September, 2021 - The Text Messages

September 16, 2021

Missional Christianity – Intervening for Jesus

“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.” (1 Corinthians 9:19–23, NKJV)

Evangelism is the God directed and Spirit empowered effort of lovingly conveying the gospel of grace to people with the intention of leading them to faith in Jesus Christ.

A writer for Christianity Today wrote:

“Evangelism always involves a bloody cross and an empty tomb. It always involves Jesus’ death on the cross for our sin and in our place. Those facts are a constant. Without that message, there is no evangelism since there is no good news. Evangelism is transcultural and universal, and it goes throughout every era of time.” Evangelism is every follower of the Lord Jesus Christ inviting others to trust, follow and believe in the risen Lord.

But the “how” concerning our approach to people is varied because people are not all cut from the same cultural cloth – even in America. Not only that but “different personalities communicate differently” such is true not only for the hearer but for the speaker as well.

The Apostle Paul certainly varied his approach – he took the approach of the Intellectual approach with the “Epicureans and Stoics” of Athens in (Acts 17); he took the Testimonial Approach with King Agrippa in (Acts 26:1-23) as well as with his own countrymen in (Acts 22:1-21) and often in his teaching and preaching he took a Direct and confrontational approach in communicating the gospel.

In the passage of (1 Cor. 9:19-23) we encounter Paul mid discussion begun in (chapter 8) concerning the consuming of meat offered to idols. His point was that even though believers were free to eat such meat because they understood that the Lord God was the provider of all such food and that an idol has no power not all believers had such an understanding; thus the more mature believers were to deny themselves of such meat for the sake of the weaker brother. He declared in (v.8) that their liberty might become a stumbling block to the weaker brother – a lack of concern over this issue was declared to be sin against Christ (v.12). In [v.13] we read,

“Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

The principal of self denial concerning food which Paul taught in that section led to a personal illustration concerning self denial in his ministry for the sake of those he was trying to reach. The attitude he details in the following verses should be our approach to everything we do in our lives – esteeming others as better than ourselves requires self-denial.

In (Chapter 9) Paul reflects on his “rights” as an apostle to share in the material blessing of those to whom he ministers (v.11-12) declaring in the second half of (v.12):

“Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ.”

Paul had the right to compensation for his service as an Apostle, He had the right to expect to be cared for by the people to whom he ministered but for their sake and the gospel he refused to demand those rights. Instead he who was already a doulos (bondservant) of the Lord became a dŏulŏō (a servant) to all men. He saw himself as a “debtor to all men, to Greeks and Barbarians, to the wise and the unwise” (Romans 1:15); he was eager to share the gospel with everyone. His purpose in denying himself was to lead more people to a life saving and changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Paul did not give up His freedom in Christ to become a slave to those he was trying to reach but in his freedom he gave up His rights for their sake and the gospel.

A Missional Mentality…

(v. 22) “I have become all things to all men that I might by all means save some.”

In his missionary journeys, Paul met many people from many different backgrounds – but he found common ground with them. He made it his effort not to deliberately insult them in his efforts to reach them but that does not mean he compromised his beliefs, forsook his moral convictions or sacrificed a biblical doctrine in his efforts to bring them to Jesus.

Paul met people where they were just like Jesus did; this needs to be more than something we say and nod our heads at today – it needs to be something believers practice in their efforts to reach people for Christ.

Four groups are listed in the previous verses:

Jews in general (His Countrymen). (v.20a)

The word translated “Jew” in (v.20) referred to the national distinction of being from the region of the Jews. I think that to a point Paul, in trying to reach the Jews drew from the undeniable fact that he was one of them. He had things in common with them, in (Philippians 3:4-6) we read that Paul was “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin and a Hebrew of the Hebrews.”

Beyond the commonality of nationality Paul, in his effort to gain a hearing among the Jews he allowed Timothy to be circumcised in [Acts 16:1-3] “Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.” Had Timothy not been circumcised the Jews in the region where they were going would have been insulted and likely would never have listened to Paul’s gospel message.

Those “Under the Law.” (The Religious) (v.20b)

Not every Jew was a practicing believer thus the distinction between “Jew” in (v.20) and “those under the Law” in (v.21). Paul was formerly a well trained Pharisee and blameless with regard to keeping the Law of Moses (Phil. 3:6) so in his efforts to reach those of this group he was careful – he did nothing to compromise the truth that justification came through Jesus Christ.

Even so, when among them, Paul “behaved as a Jew in matters of moral indifference. For instance, he ate the foods which the Jewish people ate and refrained from eating such things as pork which were forbidden to them (see I Cor. 8). Perhaps Paul also refrained from working on the Sabbath day, realizing that if he did this, the gospel might gain a more ready hearing from the people.”^{^[i]}

Those “Without the Law.” (The Irreligious) (v.21)

Those without the law is not a reference to “outlaws” – Paul didn’t become a bank robber so that he could reach bank robbers; “those without the law” is a reference to gentiles or simply those who were not Jews or Jewish proselytes. In true missionary fashion Paul, when he was with this group of people adapted to the culture and customs to the degree that the Lord would allow. Paul specified a caveat or limitation to how far he would go in honoring and keeping the customs of the people with the words in parenthesis in (v.21): “(not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ).” He recognized a responsibility to honor, serve and obey the Lord Jesus before the gentiles – because of His love for the Savior.

The spiritually weak. (V.22)

Paul was also patient with immature believers such as those he mentions may have been offended by the food that more spiritually mature believers understand they are free to eat. The goal with regards to the weaker brother was not justification – Paul was most likely not trying to “win” them in the sense of salvation but rather the goal was the sanctification and maturing of the weaker brother or sister.

In each instance Paul spent his effort doing whatever he could to gain some for Jesus – that is what a good witness does: “A good witness tries to build bridges, not walls” ^[ii]towards those he or she is trying to reach. In the past many efforts have been made to reach people for the Lord – radio evangelism used to be popular and still has its place, the “bus ministry” of the seventies was another as was meeting based evangelism such as tent revivals and the large meetings like those of Billy Graham but today the trend is toward home based evangelism but as important as these strategies are for large group evangelism souls are still reached one at a time. Every believer carries the personal responsibility to by all means strive to gain people for Jesus.

This responsibility causes certain fear and anxiety in the hearts of some believers today so as I conclude today I would like to briefly direct your attention to Six Approaches to Evangelism taken from a book by Bill Hybels titled “Becoming a contagious Christian:”

1. Direct Approach (Confrontational)

This is the Apostle Peter’s approach in Acts 2, boldly proclaiming the Gospel to whoever would hear. Evangelists who use the direct approach are often equipped with Gospel tracts and ask questions like, “If you were to die tonight, are you 100% sure that you would go to heaven?”

Direct evangelists get straight to the point, preach Christ, and seek a response.

2. Intellectual Approach

The intellectual approach to evangelism is what Paul modeled in Acts 17 when he reasoned with philosophers and the deep thinkers of Athens and is today practiced by apologists and other logical thinkers.

If you are a person who likes ideas, evidence, logical thinking, and Christian Apologetics, you might be an intellectual evangelist.

3. Testimonial Approach

Personal stories of transformation carry a unique weight and often do things that facts alone cannot do. Evangelists who thrive with the testimonial approach tell powerful stories of Christ’s saving work in their lives.

This is clearly seen in the blind man of (John 9) who was healed by Jesus and then testified about Christ, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see!”

4. Interpersonal Approach

Not everybody is drawn to knowing apologetics or sharing their Christian testimony. For those who have the natural ability to relate to people and love being with others, the interpersonal approach to evangelism is a natural way to share Christ. You know you can be effective with the interpersonal approach when you are able to share your faith with others out of a growing friendship.

5. Invitational Approach

The invitational approach is similar to the interpersonal approach, but as its name suggests, thrives on inviting people to events like a church service, a retreat, or a Bible study. This is one of the most natural ways newer believers are able to reach out to others even if they may not have the right words to say.

(ex) The Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well in John 4.

6. Service Approach

If you naturally notice the needs of others and enjoy serving them, you might prefer the service approach to evangelism. People who prefer this approach often enjoy sharing the love of Christ through deed over word. People with the gift of hospitality often fall into this approach.

The biblical example of this approach is Tabitha (also known as Dorcas) in Acts 9:36-42. She is described as “full of good works and acts of charity,” which used her gift of making clothing for God’s glory.

I suggest that none of these is based so much on your comfort in the moment as it is on the situation in which you find yourself.

This morning I mentioned that because people are different, we can “be as creative as the Lord leads us to be in reaching them.” What works for one may not work for the next one but there is nevertheless a common thread running through whatever way you attempt to “win” a person to Christ and that thread is the word of God.

We should never forget that “the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to ALL who believe!” (Romans 1:16) and that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) However you begin your effort to reach an unbeliever it MUST involve the word of God about the Word of God – the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Intervention is necessary to reach others for Christ. Unless a Christian cares enough to take a chance in sharing the Gospel of Christ, the lost will likely die without hope, separated from God. There is always risk involved when you share Jesus. But agape love and trust in the Holy Spirit will enable the Christian to exercise the intervention of personal witnessing.

I’ll never forget what an emergency nurse told me one day: “I want to thank you for teaching me how to share Jesus. Reaching those who don’t know Christ reminds me of doing CPR in the emergency room. My ER training tells me that when they bring in a patient who’s not breathing and whose heart isn’t beating, Do something! Even if you don’t know what to do. Do something! If you don’t, they’re gone.”

Even when we’re not sure of what to do, we must trust the Holy Spirit and love enough to intervene. Sharing Christ is vital to those around us.” Darrell W. Robinson, People Sharing Jesus, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), pp. 86-8^[iii]

^[i] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1778). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

^[ii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 601). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[iii] Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.

September 13, 2021

The Standing Order of the Savior

There is a song which declares,

“These are the days of Elijah declaring the word of the Lord

and these are the days of Your servant Moses righteousness being restored. And though these are days of great trial, of famine and darkness and sword” how does the rest go; anyone know?

“Still, we are the voice in the desert crying, ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord!’”

Why? Because He is coming and His coming is nearer than it has ever been before.

There is no need to rewind and review the news reels of recent weeks, the contents of those reels present clear evidence of the moral, spiritual and social decline of our world. They reveal the abounding iniquity or lawlessness of our day, lawlessness which is producing in some people, even some of God’s people a dying love, a lack of compassion, mercy, empathy and replacing it with a seething bitterness.

When Jesus declared in [Matt. 24:12] that “the love of many will grow cold” in the last days He was making a statement of fact rather than approval. Jesus saw that such a departure from the love which His followers ought to have for friends and enemies alike was actually a departure from the mission He set every one who believes in Him out to accomplish. What is that mission?

Look in [Matt 28:19-20]; the great commission has we have it here was first given to the remaining eleven disciples (apostles) and it reads as follows:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

From those days to these days that commission has been applied to every Christ follower from every age as our mission both in a global sense and more importantly in a local sense; it is our standing order from Jesus. We can be as creative as the Lord leads us to be in the accomplishing of our part in the mission but we no less must be constantly engaged with the goal of accomplishing it as doing so hastens (Peter declared in 2 Peter 3:12) “the coming of the day of the Lord.”

In our remaining time today, I’d like for us to review this well-known passage of scripture as we consider that in the “post covid,” “postmodern,” and anti-Christian world in which we live today, our part in the mission is not yet finished. In fact, it has arguably never been more essential as we truly near, in my mind at least, the conclusion of this age and the coming of our King, Jesus Christ.

We Never Go Alone

First of all, Jesus wrapped His marching orders between the two matching book ends of power and presence. He said, “all authority is given to Me in Heaven and on earth” and “I will be with you always;” in so saying, He reminds us all that He has all power to send us. This was the risen Savior of the world speaking. He had conquered death. He had defeated the power of Satan. He had made the way of escape from the power of sin as well as the forgiveness for sin available to all who turn to Him in faith. The One who was sending them was no longer the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world only: He was and is the risen and conquering King of kings and Lord of lords. The authority by which He commands us comes from His Father – and it was by that authority that we are to go.

Along with a reminder of His authority, Jesus Christ gave those who undertake the mission an assurance that He would always be with them; not in the physical sense that they had come to enjoy for the previous three and a half years nevertheless in an unmistakable and new way. His promise finds fulfillment (in Acts 2) at Pentecost when, after He had returned to Heaven and to His Father, the Holy Spirit came to ignite a fire in both those who preach the gospel and those who hear it. That same Spirit which overshadowed Mary the day she conceived within her the Holy Son of God at that moment overshadowed a group of men and birthed the body of Christ. I suggest to you that when you and I undertake the commission the Lord has left us we too go in the power and presence of the Lord – we never go alone.

We Are to Go to All People

The (Greek) word pŏrĕuŏmai and translated to the English word “go” implies more than one might think. When Jesus said, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” He was not speaking of the one-time act of going from their meeting on that mountain in Galilee back to their homes, rather the word is a command to return to their journey of life with a deliberate purpose – making disciples was to be their life’s work. On this point my mind goes back to the instruction which Moses left to the people of Israel before he died [Deuteronomy 6:6-9]:

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

In the same way that the father figure in that OT passage was to be diligent about teaching his children, no matter what they might be do, where they may be or who they might meet along the way (the word ethnos here translated nations meaning all people) those on mission for Jesus we’re to be about making disciples. With this understanding as a guideline, we will never pick and choose who to be Christ to, in fact, if we are modeling Christ well in our own lives, we won’t even have to choose them, they will choose us. Recall if you will the words Jesus spoke in His sermon on the mount, specifically these found in [Matt. 5:16]:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Over and over, we are instructed in the scriptures, as one man said, to be “the perceptible presence of Christ in our world, appealing to every sense – sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch.” We are to be the “salt of the earth” (Matt 5:18) which changes the taste of the world around us. We are to be the “light of the world” (Matt. 5:14) lighting the way to Christ by declaring and modeling His truth. We are not only to be “the fragrance of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:15) with regard to our worship towards God but also with regard to our dealing with all people (v17) “for we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God.” We are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor. 5:20) pleading with those we meet: “be reconciled to God!” To be frank, our mission requires us to earn the right to be heard through a lifestyle that preaches Christ to those around us even before we open our mouths. It does not require perfection – it requires authenticity and integrity and submission to the Holy Spirit of God who indwells EVERY follower of Christ. [Acts 2:44-47] concerning the growth of the body of Christ from its earliest days makes my point:

“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,

…praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

As believers practiced their new found faith, like a light to moths, their practices and their message drew others to the One who had saved them and “the Lord” added to their numbers daily.

Since our journey through life involves more than the time we spend in fellowship and worship together in God’s house it should also be clear to us that our mission is more about us going to “them” than it is expecting them to come to us. Philip went to Nathanael (John 1:45-46) and invited him to come and see the One about whom Moses and the prophets wrote. Later, Philip went to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26>>) and explained the word of God to him which led to the man’s conversion to faith in Jesus Christ; likewise, Andrew went to his brother, Simon Peter (John 1:40-42) and told him that they had “found the Messiah” and then he brought his brother to Jesus. The Samaritan woman at the well went to her neighbors after having met Jesus and invited them to “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”” (John 4:29) I dare say that since most of us live out our lives away from the church building that our greatest opportunities to lead others to faith in Jesus Christ and then to disciple them will also occur on the outside of these four walls; again, our mission is to go.

We Are to Baptize and Instruct

This may startle some of you but I’m not sure that a person’s baptism after conversion MUST take place within a house of worship and I’d again like to refer to the exchange between Philip and the eunuch of (Acts 8) in [v.36] the eunuch asks after believing, “what now hinders me from being baptized?” Alone, in the desert, far from the eyes of anyone but God and Philip the man was baptized. We have made baptism a public spectacle because it illustrates the exchange made upon our conversion: our death with Christ and our resurrection to new life in Him and often churches use the ordinance of baptism to bring the new believer into fellowship with that local assembly but I would suggest that as believers we may baptize a new believer anywhere and at any time after they have believed. If a fellowship of believers is baptizing a new believer, then by all means, the pastor or other ordained minister should be the one to baptize the person but if, as the situation was for Philip and the eunuch the need for baptism arises away from the local fellowship then I think we have some precedent to baptize as the need presents itself and frankly anything else seems to be leaning more on ritual than on the redeemer.

We have seen that the making of a disciple does not always begin or continue within the four walls of the local church in fact the commission of Jesus in our passage implies the exact opposite; that far from being a corporate thing to start off with it is a personal, one on one thing. Likewise, while the only setting suitable for baptism may not be limited to the structure of a local fellowships meeting place, the ultimate goal after a person becomes a Christian is to bring him or her into the larger fellowship of believers found in the local church. There they will continue to be instructed through sound preaching and teaching from the word of God while also coming to learn how to do life as a follower of Christ. So, this work of evangelism is not one or the other: either done by the church in the church or by believers away from the church, rather God uses both means to accomplish His ends and mission in the lives of people.

As I wrap it up, I must stress that the end game of evangelism is not getting them into the church, rather, the endgame of evangelism is to take the gospel message to all people. The words of Jesus found in the great commission are His standing orders to every Christian man, woman and child; in a word the order is to go and do. The reaction of our society as a whole has had a impact on the church as well. “Staying home and staying safe” has made some believers and churches less impactful and more willing to relax our efforts with regard not only to our fellowship and worship as believers but to evangelism as well. Let the words of the Lord in this familiar passage challenge you to press in and continue the mission – the work is not yet finished.