This is number two in a series of four lectures on how to give away your faith. The speaker is the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector at Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia. His topic for tonight is The Right Message. If I could just summarize a little bit of what we were dealing with last week, I'm going to come at it slightly differently than we did, so I'm not just repeating myself. But if I could step back from that first lecture, it seems to me that what we were looking at, what we might say, were the three principal motives for evangelism. There may be others in addition to these, but amongst the motives for evangelism, the three principal ones, as I understand it, would be first and foremost, because Jesus has commanded it, you shall be my witnesses.

Acts 1.8 Go ye therefore into all the world making disciples of every nation baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always. Go ye. It's not an option.

He's commanded us to be involved in the business of winning men to himself in the cause of the gospel. Secondly, because if we've really been born of the Spirit, we've received the gift of new life from God through Christ, I think almost as a reflexive action, our love wells up within us and can't be contained. Certainly this should be the case.

If you look at Paul, you see him saying things like this in Romans, the first chapter. He says, I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor.

both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. I'm a debtor to all men. Now, how come?

Because if I've received something from Jesus Christ which I didn't earn, in fact, in no way could earn, if it more than meets my needs and there's some left over, and if the guy next to me is in desperate trouble without it, then I'm indebted to share it. I have an obligation. RSV translates it.

I'm under obligation, both to Greeks and barbarians, to share this gospel. He says to the Corinthians, in the first Corinthians chapter 9, he says, I've become all things to all men, that by all means I might save some. Become all things to all men.

To the Jew I became as a Jew, To the Greek I became as a Greek. To the wise I became as wise. To the foolish I humbled myself and became as a fool.

Because my love is welling up for them. As I've received love, I've just got to pass it on. And the most startling statement I think that he ever made, again in Romans chapter 9, speaking of his brethren, the Jews, who had not yet received the Messiah, He said, I could wish myself accursed for my brethren's sake.

If it would do any good. Obviously it wouldn't. But if it would do any good, if my being cursed by God could lead them to know His marvelous love, I would wish myself accursed. And you see how his heart has been touched.

That he would be willing to forfeit the very thing that motivates him. That's how much he's motivated. that's attention there isn't there thirdly because of the aching heart the desperate need of the unbeliever himself how are they to call upon him in whom they have not believed or believe in him of whom they have never heard and how will they hear of them unless someone preach and how will they preach unless they be sent you know the passage from Romans 10 Peter in Acts 4 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.

There's a desperate need, and it will not be met except through the Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching of His gospel. And so I'm motivated to share that truth. And lest we think that the apostles took off and developed that themselves, Jesus, two verses after the most famous and well-beloved verse in the whole Bible, which is what?

John 3.16, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him should not perish, have everlasting life. Two verses later, Jesus Himself says, He who does not believe is condemned already.

There's a desperate need on the part of the unbeliever. I don't think we hear enough about that, and we certainly don't think enough about it. But those three things ought to motivate us.

Number one, God has commanded it. It's not an option. It's part of the package.

Number two, if we've really been touched and changed by the Holy Spirit, then there ought to be welling up within us a love for those around us. And parallel to that, the other side of the coin, is the desperate need of the unbeliever to come into this new experience of grace. I said last week that evangelism is the principle raison d'etre for the existence of the church and I hope you really heard that there are lots and lots of other things for which the church exists to worship to nurture to care for the poor to bless our society in which we live to legislate to the extent that we're able for social justice and so on But the principal reason for the existence of the church is the proclamation of the gospel.

We've already seen in the Great Commission, we were dealing last week with a comment by St. Peter. And as soon as we discover who we are, we also discover that God has called us to declare the marvelous works of him who called us out of darkness into light. I'd like to just add to all of that Paul's statement that if you confess with your lips as well as believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, then, and only then, you will be saved.

If you confess with your lips, now that's not just to God, and it's not just to our fellow believers, but it's in the public eye. If you're willing to stand up and confess Jesus Christ, even in the face of hostility, that's part of the package. Remember, Jesus said, if you don't confess me, then neither will I confess you before my Father and the holy angels.

So I would have to say that if we don't get involved in the business of articulating the gospel, of sharing it verbally, as well as attempting to live it out, then our faith, at the very least, is lacking something. It's not full-blown. And it may be that it's not really saving faith at all.

That's a very heavy word. But I want us to really see that very, very clearly. Now, three encouragements to us in the light of that.

First of all, I'd encourage us to try to get our presuppositions straight. are presuppositions straight about the people that we're dealing with. And more specifically, what I'm urging you is that you would take your stand firmly, boldly, unashamedly on what God has said about human nature rather than on what men say about themselves.

That will begin to liberate you. For instance, people will say, I just don't feel any need for God. Right?

You've heard that a thousand times. I just, you know, if that's your trip, fine, but I don't feel any need. God has said this is their most desperate need.

And it's not principally a matter of feelings. But even if you want to rely on feelings, there certainly will come a moment, sooner or later, when they feel that need. So let's not be diverted from what God has said about the reality of their need simply on the basis of what they say about whether or not they feel it.

The great Danish theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, one time said that the person who least feels it may be in the greatest trouble because he suppressed it and pushed it down. So take our stand on the fact that God has said that he is in desperate need even if on the surface of things it appears that he's really got it together. Don't be dissuaded by apparent success.

He's got a happy family, a good job, home, the country, car, you know, etc. He's in terrible need. And he may not even know it, but he will come to know it because God is gracious enough to remind him of it. Secondly, God has said that men know that God is there.

Men know there's a God, regardless of how vociferously they deny it. Take your stand on what God has said. Romans chapter 1, verse 19, What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature, namely His eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.

Some of you went through the Roman series with me, and we came back to this verse over and over again. It's built into human nature to know that there is a God. God doesn't tell us how He did that or how we know it.

He's hinted that the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament is proclaiming His handiwork. He's hinted that we have a conscience that witnesses to us of the reality of a creator who is holy and just and holds us responsible.

He doesn't fill in all the details. He simply asserts that to be a human being is to know. Deep down inside you, you may have suppressed it.

You may have tried to hide it. You may have even kidded yourself. But the truth of the matter is somewhere down inside you know there's a God.

Don't be dissuaded when people tell you, I don't believe. In fact, they may even say, I wish I could believe, but I just don't. You know what that is? That's a confession of moral compromise.

Of moral compromise. Jesus said, if anyone is willing to do God's will, he'll know the truth of my teaching. It's a matter of your will, not a matter of your intellect, primarily.

And as a matter of fact, if somebody says something like that to you, I'll give you the answer. The answer is, well, supposing that I could answer all of your questions, Now, undoubtedly, I can't. But just supposing I could, supposing that I could answer every theological and philosophical objection that you could ever come up with, would you then be prepared to give your life to Jesus Christ? And the penny will drop.

Because if the person is honest, he'll admit that the real problem is not a matter of intellectual skepticism. The real problem is, I don't want somebody else telling me what to do. I'd rather be my own boss I'd rather be my own Lord if anyone is willing to do God's will he won't have any trouble with my teaching says Jesus thirdly I'd suggest to you that men know sin to be sinful again regardless of how much they deny it we've been created in the image of God whatever else that means it means that we share to some limited extent a moral nature with him.

We can distinguish right from wrong. And I'd suggest to you that that's the thing which distinguishes us from other creatures on the face of the earth. It's not our intelligence.

At least it's not yours. You know, it may turn out that the porpoise is as intelligent as you are. Maybe.

Maybe. But that's not the thing that makes you human. the thing that makes you human is the capability of moral decision and men know sin to be sinful and even if they deny it about themselves all you have to do is ask them about others and that by the way is the background of C.S. Lewis's argument in mere Christianity I used to get into these wonderful debates with collegians and with some of my students back in prep school and they'd give me how there was no right and wrong and no good and evil and it was totally relative.

You know, and I'd take this for about 15 minutes and then I'd come up to one of them and kick him in the shins. And immediately, how dare you? Who are you to do that to me?

Right? As if there was some real moral offense there. I said, but you've just told me there's no right and wrong.

Why are you getting angry? Huh? fourthly God has said that sin leads to confusion rather than the other way around sin leads to confusion rather than the other way around this is an elaboration of what I just said a few moments ago you know i wish i could believe but i can't your problem is sin that's why your mind is confused with all these arguments these endless problems that you're bringing up get your presupposition straight i'm urging you to take your stand firmly on what god has said about human nature rather than being dissuaded by what men say of themselves simply speak and witness to them of what the scripture has to say and god will use it they may get angry with you they may laugh at you they may deny it but it'll register and god will bring it back to their conscious at some consciousness at some point when they are ready to deal with it karen my wife tells her testimony of finally having done a an outspoken atheist for several years finally coming to a moment of total desperation when the bottom had dropped out of her life, contemplating suicide and suddenly remembering what some Baptist friends of hers had been saying, which she had laughed at for years, that totally irrespective of her opinions on the matter, there really was a God.

And the fact that she chose to disbelieve in him didn't make him suddenly disappear. And she sat there on her bedroom floor and said, what if? what if in spite of all my arguments all my clever arguments what if God's existence has been there right along unfazed by my rebellion God will take it and use it when the person is ready second encouragement is this our job is to confess the Holy Spirit's job is to convince.

And when you let that one settle in on you, you'll feel a great relief. Your job is not to convince somebody. Your job is simply to witness to the truth as lovingly, as charitably, as honestly as you can.

And believe, as I've just said, that God will take that and use it for His own purposes. John chapter 16 and verse 8 and following. Jesus says, he's talking to his disciples right before the betrayal and his crucifixion, and he's promising that though he's about to depart the scene, there will be another counselor who will come to take his place.

And he says in verse 8, and when he comes, he will convince, or King James translates it, convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. If you explore the definitions of those three words in the following couple of verses, it really entails the whole of the gospel. He, the Holy Spirit, whom I will send, will convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Up in the preceding chapter, the end of chapter 15, he says, When the Counselor comes, whom I shall send you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to me, and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. You're witnesses, and He's the witness. And He'll take your witness and add to it, and He will convince.

It's our job to proclaim this Lord Jesus Christ and to trust God to do the convincing. I'd like us to note that evangelism may have several phases to it. several steps.

God is doing a careful work in most people's lives. And we needn't come in and think that the whole thing depends upon me doing it right here, right now. I'm a link in a chain.

Began in early childhood. Maybe began in the womb. Maybe began before the foundation of the world.

Paul said, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. And he went on to say, so then he who plants is nothing. He who waters is nothing.

The only thing that counts is that God gives the increase. So, again, don't feel that it all depends on you. You make your witness and believe God will use it in his time.

You may have the great privilege of being the one who actually helps somebody else come to that moment of yielding his life to the Lord Jesus, but don't take credit for it. There are lots and lots and lots of other people who have had a part to play in that. You just happen to be there at the right time to be the midwife.

And on the other hand, as I say, don't think that you've got to force it either, because you may just produce a spiritual abortion rather than a new birth. Secondly, I'd like to note also that the real key to effective evangelism is not the cleverness of our argument, but the consistency of our prayer. Leighton Ford, one of the most powerful messages I've ever heard, said that this and this alone is the secret, the hidden secret in evangelism.

Do you realize that Billy Graham has thousands of people praying 24 hours a day, round the clock, for his ministry? The key to successful evangelism is the power of prayer. Thirdly, again, a third encouragement, and here we come to the homework for today, is the business of developing an outline.

The business of developing an outline. Knowing where you're going. Knowing where you're going.

If given the opportunity. If given the access to someone's mind and heart for a few minutes to share with that person the gospel of Jesus Christ, the point of developing an outline is not that it be some kind of a straitjacket cramping your style, but rather that it be a tool to set you free in evangelism, that you know where you're going. Peter Marshall, the late chaplain to the U.S. Senate, used to say, aim at nothing, you're sure to hit it.

Aim at nothing, you're sure to hit it. I've encouraged you to begin working on an outline of the Gospel, not as some kind of narrow, rigid, canned approach, but as a tool so that you know, if given the opportunity, where you're going. It's like a road map.

It doesn't preclude some detours. But if you take one, you know how to get back, back on track, back aiming to the goal. So, I've said three things by way of encouragement.

One, get our presuppositions straight. Rely on what God has said about people rather than what they say about themselves. That will liberate you as you're dealing with them.

Secondly, get our goals straight. It's our job to confess, not to convince. And that liberates me too because the terrible weight of convincing is not mine but the Holy Spirit's. And thirdly, developing an outline.

Getting our facts straight, if you will. There are lots and lots of ways to outline the Gospel and I want you to be very clear that no one way is sacrosanct and what we're about to develop here in the next few minutes is not by any means the final or the only word on the subject. You could develop an outline of the gospel dozens and dozens of ways.

Just give you some for instances. Campus Crusade. How many of you are aware of the four spiritual laws?

Okay, but it looks like about a third of us. Campus Crusade for Christ. powerful, powerful organization that began on the university campus and now has reached out into armed forces and lots and lots of other ministries.

Their basic tool is a little booklet called The Four Spiritual Laws, and it's a summary, an outline summary of the gospel. And I'll just paraphrase it for you. The first law is God has a wonderful plan for your life.

Second is, unfortunately, you blew it. Third is, but Jesus Christ came to mop up the mess you made. And the fourth is, you've got to accept him.

That's my paraphrase, but that's essentially it. And that's a beautiful outline of the Gospel. And if you feel comfortable using that little booklet, use it.

I mentioned Stott's Basic Christianity. And essentially, that is just an elaboration of an outline of the Gospel. And again, it's a four-point outline.

Number one, who Jesus Christ is. Number two, what man's need is. Number three, what Jesus Christ did about man's need.

And number four, what man has to do about what Jesus did. Or, in Stott's words, Christ's person, man's need, Christ's work, man's response. If you really work that out, you'll have a marvelous outline of the Gospel.

And you might be more comfortable working from that than the one that I'm about to share with you. Marty Patterson, who's Canada's leading Anglican evangelist, has a five-point outline. He simply defines these five words, sin, law, grace, love, and faith.

Thorough, adequate understanding of those five words would, of necessity, encompass the gospel. Sin, law, grace, love, and faith. You begin to get the point.

Lots of ways of summarizing the gospel. No one is sacrosanct. My favorite, in all honesty, is the one that the apostles themselves used.

Coming out of the book of Acts, one of my theses in seminary was to study the speeches in the book of Acts. And I discovered, without a whole lot of forcing it, that there is pretty consistently a seven-point outline of the gospel in the speeches as recorded in the book of Acts. It varies a little bit according to circumstance.

Sometimes they don't always have all seven points, and sometimes they rearrange the order, depending on whether they're speaking to Jews or Greeks or what have you. But it's fascinating. And if you really want a fascinating Bible study, just go through the book of Acts, and look every time Peter or Paul gets up to evangelize or starts talking to somebody on a personal basis, and see how they express the gospel.

And I suggest that it falls into these seven statements. Number one, what the prophets said. That's where they usually began, because most of the time they were dealing with Jews.

They're talking from the Old Testament scriptures. Here's what the prophets predicted about Messiah. Number two, what Jesus did.

And of course, the congruence is immediate. What they said and what he did are one and the same. Number three, what you did.

And there's an accusation. You see Peter standing up on the day of Pentecost, but you illegally put to death the Lord of life. Guilt, shame, culpability.

Number four, what God did. You thought it was all over, but God raised him up and has exalted him to the position of Lord in Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Number five, what we are doing now.

We're proclaiming to you the things that we've seen with our own eyes. Eyewitness testimony. Number six, what you may do.

An invitation. Even though justice might say that you deserve eternal punishment, God is merciful and doesn't want that for you, and you now have the invitation to repent and receive this Lord Jesus and enter into salvation. And seven, what will happen, the promise of life eternal, forgiveness of sins, and so on.

I love that outline, especially for dealing with Jewish people. What the prophets said, what Jesus did, what you did, and of course remember that the you includes all of us, what God did, what we are doing now in proclaiming all this, what you may do, and what will happen. our purpose then in dealing with an outline of the gospel is not to say all that might possibly be said but rather to summarize briefly what is essential for saving faith this is just a backbone just a skeleton or in the other image just a road map and you can add to it fill in the details get a topographical map show all the beautiful scenery around the place but know what's central, what's essential what's the heart of the issue and I hope that as we develop our outlines we're going to get to the point where we're so comfortable with them they become so much a part of us that they're not at all mechanical but we could start at any point depending on the conversation depending on the other person, depending on the circumstances.

We know the gospel. We've reduced it to such a concrete, simple expression that we could start at any point and move very comfortably around and eventually cover all of it. It's like any good salesman, right?

You go down to Ted Britt Ford and it may take you two hours to conclude your conversation with the salesman, but you just better believe that long before you ever walked in that door, he knew where he was going if you let him. And he's mastered his facts and he knows what's most essential and he's comfortable with it so that he can develop according if you're into leatherette, you know, that's what he'll talk about. And if you're more interested in superchargers, that's what he'll talk about, right?

But he's got his outline and that's what we're talking about. I mentioned last week the difference between witnessing and evangelism per se. Witnessing is the appetizer, the tantalizer, if you will, the bait.

What God has done in my life, maybe you can relate to that. I was in this kind of a bind and God took me out of it. But that's not evangelism.

That's pre-evangelism. That's a preparation for evangelism. Evangelism is not what God has done for me in my life in the last six months.

Evangelism, what God has done for you in Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. The facts. Okay, so we come to our outline.

And I want to get some feedback from you. I asked you to work on an outline that would develop from four words God man Christ and response and then the assignment was that you were to come up with no more than three statements about each of these words and no less than three biblical references that would support each of those statements okay somebody start us off. What would be the most important thing that you would want to say about God?

God is love. Okay? Give us some references, Kitty. Kitty. What's the reference? Jeremiah 31 to 3 okay I've loved you with an everlasting love another for God is love 1 John 4 8 definition God is love you couldn't have it any more clearly than that how many of you had as one of your statements that God is love alright that's pretty good how many of you would agree with Kitty that that's the most important thing that you'd want to say about God not quite so many but nearly somebody give me an alternative God is the creator of all things God is the creator of all things universe the world and mankind is that what you said Okay. How many had that one? God is the creator. Okay.

How many of you would say that's the most important thing? You didn't say it was most important? You just said it was important.

All right. It's hard to pick on it. It is. I understand. Do you think that was hard?

Wait until next week's homework. You'll love it. Another characteristic or another statement.

Sorry, I got two at once. Somebody over here? All right, terrific.

That's an expansion here. God is love and God gave. And you might even say loving is giving.

And of course you quoted from John 3.16. Another characteristic. Mercy.

okay omnipotent you might tie that in with creator what did Billy say? just alright God is just what? I would like to suggest to you I'd like to suggest to you and please don't take this on my say so but I'd really urge you to search out the scriptures for yourself and see whether I'm right that the most important thing that you could say about God is that he's holy holy that's not to deny any of the other things that you've said nor is it to deny or minimize their importance but I'd like to suggest to you that if you really read the whole sweep of the scripture from end to end, that the predominant thing that we learn about God is that he is absolute purity.

And as a matter of fact, I'd like to suggest to you that you can't really begin to understand his love until you've really wrestled with his holiness. Because his love, apart from his holiness, degenerates into sentimentality as it does for us. The only statement about God that is repeated three times in the scripture from Isaiah 6, holy, holy, holy.

Right? And that's not by accident. There are several things in several places that might be repeated twice.

You know, that really lends extra force to it. Jesus often said, verily, verily, I say. Truly, truly.

The only thing that's repeated three times about God is the seraphim are singing his praises, holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. And I've said several times in previous lectures that the question of the Bible is how can sinful man stand before holy God? That's the dilemma of human nature.

So I'd like to suggest that as one of the points. Of course, they overlap here. His justice and his holiness are pretty nearly two ways of saying the same thing.

Priscilla had a question or a comment. Well, I took this assignment in terms of evangelism, and if I were talking to someone who didn't know God at all and I was transversed in him, So one of the segments I said is God is our holy father, we are his children. To give them an identification, not to see that he is a God, but our holy father. Okay. Let me make a comment. I think probably the easiest way is to let me rip through this as quickly as I can and then have some open discussion at the end of it. But let me make a comment on that.

That could be helpful, but it might be a confusing statement. It combines two characteristics, and it somewhat fudges a very important question of who are, in fact, the children of God. I think the popular mentality is that if there's a God, then surely all of us are his children.

And we all understand that. That means, in the sense of God having begotten, you know, the little Tweety Birds in the universe itself. But a more biblical way of speaking, and we'll come to this in just a moment, is that those who are God's children are only those who have come into new birth through Jesus Christ.

So to say, God is our Holy Father. That's two different aspects being combined there. And we are his children.

Who's the we? You know? All of us.

See? which may minimize the necessity of conversion. Let me just move on through this as quickly as I can.

I'm suggesting that whatever else you might want to say about God is that we need to have a sense of his holiness and justice on the one hand that has the immediate implication that he cannot abide sin. Right? And then on the other hand, his love and his mercy and his desire to forgive sin.

that this is the paradox, this is the tension, this is the balance within the person of God himself, that he's holy and just and cannot tolerate sin, will not look upon it, will not permit it in his presence. It's not how much arsenic you drink, right? It's the fact of arsenic.

Any is too much. Any sin is too much. God is radical, absolute, burning holiness, cannot abide sin, and yet at the same time is loving, compassionate, merciful, desires no one to be lost, is anxious that all would be saved.

I'll give you a few verses on that. I've already quoted from Isaiah 6, holy, holy, holy. Matthew 3, verses 1 to 12, described the ministry of John the Baptist as the forerunner for Jesus, calling men to repentance, that they might be ready to meet their God as he comes in Jesus Christ.

And the final statement that he makes in Matthew 3.12 is his winnowing fork is in his hand, he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Holiness of God that cannot abide sin. Hebrews 12, verses 25 to 29, our God is a consuming fire.

On the other hand, we come to His love, His mercy, His desire to forgive. Isaiah 43, verse 25 says, I am He who blots out transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. you could turn to any number of passages of course couldn't you Mark 2 verses 1 to 12 Jesus heals the man who is let down through the roof his four friends bring him and tear away the tiles let him down into their midst but before he does that he says my son your sins are forgiven who is this to forgive sins that you might know that the son of man has power to forgive sins take up your bed and walk.

2 Peter 3 verse 9 God is not desiring that any should perish. But I'm trying to give you in these verses and by the way this will all be available at the door on your way out. But I want you to take your own notes so you make it your own.

I'm trying to give you an Old Testament verse, a verse from the Gospel, and something else from the New Testament, be it the book of Acts or one of the epistles, all saying the same thing. So, at least these two points, God is holy and just and cannot abide sin, is loving and merciful and wants to forgive sin. Anybody want to add to that?

Is there anything that would... The essential character of God, God is a spirit that might be helpful many that's good that might be a development of his holiness he's jealous for his own namesake he's jealous for his character and for his creation yes in the back row He's worthy. That's lovely.

Right. He's worthy to be praised. Again, I think that emerges from both of the other two.

Robin? It could be not needing to be said, but I wonder if there's a necessary to stress that He is. Hebrews does.

That not only is there a God, but He is who is. Right. Right. Hebrews says, anyone who would please God must first believe that He is and that he's the rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

Very helpful. And of course his name for himself is I am who I am. Okay, so in other words you might want to say more than I've said, but don't say less.

Alright? Whatever else you say, God is holy and God is loving. Okay?

Let's come to the statements about man. what would you say is most important about man man is made in the image of God what does that mean Chet that means that on this earth he has the potentiality for the fulfillment of all that are God-like in God. Is that too ambitious? Probably you need to define and define. I think it's a marvelous statement. It may be a little bit beyond a simple understanding.

I won't disagree with it. What else? Will somebody else take a crack?

know what you said about man sinner okay if you really define what this means and we work out you know what man was and is created to be then immediately we see the problem that he's falling short of what he was created to be He created us to be the church, his bride, the Lamb's wife. Okay. Created us to be the church, right? The church, his bride. What was the other? The Lamb's wife. The Lamb's wife. Okay. the remnant. My problem with that is the same as this. I agree, of course, with all of it, but unless you already know what all those terms mean, that doesn't explain a whole lot.

You'd have to go through and unlock each one of the phrases again. Eugene Nida calls this Protestant Latin. What else would you say?

Yes, S. good good that's what I would want to unpack from this original statement from chat it may mean more than that but I personally would begin with the idea that man was created for a purpose and the purpose was fellowship with God as I say being created in the image of God may mean more than that as I suggested a few minutes ago has to deal with our moral sensitivity and so on but that we were created not just to be the masters of our own fate the captains of our own ship and so on we were created with a purpose this is where Campus Crusade begins God has a wonderful plan for your life you were created for a purpose St. Augustine said our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee we were created for fellowship with God and then immediately you see the idea of being a sinner takes on new meaning and I would what I'd say at that point is but we have broken that fellowship by our sin. We've fallen short of the thing for which we're created. So again, we have a tension.

Two things about God, he's holy and loving. Two things about man, he was created for fellowship with God and therein lies his true and only ultimate joy. But by virtue of his own sinfulness and rebellion, he's broken that fellowship and now he's living beneath it.

Again, you might want to say a good deal more but don't say less at least those two things Sally in the image of God wouldn't it also mean that man man was created to be totally loving and unholy yes that would be that could be very helpful right again coming out of this both ideas here that are linked together we were created to be more than we are of course some phrases come immediately to mind Romans 3 verse 10 there is none righteous no not one verse 323 all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God as far as being created for fellowship with God I'd go right back to the very beginning of the story let us make man in our image Genesis 1.26 Genesis 3.8 we see God arriving to walk in the cool of the evening in the garden with the man and the woman and already by that time they've blown it. But they were created for fellowship with him. He comes expecting that.

Jesus made the comment that the Father is seeking people to worship him in spirit and in truth. He's looking for our fellowship in John chapter 4. Mark 10 might be a very interesting passage to use to make this first point.

Story of the rich young man, you remember, comes running up to Jesus, good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus says, why do you call me good? There's none good but God.

You know the commandments. Rattles them off and the guy says, all these I've observed from my youth. Jesus, looking at him, loves him.

And says, you lack one thing. That's a marvelous passage. Really get into that.

I bet you you've had people tell you that Jesus was saying, don't call me good because I'm not God. Garbage. Take a close look at that passage.

Mark 10, verse 17 to 22. Jesus is very selective in naming the commandments and he only mentions the latter six. the ones that deal with our relationships with our fellow human beings the guy has the audacity to say all these I've observed from my youth of course he hasn't perfectly but Jesus doesn't fault him on that Jesus says okay but even though you're a good humanist you still lack something well what could he lack?

verse 4 relationship with God. Huh? You can be a good person, very good person, remarkably good person, and you still lack something if you're not in fellowship with God.

Jesus ends up summing up the whole, sum of our responsibility to the first four commandments, what he elsewhere said was the first and great commandment, love God, by saying, go, sell what you have, and come follow me. Following me is a matter of fulfilling your fellowship with God. Man has sinned and thereby broken this fellowship.

Again, back to Genesis 3, the whole story. Note that in biblical terminology, to die, the day you eat of it you shall die, to die is to be cut off. Not principally a biological term.

They lived biologically for years and years and years and years, produce children and grandchildren, great-grandchildren, but unless God was a liar in the day they ate of it, they died spiritually. And that's a theme that we really need to be sensitive to and to explain to other people if we're dealing with the Scriptures. Apart from that, you can't make any sense of Jesus' comment, you need to be born all over again.

You know, you do exactly what Nicodemus did. Get back into my mother's womb? Don't be silly.

No, not talking physically, talking spiritually. Life and death, biblically defined, are spiritual in content. In John chapter 17, verse 1, I think it's verse 3, in his prayer, Jesus says, and this is life eternal, to know thee, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

Definition of life. To know God personally through Jesus Christ. I am come that you might have life.

He didn't come to give us what we already had. right? have it more abundantly okay Christ is our third word what's the most important thing you'd want to say about him?

begotten son of God only only begotten Savior and Redeemer what have we got here? who he is what he's done here's thought who he is what he's done. I'd make this even stronger because there's so much sloppy use.

Again, you know, if there's a God, then everybody is his son. I'd make it even stronger than that. I'd say that he was, in fact, God in the flesh.

Incarnation. Pardon me, Sony? Lord of Lords. Lord of Lords, alright. incarnation John 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God Jehovah's Witnesses will retranslate that on you but they have absolutely no warrant for doing so in the Greek it's the forceful the word was not a God was God word was God Jesus comment to Philip Philip says Lord if we could only see the father we'd be content Jesus says if you've been with me so long Philip you don't know who I am if you've seen me you've seen the father makes the strongest claim for his divinity don't lessen it let's deal with it in a very strong sense before Abraham was I am And when he says that, you may not be aware of this, when he says that, I am, he's deliberately using of himself the unspeakably holy name of God, which we translate Yahweh or Jehovah. A good Jew in that generation would not ever pronounce it.

If they were reading from the scriptures and they came across the word Yahweh, Y-H-W-H as we would transliterate it, they would not pronounce Yahweh. They would substitute another word altogether, which means roughly master, the word Adonai. It was unpronounceably holy.

Dare not use it, lest you sin against God inadvertently by taking his name in vain. Here Jesus comes along, uses this name, dares to pronounce it out loud, not only so, but applies it self-consciously and deliberately to himself. Do you remember when Caiaphas asked him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

And Jesus says, Yahweh, I am. Caiaphas whirls around and says, What need have we of any further witnesses? He's condemned himself already.

Which he certainly had done, if that was not precisely the case. so first of all who he is Jesus Christ is God he is God come among us as a sinless man I would give you at least these three verses Isaiah 9 and you know the section we read it at Christmas time verses 6 to 8 wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father, prince of These shall be his royal names, is the prophecy of Scripture. John 14 and verse 9.

If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. We've just referred to that in relationship to Philip. And Colossians 1, verses 15 to 20, in which Paul summarizes a statement of the cosmic Christ and says, in him, in this Jesus Christ, who was before he became flesh, was God and remained so.

In him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. All the fullness of God. Everything that God was and is dwelt in Jesus Christ.

That's who he is. He's God come among us as sinless man. And what he did, he died for the forgiveness of our sins.

Isaiah 53, the whole passage, you know, is predictive of Messiah's suffering, especially verse 10, it was the will of the Lord to bruise him when he makes himself an offering for sin. Matthew 20, verse 28, he says of himself, the Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many. Paul summarizes in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 3, Christ died.

for our sins. That's why he died. So the two parts again of what we would want to say about Christ, we want to say something about who he is and we want to say something about what he's come to do.

And our fourth word, our final word then in this outline is response. Because it's not enough simply to have a bunch of good theology. What we want to do is to respond to the truth of this person.

God became flesh and dwelt among us that we might know Him in a personal way. Well, knowing Him is a two-way relationship, not just enough to know about Him. So I'd say again two things under this word.

First, we are to believe in Him and receive Him and His gift. Jeremiah 31, verses 31 to 34 speak about God writing a new covenant on our hearts, not like the old covenant which was written on tablets of stone. This covenant will be written on our hearts, and the very essence of the covenant, what is central most to it, is that they shall know me in a personal way.

Whereas before, they knew about me, they had to ask the experts, each man having to ask about me from someone else. This covenant, this new covenant written upon their hearts, will be notable for the fact that they know me in a personal way. John 1.12, speaking about the fact that God has loved all, but not everybody has responded to that love.

He came unto his own people and his own received him not, it says. But John 1.12, but to all who received him, who believed on his name, to them gave he the power or the authority or the right or the privilege or the ability, to them gave he the power to become the children of God. Okay?

It's not enough just to know about him. It's a matter of believing him and receiving him. And I think that particular verse makes it very clear that belief is incomplete unless it goes on to a matter of receiving him as an act of the will.

How do you receive me if I come and knock at your door? You open the door, and I come in. That's the imagery of Revelation chapter 3.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in. That's a matter of receiving him.

So Jesus says in John chapter 1, If anyone believes in me, that belief includes opening the door and receiving me. Believing on my name. What is my name?

The name is Jesus. from Joshua, Yeshua, the Lord is with us. Emmanuel, Christ, the Anointed One, all the names of this Jesus are relevant to us.

Ephesians 2, verse 8. You know it, I know you know it. By grace you are saved through faith.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So we are to believe in Him and respond to Him by faith, by receiving Him, by welcoming Him, by opening the door of our lives and inviting Him to come in. Now note, and note this carefully, make sure you can explain it, that if you invite Him in, He comes in as Himself, not as someone else of our own definition.

He comes in as Christ, as Lord. He comes in as boss. He comes in and takes over.

Okay? He's not going to come in on our terms. He's going to come in on His terms.

And that leads to the very final point. This response is a matter of our repenting and submitting to His Lordship. We are to repent, which is a negative word, turn away from our past, and submit, which I think is a very positive word.

It's a matter of finding our proper place, of finding that for which we were created. Again, three verses just to tie it to Old Testament, to Gospel, and to, in this case, Revelation, rather than to an Epistle. Old Testament, Psalm 2, Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling, kiss His feet.

Bow before Him. submit to him. Luke chapter 14, verses 25 to 33, Jesus says, whoever does not renounce all he has cannot be my disciple.

You could think of many, many other similar passages, that if he will not have the place of preeminence in our lives, then we have no part of him. He's either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. And Revelation 3.20, I referred to it just a moment ago.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in. I will come in.

I will come in as myself. And that's a matter of understanding who he is, welcoming him as himself, bowing before him, submitting to his lordship. Well, you might very well find some other verses that would do the job equally well for you in each one of these categories.

In fact, maybe better. But I would start here. I would make it my business to commit to memory these verses as a bare minimum.

Have them at your fingertips. Be able to reinforce each of our major points with specific reference to Scripture. so that in chatting with someone it's abundantly clear that this is not your idea, not your philosophy, but that it is the very Word of God.

Point for point for point. You are able to turn them to the Word of God, which is quick, active, living, sharper than any two-edged sword, able to pierce between bone and marrow, between spirit and soul. Okay, let me wrap this session up then.

with a homework assignment, I would ask you, first of all, to go back over the outline that you made for yourself and correct it in the light of what we've shared together here. If there are things that you've left out, make sure you get them in. Simplify anything that you can and then memorize it.

Memorize it. Commit that outline to memory. including the scripture references not just the words of scripture but where they're found so that you can turn to them and you can open a bible with somebody and let that person read for himself or herself right out of the scriptures I would recommend that you begin a process you're not going to be able to do this in a day or two you may not be able to do it in a week or two but that you at least begin a process of memorizing the scriptures one thing that I've found helpful take you back to your grammar school days get yourself a stack of three by five cards and write the scripture reference on one side and write out the verse on the other side and carry around two or three of them in your pocket and you have a moment during the day when you can whip one out and just concentrate on it for a moment by the end of the day you may have committed another verse to memory you're driving into the district and you have two or three of these in your pocket and the traffic is awful you stop for a red light pull one out redeem the time take advantage of a moment stop for a red light to turn your mind and your heart to the word of God and redeem that moment it will change the whole character of driving into work in the mornings pin it on your mirror as you're doing your shaving or you're washing your face brushing your teeth whatever it is you could be memorizing scripture or hanging above the stove or above the sink, and you can refer to it during the day.

You'd be amazed at how quickly you can begin to make Scripture a part of your thinking. And, you know, it says in the 119th Psalm, Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Well, I don't know how you understand those words, but I don't think there's any way of hiding God's word in my heart, except by committing it to memory.

Okay? Certainly you want to study it. Certainly you want to get at what it really means, which is a process of not only studying but meditating, but it's more than that.

It's committing it to memory, and you will be absolutely amazed to see how God begins to bring back to your conscious mind verses of Scripture that you've committed to memory, as you have need of them. The going gets rough. You get down in the dumps.

There's a crisis. You don't know what to do about a given situation. And out pops Scripture just exactly when you need it as you begin to hide it in your heart.

That's Psalm 119 and verse 11. Well, having done all that, we come to the real issue in this assignment. You're going to really enjoy this.

I'm asking you this week, this week, to commit yourself to finding a non-Christian friend, maybe a member of your family, maybe somebody you work with or ride in to work with, maybe somebody who lives on your block, a neighbor that you happen to see with some frequency. I want you, as a homework assignment, I'm asking you to do this. This is not an option.

To find a non-Christian friend. And I want you to pray about who that would be and that God would set up the opportunity for you to do what I'm about to suggest. I want you to speak to that friend about the Lord Jesus.

I want you to share the gospel. I want you to share the outline that you've made and see where that conversation will take you. And let me suggest a way of doing that that I think you're going to find absolutely fascinating.

You go to your friend and you say something like this. Fred, or Joe, or Jenny, or whatever their name might be. I have a real favor to ask of you.

I'm taking a class at my church on how to express my faith to others. And I wonder if you'd be willing to help me with an assignment. May I take about five minutes to tell you what I've learned, and then will you discuss it with me?

I want you to tell me if what I've said is clear and if you understand it. And see what happens. Okay?

Have a good time with that. And I'll see you again next week. We'll share some of our experiences, see what God does with them.

Thank you very much.