Matthew 28:16-20
The Church Evangelizing, Part 1
Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds the biblical mandate for evangelism, focusing on Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:8, and Philippians 2:14-16. He argues that evangelism is the abiding task of the church, rooted in Christ's authority and presence, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and validated by the church's corporate and individual holiness. Martin emphasizes that true evangelism involves discipling nations, incorporating believers into the visible church through baptism, and teaching them comprehensive obedience to Christ, while also highlighting the necessity of verbal proclamation alongside godly living.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 9 sections · 70 min
- Introduction to the Church Evangelizing and Sermon Outline 0:03
- The Biblical Mandate: Matthew 28:16-20 (The Great Commission) 2:44
- Essence of Matthew 28: Context, Assumed Activity, Commanded Activity, and Attendant Activities 8:37
- Importance of Matthew 28 for Pastoral Oversight 20:18
- The Biblical Mandate: Acts 1:8 (Power for Witness Bearing) 28:21
- Importance of Acts 1:8 for Pastoral Teaching 36:51
- The Biblical Mandate: Philippians 2:14-16 (Blameless Living and Holding Forth the Word) 42:31
- Additional Biblical Mandates for Evangelism 60:22
- Conclusion and Next Steps 69:19
Key Quotes
“And therefore, the people of God in all ages have reasoned that this commission is not given to the apostles, exclusively as an apostolic directive, but it is given to the apostles, and through them becomes an abiding task of the biblical and apostolic church.”
“The task of eulogy, evangelism that does not take its initial perspective from the fixation of the soul upon an exalted Christ is doomed to fail at one point after another.”
“And this whole idea of having evangelism as a specialist activity that goes on out here, detached from the growth of the church and the incorporation of men into the life of the church is utterly unknown in the New Testament.”
“Rather it is a divine task in which we are to go forth clothed with divine power motivated by divine power divinely imparted motivation and dependent upon supernatural power for success in our mission.”
“For as you know when you scour the epistles for passages that mandate what we would call every member of the church being a confrontational evangelist you come up blank.”
“however however though such a life is a living epistle speaking of the power and the transforming grace of the gospel a man can look upon such a life until his eyeballs sink in their sockets and he will not have the great question answered how do I a guilty sinner find acceptance with a holy God he must hear the word of the gospel”
“individual and corporate holiness of life alone establish the credibility of the verbal witness of the church now this passage establishes it beyond reasonable questioning individual and corporate holiness of life alone establish the credibility of our verbal witness but it also underscores the fact that the credibility of godly living must be exegeted by the verbal communication of the word of life”
“It is decreed that the gospel will come to all of the elect other sheep I have that are not of this fold them also I must bring they shall hear my voice since God has not marked the forehead of his elect with some kind of magical marker and we pass some magical glass over it and discover it we are responsible of bringing the gospel whether it proves to be a saver of death unto death or life unto life”
Applications
All listeners
- Hammer graciously into the consciousness of your people by careful exposition and frequent exhortation the key texts on evangelism.
- Impart to your people this biblical context of the commission, seen as that of the exalted Christ and the ever-present Christ.
- Expound Matthew 28:16-20 to each new spiritual generation of your people until their thinking is honed upon an accurate exposition of this passage.
- Don't be embarrassed about preaching well-known, well-worn, epitomizing pillar texts, but make them proven texts to your own people.
- Teach your people again and again that evangelism and witness-bearing are divine tasks, dependent on supernatural power, not human cleverness.
- Preach Acts 1:8 to your people to keep before them the necessity of comprehensiveness in the scope of their witness-bearing, evangelistic passion, prayers, and endeavors.
- Impart to your people the vision for consistent, detailed lives of blameless godliness coupled with judiciously aggressive, willing holding forth of the word of life unto men.
- Make much of the example of our Lord and his compassion for sinners, crying to the Lord that we would have eyes to see men for what they really are.
- Cultivate a sense of indebtedness like the Apostle Paul, leading to a readiness to preach the gospel and forego lawful liberties for its sake.
- Impress upon your people the necessity of men hearing the gospel in order to be saved, grounding them in divine particularism while emphasizing human responsibility.
- Impress upon your people the necessity of public confession of Christ as a badge of discipleship, meaning openly and publicly identifying with Christ and the gospel.
- Lay before your people that the task of evangelism is the task of the church, and individual members must feel the pressure of God's Word on this point.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 130 paragraphs, roughly 70 minutes.
Introduction to the Church Evangelizing and Sermon Outline
In our previous studies, we have examined some of our major responsibilities relative to the church worshiping, the church gathering to pray, the church engaged in radical or corrective discipline, and the church in nurturing inter-church relationships. Today, we come to examine together the church evangelizing or communicating the gospel to a lost world, and in particular, we want to consider your responsibilities as an overseer
in conjunction with the impartation of biblical perspectives and directives to your people touching the subject of evangelism. In taking up this vast and weighty concern, I should underscore the fact that the primary focus of my treatment of the subject, both in the church and in the church itself, is the focus of my treatment of the subject today, and in our lecture next week, God willing, or two weeks after, is the local church and its local witness. Now, some of the exegetical material is as broad as the world in its scope, but the practical suggestions with respect to this task will be narrowed
down primarily to the local situation. The principles which relate to evangelism and church planting at home and abroad will await a specific treatment in either Unit 7 or 8 of your pastoral theology course. That's one of the areas I've become convinced must be included in the expanded version of this course in pastoral theology. Now, as we take up the subject, you will see from your printed notes that we will consider three major categories of evangelism. The first category is evangelism, and the second category is
biblical and practical material. Large letters A, B, and C are A, the biblical mandate for the task, B, the biblical motives for the task, and C, the legitimate means for the accomplishment of the task. So you have a very convenient, alliterated outline, mandate, motives, and means. First of all, then, the biblical mandate for the task of evangelism. Now, in selecting the texts,
The Biblical Mandate: Matthew 28:16-20 (The Great Commission)
I have chosen those which ought to loom large in your own thinking, and those which ought to be hammered graciously into the consciousness of your people by careful exposition and frequent exhortation. I have chosen those which ought to loom large in your own thinking, and those which ought to be hammered graciously into the consciousness of your people by frequent exhortation. I have chosen those which ought to loom large in your own thinking, and those which ought to be These texts ought to be part of the texture of the soul of the congregation in which you labor as an overseer. And I've chosen a key text from each major section of the New Testament, one from the Gospels,
a key text from the Book of Acts, and a pivotal text from, the epistles, and then we shall look at several other texts as well. First of all, then, under the directives for carrying out the task of evangelism, the biblical mandate for the task begins with a consideration of Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20. Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20. But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came to them, and spoke unto them, saying, All authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, or going therefore, make disciples of all nations, or more literally, disciples. Disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you.
And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world or the consummation of the age. Now, as we attempt to think our way through this vital and crucial text, notice, first of all, to whom these words were spoken. Now, we know from verse 16 that they were spoken at least to the eleven apostles. But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
Though his resurrection occurred in the Jerusalem area, and though... Much of his post-resurrection ministry was in that area, we read that it was in Galilee where his great works were done, and at a certain mountain previously appointed that our Lord spoke these words.
And while it is only explicitly revealed that the task was laid upon the apostles, the task becomes... The abiding task of the church for two simple reasons.
Number one, the scope of the task and the time frame of the task. Notice, the scope is all the nations, and the time frame is unto the consummation of the age. And therefore, the people of God in all ages have reasoned that this commission is not given to the apostles, exclusively as an apostolic directive, but it is given to the apostles, and through them becomes an abiding task of the biblical and apostolic church.
However, there's a real possibility that their original utterance may also have included that fascinating group referred to in 1 Corinthians 15, and... And there are not a few careful exegetes who place this appearance at that very mountain in Galilee.
For you'll notice when Paul is underscoring that the risen Lord appeared, he says in 1 Corinthians 15, 5, he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to above five hundred brethren, at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep. And there are, I say, not a few responsible commentators who place this appearance to the five hundred gathered at once
at precisely this point in Matthew chapter 28, verses 16 and following. But whether that is so, this much is clear, that the task is not given to the eleven exclusively to be found, as it were, shelved with the demise of the apostles, but as with so many other directives given in their context to the apostles, they now merge into the standing responsibility of the church that lives by apostolic doctrine. Then notice, secondly, the essence of the passage.
Essence of Matthew 28: Context, Assumed Activity, Commanded Activity, and Attendant Activities
And under the essence of the passage, you will see in your notes that I have five headings. First of all, the context of the commission.
The context is bounded on the one hand by this fixation upon the exalted Christ, and on the other, by this promise of the ever-present Christ. Verse 16, When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. And Jesus said,
All authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth, going therefore. In other words, the task is never to be viewed apart from the context of the supreme exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The task of eulogy, evangelism that does not take its initial perspective from the fixation of the soul upon an exalted Christ is doomed to fail at one point after another. There will be a tampering
with the message, there will be discouragement before the obstacles in the task, and a host of other chronic problems will follow in the train of any evangelistic endeavor that does not take its initial starting point from the context of this commission, namely this vision of the exalted Christ. All authority has been given unto me in every realm, in heaven and upon earth. And in your going, you must go.
Go with your eye fixed upon me in my place of supreme exaltation. And then, having given the directives that constitute the heart of the commission, you will notice the context is bounded by this promise. And lo, behold, stop, think, consider, and lo, I am with you always. And you'll notice the marginal reason for this. And you'll notice the marginal reason for this. And you'll
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notice the marginal reason for this. And you'll notice the marginal reason for this. And you'll one captures, the Greek more literally, all of the days, each and every one of the days in which you seek to accomplish this task, lo, I am with you, even unto the consummation of the age. So it's not as though our Lord is the coach who pats his players on the rump and says, now go on out and get them, boys, and win this one for the gipper. He says,
no, in doing the task, I am with you all of the days, the days when men refuse to hear, the days when you will be thrown into prison, the days when men pick up stones to stone you, the days when you are cast out as the off-scouring of all things, the days when men sleep under your feet. You're preaching. The days when you go out to spend an afternoon in house-to-house evangelism and not one door is open to you, I am with you all of the days, even unto the consummation
of the age. And therefore we as wise pastors must seek to impart to our people this biblical context of the commission, the context that is on the one hand, on the other hand, on the other hand, on the other hand, on the other hand, on the other hand, on the other hand, seen as that of the exalted Christ, and on the other hand, the ever-present Christ. And then notice, secondly, of the assumed activity that is here in the passage. You have an aorist participle, which some grammarians would tell us at times has the force of an imperative, but it is significant that our Lord does not begin with an imperative, but with an assumed.
Assumed activity. Going therefore, and then the emphasis falls, of course, upon the clearly commanded activity of making disciples or discipling the nations. So the assumed activity, whether we view it as having the overtones of an imperative rooted in the participle itself, or the overtones of an imperative rooted in the participle itself, or the overtones deducing it from other clear biblical directives, is that this is an aggressive activity. Evangelism
must not be viewed as a passive activity in which men come to us asking for what we have to give, but it is one in which we go forth with a message to bring to others in the name and in the authority of our Exalted. Exalted and ever-present Christ. So that when the question is asked, who in the world are you to come to me, intrude into my life and tell me, upon pain of everlasting death, that I must receive your message? Well, I'm nobody, but I am servant of an exalted Christ
who has commissioned me to go forth with this very message. So the assumed activity is the church, the people of God, going forth with the message of life and salvation. And then we have, thirdly, the clearly commanded activity. Here we have the imperative, Disciple all the nations. And the activity to which we are called is
not that of a con-job upon people. It is not that of a con-job upon people. It is the activity is not to get people to make some slick, quick, half-thought-out decision, but bound up in that imperative is the whole biblical doctrine of what it is for a man to be made a disciple of Jesus Christ. To come to the place where he sees in Jesus Christ that which is worthy of his supreme heart's trust and allegiance, and we pour into that verb the whole biblical doctrine of the cost of discipleship, the terms of discipleship,
the necessity of counting the cost of discipleship, the activity that is commanded is not get decisions, get people to go through the semblance of being Christianized or anything else. It is nothing less than a task of discipling all of the nations. And then we have what I have called the specific attendant activities, and they are, in the two following participles, baptizing and teaching.
Baptizing them, and I'm sure you're aware that the pronoun them does not agree in gender with the, word ethne, for nations, which is a neuter, but is a masculine, and I take the position taken by Baptist exegetes and carefully overlooked by pedobaptist exegetes, that the assumed noun is those made disciples. Baptizing them, that is such, from among the nations as have been made disciples, they are to be made disciples. They are to be made disciples. They are to be made disciples.
They are to be baptized. That is, they are to undergo that divinely instituted watery ritual which symbolizes their incorporation into saving union with the triune God. Baptizing them into the name, the revealed character and grace and salvation of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, indicating that no man is a disciple who is not a Trinitarian believer.
On the very threshold of a discipleship is the confession of one saving union with the one true and living God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And though the message concerning Christ and His person and work is central in the making of disciples, we don't make Jesus only disciples. We make Trinitarian disciples in the proclamation of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And the baptized community then becomes the marked out,
visible community of God's people wherever they are found among the nations. And then such people are to be taught to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded. So the attendant activities of all true evangelism are baptizing, that is, seeing people brought into the visible community of the people of God and then brought under a comprehensive, balanced, practical, didactic ministry with the Holy Spirit.
Which teaches them to observe whatsoever Christ has commanded. And notice again the comprehensiveness of this. They are to be taught to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. So that in our evangelism and in communicating our vision and biblical passion for evangelism, among our people, we must never impart a truncated perspective to them.
There is the clearly commanded activity of discipling the nations, which is always to have these two specific attendant activities of seeing them brought to open confession of Christ in the way of His appointment, leading to an incorporation into His visible community and to His visible community. And then subjected to a didactic ministry that takes in the whole scope of Christ's revealed will and imparts it with the sense of obligation to observe these things.
Importance of Matthew 28 for Pastoral Oversight
Now, any view of evangelism that falls short of these things does not reflect the mind and the will of Christ. And then you'll notice the fifth heading, is what I've called its great importance in pastoral oversight. You see, this passage is crucial in seeking to give pastoral directive to our people with regard to the task of evangelism, and that for three reasons. Its Christ-centered nature is so vital.
It begins with the exalted Christ. It carries on...
with its focus upon seeing men brought into a relationship of true discipleship to Christ, openly confessing Christ, becoming part of the visible community of Christ, and then hanging upon the words of Christ that they may be the ever-growing, maturing disciples of Christ. There is a Christ-centeredness to the whole evangelistic enterprise, as found in the commission here in Matthew 28. Furthermore, it's important in giving directive to your people not only because of its Christ-centered nature,
but because its comprehensiveness is so balanced.
I know of no passage dealing with the topic of evangelism that is so comprehensive and yet so balanced in all of its parts, beginning and ending with its Christ-centered focus, in between, we have the very essence of the task in all of its major dimensions. For example, when you read through the book of Acts, you will find the terms believers were the more added to the Lord. Multitudes of disciples were made or were added. Believer and disciple are used interchangeably.
Furthermore, all true success in evangelism is described in terms of the growth of the church. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. And the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized. And this whole idea of having evangelism as a specialist activity that goes on out here, detached from the growth of the church and the incorporation of men into the life of the church is utterly unknown in the New Testament.
That's amazing. It's a maverick concept of evangelism. And if we condition the thinking of our people by a passage such as Matthew 28, they will not only see the Christ-centeredness of the task, but the comprehensiveness of the task. And then thirdly, the compelling nature of the task is inescapable.
The compelling nature of the task is inescapable. You see, your people who have the root of the matter in them may at times be impervious to having any desire to please you or any of your other fellow elders.
They may feel relatively indifferent to a lot of other motives. But if there is any love to Christ, the heart's fixation upon the exalted and ever-present Christ will get them off dead center. And the realization that they're not sent out to be salesmen, they may feel themselves to be the worst salesmen in the world. I've told people if my life had to depend upon a sales job to earn a living, I'd be on welfare tomorrow.
I can think of no more miserable punishment than to be consigned to the life of a salesman. I mean that. I just dread the thought of having to approach a man and try to convince him that he ought to buy my product. I know other men love it.
I... It just came from my dear friend Randy Pizzino and he said if the Lord hadn't called him to preach, he'd be a salesman.
And his wife chimed in and said yes and he'd be a millionaire. The guy could sell ice to Eskimos, you know, at a dollar a square inch or cubic inch. And he loves it. He relishes it.
It would be recreation for him if he could do it with a good conscience to take a part-time job as a salesman for two days a week. And he beams when he talks about it. Well, you remember, Jack Spratt could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean.
Well, that difference is there with me. Well, what is it that will get people of my constitution off dead center in this? Well, you see, it's Christ-centered nature. It's my exalted Lord who's laid upon me the privilege and responsibility aggressively to disciple the nations.
And He has promised to be with me in the accomplishment of the work of the Lord. And He has promised to be with me in the accomplishment of that task. Listen to Dr. Packer on pages 74 and 75 of what I regard to be a book around long enough now to call it a classic.
Speaking of this very passage, he says, To this command, make disciples of all the nations, he added at once a comprehensive promise, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. The comprehensiveness of this promise shows us how wide is the application of the command to which it is appended. The phrase, even to the end of the world, makes it clear that the you to whom the promise was given was not solely and exclusively the eleven disciples. The promise extends to the whole Christian church throughout history.
The entire community of which the eleven were, so to speak, founder members. It is therefore a promise for us, no less than for them, and a promise of great comfort too. But if the promise extends to us, then the commission with which it is linked must extend to us also. The promise was given to encourage the eleven, lest they be overwhelmed at the size and difficulty of the task of world evangelism that Christ was laying upon them.
If it is our promise, our privilege to appropriate the promise, then it is also our responsibility to accept the commission. The task laid upon the eleven is the church's constant task. And if it is the church's task in general, then it is your task and my task in particular. If therefore we love God and are concerned to glorify Him, we must obey His command to His people.
And so, brethren, I would urge you from time to time to expound this passage, as it were, to each new spiritual generation of your people until their thinking is honed upon an accurate exposition of this passage of the Word of God shaping their thinking concerning the great task and privilege concerning the great task and privilege of evangelism. Now then, let's turn to the second pivotal task in this one from the book of Acts, chapter 1 and verse 8.
The Biblical Mandate: Acts 1:8 (Power for Witness Bearing)
And as we've said in another context, so I want to repeat here, don't be embarrassed about preaching well-known, well-worn, epitomizing pillar texts. The reason they are well-known, well-worn, epitomizing texts is because that's what God made them. And they have proven their worth over the years. And if you want to pass on that legacy to another generation, you make them well-known, well-worn, proven texts to your own people.
Now, Acts, chapter 1 and verse 8.
Now again, we note the setting. Christ has died and risen from the dead. He has convinced His disciples of His resurrection, and He has given them much instruction pertaining to the kingdom that He Himself will now expand and establish with power subsequent to His ascension. Chapter 1 and verse 3.
To whom He showed Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God.
Now, the setting I say is significant because having fully established their minds in the fact that He was indeed risen from the dead, that now His kingdom is to experience radical changes, expansions, advancements. He then leads them to expect that the next great epical event in the advancement of His kingdom is the coming of the Spirit as the gift of the exalted Christ. Verse 4. And being assembled together with them, He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem,
but to wait for the promise of the Father. And may I just pause to say, when the Charismatics and the Pentecostals want to use this passage as a basis of tarrying meetings, one helpful thing without getting into Biblical, Biblical theology with them too soon, for many of them aren't prepared for it, you first of all have got to shake their polemic with just the words of their favorite texts. And this says, they were not to depart from Jerusalem, but not to pray, not to agonize, not to tarry, but simply to wait. And to wait for what?
For the promise of the Father. They were to wait for the fulfillment of a promise, which, said he, you heard, from me, John indeed baptized with water, you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit, not many days hence. In response to this, they question him with respect to certain aspects of the kingdom and its relationship to Israel. Our Lord then in essence says, your thinking is flowing in a direction inappropriate for the concerns of the hour.
These are the concerns, and then he directs their minds to verse 8, ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Now having looked at the setting of the text, our Lord leading them to believe that the next great, great epical event in the advancement of his kingdom will be the fulfillment of the Father's promise articulated through John, repeated by our Lord, that the Spirit would be given
and would be given in power not many days hence. Now look at the essence of the text. And our Lord in this text indicates that the coming of the Spirit will have a direct bearing upon power to bear witness to or of Christ. Now that's not the exclusive purpose of the coming of the Spirit.
In the upper room discourse you'll remember that the focus of our Lord's teaching on the coming of the Spirit is what the Spirit will do in being to them the very presence of Christ. Here the focus is upon power for witness bearing to Christ. And we must always build a theology of the Spirit by a proper integration of the emphasis of Acts 1-8 and the emphasis of the upper room discourse and never separate one from the other. This is one of the great errors of classic old-line Pentecostalism
which spoke of the baptism of the Spirit primarily as a baptism of power for anointed utterance. And they erred in their theology of the Spirit by building too much upon Acts 1-8. But we will err if we do not give due place to Acts 1-8. For that's where the emphasis falls in this text.
Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be my witnesses. The power given in conjunction with the coming of the Spirit is unto effective witness bearing to Christ. Not to the end that they might speak of feeling liquid love pouring down their backs and tingles up and down their spines and exotic coat of many colors esoteric spiritual experiences. No.
The Spirit will come and enable them to bear witness unto. Christ. And that witness will be simultaneous testimony of Christ from the immediate geographical area of Jerusalem and then concurrently spreading outward to the ends of the earth. Don't read the text.
You shall be my witnesses first in Jerusalem then in all Judea and then Samaria and then the uttermost part of the earth. As though you had a sequential perspective. That is not where the text takes us. You have a little particle that can be rightly translated both and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And what we see then in the book of Acts is exactly that pattern. And as most of you know many regard this text as a convenient outline within which we can actually place the chapters in the book of Acts. But while the gospel moves out of Jerusalem and up into the other regions of Judea and Samaria it doesn't stop going forth to Jerusalem. And when it goes from Judea to Samaria it doesn't stop in Judea.
And from Samaria it doesn't stop when it goes to the uttermost part of the earth. There is concurrent and ever expanding witness bearing to Jesus Christ. And that's the very essence then of the teaching of the text that with the coming of the Spirit there will be imparted the moral and spiritual power to be accurate witness bearers to Jesus Christ in simultaneous witness from the immediate to the farthest reaches of the earth. Of the world geographically.
Importance of Acts 1:8 for Pastoral Teaching
Now, what is its great importance in pastoral teaching? Well, according to this text the link between the sovereign authority of Christ all authority has been given unto me and the ever abiding presence of Christ lo, I am with you always is the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord. The Lord.
The Lord. The Lord. The Lord. The Lord.
The Lord. The Lord. The Lord. The Lord.
The Lord. The Lord. The Lord. The Lord.
The Lord. The Lord. The Lord. The Lord.
The Lord. The Lord. The Lord. The Lord.
The power of the exalted Christ. Well, it's all well and good to know that all authority has been given unto Him in heaven and in earth. But I'm dealing with a blind, spiritually bound rebel against God who needs an operation of power upon His spiritual perception. Who needs an operation of power upon His affections and His will.
It's good and well to know that all authority has been given unto Christ and He sits at the right hand of the Father. Far above all principality and power and might and dominion. But I got a sinner right down here at 3rd and Andrew Street. Who needs to have His eyes open?
What's my hope? Ye shall receive power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me. And as we witness in the power of the Spirit the power and the authority of the exalted Christ is mediated to the sinner in His impotence by the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit. And likewise what comfort can I draw although I am with you always.
We do not hold to Lutheran theology of the ubiquity of the human nature of Jesus Christ. How then can Christ be with me each and every one of the days to the end of the earth and hear the light of the upper room discourse you see becomes very helpful. He is with us as He sends the Comforter. As He sends the Holy Spirit and He says in sending Him I come unto you and when I come unto you my Father comes to you as well.
We and our people need to be taught again and again that we are that evangelism and witness-bearing are not ultimately human activities to be carried out under the impulse of carnal motivation dependent for success upon human resources and cleverness.
Rather it is a divine task in which we are to go forth clothed with divine power motivated by divine power divinely imparted motivation and dependent upon supernatural power for success in our mission. And so the great importance of this text for pastoral conditioning of our people in the task of evangelism is first of all that it provides that link between the sovereign authority of Christ and the abiding presence of Christ in the service in terms of the personal indwelling
and empowering of the Holy Spirit. And then of course it's important because of its comprehensiveness as to the scope of our evangelistic activity. It is a check on the error of nearsightedness and farsightedness. Spiritual myopia and spiritual hypermetropia.
That's farsightedness. Now some churches they have great vision up close. Jerusalem and Judea are always their passion.
But they never think in terms of concurrent witness that touches the ends of the earth. Other churches great missionary endeavors and I mean that real. I'm not talking about tongue in cheek. Having 50 lights on the board because you send $10 a month to 50 different mission boards.
I'm not calling that missions. That's a charade. But I mean where people have a real passion and a commitment to see the gospel taken to what from their vantage point is the end of the earth. But there is very little concern that there will be concurrent witness in their own Jerusalem and in their own Judea.
And this passage properly preached and brought to bear upon the consciences of our people is most helpful in that it not only shows the link between the exalted and ever-present Christ in the person and ministry of the Spirit but it keeps before our people the necessity of seeking to have this comprehensiveness in the scope of their witness-bearing evangelistic passion prayers and endeavors. Now we come to a third passage this one taken from the epistles and that's Philippians 2. Verses 14 to 16.
The Biblical Mandate: Philippians 2:14-16 (Blameless Living and Holding Forth the Word)
And may I say brethren if in due course as overseers of a flock the time has come to seek to bring a series on evangelism you need not call me for permission to use any of this material the outline or anything else if you find it helpful. It's not copyrighted and if it helps you use it. All you need to say is some old man of God who's fast going to his grave once helped me understand this text and I'm going to use his material. You don't need to name me.
Just give due acknowledgement. Just say man of God of another generation or something else. Whatever you want to say. All right?
But please really don't ever feel you need to call and ask permission. If it's helpful to you and it's not an excuse for lack of work on your part none of it's copyrighted and for that very reason. But now Philippians chapter 2. 1.
One of the pivotal passages. For as you know when you scour the epistles for passages that mandate what we would call every member of the church being a confrontational evangelist you come up blank. I've seen the look of men in pastor's conference when I've challenged them to find me one text where there is a clear imperative to the ordinary believers that each one is to be a confrontational evangelist. To be able and to be under solemn divine obligation to go to any person in any situation and in five minutes be able to give them a capsulized version of the gospel.
Well I'm still waiting for the text. I haven't heard it yet. But there are passages that do come under the very clear generic heading of the evangelistic mandate and privilege of the people of God in general and this is one of them. Philippians chapter 2.
Now once again the setting is significant. This is the church that was notorious for its fellowship in the gospel with the apostle Paul. You remember that in his opening words of greeting verse 3 he says in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making supplication with joy for your fellowship your koinonia in the furtherance of the gospel from this first day until now. And this was this unusually gospel oriented church.
The only church that stood behind Paul in a new frontier of missionary endeavor. And he tells them that at the first you only had fellowship with me in the going forth of the gospel. And the concept of fellowship in the gospel pervades this epistle. So the gospel the setting is indeed significant that this is a gospel oriented church.
A church whose heart is bound up with the progress of the gospel. Now the apostle says in chapter 2 verses 12 and 13 these well known words so then my beloved as you've always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence I will be work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And I believe what he's saying is essentially this lest anyone say that your religion is primarily to be found in your affection and your relationship to me
as you obeyed in my presence now much more in my absence make it evident that you're supreme attachment is not to me though I'm thankful for all the evidences of that attachment but if your obedience is ever to be cranked up to a higher intensity let it be in my absence and he says that obedience should be one that engages all of your faculties with the sobriety of the issues at stake you are to work out your salvation with fear and trembling and he says you are to do it in the confidence and consciousness as the very motivation
for the engagement of all your faculties that God is always at work in you not bypassing your will and your working but he is working in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure and then from that generic exhortation he descends to a specific do all things without murmuring and questioning without grousing and complaining don't be like one of the seven dwarfs whose name was grumpy do all things without murmurings and questionings in every relationship make it evident that you really believe that your life
in all of its details is ordered by a gracious loving sovereign God that in every relationship you embrace your duty ultimately is from the hand of God and you discharge it as unto you unto God with fear and trembling you're working out your salvation before the eye of God this is my exhortation do all things without murmurings and questionings to what end in order that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you are seen as lights in the world and you are
holding forth the word of life that I may have whereof to glory in the day of Christ that I did not run in vain neither labor in vain now having looked at the setting of the text consider with me the essence of the text it's a specific command to fulfill all of their God-given tasks without a grumbling and discontented or insubordinate or debating attitude and the purpose in view is this that as the people of God they may be seen as shining luminaries and that they may function
as faithful witnesses seen as shining luminaries and functioning as faithful witnesses now there are some linguistic problems with the text I commend to you the footnotes in Hendrickson's commentary on Philippians for a full and helpful discussion of some of those linguistic problems however I believe that Johnstone in his excellent commentary on Philippians has captured the heart of this part of the text I quote from page 181 and following the thought of responsibility for the power of example
which as we have seen is suggested by the word of God by the words in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation is explicitly brought out by the apostle in his next clause among whom you shine as lights in the world holding forth the word of life these words may be taken as an injunction among whom shine ye the view of the meaning given by our translators however is at least as natural Paul appears to be with a little variation repeating perhaps consciously the statement of the Lord in the Sermon on the Mount where he tells his hearers what is their calling as his disciples
you are the light of the world Matthew 5 and verse 18 being placed the apostle says in the midst of a godless men and women you are according to your profession the illuminators of these darkened ones and this by the light of the Lord by holding forth to them the word of life that is by bringing impressively and winningly before them the gospel of Jesus Christ which when received by faith into any soul shows itself the incorruptible seed of true life even that life eternal which is to know the only true God
in Jesus Christ whom he has sent the original word employed by the apostles the word light is not the form in ordinary use but one which strictly means light givers or luminaries as it is found in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in the first chapter of Genesis it is used for the lights in the firmament of the heaven it seems probable that the apostle had this image specially in his mind the Lord Jesus is our spiritual son the ultimate source of all our light and heat his followers like the moon can but reflect the light which they receive from the sun yet when like the moon
at the full they walk in brightness the darkness around is helpfully dispelled and many have cause to rejoice in that light to shed this kindly radiance is the vocation of believers one great end for which instead of being taken away at once to heaven on accepting Christ they are left in the world is that the gloom in which sin has enshrouded it may to some degree be broken up broken in upon by the beams from their holy character and that men may be led by the beauty of their lunar rays to open their minds and hearts to the full glorious light of the sun capital S
this is our calling Christian brethren and in a measure all true followers of the same saviour fulfill it for to believe the gospel is to become light in the Lord but as it has been accurately said it is with believers as it is with the new moon in the heavens there is at first only a sharp and narrow surface of the light and not unfrequently there may be seen embosomed in the luminous outline the dark shadow of the old nature but the imperfect circle is gradually filled up till there is presented at last a broad and complete surface of light they appear clothed with the sun in his statement of the way
in which Christians shine by holding forth the word of life the apostle passes from the image of the luminary and adopts one somewhat of this kind a herald of the king of kings holding out to public view a scroll on which is inscribed in great letters a proclamation of mercy a promise of everlasting life to all that believe in Jesus the primary reference here is evidently from the tenor of the whole passage to that proclamation of the truth and power of the gospel to which all who are willing in any degree to attend is made by completeness of Christian character
by the exhibition of spiritual energy and sweetness and patience nothing holds forth the word of life more impressively than a life manifestly governed by that word a Christian of this type is in himself a gospel an epistle of Christ written in letters so large and fair that even those who run can scarce but read such a distinct Christian life a life explicit and convincing to all observers as a confession of Christ is the legitimate fruitage from the seed of truth received by the soul scripture
knows nothing of invisible religion men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and it gives light unto all that are in the house to hold forth the word of life implies not merely quiet consistent beauty of character but definite action for the extension of the kingdom of Christ by lip then as well as by the eloquence of holy living the saint endeavors to speak for Christ as God gives him ability and opportunity be it to his little children by his own fireside or to assembled thousands in a place of worship he cannot but speak
the things which grace has taught him and given him to experience brethren I believe that's the vision that needs to burn in our breasts and under God needs to be imparted to our people from this particular passage that we see the passion for consistent detailed lives of blameless godliness coupled with judiciously aggressive willing holding forth of the word of life unto men you see this is why there is no seminar no little
quick fix scheme to excuse me to bring a congregation to the place where they both take and discharge their evangelistic task seriously there is nothing in the new testament or the old testament that indicates that God wants people with shoddy lives to be blabbing off about the gospel what the bible says about that is for this cause there is given occasion to blaspheme the word of God the bible knows nothing of this idea of let's get all the troops together for a weekend seminar on how to in the area of evangelism and then regardless
of the shoddy lives send them all out two by two to beat the woods for Jesus the bible knows nothing of that approach to evangelism the apostle says you're to do all things without murmuring and questionings that you may become blameless and harmless luminaries shining in a crooked and perverse generation however however though such a life is a living epistle speaking of the power and the transforming grace of the gospel a man can look upon such a life until his eyeballs sink in their sockets and he will not have the great question answered
how do I a guilty sinner find acceptance with a holy God he must hear the word of the gospel that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish he must read it in a tract that comes from that shining light he must hear it in a tape that is passed on prayerfully and judicially by that shining light he must read it in a little gospel booklet that is passed on the person may have limited ability to articulate with his own lips a clear presentation of the gospel but couched in a holy blameless life he can use
the means at his disposal to hold forth the word of life and Paul says only to the extent that this is true of the Philippians will he feel that his ministerial goals have been accomplished that I may have whereof to glory in the day of Christ that I did not run in vain neither labor in vain and that's the great importance of this text from the standpoint of its pastoral perspectives it underscores the fact that individual and corporate holiness of life alone establish the credibility of the verbal
witness of the church now this passage establishes it beyond reasonable questioning individual and corporate holiness of life alone establish the credibility of our verbal witness but it also underscores the fact that the credibility of godly living must be exegeted by the verbal communication of the word of life it is the verbal communication of the gospel that exegetes the credibility of the godly life now again since we and our people are victims of extremes
Additional Biblical Mandates for Evangelism
of reaction and overreaction and reaction to overreaction this becomes a very helpful word to set forth these perspectives in their biblical balance now then if you can hang in for another what ten minutes and then we'll find a conversation breaking point let me then add you'll see these other texts now and we'll go through them very very quickly we have four five six and seven which complete the biblical mandate for the task of evangelism add to these three pivotal texts one from the gospels one from the acts
one from the epistles in the fourth place the example of our lord in his compassion for sinners as you are seeking to condition the consciences of your people concerning the task and privilege of evangelism make much of the example of our lord and his compassion for sinners we are told in first john two six he that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk even as he walked well as he walked and he beheld men i trust some of you remember when i preached the series on the anatomy of a man of god we considered his eyes and his eyes become more and more like the eyes
of jesus and it says in matthew chapter nine that when jesus beheld the multitudes he saw them for what they really were not for what they appeared to be a happy go lucky bunch of people going to the bazaar for the daily commerce but it says that when he beheld them and the text is not matthew nine thirty three it is to be nine thirty six when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion because they were distressed and scattered as sheep not having a shepherd that was their true condition now they did not appear
that externally all indications are that it was business as usual but he had eyes to see them for what they truly were and we need to impress upon our people the duty of crying to the Lord that we would be like our Lord in having eyes to see men for what they really are that we would have eyes to behold their true condition and then there is in the fifth place the example of the apostle Paul in his sense of indebtedness the apostle said be followers of me even as I am of Christ and in Romans 1
14 he said I am debtor both to the Jew and to the Greek therefore I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome and when we have that sense of being debtors then there is that readiness the readiness that Peter speaks about in 1 Peter 3 15 sanctify Christ his Lord in your heart ready always to give a reason to everyone who asks you of the hope that is in you it was that sense of indebtedness that moved him to forego lawful liberties for the sake of the gospel 1 Corinthians 9 22 and 23 willing to become all
things to all men that he might by all means save some willing to put himself in bondage to all he says the very thing he forbids in 1 Corinthians 7 he said you were bought with a price be not the slaves of men from another perspective he says I made myself the slave of all men that I might win them and then of course the words that we read them and we stand utterly smitten before them brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved I could wish myself a curse from Christ and I don't know how to exegete the words but I'm confident it's not wrong
to quote them something of that spirit and we need to pray that God will give us that urge our people to pray that God will give it to them and then in the sixth place the mandate for the task rest upon the necessity of men hearing the gospel in order to be saved and there you have the apostles unarguable unassailable lying of argumentation in Romans ten nine and following if thou shall confess with thy mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved then he goes on to say how can you believe upon a Christ whom you've not how can you call upon a Christ in whom you've not believed
and how can you believe unless you've heard and how can you hear except someone be sent and we need to impress upon our people while grounding them in the great doctrines of divine particularism and the certainty of the salvation of all of God's elect we're right back into that realm that what is certain by divine decree is also necessary in the life history of those who come within the orbit of that which is decreed it is decreed that every true believer will persevere it's also necessary that he persevere it is decreed that the gospel will come to all of the elect other sheep I have that are not of this fold
them also I must bring they shall hear my voice since God has not marked the forehead of his elect with some kind of magical marker and we pass some magical glass over it and discover it we are responsible of bringing the gospel whether it proves to be a saver of death unto death or life unto life and we need to impress upon our people that truth again and again and then we need also if they are to feel the pressure of their responsibility the necessity of public confession of Christ as a badge of discipleship Matthew 10
32 and following whosoever shall confess me before men him will I confess before my father who is in heaven and that confessing of Christ obviously does not mean that a man must give out one tract per day or is damned or he must verbally give a three minute capsulization of the gospel at least once a day or he'll be damned but it does mean something it does mean something that has to do with being openly publicly identified with Christ and the truth of the gospel for brethren bringing these seven lines of biblical data together surely there is Lent clear biblical
warrant for laying before our people that the task of evangelism is the task of the church and since the church is comprised of individuals the consciences of the individual members of our assemblies must be made to feel the pressure of the clear teaching of the word of God on this point in our reaction against the false view which makes witnessing either the soul or the supreme task of the church let us not fail to give it its proper place surely the combined testimony of these verses is
that the church is to be a witnessing discipling evangelizing inviting urging community of God's people a community whose witness is validated by the quality of its life a community whose quality of life is exegeted by its witness a community whose witness is essentially that of explaining and enforcing that God given message by which alone men can come to partake of salvation in Jesus Christ well that's the warrant for the task and the passages
Conclusion and Next Steps
that I trust you will in due course find yourself led to preach upon to your people as you seek to hone their consciences by the word of God with reference to the task now then God willing we'll take a break and then we'll take up large letter B the biblical motives which ought to impel us to and accompany the fulfillment of the task and then next week we'll take up large letter C the method and the means by which the task is to be fulfilled
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
The Great Commission, providing the biblical mandate for discipling all nations, baptism, and teaching, framed by Christ's authority and presence.
Links the coming of the Holy Spirit with power for witness-bearing, outlining the geographical scope of evangelism from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
Emphasizes the importance of blameless living and holding forth the word of life, demonstrating how Christian character validates verbal witness.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
More from the archive
If this spoke to you, hear also…
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Expository Evangelism
2 Timothy 4:5
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