an Independent Baptist Web Magazine

Twenty first Century Truth and Testimony Sermon Archive

Dr. Bob Gray , (Fl)

Spiritual Success

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. -- Acts 20:17-21.Everyone loves a success story. Few men have ever excelled in the service of Christ as successfully as the Apostle Paul. Certainly his loyalty and devotion to Christ was signally blessed of the Lord. If any one person in the New Testament this side of the Saviour accomplished great things for God, it was Paul.
Since most all of us have our spiritual heroes, I must confess that this noble soldier of the cross is mine! I love to read about his exploits and labors during the early days of Christianity. By the standards of the Lord, he was a great preacher. By our contemporary ministerial standards, he was a complete flop and failureOh, how we need to get back to the New Testament pattern for our lives and for the work of our churches!

In order that you and I might attain spiritual success in our daily lives, I point out three profound spiritual truths in the text of this sermon which I believe the Lord would have us observe, then apply. May the blessed Holy Spirit enable us to discern the means by which we, too, may know that our ...labour in the Lord is not in vain, but successful by the appraisal of our Heavenly Father.I. PAUL’S MANNER  Consider the manner in which the Apostle Paul served the Lord. Calling the elders of the Ephesian church to the small oriental town of Miletus, he reviewed his ministry in their midst before kneeling for prayer and a last farewell.   

Nothing is more vital in the service of Christ than the attitude of the believer’s heart; consequently, Paul reminded them of the devotion for Jesus which characterized his labors on their behalf.   Consistency was the jewel of his sacred character. In verse 18 he tells them that they were aware of his manner ...at all seasons This admonition corresponds with his advice to young Timothy in II Timothy 4:2, Be instant in season, out of season. How much greater could be the advance of our soul-winning churches if we could somehow help our people realize the value of consistently serving our Lord! Most preachers who pastor churches of any size have never seen all of their members together in any one service. During my years as pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, I never saw our entire church congregation together for even one gospel service. About the time I’d think we were getting together, a goodly number who were present the previous Sunday did not show up for anything all day long! One group had to drive out to the country for a birthday party at Grandma’s. Another family had to go to Georgia to see their relatives. (This trip is always a must every third Sunday!) Still another family had company from out of town; so the combined group just had to motor to the ocean or some other point of scenic interest and neglect the Lord’s work completely. Many others had Sunday visitors and stayed home to entertain their guests.   May God have mercy on our sorry, miserable, sinful ways! Oh, how we need to put Christ first in our lives and serve Him consistently!   

One of the greatest curses is the inconsistency that prevails among most of our people. In spite of the scriptural command, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching, the faithful workers for Christ and His church are few and far between.   Frankly, I do not believe that God is impressed at all by these backsliders who come down the aisle to rededicate their lives, weep a barrel of tears, use up a box of kleenex at one altar service, then ask all to pray for them because they are now willing, for the first time in their lives, to die for Jesus. Bless their sorry hearts. They don’t even have enough dedication to make it back for the evening service!   

Listen! Before you get preoccupied about dying for Jesus, how about settling for just a life that will count for Him? The Lord isn’t looking for shooting stars to make a momentary blaze of glory but for shining lights who will live for Him day in and day out! It is sickening to realize that we have so many capable people who would rather lay out of church every third or fourth weekend than to accept the responsibility of teaching a Sunday school class or serving in some other capacity that will help to get people saved. 

May God help us to emulate the manner of the Apostle Paul in our daily Christian lives. 
Here we read that he served the Lord ...with all humility of mind. One of the most misunderstood terms in the Bible is this descriptive word humility. God commended this trait in the character of Moses. Humility was always evident in the life and ministry of Jesus. Your life and mine should manifest humility at all times.   Let me say right here, people who are humble don’t have to go around telling you that they are. Nothing is more contradictory than a man bragging on his humility! And let me say, too, this is a difficult spiritual virtue to acquire.   For example, it is impossible to go to college or seminary and take a course on humility! First -- who would teach such a course and still remain humble? Second -- where would you find a textbook for the course? I heard of one preacher who wrote a book on Humility and How I Attained It. I understand that the first ten pages are filled with pictures of the author! 

Some people ask what the word means. Humility is not going around with a long face and stooped shoulders -- that is nothing more than a sour disposition and poor posture. Humility is not unwillingness to take a bold stand for God and against sin -- that is sheer moral cowardice. Humility is not spinelessness and lack of intestinal fortitude -- that is nothing more than compromise. Humility is simply never forgetting that you and I are Hell-deserving sinners who have been saved by the grace and mercy of God!   
All through his life and ministry, the beloved apostle could not forget that he once persecuted the church of God, consented to the death of Stephen, and more than deserved to be in Hell! Gratitude for salvation by the blood of Jesus flowed forth from his heart continually. Wherever he went to preach, Paul knew that the only difference between himself and the heathen about him was the grace of God. If you and I could just keep that fact before us, how much more effective our service for the Lord Jesus Christ would be. 

Unfortunately, many churches today cater to the upper class or segment of society. If there is any place on earth where the poor and the rich, the educated and the uneducated, the moral the immoral, should meet together, it should be in a Bible-preaching church.   

Too many of our church workers today have no or little interest in those who are not either in or above their own income class. Such an attitude is an abomination in the sight of God. Like Paul, we should be willing to serve the Lord with all humility of mind. He witnessed to the small and great, to the rich and poor. So should you and so should I. When we get too good to talk with people from every walk of life about their need of Christ, rest assured that we have lost the meaning of humility.   Ponder his next statement, ...and with many tears. For the space of three years Paul had witnessed to the people of Ephesus day and night with tears.   Thank God for those Spirit-filled compassionate soul winners who still know how to weep over the lost! Most church members and preachers these days only weep over the sad scenes of a television tragedy and lose their tears when they get to church. Jesus wept over the lost and was unashamed of His manly tears of compassion. 

How we need to be more like Him in our quest for souls. Remember -- tears are a necessary part of any successful soul-winning program! One of my favorite Bible passages Psalm 126:5, 6: They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Long ago the Lord impressed the assurance of these two verses on my heart as a theme for my ministry.   During my college days at Stetson University, a professor made fun of any preacher who got emotional in the pulpit. He said that tears were unbecoming to a man of dignity and culture. 

Impressed for a while, I tried to forget the import of these Scriptures and seek college culture! It wasn’t long until I became as cold spiritually as a block of marble. How I thank God that He put my spiritual gears in reverse and used these blessed verses by the psalmist to revive my cold heart. My friend, if we have no tears for the lost, we need not expect to see sinners come to Christ. God wants us to weep over them, to ponder their plight, and to pray for their salvation with a broken heart.   
Notice also that Paul was confronted with many temptations which arose as a result of opposition by his kinsman according to the flesh. Everywhere he went to preach the gospel of Christ, Jewish zealots opposed him and tried to hinder his ministry. On several occasions, they even resorted to extreme measures -- attempting to take his life.   

Sometimes our most severe trials come not from our enemies but from our friends and those to whom we are related. Jesus said that ...a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. Every faithful servant of Christ will experience heartaches sooner or later from those who ought to be his friends and boosters. The church or preacher today who stands uncompromisingly for the truth can expect to be criticized and opposed by those who should be praying for him!   Some of my primary critics in Jacksonville were Baptist preachers and church members who took upon themselves to try to throttle our labors and silence that ministry for Christ. People accused me of being everything from mentally unbalanced to a first-class religious racketeer. Well, praise God! I count it an honor to be a fool for Christ and hope to keep raising a racket against the Devil and his crowd until Jesus comes again! 

In a number of instances, in our city, either I or one of the soul winners in our church would go into a home, get somebody saved and obtain his or her promise to come and make profession of faith in the Sunday services. Then, when these didn’t appear in the services on next Lord’s day, we went back to see if perhaps someone was ill or perhaps there was a lack of understanding about the decision for Christ. Imagine our surprise when some told us that some friend or neighbor who attended a certain Baptist church in the city warned them against joining our church under any circumstances. These religious zealots told them that we we not real Baptists, that our church was not like the rest of the Baptist churches, and they would not want to be a part of our church under any circumstances.   Well, I’m glad our church was not like most of the Baptist churches in the city, and by the grace of God, we had no intentions of becoming like most of them.   

I tried to remind my people about once a month if the stand of our church on separation was embarrassing to anybody, then I would invite them either to come to the altar, repent and get right with God or else move their letter before Sunday night! I didn’t want a bunch of mealy-mouthed church members going around town apologizing for me and the spiritual members of our church who meant business for God and who took a scriptural stand on separation. We got more opposition in Jacksonville from the forces of organized religion than we did from the combined efforts of the crooked politicians, brewery operators, tavern owners and peddlers of pornography and the operators of the lewd movies! And, brother, that included a lot of territory! Finally, to labor for Christ in the manner of Paul means to follow the Bible regardless of whom it might offend or involve. Observe that he said, I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. This old soldier of the cross wasn’t looking for personal gain, civic prestige, ministerial compliments for denominational recognition! He simply wanted to hear Jesus say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.   

You and I are living in a day when people want a preacher who will tickle their ears, cater to their vanity and be a good social mixer. Not very many Sunday morning congregations are hearing a thus saith the Lord sermon these days.   Paul preached what they needed to hear, not what some church committee or board of deacons wanted to hear. Just as no little child welcomes correction and chastening, neither does a carnal church member want a spiritual admonition. 

Isn’t it strange how inconsistent some of the saints of God can be? I know church members who seek the services of a physician about some bodily ailment and come away bragging on how rough the doctor treated them in the examination before ordering surgery. Then I have seen these same people get mad, show resentment, threaten to leave the church and withhold their tithes because the preacher dealt with them honestly from the Word of God. How strangely we Baptists behave! We pay the doctor for bad news, thank the physician for causing us bodily pain, then recommend his services to our friends and neighbors because he did what was best for us, instead of telling us what we might like to have heard rather than endure the ordeal of surgery. 
The best friend any born-again Christian has ever had or ever will have is the faithful pastor and evangelist who will deal honestly with your soul and life from the Bible. When we get our spiritual toes stepped on, we should thank God for the truth, congratulate the preacher for having the courage to tell us about our condition, and help pay his salary by giving faithfully in tithes and offerings. God help us to try to get every lost person we know out to hear a man of God like this preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and His Gospel. Second, please consider, 

II. PAUL’S’ METHOD One of the first and most vital lessons every teacher must learn is the importance of practicing what you preach or teach. Some people teach their children good manners in public, then wonder when their children get away from home, why they act just like they do A lot of preachers and Sunday school teachers teach excellent subject matter but never get around to putting any of it into practice. It is one thing to know about a method but quite another to practice it.   

Paul was not one of these preachers who was always telling his people how to serve the Lord acceptably, then never rendered any service for the Lord Jesus himself. He said, I have shewed you, and have taught you. If a pastor expects his people to witness for Christ and win souls, then he must not only preach and teach soul winning but he must also win souls himself.   

Quite disgustingly, this is the day of armchair experts. In almost every walk of life we have people who want to tell you how to get the job done who have never done the job. Isn’t it strange that most of the professors in college and seminary who teach church administration have never successfully pastored a church for very long? Have you ever noticed how many of these books on How to Have a Revival are written by preachers who have never had one? Really, you haven’t lived until you have attended one of these denominational clinics where the briefcase boys gather around statistical reports to analyze the problems of the work. You come away from such conferences more confused than ever, while the ecclesiastical executives move to reconsider the problem at next month’s meeting.  

May God help us simply to set a scriptural example so both young and old may learn by doing.   

For many years it was my privilege to challenge our people on Wednesday evenings to join hearts and hands with me and our staff, board of deacons and the officers of our church, to knock on doors and do soul-winning visitation. Although we were not averaging the number that we should have been, we generally averaged a little over 300 people per week who would go out to witness for the Lord Jesus.   

The book of Acts certainly points out the pattern by which the Lord’s work is to be carried on. Pastors and laymen everywhere are constantly searching for some revolutionary method by which success can be obtained, yet no contemporary method of church work or evangelism has ever been able to improve upon the simple methods used by Paul. Believe me, this observation in verse 20 is profound! Just fasten your seatbelt and try to take it in! The best and most effective method of getting people saved and building up the church is publickly, and from house to house. You theological students might want to make a marginal note in your Bibles as I give you the meaning of this verse from the Greek. Would you like to know what it says in the original? It says publickly, and from house to house! 

But you say, Preacher, do you mean like a Fuller Brush man?. Yes, just like a Fuller Brush man! You mean just like an insurance agent?. Yes, just like an insurance agent. You mean just like a vegetable peddler?. Yes, just like an ordinary vegetable peddler! You just can’t improve on this plan from the Word of God.   The first phase of Paul’s twofold method is the public preaching and teaching of the Word of God. In I Corinthians 1:21, we learn that it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Any Christian, therefore, who is not faithful to the preaching services of his church is rejecting one of the means by which God has ordained that souls should be saved. Every vacant seat in the assembly of the saints is an indication that Christians do not really care for the salvation of the lost. 

In most of our churches today, there is a great crowd on Sunday morning but very few return for the Sunday evening service. The attendance for any kind of a midweek prayer service is drastically reduced. Pastors exhaust themselves continually trying to find some new gimmick to get folks out for the preaching services. The day is long since gone when the Bible looms as the focal point in all of our gatherings at the meeting house of God! 

Listen! If we will follow the pattern pursued by Paul, then both young and old will eagerly respond to any invitation for Bible preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit. 
Beginning with the pastor and his family, every elected officer and teacher in the church should be faithful to all of the preaching services. If our leadership does not set the right example, how can we expect others to grow spiritually and mature in faithfulness? If people learn anything at all under your ministry as pastor, I pray that it will be faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ and His church.   

Consider also the second phase in the method of Paul -- simple, yet profound. In the last portion of that verse we are told that he witnessed for Christ ...from house to house.   My, how Satan fights any effort of a Christian to follow this scriptural procedure! Among the people called Baptists, it is almost a lost art these days. About the only religious group that really works this method in our day and time is the sect called Jehovah’s Witnesses. While their doctrine about salvation will damn your soul in Hell forever, their teaching on house-to-house visitation is right. Just as most Baptists have relegated anything connected with the Holy Spirit to the Pentecostal movement, even so have they assigned anything pertaining to door-knocking for Jesus to the cult of Jehovah’s (so-called) Witnesses! 

Believe me when I tell you, on the authority of the Word of God, that there is no substitute for house-to-house visitation. It is the method that God has ordained and the method that He will bless. Almost two-thirds of the people who made profession of faith in Christ in our services were won to Christ in house-to-house visitation. 

I never cease to be amazed at the relatively small number of baptisms that some of the largest Baptist churches in this country have from year to year in spite of huge budgets and large staffs. Even though we are not winning as many as we should, I still praise God that we are on the right track as far as the method is concerned. 
Some of you have been on soul-winning visitation once and never responded again. If the Devil ever did try to discourage one of God’s children, it would surely have been on the day when that person went on visitation for the first time. If you ever get bitten by a dog, have a flat tire, wake up with a headache, or get blessed out by some crank, it will be when you try to follow Paul’s method in personal soul winning! 

But go back and stay with it! Don’t get discouraged. Determine that you are going to do right regardless of the consequences. In due time, Paul says ...we shall reap, if we faint not. If you feel that this method is beneath your religious dignity, then your brand of spiritual starch is too stiff. Get a batch of prospect cards and let the Holy Ghost iron out your wrinkles. I can think of no other church activity that will so separate the saints from the backsliders like this one. Whether you get much support or not, just remember that you are obeying the Saviour and following His holy command when you are faithful to the services of a Bible-preaching church and knock on doors to seek the salvation of lost sinners. Having His approval is really all that matters anyway. 
But the use of the method is not complete with   

III. PAUL’S MESSAGE   Since we know that the Gospel of Christ is ...the power of God unto salvation for all that believe, there should be no question as to what Paul preached. In this day of pastoral psychology and sociological emphasis in religious circles, we need to follow the example of Paul.   Today, sinners are invited to join the church without any question about their being saved. Most of think nothing of bringing their sinful ways with them, so there is hardly any line of demarcation between the world and the church.   

It is nothing unusual in our generation to hear about a deacon who takes a social drink, smokes and serves on the board of directors for some liquor distributing firm.   
One of our ladies went to a women’s missionary society circle meeting from another church in our city and found that only she and one other lady out of all of those present did not light up a cigarette during the course of the meeting!   Several of the Baptist churches in Jacksonville sponsored dances for the young people, and not a few encouraged their young people to attend social functions at the church in shorts and T-shirts.   

Oh, may God help us to preach so that lost people may know that we are saved from something as well as for something! 

Salvation has always been a matter of faith, but faith without an object never saves anyone. Many of the popular songs today have much to say about faith and I believe; but, lost friend, your faith and belief in nothing will not save you. You must have repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. In Him you must see a substitute who died in your place on the cross of Calvary for your sin. The name of Jesus is necessary for salvation.   Acts 4:12 says, For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. It is nothing less than tragic that so many lost people attend churches where book reviews are replacing the preaching of the Gospel. Organizational programs did more to kill the Wednesday night prayer meeting service than any other single influence. 

The services in some churches are so formal and liturgical that an invitation for souls to be saved is considered out of date. May the Lord challenge us through the message of Paul to preach Christ and His Gospel to a lost and dying world. Some of our most widely used preachers and evangelists today have agreed that the ripest field for evangelism in America is the Sunday morning congregations of our churches. People have been going to church for years but hear no gospel challenge when they get there. This is an hour of crisis. Multitudes are going to an eternal Hell with each passing moment. Their only hope is to hear about an opportunity to exercise faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.   

With God’s help, may we have a burning desire to proclaim this message publicly, then take it from house to house. In closing, please observe that Paul preached to both Jew and Gentile the same Gospel. Even though it is not considered the ethical thing to proselyte a Jew in these modern times, they are lost and will go to Hell without Jesus Christ just like a Gentile or anyone else. Jesus had but one message for Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: Ye must be born again. Our witnessing must be for both Jew and Gentile alike. Very few of our churches have any Jewish converts as members. We are being very polite and tolerant while they go out into eternity lost and without Christ.

The message of Paul is not limited by geographical proximity.   
It is not simply another Gospel to be regarded as competitive with world religions; it is the only hope of the lost sinner in the darkness of sin. What a blessing and thrill it was through many years to see God help us reach people with the Gospel from virtually every walk of life in Jacksonville. In one of our visitation testimony meetings, a dear Christian lady, who had only been saved a few months, stood to her feet and, with a sob in her voice and tears in her eyes, told how a member of our church had come to her home very week for almost a year to tell her about the Lord Jesus and to urge her to get saved. She told how she regretted to see her come, would try to avoid the faithful witness and even resented all that she had to say from the Word of God about her spiritual need. However, she thanked God for the persistence of this Christian lady who was determined to win her to Christ. 

We do not have to have barren services in our churches. We do not have to have cobwebs in the baptistry or wonder where the glory went! First-century methods will produce first-century results in 21st-century churches. God help us to believe the principles of this passage and put them into practice.   

My friend without Christ, won’t you right now realize that you need to be saved and do something about the matter? Romans 10:13 is a wonderful verse of Scripture that tells how to be saved. Believe it, receive it, then confess your faith in Christ to confirm the experience. The passage says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. God help you to do it right now, is my prayer. 

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