Evangelism: Dying Men Preaching in Love to Dying Men for God’s Glory

Richard Baxter famously wrote: “I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.”[1] God has given the great privilege and work of evangelism to the church, which it has carried out since its inception. The first six chapters of Acts illustrate this quite strikingly. Not only does Luke explicitly report four gospel presentations to unbelievers in the first six chapters (Acts 2:14–41; 3:11–26; 4:8–12; 5:29–32), but we read formulas that point to ongoing evangelism like:

 

And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:40–41).

 

And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:47).

 

But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand (Acts 4:4).

 

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

 

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles (Acts 5:12) (The Holy Spirit bears witness to the gospel through signs and wonders. Therefore, Signs and wonders in Acts go hand-in-hand with gospel proclamation. Cf. Acts 2:22; 5:32; 14:3).

 

And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women (Acts 5:14).

 

And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus (Acts 5:42).

 

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7).

 

Evangelism is and has always been the work of the church. But, is there a way to go about this great work of evangelism in a wrongly? Is there a way in which we preach the gospel not as dying men and women to dying men and women for God’s glory?

 

The Right and Wrong Way to Evangelize from Paul and Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Paul says in Philippians 1:18, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” Does this mean that the ends justify the means when it comes to evangelism? Not really. When Paul rejoices that Christ is preached even when the motive of that preaching is envy and rivalry (Philippians 1:15), this is a testament to his utter dearth of selfish ambition when it comes to gospel proclamation, not an approval of motive or how to go about it. Rather, Paul himself here offers us an the right example to follow when it comes to evangelism. For Paul, evangelism is not about himself or his influence. It is about loving and glorifying God in Christ and loving the lost at the expense of oneself.

It must’ve been in this same spirit that the great Welsh pastor (and in many ways evangelist) of Wales and England Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) (ML-J) offered these five principles for evangelism at a conference in England in 1942:

 

  1. The supreme object of this work is to glorify God…The first object of preaching the Gospel is not to save souls…Nothing else however good in itself, or however noble, must be allowed to usurp that first place.
  2. The only power that can really do this work is that of the Holy Spirit…
  3. The one and only medium through which the Holy Spirit works is the Word of God…The medium which is used by the Holy Spirit is the truth.
  4. The true urge to evanglization must come from apprehending these principles and, therefore, of a zeal for the honour and glory of God, and a love for the souls of men.
  5. There is a constant danger of error, and of heresy, even amongst the most sincere, and also the danger of a false zeal and the employment of unscriptural methods.[2]

 

ML-J’s fifth principle here makes clear the assumption of the biblical foundation of the first four. Therefore, this affords us a helpful exercise. If the first four principles define biblical evangelism, then the opposite of each should help us define unbiblical evangelism. So let’s rewrite the first four principles as the photo-negative version of themselves:

 

  1. The supreme object of this work is to glorify man…The first object of preaching the Gospel is to save souls…
  2. The only power that can really do this work is that of man and his innovation…
  3. The only mediums through which the Holy Spirit works is man’s personality, celebrity, clever words, and persuasive rhetoric.
  4. The true urge to evangelization must come from apprehending these principles and, therefore, of a zeal for the honor and glory of man and a love for self.

 

These principles define an evangelism that will err—stumble headlong into heresy, produce a false, manufactured and manipulated zeal, and employ unscriptural methods. Such evangelism is not the work of dying men seeking to rescue dying men and bring them to God for his glory and influence. This is the work of dying men seeking to rescue dying men and collect them for their own glory and influence. This type of evangelism is evangelism of self-love. But true evangelism is not about self. It is about loving God and loving the souls of lost men even at the expense of oneself.

 

Jesus: The Supreme Evangelist
Jesus is the supreme model for evangelism. In Jesus we see every principle that ML-J articulated. Jesus came evangelizing: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:14–15). And what Jesus called lost men to, he fulfilled in love for men and for God’s glory: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12–13); “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus suffered and died to bring lost souls, whom he loves, to God for God’s glory. Jesus, the living Word, the man of the Spirit, gave his life for the glory of God and in love for the lost. Jesus was the epitome of a dying man bringing the gospel to dying men in love for the glory of God.

 

A Call to Evangelize
Let us be like the founder of our faith. Let us continue his great evangelistic work that he passed on to the church, who has continued to pass on this great work down through the centuries ultimately to you and me. Let us “do the work of an evangelist” and so “fulfill (our) ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). Let us not evangelize for man’s glory and for love of self, but for God’s glory and for love of the lost. Let us “preach as a dying man to dying men.”

 

[1] Baxter’s Poetical Fragments (1st ed.; 1681), p.40, lines 7-8.

[2] Iain H. Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith 1939–1981 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2016), 2:90.

Call to Me and I Will Answer

Jeremiah 33:2-3: “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it – the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

We should be amazed at this statement. The One who made all things, the One who fulfills all His plans,  tells part of His creation – us! – to call out to Him. And He promises to answer! Indeed, He promises not only to answer, but to reveal to us what we could never know on our own, “great and hidden things.”

God declared these words to Jeremiah while he was under arrest for speaking truth. The Babylonians had besieged Jerusalem, cutting off all sources of food. Jeremiah had prophesied again and again that they would conquer the city as a judgment from God. The Lord God had rejected His people, and had ordained that even His temple – the physical picture of His presence in the midst of His people – would be destroyed. Since many officials found these prophesies treasonous, they had him arrested. Unable to scrounge for food in a city where starvation was rampant, Jeremiah was in danger of death. And the Babylonians were coming soon.

In this time of despair, God speaks to His people through His suffering prophet, saying: “Remember who I am. Remember my power and might. Remember my authority. Yes, my people have been disobedient. Yes, judgment is coming – it must come. But you, my faithful remnant: Call to me. Seek my face. Cry out to me. Run after me. For I will answer you. I will reveal to you more of who I am than you’ve ever known: more of my covenant promises, more of my plans, more of my glory. Call to me! For this is who I am – the revealing God, the God who speaks.” And in the following verses, He speaks of His plans to restore the people and to bring forth a “righteous branch” – Jesus Himself! – from the line of David.

Today, we too live in a society which rebels against God’s authority. We too can look around and be tempted to despair. We too can think that there is no hope.

But the Lord God tells us also: “I made all this. I am in control. I am working out my good and right purposes in the entirety of this creation and in this specific country. So know me! Cry out to me – and I will answer! I will tell you great and hidden things!”

So cry out to Him! Open His Word, in which all things were written for our instruction that we might have hope (Romans 15:4). Go to the Word in prayer, as a supplicant, asking for insight, acknowledging your dependence. Go to church services, asking to hear of God’s marvels in that Word. Expect to see great and hidden things about our Lord, which only He can reveal. Expect to have that Word mold your thoughts and attitudes, conforming you to the image of Christ, the Righteous Branch. Ask that it might be so, for you and for all of God’s people, God’s remnant.

And the Lord God – He who made the earth, he who formed it to establish it, Yahweh is His Name – He Himself will answer Your call through His Word, and will show you wonderful things from His Law (Psalm 119:18).

The Business of Preaching

“”The business of preaching is not merely to make the hearer feel a little happier while he is listening or while he is singing particular hymns; it is not meant to be a way of producing an atmosphere of comfort. If I do that I am a quack, and am a very false friend indeed. No, the business of preaching is to teach you to think. We may have to be severe, to chastise you, and to show you that your thinking has been altogether wrong. And not only so, but also to show you that you have not grasped the doctrines, because the comfort that is given by them is a deduction drawn as the result of working them out for yourselves.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans 8:17-39 – The Final Perseverance of the Saints, p. 24.

Similarly, Ray Stedman from “The Glory of Preaching,” presented at the 1982 Congress on the Bible: “It is the business of the preacher to change the total viewpoint about life of every member of his congregation, and to challenge the secular illusions of our day, and strip them of their deceitfulness, and show people how human wisdom fails, . . . and point out to them what that failure is doing to them if they follow it. The instrument is the exposition and proclamation of these mysteries of God.”

Keeping the Word Central

(This is an outline and summary of one of the talks I will be giving next week to pastors in India. Thank you for your prayers and financial support for enabling this trip – Coty]

If you are to fulfill the calling to a Gospel ministry, you must keep the Word of God central. You must depend on the Word of God in all that you do.

2 Timothy chapters 2, 3, and 4 bring out this truth in five different ways:

1) God’s Word is not bound!

Paul writes this letter from prison. He is cold. He is abandoned. He is under sentence of death. But Paul knows that though he might be in chains, the Word of God is still effecting change:”I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!” (2 Timothy 2:9).

If you are to fulfill your calling, if you are to stand before others and speak the Word, you must have this type of confidence. You may be persecuted. Your speaking may be hindered. Your preparation may be cut short. Your sleep and rest may be taken away. You may be (actually: “will be”!) inadequate for the task Indeed, you, like Paul, may be killed. But God’s Word is mighty. God’s word will run and be glorified (2 Thessalonians 3:1). God’s Word will accomplish all that He desires (Isaiah 55:10-11). No one can stand against God’s Word and hinder God’s purposes. You may be bound – but God’s Word will never be bound.

2) God’s Word is able to make you and those you teach wise unto salvation

One of the purposes God will accomplish through His Word is the salvation of those He calls to Himself: Paul writes: “From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

Note carefully: What makes people wise unto salvation? Our programs? Our evangelistic techniques? Our cultural sensitivity? Our effective rhetoric? Our clever arguments?

None of these. God’s Word accomplishes His desires, and God’s Word saves His people.

So what is your role? This leads us to our next point.

3) Think hard about the Word, and pray to understand it.

Paul tells Timothy, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 2:7). This verse is a great encouragement. I trust you have often found the Bible hard to understand. But Paul tells Timothy, “Sure, this is hard. But God is right there with you to help you understand! So think hard – not because you have the mental capacity on your own to figure out what I mean, but because God works through your diligent study, through your serious thinking, to give you understanding.”

Your role, first, is to study the Word. It must dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:16). You must ponder it and pray over it. Like Habakkuk, you must query it and struggle with it, bringing your lack of understanding before the Lord, crying out, “I have to teach this to Your people! So give me understanding so that I might fulfill Your calling on my life.”

4) ALL of Scripture is useful and profitable and sufficient for the ministry

Paul goes on to tell Timothy that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). That is, the entire Bible is God’s precious revelation of Himself, telling us who He is, who we are, how we can be reconciled to Him, how we can fulfill the purpose of our creation, and where the world is heading. We need the Word in order to learn God’s character and God’s path of life. We need God’s Word if we are to reprove those who err in doctrine or practice. We need God’s Word if we are to straighten out those who are deviating from God’s path. We need God’s Word if we are to train others in how to live a life worthy of our calling. The Word alone is sufficient for such training and equipping. So we must depend on it if we are to be faithful stewards of the ministry entrusted to us.

5) Preach the Word!

Paul concludes his exhortations to Timothy with the most solemn command in the entire New Testament:

In the sight of God and Christ Jesus who will certainly judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly charge you: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and earnestly exhort, with great steadfastness teaching all doctrine. For the time will come when they will not put up with sound doctrine, but will surround themselves with teachers to satisfy their own desires, to scratch their itching ears. They will turn their ears away from the truth, and to myths they will be turned aside. But you, be clear-headed in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of a preacher of the Gospel: that is, fully accomplish your ministry (2 Timothy 4:1-5, own translation).

According to Paul, the man called to a Gospel ministry must above all else fulfill this task: Preach the Word! Preach the Word! And Preach the Word! There is nothing more important, nothing more vital for advancing God’s Kingdom.

Every man called to ministry will be tempted in other directions. Many, as Paul says, will want him to preach something else, something appealing and uplifting. Others will want him to devote much time and energy to other tasks – including many good and important tasks.

But we must keep our heads, knowing what He has called us to. This will require enduring hardship, including having many walk away from us, deserting us – as they deserted Paul. But we must do the work of a preacher of the Gospel; we must fully accomplish the ministry to which GOD has called us. And He is the One who says: Preach the Word.

My brothers, you and I have nothing to say, nothing to offer our people, nothing to offer unbelievers, apart from the Word of God. So keep the Word of God central. Depend on the Word.

And when you look at other pastors, don’t be impressed by degrees. Don’t be impressed by titles. Don’t be impressed by those who have built big churches. Many with important degrees have abandoned their faith in God’s Word. Many with fancy titles have sought their own glory, not God’s. Many with big churches have built them by human methods, not through God’s means. Instead, be impressed with those men who faithfully and fully open up God’s Word. Make them your models. Pray for them, and emulate them. Then: Become such a man yourself. In this way, you will fully accomplish your ministry.

May God be pleased to bring that about in every man gathered here.