The Discipline Of Disciple-making – Disciples Share God’s Simple Plan Of Salvation

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Biblical Exercises for Spiritual Health & Fitness in 2014 Series

The Discipline of Disciple-Making:

Disciples Share God’s Simple Plan of Salvation

From Acts 2:21-28:31

Transcript

Let’s open our Bibles to Luke chapter 24, and what we’re doing this morning is something I’ve been working on for several weeks. I’m so excited that I hope that it works. I’m bringing out my Smart Board, that is supposed to aid me. It’s very smart, and it answers things for me. Thank you, Phil. And what we’re looking at this morning is the discipline of disciple-making, and we started going through the disciplines in 1 Timothy chapter 4, but this is the central one and probably one of the most vital for us to understand, and it’s the discipline of disciple-making. So, in Luke 24, what I’m going to do with you is use Luke 24 as the culmination, the final of Jesus Christ’s explanations of how people become Christians, and we’re going to look at how Jesus described evangelism, or soul winning, or leading people to Him. And then we’re going to look at the Book of Acts, and I hope, and I’ve timed this out, I hope we can get all the way through looking at each of the 22 times the Gospel is presented in the Book of Acts. Have you ever wondered how they did it back then? I know how people do it nowadays. Usually, most people nowadays think of an evangelistic crusade and a Billy Graham type that gives a compelling message, and then people stream forward, and then counselors give them packets and pray with them, and they get saved. Or some type of an invitation in a, remember, I’m an ordained Baptist minister, so I am very much versed in giving invitations. I know how to give invitations and have people, while we sing, come forward and have someone deal with them. That’s how the majority of people think salvation, evangelism takes place. But actually, in the New Testament, it wasn’t that way. Primarily it was local individual believers that were living, and working, and traveling with other people that shared with every possible word they could think of, because 31 different words are used for how they shared the Gospel.

So, this morning, the discipline of discipleship. Have you ever wondered how the people in the Bible shared the Gospel, how they did evangelism way back then? Just as in the four Gospels we see Jesus communicating the Gospel, so those closest to Him, the disciples, took that message He taught them, and they began to pass it on. And what exactly was the way of the disciples? What was the way the rank-and-file New Testament Church members explained the plan of salvation? That’s probably one of the most fascinating of all the studies we could do, and what I call this is the greatest evangelism course of all. In the book of Acts, we have given to us what we could see as the ultimate evangelism course. The people instructing were trained directly by Jesus. The people sharing were trained either by Jesus or by the apostles themselves, and so we’re talking about God’s evangelism program. He illustrates for us in the book of Acts how He wanted the Gospel presented.

Now what you’ll see is, and as I go through this, you don’t find any two the same, in fact, not even in Jesus. In the Gospels, between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus shares the Gospel either with a group or an individual about 96 times, just short of a hundred times in the four Gospels. He doesn’t do it the same way twice. So, one thing it should tell us is there isn’t one unique method of sharing the Gospel, of doing evangelism, of soul winning, but also what He does write down are the elements He wants to always be in the back of our mind. And what I’m concerned about as I go through this list with you is that some of these angles that the Lord uses to bring people to salvation aren’t even on the mind of some believers. That isn’t what they even think salvation is all about, and so it’s a fascinating study as we look at it this morning.

There are 22 carefully recorded witnessing events in the book of Acts, and these are the descriptions of the disciples witnessing, following the three plus year evangelism school that Christ had led them through. He trained them up to be the founders, the foundation stones upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets that His Church was to be built. And so, in the Gospel by Matthew we find Jesus explaining the Gospel 39 times. In the Gospel by Mark 10 times. In the Gospel by John 24 times, and in the Gospel by Luke, where we’re opening in chapter 24 this morning, Luke has 29 different explanations of the Gospel. This is the last one in the book of Luke, and it’s in verse 45, if you want to look there directly. Now as we look at Luke 24, starting in verse 45, we find Jesus summarizing His ministry and formulating the sendoff charge for His disciples, and He describes the content.

Now people are always talking about the content of the Gospel. I believe with you this morning that the essence of the Gospel that we are to share should follow the content that Jesus prescribes. Now, that’s the bare minimum. If Jesus, after three and a half years of ministry is now just before His ascension, commissioning His disciples and telling them what they’re supposed to spend their lives doing, then we should very, very carefully analyze the summary. Of all Jesus’ 96 Gospel presentations, He kind of summarizes them in this little section, so I actually put it up for you. And the reason I have this is, as we’re reading this, I want you to notice what Jesus says in the summary. Especially sins have to be mentioned and repentance. He says those are the two elements that people need to realize, that they are repenting, in other words, they’re changing their mind about something.

Now let me just, and next week, Lord willing, boy, I’m hoping we get to next week because next week is going to be the beginning of, if you all can survive it, I’m actually going to treat you like you’re sitting on the other side of a table in a coffee shop or Tim Hortons donuts, which I’ve never been to, but I’m just teasing. If I was there, and if you were sitting on the other side of the table there, and I was going through a simple discipleship. That’s what we’re going to, I’m going to go through the lessons that I do one-on-one and have done for the last 35 years as a pastor with individuals. I’m going to go through those with you, and so it’s going to be fun.

But this morning, if I was training you how to be a soul winner as we’re going to start doing next week, what I would say is that repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior, and if that is not presented to people, if they never realize they have to repent. Why do they have to repent? Because they were born under the control of the god of this world. Who’s that? Satan. Every person born into this world, these cute little Eden Lane and Little Hadden Mitchell and little Mary Beth that you saw being dedicated this morning were born into this world a smiling little child of the devil. That’s what the Bible says. Jesus said that! He said, you—all of us—are of your father, the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. He doesn’t abide in the truth. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own. Did you know when I talk to children, I was just interviewing a child for baptism. I said, tell me one sin you’re aware of, and they said, I lied. Almost every one of us will, if pressed, know that we very much are wired when we get put on the spot, for whatever reason, we lie. That’s just one tiny indicator that we’re of our father, the devil. Repentance is when we change our mind of our orientation, of who it is that we are going to be like, and we say, I no longer want to be like my father, the devil. I want a change of mind. I want to be like my Father in Heaven, the One who loved me, who gave His Son, and who died for my sins. And see, if there’s never an acknowledgement of sin, if there’s never an awareness of sin against a holy God, there isn’t salvation. It’s very important that we do not make people think that if they join something or repeat something after us, that they are in God’s family. That’s why a vast majority of the professing Christians on Earth today don’t even know Christ personally. Did you know that they don’t know Him personally? I’m talking about the almost two billion that say that they’re Christians. If two billion people knew God intimately and were obedient, they would be trying to raise the other five billion to their Father in Heaven in prayer and lead them to Christ, but the two billion don’t even really know Him.

But let’s not meddle, let’s just read, okay. So, let’s all stand together. You’ve got your Bibles open. You can look down at whatever version you have. I’m going to be reading that one from the New King James, and Jesus says, starting in verse [45], that this is the, He’s going to ascend into Heaven at the end of the chapter. This is His last precious recap of three and a half years of personal school with Christ, the ultimate seminary. And Jesus, in verse [45], and He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead. Verse 47, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, verse 49, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. And then He led them out and He ascended at the end of the chapter.

Let’s bow together for a word of prayer. Father, I thank You this morning that we are holding in our hands, that we are hearing with our ears, that our eyes are looking at and our spirits are being impacted by Your very Word. You are communicating to us this very day through Your Word, and Your Word is very clear that we’re supposed to go into all the world, and whatever part of the world that You have given us as where we’re going to live during our earthly time, we are to be declaring, and sharing, and telling people that they need to repent of how they were born. They were born children of their father, the devil, but they have to be born again, a second time, to enter Your family, and that new birth is when they repent and when they ask for their sins to be forgiven. And I pray that as we look at these beautiful portraits—it’s almost like a video in the book of Acts of how those You trained shared this message—that our hearts would be stirred, that we wouldn’t let another week go by in our life where we don’t share your Word. May it become our weekly goal that between gatherings of this local body of your Church, that we would seek to reach out in one way or another, however You open the door, to tell people about salvation and long to see them come to repentance, and faith, and remission of sins, and salvation, and new birth, and conversion, and every other word You use to describe the miracle that only You can perform. Open our hearts. Teach us, we pray. In Jesus’ name, amen.

You may be seated. As you’re seated, this morning they were given a message. You see it before you. They were told to wait until they were connected with the very intimate indwelling power of God’s Spirit. By the way, that is the seal of salvation. The indwelling Spirit of God is what God gives us as the sign of our salvation. His Spirit comes in, and by the way, it’s not later on in life. It is at the instant of our salvation, it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. We are sealed at the instant of salvation and baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. But when they became online with the power of God, these early disciples launched out to do what they had seen, what they had heard, and what they had learned. See, they had watched the life and ministry of Jesus, and they had watched it, skeptical at times, in disbelief at times, in fear at times, and sometimes in awe and wonder, but all of the time it was imprinting on their lives. Kind of like these child dedications this morning. These little ones are going to be watching; they’re going to be processing. While they’re learning the English language, they’re also learning about the Lord Jesus Christ. They’re watching, listening, trying to put together, noting inconsistencies, noting how things are done. That’s what the disciples did from the life and ministry of Christ, and now with the Spirit within them.

As we turn to the book of Acts and turn from Luke. The next, Luke wrote an appendix, or a sequel, to His Gospel, and it’s the book of Acts. It was a two-part presentation, and I’ve told you this before. Most likely Luke was writing the, under the inspiration of God’s Spirit, the attending legal documents for Paul going to the emperor. You never went before the emperor for a trial without all the trial or the actual case paperwork coming in, and so Luke wrote down the presentation of Christianity that Paul was being accused of. And so, Luke and Acts are those two parts joined together, which make a phenomenal picture from the very earliest, the origins of Christianity, all the way through to the moment that Paul was waiting to see the emperor. And so, in this book of Luke, we find these Gospel presentations, and Acts is actually like turning on what we would, in our modern time, appear to be a video, but this video lasts for 30 years. The time span of the book of Acts is 30 years. It’s from about 28 AD to about 58 AD, or from about 30, depending on what date you feel the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is, all the way through to Paul’s imprisonment, and about 30 years. Acts is not so much a book on doctrine as a divinely recorded and edited video of the 30 years of sharing the greatest message ever given, and it was shared by the greatest witnesses of all—those who actually knew, and walked with, and listened to Jesus Christ— and they become the backdrop for the Holy Spirit-empowered disciples going to take the Gospel to all the world. In fact, the Book of Acts is our most critical insight into seeing how the Gospel is shared. So, what we can say is we can see how first century evangelism was done, and that’s really what we should focus on all the time is going back and tuning what we’re doing back to what the original settings were.

I came in early this morning, and my computer didn’t work. It was haywire, my one in my office here at the church. And so, I tried all the, I’m non-technical, I tried all the old control-alt-delete thing, and I did this and that, and I was doing this. So finally, you know what I did? I always do. I unplugged it. I know it’s terrible, and I plugged it back in. It started working great. It completely goes through its opening sequence, and it resets itself somehow. Praise the Lord. I do remember that once I paid a guy 30, 40 dollars an hour when I lived in Oklahoma to come fix my computer, and he drove over to our home and my study, and he came in with his little thing and everything. He said, did you turn it off and on? I said, no, I didn’t. He said, that’s the first thing every homeowner needs to know about their personal computer. Just restart it. It usually fixes itself! And I said, I paid you 40 dollars an hour to come and tell me that? So, he turned it off and on. It worked great. I’ve never, that’s the one thing I’ve learned about fixing computers, turn them off and on.

So, we need to reset, like the computer does, ourselves. No matter what paradigm you’ve learned evangelism in, they’re all helpful, but compare them to the original settings, to the first century model. And so, the Book of Acts is a report. God gave us this book. It’s how the apostles, personally trained by Christ, shared the Gospel, and what we get to see is the eyewitness account. See, this is inspired, so what we have is an inspired account. God tells us what happened, the setting, what people are thinking, what they said, what was going on inside the mind of those they were talking to. It’s a dimension we can’t ever see normally in life. I can share the Gospel; I can tell people about Christ. I don’t know what they’re thinking. I don’t know how they got to where they are. This very moment when I’m sharing with them. In the Book of Acts, you get to see from a divine perspective, the person coming into the scene, what God was planning to do, what the servant, the disciple, whoever’s sharing the Gospel said, and what was going on inside of the person, and what they decided, whether they really got saved or not, et cetera, et cetera.

So, let’s go through these 22. Here’s the first one. Look at Acts 2:21. This is what I call message one, and it’s the first presentation in the book of Acts of the 22. And the time has come after being called to be fishermen for eternal souls, after been given an onsite, hands-on training for three plus years, after being tutored, privately commissioned, publicly filled with the Holy Spirit of God, Peter steps up to the microphone, and he delivers publicly the first sermon. I’m sure his pulse was throbbing in anticipation. His heart was pounding with excitement to say the least. He was going to communicate what he’d been taught, what he’d been shown, what he’d been commanded to say, so this is significant. This is the first Gospel presentation. It starts in verse 21, and here Peter preaches the first sermon after Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and sending of the Holy Spirit down. And what does he say? In verse 21, it’s a verse we all know from soul winning. It’s actually a quote from Joel chapter 2 and verse 32. In fact, if you look at the Romans Road, you know the one I use and that I just shared Wednesday night as one of the parts of our discipleship and counseling class, and what next week I’m going to be using to train how to do lesson one, which is salvation. Did you know that the Romans Road, Paul’s presentation of the Gospel in Romans, almost every part of it is drawn from the Old Testament. Paul uses Old Testament verses, like the verse 21 before you, to give the New Testament message of salvation, and sometimes we forget that you can share the Gospel as clearly from the Old Testament as you can from the New, because that’s how Paul did it. Paul used the Old Testament.

And he says in verse 21, and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, zip down to verse 37 and 38, and when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. By Peter? Peter cut them to the heart? Peter can reach in and cut people to the heart? No. See, in the very first presentation of the Gospel, you see the element that most of us need constant reminding about: salvation is of the Lord, Jonah 2:9. Salvation is a supernatural miracle. Salvation is not something you go off to school and learn how to be a glib, quick, beat everybody faster than they can, give them more answers than they could possibly overwhelm, and overcome all their obstacles, and give them the Gospel. No, it’s a supernatural event where simple, weak, helpless people share a message from God. And look what happens in verse 37, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, I’m reading verse 37, what shall we do? They were dealt with by God. If a person is not dealt with by God, we don’t need to keep trying to twist their arm into, come on, wouldn’t you like to just try this today. Just come on, won’t you come on? If they’re not, if God is not working their heart, they can’t be saved no matter what they do with us. See, that’s why looking at these is so vital for us to understand salvation. There is a work of God on the inside when people get saved. It’s not merely an emotional, outer response. There is an internal, miraculous stirring of the Spirit of God inside of people’s hearts, and we see it.

Now, look at verse 38, and Peter said to them. Now, if there’s a first step, if there’s a first key element, this is the first time in response to someone wanting to be saved in the New Testament Church, the very first presentation. Now, he quoted that whoever calls the name of the Lord shall be saved. But when they said, what shall we do? What is the human response to the work of God? It’s right there in verse 38. Then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Wow. Now look down at verse 41, and those who gladly received his Word were baptized; and that day about 3,000 were added to the Church. Wow. What shall we do? Repent, is what he said. So, what would the summary be of the Gospel presentation?

Number one, one word. Peter said it. It’s the first word he said: repent. Change your mind about God, about who is the God of your life. Is it the god of this world? The god that you were born into, his family? Or are you going to renounce that god and change your mind about who the God is that you are going to serve? And it’s the true and living God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, who died in your place on the cross. Repent. Change your mind, which leads to a change of behavior.

Okay, let’s look at the second Gospel presentation, message two. As we move on, we find the second Gospel presentation. It’s in Acts 3:19. Again Peter, he’s preaching after the wonderful healing of the man who’d been unable to walk for over 40 years; that’s in 4:22. What’s the Gospel message? Listen to Acts 3:19 and then verse 26, and again I typed these out for you to see. Notice, the very second presentation, bingo, same word. Now I know this because I’m a graduate of the institution that promoted it, but there is an institution, Dallas Theological Seminary, that said repentance is for Jews, Lordship Salvation. In fact, I heard there’s a local church here in Kalamazoo that’s done a 12-week series on Lordship Salvation and warned people about Calvary Bible Church. Isn’t that interesting? That they were being taught what the Bible says that you must bow to the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. But we’ll see it’s actually in there. But repent therefore—that’s the change of mind—and be converted. This is a fascinating word. Conversion is what a lot of people think about repentance is. Repentance is starting in the mind. There’s a change of mind, but it leads to conversion. You know what conversion is? It’s a change of direction. What Peter said is, repent therefore and be converted. Change your mind about God and be, let God change the direction of your life. That’s how you know if you’re saved. It isn’t me trying my hardest. I’m going to give up my besetting sins. I’m going to try my hardest not to get drunk anymore, or high anymore, or live in immorality, or be a total addict to gambling, or money, or pride. I’m going to really try. No, we can’t. We are helplessly enslaved to our sins. Salvation is when God converts us. He changes the direction of our life. And if you’ve never been saved from sin, if you’ve never had the shackles of sin taken off, you’ve never been saved from Hell because God converts people. You ever heard of someone being converted? It means God radically changes the direction of their life, and when He does that, all sins are blotted out. They’re no longer on the record book, and times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord.

And He continues in verse 26, to you first, and look at this. Who is the Initiator of salvation? God. God initiates salvation. We don’t start the idea. We don’t say, oh, I think maybe I’m going to get saved today. What do you think, God? I thought of this. He says, no, I thought of this. I came looking for you. I came working, drawing, convicting, moving in your heart, and you’re responding to Me. God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you. How? What’s the ultimate blessing? In turning away every one of you from your iniquities. There’s the essence of salvation. If you and I have truly been born again, God converts us, turning us away from our iniquities. That’s salvation according to the Lord. What’s the message? Peter states two parts: repent and turn, or be converted. By the way, that word be converted is the word epistrepho. Strepho means to turn around. Epi means on. Add around, so it’s a preposition attached to a word to magnify the meaning. So, in street talk, it would be really turn around, away from your iniquity. And by the way, what happens to those who listened? Look at chapter 4 and verse 4. The people that heard 3:19 and 26; look at 4:4. It says, and many of those who heard the Word believed; and the number of them, the men alone, was about 5,000. As many people got saved that day, men, as were at the feeding of the 5,000. Do you understand, the feeding of the 5,000 was a huge event? This was the massive, 3,000 on the day of Pentecost, now just a chapter and a half away, 5,000 more. And probably they’re not counting the women and children, they were just counting the heads of families. Amazing what the Lord is doing and these thousands believed.

What’s the summary after two Gospel presentations? Repent, that’s in both of them, and turn away from iniquity. And is it humanly possible to turn away from iniquity? No, it’s a work of grace, of God, and it’s supernatural. And if God has never set you free from sin, He has never set you free from eternal Hell. And people need to think whether they have tried to save themselves, or whether they have fallen in faith before the only One that can save them and cried out to Him and asked Him to save them.

Continuing, message three. Look at Acts chapter 4 and verse 12. The third Gospel presentation: neither is there salvation in any other, for there’s no other name under Heaven among men by which we must be saved. So, the third Gospel presentation is we must be saved, and there’s a common description there in what we use today. People talk about being saved, and so there’s the first time that term is used. And Peter, in the midst of his third description of salvation, uses saved. And when you read, saved, you might ask, saved from what? What are we saved from? To answer that, you go back to the first time Jesus is mentioned in Matthew 1:21, and the name of the Messiah was given as Jesus in Matthew 1:21. It says this, and she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. See, you got to understand that Peter didn’t speak in a vacuum. Peter has been steeped for three and a half years in Christ’s teaching. And Jesus came to be the One who saved people from their sins. So, he said to the people, there’s no other name under Heaven given among men by which you must be saved. And people go, saved from what? And Peter said, Jesus is the One who saves you from your sins. So, what we could say is the third Gospel presentation is, a summary is, repent, turn away from iniquity, and be saved from sins.

And did you know, saved from sins and turning away from iniquity, and repentance are all something God does? It says in the Scriptures that God grants repentance. God actually gives people the ability to repent. It’s God who turns people away from their sins, and it’s God who saves us from our sins. We can’t do any of these things. That’s why it’s faith. We believe God has done everything that’s necessary. That’s why it’s so dangerous to imply to children, don’t worry, mom and dad took care of you. Right after you were born, we baptized you. Just agree with that. You’re in. They are? No, they’re not. You can’t bring your kids into the Kingdom. These children were not saved this morning. Even if I poured water on them, they aren’t saved. They have to personally confess with their mouth that they are a lost sinner in need of a Savior, and they have to cry out to Him alone and ask Him to save them. That’s salvation. It’s not a group event. It’s not everyone stand up and repeat after me. It is my heart smitten with my need, crying out to the only One who can save me, and that’s a summary.

But let’s keep going. It gets worse, by the way. Some of you feel a little uncomfortable? Have you ever looked at all these? This is how God presents salvation. Message four is in Acts 5 verses 31 and 32. Peter’s talking again; he’s the spokesman. He’s declaring the way of salvation and look what he says in verse 31. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So, see, He gives, God gives the gift. That’s why prayer is so important. In fact, I was just sharing on Wednesday night, training the biblical counseling discipleship people in soul winning, that the most important part of soul winning is not how full your pockets are of all the tracts and of how well-versed you are in what you’re going to say, but it’s how much you’ve prayed that the Lord go before and open their heart. That’s why when the disciples described their ministry plan, they said, we will give ourselves to prayer and then we’ll minister the Word. You know what we do? We minister the Word, and we pray. You see a little difference in emphasis there? Maybe that’s why they had such astounding results. They waited until God empowered them, and shook them, and moved them, and filled them with boldness, and they went out, and they were astounded at what God did, and that’s what He wants to still be doing. He is the One verse 31 says, gives repentance and forgiveness of sins.

And look at verse 32. Now we’re getting even more into salvation. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. Did you catch that? The Holy Spirit will not come to anyone who has not made the conscious choice by faith to obey God. Do you know what that is? That’s what the church in the area was calling Lordship Salvation. You know what Lordship Salvation is? That you say, I have to obey You. I formerly was obeying the god of this world. That’s why I’m a liar, and a cheat, and a thief, and whatever else, all the other sins of my life, that’s my orientation. I repent of that. I don’t want that anymore, and by Your grace, I want to follow You. And that’s, You are the Lord, and Savior, and King, and Master, and Redeemer, the One that purchased me. I’m Your slave, you’re my Master. See, that’s salvation. Not try out Jesus, see if it works, makes you happy. If so, stick with Him. The devil makes a lot of people happy, and religion is what lulls a lot of people into Hell. They think that the priest has got it covered, or my parents had it covered, or the church has it covered. Or I, yeah, I did that. I did that. Did God do anything, or did you do it all? If you did it all, the Gospel says you’re not saved if God hasn’t done the supernatural work of salvation.

Let’s summarize after four. Here’s a summary after four Gospel presentations: repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins by God’s forgiveness. God is the One that forgives sins. God is the One that washes away our sins. To those who obey Him, the Holy Spirit comes and regenerates them. That is salvation.

Now, let’s turn to Acts chapter 8 because we’re coming now to the fifth message, and what happens in Acts chapter 8 is time has passed, and greater persecutions have started. Others are preaching other than Peter. Now we’ve got a wider group that are preaching, and Philip has gone to the next level. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then the third level was Samaria. And this is where we see Samaria getting in the picture, and the next Gospel presentation is no longer directed just to Jews. Now Samaritans who are half Jew, half Gentile, are getting the message, and now we see for the first time a false believer. Jesus warned of this in His Gospels, and now we see it. Look what you see here. It’s all run together, but here is the Scripture that you should be coming to in your Bible. And look at this, and this, I’m afraid, is what is going on in a lot of Christendom today. Then Simon himself also believed, flat out, same word, believed. The same thing as Acts 16:31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Simon believed. You know what would’ve happened? It would’ve gone out as a praise report. Simon got saved! Uhhuh, and guess what? Boy, he was really into this. After he believed and responded to the Gospel message, he was baptized. He was baptized by not just anybody, he was baptized by Philip, who was one of those original, chosen by the apostles, representatives. They weren’t just deacons; they were super deacons. This guy is doing signs, and wonders, and miracles, and amazing things are happening. And Philip preached, this guy Simon believes, this guy is baptized by none other than one of the apostolic delegates, Philip, and he doesn’t just touch and go. Look at this, he’s continuing with Philip. He’s hanging around. He’s saying, tell me more. I want to know more. This is so wonderful, wow! I’m so excited I’ve believed in you! Baptize me! Come on, I want to keep going with this! And the more Simon saw of Philip’s ministry, he was amazed seeing the miracles and the signs which were done. Doesn’t that sound good? Doesn’t that sound like we’d run home and tell everybody what a great work the Lord did? Simon believed, he was baptized, but something was missing. And when the Apostle Peter, who has given every recorded Gospel message so far on this videotape we’re watching in the book of Acts. When Simon Peter comes to confirm the veracity of the evangelistic outreach that Philip was doing in Samaria, Peter declares something was lacking from this man’s conversion. Did you notice that? Just in that initial report, you don’t see it.

Look what it says in verses 21 and 22, and this is, Peter shows up, and this is what Peter says. You, Simon, have neither part nor portion in this matter. You could ask, what matter are we talking about? Salvation. That’s the theme. That’s the subject we’re talking about. And Peter looks at this convert, and he says to him, you are not connected to Christ. Wow.

Continuing with the Bible, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. So, you can go through all the motions, or someone can go through them for you. You can have all kinds of ecclesiastical stuff done to you, but God doesn’t look at all that. He looks at the heart, and he said, your heart is not right. You haven’t gotten a new heart; you haven’t gotten a new Spirit. You have not had your stony, sinful heart removed and a soft, responsive heart to God. You have not been converted. So, what does he say to him? And I ask the question, wow, what makes a heart right in God’s sight, Peter? If I’d have been there, I would’ve been asking questions. I know you probably shouldn’t talk when Peter was doing all this, but that’s what I think. So, stick with it. Peter says to Simon, you have neither part nor portion of this matter, your heart is not right in the sight of God. So, what would make it right in the sight of God? Look at verse 22. Kind of Peter’s a one-word man, isn’t he? Every time you get Peter near the microphone sharing the Gospel, repent. It’s just [Sound Effect]. Repent of this your wickedness. The personal, see, that’s part of salvation is me confessing, agreeing with God, I’m a sinner, I am lost, I am hopeless, I can’t save myself. It doesn’t matter if I’m a little better than what was the name of the guy, John Wayne Gacy. I’ve never killed, and cooked, and eaten anybody, so I’m not bad. God says one sin, we’re all guilty, and even one sin we’re guilty of all. One sin infects us so deeply, and we’re all infected, and we’re all sinners. So, we have to repent of our wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are, and see, this is the apostle.

The apostles we’re guarding over the birth of the Church and its spread, and that’s why Peter was given those keys. Do you remember that? Have you ever thought about what those were? Jesus said, I give to you, Peter, these keys. And Peter used them, by the way, three times. He used them to present, for the very first time, the Gospel to the Jews. Then he used them to present, for the very first time right here, the Gospel to the Samaritans and confirm who was really saved. And then he used to present the Gospel, for the very first time, to the Gentiles. So, Jews, half-Jews-half-Gentiles Samaritans, and pagan Gentiles. Peter was the initiator. He opened the door, as it were, of the Gospel, and he said, you are not saved. You are poisoned by bitterness, and you are bound by iniquity. Remember, if you’ve never been saved from sin, you’ve never been saved from Hell. You’ve never received salvation if you’re poisoned and bound because you haven’t repented, even if you believed and got baptized. That’s a very sobering message. Simon believed and was baptized but did not receive the Holy Spirit, which was the seal of true conversion and new birth. This means that belief and baptism without repentance was insufficient. He never repented of his sin, Simon didn’t, so he was never saved. Salvation again is stated by Peter to involve a turning from sin, which is called repentance, which leads to conversion, which is that total change of direction. And this guy didn’t have it, and so Peter said, you’re not saved. So, if we were to summarize five Gospel presentations, this fifth one, here’s what Peter says. You got to make sure they’ve really repented.

Now I talked to someone recently, it was fascinating to talk to them. They said, you know what? They said, I’ve been listening to you for almost six years now. I said, that’s a compliment, that’s amazing. They said, but you know what I realized? I raised my children that just believe in Jesus and you’ll be okay. And my children are now, this person told me, in drugs, in alcohol, leaving their husbands and wives for other people’s husbands and wives, in prison, and they went on and on and on and on. And they said, you know what struck me the other day when I was listening to you? That my children never repented. They just thought Jesus was a nice idea when they were a little kid, and they never realized that they had to turn from the way they were born—selfish, lying, sinful, lustful, murderous, angry people—and cry out to the One that could change their heart. They said, yeah, I led them in praying to Jesus, but I never explained to them as they were growing up what that meant. And this person said to me, this has changed how I look at my kids. Instead of thinking, oh, they’re far from the Lord, I think they don’t know the Lord, and I am begging God to convict them of their sins so that they will, by God’s power, be turned away from their iniquities and be saved from their sins and experience God’s forgiveness. That’s how the Bible describes salvation. The people aren’t perfect, and they still struggle, we all do, but at the core of our being, we’re different.

Real quickly, we only have four minutes. I heard that snicker at the very beginning. I said I’m going to cover all 22, and somewhere in this region I heard a snicker. Okay, message number six. Now this is a vital point. Philip was shown that Jesus warned that there would be those who believed and even went through baptism but were never saved. So, what does Philip do? He begins to emphasize something, and we see that in this next presentation. Look what, look at the little addition to Philip’s sharing. You notice he picked up what Peter said—that there are many who will say to Me, Lord, Lord, but don’t do the will of the Father in Heaven. There are many that will say, I know You, but they still practice lawlessness. That’s Matthew 7:21 and 23. You can bet Peter referred to that when he was talking to Philip. He says, Philip, is this puzzling you? This guy came forward, this guy got baptized. You baptized him, but he’s a dud, he’s a misfire, he’s not really saved. And Philip said, what did I do wrong? He said, Jesus once said, Matthew 7:21 and 23. It’s not everybody who prays the prayer, it’s not everybody who goes through the motions, it’s those who begin to do the will of My Father in Heaven. See, that’s what conversion is. I change from doing the will of the god of this world to being supernaturally energized to do the will of God. And I stop practicing as my default setting lawlessness and sin, and I begin to go through the agonizing Christian life. Did you know the Christian life is agonizing? It is. That’s Paul’s description, agonizing. So, how does that affect Philip? Philip opened his mouth, he began with the Scripture, he preached Jesus to him. And as he went down the road, here comes some water, and Philip’s going, oh no. Oh, I don’t want Peter to come and reject this one. And so, the eunuch says, hey, here’s water. What hinders me from being baptized? And Philip said, oh, if you believe with all your heart, if this, if you’re really, and he probably spent some time standing up in that chariot explaining it to him.

Jesus said that truly saved people turn from doing their own will and going their own way to doing God’s will and God’s way. And you say, that sounds impossible. It’s humanly impossible, but it’s only those, as Jesus said, that are born from above that are truly saved.

And here’s the summary after six Gospel presentations, this is what the Gospel is: really repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins by God’s forgiveness—by the way, God does all of those things—and by believing with all your heart. That’s the response of faith to the Gospel, and that is message number six. And 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 are even more exciting than these have been.

Let’s all stand together for a word of prayer, and as you stand, I would ask you, as Jesus Christ reminds us, to consider whether or not God has done the supernatural work of salvation in your heart. It’s not, when you think about your salvation, don’t say, I did this. You can say, I called on the Lord, but this is what He did. The salvation is what He does, not what I did. And yeah, we want to hear that you prayed, and heard the Gospel, and realized you were a sinner. But what we’d really like to know is, a new heart also, did God give you? Did He open your eyes so you understand His Word? Did He turn you from darkness to light? We were born loving the darkness. Salvation turns our orientation. I hear about people, they say, oh, they were born with an orientation toward homosexuality. We all were, and toward murder, and lying, and stealing, and immorality, and everything else. That is what we were all oriented toward, but my orientation was changed by God. That’s a miracle. Has that happened to you? If not today, whoever calls on the name of the Lord, He says, I’ll do that miracle if you call on Me.

Let’s bow for a word of prayer. Father, I thank You for this time that we can spend looking at Your simple plan of salvation, and I pray that our hearts will be stirred that salvation is of the Lord, and what a wonderful change You have wrought in our lives when You give us the new birth. And I pray that no one here today would be trusting in what someone else said or what someone else did to them, but that they have met You personally and that You have given a new heart, a new Spirit, and washed away all sins, and liberated them from the power of sin, and death, and Hell. We pray that You would begin a good work in any who will call on Your name today, as You have begun in us who know You. In the name of Jesus we pray, and all of God’s people said, amen. God bless you as you go.

Notes

Have you ever wondered how people in the Bible shared the Gospel, and did evangelism way back then? Last week we looked at our Discipline of Discipleship and saw that we have the very same Gospel, the very same Mission, and the very same power source of the Spirit of God. This week we need to go onward to examine exactly how they communicated that Gospel.

Just as in the Four Gospels we see Jesus Christ communicating the Gospel, so we see those closest to Him taking that message He taught them and passing it on. What exactly was the way the disciples, and the rank and file New Testament church members explained the plan of salvation? That is perhaps the most fascinating of the elements of disciple-making that I can think of.

The Greatest Evangelism Course of All

There are 22 carefully recorded witnessing events in the Book of Acts.

These descriptions of the disciples witnessing, follow the three-plus years of evangelism school Christ had led the disciples through, as He trained them to be the Apostles of His Church.

In the Gospel by Matthew we find Jesus explaining the Gospel 39x; in the Gospel by Mark we see Him doing so 10x; Luke has 29x; and the Gospel by John has 24x. So we can say that the Four Gospels have recorded 96 scenes, of Jesus Christ Who came to seek and to save the lost, actually at work presenting the Gospel.

The Essence of the Gospel we are to Share

Now please turn with me to the end of the Gospel by Luke[1]. In Luke 24:44-49 we find Jesus summarizing His ministry and formulating the sending off charge to His disciples, describing the content of their evangelistic ministries. Please stand, follow along, and listen carefully:

Luke 24:45-49 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 “And you are witnesses of these things. 49 “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Wow, they are given a message and told to wait until they are connected with the very intimate, indwelling power source of God’s Spirit. Then, when they are online, they are to launch out and do what they saw, heard, and learned from the very life and ministry of Jesus.

Now as we turn to Acts we are actually turning on what would almost appear to be a video that lasts 30 years. Acts is not so much a book on doctrine as it is a divinely recorded and edited video of 30 years of sharing the greatest message ever given, by the greatest witnesses ever chosen. You see, the Holy Spirit empowered the Apostles to go and take the Gospel to the World. The Book of Acts is our most critical insight into how they shared the Gospel!

Seeing How 1^st Century Evangelism was Done

So the book of Acts is a report that God gave to us, of how the Apostles Christ personally trained, and the disciples they trained, shared the Gospel message in every possible setting.

What we get is to see how the eyewitnesses and those they trained, shared with the world what happened in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. As we go through all 28 chapters of this book we find that there are 22-recorded events where a Gospel Message is presented.

Message one: The first Gospel presentation is in Acts 2. The time has come. After being called to be a fisherman for eternal souls. After being given on site, hands on training for three plus years. After being tutored privately, commissioned publicly, and filled with the very Holy Spirit of God, Peter steps up to the microphone to deliver his first sermon. I’m sure his pulse was throbbing in anticipation, his heart pounding with excitement to at last say what he had been taught, shown, and commanded him, to say.

So here it is, here is Gospel Presentation number one in Acts chapter 2. Peter preaches the first sermon after Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and sending the Holy Spirit down to indwell the Church. What does he say?  Note in Acts 2:21 a verse we all know from soul winning, (it is actually a quote from Joel 2:32):

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Now to the conclusion in Acts 2:37-38:

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The result? Note Acts 2:41

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

So, what was the summary of the first Gospel Presentation: One word, repent.

Message two: As we move on we find the second Gospel presentation in Acts 3:19. Again it is Peter preaching after the wonderful healing of the man who had been unable to walk for over 40 years (Acts 4:22). What is the gospel message? Listen to Acts 3:19, and then v. 26:

1. 19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
2. 26 “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

What is the message? Peter actually states two parts: repent and turn (turn is the meaning of “be converted” which is the translation of the Greek word epistrepho). Strepho means “to turn around” and epi means, “on, at, around, etc.” it is a preposition attached to a word to magnify the meaning. So in street talk it would be “really turn around, away from iniquity”. What happened to those who listened? Listen to Luke’s accounting in Acts 4:4:

However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

So, what is the summary after two Gospel Presentations: repent, and turn away from iniquity.

Message three: We come to the third Gospel presentation in Acts 4:12:

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is a common description we use today. Peter said in the third description of salvation: we must be saved; but from what we might ask? Well when the name of the Messiah was given as Jesus it was stated in Matthew 1:21:

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

So what is being saved? Saved from sins. So, what is the summary after three Gospel Presentations: repent, turn away from iniquity, and be saved from sins. 

Message four: The next Gospel Presentation comes in Acts 5:31-32, as Peter is again speaking, declaring the way of salvation:

“Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Here is the summary after four Gospel Presentations: repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins, by God’s forgiveness.

Now, as we turn to Acts 8 several things are happening. Time has passed, greater persecution has started, and others are preaching the Apostolic Message of Salvation. Philip has gone to the next level, as Jesus said to in Acts 1:8:

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Message fIVE: The next Gospel Presentation is no longer directed just to Jews, now Samaritans, half Jew and half Gentile, are getting the message. Now we see for the first time a false believer. Jesus warned of this in the Gospels, now we see it. Note Acts 8:13:

Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs, which were done.

So he believed and was baptized, but something was missing. When the Apostle Peter who has given every recorded Gospel Message on this videotape so far shows up to confirm the veracity of this evangelistic outreach he declares something was lacking from this man’s conversion. Listen and note the report in Acts 8:21-23:

“You have neither part nor portion in this matter (what matter? Salvation), for your heart is not right in the sight of God. (Wow, what makes a heart right in God’s sight Peter?) 22 “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

Simon believed and was baptized but did not receive the Holy Spirit, which was the seal of true conversion and New Birth.

This means that belief and baptism without repentance was insufficient. He never repented of his sin so he was never saved! Salvation again is stated by Peter to involve a turning from sin, which is called repentance and conversion.

So, here is the summary after five Gospel Presentations: really repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins, by God’s forgiveness.

Quickly now, here is a vital point. Philip was shown that as Jesus warned, there would be those who believed and went through baptism, but were never saved. What does Philip do? He emphasizes something that we see in:

Message SIX: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 8:35-37:

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Philip began to beware of false professors. He didn’t look for merely believing the facts; he sought a heart of faith for Jesus. What lesson had Philip learned from Peter on soul winning? I think Peter’s visit to Samaria has drawn Philip back to Christ’s first warning of false professors of faith. Jesus had taught Peter and the apostles this type of person: who said all the right things and yet lacked true saving faith.  

As Jesus taught His disciples to be soul winners, He said false professions would come. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 7:21 and 23:

1. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
2. 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Jesus said that truly saved people: turn from doing their own will and going their own way, to doing God’s will and way. You say, that sounds impossible. It is humanly, that is why only those born from above are truly saved.

Here is the summary after six Gospel Presentations: really repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins, by God’s forgiveness, and by believing with all your heart.

Message Seven: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 9:4-6 which records the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, into Paul the Apostle. This event is described at length in Acts 26.

MESSAGE EIGHT: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 10:35-43 where salvation is described as believing, receiving remission of sins, and God granting repentance. This is summarized in v. 43:

MESSAGE NINE: The next Gospel Presentation is in 11:20-21 where salvation is described as believing and turning in v. 21.

MESSAGE TEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 13:38-39, 48 where salvation is described as forgiveness to all who believe, who do so at the appointment of God.

MESSAGE ELEVEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 14:27-15:9 where salvation is described as God opening the door of faith and purifying the heart.

MESSAGE TWELVE: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 15:19 where salvation is described as turning to God and away from what offends God’s Word and people.

MESSAGE THIRTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 16:14 where salvation is described as the Lord opening a person’s heart to heed His Word.

MESSAGE FOURTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 16:31 where salvation is described as believing.

MESSAGE FIFTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 17:1-7, where salvation is described by pagans who observed the process as: getting a new King of your life.

MESSAGE SIXTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 17:30 where salvation is described as God commanding all to repent.

MESSAGE SEVENTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 18:8-13 where salvation is described as believing, and being drawn by God to worship Him.

MESSAGE EIGHTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 19:8-26 where salvation is described as a Kingdom, following a Way, which people follow instead of their own way.

MESSAGE NINETEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 20:21-25 where salvation is described as repentance, faith, and entering into God’s Kingdom.

MESSAGE TWENTY: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 24:14-25:13 where salvation is described as a Way of Worship, that involves righteousness, self-control, and averts judgment; and that message makes the lost to fear. Thus not an easy to believe, “try Jesus” message! Note the audience that hears Paul’s message. Paul is facing pagans, steeped in sin, lost and doomed men and women. What does he tell lost people?

First is a little known figure introduced in Acts 24:27 Porcius Festus was a member of the Roman nobility. King Agrippa was Herod Agrippa II, the son of the Herod who killed James and imprisoned Peter. He was the last of the Herods, who play a prominent role in NT history[2].

Bernice. Not Agrippa’s wife, but his consort and sister. (Their sister, Drusilla, was married to the former governor, Felix). Agrippa was living in an incestuous[3] relationship with his own sister, which was the talk of Rome, where Agrippa had grown up. His wicked partner in sin, Bernice, for a while even became the mistress of Emperor Vespasian, then of his son Titus, but always returned to her brother.

Were They Cautious not to Offend?

So how does Paul do personal evangelism with big shots, who have sordid lives? He hits them with God’s Word, God’s Law, God’s Holiness, and their utter failure to meet His standard.

Note what Paul says in Acts 24:25 righteousness, self-control, and the judgment. “God demands “righteousness” of all men, because of His holy nature (Matt. 5:48; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16). For men and women to conform to that absolute standard requires “self-control.” The result of failing to exhibit self-control and to conform oneself to God’s righteous standard is (apart from salvation) “judgment.” Felix was afraid. Living with a woman he had lured away from her husband, Felix obviously lacked “righteousness” and “self-control.” The realization that he faced “judgment” alarmed him, and he hastily dismissed Paul. when I have a convenient time. The moment of conviction passed, and Felix foolishly passed up his opportunity to repent (cf. 2 Cor. 6:2)”.[4]

MESSAGE TWENTY ONE: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 26:14-20 where we see the Gospel Message directly from Jesus, who is at work doing soul winning on Paul right here in the Book of Acts.

Jesus describes salvation as opened eyes, turning, receiving, and being sanctified. Jesus who saved Paul, explained to him that the same miraculous events of salvation, accomplished by God’s power, was what God also wanted to see happen in the lives of lost people everywhere Paul preached:

1. 18 ‘to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

Here is the summary after 21 Gospel Presentations: really repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins, by God’s forgiveness, by believing with all your heart, and God opens your eyes, God turns you from darkness to light, God sets you free from the power of Satan, God gives you an eternal inheritance, God begins a never ending, life-long sanctification—all through faith in Christ Jesus.

So what did that mean to Paul? He explains it in v. 19-20:

“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 “but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

What did Paul tell the lost pagans? Did his message differ from one he had for the Jews? No, one Gospel, one salvation, one faith!

MESSAGE twenty-TWO and final Gospel Message is in Acts 28:31 where salvation is described as coming into God’s Kingdom. The starting message in Acts is: repent; and the concluding message is: enter God’s Kingdom, both rarely if ever used today.

Just before we go, look back again at Acts 4:20 where those early disciples confess that they just can’t stop speaking about Christ. That was their life, their purpose, and their plan. But what has happened since? It seems through the centuries evangelistic fervor has ebbed and flowed.

What’s Happened?

We have the same Risen Christ as they did.

We have the same indwelling Holy Spirit that they did.

We have the same clear Mandate that they were given. But what has happened to us?

Two generations ago, an Episcopalian Rector lamented his denominations slide from the Scriptures by writing a piece that has spread far and wide, and is just as impactful today as it was back then. Let me read to you what he wrote over 60 years ago.

“On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks were frequent, a crude little rescue station was built. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted crewmen kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out day or night, tirelessly searching for any who might need help. Many lives were saved by their devoted efforts.

After a while the station became famous. Some of those who were saved, as well as others in the surrounding area, wanted to become a part of the work. They gave time and money for its support. New boats were bought, additional crews were trained, and the station grew.

Some of the members became unhappy that the building was so crude. They felt a larger, nicer place would be more appropriate as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with hospital beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building.

Soon the station became a popular gathering place for its members to discuss the work and to visit with each other. They continued to remodel and decorate until the station more and more took on the look and character of a club. Fewer members were interested in going out on rescue missions, so they hired professional crews to do the work on their behalf. The rescue motif still prevailed on the club emblems and stationery, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club held its initiations.

One day a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in many boatloads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty, bruised, and sick; and some had black or yellow skin. The beautiful new club was terribly messed up, and so the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside, where the shipwreck victims could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s rescue activities altogether, as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted on keeping rescue as their primary purpose and pointed out that, after all, they were still called a rescue station. But those members were voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives they could begin their own station down the coast somewhere.

As the years went by, the new station gradually faced the same problems the other one had experienced. It, too, became a club, and its rescue work became less and less of a priority. The few members who remained dedicated to lifesaving began another station. History continued to repeat itself; and if you visit that coast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.”[5]

In the 1^st Century the Lord Jesus Christ that saved them, also asked them to go through life communicating the Gospel.

In the 21^st Century the same Lord Jesus Christ that saved us, also asks us to go through life communicating the Gospel.

As we head out to be doers of what we have heard from God’s Word, these questions should be on our minds: “Am I doing the mission Christ left me to do? Am I speaking to the lost for Him?”

[1] 00604AM & PM WWJ-15-16

[2] He was the grand-nephew of Herod Antipas, the Herod of the gospels who wanted Jesus to do a trick, and then mocked Jesus at his crucifixion and to whom Jesus would not even utter a word (Mark 6:14–29; Luke 3:1; 13:31–33; 23:7–12), and he was the great-grandson of Herod the Great, who ruled at the time Jesus was born, and murdered the innocents at Bethlehem in cruel, calculated, cold bloodedness (Matt. 2:1–19; Luke 1:5). He was a man who knew so much, but cared so little.

[3] Drawn from  Acts 12, 25 and 26 by  John F. MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible, (Dallas: Word Publishing) 1997.

[4] John F. MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible, (Dallas: Word Publishing) 1997.

[5] MacArthur, John (2001). Pg. 111-112. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Chicago, IL: Moody Press, paraphrasing Episcopalian rector Theodore Wedel’s “Parable of the Life Saving Station”, 1953.

e very life and ministry of Jesus.

Now as we turn to Acts we are actually turning on what would almost appear to be a video that lasts 30 years. Acts is not so much a book on doctrine as it is a divinely recorded and edited video of 30 years of sharing the greatest message ever given, by the greatest witnesses ever chosen. You see, the Holy Spirit empowered the Apostles to go and take the Gospel to the World. The Book of Acts is our most critical insight into how they shared the Gospel!

SEEING HOW 1ST CENTURY EVANGELISM WAS DONE

So the book of Acts is a report that God gave to us, of how the Apostles Christ personally trained, and the disciples they trained, shared the Gospel message in every possible setting.
What we get is to see how the eyewitnesses and those they trained, shared with the world what happened in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. As we go through all 28 chapters of this book we find that there are 22-recorded events where a Gospel Message is presented.

MESSAGE ONE: The first Gospel presentation is in Acts 2. The time has come. After being called to be a fisherman for eternal souls. After being given on site, hands on training for three plus years. After being tutored privately, commissioned publicly, and filled with the very Holy Spirit of God, Peter steps up to the microphone to deliver his first sermon. I’m sure his pulse was throbbing in anticipation, his heart pounding with excitement to at last say what he had been taught, shown, and commanded him, to say.
So here it is, here is Gospel Presentation number one in Acts chapter 2. Peter preaches the first sermon after Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and sending the Holy Spirit down to indwell the Church. What does he say?  Note in Acts 2:21 a verse we all know from soul winning, (it is actually a quote from Joel 2:32):

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Now to the conclusion in Acts 2:37-38:

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The result? Note Acts 2:41

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

So, what was the summary of the first Gospel Presentation: One word, repent.
MESSAGE TWO: As we move on we find the second Gospel presentation in Acts 3:19. Again it is Peter preaching after the wonderful healing of the man who had been unable to walk for over 40 years (Acts 4:22). What is the gospel message? Listen to Acts 3:19, and then v. 26:

v. 19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
v. 26 “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

What is the message? Peter actually states two parts: repent and turn (turn is the meaning of “be converted” which is the translation of the Greek word epistrepho). Strepho means “to turn around” and epi means, “on, at, around, etc.” it is a preposition attached to a word to magnify the meaning. So in street talk it would be “really turn around, away from iniquity”. What happened to those who listened? Listen to Luke’s accounting in Acts 4:4:

However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

So, what is the summary after two Gospel Presentations: repent, and turn away from iniquity.

MESSAGE THREE: We come to the third Gospel presentation in Acts 4:12:

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is a common description we use today. Peter said in the third description of salvation: we must be saved; but from what we might ask? Well when the name of the Messiah was given as Jesus it was stated in Matthew 1:21:

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

So what is being saved? Saved from sins. So, what is the summary after three Gospel Presentations: repent, turn away from iniquity, and be saved from sins.

MESSAGE FOUR: The next Gospel Presentation comes in Acts 5:31-32, as Peter is again speaking, declaring the way of salvation:

“Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Here is the summary after four Gospel Presentations: repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins, by God’s forgiveness.

Now, as we turn to Acts 8 several things are happening. Time has passed, greater persecution has started, and others are preaching the Apostolic Message of Salvation. Philip has gone to the next level, as Jesus said to in Acts 1:8:

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

MESSAGE FIVE: The next Gospel Presentation is no longer directed just to Jews, now Samaritans, h
alf Jew and half Gentile, are getting the message. Now we see for the first time a false believer. Jesus warned of this in the Gospels, now we see it. Note Acts 8:13:

Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs, which were done.

So he believed and was baptized, but something was missing. When the Apostle Peter who has given every recorded Gospel Message on this videotape so far shows up to confirm the veracity of this evangelistic outreach he declares something was lacking from this man’s conversion. Listen and note the report in Acts 8:21-23:

“You have neither part nor portion in this matter (what matter? Salvation), for your heart is not right in the sight of God. (Wow, what makes a heart right in God’s sight Peter?) 22 “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

Simon believed and was baptized but did not receive the Holy Spirit, which was the seal of true conversion and New Birth.
This means that belief and baptism without repentance was insufficient. He never repented of his sin so he was never saved! Salvation again is stated by Peter to involve a turning from sin, which is called repentance and conversion.
So, here is the summary after five Gospel Presentations: really repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins, by God’s forgiveness.

Quickly now, here is a vital point. Philip was shown that as Jesus warned, there would be those who believed and went through baptism, but were never saved. What does Philip do? He emphasizes something that we see in:

MESSAGE SIX: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 8:35-37:

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Philip began to beware of false professors. He didn’t look for merely believing the facts; he sought a heart of faith for Jesus. What lesson had Philip learned from Peter on soul winning? I think Peter’s visit to Samaria has drawn Philip back to Christ’s first warning of false professors of faith. Jesus had taught Peter and the apostles this type of person: who said all the right things and yet lacked true saving faith.
As Jesus taught His disciples to be soul winners, He said false professions would come. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 7:21 and 23:

v. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
v. 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Jesus said that truly saved people: turn from doing their own will and going their own way, to doing God’s will and way. You say, that sounds impossible. It is humanly, that is why only those born from above are truly saved.
Here is the summary after six Gospel Presentations: really repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins, by God’s forgiveness, and by believing with all your heart.

MESSAGE SEVEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 9:4-6 which records the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, into Paul the Apostle. This event is described at length in Acts 26.
MESSAGE EIGHT: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 10:35-43 where salvation is described as believing, receiving remission of sins, and God granting repentance. This is summarized in v. 43:
MESSAGE NINE: The next Gospel Presentation is in 11:20-21 where salvation is described as believing and turning in v. 21.
MESSAGE TEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 13:38-39, 48 where salvation is described as forgiveness to all who believe, who do so at the appointment of God.
MESSAGE ELEVEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 14:27-15:9 where salvation is described as God opening the door of faith and purifying the heart.
MESSAGE TWELVE: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 15:19 where salvation is described as turning to God and away from what offends God’s Word and people.
MESSAGE THIRTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 16:14 where salvation is described as the Lord opening a person’s heart to heed His Word.
MESSAGE FOURTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 16:31 where salvation is described as believing.
MESSAGE FIFTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 17:1-7, where salvation is described by pagans who observed the process as: getting a new King of your life.
MESSAGE SIXTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 17:30 where salvation is described as God commanding all to repent.
MESSAGE SEVENTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 18:8-13 where salvation is described as believing, and being drawn by God to worship Him.

MESSAGE EIGHTEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 19:8-26 where salvation is described as a Kingdom, following a Way, which people follow instead of their own way.
MESSAGE NINETEEN: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 20:21-25 where salvation is described as repentance, faith, and entering into God’s Kingdom.

MESSAGE TWENTY: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 24:14-25:13 where salvation is described as a Way of Worship, that involves righteousness, self-control, and averts judgment; and that message makes the lost to fear. Thus not an easy to believe, “try Jesus” message! Note the audience that hears Paul’s message. Paul is facing pagans, steeped in sin, lost and doomed men and women. What does he tell lost people?
First is a little known figure introduced in Acts 24:27 Porcius Festus was a member of the Roman nobility. King Agrippa was Herod Agrippa II, the son of the Herod who killed James and imprisoned Peter. He was the last of the Herods, who play a prominent role in NT history .
Bernice. Not Agrippa’s wife, but his consort and sister. (Their sister, Drusilla, was married to the former governor, Felix). Agrippa was living in an incestuous  relationship with his own sister, which was the talk of Rome, where Agrippa had grown up. His wicked partner in sin, Bernice, for a while even became the mistress of Emperor Vespasian, then of his son Titus, but always returned to her brother.

WERE THEY CAUTIOUS NOT TO OFFEND?

So how does Paul do personal evangelism with big shots, who have sordid lives? He hits them with God’s Word, God’s Law, God’s Holiness, and their utter failure to meet His standard.

Note what Paul says in Acts 24:25 righteousness, self-control, and the judgment. “God demands “righteousness” of all men, because of His holy nature (Matt. 5:48; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16). For men and women to conform to that absolute standard requires “self-control.” The result of failing to exhibit self-control and to conform oneself to God’s righteous standard is (apart from salvation) “judgment.” Felix was afraid. Living with a woman he had lured away from her husband, Felix obviously lacked “righteousness” and “self-control.” The realization that he faced “judgment” alarmed him, and he hastily dismissed Paul. when I have a convenient time. The moment of conviction passed, and Felix foolishly passed up his opportunity to repent (cf. 2 Cor. 6:2)”.

MESSAGE TWENTY ONE: The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 26:14-20 where we see the Gospel Message directly from Jesus, who is at work doing soul winning on Paul right here in the Book of Acts.
Jesus describes salvation as opened eyes, turning, receiving, and being sanctified. Jesus who saved Paul, explained to him that the same miraculous events of salvation, accomplished by God’s power, was what God also wanted to see happen in the lives
of lost people everywhere Paul preached:

v. 18 ‘to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

Here is the summary after 21 Gospel Presentations: really repent, turn away from iniquity, be saved from sins, by God’s forgiveness, by believing with all your heart, and God opens your eyes, God turns you from darkness to light, God sets you free from the power of Satan, God gives you an eternal inheritance, God begins a never ending, life-long sanctification—all through faith in Christ Jesus.

So what did that mean to Paul? He explains it in v. 19-20:

“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 “but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

What did Paul tell the lost pagans? Did his message differ from one he had for the Jews? No, one Gospel, one salvation, one faith!

MESSAGE TWENTY-TWO and final Gospel Message is in Acts 28:31 where salvation is described as coming into God’s Kingdom. The starting message in Acts is: repent; and the concluding message is: enter God’s Kingdom, both rarely if ever used today.

Just before we go, look back again at Acts 4:20 where those early disciples confess that they just can’t stop speaking about Christ. That was their life, their purpose, and their plan. But what has happened since? It seems through the centuries evangelistic fervor has ebbed and flowed.

WHAT’S HAPPENED?

We have the same Risen Christ as they did.
We have the same indwelling Holy Spirit that they did.
We have the same clear Mandate that they were given. But what has happened to us?
Two generations ago, an Episcopalian Rector lamented his denominations slide from the Scriptures by writing a piece that has spread far and wide, and is just as impactful today as it was back then. Let me read to you what he wrote over 60 years ago.

“On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks were frequent, a crude little rescue station was built. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted crewmen kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out day or night, tirelessly searching for any who might need help. Many lives were saved by their devoted efforts.

After a while the station became famous. Some of those who were saved, as well as others in the surrounding area, wanted to become a part of the work. They gave time and money for its support. New boats were bought, additional crews were trained, and the station grew.

Some of the members became unhappy that the building was so crude. They felt a larger, nicer place would be more appropriate as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with hospital beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building.

Soon the station became a popular gathering place for its members to discuss the work and to visit with each other. They continued to remodel and decorate until the station more and more took on the look and character of a club. Fewer members were interested in going out on rescue missions, so they hired professional crews to do the work on their behalf. The rescue motif still prevailed on the club emblems and stationery, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club held its initiations.

One day a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in many boatloads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty, bruised, and sick; and some had black or yellow skin. The beautiful new club was terribly messed up, and so the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside, where the shipwreck victims could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s rescue activities altogether, as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted on keeping rescue as their primary purpose and pointed out that, after all, they were still called a rescue station. But those members were voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives they could begin their own station down the coast somewhere.

As the years went by, the new station gradually faced the same problems the other one had experienced. It, too, became a club, and its rescue work became less and less of a priority. The few members who remained dedicated to lifesaving began another station. History continued to repeat itself; and if you visit that coast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.”

In the 1st Century the Lord Jesus Christ that saved them, also asked them to go through life communicating the Gospel.

In the 21st Century the same Lord Jesus Christ that saved us, also asks us to go through life communicating the Gospel.

As we head out to be doers of what we have heard from God’s Word, these questions should be on our minds: “Am I doing the mission Christ left me to do? Am I speaking to the lost for him?”

Slides