Sermon Tone Analysis

How to See More Victories for the Cause of Christ

The Book of Acts - Part 67

Acts 19:8-10

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Revised July 14, 2018

BACKGROUND:

*Remember that here in Acts 19, Paul was on his third missionary journey.

His team was reaching many people in the city of Ephesus.

They saw many victories for the cause of Jesus Christ.

And tonight, we will study how they got there.

Let's get started by reading Acts 19:8-10.

INTRODUCTION:

*Sometimes we can get discouraged when we are trying to serve the Lord.

But Christians: We should be the most optimistic people in the world!

Rodney Buchanan explained by saying, "The reason I am an optimist is because I serve a God who is in control.

I often think about the early church and the culture in which it not only survived, but thrived.

*Most early Christians lived within the bounds of the Roman Empire where there were persecutions.

It was literally a national sport to throw the Christians to the lions as cheering crowds watched them be torn apart.

The Roman roads were often lined with crosses on which Christians hung because they would not denounce Christ.

Not only was abortion acceptable, a father could kill his child at any age.

*The government was completely hostile toward Christianity and anyone who was a follower of Christ.

And yet it was during this time of enormous opposition that the church grew from just 120 believers to untold thousands."

(1)

*Our God is supreme!

It doesn't matter how much opposition there is, God is in control, and he will have His way.

So, we can see more great victories for the Lord and His church.

But we must reach out and speak the truth about Jesus Christ.

We need to make sure that everyone hears the Gospel.

This is what the Apostle Paul was doing in vs. 8-10.

And it's crucial for us to speak out today the way Paul spoke in Ephesus.

1. First: We must speak boldly.

*We must speak the way Paul spoke in vs. 8.

There "he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God." Paul was very bold to speak out for Jesus Christ.

And there are two keys for us to have that kind of boldness:

[1] First we need confidence in the Lord.

*Paul had great confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ.

There was no doubt in his mind that Christ had met him on the road to Damascus.

There was no doubt in his mind that Jesus was the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead.

*There was no doubt that Christ was a merciful King who would save anyone who would receive Him as Lord and Savior.

And there was no doubt that Christ would be with Paul in every hardship he faced.

There was no doubt.

*Paul had great confidence in the Lord, and I'm sure that most of us here feel the same way.

How much confidence do you have in the Lord?

Most of us would say, "One hundred percent!" or "One thousand present!"

We have great confidence in Jesus Christ, and that's great!

[2] We must have confidence in the Lord.

-- But we also must have concern for the lost.

*The other key to Paul's boldness was his concern for the lost.

Paul had oceans of concern for the los, and we need much more of it today.

Remember that in Romans 9:1-3, Paul said:

1.

I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,

2. that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.

3.

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

*If we had even a fraction of that kind of concern for the lost, we would be much bolder to speak out for Jesus Christ.

But what happens when we don't have Paul's kind of concern?

*King Duncan helps us see in a story that hit very close to home.

It was a testimony from Dr. Fred Craddock about a church he pastored in his student days.

It was a beautiful little church in Anderson County in eastern Tennessee.

That church was a white frame building, as pretty as a picture.

There were good people in that church, too.

It was a warm, loving family of fine people.

*But when Dr. Craddock got there, he noticed something wrong.

None of the new people in the community -- the people who had come to work on the big government project over at Oak Ridge, and all those people living in trailers and quickly built rent houses with all those children, none of those people were in that church.

*Craddock called the church board together and told them, "We need to reach out to those folks who are out here.

They are close.

Here's our mission."

And the chairman of the board said, "Oh, I don't think so.

They wouldn't fit in here."

*Craddock protested, "But they need the gospel.

They need the church."

"No, I don't think so," said the chairman.

And the next Sunday night the board passed a resolution: "Members will be admitted to this church only from families who own property in Anderson county."

*Years later, Dr. Craddock took a trip back to that community.

He searched out the church and found it.

It was still a pretty place.

But out in front of that pretty, little church was a sign that read: "Barbecued Chicken, Ribs and Pork."

It wasn't a church anymore.

The church had died.

It was a restaurant by then, and it was full!

It was full of all kinds of people, sitting in those pews, eating barbecue.

*The church had died, and King Duncan gave this explanation of why that story was so important to him: "When I was born more than 60 years ago, my parents were living in a small trailer in Anderson County while my father worked in construction on the Atomic energy plant in Oak Ridge.

*Fred Craddock could have been my pastor!

But he wasn't, because we were outsiders, and we lived in a humble house.

Over the years I've often thought to myself, what if my parents depended on that little church to bring them to Christ? -- Where would I be today?

(2)

*Don't you know King Duncan is grateful that other churches cared for the lost!

We all need much more of Paul's concern for the lost.

Paul's whole way of life reflected the Apostle's love for the Lord and his love for the lost.

*That's why in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, Paul could say:

19.

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;

20. and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;

21. to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law;

22. to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak.

I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

*May God give us much, much more of that kind of passion for the lost.

Charles Thomas (C.T.) Studd had that kind of passion.

He gave up a great fortune for Christ in the late 1800's.

C.T. spent 10 years in China, 6 years in India, and later, 21 years in the heart of Africa to reach people for the Lord Jesus Christ!

*Before all of that, C.T. was a cricket star in England.

Charles' wealthy father became a Christian during a Moody campaign over there.

A visiting preacher at the Studd home led C.T. and his 3 brothers to Jesus while they were still students at Eton.

It was 1878, and Charles was 18 at the time.