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Christian Chronicles, July 2001 - Volume 4, Issue 69
| The
Editor's Pen | Perspectives: Evangelize the World
| Mid-East Update |
| Fruit of the Vine | In
Season & Out of Season | Preaching
the Good News | Compelled or Consumed?
| Evangelism Begins at the Cross |
Becoming Beacons of Hope |
Evangelism. That one word sums up the Christian responsibility. Oh, we are to walk a certain walk, and there are many exhortations and commands that point to a proper mindset for the saved person, but only one purpose characterizes our presence on earth.
We are not here to glorify God. If we evangelize a lost world, He will glorify Himself in us. We are not society’s watchdogs, to carry banners protesting this or that evil in our land. To protest against evil is to deny that evil men will grow worse and worse (2 Tim 3:13) and to say that we can prove God wrong. That doesn’t mean that we are to approve of evil men and evil practices, but rather, that our job here on earth is not to change society, but to preach the gospel, to minister the word of reconciliation. Those who protest against their fellow men serve only to alienate the lost with their self-righteousness, but those who lovingly present the gospel serve their proper purpose as ambassadors sent from heaven to earth to minister the word of reconciliation. We are peacemakers, not demonstrators.
The United States remains the broker of peace in the Middle East, but the level of intensity has diminished markedly since the new administration took office in Washington D.C. While it is reasonable to assume that the U.S. will continue to be the primary peace broker, not only in the Middle East, but also in the world, it is interesting to see how the priorities shift from peace to commerce with the changing administrations.
A cease-fire continues in Israel, but it is broken several times daily by parties on both sides who do not wish to see a peace treaty negotiated. Gunfire still is heard in every area of the country, but especially in and around Jerusalem. Both the Syrians and the Iranians have engaged in acts of terror, hoping so to demoralize the Israelis that they will erupt in violence and lose what little international backing they have. Southern Lebanon remains a launching pad for terror in Northern Israel. Israel continues to wait patiently for a genuine cease fire, but tempers are growing increasingly heated among the Jews who are tired of being targets for every hothead and reactionary among those with whom they hope to achieve peace.
Ariel Sharon has surprised the world with his patience and moderation, his statesmanship and commitment to the peace process. It was almost universally anticipated that he would be as hawkish as any Israeli Prime Minister in recent history, but he has demonstrated a real resolve to bring peace to the land. May he do so without giving up Jerusalem.
There is no responsibility placed upon the Christian with greater emphasis than the responsibility to minister the word of reconciliation. So often today, Christians—preachers and laymen alike—preach words of condemnation, hoping to bring the lost souls to a point of such conviction that they might willingly repent. It is a fruitless endeavor. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, and the Christian’s job is to present the word of reconciliation. We are not to be the accusers of the lost, but the ambassadors of the Savior. Our responsibility is not to point out the sins of the lost, but to bring the light of the gospel of grace to those who have been convicted by the Holy Spirit, who already know that they are sinners. It is for the apostate church to preach condemnation, but it is for us to preach the truth of God’s grace, making men free and bringing a glorious light into a sin-darkened world. Let us remember grace, not sin.
Perspectives: Evangelize the World
Go ye therefore,
And teach all nations,
Baptizing them in the name
Of the Father,
and of The Son,
and of the Holy ghost
(Matt 28:19)
This commandment was given to the eleven apostles, but it is the rule for this Age. When Jesus was rejected by the Jews, His chosen people, he began to speak of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. What He taught, and what the writers of the New Testament expounded upon, was the difference between the former order and that which exists in the Church Age. Prior to the cross, salvation was offered to the Jews alone. After Pentecost, both Jew and Gentile could be saved.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached the gospel. It is interesting that there were people from all over that part of the world in the streets beneath the balcony where he preached. No doubt, each of those three thousand who were saved that day (Acts 2:41) returned to their homelands and shared that remarkable sermon with their friends and loved ones.
Some time subsequent to that beginning of the Church, Saul of Tarsus was saved. After a time of learning, his name was changed to Paul and he began a wonderful ministry to the Gentiles.
Poor Paul! He could not board a jet plane to carry him to distant cities. He had no limousine. No, he walked. Through lands infested with robbers and flesh-eating animals, through rain and hail and snow and ice, in the face of persecution and every adversity, Paul led the Church in taking the gospel to all the world.
Paul was not present when Jesus announced the Great Commission (the opening verse of this article). But he never questioned whether it applied to him. He just did as he was led to do. Now look at the great body of Gentile believers that are the fruit of his ministry. Indeed, you and I are the extended fruit of Paul’s ministry. What treasure he has laid up in heaven!
Few of us have the leisure or the resources to travel the world as Paul did. To most of us, the Great Commission seems irrelevant. We will never have the opportunity to go to foreign lands with the gospel. But there are ways that we can fulfill that commission.
When you pray for the ministries of those who do take the gospel to the whole world, you partake of the fruits of those ministries. When you support ministries that are worldwide, you participate in those ministries as surely as if your own shoes were road-worn. The rewards that those ministers get become your rewards as well. It is very important for every Christian to support missions and other far-reaching ministries. It is how we all can fulfill the Great Commission without ever leaving our homes.
Many churches have regular visitations scheduled each week. Every church ought to have such a burden for the lost that moves it to evangelize often. Unfortunately, however, many church members do not participate in the visits. Among those who do not, there is a large percentage who feel that, as long as their church is doing something officially, and as long as they are supporting their church, then their responsibility is fulfilled. That would be convenient, but we are not here for our own convenience.
Every Christian is charged with the same task. Oh, we all have different gifts, and we are to exercise those gifts for our own growth and for the edification of the church, to be sure. We are to support our local churches and such ministries as the Spirit leads us to support, but none of those things relieve us of the personal responsibility to minister the word of reconciliation.
Not everyone is called upon to serve in a full-time ministry, but every Christian is indeed a minister, and is charged with the responsibility of fulfilling his or her own ministry. Some ministries are more involved than others, some require more time and/or resources, but every Christian ought to know how to present the gospel. We do not know when God will next send someone to us with some pressing problem or conviction, some burden imposed by the Spirit of God intended to drive that person to us, his heart prepared to believe and accept the gospel. If we do not know how to tell that person how to be saved, how can God make us fruitful?
Like Timothy, we are to “study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15).
These twelve Jesus sent
forth, and commanded them, saying,
“Go not into the way of the
Gentiles,
and unto any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
But Go rather unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And as ye go, preach, saying,
‘The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
(Matt 10:5-7)
Jesus is presented in the Gospel of Matthew as the King of the Jews. Matthew is the “gospel of the kingdom.” In that gospel, Jesus begins His ministry by preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt 4:17), and then performing many miracles in order to prove that His testimony is from the Father in heaven (vv. 23-25). He presents the “platform” upon which He would establish His government in His kingdom (the Sermon on the Mount — 5:1– 7:27). Then, in the next three chapters of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus performs many more and very specific miracles, so that all might be assured that He is whom He claims to be. After he has established His authority by his miracles, in chapter ten, Jesus sends out His twelve disciples, as depicted in the opening Scripture in this article. Notice that Jesus expressly commands the twelve to go only to the twelve tribes of Israel, and not to any Gentile people at all. They are charged with the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Jews.
However, the gospel that the apostles preached before Jesus was rejected was not the same gospel that we preach today. We preach Christ crucified; they preached Christ the King. Jesus had come to be the King of the Jews. Had the Jews not rejected Him and demanded His execution, He would have established His kingdom in Jerusalem, from whence He would have ruled the world for one thousand years, beginning approximately 30 A.D. The world would have ended nearly a thousand years ago, and we would now be in the eternal state. Actually, no one who is alive today would ever have been born, since time would have reached its end long centuries before our births would’ve occurred. If the Jews had accepted their Messiah, the Kingdom Age would have come and gone and the eternal state would already be a thousand years old.
The gospel that the twelve apostles preached had nothing to do with the Church Age, nor did they yet know that there would be a Church Age. They believed at that time that Jesus would establish His kingdom then, and they eagerly preached this gospel to the Jews throughout the land. They must have been very excited indeed to know that they were that blessed generation of Jews who would be living at the time of the Messiah’s Advent. It is certain that they went out with great enthusiasm to tell their countrymen the good news. Jesus gave them power to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and to do these things wherever they went, and as often as they deemed it fruitful to do so (Mt 10:8). Thus, all Israel would know for certain that their Messiah was on the scene and that the kingdom truly was at hand. Having lived for six hundred years under the thumb of the Gentiles, they felt very oppressed as a people, and were eagerly awaiting the day when their King would ascend the throne of David and rule them beneficently and with perfect equity. The Jews longed for the promised kingdom, in which prosperity would characterize everything they put their hands to, and in which righteousness would become their way of life. They wanted to see the curse lifted and the glory of God revealed in all of creation. They wanted to receive the fullness of God’s blessings and enjoy the prophesied millennium of peace and glory with David’s Seed seated on the throne. Since 604 B.C., the Gentile nations had prevented the Jews from exercising sovereignty over the Holy Land. The good news that the twelve preached was that the long-awaited Messiah had arrived on the scene, and was about to assume the throne. He was at last going to throw off the Gentile yoke and establish Israel in her land with a King. Furthermore, their Messiah would rule over, not only Israel, but all the nations on the earth.
It should have been a joyous time in the land of Israel, but it was far from that. The people were excited, but the rulers of the Jews (the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians) determined that they would guard their social position and privileges both zealously and jealously. They were afraid that if this young upstart seized the popular affection, He might be able to carry through on His claims and they would all be out of office.
In the twelfth chapter of Matthew, the Jews officially rejected Jesus as their Messiah. While many of the people of Israel were ready to accept Him, the leaders of the Jews rejected Him and began a persecution that would culminate in His execution as the lowest form of criminal. Jesus had performed many miracles of healing (12:9-15; Mk 3:6-12), and then He cast out a demon from a man possessed (vv 22-23). The Jews accused Jesus of casting out the demon by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. He rebuked them for having committed the unpardonable sin, and announced His crucifixion and resurrection in the “sign of the prophet Jonah,” (vv 38-41).
Afterward, Jesus began to speak in parables. This was a new thing, not a part of His pre-rejection ministry. He began at first to speak what He Himself called, “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 13:11). He is here announcing a mystery age, an age that was not revealed in the pages of the Old Testament. In a series of eight parables (Mt 13:1-52), Jesus explains to His disciples how this mystery age would function. He explained that both sinners and saints would occupy this mystery aspect of the kingdom but that, at the end of the Age, the unbelievers would be gathered together and punished while the saints of the kingdom would join with Him in reigning over the whole world. From the twelfth chapter of Genesis (the call of Abram) until the twelfth chapter of Matthew (the rejection of the Messiah), the Bible is written to, for and about the Jews, and the Gentiles are only mentioned at all in reference to their relationship with Israel.
After His rejection, Luke records another parable (14:15-24) that our Lord spoke. It is called the parable of the great supper. Whereas Jesus had sent the twelve only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mt 10:1-15), in this parable, Jesus shows the result of the Jews’ rejection of the gospel. Jesus says that the man in Luke’s parable sent his servant to those whom he had chosen to attend the great feast, but that each had an excuse for not coming. Thus, the man told his servant to go into the streets and lanes of the cities, the highways and hedges, bringing in all who would come. When those who were bidden refused to come, he turned his invitation to all who would accept the invitation. The man told his servant that none of those who were earlier invited would taste of that great supper. Now all could come to Him, Jew or Gentile.
The visible kingdom had been forestalled by the Jews’ rejection of their King, but a mystery Age had taken its place. Once the Jews had rejected Him, Jesus began to preach His death and resurrection in several ways, but He also began to speak of the Church (Mt 16:17-20). At that point, He began to command His disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ, lest they turn and accept Him after His judgment had been pronounced (16:20 cp also Mt 13:10-17).
As things would turn out, Jesus’ predictions of His death and resurrection would come to pass. The Jews would have Him crucified by the Romans, not understanding the significance of that death to the salvation of everyone who would believe. His disciples would despair, believing that the King had been killed and that the kingdom could not come. But their despair would be turned to rejoicing when He arose from the dead and visited with them for the next forty days. After His ascension into heaven, the apostles elected another, Matthias, to replace the fallen Judas Iscariot among the twelve. It is interesting that Matthias is never again mentioned in the Bible, for God had chosen Saul of Tarsus to fill the twelfth apostle’s office. The eleven apostles acted hastily in filling Judas’ spot.
However, ten days after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were gathered together when a terrible noise, likened to a mighty rushing wind, was heard. There was no actual wind, but only the sound of it, and as the Bible calls it the sound of a mighty, rushing wind, we may assume that it was comparable to the sound of a very large jet engine. Surely, the entire city was alarmed by it, and a great crowd gathered in the streets. Tongues of fire appeared above the heads of the disciples, and they began to speak in tongues, the languages of the people from every land who were gathered in the street. Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims from all over the world who had come to celebrate both the Passover and, fifty days later, Pentecost.
Peter was the first to preach the gospel that we preach in this, the Church Age, when he spoke to all the people outside the room where the disciples were gathered. The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached again when the Church Age ends, in the seven years before Christ returns to establish His kingdom, but now we preach the gospel of Christ crucified. The gospel that we preach today is not about a coming King, but about a crucified Redeemer. We preach forgiveness of sins by the grace of God. Peter presented the gospel to the Jews for the first time on the Feast of Pentecost, and then again to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius. The gospel that Peter preached and that Paul taught is not the gospel of the Coming King, but the gospel of the shed blood of Calvary. The good news today is not that Christ is at hand, but that he has paid all our sin debt forever. The gospel is, so to speak, “We are sinners; He paid for our sins; we have eternal life in Him.” The apostles preached a glorious gospel when Christ first sent them out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We preach a bloody gospel, one that involves judgment and propitiation, resulting in liberty and eternal life. The Jewish gospel is a gospel concerning government; the Christian gospel is a gospel concerning forgiveness of sins by grace through faith.
At the same time, the message of the Church Age is also about a coming Redeemer. Indeed, the blessed hope that Paul spoke of to Titus (2:13) is the return of Christ for His bride, the Church. Consider the difference between the message that the apostles preached to the Jews and the glorious hope of the Church. If the Jews were excited to think that their King was at the door, how excited ought we be today to think that our Groom is at the door? If the Jews were excited about an earthly kingdom, how excited ought we be about the prospect of spending seven years in heaven itself prior to the establishment of that kingdom on the earth? If the Jews were excited about a government, how excited should we be about a wedding? If the apostles were eager to preach the gospel of the kingdom, how eager should we be to preach the gospel of God’s inestimable grace? The Jews were eager to become citizens of the sovereign state of Israel. “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able also to subdue all things to Himself” (Phil 3:20-21 NKJV). We have such a superior hope in this age, and that hope ought to cause us each and all to go forth with the ministry of the word of reconciliation (see 2 Cor. 5:18-21) with an energy and zeal that will carry us fruitfully to the end of the age. Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season.
I am made all things to all men,
That I might by all means save some.
(1 Cor 9:22)
Verses 16-27 of 1 Cor. 9 teach us that true servants of the Lord are to be rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ. In the progression of these verses, we see a cluster of nuggets which set forth the inner motive of God’s true servants.First and foremost, we see the commission, or call, laid upon the Apostle Paul by our precious Lord (
v. 16). Some would say he was compelled. But was he really? Was compulsion his motive for being a witness for Christ? Decidedly not! He was consumed with the wonder of declaring God’s good news. Christ was the consuming thrill of his life, and he had to make Him known. This was a willing thing to him (v. 18), and he recognized that he would be rewarded in this life (v. 18), for the joy and blessing of witnessing for Christ is greater than words can describe. What true servant of Christ can declare the ecstasy of telling another of the Savior of sinners? It is beyond understanding and explanation!But beyond this life there is the reward in the life to come (
vv. 19-27). To receive a “full reward” requires that the work of Christ be performed as a genuine “servant to all” to win more to Christ (v. 19). Further, this requires what is known as “dedicated adaptability” (vv. 20-23). Verse 22 is not speaking of sacrificing spiritual integrity in order to “become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some,” but of such dedication to Christ that one would gladly give up preferences in order to declare the gospel. Never compromise or sacrifice conviction: we can never do a wrong thing in order to do a right thing. To the contrary, Paul wanted to be the human instrument by which the Holy Spirit works on unsaved hearts (vv. 22-23). He wanted to be controlled by or filled with the Holy Spirit so that he might declare the greatness of God’s gospel.Paul spoke of the crown in verses 24-27, the reward given for dedicated service (
1 Cor 3:11-15; 2 Cor 5:10). This speaks volumes of the caliber of the servant’s work. The Lord will reward faithful service but, of course, the reward is not the reason or motive for faithfulness; the true motive is the Lord’s glory and the servant’s love for Him. The victor in the athletic competitions Paul uses as illustrations wins a perishable crown, and is soon forgotten. But, in the life to come, the faithful servant of Christ is never forgotten; he will be remembered throughout the ages of eternity by our blessed Lord. And this makes it worth it all.Paul had a concern—that of being a castaway. The emphasis in verse 27 is that he beats himself black and blue in order to bring his body into subjection, lest he be disqualified for reward in that great day of reckoning when all believers will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Being a castaway has to do with reward, not salvation. It should be emphasized that no believer has the power within himself to be in subjection; the old nature can never be reformed or improved. The only way we can be in subjection is by yielding ourselves to the Lord and letting Him bring us into subjection.
What is the bottom line of all this? God’s servants are commissioned and compelled to be witnesses for Christ, but the believer should be consumed, out of a love and a desire for God’s glory, to spread the gospel. The wonder of the gospel should consume us. The gospel should be the thrill and passion of our lives.
Evangelism Begins at the Cross
There is no good news for the unsaved until they have stood at the foot of the cross and been covered by the blood of the Lamb of God. All testimony to the lost must begin with that shed blood. From the Garden of Eden (coats of skins) to the opening of the seven-sealed scroll in heaven (Rev 5:9), a stream of blood flows through the Scriptures. Until a sinner knows that he is lost, and until he understands that Jesus’ death at Calvary paid for every one of his sins, he cannot be saved. It does no good to discuss prophecy or the inspiration of the Scriptures; it does no good for the sinner to pray or to study doctrine until he has first understood the significance of the death of Christ. Until his sins have been washed white as snow and he has donned the very righteousness of God Himself, you can talk doctrine till he is blue in the face and he will get no closer to heaven than he was when you started.
When your witness begins at Calvary, then you can fruitfully explore every doctrine with the full expectation that your listener will grow in grace and in the knowledge of God. When the Holy Spirit convicts a sinner, it is always because of some sin in his life that he considers particularly heinous. When the ground has been thus prepared, the heart is ready to hear the good news that Jesus has already paid for that sin. When he then understands the meaning of the expression, “Jesus died for your sins,” he will gladly and with great relief accept the sacrifice of God on his behalf. If you hope to be fruitful in your witness, start at the cross.
We get so many conflicting messages in churches today. It is often the case that church members are urged to stand on this street corner or that, with this placard or that sign, protesting this social ill or that dark iniquity. Protest marches have been organized against abortions and gays, against drinking and drugs, against gangs and gambling, and against many other vices as well.
Those are certainly evils in any society, and those who engage in those activities cannot be said to be doing God’s will. No Christian ought to condone any sort of iniquity in society. At the same time, such protests as many churches engage in are as iniquitous as the practices they protest against. For to protest the sins of another is to set oneself above that other person, which only leads to self-righteousness. It does nothing to convict the sinner nor draw him closer to God. Indeed, when attacked by church-goers, most sinners will only ridicule the hypocrisy of their attackers.
The world surely is darker today than at any point in its history. Sodom and Gomorrah come to mind. Everywhere we turn there are sin and vice, darkness and ugliness, lust and violence. Orgies do not take place in privacy any more, but are broadcast into the heavens via television signals that permeate both the air and outer space. Crime, greed, avarice, and lust characterize every society on the planet. Yes, it is a dark world, a perverse world, and every generation makes the darkness deeper and more profound.
We do not combat evil in society by protesting against it, but by preaching the gospel of grace. It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance (Rom 2:4). The light of the gospel is not condemnation, but reconciliation. If we truly wish to be those great lights that God has ordained us to be, then it behooves us to learn to present the gospel clearly, focusing upon grace and not sin, preaching light and not darkness. Railing against sin only leads to more sin, but ministering the word of reconciliation brings light to a sin-darkened world and grace to our hearers.
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