I just returned home from the 2016 Milton (FL) Herald Society. It was a wonderful conference. The 2016 Milton Herald Society has drawn to a close. This was my fifth Herald Society. I hope the Lord will allow me to participate in many more.
I am indebted to the JeremiahCry Ministries Inc., as well as Daniel Weekley and his team from First Baptist Milton for being such wonderful, tirelessly-serving hosts. I am also deeply indebted to the men who taught me so well from the Word of God this weekend:
Jeff Rose
Edward Dalcour
Pastor Josh Buice
Reverend Al Baker
Daniel Weekley
Pastor Jeff Pollard
Pastor Sonny Hernandez
Sÿe Ten Bruggencate
A special thanks to Bobby McCreery for serving as emcee. Pray for Bobby as he took ill halfway through the conference.
Thanks to Daniel Weekley and Robert Gray for leading us in worship.
Thank you to Pastor Dan Adams and his lovely wife Linda for once again being such gracious and kind hosts to me, during my time in Florida.
I was privileged, honored, and blessed to be allowed to preach alongside all of the before-mentioned men. My sermon, “The Devastating Effects of Compromise and the Fear of Man in Evangelism,” was the last session of the conference. Thank you to all who prayed for me. The Lord was gracious to me as I preached. But He also lovingly corrected me before I preached, through an amazing, providentially-arranged encounter with a seven-year-old boy named Nathan.
Here’s the sermon audio…..
Some have asked for a transcript of the sermon. Here it is, less any extemporaneous preaching.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:16-33
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Introduction
Having given God’s Word the first and rightful place in my sermon, I would now like to read to you a brief excerpt from Henry John Todd’s The Life of Archbishop Cranmer. The scene is the burning at the stake, of a great man of God. The words are that of Cranmer, just before the pyre was lit.
“And now forsomuch as I am come to the last end of my life, whereupon hangeth all my life passed, and my life to come, either to live with my Saviour Christ in heaven, in joy, or else to be in pain ever with wicked devils in hell; and I see before mine eyes presently either heaven ready to receive me, or hell ready to swallow me up; I shall therefore declare unto you my very faith, how I believe, without colour or dissimulation. For now is no time to dissemble, whatsoever I have written in times past.
“First, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, &c. and every article of the Catholic faith, every word and sentence taught by our Saviour Christ, his Apostles and Prophets, in the Old and New Testament.
“And now I come to the great thing that troubleth my conscience more than any other thing that ever I said or did in my life: and that is, the setting abroad of writings contrary to the truth. Which here now I renounce and refuse, as things written with my hand contrary to the truth which I thought in my heart, and writ for fear of death, and to save my life, if it might be: and that is, all such bills, which I have written or signed with mine own hand, since my degradation; wherein I have written many things untrue. And forasmuch as my hand offended in writing contrary to my heart, therefore my hand shall first be punished. For if I may come to the fire, it shall be first burned. And as for the Pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy and antichrist, with all his false doctrine.”
Todd describes the scene that followed Cranmer’s speech:
“Fire being now put to him, he stretched out his right hand, and thrust it into the flame, and held it there a good space, before the fire came to any other part of his body; where his hand was seen of every man sensibly burning, crying with a loud voice, ‘This hand hath offended.’ As soon as the fire got up, he was very soon dead, never stirring or crying all the while.”
Cranmer died a courageous, faith-filled, Christ-loving, martyr’s death. However, Cranmer’s words clearly indicate his life was not always a courageous one. Prior to his arrest, conviction, and execution, Cranmer experienced firsthand the personal devastating effects of compromise and the fear of man.
If you are not familiar with Thomas Cranmer: he was a leader in the Reformation of England and he also served as the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of King Henry VIII, Edward VI, and briefly under Mary I.
During King Edward VI’s reign, Cranmer wrote the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer. During his tenure as archbishop, Cranmer sought to establish reforms in a number of doctrinal and ecclesiological areas, including: the veneration of saints, icons, the Eucharist, and the celibacy of the priesthood.
When Mary came to power, Cranmer was arrested and tried as a heretic and a traitor. He spent two years in prison. While in prison, Cranmer succumbed to the pressure and fear of the Roman Catholic Church. He recanted his beliefs that were at odds with Rome and reconciled with the false church.
One account states:
“Despite the stipulation in Canon Law that recanting heretics be reprieved, Mary was determined to make an example of Cranmer, arguing that ‘his iniquity and obstinacy was so great against God and your Grace that your clemency and mercy could have no place with him,’ and pressed ahead with his execution.
“Cranmer was told that he would be able to make a final recantation but this time in public during a service at the University Church. He wrote and submitted the speech in advance and it was published after his death. At the pulpit on the day of his execution, he opened with a prayer and an exhortation to obey the king and queen, but he ended his sermon totally unexpectedly, deviating from the prepared script. He renounced the recantations that he had written or signed with his own hand since his degradation and as such he stated his hand would be punished by being burnt first. He then said, ‘And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy, and Antichrist with all his false doctrine.'”
Sports Fan Outreach International, led by Bill Adams, a friend to a number of us here, led an outreach in London, during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Our group was blessed to spend a day in Oxford. We visited the spot where Cranmer was burned at the stake. We placed our right hands on the cobblestones and took a rather memorable photo.
Sadly, unlike Thomas Cranmer, and maybe unlike many of you gathered here, most professing Christians will never feel the heat of persecution’s flames, let alone thrust their hands into the fire of costly faithfulness. Most professing Christians these days, especially in the area of evangelism, do not live lives of faithfulness. They live lives of recantation. Their lives serve as testimonies—not of the power of the gospel, but rather of the devastating effects of compromise and the fear of man.
I wonder if Cranmer read Matthew 10 the night before he was scheduled to make his recantation speech. Of course, there is no way to know. Such thoughts are speculative at best. I, however, do remember reading Matthew 10 and the Book of Acts as I sat in a Wimbledon, England jail cell in 2013, and again in a Dundee, Scotland jail cell in 2014. What great encouragement and Holy Spirit-wrought peace the Lord gave me those nights, through His Word!
American Evangelicalism as a whole, and specifically American Evangelicalism’s impotency in the area of evangelism and missions, is a cataclysmic reproach upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for two reasons: many professing Christians compromise their faith because they fear man, and many professing Christians compromise their faith because they do not fear God. During this session, I want to briefly examine the devastating effects these two sins have on evangelism.
Christians Fear Man
Matthew 10:28, one of my favorite verses and one of the verses I find myself citing frequently on the streets in the face of those who angrily posture or threaten violence, begins with these words of our Lord: “καὶ μὴ φοβεῖσθε” (kahee may pho-bay-thay-te—“And do not fear…..”
The verbal phrase “do not fear” in Matthew 10:28 is in the present tense, which most often refers to continual action. In this case, we could read the phrase “Do not fear and continue not to fear.”
The verbal phrase “do not fear” in Matthew 10:28 is in the middle voice. “The Greek middle voice shows the subject acting in his own interest or on his own behalf, or participating in the results of the verbal action. In overly simplistic terms, sometimes the middle form of the verb could be translated as ‘the performer of the action actually acting upon himself.’”
The verbal phrase “do not fear” in Matthew 10:28 is in the imperative mood. Jesus is issuing a command.
Matthew, in order to drive home the emphatic and decisive nature of Jesus’ command, also uses the negative particle nominative μὴ (may). Why is this so important? This little word, translated as “no” or “not” in the English language, indicates that Jesus is not only commanding His disciples to not be afraid, but He is also negating any “buts” that might come from the disciples in response. In other words, Jesus so emphatically gave this command, He so forcefully drove the point home, that the disciples knew it was pointless to bring up any kind of objection or to present any hypothetical situation in an attempt to soften the rigid, stern, narrow, decisive, leave-no-room-for-doubt nature of Jesus’ command.
This is what Jesus said to His disciples, in an expanded paraphrase. This is what He is saying to us. “I don’t care what the circumstances are. I don’t care how dire the straits in which you may find yourself. I don’t care what reasons you may have to wince, shudder, or even blink at the thought of what kind of persecution is about to hit you. I don’t care how much it’s going to hurt you or, by extension, those close to you. Under no circumstances whatsoever are you to be afraid. This isn’t a suggestion. I’m ordering you not to be afraid.”
Jesus knew his disciples were fearful. And of whom were they afraid? Just about everyone! They were afraid of their fellow Jewish laypeople. They were afraid of the Pharisees. They were afraid of the Romans.
All of the disciples would show their fear on the night in which Jesus was betrayed, as Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Temple guards, Jewish laypeople, and Roman soldiers converged on the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter would show the most egregious effects of the fear of man when three times he emphatically denied knowing his King. And then these men would collectively cower again after Jesus was crucified and buried—hiding behind locked doors. It was the women who followed Christ who first ventured to the now-empty tomb.
Who does Jesus command the disciples not to fear? Who are we not to fear? “…those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Who are we not to fear? Anyone! Not a single person.
Jesus not only commands His disciples not to fear anyone, but He also commands them not to fear anything anyone could do to them. Contrary to what popular surveys say, people actually do fear death more than public speaking. The disciples’ greatest fear was to die at the hands of the people they fear. Jesus told them to “knock it off!”
The worst thing any human being can do to a Christian is to be used by our Lord to serve as the conduit for our ultimate home-going.
Many professing Christians, particularly American professing Christians, are gripped with fear. If they fear death, it’s death at the hands of disease or an accident. Most don’t fear death as a result of persecution. American Christians are very good, too good, at avoiding persecution.
In fact, most modern-day evangelism methodologies are designed, in large part, to protect the Christian from persecution. The saving of lost, hell-bound souls is an afterthought.
Take, for example, Bill Hybels’ book, “Just Walk Across the Room—Living the 3D Life.” In the promotional back matter of the book, we read:
In Just Walk Across the Room, author Bill Hybels encourages Christ-followers to “live in 3D,”
Developing friendships
Discovering stories
Discerning appropriate next stepsas a means of learning to understand the Spirit’s promptings. With fresh perspectives from his own reflections and experiences collected during his most recent decade of ministry, Hybels shows with undeniable clarity the unparalleled power of this approach to evangelism.
Most Christ-followers can name at least one person in their lives who is living far from God. And although they desperately want to see that person steered toward faith, they get tripped up on how to get it done. Walk-across-the-room people, by definition, live in “3D.”
Instead of refereeing people’s lifestyle choices, they love with a radical form of inclusiveness, treating all people as prized possessions of the most high God.
Instead of hurrying about their day with one eye on the clock and the other on their to-do list, they instead take a few minutes to intentionally develop friendships with the people God places in their path
Instead of staying in a self-focused bubble, they reach out and learn the life stories of the people around them
Instead of determining who’s “worthy” to be redeemed, they live out, day in and day out, Jesus’ mantra that all things are possible when God is involved!
In the book, Hybels says he appreciates any evangelism “fad” that comes along, so long as people come to faith in Christ. But he also questions the longevity and effectiveness of fads. At the same time, Hybels conveniently failed to mention the fact that he and his mentor Robert Schuller are responsible for one of the most insidious, long-lasting fads to ever hit American Evangelicalism—“The Seeker-Driven Movement.”
So, what does Hybels offer Christendom in response to fad-like evangelism methodologies? A non-fad, fad that has been around for 50 years. Hybels has simply repackaged “Friendship Evangelism”—the chief non-evangelistic byproduct of Hybels unbiblical movement.
Many professing Christians, spiritually malnourished from years of dieting on various forms of man-centered Arminian theology and attending churches where it is more important to entertain the masses and fill the seats in order to keep the lights on in multi-million dollar warehouses for the spiritually dead and disobedient (buildings otherwise known as “the pastor’s legacy”), have been conditioned over time not to follow the Holy Spirit, but rather the zeitgeists of self-love and self-preservation. Ultimately, Christians fear man because they love themselves more than they love the Lord and the lost.
If you are not actively engaged in evangelism, in one form or another—not my way, but as prescribed and/or illustrated in the Word of God—then you likely love yourself too much. Whatever fears you may have regarding evangelism are merely sinful byproducts of deeper and more abiding sins—self-love; self-preservation; selfishness; compromise.
If you want to argue that when it comes to evangelism you follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, yet you cannot remember the last time you lovingly and selflessly warned someone about the wrath of God that abides on them and that they have but one way to escape the judgment they deserve—through faith in the One who died for sinners and forever defeated sin and death when He rose from the grave—then you are not following God the Holy Spirit. In fact, if this is true about you, it is reasonable for you to ask yourself if the Spirit of God even indwells you.
Paul wrote this important reminder to Timothy:
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (1 Timothy 1:6-7).
You may never be called of God to serve Him and His Church as an evangelist, but all of you have been commanded by God to make disciples. And you cannot make a disciple of an unregenerate person. While you can get a goat to act like a sheep, you can never get a goat to actually be a sheep. Discipleship begins with the God-ordained, Son-enabled, Spirit-wrought, monergistic work of regeneration, through the communication of the gospel.
Discipleship begins with evangelism. If you live in fear of evangelism, you are not being led by the Spirit of God, for God does not give His people a spirit of fear. If you are not engaged in evangelism, you cannot make a disciple. If you are not trying to make disciples, you are living in wanton disobedience to Christ. If you are living a compromised life in disobedience to Christ, you do not love Him. If you do not love Jesus, what makes you think you are saved?
“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:26-31).
A devastating effect of the fear of man upon evangelism is quite simple to articulate. Most professing Christians, with compromised faith, don’t evangelize. A love of self that supersedes love for all else, manifesting in compromising fear and cowardice, leaves most professing Christians with a palatable yet self-denied level of depraved indifference toward the lost that is a stench in the nostrils of God and brings a reproach upon the great name of His Son.
In addition to the fear of man, there’s another reason professing Christians don’t lovingly communicate the gospel to lost people.
Christians Don’t Fear God
Returning to our text, Matthew 10:28 finishes with these words: “Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Whereas Jesus made an emphatic command to not fear man, here Jesus presents a solemn and foreboding warning to fear God. Luke 12:5 parallels Matthew 10:28.
“But I will warn you whom to fear [Jesus says]: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”
Luke’s gospel account has Jesus adding a very stern command after issuing his warning. A more literal translation of the Greek would read: “Yes, I tell you, YOU fear him!”
Both appearances of the word “fear” in Matthew 10:28, and the first two appearances of the word “fear” in Luke 12:5 are translated from the same form of the word “fear” in the Greek. Why is this important?
For too long and in too many churches, Christians have been told by either timid or treacherous men in pulpits that Christians need not fear God—that when the Word of God speaks of Christians fearing God it is in the sense of being awed by or giving reverence and respect to God. Matthew 10:28 and Luke 12:5 blow this unbiblical notion out of the water.
Cults like Bethel Redding, carnies like those found on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), and aberrant, Spirit-less movements like the “New Apostolic Reformation,” the “prosperity gospel” and “word of faith” exist for one reason: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). There is no real fear of God before the eyes of the leaders of these narcissistic dens of iniquity, and there is no real fear of God before the eyes of their followers.
Leaders of the before mentioned groups teach their followers to believe in an always happy god, an all-loving god, a divine butler, a genie in a bottle, a homeboy, a boyfriend, a benevolent banker, a Santa Claus, a fast food worker at a drive-through window who can’t wait to give you your order. With charismatic cunning and calculated chicanery, they teach their followers that the fear of the Lord is a lack of faith instead of the beginning of knowledge, wisdom, and instruction (Proverbs 1:7).
It is a lack of fear of God that allows professing Christians to try to call fire down from heaven with smiles on their faces. It is a lack of fear of God that allows professing Christians to ask God to show them His glory while acting like they’re engaged in a drunken orgy—I mean “fire tunnel.” It is a lack of fear of God that allows professing Christians to believe they are in the presence of the Lord while barking like dogs, quacking like ducks, laughing like jackals, and feigning seizure-like convulsions, instead of behaving like Isaiah the prophet or John the apostle.
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’
“And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts’” (Isaiah 6:1-5)!
“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades’” (Revelation 1:12-18).
In Matthew 10:28 and Luke 12:5, Jesus does not tell His disciples—the very men who would be the original pillars of the Church and would be used of God to literally turn the world upside down—to not fear man and to simply respect God. He did not tell His disciples not to be afraid of those who could only kill the body and to simply be awed by and reverential toward the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. No! Jesus says don’t be afraid of man and be afraid of God!
Most professing Christians do not engage in evangelism for the same reason so many professing Christians engage in subjective, feeling-induced charismatic chaos. Their fear of God has been compromised. They got their heavenly tickets punched. They got their “get out of hell free” cards. They prayed the prayer. They asked Jesus into their hearts. They believe they voluntarily abdicated the torn, nylon, lawn chair they call the thrones of their hearts so Jesus could sit in them. Yes, many professing Christians have been taught and actually believe Jesus wants to step down from His throne in heaven to accept their invitation to sit on the porcelain thrones of their filthy, sin-stained hearts. Why? “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Most professing Christians have no fear for the lost, for the same reason they fear the lost. Why? “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Most professing Christians have no fear for the present spiritual state and future eternal destination of the lost. Why? “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Most professing Christians aren’t too concerned about disobeying God’s direct commands to engage in the evangelization of the lost. Why? “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Let’s be clear. Christians—genuinely born again followers of Jesus Christ—need not fear ever losing their salvation. It won’t happen. It can’t happen. Professing Christians who believe they can lose their salvation must be confusing the Bible with the Qur’an, the Book of Mormon, or the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church.
Real Christians should not fear facing the wrath of Almighty God as the just punishment for their sins against Him. Jesus Christ bore the wrath they/we deserve when He shed His innocent blood on the cross.
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:13-15).
Growing up, I had a wonderful relationship with my father, and I feared him.
I never feared that my father would abuse me in any way. I never feared losing my father’s love. I did, however, fear my father’s unchallengeable authority. While I never worried about my father hitting me, I feared his then matchless strength. I feared a stern look from my father. I feared a sad look from my father. I feared the voice raised in anger of my father. I feared the voice lowered in disappointment of my father. I feared doing something, anything, that would in any way negatively impact my relationship with my father.
I feared my father in many ways and, at the same time, there was no place I would rather be than in my father’s company. I feared my father and, at the same time, felt safest when standing or sitting next to him. I feared my father and I loved my father. And I knew he loved me.
In Hebrews 12:7-11, we read:
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:7-11).
For the first 23 years of my life, there was no fear of the Lord in my eyes. Then, confronted by the reality of the sinfulness of my sin and the reality that all God owed me was His wrath, I feared God as my Judge. Today, because God has saved me by His grace alone, through faith alone, in His Son Jesus Christ alone, I fear the Lord, my heavenly Father.
I fear the Lord far more than I ever feared my earthly father. My earthly father, as important as he was to me, as the only real authoritarian figure in my life, was but a man—a sinful man—a mere earthen vessel.
My heavenly Father, on the other hand, is thrice holy. He is my Creator. He is the only Sovereign. There is more power in God’s anthropomorphic pinky toe than in all of the universe combined. While I do not fear losing my salvation, while I do not fear ever losing His love, I fear His discipline far more than I ever feared the discipline of my earthly father. I fear the thought of any interruption, no matter how short or temporary, in my fellowship with the Lord.
I am an evangelist today because I fear God. Jesus commanded me to love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. There is no greater way to love God and love people than through gospel proclamation. Jesus said if I love Him I will keep His commands. I am telling Jesus I don’t love Him if I refuse to make disciples. And I can’t make disciples of lost people. Therefore, I must herald the gospel. I must communicate the gospel with either a loud voice, or in a quiet conversation, or through the distribution of the Scriptures and gospel tracts.
Conclusion
The effects of compromise and the fear of man among professing Christians have devastating effects on both the lives of believers and unbelievers. Professing Christians who fear man, and therefore do not fear God, live a life of perpetual compromise, particularly in the area of evangelism. Is this you today?
Your present speaker notwithstanding, you’ve sat under outstanding teaching for the last three days. You’ve sat under the teaching of men who love God and love people—men who love you. You’ve heard truth after biblical truth after biblical truth. You are no doubt at least a little theologically smarter than when you arrived at this conference. How could you not be? The Word of God was opened and explained to you.
But how will you leave here? Will you leave here a little theologically fatter? Or will you leave here evangelistically healthier?
Will you leave here today and do the unconscionable? Will you leave here today, finish posting quotes on Facebook and Twitter, tell the world how convicted you are while, at the same time, purpose in your heart and mind to not do a thing about it?
Will you love God and love people in action and in truth? Will you fear the Lord as a Christian should? Or should you fear the Lord as an unbeliever should? Should you fear the Lord as an unbeliever should because your heart remains unmoved by the eternally, critically, desperate spiritual condition of the lost?
Should you fear the Lord as a possible false convert should—one who insists he is following the leading of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit never seems to lead him to warn lost people about the wrath of God that abides upon them in their unsaved state?
Should you fear the Lord as a possible false convert should—one who insists he is following the leading of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit never seems to lead him to call lost people to repent and believe the gospel?
Should you fear the Lord as a possible false convert should—one who insists he loves lost people, but believes he must have a relationship with someone before he invites him to church (his way of doing evangelism)?
Should you fear the Lord as a possible false convert should—one who never seems to start relationships with anyone who doesn’t look like him, talk like him, walk in the same social circles as he does—one who finds it easy to discriminate against people under the auspices of “friendship evangelism?”
Should you go home and examine yourself and test yourself to see if you are even in the faith? If you think so, then fear God! Repent and believe the gospel!
Please don’t leave here spiritually heavier. Leave here spiritually healthier. Purpose, as you really follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, to rid yourself of the fear of man and compromise and replace that fear with a love for God that brings you to fear Him as you should.
Michael Coughlin says
Good job, brother. I didn’t get to listen yet, but I got to read. What strikes me, as well, is that in american evangelism, folks don’t really fear their own death – there is really no threat of death for opening your mouth and sharing the gospel of God. People seem to fear the rejection that comes with being outspoken for the things of Christ. Lovers of self.
Jimmy Duyon says
I’m worried that I will be cast into hell for my fear of man. I was born again two years ago and kept telling people about Jesus. Now I’m quiet and don’t tell people because where I’m at I received so much rejection. I know I cannot earn my salvation by witnessing but I keep thinking if I don’t tell enough people I will be cast in to hell for.being ashamed. I don’t know what to do now.
Tony Miano says
Jimmy,
Im working on an article at the moment. I will address your concerns, soon. Hang in there. In the meantime. Go through your Bible and read the promises of God for those who have faith in Christ. Read them and believe them. Talk to you soon.