Taking The Gospel Across The Street

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. I don't know many Christians that have ever told me, you know, I'm more than happy with how I witness for Christ. Most of them prefer not to talk about it, not really at all, because they're not really comfortable with it. But it shouldn't be that way.

It shouldn't be that way. You shouldn't be uncomfortable at all, because what he's asking you to do might be a little bit different than what you think he's trying to do. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. Not only is the gospel to go all over the world, but the gospel is to go across the street. It means us. It doesn't mean some of us.

It means all of us. We're to take the gospel across the street, wherever it is that God has put us. I realize for some reason, many Christians and maybe many of you get really sort of uncomfortable with this. It's sort of bothersome.

It's sort of like not really very good at that. And then you have this image in your mind, I really can't share the gospel that way because, like I'm no Billy Graham. Like Billy Graham will have the gift of evangelism. That's a little bit different kind of proclamation than what God's calling all of us to do.

So I want to start by looking at what God's calling us to do in Acts chapter one and verse six. These are the very last words that Jesus spoke. These are the words he spoke before he ascended into heaven. They're extremely important words for us.

The last things that he said. And so we get a context to it in verse six where Dr. Luke writes, So when they had come together, that's the disciples, they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this time that you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Now, please understand the disciples still don't have any idea what the church is.

None at all. They keep thinking that Jesus is going to become Messiah and establish the Davidic kingdom in Israel. And they said, is you're going to do that now? And Jesus said to them, it's not for you to know the times or epochs which the father is fixed by his own authority. He said, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. What's interesting about that is not a commandment.

He's not commanding you. It's a reality. It's a future indicative. It means you are my witnesses. You will be my witnesses. And when you stop and think about that, what does a witness do? He testifies. What does he testify?

What he knows about what? Well, in this case, it's about Jesus. There are all kinds of opinions all over the world about who Jesus Christ was. Some will say he was just a good teacher. He was a moral teacher. Some say he was just a false messiah.

That's what we say. But when it comes to me, I'm a witness for Jesus Christ and I testify who I think Jesus Christ was. That's all that a witness does. And that's a very normative way in which that we evangelize or take the gospel across the street.

Let me illustrate this. I want you to go to First John with me, the first chapter of First John, the first three verses. Sixty years have passed since John was with Jesus. He said, What was from the beginning? What we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. And the life was manifested and we have seen and testify.

There you go. And proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and was manifested to us. What we have seen and heard and proclaimed to you also so that you too may have fellowship with us. Indeed, our fellowship is with the father and his son, Jesus Christ. Notice what John said. You want me to talk to you about what I saw, what I heard, what I did, when I touched him. I'm just going to tell you, I'm going to testify who Jesus Christ is to me. He said, And if you believe what I'm telling you, you have fellowship with me and we have fellowship with God. Notice he's not talking about necessarily what you and I would call the same kind of thing when we think of proclamational evangelism.

He's talking about something else. Now, what's interesting about that is, is that I think for so many of us, we end up sort of paralyzed by this. We struggle with this. I don't know many Christians that have ever told me, you know, I'm more than happy with how I witness for Christ. Most of them prefer not to talk about it. Not really at all, because they're not really comfortable with it. But it shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't be that way.

You shouldn't be uncomfortable at all. Because what he's asking you to do might be a little bit different than what you think he's trying to do. Now, it doesn't mean you're a good witness, though. I'm going to make three points this morning.

The first one is this. Sharing always has to start with caring. If you don't care, you won't share. And unfortunately, if you admit it, there are many of us that don't care. You know, I'm going to heaven.

I'm glad I'm going. And that's up to other people to do what they want. I don't I don't really care. But God really cares. Go with me to Luke 15 in verse four and says, What man among you, if he has 100 sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after one which was lost until he finds it?

Now watch. When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep that was lost. Now, I tell you that in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Now, don't forget, where where is the rejoicing taking place?

In heaven? Because somebody was lost and then they're found. Now, notice the second time there's a woman with a lost coin. Verse nine. And when she found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me.

I have found the coin which I had lost in the same way. I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. And then, of course, we move all the way to this idea of the lost son.

Pick it up in verse twenty three and bring the fatted calf, kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For the son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and has been found. And they began to celebrate verse thirty two. But we had to celebrate and rejoice for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live. He was lost and he's been found.

What happens when a person who was lost is found in heaven? It's a party to celebration. It's a celebration. He says the angels are involved in the celebration. When you came to Christ, there is a celebration. That's how important it is. And that celebration reveals to me just how much he cares.

C.S. Lewis said that that joy is serious business in heaven. Just think of how often there's rejoicing in heaven because someone came. Go with me to Romans Chapter nine. Paul says this verse one. I'm telling you the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. He said, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

Wow. That's not rejoicing. I mean, he has this great sorrow and this grief. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brother and my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites. To whom belongs the adoption of sons, the glory of the covenants, the giving of the law and the temple service and the promises.

Who are the fathers and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is overall God bless forever. Amen. What's Paul saying? I care about Israel.

How much does he care? He said I would be accursed if Israel would come to Christ and be saved. I would be accursed.

I would become anathema. That means forever separated from God. It's wanting to give your life for someone. But would you want to give eternity for someone?

But that's what Paul said. He really, really cares. So I'm still back to the same question. Do you really care? See, I think so often we're so apathetic about this. We don't really care that much. Doesn't really matter to us. The question is, why don't we?

I don't know exactly, but I can say this. Jesus said that if you took the whole Old Testament, all the law, it would just hang on one verse. You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. That would tell me then if I don't care, it's because I don't love God and my neighbor. I love me, so I don't care that much. We have to be careful thinking like that, people. It's just not the way we should think at all.

We should be completely different than that. Sharing starts with caring. All of our excuses not to share have no biblical ground at all. Let's go back to Exodus three for a moment. Verse 11.

You know the story. Moses is in the land of Midian, and God appears to Moses. He's been there for like 40 years tending sheep. God appears to him out of a burning bush, and it wasn't that the bush spontaneously combusted that got Moses' attention.

This one spontaneously combusted, but it never went out. It just stayed there, so Moses goes over to it. God tells him, take your sandals off your own holy ground, and the bush has a conversation with Moses. As soon as he tells Moses, look, I want you to take my message to get my people out of Egypt. And watch what Moses does.

Verse 11. But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh that I should bring out the sons of Egypt? I'm like no one. He said, I have no identity. Who am I to do this?

I think we think that way sometimes. Who am I to do this? Who is Moses? He is raised by Pharaoh's daughter. Who has better connections than anybody than Moses?

Well, then he says in verse 13, Moses said to God, behold, I'm going to the sons of Israel, and they will say to me, the God of your father said, sent me to you. Now they may say to me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? I don't even have a message. I don't know what to tell them.

We do this all the time. What would I say? So that's when God tells Moses, how about this? You tell them, I am sent you. God's real patient with them.

We get to chapter four, verse one. Then Moses said, what if they would not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, the Lord has not appeared to you. I have no real authority. No, they might not believe. Whenever you share and witness for testify for Jesus Christ, it doesn't mean someone's going to believe.

And you don't have to be slick with it. Think about this way. For someone be able to speak from the heart of truth and get his message clear, would anyone say it better than Jesus?

No. Well, what was his success rate like? Most of them didn't believe at all. So why are you worried if they don't believe you?

You see, oh, they might not believe me. So what? Well, he's not done yet. Verse 10. Then Moses said to the Lord, please, Lord, I've never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since you have spoken to your servant. I'm slow of speech and slow of tongue. I don't have any ability. First of all, the Book of Acts says that's not exactly true.

Moses is reaching now. I don't know what I'm going to say. Let's say you're educated in Pharaoh's house. I'm pretty sure you speak fluent Egyptian and Hebrew. Perfect. No, I don't. I don't have any ability. Another excuse.

Well, it all comes down then. Verse 13. He said to him, Moses again, he says, Please, Lord, now send a message by whomever you will. How about just sending someone else?

He has a lack of faith. That's what we all do. Someone else will tell them.

That's just someone else. That's all they have to do. They can tell them. God said, You're my witness. I just want you to testify. I understand you might not even like the people out there. It shouldn't be that way for you.

But even that shouldn't stop you. How about Jonah? Remember the story? God said, Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh in Assyria. That's going to be east.

Would you do that for me? Jonah said, No, I'm going to get in a ship and go west. I'll go as far west as I can to Tarshish, to Spain. I'm going to get away from you.

Well, you know the story. Great fish was spent. He's in the fish. He gets spit back out again. And reluctantly goes on his way to Nineveh. When he gets to Nineveh, here's his message.

In 30 days, you're all going to be dead there. Now, if you ever think of that as the greatest way you could present believing in God. Six hundred thousand people believed him.

Greatest single day revival of all time. And the reason Jonah said it that way, he hated the Assyrians. He just hated him. And so he didn't even want and yet they still repented and they still came. Jonah teaches me that God will use you in spite of you.

He can use you in spite of you because Jonah did eventually go and he did give a message and God did work through him. I think one of the most disturbing things I've seen as a pastor over the last several years is Christians who are filled with hate. I don't know where we got it. I don't know why we got it.

But I'm telling you, it shouldn't be there. Christians hate. We hate people. We hate people of other political party. We hate them. We hate it when unsaved sinners live terrible lives. We hate them. Why? What do you expect an unsaved sinner to live like? Why do you hate them? There's only two kinds of people in the whole world, brothers and sisters in Christ and the mission field.

That's it. Our hearts should never be full of hatred toward anybody. And yet we do. And now because our culture is more postmodern, post-Christian, a lot of Christians have a very defeatism kind of attitude. The world's changing. It's so bad. It's going from bad to worse. And it's not. It's just going to get worse and worse and worse.

What could you do against this world? I don't think that's exactly true. I think it's something you and I try to believe to justify ourself. We're not doing anything.

I think that's what happens. Pew Research has nothing to do, by the way, with church. Pew Research is a think tank in Washington, D.C. They have worldwide perspective of all social, what we call sociology or social movements around the world. And they've done some interesting research.

And I find it fascinating. And the research started out by saying, first of all, in Western Europe and in the United States, there are fewer people right now at this particular time, they said, who are identifying with religion. However, everywhere else in the world, religion is growing everywhere in the whole world, except Western Europe and the United States. And it's not not growing here very much.

It's not like that at all. They said that by 2060, Christianity will grow from 31 percent to 32 percent of the world's population. So they speculate in the next 40 years, there'll be more Christians then than there are now.

That's just there. And Muslims will grow from 24 percent to 31 percent. Still one percent behind. Now they're talking Christendom.

I'm not talking about the born again experience. Hinduism in that same period of time will go from 15 percent of the world's population down to 13 percent. Buddhism will go from seven percent of the population world down to five percent.

But how about this? By 2060, the people in the world that identify as agnostics and atheist will decline from 16 percent to 13 percent. There's going to be more of it.

No, there's not going to be less of them. 16 percent of them to 13 percent of them. Pew Research said that the most educated intellectual people on the planet are Jewish and Christian.

Not interesting. The most educated people are Jewish and Christian. Even in America, this what we call secular movements afoot, it goes both directions. One thing they said I find fascinating, 40 percent of the children in America now that grow up in an agnostic, atheistic household, 40 percent of them become Christians as adults. 40 percent. The amount of kids that grow up in a Protestant home, that's the word they used, that become agnostic or atheistic, 20 percent. So more kids are coming our direction than going their direction.

Don't be so pessimistic about the way the world is or how it's acting. It's not the case at all. In the total secular country of China, the population of Christians in China has skyrocketed. They said it looks like to them over 100 million. In a country that has no religious freedom, nothing, no churches, no networking, no books, no radio, over 100 million have come to Christ. So much so that Rebecca McLaughlin writes about this.

She writes about a guy named Fen Gang Yang, great name, is a leading sociologist of religion in China. And he said that we need to undergo a paradigm shift akin to the scientific revolution as we adjust to the total failure of our secularization hypothesis. Our godless state is not working at all in any sense. Much academic discourse rests on the assumption that religion is withering under the scorching heat of modernization.

Secular humanism, he said, is seen as the shared ground where we all can stand. But he said this framework has completely crumbled. We have to do something else.

That's a totally secular scenario. And he said it's crumbled. There's nothing we can do about it.

We know the reason for that. They don't offer you anything. I mean, if someone's going to offer you that, let me explain to you what life is. You're protoplasm and soon you'll be manure. And that's all they'll be.

You go from protoplasm to manure. There's life. Well, that's encouraging, isn't it?

That doesn't help. How do you give people hope? You see, how do you give them peace, joy? How do you get meaning, purpose? We know what Jesus Christ does and what he brings to the table and how much he offers us from that point of view.

Secularism has no answers. You and I happen to believe in a man who said I'm the way, the truth and the life. And no one will come to the Father but through me. And all he's asked us to do is to be a witness.

Just testify on my behalf. Go with me to First Peter Chapter three in verse 15. We'll just look at that one verse. Verse 15.

He said, But sanctified Christ as Lord in your hearts. Now, he's writing to a people, by the way, who are being persecuted. We're just starting to get that in America.

We're going to get a lot more of that in America in the next 50 years. But they're being persecuted. He said, here's what I want you to do. Actually sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Set Christ apart. Live your life for the Lord. You see, walk in obedience to him. Then he says, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. Yet do that with gentleness and reverence. You see what he's saying?

He didn't say take some tracks, beat on doors. He said, if people ask you, if they ask you, you give it a defense. You make it. You give an account for what you believe. What do you do? You testify.

You just testify. Now, we live in a day and age, by the way, we're seeing it right now with covid political crisis, economic crisis and all that. A lot of people are getting a little frazzled, to say the least. Now, if we sanctify Christ in our hearts, we shouldn't be at all.

Imagine going to work every day and no one said how bad it is out there. Yeah, it's fine. Yeah, but you know how many? It's OK. Christ is still sitting on his throne. He's still a sovereign God. I'm fine with this. I don't really care who's in office.

Doesn't really matter to me. Somewhere down the line, someone says, how can you feel that way? How can you believe that? Oh, you want me to testify? You see, you want me to tell you how? That's all Christ is asking me to do. He's asking me, he says, Peter says, give an account for the hope that's in you.

And it works, especially when there's a crisis. Let me illustrate it. Now go with me to the book of Acts, chapter 16. Now, let me show you what Paul's condition is right now, starting in verse 22. The crowd rose up together against them.

That's Paul and Silas. The chief magistrates tore their robes off them and they proceeded in order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jail or to guard them securely.

And he, having received such a command, threw them in the inner prison, fastened their feet into the stocks. Now, if that happened to you, you're falsely arrested. You're put in jail.

They put your feet in stocks. What are you doing? I need to see my lawyer. I'm going to sue everybody.

Right. Let's see what Paul did. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to praise of God, all beaten up. And they're singing praises to God.

They're singing hymns. The prisoners were listening to them. That's interesting that we're listening.

Only time it's ever translated. Listening. It's a different kind of listening. There's a lot of listening going on in the New Testament, but this word right here is a little different. It's a park row. Oh, my.

Epoch Roma. Oh, my. And it means to listen in a very different way, very attentively and joyfully. Everybody's listening and they're enjoying what they're hearing. Now, one of the things they've got to be hearing is you see what they did to these guys?

They just grabbed and beat him with rods and put them in stocks and they're singing. How can they do that? See the question in their mind. How do they do that? How did they act that way?

Well, I wouldn't act that way. Says suddenly there's a great earthquake. The foundations of the prison house were shaking. Immediately, all the doors were open and everyone's chains were unfastened. And when the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors open, he drew a sword, was about to kill himself because he would be executed if they escaped. Listen, if prisoners are in the inner prison with their feet in stocks and all of a sudden there's an earthquake and everything opens up. What do you think most prisoners are going to do? They're going to run for it and then he's going to be executed anyway. So he's going to kill himself.

Paul cried out with a loud voice. Do not harm yourself. We're all here. Who says stuff like that? Follower of Jesus Christ. Notice you don't see any tension in Paul's voice. He said, we're all here. He called for lights and he rushed in trembling before he fell down before Paul and Silas. And after he brought them out, he said, sir, what must I do to be saved?

No one acts like you act. So now Paul is going to give his testimony. Here's his testimony. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved.

And he does. That's evangelism. The crisis created the question and Paul gave an account for the hope that's in him.

When we live a particular way, making Christ Lord of our life in a fallen society, it's bound to lead to questions. And all you have to do is testify. You don't need to know the Roman road. You don't need four spiritual laws.

You don't need any. All you need to do is to testify. What does Jesus Christ mean to you? Tell them. And if you know enough to be saved, you know enough to tell them. That's all you have to tell them.

You don't have to tell them anymore. You just get testify to what Jesus Christ has meant to you. Remember, in Matthew five, Jesus said, you're the light of the world acidic on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket. But on a lampstand, it gives light to all who are in the house.

Then he says this. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and they will glorify your fathers in heaven. Why would they glorify my father in heaven? Because they end up converting when they see that. That's why so much of our ministry is our lifestyle. Sharing starts with caring. Our excuses don't stand any on any biblical ground and simply be a witness and testify for what he has done for you.

That's it. It applies to all of us. You and I have an opportunity to be witnesses for Christ. And so just simply testify.

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth about who Jesus Christ is to you? When you do that, you take the gospel across the street. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called OnePlace.com. That's OnePlace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.