Expository Evangelism

Introduction and Recommended Resources

0:03 I appreciate that last part of our brother's request and his prayer. As I found by experience that this early afternoon session in pastor's conferences is one in which we need desperately to gird up the loins of our minds and to give ourselves to hearing because all the blood is down there in this direction, working on the stomach to digest what's there, what's left up here, and we can very easily get dull, and so I hope we will consciously resist that temptation. Now, before we turn to our study, I want to say a couple of things about a few paperbacks. First of all, I'm sure that, or I should say I'm sure, I would be quite sure that all of you are familiar with Packer's book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, but don't think because you've read it once you've really absorbed it. I find every time I read this I get something fresh. It ought to be a constant companion. And then in this book that Errol Hulse has put out, Preaching Yesterday and Today, there is much good food for thought in here, but particularly this chapter by David Kingdom on David Kingdom, who is principal of the Irish Baptist College, who is perhaps the outstanding Reformed Baptist scholar in England today, or in British Isles, I should say.

1:22 God's church has scriptural evangelism. If you have any question as to the principle that all evangelism should flow out, then back into the church, I commend to you a careful, scrutinizing reading and study of this chapter of David Kingdom. I don't know what this sells for, but I know it's quite reasonable. And then, though not from a thoroughly Reformed perspective, James Stewart is very hard to locate theologically, but he has some very perceptive insights to the whole subject of evangelism, Hollywood evangelism, Pope-Hurried evangelism, defective evangelism.

1:59 If you're not familiar with it, this series of essays, I would commend it to you. And then, where the rebellion to the law of God is being seen in the whole distinction of the sexes, this book by Wayne Mack, a little paperback, The Role of Women in the Church is excellent. The first edition is sold out. They've already gone into a second edition.

2:18 I wrote a little advertising blurb on it. He's included in the second edition as a preface. And I think you'll find it very, very helpful. A thorough scriptural treatment.

2:29 Negative the first chapter. What women may not do. The last chapter, very helpful. Positive what women may do in the church.

2:36 Very, very good little booklet. I heartily recommend it. And if you're not familiar with Right with God, this is the most helpful evangelistic tool, giving a comprehensive biblical presentation of the gospel. It's the kind of thing some of us felt we were waiting for years to have.

2:53 If I have people, I tell our own people, if you have someone who doesn't know the gospel at all, give them Right with God. If they're enmeshed in the gospel, in the wrong gospel, give them Pastor Chantry's book, today's gospel. And the two form a good double-barrel shotgun.

3:08 All right, so much for books. Now we turn to our subject today, which is listed in your schedules as expository evangelism. Or we could give the title, The Pastor as an Expositor and Evangelist.

Setting Expository Evangelism in its Biblical Framework

3:32 Now we've considered the pastor as a man of God. First of all, in his own inner exercises of grace, and then in our first session this morning, in the realm of domestic piety. Now we move to the pastor in his official ministry. And I want to limit myself to one aspect of the pastor's role in evangelism.

3:55 There are many facets of this, but I want to limit myself to one, namely the pastor as an evangelist in his regular preaching and teaching ministry. Hence, I rather, like the title, The Pastor and Expository Evangelism, or The Pastor as an Expository Evangelist. Now to think our way through the subject, we shall do so along three lines. And you forgive me now if I stick rather closely to my notes, because if I start taking off on any one of these things, we won't get through.

4:25 We have a lot of material to cover. First of all, I want to set the subject in its biblical framework. Secondly, I want to ask four vital questions regarding the subject, and then thirdly, I want to draw some conclusions and make some concluding exhortations. First of all, then, to set this whole subject within a biblical framework, I want you to consider with me, I think, if I remember correctly, three, yes, three basic passages of Scripture.

4:54 First of all, turn to 1 Timothy.

5:02 And what I want to do very quickly is to bring together several passages from 1 and 2 Timothy to show the tremendous scope of the responsibility of the pastor. The responsibilities which Timothy had as a minister of the gospel, an apostolic representative there in the area of Ephesus. Paul begins in chapter 1 of the first letter by saying, verse 3, I exhorted thee to tarry at Ephesus when I was going into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge certain men not to teach a different doctrine. Here, Timothy's responsibility is to teach a different doctrine.

5:42 Here, Timothy's responsibility is to teach a different doctrine. He is explained in these words that he is to charge men to teach no different doctrine. In other words, Timothy's task is establishing the people of God in purity of doctrine. That's one of his great responsibilities.

6:01 A second responsibility is indicated in chapter 3, verses 14 and 15. These things I write unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly, but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. He's been writing to him about the conduct, as we mentioned last night, of women, of men, the requirements for elders, for deacons. He says, Timothy, I'm writing to you about this whole matter of proper church order.

6:38 Your second great responsibility, Timothy, is not only to teach men, is not only that of establishing the people of God in pure doctrine, but establishing the church of God in proper order and discipline. But then he has a third responsibility. That responsibility is brought out in passages such as chapter 6, 1 and 2. Let as many as are servants under the yoke count their masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and the doctrine be not blasphemed, and they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but let them serve them but rather because they are partakers of the benefit and are believing and beloved.

7:23 These things exhort and teach. What were the things? Guides to practical holiness of life.

7:32 So here are three great responsibilities that Timothy has, as we see them here in the book of 1 Timothy. He's to establish the people of God in pure doctrine. He's to establish the people of God in holiness of life. He's to establish the people of God in proper church order.

7:49 Then Paul adds to this another great responsibility in 2 Timothy 2.2.

7:57 2 Timothy 2.2 The things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. He is to establish and provide teachers to proper church order. He's to establish and provide children and let them really be in the church order.

8:35 He's to establish the people of God in good and good word. He's to establish the people of God in practical godliness. He's to generate the people of God to teach them and instruct them in these matters. Added to that, he is to be concerned with proper church order, cultivating and developing true elders and true deacons and then guiding them into their proper functions.

9:01 Then added to that, he is to be concerned about finding faithful men who will be qualified teachers to whom further instruction is given that they may teach others. Now any man doing those four things is certainly not letting much grass go under his feet. And yet Paul is not done with Timothy's responsibilities. For he lays on top of that responsibility, the one mentioned in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 5, but be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship through the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry.

9:45 If you begin to rest on your oars because you're doing the first four things, I've got news for you. Added to these and woven through the fabric of all of them, you are constantly to be doing the work of an evangelist. Now what does the word mean? Well, it's an exegetical problem as you know because it is used only three times in the New Testament.

10:09 Acts 21.8 speaks of Philip the evangelist.

10:14 Ephesians 4.11 speaks of an evangelist as one of the gifts of Christ to his people. He has given some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor-teachers, and there is debate linguistically and exegetically as to whether it refers to a functional matter or an official title, whether it is a temporary office or whether it is a permanent office or gift. And I'm not going to go into that whole debate, but I want you to know I'm aware of that debate.

10:49 My head has not been in the sand in my homework. But one thing is clear, and upon this everyone is agreed who deals with the word. Since the word is that root word for the evangel, the gospel, it means basically one who announces the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, particularly to those who either have not heard it or have not savingly responded to it. Now the debate is whether it's a man doing that work in the sense of a full-time work as an office, an evangelist, or whether it describes a peculiar function, but in either case it has to do with the proclamation of the evangelion, the proclamation of the evangel. So then, as Timothy thinks of his responsibilities, he is never to think that the, the great and dominant responsibilities of being a true shepherd to the souls of men in teaching sound doctrine, establishing godliness of life in true church order, and training others for the ministry, he is never to feel that he is exempt from this constant duty of proclaiming the evangel.

12:15 In the midst of all these duties, an integral part of his responsibility is that of doing the work of an evangelist. Now by way of application, I think you see the inference of the text. What are your duties as a pastor? Well, we could go right back over these things that were laid upon Timothy.

12:37 Establishing God's people in pure doctrine, holiness of life, proper church order, establishing a future ministry, but oh, my dear brothers in the ministry, our work is not done simply by doing these four things. In all of these things, you and I are to be doing the work of evangelists. So that text, I think, is perhaps the most powerful in setting a biblical framework to the concept of the pastor and expository evangelism. The second passage is Romans chapter 10.

13:17 Romans chapter 10, verses 12 through 15. Now we go back up to verse 11. The scripture saith, Whosoever believeth in him shall not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord over all, and is rich unto all that call upon him.

13:41 For whosoever shall call, and you notice how the Holy Ghost has written this. Generally, it's quoted this way. People's understanding. Whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved, but that isn't what it says.

13:54 Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, the Hebrew concept, the concept of name, you know what it is. Name is the revelation of character, indicating that before men call, there's been content to the preaching. They know the character of God is revealed in Jesus Christ, and they do not call upon some Lord who is the concoction of their own sentimental imaginations. They call upon that Lord who is the revelation of God.

14:23 Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Then Paul starts this chain of reasoning. How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in him?

14:38 And this is the proper rendering. Whom they have not heard. The preposition is not there in the original. How shall they believe in him whom they have not heard?

14:53 And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? Now you see the chain of reasoning. Men cannot savingly call unless they hear the voice of Christ himself.

15:08 How shall they call on him whom they have not heard? The one who's the object of the calling is the one whom they hear. My sheep, he says, hear my voice. Other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them also I must bring.

15:22 They shall hear my voice. There shall be one fold, one shepherd. Now, who becomes the voice of Christ to call out his sheep? They are called, in the next phrase, the sent ones.

15:34 How shall they call except they hear? How shall they hear without a preacher? And who is the preacher? How shall they preach except they be sent?

15:47 And exegetically, the sent one is not every ordinary believer. I concur 100% with Professor Murray in his comments on this text, and I quote, In the last clause of verse 14, the apostle is thinking of the institution which is the ordinary and most effectual means of propagating the gospel, namely, the official preaching of the word by those appointed to this task. Verse 15 reflects upon the necessity of God's commission to those who undertake the office. They are sent.

16:26 The presumption of arrogating to oneself this function is apparent from what has just been stated. Those who preach are Christ's spokesmen, and only the person upon whom he has laid his hand may act in that capacity. End of quote, page 58 and 9, volume 2, commentary on Romans Erdman's publication.

16:53 Now, this exegesis is not unique to Professor Murray. It has good sound. Uh, company. And the point that I want to drive home is this.

17:03 If it is the sent ones who are the primary means of being the voice of Christ to sinners,

17:14 then you ask the question, where do most of the sent ones speak in Christ's name? Well, most of them speak in the general assembling together of people in visible churches. Hence, it is in that framework where, the evangelism is to be done, and the evangel is to be proclaimed.

17:39 In a recent study of the book of Acts, I was really struck by something. It fits perfectly with this. In every recorded instance of someone coming to faith. Now, listen, I've chosen my words carefully.

17:54 Every recorded instance of someone coming to faith. The instrument in bringing the person to faith, was an officially, commissioned, sent one.

18:09 And I challenge you to read through the book of Acts and establish whether or not that's so. Acts 8.4 says that they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Yes, but it does not record a specific instance of someone being brought to the faith. Wherever it speaks of individuals as a group or one by one, Day of Pentecost 3000, Philip, Ethiopian unit, Paul and Silas, the household of the jailer, Peter at Cornelius' household, Paul at Ephesus, wherever it is. It's interesting that the Holy Ghost is careful to record the official ministry of the sent ones being instrumental in actually bringing about spiritual birth. Now I am not saying that every believer is not warranted to preach the gospel. Not at all. I am

19:03 not saying that every believer should not preach the gospel. I am not saying that at all. But what I am saying is that the primary appointed means for the sheep hearing the voice of the shepherd is the proclamation of the gospel by the sent one. That's all I am saying.

19:25 And if someone wants to draw wrong deductions from that, they are responsible, not I. But I do think this biblical emphasis must be seen. And even in the case of that deacon who obviously was a recognized office bearer, he became a mighty evangelist and was used of God and became the first martyr of the Christian church. And so from this passage, you see, there's a basis for thinking of expository evangelism.

19:53 I have been peculiarly appointed to be the means of the salvation of Christ's sheep. How shall they call on him whom they have not heard? And where are they going to hear his voice? Through the sent one proclaiming the message of God. Alright? Then the last text is 1 Corinthians 1.21. 1 Corinthians 1.21.

20:18 The context of this passage is clear.

20:23 Paul is on one of those sanctified excursions. He starts out in verse 10 of chapter 1 to deal with the problem of divisions. In the course of his polemic as to the folly of division, he says the word gospel. And when he said the word gospel, he lost his train of thought. Took off.

20:41 And he went into orbit on the gospel. And then way down chapter 3, he says, oh, by the way, back to my point, brethren, we come now back to the problem of divisions. So don't feel bad. If you're preaching and something you're saying just causes you to kick in your act of burning and go into orbit for a while, that's alright.

20:59 That's alright. You've got good apostolic precedent for what you do. Alright? So he mentions gospel and what happens? Verse 18.

21:09 For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning will I bring to naught. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. Now I'm fully aware of the linguistic problems with this word. Is the emphasis upon the thing preached or upon preaching as an activity? Well, in either case, it's clear that it's not merely preaching devoid of content, but neither is it content devoid of method. This word brings both content and method together. And so it is translated, rightly translated, in the marginal reading of some Bibles, through the foolishness of the thing God sent. Now

22:21 if that's so, who are the instruments who preach? Who proclaim in Christ's name as Christ's ambassadors? It is those of us who have been recognized within the church as God's gifts to the church. And it is in that context that this passage finds its primary fulfillment. So then, let me say in conclusion,

22:48 as teaching ruling elders, week by week, laboring in the word and in doctrine, there should be a conscious, constant and God-blessed effort to evangelize, to proclaim the good news of salvation through Christ, and to press upon men the duty and the necessity of immediate repentance and faith. This applies to our personal contacts, as well as our contacts with our people in the official ministerial duties. In your counseling, in your catechizing, in your preaching, in your Sunday school teaching, in your home visitation, do the work of an evangelist, and do it not by the adoption of clever tricks to con people into bowing their heads and mumbling some kind of Protestant ritual and then giving them Protestant absolution, saying, all is well, but do it by the opening up of the word of God and the pressing of that word upon the conscience, trusting the Holy Ghost to bring them to birth in His own way and time. So much for, I hope, having established from the Scriptures the concept of the pastor-teacher and his duty to be an evangelist. Now, with reference to that duty, is our second main division, four basic questions about this

Who Are We to Evangelize?

24:17 duty and this privilege. Who are we to evangelize? How is it to be done? Why isn't it done?

24:25 And what is the ultimate goal in doing it? All right? First of all, who is the object of this kind of evangelistic ministry? And let me suggest three categories that are before you every Lord's Day, who ought to be the specific objects of this kind of expository evangelism. First of all, the children of our church members have the privilege of Christian nurture at home and some of them the privilege of Christian nurture at school. There is no substitute for the authoritative proclamation of the word through which Christ's voice is to be heard. And now may I really stick my neck out and say, for this reason I abominate the idea of junior church. By the time a child is four years old, generally speaking, he ought to be able to sit quietly and listen to the word of God.

25:29 And if you can't get him to sit quietly by the time he's four, you don't need some kind of a repetition of Sunday school and drawing pictures and making paper cutouts. You need some lectures on discipline. And the children are wrenched out of the very context which God has ordained for their salvation.

25:51 The authoritative proclamation of the word of God by the sent vessels. And I counted one of the greatest privileges ever afforded mortal man to have before me Sunday by Sunday the children of our church members, my own children, for whom I am God's appointed vessel and who all things being equal, if they are brought to faith, will be brought to faith through the preaching God privileges me to do in that place. Oh, what a privilege. To press home upon their consciences such things as one, the necessity of their conversion to God.

26:37 Not the necessity of a dramatic conversion, but the necessity of conversion to God.

26:45 Jesus did not say, except ye be converted and become his little children, you'll no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus did not say concerning that, well, the exceptions are our covenant children or our children with to nurture. Conversion is the absolute indispensable necessity of one's to enter the kingdom of God. Just as much as the new birth.

27:11 Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And he said that to a man who had every covenant blessing. He had the covenant sign in his flesh. He lived in the covenant community.

27:24 He had risen through the ranks to become the teacher in the covenant community. And he says, except a man be born again.

27:31 Thank God I don't know of any of you men who hold the doctrine of presumptive regeneration in your heads. Make sure you don't reflect it in your preaching. I've heard many a man who would deny, I don't believe the doctrine of presumptive regeneration, that the children of covenant children are regenerate until they've proven otherwise. I believe they must be converted. They must be born again. And yet you could listen to a man preach for 20 years to them and never once did he look the little kids in the eyes and say, you've got to be converted. Have you been converted? Are you born again? He would deny it if he held the doctrine in the head. But his absence of pointy preaching on the necessity of conversion in the new birth to the children reflected that he really did believe it. Though he denied it in his head. Preach to them the possibility of their being early in a state of grace. Suffer the little children

28:25 to come unto me. Reason with them. Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth. Tell the young people that the best time to become the Lord's is now.

28:35 Before the entanglements of sin make it all the more difficult to cut with the world and the flesh. That's biblical thinking. Ecclesiastes 12 and again in the words of our Lord in the Gospel of Luke suffer the little children to come unto me. Tell them that Jesus is a lover of children and that Jesus delights to receive children and Jesus can save children.

29:01 Teach them the duty of immediate repentance and faith. Teach the children in your preaching the tragic responsibility of the tragic possibility of squandering their privileges. There's a great example of this in David. If anyone could claim to be a man with blessed with covenant privileges, it was Solomon. And yet David's closing words to him are these. First Chronicles 28 and verse 9. And thou Solomon my son, know the God of thy father. Serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the imagination of the thoughts. If thou seek him he will be found of thee. But if thou forsake him he will cast thee off forever. Do you tell the children in your churches that? Oh you

29:59 dear children what a privilege you have. The nurture of your praying parents and the praying pastor and the praying people. What privileges! But if you squander them, hell has for its intensest flames. That person who has squandered the privileges of Christian nurture to walk in the paths of sin. Bring before them such passages as Hebrews 28 and following. The awful responsibility of those who trample underfoot the blood of the covenant counted an unholy thing. Let me illustrate from our own children something that was both sobering and rewarding.

30:39 Back about a year ago Heidi had been caught in her first lie. She was about seven at the time. And I forgot precisely what she lied about. But we dealt with her very faithfully right there. We came out in our family worship. And Heidi got all upset and went up to her room crying. And Beth who was only five at the time, five and a half she looked up very very troubled and she says, Daddy is Heidi going to hell?

31:05 In her mind she had associated inseparably liars and hell. And I said thank God. She saw there was an inseparable relationship between lies and hell. She got that from the Bible. And she got it from the Bible from her mommy and daddy. And from her daddy's preaching. And she didn't think, oh well, no. But Heidi's in some kind of a no man's land. She's got all the privileges of a Christian. No, no. Well we proceeded to tell her, well Bethy, when the Bible says liars go to hell, it's speaking of a person who is committed to the course of lying as the bend to the drift, the practice of the life. Heidi is not one who lies all the time.

31:50 She belongs to the Lord. We don't know. But this was a specific sin and she's confessed it to us and she's gone up to pray and asked the Lord to forgive her and we proceeded to explain. I was thrilled to know that my five and a half year old was getting the idea that no amount of the surroundings of Christian nurture can nullify the inseparable relationship between a path of sin and the wages of sin which is death in the lake of fire. Oh my brothers in the ministry, pray that God will work into your being the great privilege you have to stand the place of the sent one, to influence pliable tender minds for the gospel, to beseech them in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God. Don't be guilty of a silence in applying the gospel which gives the impression that they aren't included. Say at least once in your songs all you dear children boys and girls, listen to your preacher. I've got something for you. Have a little

32:55 tidbit in the sermon for them. In the application, in the opening up of the scriptures. Don't be silent in applying the gospel to them which will give the impression there's nothing for me. I've got a little theory why it is among other things you have a lot of teenagers they won't listen to the preacher. They sit and write notes. You see they've come all the way up through the church and for 14 years the preacher never acted like they were there. Now all of a sudden they're supposed to be important. The preacher failing to direct words to them and look them in the eyes and speak to them tenderly and straightforwardly. They were getting the impression whatever the preacher's excited about from that black book it must have nothing to say to me because there's never a word that comes to me and to my heart and to my conscience. And now all of a sudden it's all supposed to be for me. And they can't quite make the shift. Let them grow up knowing that whatever's in that black book is for kids. Because in

33:54 your preaching week after week there's something leaping out of that black book coming to their hearts. You see? Week after week. And then also don't be silent about the necessity of these things even though they're not necessary for children. Don't give them the impression that only those rotten non-covenant community people need to be born again. But we covenant children we can just sort of slip into the kingdom. We can just sort of be eased in. There'll be kids in hell whose blood is going to be on the hands of preachers who gave that impression by failing to press upon children the necessity of the new birth. Look at Nick Shane as a beautiful example of how to preach to children. Nick Shane is a great example of this. When you read in his exhortations and applications he directs words to well, I must hurry now to the second category under the who. Who is the object of this expository evangelism? When you're opening

34:53 up the scriptures, preaching through you find that path out of the text to the conscience of the child. Secondly, you have the doubting and the deceived among the members of the visible church. The word of God is clear that not all in the visible church are truly regenerate in the rest of churches. Hence we must look upon such as a valid object of a form of evangelism.

35:22 Others who are the people of God but because of bad teaching temperament and all these other factors they have dim view of the ground of the sinner's acceptance. Therefore we must look upon these classes of people as needing the authoritative proclamation of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ and pressure their consciences as to their standing before God. You have the deceived amongst you. Paul knew he had them in those churches that even he found it. That's why he says again and again, be not deceived God is not mocked. Let no man deceive himself. Be not deceived. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

36:07 Examine yourself. Prove yourself whether he be in the faith. These things are written to visible churches.

36:14 And oh, I get terribly upset with these people who think that the sin of any man is to cause a visible church member to question whether he's saved or not.

36:28 Men who have an unwritten rule that the last sin you'd want to commit, let her rest.

36:36 Never get anybody to question whether or not he's in a state of grace. All crimes the height of ministerial apostasy is to cause some visible church of Christ to say, hey, buster, have you really got the right product? Do you have a really? No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

37:00 Must never. That's doubting the promises. No, that's not doubting the promises. It's just asking the question, do I have a right to believe the promises are mine in Christ Jesus? And that's a biblical question. I don't doubt that all. Who believe or say it? The question is, do I truly believe? Because my Bible says there's lots of people who think they believe that don't. They're questioning the promises. It's questioning my own deceitful heart as to whether or not I've rested the promises to myself, rather than having them applied by the Holy Ghost to a heart that he has touched. So you have the deceived.

37:39 You must find the passage, the road out of the passage to the conscience. Not in every sermon I'm speaking now in the overall thrust of our ministries. And then you have the doubters. The doubters who are the Mr. Weak Faith, the Mr. Fearing, the Mr. Ready to Halt. And what they need, you see, they need to be evangelized all over again.

37:59 Even though they're saved, they need to, as it were, be pressed on the freeness, the fullness of gospel provisions. They need to be urged to venture on him, venture wholly, let no other trust intrude. None but Jesus, none but Jesus can do help with sinners. Amen.

38:19 Evangelized is when you get to know your people and become intimate with them in their spiritual needs. And you know you've got that saint who always has just about three-fourths of an ounce of assurance, more or less. Just always tottering, as it were, on the line between doubt and assurance. And then as you're preaching some text that sets forth the glory of Christ, and then you open up, as it were, the gate of God's invitation to sinners to venture upon him, to venture wholly. And you see that little light gleaming. They've got maybe seven-eighths of an ounce of assurance now. And it's, you know, it's like, don't you find that if someone's preaching the gospel freely and biblically and urging Christ upon all men, it's just like getting saved all over again. Do you have that experience or am I, this is something weird with me, I just find it's just like getting saved all over again.

39:11 And it makes fresh again the glory and the wonder of being his. Well, give that to your people, you see. Well, there's a third category that are the objects of this expository evangelism, and it's the visitors whom God brings amongst our congregations. And they break down into two categories. The uninvited, untaught visitor drawn by various providential factors. Now, we do not share the Arminian activist view that unless, quote, we get him saved this once, he may go out and be lost forever. Oh, all the harm that that illustration Moody used is done. When he said, you remember, he was preaching one night before the Chicago fire and he didn't give an invitation to the next day, hundreds of people were burned and went to hell, so from there on in he said he'd always give an altar call.

39:57 That's done abominable harm. Now, I know that'll get me in trouble because I've named names, but I'm sorry, I have no right for the Mr. Moody. He'd be closer to the Lord in eternity, but I must speak to specific issues in order to sharpen our understanding in what we're talking about. Now, we don't share that idea that unless we get him saved, the one time he's here, well, he's off the hook and the fish has gone out into the ocean of lost humanity, never to be hooked and brought into the boat again. No, thank God, if God's got him on the line, he can sail the seven seas and God's going to boat him. My sheep are going to hear my voice and if God's got his hooks in you and he's going to boat you, brother, he's going to get you. Now we believe that, I hope. I believe that. I don't know if you do, but I believe that. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Believe that, brethren, and hold that firmly. Let's never forget, there is our responsibility to see the opportunity, to see the opportunity to speak to the conscience of the unconverted who come amongst us.

41:05 And if we are sluggardly and indifferent, Ezekiel chapter 3, as official watchmen for God, as sent ones, as commissioned ones, we are to warn men in his name. We are freely to invite them to the offers of gospel provisions. And it takes only a few minutes to say in a sermon, I don't care how how limited its focus has been in the text for the theme to some specific duty of the Christian life. It only takes a minute to say, now for this past half hour, this past 45 minutes, we have been considering a privilege, a duty, a responsibility of those who belong to Christ.

41:48 But some of you have come amongst us whom I've never seen before. And I doubt that you all know the power of the gospel. Now, there are some of you who've visited with us today who may never be here again. May I say in closing these simple words to you.

42:05 If you do not know the power of God's grace giving you a new heart, if you've not been cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ, oh my friend, listen to me. You'll leave this building but just a few short heartbeats more. And together we'll stand before God in the day of judgment. And if you're not born of the Spirit and washed in the blood, you'll perish in hell.

42:29 And the words of this preacher will rise up to condemn you. Oh, flee the wrath to come. Seek the Savior. Begin to search the scriptures that you might find out what it means to be His own.

42:42 You have to think about a minute and a half. And there's no excuse, brethren, for us not appending, if it's not natural to see it in the passage, append your exposition with an earnest proclamation and entreaty to the uninvited, the untaught visitor drawn by various providential factors. And if you have a second class of visitors, I hope you do. Thank God I have them every Sunday.

43:08 The invited, prepared visitor brought through the witness and invitation of your own people.

43:18 There's an overreaction against a wrong kind of clericalism in our day. It goes like this. Up to five years ago, all the emphasis was Lord, Lord, bless our preacher, give many souls for His hire. Bring the sinners in to the sacred building to hear the sacred man.

43:37 See, it was a kind of Romish carrier. And in our reaction against that, now the end thing is to say, look, the church is not a place to get people saved. The church is the place for people to grow. What we do is the sheep multiply sheep and then they bring them in to be guided by the under-shepherds.

43:56 So you bring them out there and then bring them in for the pastor to feed them. Feed them and come to maturity. Well, that's just as big a heresy as the other perspective.

44:05 And the truth does not lie in either of those extremes. Rather, the truth is this. God uses the godly, consistent life of that believer in the church who establishes a friendship with the work companion, with the neighbor. They see that there's something different about their lifestyle.

44:23 Where they can, they speak the gospel informally, formally, give them literature. But then they're always working to try to get them out where? Under the sound of the preaching by the sent ones. Your people are instructed as to the primacy of preaching as the means of God and the conversion of sinners.

44:42 So all of their witness is geared with that perspective. So they speak. Our people, as I mentioned last night in the past eight months, a year, have given out close to a thousand of those right with God booklets. Some of them carrying on Bible studies.

44:58 Sure, they believe in witnessing, but they're never contented to do it in isolation from the preached word. And they're always anxious to get them out under the sound of the word. So what happens? I stand up to preach on a Sunday and there will be five, ten, sometimes 15, 20 people I've never seen before.

45:15 But I know this much. And they're sitting there with that person. And we've prayed for their people that very week in prayer meeting. They said so-and-so's agreed to come out on Sunday.

45:24 I know that the people who brought them, our own members, are expecting that somewhere from the text there's going to be a path to the conscience of that person. So they bring them expecting that the pastor's going to evangelize. I stand up to preach and I know that that person's been in some measure prepared by the godly example of this person, by the loving prayers and concern. And there's that beautiful sense of working together and being laborers together with Christ.

45:54 Now, if I don't produce, then the people would get discouraged from bringing them out. And if my people didn't work and get them out, I'd be discouraged from preaching to them. But where? Where there's that mutual expectation and cooperation, it becomes a beautiful thing.

46:09 And I would say eight out of the ten people, I'd say it'd be 80, 70% of the people that are converted through our ministry, when they come into the interview by the elders, it's been this two-pronged ministry that has been used of God to bring them to birth. It's been the people's life demonstrating there is such a thing as Christianity. And you see, that's why I have real reservations about this idea of, you know, canned approaches to the gospel. I don't see it as the biblical perspective who encourages them to go into the world of their natural contacts and there to demonstrate the reality of Christ in the totality of a lifestyle.

46:51 Proclaiming the message of Christ by literature, by word of mouth, the various means. And so you have the privilege of evangelizing those people in the exposition of the word. Well, very quickly then, let's address ourselves to the next question. How is this work of expository evangelism to be done?

How is Expository Evangelism to Be Done?

47:10 Well, I want to state the principle and then illustrate. Jesus Christ, in the uniqueness of his person and the sufficiency of his work, as a mediator, is the central theme of the word of God. I think you'd all agree to that. I hope you would.

47:28 Jesus Christ, in the uniqueness of his person and the sufficiency of his work as a mediator, is not the exclusive or the only, but the central theme of the scriptures. Perhaps it would be better to say he's the comprehensive theme of the scriptures. You find it stated in passages like Luke 24, 27 and verse 45. He showed them in the scriptures all of the things concerning himself.

47:56 So Paul could say, I determined to know nothing among you, say Jesus Christ and him as crucified. That was not a limiting theme. That was the comprehensive theme. And his whole scheme of theology was within the bounds of Jesus Christ and him.

48:10 As crucified. Now then, if the work of a teaching elder is that of preaching the whole counsel of God, and if Jesus Christ in the sufficiency of his work as a mediator is the central theme of the counsel of God, how can you expound the whole counsel of God and not be preaching Christ?

48:34 You can't be doing it.

48:36 Christ is rightly preached when the word of God is rightly expounded. Therefore, all true biblical preaching will be a setting forth of some passage of the glory of Christ in his person and offices and their relationship to sinful men. Now, much of the scripture is an opening up of the will of Christ for his people. The grace of Christ available for the performance of that will.

49:06 Matthew 28, 19 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Acts 20 Feed the flock of God. Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs.

49:18 But no little part of the setting forth of Christ is that of setting him forth as the exclusive, the willing, and the able Savior of sinners. This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Let me quote from Parker at this point because I think he says this so perceptively. In so far as the preaching in our Sunday services is scripture, those services will of necessity be evangelistic.

49:50 It is a mistake to suppose that evangelistic sermons are a special brand of sermons having their own peculiar style and conventions. Evangelistic sermons are just scriptural sermons, the sort of sermons that a man cannot help preaching if he's preaching the Bible biblically. And I like that phrase, preaching the Bible biblically. But what if what is in the Bible is just the whole counsel of God for man's salvation?

50:22 All scripture bears witness in one way or another to Christ, and all biblical themes relate to him. All proper sermons therefore will of necessity declare Christ in some fashion and be so more or less directly evangelistic. Some sermons, of course, will aim more narrowly and exclusively at converting sinners than do others. But you cannot present the Lord Jesus Christ as the Bible presents him, as God's answer to every problem in the sinner's relationship with himself, and not be, in effect, evangelistic all the time.

51:01 And then a quote from one of the old Puritans, Robert Bolton, who said, The Lord Jesus Christ is offered most freely and without exception of any person every Sabbath, every sermon, either in plain and direct terms, or impliedly at the least. So it is inevitably wherever the Bible is biblically preached. And there's something terribly wrong in any church or any man's ministry to which Bolton's generalization does not apply. If in our churches, now that's the polite Englishman, if I were writing this, I would say, if in your churches evangelistic meetings and evangelistic sermons are thought of as some special occasion, different from the ordinary run of things, it is a damning indictment, that's blunt Americanism, a damning indictment of our normal Sunday services. So if we should imagine that the essential work of evangelism lies in holding meetings of the special type described out of church hours, so to speak, then we should simply prove that we had failed to understand what our regular Sunday services are for. Let's stay clearly, bluntly, if Christ Jesus offered most freely without exception of any person every Sabbath, every sermon, either in plain

52:30 or direct terms or impliedly in your assembly, every Lord's service. This is what I'm talking about, expository evangelism.

52:40 We're talking now about seeing that path out of every text, which becomes a means of setting Christ before our hearers. So if we're going to an answer to the question how is it done, it's a matter of discovering how the text, the theme, or the passage leads to or displays Christ, but then not being content with displaying Him. And here's where I go a step beyond some of my good friends who see the principle of preaching Christ in every sermon, but not only displaying Him, but pressing Him and urging Him upon the consciences of men. You remember the illustrations Spurgeon used?

53:23 He said, thy percalvinist brethren in his day were like the little boy who has a big shiny apple and he takes it out of his pocket and he says to his buddy, hey friend, doesn't that look nice? He looks at it and says, yeah. He says, that's all you'll have of it and sticks it back in his pocket.

53:40 He says, then some people are willing to go a little bit further and they take the apple out and they brush it and hold it up and say, isn't that nice? They say, yes. And they say, wouldn't it be nice to have some? And then just when the man would take it they put it back in the pocket.

53:50 Spurgeon says, no, no, I take that apple and I take it out and I shine it and I hold it up and say, isn't that beautiful and isn't that nice? And he said, then I press it to the lips of the sinner and I say, take and eat. Oh, my brothers, what joy. And let me confess to you now, and I said, this is more intimate.

54:06 We can say things here, that thing notwithstanding.

54:11 That will always sound funny on the tape, won't it?

54:14 Oh, well.

54:18 You pray that I become a little more starchy and formal, I wouldn't.

54:25 It's really taken me, brothers, until the last year that I think I've really, as it were, gotten adjusted to my new armor.

54:35 And coming out of Arminianism and all those other things, it's only been, I'd say, the past year, year and a half that I have felt at times as though this mortal frame would not hold it as I set Christ before people and put the apple to their lips and did all but yank their jaws open and saved.

54:56 What a privilege to preach Christ. Preaching the fun of all men. Not to hox to remorse, not to try to get the sinner to accommodate Jesus, but to say, behold the Lamb of God. Look at Him in all His resplendent glory and power and might and majesty, His mercy, His infinite love.

55:18 Behold Him. How can your heart help but run out after Him? What a gospel. We ought to blow our fuses.

55:30 And there's some path out of every text that leads to the Lamb. Find that path. Take men there and then urge Christ upon them. Now to illustrate the answer, I hope to read some quotes from some writers, but time will not permit that.

55:52 Let me just give you a couple of references where this is done beautifully. In volume 6 of Owen, that great treatment of indwelling sin and in the last third of the book, an exposition of Psalm 130. Just read that exposition of Psalm 130. Particularly the fourth verse, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.

56:11 And Owen is reasoning with a sinner who's smitten with a sense of guilt but can't believe there's forgiveness. It is some of the most free gospel preaching I've read anywhere. It's as though he crawls inside the heart of a convicted sinner and he takes all of the objections why there should be mercy for him and sweetly and gently he pushes that one aside, this one aside, that one aside, this one aside. You just sense he's taking the sinner by the hand.

56:37 And step by step saying you come another step and his barriers are thrown. You come another step until he's piloted the man at the feet of Christ. Beautiful example of what it is to do true exposition. He's expounding that Psalm verse by verse, phrase by phrase but woven through all of it is this passionate evangelistic thrust.

57:00 If you don't have any familiarity with Hugh Martin, you ought to get familiar with Hugh Martin, the great Scots diviner. Not Scots, but Scottish or Scots, S-C-O-T-S diviner. Two of his books that have recently been reprinted are Shadow of Calvary and the Abiding Presence. Masterful treatises.

57:22 The first one on the mystery of Gethsemane. The other one in which he takes his basic premise from Matthew which begins with a statement the beginning, the books are the beginnings of the generation of Jesus Christ the Son of God and he says this is a biography of Christ. But the last phrase of the book is what? Lo, I am with you always, the promise of his presence.

57:43 And he builds up this thesis in this way. It's masterful. If all we had was a biography of Christ but not the promise of his presence, it would be like the reading of the biography of Whitefield. What happens when you read Whitefield's biography?

57:58 You say, oh God, isn't it a shame he doesn't live today? You say, all that greatness? And all it does is fill you with frustration that it was greatness of the past. He said, now if all we had was the book of the generation of Jesus Christ reading about the majesty and might of the Savior would just fill us with frustration and say, oh that was great for them but what about us?

58:20 He says, on the other hand if all we had was the promise of his presence I am with you. We'd say, yeah, but who is with us? He's with us but what's he like? The promise of presence without biography would not let me know.

58:31 Well, he's with us but is he interested in my need? Can I come to him as the vilest of sinners? And Hugh Martin says, because you have both biography and presence you have all the sinner could need. We know that he's like because of the biography and we know all that he ever was to sinners then he is now because we have the promise of his and we have the promise of the presence of one who is now just like he was then for he's Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.

59:01 Who would ever have thought of coming to the book of Matthew like that? I wouldn't but it's a beautiful thesis exegetically framed and then he flushes it out and I've got into that digression just to say this. Hugh Martin is a great example of expository evangelism. He's plumbing the depths of the mystery of Gethsemane to times when you read that book Shadow of Calvary you hold your breath and the next thing you know he's driving home to the conscience of the sinner.

59:27 The section and I didn't bring the book with me but it's vivid in my mind it goes something like this. Did Jesus Christ sweat great drops of blood as he faced the weight of bearing the sins of his people? Oh sinner what will happen to you if you go to the judgment with your sins upon you? And then he turns and exhorts the sinner about the heinousness of sin.

Why is Expository Evangelism Neglected? (Head Problems)

59:50 Beautiful example of how he found a path out of the text to the sinner's conscience to probe the conscience to wound it and to set Christ before it. May I give and again I say this is in the intimacy of this time of circle let me share a couple of illustrations from recent series of sermons I've preached in which I try more deliberately perhaps than I ever have to put this into practice. What is a more positively biblical encouragement to the believer than a passage like Romans 8.34?

60:20 I preached ten sermons on this text. I started out Easter Sunday I said well I'll throw a sop to the traditionalists and I'll preach an Easter sermon.

60:28 So I said I'll preach two sermons on Romans 8.34 when I got into it I ended up ten sermons in the text. It just kept opening up and opening up and opening up. Romans 8.34 He that condemneth Paul faces the whole created moral universe and he says where is there a finger that can justly be pointed at me? Then his answer or the explanation of the basis of that confidence he says four things it is Christ Jesus that died two yea rather that was raised from the dead three who is at the right hand of God four who also maketh intercession for us and so in expounding the text I had as my basic thesis you will never have the confidence Paul had that your sins are forever buried unto you understand the significance of those four events that Paul mentions. So I expounded the events

61:23 and then saw their relationship to the question of condemnation one by one Christ died Christ rose well you see the tremendous emphasis is comfort and consolation to the believer how do you preach to the conscience of the sinner? Well you just drop back any point in your exposition to Romans 8 in verse 1 there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are aware in Christ Jesus and then you say look this is children's bread this is bread for children and some of you sit here this morning as dogs those who have never been born of the spirit and you try to suck sweetness from these tremendous promises who is he that condemneth I'll tell you who condemns you your own conscience condemns you now and it will in the day of judgment God's law condemns you angels will condemn you and boy off you go preaching the horror of being condemned if you're out of Christ and you've kept within the general framework of the text you've found the avenue to the heart and to the conscience of the sinner going through Ephesians 1 this past year you come to verses 15 and 16 look at it you say well there's nothing much evangelistic in there Ephesians 1 verses 15 and 16 for this cause I also having heard of the faith

62:52 in the Lord Jesus which is among you and the love which you show toward all the saints cease not to get thanks to you making mention of you in my prayers having expounded the passage there was one little phrase that I saw was the tremendous avenue to the conscience of the unsaved here it is for this cause I also having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you Paul said I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus I think of you as a people whose confidence is in and who repose upon the Lord Jesus and then you take off and you press upon the conscience is he your Lord Jesus Christ have you been brought to bow before his sovereign scepter and embrace him as God's anointed one Jesus the Savior of sinners just the name of Jesus ought to cause any preacher to take off and preach the gospel and to say if you have trouble finding the path out of the text to the conscience of a sinner that has the name Jesus in it you better go back and learn the elementary things of Christian faith thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins well those are just a few quick examples and I want very hurriedly now to answer

64:20 ask the third question why why are men negligent in this great privilege and duty of expository evangelism having considered together who are the objects of it what is it done why are men negligent my answer would be twofold first of all because of certain problems in the head and secondly because of certain problems in the heart let's deal with the head problems first some people have the head problem of one making a wrong dichotomy between evangelistic sermons and teaching sermons whereas the bible reveals that all true evangelism involves teaching teaching the truth about God sin Christ repentance and faith hence it is evangelistic all true teaching involves the overtones of evangelistic passion and entreaty why because we are not professional word machines we are pleaders with men in God's name I talked to a group of preachers yesterday morning on this theme I've never preached on it before preaching as under the eye of God and beneath the shadow of the throne of judgment 2nd Timothy 4 I charge thee in the sight of God and of the Lord Jesus who shall judge

65:49 the living and the dead and his appearing in his kingdom preach the word preach the word as beneath his eye and under the shadow of the throne of judgment all my fellow preachers we are preaching with the throne of that the shadow of that awful throne cast over our pulpits if we're doing this can we be non-evangelistic in no matter what theme we are dealing with granted some passages have a more dominant focus upon the saved or the unsaved but never an exclusive focus if you've got that hanged up in your head study it out and pray it out second problem of the head is this a wrong overreaction against Arminian free willism and activism some of you have not yet adjusted to your new armor and you're so concerned and thank God you are I don't belittle that concern you're so concerned that you not give the impression that salvation's in the hand of sinners you've not yet been liberated to plead with sinners in Christ's name as you ought to and I hope God will use this weekend to set you free if you have problems read Whitfield nobody would question the impeccability of his Calvinism he allowed a breach to come with his beloved friend Wesley

67:19 rather than give up the truth and when Wesley cast his lots that said right Whitfield said alright if you're going to follow lots I'm going to follow my conscience my brother I'm going to break fellowship with you and I'll have to answer your stupid attempt to undercut the doctrine of divine sovereignty and Wesley was a fool ever to print that sermon on Romans 8.32 at that point I say Wesley was a fool in many other places great man of God you remember when they asked Whitfield do you think you'll see Wesley in heaven he said no he said he'd be so close to the burning shining throne of God that I'll be blinded by the glory I won't be able to see him now I have that attitude to Wesley but with Whitfield I stand against the heresy of certain parts of his theology nonetheless read Whitfield and you see that the proper adaptation of sovereign grace in our preaching is not a constricted message so fearful lest we give the impression that we are Arminian free willers oh no no no read Spurgeon as a wonderful example of earnest passionate entreaty of sins don't overreact against Arminian free willers and activism and become one who gives the impression this is God's truth take it or leave it all I'm supposed to do is be faithful oh may God raise up an army of young men into whose hearts the doctrines of free and sovereign grace have been burnt

68:47 as with a hot iron and who reflect that burning heart by burning lips and by burning impassioned entreaties with the souls of men and brethren I believe if Paul could say day and night with tears if we've been anywhere long at all we ought to be able to say to the people my tears shall be a witness against you in the day of judgment if you go to hell unconverted third problem with the head is just a matter of ignorance as to how it is to be done how do you be how do you become basically an expositor of the word and still do the work of an evangelist and the problem here is that many things in preaching as in all other cultivated arts and skills are more taught by example than taught by formal precept can you imagine what it must have been like to be a young man sitting at the feet of McShane when one woman one humble Scots woman when asked what there was about McShane that made him the preacher he was she said he preached as if he was a dying to have you converted as if he was a dying to have you converted can you imagine a young man sitting there seeing a saint of God aglow with the reality of heavenly things preaching as if he was dying to have men converted you see that would be caught

70:16 the young man would learn how it's done he would sit with his Bible and see McShane expound the text lay it out clearly and find the avenue out of that text to the heart and the conscience of the sinner and some of you perhaps have problems simply because there's ignorance as to how it should be done how do you remedy it read Whitefield's sermons aren't many of them in print but read them read Spurgeon read Edwards read McShane the Puritans I don't care what obtuse theme they may be treating they're all the time coming back to the conscience of the sinner I found great help particularly in all people John Owen John Owens taught me how to preach the gospel freely as an expositor of the word fifth problem of the head is many times people assume too much regarding the spiritual state of their hearings let me illustrate it this way I go into a church and the dear preacher bless his heart he has the nerve to close the service like this here I've preached assuming there were unconverted people and he preaches this way now Lord we thank you for your service and thank you for the message and if there should perhaps be by any chance one amongst us who is not saved I say Lord help us for all the arrows that he comes along with one sweep

71:46 and pulls them out if there should perhaps be by any chance I feel like grabbing his leg and saying hey brother you know that ain't so you know that's not so you know there are unconverted people here rather you should pray Lord for the unconverted who sit here tonight and pray who heard your word give them the rest of peace until they close with Christ you see if you assume that everybody's alright then you're not going to preach to the light there might be some all wrong that's why you go back to what we discussed over in this area before not you brethren but the folks who were sitting there with regard to this problem of Sabbath keeping you see that's the joy of the pulpit you're not dealing with a one on one it's much more difficult when a man says Lord this is the way I'm living do you believe I'm in or out that's a lot more difficult but when you're in the pulpit and dealing in those general terms this is the time to say not and should there be one here who perhaps is hiding under the pew as a reprobate let me sleep under there and say I got something for you no no not all you say and those of you here who've sat in these pews for years but who know nothing of the pangs of a new birth who know nothing of the fragrance of the beauty of Christ I plead with you repent seek the Lord call upon him for mercy though the pangolins and the pangolins don't assume too much don't assume too much those are problems at the head a wrong dichotomy between evangelistic sermons

Why is Expository Evangelism Neglected? (Heart Problems)

73:14 and teaching sermons an overreaction against Arminianism ignorance as to how it should be done assuming too much but now brothers the real problem in failing to do this expository evangelism are the problems of the heart let me give you three the first one is failure to feel the weight of the eternal issues in which we constantly traffic failure to feel the weight of the eternal issues in which we constantly traffic Paul felt that eternity hinged on every sermon hence he could say knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men I know you'll be accused of being histrionic too theatrical that's alright that's alright that's alright just let those accusations go right over your head that's alright I never saw a woman who believed that her child was caught in a burning building who wasn't what men would call a little histrionic and theatrical as she pleaded with all around to help me my baby's in there let some cold hearted person who's never felt the love of parenthood stand on the side and say well isn't that a little bit extreme

74:44 my brother go out of yourself in preaching Paul said whether we be sober or whether we be zealous beside ourselves he had the accusation this idea that you can with calculated aplomb handle the word of God my brother when the truth of God gets hold of you or you don't handle it it handles you and you don't know what it's going to do with you it may make a fool out of you Paul says yes it did with me whether we be beside ourselves or sober it's for your sake it's you my brothers how did the text to the conscience of the sinner do I believe that that young girl sitting there in front of me that pretty little one and I can see now because though we don't have pew rentals in our American churches we may as well you know how people settle in and that's the pew of the smiths and that's the pew so you can see them and you're in your study and as you're preparing you see the face of those five Flanders children who sit on the first row on the right and then you see the faces of your own three who usually sit in the second row on the left or right and you see those little ones and you believe that unless they're saved they're going to hell smiling to those children how can you fail to plead with them to come to Christ do you believe they're going to unless they're born again

76:12 coming for 25 years until she's worn a special little rot in that place where she sits in the pew custom made couch for her and all the times you talk with her not a word about Christ it's all church and preachers and all of this and you feel in your heart she's lost and you feel lost how can you be silent when you pray and mourn about the possibility of wearing a special little holy one day busting hell wide open and I am convinced brothers that the great problem in this area is this failure to feel the weight of eternal issues we become like people who embalm dead bodies to whom death has become commonplace I've only seen one dead man before he's been dressed up and I tell you it shook me up for days that blue look in the mouth open but you see the people that go in and cover him up and wheel him out and draw the blood out and fix the mom of the middle they traffic in death so much death no longer has any bread or heart and we can traffic in these things so long and so frequently we fail to feel the weight

77:40 of eternity secondly and this flows out of it is the lack of compassion for the souls of men Paul says brethren my my heart's desire and my prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved I bear record that I have continual sorrow and great heaviness of heart Romans 9 verses 1 and 2 thirdly it could well be that the problem with many brethren I hope it's not true of any of you here I hope it's not is estrangement from the power of the gospel in the heart of the man who's preaching there's a lack of evangelism there's a lack of evangelism there's a lack of evangelistic thrust why because they themselves are in a state of spiritual death they love ideas and they love words but they don't love men and so they're lovely little professional preachers taking their oil can of little homiletical ditties and squirting it in the machinery of the great ecclesiastical juggernaut and on it goes and they're condemned oh may God deliver us from such a curse well I've got the clothes I'll be done I've gone too long you're like my own people you make a you didn't have bad habits preaching too long by your responsiveness

The Ultimate Goals of Expository Evangelism

79:07 what should be our goals in this activity of expository evangelism we've considered together who are the objects of it how is it to be done why people don't do it now in the fourth place what are our goals in this activity well there's a goal with reference to ourselves and you know what that goal is Acts 20 26 I take you to record this day I'm pure from the blood of all men our goal with reference to ourselves is that we shall be found without the blood of men on our hands our goal with reference to our people is we desire that they know the blessings of this salvation we desire that they escape the curses of God upon all lost men we want to warn them to flee the wrath to come but then last of all and supremely what is our goal with reference to God and I want you to look at this text as I close with it it's one of the most precious concepts of preaching found anywhere in the word of God why do you do this expository evangelism well your goal for yourself is I want to be found bloodless in that day no blood upon my hands my goal with reference to my people I want them to know the joys of salvation and escape the wrath to come and live to God's glory but now my goal with reference to God here it is 2 Corinthians

80:36 2 13 thanks be unto God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place now to whom are we a savor of the knowledge of Christ verse 15 for we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God in them that are saved and in them that are perishing to the one a savor from death unto death and the other a savor from life unto life and who is sufficient for these things for we are not of the many corrupting the word of God but as of sincerity but as of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ do you see the figure present it's a beautiful figure I'm not going into the original concept in the Greek analogy there of the triumphant general coming back in the incense and the rest but I mean in the thought itself look at what it is Paul says we preach Christ the sweet fragrance from the proclamation of Christ that ascends into the nostrils of God and he says we're always triumphing why because God as it were is sniffing for the fragrance of his son and wherever I go I proclaim Christ and the fragrance ascends into the

82:05 nostrils of God and he's pleased but what about sinners aren't you a fairy if they don't repent he says no they hear because because they the fragrance of his son has gone forth in the gospel and he's elect here and they repent and believe but in either case he says we are a sweet saver of Christ unto God I like to put it this way as I examine my own preaching Lord was there enough of Jesus in the preaching this morning to make it smell good was there enough of Jesus in the preaching to make it smell good to you was my preaching a sweet saver of Christ forming concepts of preaching that's ever come home to my heart and I don't know where when how I don't know whether it's first hand second hand but it's when I stand to preach on the Lord's day and God forgive me for the times when I forget it but when it's there and it's real what a difference it makes what I'm doing is in the midst of the people of God I am offering up this sermon as a spiritual sacrifice unto God which is only acceptable through the mediation of Christ and to the extent that it exudes the fragrance that's the thing that I

83:35 offer to God in the midst of his people and when you have that vertical perspective in your preaching then there's glory in it there's triumph in it and even when you're earnestly laying out to the sinner the provisions of Christ and the invitations of Christ and he sits there and he gnashes his teeth what keeps you from getting bitter and what I'm a sweet saver of Christ unto God and the joy of knowing that the Father is pleased though the sinner gnashes his teeth causes you to go home and pillow your head with peace that you've entered into the glory of true biblical well we didn't get to some of the concluding observations and exhortations but I'm sure some of those things will come up in our general discussion I've kept you long enough for this session so I'll