Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Who is the most successful evangelist you know of?

George Whitefield?

Whitefield preached about 18,000 times in 34 years of evangelistic ministry during the mid-1700s.

He is one of the major leaders God used during the time of the First Great Awakening.

Many of his sermons were preached to crowds numbering more than 10,000, and countless people are known to have been converted throughout his ministry.

Billy Graham?

According to billygraham.org,

during the mid-to-late-1900s, Graham preached to nearly 215 million people at hundreds of evangelism rallies (he called them “crusades”).

His lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion… and the number of people who responded with some sort of profession of faith through his ministry is innumerable.

Charles Spurgeon?

Spurgeon was an English pastor during the mid-1800s.

Over the course of his 38-year-senior-pastorate at The New Park Street Church (later called the Metropolitan Tabernacle), 14,460 converts were added to the church’s membership.

His was the largest independent congregation (a Baptist church, distinct from the Church of England) in the world.

However, Spurgeon once noted, “we do not consider soul-winning to be accomplished by hurriedly inscribing more names upon our church roll, in order to show a good increase at the end of the year.

This is easily done,” said Spurgeon, “and there are brethren who use great pains, not to say arts, to effect it...”

Then he went on to admonish his fellow preachers, “Do not… consider that soul-winning is or can be secured by the multiplication of baptisms, and the swelling of the size of your church” (see Spurgeon’s full remarks at https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/charles-spurgeon-on-counting-conversions/).

Can successful evangelism be measured?

What does successful evangelism look like?

How should we go about our task of evangelism in our day?

And how will we keep from being discouraged when our evangelistic efforts do not produce the same kind of results as others before or beside us?

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 3:1–15 (ESV)

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.

And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh.

For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

What then is Apollos?

What is Paul?

Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.

For we are God’s fellow workers.

You are God’s field, God’s building.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it.

Let each one take care how he builds upon it.

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Main Point

Evangelism is God’s invitation for everyday Christians to share in the labors of all other Christians from all time and space, who unitedly contribute to the miraculous growth of Christ’s kingdom and will each proportionately enjoy a reward for faithfulness.

Message Outline

Christians Acting Infantile

Divinely Assigned Servants

God-Given Growth

Carful Building and Faithful Sowing

Waiting for the Reward

Message

1) Christians Acting Infantile

Church members in Corinth were acting as spiritual infants

“I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ” (v1).

These “infants in Christ” (v1) were acting “of the flesh” (v1), expressing “jealousy and strife” (v3) and “behaving only in a human way [κατα ἀνθρωπον or “according to man”]” (v4).

They were breaking into factions, saying “I follow Paul” or “I follow Apollos” (v4).

And Paul says this sort of thinking is “being merely human” (ESV) or “carnal” (KJV) or “unspiritual people” (HCSB).

The Christian life is similar to typical life-development

Christian conversion and sanctification are supernatural, but they are also quite ordinary in their manifestation and progress.

Paul can tell the church members in Colossae, “1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above [note also the indicative -> imperative connection], where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col.

3:1-10).

Notice how spectacularly miraculous the indicatives are:

“you have been raised with Christ” (v1).

“you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (v3).

“you… will appear with him [Christ] in glory” (v4).

“you have put off the old self… and have put on the new...” (v10).

Notice how ordinary and practical the imperatives are:

“seek the things that are above” (v1).

“set your minds on things that are above” (v2).

“put to death… what is earthly in you” (v5).

“you must put them [those earthly desires and practices] all away” (v8).

“do not lie...” (v9).

Application

Friends, don’t be surprised when your fellow church members act immaturely… and even sinfully.

But also, don’t let spiritual immaturity rule (in you or among this church family)!

Don’t let it go unchecked!

Brothers and sisters, don’t be so arrogant to think that you don’t need to grow in knowledge… in holiness… in spiritual maturity.

This is the endgame of Christian living… “Him [Christ] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, [so] that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Col.

1:28).

If Christians [church members] are not to be factious and immature, then how are we to think about the various stations and skill-sets and opportunities we have for serving Christ and others?

We are to understand that God has assigned each of us, at this very moment and every moment before it, as He sees fit.

2) Divinely Assigned Servants

The Lord assigns His servants

“What [or “Who”] then is Apollos?

What [or “Who”] is Paul?

Servants [διακονοι] through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each” (v5).

The Lord assigns the “servant” and the Lord assigns or gives or grants the results of his/her service.

Romans 12:6 teaches us that we have “different gifts” from God which have been given to us “according” to His “grace.”

1 Peter 4:10-11 commands us to live as “stewards” of God’s gifts in our lives and that we should use them for His glory.

Who are you?

And who is anyone else?

Understanding our life-status, our circumstances, our skills, and our opportunities as God’s providential gifts obliterates pride!

1 Corinthians 4:7 says, “What do you have that you did not receive?

If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

This is true in every aspect of life, but we are especially focusing our attention on evangelism (and the results of our evangelism) this morning… And this feeds us directly into our next point.

God grants or assigns or gives the growth!