Sermon Brief
Date Written: September 27, 2006
Date Preached: October 1, 2006
Where Preached: OZHBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: Living a Life of Evangelism
Sermon Title: Evangelism Reflects Consistency in our Christian Walk
Sermon Text: Acts 5:19-21, Eph 5:4, 15-17,
19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, 20 "Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life." 21 Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach.
Acts 5:19-21 (NASB)
Introduction:
• What is the basic function of the church?
• Is it to come together and worship God?
• Is it to come together and fellowship with other believers?
• Is it to teach and train those who have accepted Christ and ground them in the faith?
• Is it to reach out to those around us and meet the physical and emotional needs of those hurting in our community?
To all of those things I just mentioned, Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship and Ministry… they ARE functions of the church and they ARE important in the life of the church… but this morning I want to share with you that although these things are important… they are NOT our primary function as believers in Christ!
The primary function and focus of the church must be sharing Christ to the world around us by sharing God’s Word! Whether you believe it or not, without evangelization the church is not going to grow… without evangelization the church is being disobedient to the commandment of Christ!
There are many of you here this morning that say, “Oh that is NOT my gift! I leave that to those who have the gift of evangelization!” And sadly, because of this attitude, there are many people who never hear the Good News of the Gospel of Christ!
We miss so many evangelism opportunities because we think that evangelism is SOMEONE else’s duty and NOT ours! But the Bible is extremely clear on this matter and evangelism is for EVERY believer! It is a command of God and it cannot be ignored.
In Matt 28:19-20 Jesus said, “…19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…”(NASB)
In Mark 16:15 tells us, “…15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…”(NASB)
Luke 24:47-48 tells us, “…and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 "You are witnesses of these things…” (NASB)
In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “…and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (NASB)
These are 4 examples of Christ’s command for us to share the Gospel with the world. So as a believer, if you make the choice to ignore Christ’s command to share your faith, you are being willfully disobedient to Christ.
And, if you are willfully disobedient then you must begin to check your salvation because 1 John 2:3-4 tells us, “…By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him…”(NASB)
In other words if you are unwilling to submit to Christ’s call to obedience and submission, then God’s Word says you are not really part of the family, regardless of what YOU claim!
This is difficult thing for us Baptists to hear because we think that if we walk the aisle, or if we make a public profession of faith, or if we are baptized as a church member that we are SAVED, and once saved always saved!
But if your life has not changed and you’re being willfully disobedient and living a life counter to the commands of Christ… YOU WERE NEVER SAVED… you just spoke some words and went through a ritual.
So let me say this again to make it ABUNDANTLY clear to all who are sitting here this morning!! To all who proclaim Christ as Savior and Lord… God’s standard does not stop at salvation but continues on into the life of the believer and the actions of that believer.
So, if we refuse to obey His commandments, then our claim of accepting Christ is a falsehood… it is a lie! And I want you to understand that these are not Bro Bobby’s words, but the words of God Himself!
So not that we have established the fact that we are ALL called by God to be a witness for Him in this world… in OUR lives, I want to begin a short 3 week series on the sharing of our faith…
• And what it should mean to the believer… and
• What it should mean to all the members of Old Zion Hill Baptist Church!
Let’s read our passage of Scripture… READ VERSES…
Now in our Scripture this morning I want us to look specifically at v.20 where Luke writes, “…"Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life." What was Luke writing about?
Before we can move forward, let’s cover a little background on this passage. In the 1st part of this chapter is the story of Annanias and Sapphira and their scheme to defraud God… they are struck dead and the people realize that God is serious about His work.
The Bible tells us that from that point on there was a great fear and awe in the fellowship and there were many great signs and wonders being performed by the apostles.
Such great things were happening that the religious leaders of the day were extremely jealous. They were so jealous that in v.18 they went out and ‘laid hands on the apostles and put them in prison”…
Beginning in our passage this morning we can see that the Angel of the Lord has freed the apostles from prison and sent them back into the city with a very specific mission.
This mission was exactly the same as the one Jesus uttered in the 4 examples we read earlier this morning! The mission had 3 parts… To Go… To Stand… and To Speak…
So over the next 3 weeks I want us to look at Living a Life of Evangelism as a believer. I want us to look and see how we must be consistent in our service to God!
I want us to look at how we must be courageous in our service to God, and finally I want us to look at how we must communicate the message of God to the world around us…
But this morning I want us to focus on the 1st command of the Angel of the Lord in v.19 and that was the command of GO! I want us to see how this commandment deals with the consistency of our walk in Christ!
1. We must be consistent in our Words (Eph 5:4)
“…4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks...”
Eph 5:4 (NASB)
Here Paul is speaking to the church in Ephesus and he is telling them that they must imitate God and not live a life that brings reproach on God!
Look at what he says, “…there must be no…” this is an imperative statement that represents a commandment! Paul is saying that these things are not just bad to do… but they are forbidden for the believer! They are forbidden because of what they do to you as a believer and what they do to your witness for Christ!
He goes on to list filthiness which comes from the root word where we get our word disgrace from! It means to be disgusting, distasteful, dirty or disgraceful. But I want to point out that it can also mean things that include being inappropriate or improper.
This is because the world sees us though our actions and through our speech. Our words are precursors to our actions… whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart so he will do… In other words, if we are willing to use words that reflect filth, or inappropriate subject matter, or simply off-color discussions… then our hearts must be littered with the same filth and inappropriateness!
But look what Paul goes on to say as well “…silly talk…” which comes from 2 Greek words that mean to speak stupidly, to be dumb in our speech, to purposefully speak in a stupid manner so as to lead those away from truth… This could be Paul referring to those people who put their mouth in gear before their brain is engaged… have you ever been down that road?
But Paul goes on to reveal another type of speech we are to avoid and it is “…coarse jesting…” which means to have a sharp and biting wit that turns what you are speaking about into a joke…
People… The Gospel is NO JOKE… people are dying each and every day and going to hell because there are times when we JOKE about what we are doing!
Paul finishes this verse by telling us that these things are NOT FITTING for the believer… The word Paul uses actually means that these things are not PROPER for the believer! Why? The reason is a simple one… because speech such as this leads people away from the Savior and do not point people TO the Savior!
Paul gives us an example of what our speech is to be like… the attitude of our speech, the foundation of our speech, the overall theme of what we say as believers must be focused around being thankful to God for what He has done for us!
In God’s word we can find many more examples of how our speech can lead people TO God or it can lead people away from God… how is your speech this morning?
Is your speech saturated with thanksgiving for what God has done for you… so much so that you simply have to share it with others? Or is your speech laced with filth, silly talk and quick witted jokes about something so important that it leaves the lost still lost and searching on their own because it does not point them to the Savior!
We can see that as believers we are to be consistent in our words, but also I can see that…
2. We must be consistent in our Walk…
15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Eph 5:15-17 (NASB)
Now let me explain what I am saying when I say we must be consistent in our walk. In Eph 5:15 Paul uses the Greek word peripateô which literally mean how you live your life! So what I am saying is that we must be consistent in the living of our life for Christ!
Paul says that we are to be NOT unwise, but wise… Here Paul uses a variation on the Greek Word sofia which means wisdom. But Paul is not speaking about earthly wisdom, but a godly wisdom. The kind of wisdom that we see taught in Proverbs,
“…5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel…”
Prov 1:5 (NASB)
In other words we can be wise in the Lord by seeking to learn from the wise who have come before us. We can learn from those who have walked the path before we walked it…
If you want to be wise, you have to learn to walk with the wise, and this wisdom is wisdom that comes from God, not from any university or school!
As believers we are called to wisely walk in our service to God, and that means being prudent in all our decisions, that means seeking God’s face in all our actions.
Paul goes on to say that we are to make the most of our time because this world is an evil place. And what Paul is trying to say here ties directly to v.4 where many Christians reside today… they are acting in a foolish manner and wasting precious time by not submitting to the Lordship of Christ. And by not being serious about importance of their walk in Christ!
So this is why Paul repeats himself here by saying, so don’t be foolish, but instead seek God’s will in all you do. Again Paul does not just want us to seek God’s will be for us to be able to understand God’s will… this is where the Godly wisdom comes into the picture!
We are called to be consistent in our Word, we are called to be consistent in our Walk, but finally this morning I want to emphasize the most important consistency to the effort of evangelism in the church today and that is that…
3. We must be consistent in our Witness…
11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason it says, Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Eph 5:11-14 (NASB)
In these verses Paul is revealing what a believer in Christ must avoid and expose. Now many of you may sit in your pew and think, well preacher if I go around ‘exposing’ sin… people are going to think I am judgmental and that I think I am better than they are… I just want to share the love of Christ! How can I do that!
We before I get to HOW we can share Jesus I want to make something very clear to all believers sitting here this morning! The Gospel message is not a warm and fuzzy message that makes us feel good about ourselves!
The Gospel message of Jesus Christ, if properly presented, reveals sin and exposes evil. It brings conviction to the soul and reveals truth to the heart!
Have you ever heard the old saying, “The Truth Hurts…” well the truth about humanity is that we are all sinners, that we have ALL fallen short of God’s perfection and holiness… this includes YOU as well as the one who has NOT rec’d Christ!
Our duty is to reveal God’s plan of salvation and His love for His creation. But we cannot lead people into a false conversion by promising a bed of roses or a rich fulfilled and totally happy life… because Jesus did not promise this!
Jesus said that we would be hated and despised for His name sake and that he world would not understand us or like us because we stood for Him.
My friends, you cannot worry about offending somebody’s feelings when you are sharing God’s plan of salvation. Regardless of how they react to the message, we are called by God to present the message just as the Word of God revealed it to us!
The message of the Gospel is very simple. We are sinners, lost and without hope and destined to spend all eternity in hell, totally separated from God.
There is nothing we can do about our situation to change it, but Jesus has done something and He has provided a narrow road for those who choose to follow it! It is only because of the grace and mercy of God Himself that we can know forgiveness of sin and salvation for our soul!
Now let me give you a very brief plan on how to share with one who is lost. This is how you share the message of truth, this is how you are used by the Holy Spirit to reveal and expose sin, this is how you are used by Christ to call the lost to a decision… to accept Christ or to reject Him…
When you present the gospel in this manner, if they reject it, it is not a personal rejection but they are rejecting the Word of God and God Himself, and we are able to move forward and share with others without a sense of failure on our part because we have been obedient to His call on our life!
You can start with the 10 commandments. Share with the lost person that we were not given the 10 commandments so that we could live perfect lives, but it was given so as to reveal sin in our lives! In Romans 7:7 the Bible tells us, “…[we] would not have come to know sin except through the Law…”(NASB)
The Bible also shares with us in James 2:10 “…For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all…” (NASB)
• Have you ever told a lie? No matter how small or insignificant you may think it is, a lie is a lie!
• Have you ever stolen anything? It does not matter how much it is worth, if you have taken something that is not yours… that is stealing!
• Have you ever hated your brother or sister? Jesus says that hatred is equal to murder in the eyes of God!
If you said yes to these questions, then that makes you a liar, a thief and a murderer! And that is only 3 of the 10 commandments! Where do you stand this morning?
If you have broken just ONE of these commandments then you are guilty before God and the Bible says that you are headed to Hell!
Jesus described hell as being a place of weeping, and crying, and screaming, and utter terror and torment… a place where the fire never stops and the pain is unending! A place of everlasting evil and torment to the soul!
If you have broken just ONE of the commandments that is what you have to look forward to in eternity! And there is absolutely NOTHING you can do about it!
You can try to do good things and reach God but the Bible says that we have all sinned and fallen SHORT of God’s glory and perfection! We cannot do anything good enough to reach God! We are doomed to hell in our sin!
But the wonderful message I have for you this morning is that Jesus Christ came to earth, born of a virgin, He lived the perfect and sinless life, He submitted to ridicule, mockery and torture on your behalf, He humbled Himself to death on a cruel cross to be the sacrifice necessary to cleanse the sin of the world!
His death paved the way for our forgiveness, and 3 days later His resurrection paved the way for our entrance into the heavenly gates of eternity with God!
Today you can know Christ as Savior, you can know forgiveness of your sin and you can be saved from the hell that awaits you…
But for you to experience the Grace of God and the forgiveness that Jesus made possible on the Cross, you must come to God with a repentant heart!
What do I mean by repent? To repent means to change directions… just think of it as making a u-turn… you are going one way, you repent and you are headed another way!
If you are living life to YOUR standards, you are headed to HELL and eternal torment! But if you come to Jesus with a repentant heart… God can make a u-turn in your life and put you on the road to heaven and an eternity with the Creator of the Universe!
Conclusion:
For the believer, we have to be consistent. God is the same from everlasting to everlasting… and we are to strive to be imitators of God… striving to be perfect and consistent in all the things we don in our lives.
We must focus on being consistent in the words we say and the type of speech we use as believers, because one slip may cause a brother to stumble or a lost person to turn away from Christ!
We must focus on being consistent in our walk with Christ… on how we live our life! Our life must reflect the Sovereign Lord of the Universe. We are to strive to live a life that is worthy of this ‘high calling’ of Christ Jesus… we are to strive to live a life that is worthy of the salvation Christ blesses us with..
Finally we must live a life that is consistent in the message that we bring to the world. We cannot be double-tongued or wishy-washy in our words.
We must present the Gospel as it is… it is a message that confronts sin, reveals sin, exposes darkness! We must share the Gospel as Christ lived it… because changing the Gospel spells doom and damnation to those who hear the altered and false gospel! Our witness must be true to the Word of God!
This morning I want you to honestly ask yourself, “Am I living the life of Evangelism that God commands?”
This morning if you are NOT living as God has called you to live, I call on you to come forward and repent… repent and allow the fresh, cleansing, Spirit of God wash over you and cleanse you of your sin against God! Come and be made clean by God’s wonderful grace!
This morning if you are here and you do NOT know Christ as your Savior. I call on you to understand this one thing, you are living your life according to YOUR standard. The Bible sets a standard that God expects and demands… that standard is set forth in the 10 commandments.
I urge you to come this morning and pray for God’s forgiveness of the sin in your life! Come today and be saved from the hell that awaits you! As bro jerry comes, I urge you to step out as we begin to sin our hymn of invitation!
