Evangelism God's Way, Part 8

Recap: The Soil, Taproots, and Trunk of Evangelism

0:04 During the last two Lord's Days of the month of February and the four Lord's Days in the month of March, I preached seven sermons in this place on the theme, Some Biblical Perspectives Concerning God-Honoring, Spirit-Empowered Evangelistic Endeavors. These sermons were preached as part of our preparation before launching our six weekly geographically structured home-based evangelistic Bible studies. I smiled because one of my fellow pastors kind of got tangled up trying to get out that lengthy description. And using the imagery of a healthy, well-rooted tree, flourishing in good, nourishing, moist soil as the organizing metaphor for those seven messages, I sought to demonstrate from the Scriptures the major principles which should regulate our thinking and our actions as we embarked upon this church-wide endeavor to reach what we have come to call our own Jerusalem. And of course,

1:29 the principles, insofar as they are true to the Word of God, are not only relevant and applicable to this current endeavor, but whenever we as God's people, individually or corporately, are consciously engaged in efforts to bring the gospel to the lost. And with that structural framework of the tree, I noted first of all that the soil in which that tree is to flow, is the soil of the Word of God written. That when we come to think about the task and the privilege of evangelism, that is, communicating the good news of Christ and His salvation, we must approach that task firmly convinced that the Scriptures are the final and sufficient court of appeal as to how that task should be done. And then we went to a consideration of what I call the three taproots of that tree of God-honoring, Spirit-empowered evangelism. With the soil being the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments, I suggested that there are at least three taproots, the taproots which not only give stability to the tree,

2:54 but by which nourishment is drawn up into, the very life of the tree. And I set before you the three taproots in this way. First of all, a biblical understanding and personal conviction concerning who and what people really are. Secondly, the taproot is the fact that we must embody and consistently manifest before those to whom we would bring the gospel, the transition, forming power of that gospel in our own lives.

3:33 Assuming that most of our evangelistic endeavors will involve some degree of long-term interaction, our efforts will not be owned of God for the most part, though God may sovereignly own them. We have no grounds to believe He will own them unless we ourselves embody and consistently manifest the power of that gospel. If someone should ask us, what will happen to me if I believe the gospel you're bringing to me, you should be able to say to some degree, you'll begin to be what I am. And that is biblical, and I demonstrated it in that sermon. And thirdly, the third taproot is that we must engage, engage in earnest and persevering prayer for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with every facet of our evangelistic endeavors. Then we move from the consideration of the soil of the endeavor, the three taproots, and focus our attention upon the trunk and the main branches of this endeavor. What is evangelism according to the scriptures?

4:53 And I gave you this definition. Evangelism is communicating with words the God-revealed truths which comprise the foundation and substance of the biblical gospel along with the promises, demands, and entreaties which accompany that gospel. And I sought to open up that definition under its three major components. The essential activity of evangelism is communicating something with words.

5:33 You'll remember in the record of Peter's visit to the house of Cornelius, when back at Jerusalem he is reviewing what God did. He quotes the words of Cornelius who said, the angel appeared to him and said to him, and this is found in Acts chapter 11 verses 13 and 14, a man, Peter, will come to you and speak unto you words whereby you shall be saved. Words by which you shall be saved. He will not come with an acting troupe.

6:11 He will not come with an entourage of dancers or mimes. He will not come with the local hot rock band. He'll come and he'll speak unto you words. Words, words, words, words.

6:28 Faith comes of hearing and hearing by the word of God. The essential activity of evangelism, when you strip away everything else, it is a communication in words. Then the source materials of evangelism are the absolute, changeless, divinely revealed truth of Scripture. And while God has spoken, in general revelation, and that may form part of our evangelistic endeavor, God has spoken in the world around us, above us and within us, it is particularly the words of special revelation.

7:08 As Paul said to Timothy, from a babe you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. So, having considered the essential activity, the essential activity of evangelism, a communication of words, the source material words of God's revelation. Thirdly, the components of the evangelistic message, the truths foundational to the gospel. Men must know who God is, as Creator, as Lawgiver, and as Judge.

7:46 The truths which form the central core and substance of evangelism. A declaration and explanation of God's revelation, explanation of who Christ is, and what He has done to secure righteous pardon and just forgiveness. Evangelism is not giving your testimony. Evangelism may be preceded, securing ears, validating the experience of the gospel, but evangelism is explaining about Christ, who He is, and what He has done. And then the truths that accompany that substance of the gospel, there are promises, there are demands, and there are entreaties. And if we are evangelizing, then what we are doing, when you analyze it and strip away all the extraneous things, we will be communicating with words the God-revealed truths which comprise the foundation and substance of the gospel. The substance of the biblical gospel, along with the promises, demands, and entreaties which accompany that gospel. And this is what we've been endeavoring to do as we are two-thirds of the way through the six bi-weekly Bible studies. People have come and have heard the

9:08 answer to the question, has God spoken? They have heard the answer to the question, who is God? The question is, has God spoken? The question, what is humankind? The question, who is Jesus Christ, and what has He done for sinners? And in the two remaining studies, the question, what must I do to come into possession of the benefits of what Christ has done? That question will be addressed. And then, what then, is the question of the last lesson. Say, how do you know? Because I wrote it. All six of them. What then, if I have embraced Christ? If I have embraced Christ, what then? And in that lesson, people will be directed to see that the scripture says you ought to be baptized, you ought to be integrated into a biblical church, and you ought to begin a pattern of diligently using all of the means that God has provided for your growth in grace. Now, that's a thirteen-minute distillation of seven hours of biblical exposition and application. I think I did pretty good. I wrote in my notes, that's why I stumbled upon it. Now, this has been a twenty-minute

Introducing the Divine Antidote to Discouragement

10:24 distillation, but I looked at my watch and it was thirteen minutes, so that's why I stumbled a bit. Now, my desire before leaving on the physician-mandated four-week break from this ministry was to bring an eighth and final message in this series. But in the providence of God, it did not fall out that I was able to do that. But now, that we have been able to complete four of the six studies, and are two-thirds of the way done, I believe in the providence of God that what I wanted to say then has not only ripened in my own understanding, but I think it will appear much more relevant to some of you. Because this eighth and final message in this series is entitled, The Divine Antidote to Discouragement in Our Evangelistic Endeavors. The Divine Antidote to Discouragement. Discouragement in our evangelistic endeavors. If you were to look up the definition of antidote in the dictionary, you would find this. A remedy to counteract a poison, or anything

11:36 that works against an evil or unwanted condition. Now, discouragement in this endeavor is an evil and an unwanted. Very early in my ministry, a wise old woman, I can't remember even where it was, said, Now, son, as you seek to minister in this situation, not referring to here, above all else, beware of the demon of discouragement. Now, she did not mean that there was an actual demon whose name was Discouragement, who would sit on my shoulders and mock me and give a hideous laugh. But she understood that once we allow discouragement to infect our spirits in the work of God, we become paralyzed. And she understood that well. Perhaps she had seen many a young preacher crippled with the demon of discouragement. And as I have interacted with various ones

12:44 in the course of these weeks, even while I have been away, I do think that this word may be a word that will be of help to not a few. The divine antidote to discouragement in our evangelistic endeavors. And that antidote to discouragement has three ingredients. Ingredient number one is a biblically-based confidence in the ultimate success of our evangelistic endeavors. Ingredient number two is a biblically-shaped realism concerning the long-term nature of our evangelistic endeavors. And thirdly, a biblically-fueled determination not to grow weary or quit in our evangelistic endeavors. So come with me to the laboratory of God's Word as we concoct an antidote to discouragement in our evangelistic endeavors. And the first ingredient is this. A biblically-based

Jesus' Commitment to Build His Church

13:51 confidence in the ultimate success of our evangelistic endeavors. And the second ingredient is this. A biblically-based confidence in the ultimate success of our evangelistic endeavors. And there are many biblical truths which make up this ingredient, but I would direct your attention to but three of them. First, we find the commitment of Jesus to build His church even in hostile territory. We find in Scripture the commitment of Jesus to build His church even in hostile territory. Perhaps you've already thought of the text to which we're now going to turn, Matthew 16. You remember the setting? Jesus has come into the area

14:38 of Palestine called Caesarea Philippi, and He asked His disciples, saying, verse 13 of Matthew 16, Who do men say that the Son of Man is? And they say, John the Baptist, some, Elijah, and others. Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But He said unto them, Who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood is not revealed it unto you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say unto you, You are Peter, you are Petros. A piece of rock broken off from the main bulk of the rock. You are Peter, little rock,

15:33 and upon this rock, Petra, upon this massive structure of rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. On His way to Jerusalem to die for His church. Jesus speaks these words, for notice the very next paragraph, verse 21. From that time began Jesus to show unto His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. He must go to Jerusalem. Why? His church is comprised of those who are natively in Adam, as we heard in the previous hour. Condemned in Adam.

16:25 Vile and polluted as a result of their fall in Adam. They are offensive to a holy God. They have violated the law of heaven. They deserve the judgment of God. And though God's love so moves Him to send His only begotten Son, His love does not move Him to swallow up His justice. Beware of making the love of God like Jonah's great fish that swallows up all the other attributes of God. As though He's love, only love, and always love. No, God's attributes do not swallow up one another. His love has no power to swallow up His justice. His love has no power to swallow up His holiness. And if God in His love is to provide salvation for hell-deserving sinners, for whom justice demands hell and punishment and wrath, there must be satisfaction to God's justice. There must be. Atonement made for sin. And Jesus has come out of the bosom of God and moved by the love

17:34 of the Father. He comes, and by His own love He comes. And His church must be purchased by blood, or there would be no church. And so He is on His way to Jerusalem to die. And in that setting He draws from Peter the confession of His identity. You are the Christ, the promised anointed. You are the anointed Messiah. That's His office, prophet, priest, and king, the Son of the living God. That's the identity of His person. He is God's unique and only Son, sharing in the very essence of the divine nature. All that God is as God, Jesus is as God. And then He says to Peter, And I say unto you, you are Peter, little rock. And upon this, this massive rock, what rock? The rock that has just been established in Peter's confession,

18:35 or acknowledged in Peter's confession. The rock of the identity of Jesus in His functions as Messiah, prophet, priest, and king, and in the identity of His person as Son of God. He says, on this foundation of who I am and what I will do, I will build. My church. And here our Lord affirms in the most clear, unmistakable terms, that as surely as He is committed to go to Jerusalem and die, as surely as He is Messiah, as surely as He is Son of God, He will build His church. And He's going to do it in hostile territory. Territory. Territory in which the gates of Hades, a symbol of the aggregate powers of darkness, will not be able to prevail against His work in building His church. Yes, He's going to

19:47 use weak vessels. Peter, the little rock. Peter, the one who a few sentences later, he says, get behind me, Satan. Satan. In a period of temporary backsliding and carnal brashness, no sooner does the Lord say, I'm going to purchase my church with my blood, and Peter says, oh, far be it from you, Lord. You know what Peter was saying? Send me to hell. He didn't realize it, but that's what he was saying. When he said, Lord, you must never die. That'll never happen.

20:21 What he's saying is the church will never be redeemed. The people of God will not be rescued by the death of their federal head and substance. But through Jesus, what a weak character. One moment, he's the mouthpiece of divine revelation concerning the identity of the office and function and person of Jesus. The next moment, he's the very mouthpiece of the devil to hinder Jesus from doing the only thing that will redeem the church. And yet he says, I say unto you, Peter, I'm going to build my church. And furthermore, in so doing it, look what he says in verse 19. I'm I will give unto you, Peter, and also, as we read further on in Matthew 18, where it's spoken to the entire apostolate, I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

21:15 You mean that which opens and closes the door of the kingdom is going to be given to this one, who in a few moments is going to be the very mouthpiece of the devil in a temporary lapse of spiritual blindness? Yes. Because Jesus builds his church with the keys of the church through very weak and often contradictory instruments. You see, when the Lord said, I will build my church, and Peter and the bunch with him are going to be my instruments, he was not being Pollyannish and unrealistic. This is the bunch through whom he's going to build his church. And we're the bunch through whom he's going to continue to build it. With all of our quirks, with all of our weaknesses, with all of our fears, with all of our fears, of our shameful shame of Christ that so often causes our mouths to be shut when they ought to be open, our hand to be inactive when it ought to be reaching for that tract and giving it out. Yet Jesus says, I will build my church. How in the world can we be paralyzed long

22:27 with discouragement while feeding our souls on a simple statement like this? I will build my church. If I am built, I will build my church. If I am built, I will build my church. If I am doing that through which Christ is committed to build his church, then I must not allow the demon of discouragement to settle on my shoulders. So, if we are to deal with discouragement, we must have a biblically based confidence in the ultimate success of our evangelistic endeavors. And that confidence rests, first of all, in the fact of the commitment of Jesus to build his church. In hostile territory. But then secondly, this ingredient is made up of another blessed

Jesus' Commitment to Gather His Blood-Bought Sheep

23:14 reality. A biblical based conviction in the ultimate success of the evangelistic endeavor rests in the fact that Jesus is committed to gather all his blood-bought sheep unto himself wherever they are. He is committed not only to build his church, but he's equally committed to build his church. He is committed to build his church. He is committed to build his church. He is committed to gather to himself all of his blood-bought sheep wherever they are. Some of you have already thought of the text, and that's all right. It's good if you did. John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Jesus has identified himself as the good

24:02 shepherd, the one who lays down his life for the sheep. Verse 14 of John 10. Then he says in verse 16, And other sheep I have, not I hope to have, I may have them. No, other sheep I already have that are not of this fold. In the context, that would be the fold of Israel. He's thinking of that great multitude out of every kindred, tribe, and tongue, and nation. And he says they are my sheep. I already have them. I have them by divine donation. I have them by divine donation. All that the Father gives me, he was conscious that he had an entrustment from the Father. Those given to him in the secret eternal counsels of God's electing grace, they have been given to him. And he says, I have them. I'm about to lay down my

25:04 life for them, and having them by the Father's donation, and about to lay down my life and say, I have them. I have them. I have them. I have them. I have them. I have them. I have them by my own oblation and sacrifice. Notice what he says about them. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. I must bring them. As surely as Christ said in the Matthew 16 passage, I must bring them. I must go to Jerusalem. I must be rejected of the chief priests and the elders. I must be crucified. I must rise again from the dead. He now says, I must bring them. I must die. And in so doing,

26:04 this will be my method. They shall hear my voice, and they shall become. Notice the certainty. Absolutely no equivocation.

26:15 They shall hear my voice. Well, how in the world does that great multitude whom no man can number out of every kindred, tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, hear the voice of Jesus, when in a few days he's going to go back to the right hand of the Father? Well, that's clearly answered in both Romans 10 and Ephesians chapter 2. How shall they call on him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear? Without a preacher. And Paul could say to the Ephesians, Where Christ never visited, he, Jesus, came and preached peace to you and to those that are afar. When did Jesus come to Ephesus? When his servants who speak his gospel come. It is Christ coming on the chariot of gospel proclamation. So when you and I are engaged

27:09 in that endeavor, this text ought constantly to be in our minds. Jesus says, The ones who are my sheep. Those whom the Father has marked out and chosen and given to me from eternity, for whom I let my life's blood flow down into death, they shall hear my voice. You mean when I speak the gospel, when I communicate the gospel, my means of that booklet, that tract, that tape, that CD, that Christ may be so speaking as to gather the people of the world, as to speak the gospel, as to gather the people of the world, as to gather the people of the world, as to gather the people of the world, as to come to me.

27:49 And what do we know about that if you don't speak the gospel? When you speak the gospel, when you speak the gospel, you must speak the gospel to those who時m and who are different from you, to those who are come out of the cave, to those who are coming out from the earth, to those who are coming out of the heaven. That's the very reason why we don't engage in some kind of psychological manipulation of the manner in which we preach the gospel to take away its offensiveness. No! Christ's voice will call through Christ's truth! Not through man's manipulation and trimming of the message and pairing off the rough edges and the right angles! Christ can gather with his powerful voice through his own pure gospel. N lawyers, listen. God is powerful. God is such powerful. You should understand that God is gospel. And he says he's going to do it. They shall hear my voice, and hearing it, they shall become one flock, one shepherd. That is, they shall be incorporated into my people.

God's Pleasure in the Proclamation of Christ

28:36 Now, I ask you, if we believe that, and we're engaged in a modest way in whatever sphere according to whatever gifts God has given us in communicating the gospel, how can discouragement abide long when we put our finger on John 10, 16 and say, Lord Jesus, I believe what you said. And it may be that one of those sheep, you have marked them out to hear your voice through me. Instead of discouragement, we ought to be on tiptoes with expectation. Could it be? Could it be? Could it be? But then the third element that goes into this ingredient is this. Not only Christ's commitment to build his church, even in hostile territory, Christ's commitment to gather his blood-bought sheep wherever they are. But thirdly, success of our evangelistic endeavors rest in the fact that above all, God is pleased with the proclamation of Jesus and his saving work, even when people reject the message. This is a truth concerning which I was ignorant for many, many years. And when it first dawned upon me, I was a Christian. I was a Christian. I was a

29:56 It was nothing short of transforming. Hear it again. When we communicate the gospel, success in those endeavors rest in the fact that above all, God is pleased with the proclamation of Jesus and his saving work, even when people reject the message. Now, I didn't say he is pleased that they reject the message. Don't accuse me of saying that.

30:28 He is pleased even though they reject the message. The Bible says I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he turn and live. He is yet pleased with the proclamation of Christ, even when people do not turn. Where do you find that? Turn with me to 2 Corinthians. A marvelous passage.

30:50 Chapter 2. 2 Corinthians and chapter 2. Verse 12. Now, when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened unto me in the Lord, I had no relief from my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother. But taking leave of them, I went forth unto Macedonia. If ever it looked like a gospel defeat. He comes to Troas in conjunction with Proclaiming the gospel. A door is wide open. He comes to preach. A door is open to preach. But he said, I had no relief in my spirit,

31:36 because I did not find Titus my brother. And when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, I did not find Titus my brother. And probably the reason was, his burden for the mess at Corinth was such that he had sent Titus there to look things over, and he was so anxious for the Corinthians, and anxious to get a report from Titus. He said, in essence, I was gripped with a holy distraction. Though I came for the gospel, and the door for preaching the gospel was open, I had no relief in my spirit. But taking leave of them, I went forth to Macedonia, but, but, thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ. This was not a defeat. He always leads us in his triumphal train, using the imagery of a returning Roman general, with the fruits of his conquest all around him. Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and makes

32:35 manifest through us, and makes manifest through us, and makes manifest through us, and makes manifest the savor, the smell of his knowledge in every place. That is the smell of the knowledge of Christ. Now look at verse 15. For we are a sweet smell of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one, a savor, a smell from death unto death. To the other, a smell of life unto life. And what I want you to fasten on is the phrase in verse 15, we are a sweet smell of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that are perishing. What is Paul saying? He's saying this. When we preach the gospel, God is sniffing. What do I

33:36 smell? And if he smells the savor of the knowledge of Christ, that is, the gospel is being presented for what it is. It is declaring who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, what Jesus will be to sinners. God is so delighted with smelling the savor of Christ preached in the gospel, that he says, it pleases me. And when you say, but Lord, some of them don't believe, he said, yes, that's not according to my revealed will, for I do not wish the death of any sin. But oh, I love the smell of my son in the gospel. We are a sweet savor of Christ unto God. In other words, we must learn not to focus so much on the looks in people's faces and the reaction of people to the gospel we bring, but contemplate as we bring it, God is sniffing. And if he sniffs the

34:43 savor of the knowledge of Christ, then we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God. In other words, we must learn not to focus so much on the looks in people's faces and the reaction of people's faces and the reaction of people's faces and the reaction of people's faces and the reaction of people's faces to the salvation that is in him. They're doing what I've told them to do, and it smells sweet to my nostrils. You see, we're always successful if we do what we're supposed to be doing. If we take the God-centered perspective, and God smells the savor of Christ, then we're a sweet savor of Christ. We're a sweet savor of Christ. We're a sweet savor of Christ. We're a sweet savor of Christ. We're a

35:31 sweet savor of Christ. We're a sweet savor of Christ. We're a sweet savor of Christ. We're a Now, I ask you, how can crippling, paralyzing discouragement in those endeavors remain in the heart of the child of God who has confidence in the ultimate success of the gospel? Christ says, I will build my church. Christ is committed to gather out his sheep, and God is pleased with the aroma of Christ as we engage in that task. But we come now to consider the second of these ingredients in this divine antidote to discouragement in gospel endeavors, evangelistic endeavors, and it is this. We must not only have a biblically-based confidence in the ultimate success of the gospel, but secondly, we must have

Ingredient 2: Realism About the Long-Term Nature of Evangelism

36:21 a biblically-shaped realism concerning the long-term nature of most of our evangelistic endeavors. Let me give it to you again. We must have a biblically-shaped realism concerning the long-term nature of most of our evangelistic endeavors. Now, I can remember when I was in grade school.

36:49 I know what some of you kids were thinking. That's in my ancient history class. Well, not quite. And I can't remember what they did with the money we got from it, but every year, we got issued the opportunity to sell seeds in the spring. A nickel a packet. Yeah. And on those packets, it would tell what kind of seed it was, and there would always be a picture of what that seed would look like when it germinated, fully developed, and was at the fruit-bearing or reaping stage. A little tiny, lettuce seeds. So tiny, tiny. Show these nice big heads of iceberg or romaine lettuce or some other kind of lettuce. If it were bean seeds, it would show big pods of beans. You know, they still put the pictures on there, I think. All right? So imagine one of my little buddies. He says,

37:43 oh, what's in the package is going to produce this? That's great. So he goes home, and he gets the pitchfork and finds a clot of ground in the backyard, hard almost as what? Whatever, you put it. Put it in. All right? And he works away, and he digs it up, and he breaks up the clods, and then he works in some fertilizer. He hears of somebody who's got a friend out in the country, and he gets a few big bags of manure, and he puts it in, and he works it in, and he gets the soil all nice and soft, works in a little sand if he needs to, and some peat moss. I mean, it is just perfect to receive the seed. He does that on Monday, and he goes out on Tuesday, and he reads the packet. I can remember using a ruler. I mean, I wanted to make, if it said plant four to six rows inches apart and three inches apart, I'd have my ruler down.

38:33 And so he puts in his seeds. That's it all. Then he takes the package. This is what we always do, and sticks a stick through it and puts it at the end of the row so he knows what's been planted.

38:48 He's got it all there in place. That's Tuesday. Then he goes out Wednesday morning before school, and he looks. He said, wait a minute, something's wrong. I thought if I put that in the ground, I'm going to get what's on the picture. What in the world's wrong with these seeds? So he goes to school, and he says, teacher, something's wrong. I put the seeds in the ground just the way they said. There ain't nothing there. And after she corrects his grammar, she said, you've been a little bit anxious. You've got to wait a while. So he goes home, and he does that Wednesday. What's wrong with the poor kid? Well, as John Brown, the commentator, says, we are often like children who think that we can sow and reap in the same way. day. It just doesn't work that way. And I want you to look with me at two passages in the Word of God that clearly teach that ordinarily effective God-owned evangelistic endeavors are a long-term project. And therefore, in both of these passages, God uses the sowing,

39:55 watering, reaping imagery. The first one is 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians, a passage, God willing, we will read next Lord's Day morning. Paul is explaining to the Corinthians why he had to feed them with milk because of arrested growth in this whole area of their divisiveness over the various preachers. They were stunted in their growth, and he's going to try to correct their thinking. This caused them to line up behind their various preachers. So he said, you first of all need to understand the nature and specific function of gospel ministers. If you understand that, you won't be lining up behind them and dividing among yourselves over your favorite preachers. So he says in verse 5, what then is Apollos? What is Paul? He said, you don't

40:54 understand the true identity and function of these men. What is Apollos? What is Paul? Ministers through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him.

41:07 They are simply servants through whom you believed, and the fact that you believed through them is to be traced ultimately to the activity of God. And the Lord, he says, through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters, but God that gives the increase.

41:42 Now the primary emphasis in this passage is to instruct the Corinthians, if you are Christians and found in Christ's church as true believers, it's because God did it. Oh yes, he used Paul. He used Apollos, but God did it. That's the primary emphasis, and if God did it, and these were just servants through whom God worked, why in the world are you lining up behind the instrument rather than falling on your faces in gratitude to God and become once more the company of close-hearted brethren on their faces in gratitude?

42:21 But the secondary emphasis of the passage, surely, in using the imagery, of sowing and watering, is that the ultimate fruit at Corinth was not the work of the day. Paul himself labored there for 18 months. So in the sowing and watering, and then he goes on to use the word reaping later on in the passage, and he says each man will receive his reward according to his labors, the apostle is also understood. He's scoring that successful evangelism is often a long-term endeavor.

43:06 And now a second passage in which we find this is John chapter 4. John chapter 4. The setting is Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman, and when the disciples come back and they sort out what he was doing, talking to this woman, she's gone back into the city declaring that she's found the prophet of God, and then as the Samaritans begin to come out in droves, here we read in John 4 and verse 35, Say not ye there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, look on the fields, they are white already to harvest.

43:47 He that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto eternal life, that he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice, for herein is the saying true. And we don't know precisely where this saying comes from, whether it was a common proverb, whether it's a conflation of a couple of passages from the Old Testament, we're not sure. But he says, Jesus, this saying is true, one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that whereon you have not labored, others have labored, and you are entered into their labor.

44:30 So you see, whatever the passage is teaching, our Lord is teaching that often there is no reaping in gospel success that comes immediately. Someone has sown, someone has watered, someone has killed, someone has weeded, and then someone reaps. And the Lord tells them, you are now going to be reapers, but don't be puffed up over this, somebody else sowed seed. If seed is never sown, nobody's going to have an arm full of sheaves in harvest time.

45:04 Somebody's got to sow, somebody's got to water, someone's got to weed and cultivate and fertilize. And my dear brothers and sisters, we need to come to grips with the fact in this instant gratification, instant success age, if we're committed to the task of evangelism, it is often a long-term endeavor. Because one sows, another waters. But God in his own time grants the increase.

45:38 Most of you who are part of this church know how real this has been for me in my evangelistic endeavors with a certain doctor and his staff of ten women. Six years. Dozens of contacts subsequent to Mrs. Martin's death.

46:01 Periodic contacts. All of them. They all have John Piper's book on the passion of Christ. They all have the tape of my sermon on what the passion movie doesn't tell you.

46:15 They all have the CD of Mrs. Martin's memorial service.

46:21 They've heard words from our mouths about our Savior. Six years! No fruit yet. But until they boot me out of Collins Pavilion and say, don't you step foot on this place, I'm going back and cultivate.

46:37 And water in the hope that we shall yet reap. But I may be in my grave when someone else reaps. And in the last day, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, each one shall receive his reward according to his labor. Your task was some of those neighbors who disappointed you.

47:02 Said they would be coming and they haven't. Others who could care less. You do not know but what your very expression of concern may be the first seed that God is sowing. And He sees all the way down the whole process.

47:19 And He's got someone else who's going to water that seed. And they're going to think back, hey, that person was concerned about me and things having to do with the Bible and God. And now this person comes along and God sees the whole process. You and I need to walk by faith and believe that every endeavor we make, is not lost.

47:42 None of them is lost.

47:45 But if you've got the instant gratification, instant success mentality,

47:51 the demon of discouragement is going to find broad shoulders and he's going to sit on your back and paralyze you. I tried it, it didn't work. It didn't work? What do you know of what God is doing?

48:03 What do you know of what God is doing? There sits here a young man that for decades when I would have pointed gospel applications, I'd look him straight in the eye. I'd look him straight in the eyeballs and he knew I was preaching at him. Pleading with him.

48:21 But he turned from his sin and embraced the Lord Jesus. And every time I did it, I said, Lord, could it be today? You'll get him. It could be.

48:32 God got him a few months ago.

48:35 Parents sowed and sowed and sowed and Sunday school teachers sowed and sowed and pastors sowed and watered and sowed and watered. And when it's God's time to get his man, Jesus comes riding forth on his gospel chariot. And he never comes back empty-handed.

48:54 And it doesn't put an amen in your heart to something wrong with you. That's what it's all about, dear people. That's why I can look in the faces of some of you sitting here. I've pleaded with you at times with tears.

49:08 And you sit there like a bump on the log. Why don't I either come down out of the pulpit and grab you by the shirt and say, either you repent or I'm going to belt you. Or just give up. I'll tell you why.

49:21 I believe what I'm preaching. It's a long-term endeavor.

49:26 And sooner or later, God doesn't give you over to your hard part. God's going to get you.

49:33 One sows, another waters, but God does the increase over the long haul.

Ingredient 3: Determination Not to Grow Weary or Quit

49:47 Then thirdly and finally,

49:51 this antidote to discouragement in our evangelistic endeavors is composed not only of a biblically-based confidence in the success of the endeavor, a biblically-shaped realism concerning the gospel, concerning the long-term nature of most evangelistic endeavors, but thirdly, it's comprised of a biblically-fueled determination not to grow weary and quit in our evangelistic endeavors. A biblically-fueled determination not to grow weary and quit in our evangelistic endeavors. And here, again, some of you may have thought of the passage. It'll be our main passage, Galatians chapter 6,

50:47 verse 6, let him who is taught in the word communicate to him who teaches in all good things. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

51:00 For he that sows to his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of faith. Commentators differ on whether or not verse 9 should be understood in close connection with the preceding verses, or whether it is, as it were, a kind of capstone over the other exhortations and stands on its own two feet. And I'm taking the latter position. If some of you question the validity of that, I commend to you John Brown's commentary on the book of Galatians, pages 342 and 3. I had it here.

52:04 I was going to read it, but in the interest of time, I won't. Let's look at this verse together.

52:12 And let us not be weary. There's the command. Let us not be weary in well-doing. What kind of well-doing?

52:21 Well, he says in verse 10, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good to all men. What is a more, quote, good thing to do to all men than to communicate to them the message of life? And we are told that as we have that opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and in so doing, let us not be weary be weary in well-doing.

52:49 I doubt many of us think that growing weary when I ought not to grow weary is sin.

52:57 What is sin? I hope you can all answer now. Sin is any want or lack of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God. And the law of God is the revealed will of God for every facet of life.

53:13 This is the revealed will of God for us. Let us not be weary in well-doing.

53:21 Let us not grow dispirited with arms and hands hung down and knees weak and lose our zeal and vigor and fervor and enthusiasm for what we are doing. Let us not grow weary in well-doing. That's the command. But now look at the promise.

53:39 For, for, why should we not grow weary in well-doing? For, in due season we shall reap.

53:49 We're not on a fool's errand when we are engaged in doing good. Whatever that good may be, we have the promise of God in due season we will reap the fruit of that well-doing. Ultimately, in the context, it may well be reaping the reward of grace in the presence of God.

54:12 But it would be, would it not, any legitimate reward of God's blessing upon our persevering in well-doing. So there's the command. Let us not, let us not be weary in well-doing. Here's the promise.

54:24 For in due season we shall reap. Ah, but there's a condition. If, if, if we faint not. You see, the promise is nestled between the command and the condition which is tied to the command.

54:44 And what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder, not only in marriage, but in promise. If we faint not. This word faint is the very word that is used of the multitude following Jesus for three days and were hungry and the disciples said send them back into the city. Jesus said no, lest they faint in the way.

55:04 Picture people who have neither eaten nor perhaps drunk sufficient moisture of any kind for three days having to trudge back with their families into the cities.

55:16 That's the picture. Let us not be weary in well-doing for we shall reap if we faint not. So that means we need a biblically fueled determination not to grow weary and quit in our evangelistic endeavors. Now where in the world do I get the strength so to live, to maintain that initial zeal and to see it both maintained and increased in any God-given endeavor?

55:46 Well, ultimately, of course, it comes as we abide in Christ and we feed upon the strength and the grace of Christ. But you see, the call in this passage is to your responsible action, not to Christ's certain provision of grace. The certain provision of grace is promised, yes, but the focus of this passage is God's people rearing back on their hind legs and saying, I will not succumb to the spirit of fainting and weariness that will cripple me and destroy me. Spirit me and keep me from functioning in a way that glorifies God and plants me right down upon God's promise that I can plead before Him. I will reap if I faint not. And the similar emphasis, the last verse of 1 Corinthians 15, the last text to which I direct your attention this morning, after this marvelous treatment of the certainty of bodily resurrection rooted, in the fact that God's people are so united to Christ that His resurrection secures their resurrection. The Apostle says, in the light of all of this, verse 58 of 1 Corinthians 15, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,

57:15 that's a command, be unmovable, that's a command, always abounding, overflowing, not crippled with discouragement, a dispirited, weak-kneed, weak-willed person. No! Steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know. You know, this is something every one of us is to be assured of and have a clear-headed grasp upon your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

57:52 What you do as part of the expression of your union with Christ, your labor is in the Lord. It is labor at His directive. Labor in dependence upon His grace. Labor in the consciousness of your union with Him which is your strength.

58:11 Such labor is not in vain. It's not for nothing. And in that confidence we can be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding, in the work of the Lord. So in summary, my brothers and sisters, I urge you to make your own dose of this antidote to discouragement in your evangelistic endeavors.

Summary and Call to Action for Believers

58:39 By prayer and meditation upon these passages, concoct your own dose and make it a big one. Drink it down. Let it enter your system. This Bible-based confidence in the ultimate success of God's love for you.

58:55 and the ultimate success of your evangelistic endeavors. A biblically shaped realism concerning the long-term nature of most of our evangelistic endeavors. And a Bible-fueled determination not to grow weary and to quit in our evangelistic endeavors. I believe with God's help as we assimilate these things into the stuff of our spiritual system, God will indeed sustain us.

59:27 And hopefully counteract some of that poison that may already have entered our spiritual bloodstream and brought us to the fact where instead of saying, Lord, carry us through to a glorious completion in two weeks, you're saying, oh, two more weeks. I'll struggle on and just sort of stumble across the finish line.

Gospel Appeal to Unbelievers

59:51 And for you who sit here, you still are the ones we're evangelizing. We're still telling you about Jesus. We're still telling you He commands you to repent and believe.

60:03 I want you to know we're confident if God's marked you out to be a vessel of mercy, He's going to get you.

60:12 Why not stack arms today? Say, Lord, I'm tired of kicking against the goads as Paul was doing. And the Lord Jesus said, not it's hard for me. Think of it.

60:22 He's going around picking on the Lord's people. And the Lord says, in picking on them, you're picking on me. But when He comes to Paul, He says, it's hard for you to kick against the goads. Paul sucked destroying yourself by fighting light and conviction.

60:37 My dear young person, stop. Stop destroying yourself. You know you're miserable. All this face that you're having a good time is a bunch of baloney and you know it.

60:48 You're miserable. Thank God you're miserable. Because as much as you'd love to just throw all of this off and say, ah, it's just a bunch of bunkum. You can't do it.

60:57 God won't let you do it.

61:02 And those are all the overtures of His mercy. Saying, come home. Come home. Come home, my wayward child.

61:07 Come home. Come home. Come to the Father's house. That's where the dancing is.

61:13 That's where the feasting is. Come to the Father's house. That's where the action's at. It's not out there in the hog pens in the far country.

61:23 And the prodigal found it out the hard way. Come home to the Father's house. There's the veal. There's the garment.

61:32 There's the ring. There's the dancing. And there above all else is the warmth of the Father's embrace. Go to Him.

61:42 Go to Him today.

Prayer of Conclusion

61:51 Oh, our Father, how we thank You for the Scriptures. We thank You that they meet us at every point of our need. And we pray that where this word today is needed by Your people, that You will apply it with power. May each of us in days to come by prayer and meditation assimilate it into the very stuff of our spiritual bloodstream.

62:16 And we pray for those that are yet strangers to Your grace as once again I have been privileged to plead with them to come home. Oh, Father, may Your voice reach them where no human voice can reach. Thank You for Your presence with us in our worship for this beautiful Lord's Day, for the freedoms we enjoy. Continue with us and sanctify the remainder of the day for our profit and for Your praise.

62:47 In Jesus' worthy name we ask it. Amen.