I have never done this, and I probably won’t do it again; but I want to share with you the sermon I preached last night. Over the next few days, I will share all four parts.
I want to talk about why the Apostles were killed.
“And you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” Acts 1:8b
“And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” Acts 19:8-10
I’ve spent some time studying, thinking, and praying over the biblical definition of a preacher. I think our definition today of a preacher is mostly wrong, and I think God’s been teaching me some things about this personally.
We did a study over about six weeks in our Wednesday night Discipleship Class in the Spring talking about Philip. We spent the most part discussing how he evangelized the world in Acts 8 in Samaria and then in the desert in a one-on-one conversation with the Ethiopian.
I’m learning to be what God wants me to be. And I’ve come to realize it’s more than what I’ve been doing, and it looks different than what I was taught it would look like.
Philip in Acts 6, 8, and 21 has become the model for the rest of my life. I’m not there yet, but I’m learning.
I know what I want to be and what I’m trying to be. My prayer for some time now has been and continues to be, “God, make me a soul-winner.” Not just a great pulpit preacher—but a soul winner.
Whether you realize it or not, you have been called to preach the Gospel. Mark 16 tells us that if you’ve been born again, you are called to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”
In Matthew 28, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” Matthew 28:19-20
The Great Commission wasn’t just to pulpit preachers or pastors. Not everyone is called to be a pastor. But we are all called to be preachers of the Gospel.
I don’t know if Paul would have been recognized as a preacher today. Philip certainly would not have been labeled as an evangelist in our own terminology today. Philip preached in no pulpit, but he had just as much or more success than most today could ever boast of.
Pulpit preaching was the least thing the Apostles like Paul and preachers like Philip did. Their most effective and most powerful preaching was in the marketplace and in one-on-one conversations.
In Acts 17, Paul went to Athens, and he preached on Mars Hill. No church invited him to come hold a revival. This is what the Bible says Paul’s “preaching” in Athens consisted of: “He reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.” Acts 17:17
We tend to think Paul preached to 5,000 people every week. But Acts 17 says that he got up each morning, “daily,” he went to the marketplace, and he reasoned with whoever happened to be there.
That was the great ministry strategy of Paul the Apostle!
They say that D. L. Moody won more souls with one-on-one conversations than he ever did preaching in a pulpit.
Preaching in the church is the easiest part. Teaching Wednesday night class is easy. We all know each other. We are usually all believers. Most (not all) of my pulpit preaching is to Christians.
The hard part is going into the marketplace—our schools, our jobs, the streets, and our communities. The real preaching is when we go into the world and preach and live out the Gospel every day.
My Pastor is someone that I’ve been learning from for years, and I continue to learn so much from his example. Bro. Doug is a phenomenal pulpit preacher and pastor. But his ministry goes far beyond the pulpit in our church. He is just as effective and, I would say, even more effective of a preacher outside the church than he is inside it. I learn so much from how he reaches people every day of the week—not just in church, but everywhere he goes. Bro. Doug pastors people who will never even come inside our church. And this is not me building up a human. This is just what he allows God to do through his life and ministry. And I am so thankful for it.
I loved having Dalton Jenkins come speak to our Wednesday night Discipleship Class back several months ago. Dalton has been teaching me through his example as well. He basically started his own church in his apartment. Young men and women from all walks of life have come. Recently, it’s gotten so big that they had to move to another venue. They just had their second baptismal service, because so many are being born again.
I went with Dalton and his friends one day to the Hattiesburg Mall. We had a Bible study in the food court, and then we just started out praying with people. We were able to pray with dozens of people that day. This is what Dalton does all the time.
I think that’s what Paul’s ministry looked like. He just went every day to the marketplace and reasoned with people about the Gospel and Jesus Christ.
In Acts 19, Paul comes to Ephesus. In the first part of the chapter, 12 disciples are baptized in the Holy Ghost. Then for three months, Paul taught in a synagogue, or a church. But they rejected his message, so he went and “reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus… and this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” Acts 19:10
Look at this. Paul tried to preach in a pulpit for 3 months—nothing. Nothing happened. They wouldn’t listen or receive his message.
So he left, and for the next two years Paul went and preached at a school in Ephesus. In our language today, Paul started preaching on the college campus in Ephesus.
And listen to this—“he reasoned daily.” It doesn’t say he pulpit preached in Ephesus First Assembly for two years. No, but he went to the college and for two years he reasoned with them about Jesus Christ.
When I saw this yesterday morning, I said this sounds like Charlie Kirk— setting up a tent on a college campus, and reasoning with people about Jesus Christ, about the Gospel, and about eternal life!
Charlie Kirk was more than just a political voice. He was a preacher of the Gospel.
One of the first videos I ever watched of him was some time back. What struck me most was not his political stance, or his conservative values, or his ability to debate anybody on anything… though those things did impress me.
But what struck me the most was him fearlessly, boldly, and unashamedly proclaiming the Gospel to college students.
Charlie Kirk was more effective than most preachers today in pulpits.
And just a few moments before he was killed, he had just finished testifying to a crowd of college students that Jesus Christ was the Son of God Who lived, died, rose from the dead, and today is He is Lord and God of all.
And he had no idea that he would see, face to face, in a matter of moments, the Savior that he was preaching about and that he loved so much.
Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
Charlie Kirk was not ashamed of Gospel of Jesus Christ that changed his life.
I’m not ashamed of the Gospel! Because it’s the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes!
Jesus said that “if you’re ashamed of Me, I’ll be ashamed of you before my Father in Heaven.”
Why would I be ashamed of the Man who saved me, delivered me, changed me, and promised me eternal life?
Why wouldn’t I want to tell everyone that I know the Savior, the Healer, the Deliverer, the Chain-Breaker, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, and the Kings of Kings?
I am not ashamed of the Gospel. Because it’s the power of God. The Gospel sets people free. It break chains and addictions. It can heal. It can do the impossible and the miraculous.
The Azusa Weekly 