Keep Reaching Out: The Great Commission
The Life of Christ – in a Harmony of The Gospels
We are thinking about God's instructions to his children when it comes to what we are to focus on until Jesus returns. Last week in part one of this two-part miniseries, we considered God's call for us to keep looking up, stay on the alert for the return of Christ. That is our vertical focus. Today we're going to consider God's call for us to keep reaching out, which is our horizontal focus. We've been given a mission. The mission known as the great commission. This is one of the last things that Jesus said before his ascension. And it is for every Christian, every generation of Christians. We are to take this to heart and apply it to our feet and to carry the gospel around the world.
In preparing this message, I grappled with a particular challenge. I don't want to present a message that merely focuses on the nuts and the bolts of our mission. It is my prayer and desire that we are moved to a more heartfelt passion for our mission. We are not so much in need of knowing more as we are in need of caring more. If you've been redeemed, if you are a Christian, you already know enough of the truth to be sharing it with others by but but knowing doesn't always equate to showing. We know Jesus, but are we sharing Jesus? We've been redeemed by him, but are we really concerned for others to come to know him? So, as we progress through this message together, let's let's be praying as we are informed of our mission. Let's pray that our hearts are transformed for our mission. We are in such in much need of motivation as we are of information. May the Lord renew our burden for those who have yet to come to know him.
The Mandate
Well, as we begin to think about this mission to keep reaching out, we're going to begin by simply addressing the mandate. In fact, we're going to peruse several different passages of scripture throughout this morning and then land in one particular context together. So, follow with me. The mandate. This is our call that comes from on high. God himself calls his children to involve themselves in his mission. And for a moment, let's revisit a passage that we looked at in detail just this past summer. Let's look at Jesus's words that are recorded by Matthew. It's found in chapter 28 of his gospel.
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 the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
We turn to this passage simply to be reminded that this mission to go and to make disciples comes from the Lord himself. These are his marching orders. This is our mission. We reach out to others because it is natural to do so. It is natural because it is supernatural. Let me explain. The heart that has encountered Christ is motivated by Christ and wants others to encounter him as well. The one who experiences his grace longs for others to come to know his grace as well.
In Matthew's notes of Jesus's Jesus's instructions, we see that we are called to to at least three things. And I'll remind you of them. We look at them in some detail. We're called to make disciples. A disciple is one who comes to learn from and follow after a teacher. Jesus is more than a teacher, but he is our teacher. Disciples are made when a person hears and understands and appropriately responds to the gospel. And what is the appropriate response? They savingly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Disciples are made when they are saved.
We are not only called to make disciples but to mark disciples. Disciples are marked by believers baptism. A public declaration of the gospel is the picturesque act. A believer is emerged, submerged in water to picture the death of the old self and identifying with the death of Jesus in our behalf. The raising up out of the water is the picture of our identification with Christ and the new life that we have in him. It's so much more, but it's certainly that and be in prayer. We have we are in the process of preparing to witness the obedience of a disciple among us who needs to follow the Lord in believers baptism coming in just a few weeks.
There is the mandate the from the Lord to go make disciples. Tell them about Jesus, the Holy Spirit to convey that gospel from the mind to the heart and bring them to conversion. Mark disciples by open obedience and following him in baptism. And third to mature disciples. Disciples mature as we grow in our understanding and application of truth. The instructions of Christ applied to our lives. Our call comes from Christ. And no generation of Christians have outgrown that call. We have yet in 2,000 years seen this mandate completely fulfilled.
The Message
Now, next, as we think about our call to keep reaching out until Jesus returns, let's talk about the message. The message, what are we reaching out with? Well, we have a message. And get this, the message is sufficient unto itself. The message does not need to be propped up with gimmicks. The message doesn't need attachments. It doesn't need manipulative emotive experiences to be understood. In fact, those things have often distorted the message, distracted from the message, and have even contributed to the deception of many who think that they have received the message when they have rece when all that they have received was an experience.
People have gone to a Christian concert, saw the smoke and the lights, felt the pounding of the music, watched a speaker perform some antics, and walk away with that experience thinking that they have become a Christian and were never even given the message. So what is the message? Well, let's get a hint. Look with me to what Paul says to the book of Romans, to the Roman believers. In chapter 1 verse 16, Paul said:
I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
If the gospel is that which is the power of God for salvation, should we make sure that we know what the gospel is? You might think that this question is really not necessary. But brothers and sisters, we are living in a time when many, many professing Christians don't really know what the gospel is. Now, I say that because of the vast number of churches that don't even preach the gospel anymore, if they ever did. Many churches have abandoned the gospel for what they believe to be a better message. They are preaching a so-called social gospel or prosperity gospel or some other message and calling it gospel.
Paul addressed the danger of leaving the true gospel for a false gospel. Listen to what he wrote to the Galatians. Galatians 1 verses 6 and 7. Paul said to that group of believers:
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel which is really not another only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
If you study the whole letter to the Galatians, you find out that the alternative gospel that was being presented by others was basically a legalistic adherence to Jewish law of the old covenant that somehow another they got to become a good Jew before they could be a good Christian. And Paul says, "No, no, don't distort the true gospel of grace. It's another gospel.
What should our attitude be toward these so-called gospel alternatives? Well, Paul gives that answer in the very next verse. This is a heavyweight verse. Are you ready? Verse eight:
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed.
Literally the word is anathema. So if the true gospel is so important to know, if the true gospel is something that should be believed and preserved, isn't it important that that we understand just what the gospel is? So what is it? I'm glad you asked. The word gospel literally means good news. It is a word that appears 93 times in the Greek New Testament. The the Greek word is literally the word that we get the word evangelical, evangelism or evangelist. Succinctly stated, the gospel is the good news concerning Christ and the way of salvation.
And as always, the the best way to understand a truth presented in the scripture is to turn to the scriptures, the scriptures that elaborate on that truth. Paul elaborates on the gospel in one of his letters to the Corinthians. Look with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We'll camp out here for just a moment. The first four verses of chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul pins these words:
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, and which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
Is it possible for a person to actually hear the true gospel and be around it, proclaim that they believe, and yet not be transformed? Paul uh seems to indicate that that's the case. It's implying that somebody might believe in vain. They didn't mean it. That it wasn't true. But press on. Paul elaborates:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.
Paul says that the gospel, the good news is all tied up on the person and the work of Christ. Christ is the Greek term that equates to the Hebrew term Messiah. They both mean the same thing. It's a title. It means the anointed one. Christ the anointed one sent from God came to this earth and died. He died for a specific purpose. He died for our sins. Whose sins? Those who would become Christians. That's who Paul is writing to. And that is what he means when he says our sins. Jesus died for the sins of all those who would come to believe on him. And such a believing that causes the believer to receive, stand in, and hold fast to the gospel unless they believed in vain. The gospel has to do with Jesus's dying and then rising again. Rising for those he would save just as the scriptures declare.
Just what is it that makes good news good news? If gospel means good news, we ought to understand why is the news about Jesus's coming to this earth, dying a purposeful death on the cross, rising victoriously on the third day after. What is it about those truths that make it good news? Well, it's a good question and it ought to be answered. Think with me for just a moment. If the doctor this week unexpectedly calls you and says, "I have some good news." And you weren't even expecting a call from your doctor. You might say, "About what?" Obviously, some context is needed. But if the doctor called you after you have been waiting on test results, tests given to determine whether or not you had some terminal disease, and they said, "I have some good news. You're going to be elated to hear about it.
What is it about the death and the resurrection of Jesus that makes it good news? Simply put, his death is a substitution and his resurrection is a validation. Mankind has violated the laws of God and the consequence is the righteous judgment of God upon all who have sinned. Now, you've heard it, but if not, here it is:
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23. Is that true? All. What do you mean by all? You mean all. From Adam forward, all have sinned. All those who are in the first Adam. Jesus is not in the first Adam. Jesus, the second Adam, as scripture presents him, is the sinless son of man, son of God. Now, there are two significant concepts in this verse. We've already touched on part of it, but I want to spell them out. The first, of course, is that little three-letter word all. All means all. And the second thing that is significant is another little three-letter word, sin. Here it's stating that all have sinned. And there is even a definition of sin that is provided. It is the falling short of the glory of God. This phrase simply speaks to the fact that no one is able to live up to God's standards due to sin.
The consequences of sin in their lives is also great, but the greatest is the judgment of God. Turning over a few chapters and you know where I'm going. Many of you who have heard the gospel and shared the gospel. Romans 3:23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 simply says:
The wages of sin is death.
God in his righteous judgment requires the penalty of sin to be paid. No one will escape his judgment. The wages of sin is death. What's a wage? A wage is something that you have earned and something that you deserve. When payday comes and unless it's electronically deposited and some supervisor comes by your desk and they lay on your desk a paycheck, it's a little insulting for them to say, "I have a gift for you." You say, "Give? I earned that." What do we earn? because of our sin, death. A righteous, holy, just God requires a consequence of death. That's the bad news. That's the context.
Friend, you sin before God. Don't be blaming Adam and Eve. It didn't work for Adam or blame Eve. It won't work for you and me to blame mom and dad. We were born in, yes, we have a nature of, but you willfully, purposefully, and you know it, chose and choose to dishonor God. Thought, attitude, action. Doing something we shouldn't, sin of commission. Failing to do something we should, just knowing better didn't do better, sin of omission. We can't get around it. We're sinners. And what do we deserve? God's judgment, eternal condemnation, separation from God. People want to say, God, why would a good God send anybody to hell? Because it's just. The question is not why does he send people to hell, but why does he make it possible for anybody not to go there? because all of us deserve to go there. That's the bad news.
The good news is death on the cross was a substitution. Jesus's death on the cross was a substitution. His coming to this world, living a sinless life, dying as the sacrifice for sin was all done as the perfect payment for our sin. Romans 5:8:
God but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners deserving of his judgment. Sinners who could do nothing about it. God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were in that condition, Christ died for us.
John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The bad news is death is deserved and will be exacted. The good news is God has provided a substitute, a perfect one who himself provides payment for our sin debt. Let's go back to Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death. That's what we deserve. But the free gift of God, a gift is not something you deserve. A gift is something given by one who has the capacity to give it and given out of a heart of love for the one to receive it. The gift of God, the free to us gift, it cost him everything. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
How is this so? What happened to Jesus while on the cross that his death could serve as a substitutionary sacrifice for all who would believe in him? The most succinct answer I think is found in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might be become the righteousness of God in him.
You get all the pointing straightened out. For he God the father made him God the son. God the Son, who himself knew no sin, was sinless himself, never violated the standards of God. But God the Father would make him the object of my sin. Jesus was sinless, but God treated him as if he had committed all your sin. Jesus absorbed all the just wrath against our sin so that he might treat us, dear Christians, as though we were clothed in his righteousness, which by grace we are. Just a few verses earlier, Paul said:
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come.
And every Christian in here says, "Thank God for the new and thank God that the old is gone." Again, the death of Jesus was our substitution. The resurrection of Jesus was for the validation of our salvation. There's really so much more to the good news, the gospel that we have covered here today. But I pray that as you have heard the truth of the gospel, that the Lord himself is causing this message to resonate and that he draws you to himself for the salvation that you will only find in him.
The Method
Well, let's talk about the method. The method. Now, I'm talking about the method of delivering this message. What is the method that should be employed in sharing the gospel until Jesus returns? Again, you might think that the raising of this question is, is it necessary? But it is. Not only have many churches abandoned the message, they have developed all sorts of imaginative methods for delivering their message. Now, please listen closely. There's nothing wrong with utilizing modern technology and getting the message out. If it wasn't for those in the body of Christ who know how to utilize these resources that what is shared from this pulpit today would simply fade in your and my memory and be gone.
But thanks be to the Lord for his common grace for the day in which we live. Brandon Bo Morgan and others get this message out of this room and under the screens of listeners from around the world. And I realize these technologies have been used for evil, but that is always wrong. But the technology itself is not evil. According to Titus 1:15, to the pure, all things are pure. And I was encouraged just yesterday to receive a note from Pastor Adams that Bo had already sent him today's message and he was reading it and he'll be listening to it and he's on the other side of the world. It is wise for Christians to utilize every opportunity to get God's word out there and every means available I believe should be utilized.
When we say that there has been the imaginative invention of methods other than what God has prescribed. I'm talking about the manipulation of man to produce experiences invoke emotions that end up actually deceiving people into thinking that they are okay with God. I spoke to that a moment ago, but felt like felt like there's an emotive word that we need to lean into it a little bit more because people can have an experience in the name of religion and have no transformation of life. Frankly, we don't have a a lot of time to talk about the counterfeit methods that are used in getting the message out. So, let's spend our time focusing on the default method that God has given us.
What is God's chosen method for sharing this message, the message of the gospel? He could make it easy for all of us. God could just simply send Gabriel and other angels to deliver the message. Surely if a supernatural being delivered the gospel, people would listen, welcome it. But that's not God's choice. He has prescribed his method in the mandate. We are to go and to preach the gospel. We who are the redeemed are to share the message of redemption. For the balance of our time, I want to camp out in portions of the book of Romans to get a handle on the default method that God uses to deliver his message. So, I know scripture has been provided in the screen and may still be, but open your Bible to Romans chapter 9. We're going to start there. I have to for time sake skip over a lot of passages, but we're going to begin our examination of this method with Romans 9 verses 1 and two.
A Personal Burden
And I want you to get this heading. God's method begins with a personal burden. a personal burden. Look with me to verses 1 and two. We're going to see it illustrated in the heart of Paul. The Apostle Paul pins these words:
I am telling the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.
Pause there for a moment. Paul is actually demonstrating something that is crucial for us as well. Paul is saying something that is vital for our understanding God's method in these matters. All that we are about to read begins with a burden. Paul has a godgiven burden for those who are the kinsmen in the flesh. He was born a Jew, raised a Jew, and has a burden for the Jews. He never outgrows that. Let's read on verse three:
For I could wish that I myself were accursed, anathema, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Who are Israelites? To whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple services, and the promises, who are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is overall, God bless forever. Amen.
It's like the end of verse five. He couldn't help but worship for a moment. But Paul says, "I have a burden for those who were called of God, the descendants of Abraham in the flesh. They've been given all of this grace in the Old Testament, the law, the temple, all these promises, and yet they have rejected Christ. I'd rather let them have Christ and I be separated if it were possible." His burden is that deep.
Listen brothers and sisters, if you don't have a love for people, if there's no burden for people, there will be no credibility in your message. Many years ago, I heard this one particular pastor who every time he spoke, he said these words, adnauseium. So, I didn't say them anymore. I got burned out on fried chicken one time, too. But I got over it. But here's the phrase. They, the non-believing world, do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. Do we have a burden for those who don't know our Lord? If we have such a burden, other matters, distracting matters will just fade away.
I came across a quote from CH Spurgeon. You're getting you're getting him a couple weeks in a row here. Spurgeon says:
Get love for the souls of men. Then you will not be whining about a dead dog or a sick cat or about the uh crutchets that's the crotchy old people in your family of the family and the little disturbances that John and Mary may make by their idol talk. You will be delivered from petty worries. And he wasn't using my name in vain. I need not further describe them. If you are concerned about the souls of men, get your soul full of the great grief and your little griefs will be driven out.
Oh, may that be so. Paul had such a burden for his fellow Jews. Oh, that the Lord would so work in us and on us that we are deeply burdened for the souls that are around us. The method that God employs begins there. Get a burden.
Now, I'm going to chase a rabbit. So, go with me and we'll come back. How do you get a burden? Several years ago, I was asked to go on a mission trip to Southeast Asia to engage and seek out people of peace and find out if there any believers among this particular unreached people group that we could do in short order. And I knew nothing about those people. I'd been on other international trips and kind of have a burden for the Argentinians, have a burden for the Filipinos, but I didn't have a burden for these people I will not name because of security purposes, but they're all over the world. Just ask Kevin. He encounters them around and he speaks some of that language. So, he loves to engage these folks. Kevin Goodman, I'm putting him on the spot.
I didn't have a burden for them. How do you get a burden for people you don't even know about? Start reading. Start praying. The more I learned about them through print, the more I was praying for them before I got off the plane, I had a burden for them. And now I don't think of this unreached people group. I think of Sunny, a man whom I got to spend hours with in the middle of the night because he was a young man at the time and the English-sp speakaking young people came out at night. So, I got to share the gospel more than one occasion with him. I don't know if the Lord has regenerated his heart or not, but I still pray for Sunny. Get the point? Quit fussing about the non-belief that's around us. They're in darkness. How else do we expect them to believe or to act? But let's pray for and God will soften hearts and maybe we're in on that divine appointment of seeing them come to him.
An Accurate Theology
Well, next, the method of reaching out to others is not only motivated by personal burden. It is driven with an accurate theology. An accurate theology. Now, stay with me here. Look with me to chapter 10 of Romans, the opening verse. I submit to you that there is accurate theology being presented in this verse. Walk with me, brethren. Paul is addressing brothers and sisters in Christ, not just the other Jews, the kinsmen in the flesh. The context is he's addressing the church at Rome. Brothers and sisters in Christ:
Brethren, my heart's desire. So he's already got that burden and prayer to God for them. Who's the them? The kinsman in the flesh is for their salvation.
Now what is it that we see in this verse that we can possibly illustrate the point of having an accurate theology? Well, let's think about it. informed with the truth that people need to be saved, informed with the knowledge that only God can save is that which even motivates why we pray for the salvation of the lost. Do you get it? If persuading somebody to trust in Jesus were up to our eloquence and our logical presentation of truth, then do apologetics. Get all those tools under your and the notches in your tool belt you can pull out in any conversation and go at it. And you can talk them into a decision and you say, "By I got another one." And they'll still bust hell wide open. But unless the Lord saves them, they won't be saved.
Why do we pray for loss? Because Lord, only you can change a heart. How can a leper change his spots? He can't. God, all things are possible. Lord, would you save my brother? Would you save my sibling? Would you save my child, my grandchild? the whatever people my neighbor accurate theology we pray because only God can change a life. Paul has a proper understanding of salvation. Only God can save. Paul has a proper understanding of prayer. We appeal to God for the souls of man. Paul also understands the Jews. He has firsthand understanding of their world view. He he used to share it himself. Paul knew the theology of an unregenerate Jew was all messed up. Well, let's press on and see further evidence of the need for accurate theology. Look at verse two:
For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Paul is actually saying volumes of deep theological statements in those verses. He was exposing or pointing out the Jews, they're they're stuck. Their theology is not right. They're following after religious system, legalism, and all this other. But no, the end of the law is Christ, and that's the knowledge that they need. Pray for them. Paul makes a statement about what is lacking in their theological worldview and then he makes it clear that an accurate statement about what is really true. Paul goes on to bring accurate theology to personal application for each of us. For time's sake, jump down to verse nine. I'll pick up the pace. Listen a little faster. Okay:
If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with a heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with a mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on him. For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
This is such a rich passage and we've looked at it before. But but not only need to understand this but we need to apply it ourselves and accurately share it with others. Paul isn't merely giving a formula to follow. He's expressing the conviction that must come to a person's heart if they are truly to be saved. This is what we are praying for. for those for whom we have a burden. Again, Spurgeon clarifies this matter as well. He said:
We believe everything which the Lord Jesus has taught us, but we must go a step further and trust him. It is not even enough to believe in him as being the son of God and the anointed of the Lord. But we must believe on him. The faith that saves is not the believing of certain truths. Not even believing that Jesus is a savior. But it is to rest on him, to depend on him, to lie with all your weight on Christ as the foundation of your hope. Believe that he can save you. Believe that he will save you and everything. Leave the whole matter of your salvation with him in unquestioning confidence. depend on him without fear as to your present and eternal salvation. This is the faith which saves the soul.
A Sanctified Logic
And now we only have time to cover one more aspect about this method of sharing the message that we are to be sharing until Jesus comes. In fact, th this takes us to the very heart of why this message is even brought here today. We're going to call it a sanctified logic. The sanctified logic. Paul laid out the truth that one needs to come to one needs to come to the saving knowledge of the Lord. And now he raises a simple and an obvious question that some might again think is unnecessary to be raised, but obviously it was needed. The Holy Spirit said, "Paul, write this, too." And it's for our benefit. Pick up with me in verse 14:
How then will they call on him and whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of great things.
God's chosen means of bringing people to himself is through the faithful proclamation of the gospel. People cannot come to know about Jesus unless someone tells them about Jesus. And get this, the responsibility of sharing the gospel is not limited to the guy in the pulpit. Pastors, deacons, Sunday school teachers, Yeah. have the opportunity, the responsibility. If you are a bornagain Christian, you are in this context the preacher. You have the message to share. It may not be in a pulpit. It may be at a lunch counter across the table. It might be on break. It might be with that classmate in school. The term preacher here is not limited to the office of a preacher, a pastor. It is speaking of the function of the witness. In that sense, every Christian is a preacher. We are to share the gospel.
Notice also there's something being said about being sent. We cannot all go to every place in the world to preach the gospel, but we can come together and support and send people. We get that model from the book of Acts and the sending of Paul and Silas and Paul and Barnabas first, later Paul and Silas. John and Barnabas, John, Mark and Barnabas uh go and then they go back to Antioch from which they were sent to give a report. We have partnered with ministry partners, missions partners, and prayed over a couple of them this morning. And praise be to God, we get to invest in and share in that ministry where they are where we cannot go and we're very much a part of that ministry.
How does Norwood Baptist Church send, pray for, write notes to, put money in the plate for our mission partners? let's extend the gospel through their ministry. But you get equipped and you pray for divine appointment and respond to that nudge of the Holy Spirit to engage in the conversation. And we don't always do that well. We might be cowards one moment, the next day filled with boldness. I've got one particular man heavy on my heart. been praying for opportunities and just yesterday God was giving me another opportunity and I remained silent said Lord don't have enough time we don't have two minutes right now but I should have started it oh Lord give us opportunity the normal way that God brings people to Christ is through the direct proclamation of the gospel keep reaching out until Jesus comes
I love the biblical commentary that is stated at the end of verse 15. I say biblical commentary because Paul is quoting Old Testament scripture:
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.
Feet speaks to activity, persistence, ongoing activity. We have been given good news, great news. Just who is going to call such feet beautiful? It is both God and those who receive that good news. Thank you for telling me. Thank you for caring enough for my soul that you would bridge and confront me with the gospel. That will be the response of the regenerated heart. But get ready. You'll get spit up on and slapped and mocked and fired and other things, but it's worth it.
Closing Prayer
Let's pray. Father, thank you for sending someone our way. In some cases, Lord, we were confronted many times with the gospel. And Holy Spirit of God, you were at work. You started that work of persuasion and conviction and you brought us to that place where we with the believing heart could say with our lips, Jesus is Lord. And you washed us of our sin and you brought us into a new life that is found in Christ alone. And we say, "Thank you, Lord, for saving us." And thank you for sending them. And now, like Isaiah said, Lord, we must respond, "Here I am, send me." And when you come, may we be found faithful, not changing the message, not abandoning your method. But one on-one or one to a group, may we be found faithful sharing the lifechanging, lifegiving power of God under salvation gospel of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.
