Christ Centered Evangelism Session 7

We're on page 26 and we want to ask this question. Number six, how do we present the Christ-centered message to sinners? Tomorrow night I say again, we will study that message in detail. But I remind you, I'm just reminding you for a moment, letter A, the influence of a Christ-centered life. It's one of God's means. The fruit of your transformed life gives validity to your vocal witness. It is the evidence that bears witness that your conversion is authentic.

Remember 2 Corinthians 4.7, God has placed a treasure in earthen vessel, and that treasure is the message of light about the Lord Jesus, but it's also the manifestation of the life of Jesus through us. The priceless treasure is more than a head full of knowledge concerning the gospel. It's a life that is full of the glory of God and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit because sinners are not going to listen to your message if your life's not matching up with the message. And flowing out of that Christ-centered life, letter B, the impact of the love of Jesus flowing through born-again believers at Noah Baptist Church.

By this shall all men in this community know that there are disciples at Noah Baptist Church and not just more lost Baptists. How will they know? Jesus said that you love one another, and what brand of love was the Lord Jesus speaking of? He said, "As I have loved you." That's the kind of love. He's not talking about natural love. There are millions of lost Pagans who enjoy the common grace gift of natural love within a family, but that's not the kind of love Jesus is speaking of.

He says, "As I have loved you." It's the same Greek word that is found in John 3.16, "God so loved." It's the same word found in 1 John 4 that says, "God is loved." That's supernatural love, sacrificial love, servant love. Spurgeon states if we're going to reach sinners, we must love sinners. We must befriend them and love them.

And when unconverted sinners watch folks at Noah Baptist Church living for Jesus, loving each other, loving lost sinners, serving lost sinners, willing to spend and be spent for brothers and sisters and unconverted sinners, that Christian compassion and love becomes a powerful instrument that the Lord uses in His great mission. A Christ-centered life flowing out of that, exhibiting this supernatural sacrificial love. This is God's means. And let her see the impartation of the law and the gospel. We'll see that in detail tomorrow night.

Now you're thinking, "What in the world is he talking about now?" Brother Ed, I always heard we were just supposed to go out and tell people the good news. Well, the good news never becomes good news until you first comprehend the bad news of your terrible problem before a holy God and before the moral law of God. When you say the impartation of the law, what are you talking about? I'm talking about when I'm witnessing to a person proclaiming and applying the Ten Commandments, the moral law, in such a manner that the Holy Spirit might prosecute that sinner of the reality that they are a guilty, convicted criminal in the courtroom of God.

Nobody gets saved until you get lost. Right? Think about the book of Romans. Paul in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16, he says, "The gospel, the good news is the power of God into salvation for everyone who believes." And then he starts with bad news. For 63 verses, he gives bad news. "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men." And the next 63 verses are nothing but bad news before he gets to good news. You following me? Notice number 7, why would we proclaim the moral law of God? Well, the word of God tells us why.

Romans 3, 19 and 20, now we know that whatever the law says, we're talking about the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments, we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped, shut, and all the world may become what? Guilty before God. Notice letter A, the law is the instrument that God uses to bring the sinner to the realization of their lost condition. It is the mirror that reveals the immensity of their guiltiness, their lostness, their destitute and desperate needy condition before God. And brothers and sisters, we are God's prosecutors.

We are to go out and do what the Spirit of God has come to do. What does the Spirit of God come to do? He's come to keep the spotlight on Jesus, and He's come to prosecute sinners of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And that's precisely what we're to do. We're to keep the spotlight of our message on Jesus and the prosecution of sinners. A person must see themselves as a bankrupt, destitute, rebel sinner before they will ever hunger and thirst after a righteousness that they come to realize they do not have and desperately need.

And the moral law of God is the tool God uses to bring a person to the realization of their lost, rebellious, guilty, destitute condition. It is the plow that God uses to break up the hard soil of a heart. What is the purpose of the moral law of God? Why did God give us the Ten Commandments so we can sue the government because they're not letting us put a plaque of the Ten Commandments in the judge's courtroom? We can call the Christian Coalition and sue sinners? No. He gave us the Ten Commandments to reveal the holy character of God so that that would reveal the righteous requirements of God for your life and my life.

So that that would reveal that you and I have utterly shattered those righteous requirements. So that that would reveal we are guilty, lost, bankrupt, destitute sinners. So that that would reveal we are in desperate need of a savior, a redeemer, a deliverer. We'll see this in detail tomorrow night. But what am I saying? Let her be until the sinner comprehends the bad news of the law. He'll never hunger for the good news of the gospel. That 88-year-old man whose mind was quick and sharp, even though he had to use a walker, that I had the joy of being the sower of the seed into his heart when he was converted, his name was Paul, Paul Goodrich.

And when I began that witnessing opportunity, he started with Jimmy Swagger than Jim Baker. I mean, he was nailing these phony fake TV preachers. Look at him. They're adulterers. And I said, Mr. Paul, can I ask you a question? In your 88 years of living, have you ever looked after another woman besides your wife with lust in your heart? You know what happened? I said, Mr. Paul, Jesus says you've committed adultery in your heart. And I watch God take that moral law, you shall not commit adultery and shatter his heart. And later on that day, he was calling out to God to have mercy on his lost soul.

I'm talking about proclaiming the law in such a way that the Holy Spirit can prosecute this center of sin, righteousness, and judgment. When we go out and proclaim the good news without the bad news, people aren't even getting lost. And you can't get Bible saved until you get Bible lost. Because unconverted people left to themselves without this prosecuting work of the Holy Spirit will always compare themselves to other sinners. Oh, but if I proclaim the law, then that center has an opportunity to be convinced by the law, convicted by the law, condemned by the law. What is the text telling us in Romans 3, which is part of the gospel?

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and then all of this bad news? What is the purpose? Number eight, the purpose of presenting the law in letter A is to stop the mouth of the sinner. That's what happened with Mr. Paul. He stopped comparing himself to Jimmy Swaggard, and he began to see himself in light of God's holy and righteous standard, and he had no verbal defense against that verdict. Why do we present the law, letter B, to show the mind what sin is? That's what the text says. By the law comes the knowledge of what? Sin. Even the Apostle Paul said, in my own life, I had not known sin, but by the law.

He was checking off the moral law and his external legalistic righteousness until he came to number 10. Thou shalt not covet. And he said, it slew me. It wiped me out. Why do I present the law, letter C, to seal the sinner in a condemned state? The iron fist of the moral law bangs on the door of that sinner's heart, awakening their mind to the realization that they are a convicted criminal in the courtroom of God, that all the world may become guilty before God.

We'll see this tomorrow night, but I'm saying right now, page 27, number 9, Christ-centered evangelism, biblical evangelism, whatever you want to call it, must present letter A, the law to the self-righteous sinner and letter B, grace to the destitute sinner. Have you ever noticed that when you read through the gospels, the Lord Jesus never gave the gospel of grace without the law to those who were trusting in their own imagined morality or religiosity, but he always confronted them with the law? The rich young ruler comes running to Jesus. Can you imagine if that happened at First Baptist Church like Sunday during Just As I Am?

Somebody comes running down the aisle. He falls on his knees before Jesus. He says, "Good Master, what shall I do that I might obtain eternal life? And what does Jesus say?" Well, just repeat this prayer with me. What shall I do that I might have eternal life? Well, just let one of my disciples take you to the counseling room for five minutes, and we'll bring out and pronounce you safe. A good master, what shall I do? And you remember what he says. Jesus says, "Why do you call me good?" The word is inherently, perfectly good. No one is good with that kind of goodness but one, and that is God. What's the Lord doing?

He's confronting this young man with his own deity and his holiness. Young man, the one who's gazing into your being is the only one who's perfectly good to the core. You don't realize it, but Emmanuel is gazing into the depths of your soul. And then what does he say? If you want to enter into life, you want to have eternal life, keep the commandments. What? Jesus would have failed evangelism explosion. This guy's come running. He says, how can I have eternal life? And Jesus says, keep the commandments. Nobody's ever kept the commandments but him. That's the point. And Jesus quotes the second half of the moral law of God.

And the guy in his self-deception and self-righteousness says, all of these I've observed from my youth. So what does the Lord do then? OK, you want eternal life? Go sell everything you have. Give it to the poor. Come, take up the cross, and follow me. What's Jesus saying? You saying, young man, you've broken the entire law. Because you've broken the first and greatest commandment. You've been breaking it every day of your life. To love the Lord your God with 100% of your heart, mind, soul, and strength. He was breaking that commandment every moment of every day because he had another God, didn't he? He had an idol.

And Jesus was confronting him with the fact that he was a rebel lawbreaker, that he had been committing blasphemous idolatry against God every day of his life. We need to confront those who are trusting in themselves and their imagined level of morality or religiosity or whatever it may be with the law of God because they need to get lost so they can get saved. Amen? We can and must proclaim a Christ-centered message. We'll see it tomorrow night and let her see. This is obvious, but I've got to remind you of it. We can and must bring sinners to hear a Christ-centered message. In other words, we go out where they are. This is ABCs.

We know this. We go out there where they are. We proclaim a Christ-centered message being moved along by the Spirit. But we can also invite them. And you better thank God that you can invite them and come to hear a Christ-centered message. In other words, number one, invite them to the local church where the people of God gather to hear the word of God. Why? Because letter A, the special presence of God, is in the midst of his people if they're not bickering and backfighting. Full of jealousy and strife and envy. And what happens when the unconverted sinner comes?

And here's a Christ-centered message among the people of God who are loving Jesus. Letter B, the unconverted sinner comes into an environment where the love of God is experienced. And you better be thankful the word of God is expounded because it's not expounded in most places these days. And the people of God are expected. What am I saying? The work is not all Brother Chris' and Brother Keith's. We are to pray, passionate, persistent prayer. We are to go out and sow gospel seed in the community. But we can also invite sinners to come and hear the gospel and watch us sing and praise God with passionate love in our heart.

And as the word is preached, we listen prayerfully and expectantly, and if an unconverted sinner comes into an environment like that, you see something different going on here than there is at my job. There's a love here I've never experienced before. We go out and sow, but we can invite them to come under the word. The New Testament, they're both taking place. Why would we invite them to church? Number two, because of the public preaching of the word of God. Letter A, we know this verse. God has chosen the foolishness of movies, minds, dramas. God has chosen the foolishness of weight lifters, rap music, Southern gospel-- no.

That's what man has chosen. That's what the arm of the flesh has chosen. God has chosen the foolishness of the message proclaimed. A man of God who has studied to show himself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. The teaching of the New Testament includes both. Believers sow in water. The pastor sows in waters. God gives the increase in God's timing, and then God gets the glory. Amen? Amen. Let's move on. We've got to listen a little faster if we're going to finish on time tonight. First Corinthians 3. And I want to read from a passage here.

You see, I've got the question, why is it so important to do God's work, God's way, for God's glory? Why is this so vital? Why, after all we've heard, brother, and I still think we could just do God's work any old way, we can invent our own ways. Why is it so essential to do God's work, God's way, for God's glory? Well, one reason is you must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That each born-again believer may receive the things done in his body, and this includes evangelism, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. You've got an appointment with Jesus one day if you're born again. And so do I.

We're going to stand before him at the Bema seat. We're not talking about the great white throne judgment of the laws. We're talking about the Bema seat of Christ, and we're going to stand there. And our entire Christian service, our labor, including our evangelism, is going to be examined by the omniscient Lord Jesus Christ for rewards and/or loss of rewards. I read the text where this is going to take place, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 5. Now let's go to verse 6. "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor." Is he speaking to lost people or saved people? This is a church. "For we are God's fellow workers." These are believers, disciples. You are God's field. You are God's building. According to the grace of God, which was given to me, Paul says, as a wise master builder, I have laid a foundation, and another builds on it." Watch this. "But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Now if anyone builds on this foundation, notice the two types of material. Gold with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw. Each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire." Watch this very closely. "And the fire will test each one's work of what size it is." Is that what your Bible says? No. Of what sword it is. It's not the quantity. It's the quality. "If anyone's work which he has built on endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer a loss.

But he himself will be saved. Yet so is through fire." What are we seeing here? We're thinking about evangelism. It encompasses all the service of a believer, but includes evangelism. Letter A, "Every believer's evangelism will be examined by the Lord to determine their rewards and/or loss of rewards." This is the word bimasit, which was taken from the ancient Greek Olympics, where the victorious athletes would ascend to the bimas platform to receive their rewards. The same thing happens at the Olympics today. And each born-again believer is going to give an account of their service, including their evangelism.

There's going to be a holy evaluation of the way we did God's work of evangelism. Notice number one, Jesus Christ is the only solid foundation. Amen? "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." He is the only solid foundation, but the foundation is not the building. The foundation enables me to build a building. And I'm responsible. And if you're born again, you're responsible to build a superstructure of lordship living on that foundation. And if you're born again, you already have everything you need to build on that foundation.

You have the Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity in dwelling you. You have pastor teachers to equip you for the work of the ministry. You have God's instruction manual. And you are responsible. Take heed how you build. Why, number two, from our conversion to the conclusion of our lives, we're building on that foundation. From the new birth to my death or when Jesus comes, I've got an appointment with Jesus. I have a date with the Lord Jesus Christ. And my Christian service, including my evangelism, is going to be tried by the x-ray penetrating gaze of Jesus.

He's the only one qualified to evaluate my ministry, my methods, and my motives. And listen, if you're born again, we must all appear before the beam of seat so that each one may receive the things done in his body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Those are key words. The word good there in the Greek language pictures worthy material, material that has eternal value. And it will stand the examination of the fire. The word bad pictures worthless material, things we were involved in that had no eternal value. And they will be incinerated by the fire and suffer a loss of reward.

Number three, there are only two types of material that believers build with. Letter A, worthy material. Where did we see that in the text? Gold, silver, precious stone. That has value. That will only be refined by a fire. But letter B, worthless material, wood, hay, stubble. You put a fire to wood, hay, and stubble, and it's incinerated. There's worthy material that has eternal value be rewarded. Worthless material, no eternal value, no reward. Number four, this examination is going to be a day of revelation. That's what verse 13 says. Each one's work, and that includes evangelism, will become clear.

It'll be clearly manifest, for the day we'll declare it because it will be revealed by fire. And remember, the fire will test each one's work, not of what size it is, but what sort it is. So what's going to be examined? Letter A, my ministry. And we're thinking about evangelism. The work that I did, what's going to be examined, my methods, the way that I did the work that I did, when I did the work that I did. And thirdly, my motives. The reason that I did the work that I did, when I did the work that I did. Does this sound familiar? It's on the cover of your workbook. God's work done, God's way for God's glory.

This is not a judgment for sin as far as standing before Jesus to be condemned or saved as concerned. All my sins were placed on Jesus' account at Calvary. This is an evaluation of service, including an examination of your evangelism, if you're born again. Number five, this will be a day of examination. For the day we'll declare it because it will be revealed by fire. It's the picture of an ancient goldsmith putting a metal into the furnace of the refiner's fire. And as he turns up the heat, all the worthless material in that metal comes to the surface.

And the refiner skims away all the worthless material until there's nothing left but the worthy material. And remember, it's not the quantity. It's the quality. Right? Notice page 29. So in light of this, God's work done, God's way for God's glory will be worthy material. Amen? It'll stand the evaluation. It'll pass the examination. And it will result in an eternal reward. What am I saying? Let me paint some pictures. Letter A, ministry. And we're thinking about evangelism that was initiated by God in my life. So it was maintained by God and can only be explained by a work of God. That'll be worthy material. That has eternal value.

That will pass the examination. Painting pictures of what I'm saying, letter B, ministry, including evangelism, done under the lordship of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit for the glory of God. I'm doing it according to an instruction manual. It's going to be worthy material. It will have eternal value. It will stand the examination of the great refiner. But conversely, number seven, God's work done. A man's way will be worthless material. It may have impressed the religious world. There may have been hundreds of superficial decisions because we concocted our own ways and used manipulative techniques.

But when you stand before the refiner, it's going to be wood, hay, and stubble. It'll be incinerated because it's not the size that counts. It's the sort of the evangelism that counts. What are you saying, brother Ed? It is a lie to believe that anything goes in evangelism just as long as it's done in Jesus' name. I'm submitting to you that the methods are not irrelevant. They are very relevant because the cross not only establishes the message that we're to proclaim, it determines the methods through which we communicate the message. And the message and the methods must be in harmony and unity.

For if they're not in harmony and unity, then the integrity of the message fails. Can I illustrate? Let's imagine-- I have the hate for this to happen to you. But imagine for a moment you have found that you have stage four cancer. You are in very serious condition. You've gone to Jackson. You have an appointment with the oncologist. You're sitting in the office waiting for the oncologist to come in. And when the oncologist comes into the room, he's dressed up like a clown. And he does a few magic tricks for you before he begins to talk to you. Would you have any confidence in that oncologist? I think I'd get out of the room immediately.

You're sitting there with stage four cancer. It could be terminal. And the oncologist walks into the room, and he starts lifting barbells. Or he comes in doing a rap song. Yeah, you got stage four cancer. Would you have any confidence in him? Huh? Are you following me? The message and the methods must be in harmony and unity. He comes into the office and puts on a drama about cancer. No, you'd get out of there as fast as you can. Listen, eternal salvation and eternal damnation is infinitely more serious than stage four cancer. Letter A, ministry, methods, motives that were initiated by the flesh. That's what all that garbage is.

Somebody got an idea in their flesh. Let's put on a drama. Let's show a movie. Let's do a clown act. Let's do a puppet show. Let's do the rap music concert. It's all initiated by the flesh. So it has to be maintained by the flesh. And it can be explained by the flesh. It's going to burn up with fervent heat. We must be willing to evaluate our evangelism, both in its message and its motives. OK? Amen? You're with me? Now let's spend a few moments. I have 12 minutes. I'm not going-- I'm so far behind. What about our personal vocal witness? I need to show you this. And I'm going to close on time that I said I would, page 30.

I remind you, letter A, the Lord Jesus is speaking. He says, "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Him." Unto Jesus. Christ-centered evangelism is number one, testifying about the person of Christ, the work of Christ, and the terms of Christ. This is why Peter is writing. You see number two-- I'm rushing-- 1 Peter 3, 15. He's not speaking at the New Orleans Baptist Seminary when he writes this.

He's speaking to every born-again disciple of Jesus when he says, "Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who ask a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." What is he saying, letter A? He said, "You need to be ready." And he's talking to every born-again follower of Jesus. You need to be ready. What does that mean? Be willing, be available, but that's not enough. Got to be equipped. That's what he means by being ready. To do what? Letter B, to give an answer. And that means you are responsible to equip yourself so that you are able to articulate lovingly, humbly, but that's not enough, biblically. Articulate what?

The hope that is in you, the truth about the person of Christ, the work of Christ, and the terms of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be equipped to proclaim Christ and prosecute the sinner. We'll see that in a minute. Notice letter D. You're with me, page 31. Watch this very closely. When we're talking about witnessing to sinners, primarily, this is not my testimony. Primarily, I'm speaking about the Lord Jesus. Now, what in the world are you saying, brother Ed? Let me illustrate.

If I've got 30 minutes with a man to witness to him, I'm not going to spend 28 of those minutes talking about the gory details of my wicked life as a rock and jazz drummer before I was converted. And then spend two minutes on Jesus. No. I may spend a moment on my conversion, but I'm going to spend 28 or 29 of those minutes talking about who Jesus is and who that sinner is through the word of God and what Jesus accomplished and what are Jesus' terms to a saving relationship with him. Now, why would you do that? Because saving faith comes by hearing and hearing by the gory details of my wicked life before I was saved. No.

Saving faith comes by hearing and hearing by the words concerning Christ. Go and make disciples. In Mark, he says, when you go to make disciples, you go and make them by proclaiming the gospel. And in Luke, he gave us the message that we are to proclaim. And in Acts 1 and verse 1 and 8, he said, you shall be witnesses not unto the gory details of your life before you were converted, but witnesses unto Jesus. Amen? So we are to declare a message that keeps the spotlight on Jesus and prosecutes the sinner. Listen to Jesus teach-- write this reference down, John 15 verses 26 and 27.

Jesus says, but when the Holy Spirit comes, he will testify of me. And then he says to the disciples, and you also will bear witness of me. And the phrases there means the Holy Spirit has come to put the spotlight on Jesus, and you too will put the spotlight on Jesus. But there's another place Jesus talks about when the Spirit comes, John 16.8. When the Spirit has come, he will do what? Convict, reprove, prosecute of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Do you see it? The Holy Spirit has a spotlight ministry and a prosecuting ministry. And we too have a spotlight ministry and a prosecuting ministry.

He's given us the Holy Spirit to do precisely the same thing, to proclaim Christ, but also to have a prosecuting ministry, to lay out the evidence and the verdict against that sinner of their guilty, lost, needy condition. Now the question I want to answer in these last five minutes is, did the disciples obey Jesus in this prosecuting and proclaiming ministry? Or did they decide to create their own message? Did they decide to change the focus of the message? Well, I'll give you some references. You can check me out there. You can check me out in your own time. We don't have time to go through them, but I'm just going to give you an outline.

Acts 2 verses 22 through 40, it's a Pentecostal message. Peter stands up, and you know what he did? He proclaimed Christ, and he prosecuted the crowd. He proclaimed the deity of Jesus, the holiness of Jesus. Then he prosecuted the crowd of their wicked sinfulness. Then he proclaimed the cross of Jesus. He proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus. He proclaimed salvation is only in Jesus. He proclaimed the lordship of Jesus. And he proclaimed the terms of Jesus. In the second message in Acts 3 verses 12 through 26, again, he kept the spotlight on Jesus, and he prosecuted the crowd. He proclaimed the deity of Jesus.

He proclaimed the holiness of Jesus. Then he prosecuted the crowd of their wicked sinfulness. He proclaimed the work of Jesus, the cross of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus. He proclaimed salvation in Jesus alone. He proclaimed the terms of Jesus, and he proclaimed that Jesus is the final judge of those who do not repent and believe. Are you getting the idea? We go to Acts chapter 4. Oh, now he's standing before the Sanhedrin. And Peter gets to thinking, you know, I better change this message a little bit. I might better shift the focus of this message so it might appeal more to the carnal desires of the Sanhedrin.

So I'll talk about heaven, or a full meaningful life. How would you like to have peace, Sanhedrin? Or would you like to have a wonderful-- no. No, he didn't do that. He preached the lordship of Jesus. He prosecuted the crowd of their sinfulness. He preached the work of Jesus and the cross. He preached the resurrection of Jesus. He preached the truth that salvation is in Jesus alone. He was not felt need-centered in his message. He was not even heaven-centered. Heaven's never mentioned. I'll say it again in any gospel proclamation in the book of Acts. You can read every one of them. You won't find the word heaven.

He's not witnessing about a place. He's witnessing unto a person. You remember Philip in Acts chapter 8 and verse 5. He went down to Samaria, and he preached-- guess who? Jesus. He didn't go down to Samaria and ask diagnostic questions about heaven. He didn't go down to Samaria and bring a message that was focused on peace, or a full meaningful life, or a wonderful plan for your life, or health and wealth, any felt need issues. He didn't preach to the psychological felt needs of sinners. He preached Jesus. And folks were being converted.

But the Spirit of God took him away from the evangelistic outreach meeting, because God had a divine appointment for him down in the desert with an Ethiopian eunuch. You remember he pulls up along that side of that Ethiopian eunuch's chariot, and he just happens to be reading Isaiah 53. What a coincidence. It is no coincidence. It's a divine appointment. And Philip says, do you understand what you're reading? And the Ethiopian eunuch says, how can I accept someone? Help me. And the scripture says, listen, Acts 8.35, then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus.

He did not say, do you know for sure are you going to be with God in heaven? If God's going to ask you, why should I let you in heaven? Heaven is if we give, no. He preached Jesus. Acts chapter 9 and verse 20, Saul of Tarsus gets converted, and immediately he preached Jesus in the synagogue. He didn't go into the synagogues and ask diagnostic questions about heaven, or a full and meaningful life, or a wonderful plan for your life, or any of the things that man has concocted. He preached Jesus. Acts chapter 10, you see it there? I'm about to close Acts 10, verse 36 through 43, Cornelius' house. This is the first Gentiles house.

This is where the message changes, right, Brother Ed? Because we're going to the Gentiles now. So we're going to shift the focus of the message away from Jesus, and we're going to focus the main focus of the message. We're going to put it on something that might more appeal to Gentiles. No. He preached the deity of Jesus. He preached the lordship of Jesus. He prosecuted the crowd of their sin. He preached the cross of Jesus. He preached the resurrection of Jesus. He preached that Jesus is the final judge of unconverted sinners, and he preached the terms of Jesus.

Acts chapter 11 and verse 20, when they were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen, they spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. And a great number believed. Acts 13, verses 23 through 41, the message was the deity of Jesus, the holiness of Jesus, prosecuting the sinners of their lost condition. He proclaimed the work of Jesus at the cross and the resurrection, salvation in Jesus alone, and the terms of Jesus. I want to ask you a question. Were those messages Christ-centered, or were they man-centered? Were they Christ-centered, or were they heaven-centered?

Were they Christ-centered, or were they felt-need-centered? What right do we think we have to change the message? We have absolutely no right to change the focus of the message. But we're going to see tomorrow night that the number one evangelism program in America and in the world for the last 40 years is heaven-centered, and it's not Jesus-centered.

We're going to find out tomorrow night in the first session that not only have we moved away from the instruction manual as far as God's methods to carry out God's mission, but much of the evangelical church has moved away from the Christ-centered message and concocted a message that focuses on felt needs. Instead of Jesus. And that's how far behind I am, because that takes about 30 minutes to do, and we'll do it in the first session tomorrow night. And then we'll begin to study that Jesus-centered message in the second session and then the first session of Thursday night. You still love me? You have to love me now.

You can get mad at me, but you've got to love me. I pray the Spirit of God is revealing truth to you. God bless you, brother.