention later and of course not the least of those in this category of our natural contacts is those who come from our wives wounds and it's amazing how many Christian parents don't realize that to them is given the primary privilege and opportunity of the evangelizing of their own children I look back though my parents were very poorly instructed and I think of those times when God kept plowing my heart up ...

28:34 - 30:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Encourage people to exercise their peculiar gifts of evangelism and find a framework within the church to cultivate and develop these gifts.

The story of Mr. Bischoff, a fireman who developed a peculiar gift for evangelism through hospital visitation and winsome conversation with strangers, illustrates the discovery and cultivation of special evangelistic gifts.

and in old folks homes and drawing near to people and finding themselves at ease with the suffering and the infirm and the aged and communicating the gospel well as we preach Romans 12 let's make sure we have a framework within which someone who has that gift can put it to the test and cultivate and develop that gift that's how Mr. Bischoff's gift emerged that during his years as a fireman when he had three days off he worked four and off three not always three in a row he began to go to the hospitals in Newark and go bed to bed and talk to people about the Lord and it began to be evident he h...

34:29 - 35:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Encourage your people to seek out local open doors for evangelism in hospitals, old folks' homes, schools, and other community settings.

Martin recounts his own experience cutting his 'preaching teeth' on the street corner, acknowledging that while it was effective for him, cultural changes mean it's not always a viable method today.

you're preparing someone to step in and my confidence is in the Lord the head of the church who knows our need in that area but meanwhile I pray God will give him great length of days well then first Peter 4 10 points in the same direction and I'll only underscore the text briefly because it is another one of the passages that you want to you will want to set before your people according as each hath received a gift ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God each hath received a gift well don't assume that there are none within the assembly in which God has r...

35:58 - 37:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Organize a concentrated church-wide effort to distribute good evangelistic literature, either through wide saturation or selective distribution to prayerfully chosen contacts.

The book 'The Gospel Blimp' is referenced to critique overly elaborate, impersonal evangelistic machinery that neglects natural relationships and the centrality of preaching.

We're having a good lunch and they got some preacher from up north though he's a Yankee don't write him off the guy can talk straight and he's a man's man who speaks to you as a man come along and hear the gospel and I've had tremendous opportunities so you've got to be creative in the language again that Dr. Packer love is enterprising and these periodic situations are legitimate means of bringing people under the sound of the gospel and this is not the gospel blimp endeavor you know the book the gospel blimp where all of this machinery goes into effect in order to get a blimp up in the air t...

41:42 - 43:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Organize a concentrated church-wide effort to distribute good evangelistic literature, either through wide saturation or selective distribution to prayerfully chosen contacts.

Martin describes a past church initiative: a series of Sunday evening sermons advertised in local papers as 'The Message of Historic Christianity,' structured specifically for evangelistic proclamation without typical worship elements.

for gospel proclamation is Acts 22 and Acts 26 where the apostle Paul standing before magistrates uses God's dealings with him as the springboard of declaring the grace and salvation of God in Jesus Christ several years ago when we were still in one of the schools in Caldwell what we did is we had a series of Sunday evening sermons we advertised in the local paper the message of historic Christianity and then we had a catchy ad do you wonder what the Bible is all about what has the historic church understood about such questions as how does one get to heaven is there a hell come Sunday night t...

43:12 - 44:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Organize a concentrated church-wide effort to distribute good evangelistic literature, either through wide saturation or selective distribution to prayerfully chosen contacts.

A lengthy quote from Spurgeon's 'Lectures to My Students' on 'conversion as our aim' is used to advocate for dedicated seasons of 'determined and continuous assault' upon the ungodly, with special prayer and personal witness.

has a very helpful statement here of what they did at the tabernacle on page 343 says don't close a single sermon without addressing the ungodly but at the same time set yourselves seasons for a determined and continuous assault upon them and proceed with all your soul to the conflict on such occasions aim distinctly at immediate conversions labor to remove prejudices resolve doubts doubts conquer objections and drive the sinner out of his hiding places at once summon the church members to special prayer beseech them to speak personally both with the concerned and the unconcerned and be yourse...

44:41 - 46:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Organize a concentrated church-wide effort to distribute good evangelistic literature, either through wide saturation or selective distribution to prayerfully chosen contacts.

Martin describes a church-wide effort where 500 copies of 'Right With God' were prayed over and then distributed by congregants to specific individuals they were praying for, illustrating selective literature distribution.

they would be willing to come and to say we're going to take streets A, B, and C this Sunday afternoon and we're going to seek to distribute personally not just stuff it in a mailbox knock on the door and say I'm from Trinity Church I'm from Grace such and such church I'm from Covenant such and such church and we're distributing this literature in the entire neighborhood would you receive this as a gift from us expressing our love and our concern about the things that really matter and a saturation distribution of gospel literature or it may be I've suggested in the second place a selective di...

47:40 - 49:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Explore occasional opportunities to put the gospel into the marketplace, such as setting up booths at flea markets.

Martin shares the church's past practice of setting up booths in flea markets, using an artist who worked for Archie comics to create eye-catching signs, tapes, books, and tracts to get the gospel into the marketplace.

getting the gospel in this way and it's a lot of profuse sewing and occasionally you may get a contact but even when you don't see them there are people whose minds and hearts are being confronted with the truth of God and then sixthly an occasional opportunity to put the gospel into the marketplace now some of you will really wonder what in the world you've come to when I tell you that we have actually in the past set up booths in flea markets and we used to have a professional artist who worked for Archie comics and when the Lord saved her she thought her Archie comics abilities would be for...

55:16 - 56:06 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually stir yourself up in evangelistic passion and vision, making books like Bonar's 'Words to Winners of Souls' and Spurgeon's 'The Soul Winner' lifetime companions.

Martin quotes Horatius Bonar's principle that 'the heart can never relinquish the object on which it is set without pain' to explain how a pained heart for sinners manifests in a pastor's ministry.

of souls by Horatius Bonar I know a few things that are more calculated to stir the heart of any man in whom the grace of God dwells with regard to this matter of passion for evangelism than that little booklet by Bonar he establishes the principle that the heart can never relinquish the object on which it is set without pain and if your heart is truly set on the conversion of sinners though you may have a pained heart and a pained heart will manifest itself in the tone the flavor as well as the content of your ministry and then Spurgeon's book the soul winner even though that term soul winnin...

62:09 - 63:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Read and reread the biographies of holy pleaders and passionate evangelists like Whitfield, Payson, Spurgeon, McShane, and Brainerd to ignite your own evangelistic fire.

Martin recommends reading biographies of passionate evangelists like Whitfield, Payson, Spurgeon, McShane, and Brainerd, noting how Brainerd's life ignited Henry Martyn's passion, which in turn inspired others.

years to have an impact upon my own spirit in this area read and read and reread the biographies of holy pleaders and passionate evangelists Whitfield's biography Payson Spurgeon McShane Brainerd and this is by no means an exhausted list but these are those that are proven means I've been amazed over the years to see how many people who have been eminently useful in the church of Christ trace their initial infusion of passion to reading the life of Brainerd Henry Martin caught his flame from Brainerd and in turn many caught their fire from Henry Martin of India or missionary to India spell M-A...

63:38 - 65:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Avoid the crippling, guilt-producing notion that every Christian has or should have the gift of an evangelist.

Martin quotes E.J. Conan's view that the pastor's main business is developing every member into a 'soul winner,' using it as an example of the 'crippling guilt-producing notion' that every Christian must have the gift of an evangelist.

common errors I've listed four of them number one the crippling guilt producing notion that every Christian has or should have the gift of an evangelist and this is one of the errors which I have seen leave multitudes of God's people going around constantly crippled with false guilt a preacher pounding week after week what is in essence a position that says every single believer ought to have the gift of confrontational evangelism and that just simply cannot be demonstrated from the word of God and books such as Conan's book E.J. Conan every member evangelism has have been the means of produci...

65:07 - 66:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Avoid artificial regimentation and imitation in evangelism programs that do not account for the diversity of gifts and opportunities.

Martin contrasts Jesus's 'abrupt' approach with Nicodemus (John 3) and His 'winsome' approach with the woman at the well (John 4) to argue against 'canned approaches' to evangelism and highlight the diversity of effective methods.

deeper problem and that problem is that they come to the place where they have a passion to be what Philippians 2 14-16 describes blameless harmless sons of God without rebuke shining his lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation and in that context alone holding forth the word of life you can't cure deep spiritual ills that are crippling evangelism by a three day conference or a ten week program it can't be done that simply it's the overall ministry of the church ordained of God for the perfecting of the saints not some quick fixed seminar and then with reference to sinners it ...

71:05 - 72:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Avoid artificial regimentation and imitation in evangelism programs that do not account for the diversity of gifts and opportunities.

The experience of receiving an impersonal sales pitch over the phone is used as an analogy to illustrate why 'canned approaches' to evangelism are repulsive and artificial, especially when dealing with matters of eternal significance.

John 3 he was abrupt he was curt he cut a man off in the midst of complimenting him and said you're blind as a bat dumb as a dodo and unless you experience a radical intrusion of divine life you've had it I mean that's the quickest way to get the fish off the end the end I mean the poor fish ain't even nibbled the bait and you're setting the hook and reeling in to use the language well was Jesus right in John 3 or was he wrong with the woman at the well he didn't look at her and say you wretched lecherous immoral unprincipled woman no give me some water oh what are you doing a Jew asking me Sa...

72:30 - 73:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize the central place of fervent, persistent prayer in the entire evangelistic endeavor and convey this to your people.

Martin references a devotional meditation by Robert Murray McShane on Luke 11:13, which emphasizes that God ties the giving of the Spirit to the prayers of His people, even though His working is sovereign.

so then neither is he that planteth anything neither he that watereth zero and zero zero for planter zero for waterer but all the credit goes to God who gives the increase but but but but but but but but but , but God has tied the giving of the spirit to the prayers of his people I just read a little devotional meditation by McShane in that lovely little collection of devotional things that you gave me Rob I read this morning his little exposition of Luke 11 13 it was very very moving where he speaks of unless a man has become a veritable beast an evil man yet God has implanted in the heart of...

78:25 - 79:55 Read in full sermon