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John 11:17-27
Reverend Anthony R. Locke
March 7th, 2010
at the First Presbyterian Church of Tucker
And Jesus only needs one of these transformational truths about Himself to bring us to saving
faith. Jesus called Martha to faith. Jesus is calling us to faith.
You could say that Jesus is giving Martha an alter call invitation to be saved.
Jesus asks Martha in verse 26, “Do You Believe This?”
This is the most common way in the Bible someone is brought to saving faith, then baptism,
and inclusion as a disciple of the church. Let me make the path as clear as possible.
There are two steps.
o First, a simple Gospel doctrine about Jesus is shared.
When the disciples were on the road to Emmaus, a stranger to their eyes, it was of
course Jesus in His resurrected body, joined them, and explained how the Old
Testament spoke of a suffering, crucified and resurrected Messiah that would save His
people from their sins.
• Jesus used the Bible to share truths about Himself to bring them to faith.
The Philippian Jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas answers,
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
• Acts 16:32 says that Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all
who were in his house.”
• The Apostle’s shared doctrines about Jesus from the Bible to bring the Philippian
Jailer and his family to faith.
The Ethiopian Eunuch was led to faith by Philip who opened his mouth, and beginning
with the Scripture , told him the good news about Jesus.
Someone has to say something about Jesus. That’s you and me. This is the first step
to bring someone to faith.
• We extol the excellencies of Christ.
• Pick any subject. His love, mercy, faithfulness, sacrifice, wisdom, kindness, desire to
embrace us, to be our spiritual brother, to connect us with the Father, to send us the
empowering Spirit, to comfort the hurting, strengthen the weak, or any other virtue
of Jesus that reflects any of the I AM statements.
• The Bible calls this making our boast in the Lord.
• Think in practical terms. What does your friend need to know about Jesus? Think
about it, pray about it, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you this week. You will be
surprised the natural opportunities we all have to share the glory of Jesus with a
friend.
Let me suggest a tool to share your faith. A simple planned approach.
• Pick in your mind a person who deserves to know of the reason for the joy and
peace you have in your heart.
• The clerk at the sales counter, the neighbor who walks their dog by your house, or
the guy who mows your lawn.
• Next time you see them, give them this weeks bulletin and one of the printed
sermons from the last month that you enjoyed.
• Tell them, “I was at church recently and heard a sermon I thought you might like. It
was especially meaningful to me. I got a copy for you. Let me know what you think.”
• Then start praying for them. Ask God’s Spirit to open a door for conversation about
the glory of Christ and how Jesus uniquely brings peace, joy and salvation.
• When you see them again, ask them what they thought.
• That’s evangelism.
You share a truth and invite them into a conversation about the power of Jesus to give
eternal life. (This is not rocket science folks.)
o So first, we share a compact doctrinal statement about Jesus. Something simple and easy.
One of the I AM phrases is enough.
o SECOND, we encourage them to believe in the ability of Jesus to give them eternal
life.
Most Americans are instructed that evangelism is leading people to pray the sinner’s
prayer. I have embraced this idea and I think it can be very helpful.
The sinner’s prayer is a good conversational vehicle to transition an unbeliever out of
faithlessness into faith. Yet, look at the way people in the Bible came to faith.
• Jesus asked if Martha believed what He told her. He didn’t require a prayer.
• Philip was asked by the Ethiopian Eunuch if it was OK to be baptized as they were
passing by a pool of water.
o No prayer is recorded in the Bible. The Eunuch believed in the power of Jesus to
give eternal life somewhere in the middle of Philips conversation.
o The outward sign of his faith was his request to be baptized. Sounds really
biblical doesn’t it. That’s because it is. Baptism is a sign and seal of new life.
• There is no biblical record of Paul leading the Jailer and his family in any formal
prayer. Paul baptized the family as a sign of their faith in Jesus.
• We should do the same thing. We should ask our friend if they believe these
things. If they say yes, then we should invite them to start making commitments of
faith and discipleship to learn what God has revealed about Himself in the Bible.
The Bible teaches a very easy form of evangelism.
• You don’t have to ask if they are willing to pray a prayer that they repeat after you.
Just ask if they believe what you just got done telling them about Jesus. If they say
yes, then tell them begin making commitments at the local church of their choice.
• Don’t risk getting fired by asking your coworker to kneel down next to your office
desk and pray a prayer with you.
• Ask it like Jesus does. Ask, “do you believe this?”
• If they say, “Yes”, then you could
o Suggest they attend a church of their choice in the area which will help them
continue learning about Jesus,
o ask them if they have been baptized,
o ask them if they have a Bible. Offer to help them buy a good one.
o Encourage them to find a friend to start learning more about Jesus. You be that
friend.
Let me wrap this up with an illustration. Let’s say a man is marooned on an island and has
never heard anything about the Bible, the church, or Jesus Christ. Our favorite fictitious human.
Right. And one day a wallet washes up on shore. And there’s lots of money in the wallet. Of no
use at all. There are some credit cards and other junk, but mixed in with the credit cards is a
business card sized piece of paper with these words, And Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the
life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes
in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Now suppose that our unsaved man is struck in the heart by God’s Holy Spirit to believe these
words about a man named Jesus who is life itself, and he becomes convinced that this person can
guarantee his eternal future since He promises everlasting life.
Would YOU call this man saved? Is that compact doctrinal sentence enough to save a man?
I suspect that there are some people who would say that this man is not saved because he
doesn’t know enough. For example, he doesn’t know that Jesus died for his sins on the cross and
rose again the third day. That truth isn’t in those verses. There is a lot more he doesn’t know, such
as the doctrine of the Trinity, the eternal Sonship of Jesus or the doctrine of the virgin birth.
But why is he not saved if he believes the promise of Jesus’ words?
IT IS PRECISELY THIS ABILITY OF JESUS TO GUARANTEE ETERNAL LIFE that makes Him Lord of
Salvation, that makes it easy for a child to believe, and opens the door for whosoever will.
Our Lord’s exchange with Martha in John 11 demonstrates this clearly. Jesus asks if she
believes, and she says she does believe.
Evangelism is that easy. A simple truth about Jesus is shared and then we trust God that in
His time the Holy Spirit will bring that person to faith and obedience.
Most of my sermon this morning was about bringing people outside of the church to faith.
But let’s make sure we ask ourselves the same question.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet
shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Do you? Are you committed to growing? Discipleship? Obedience? Then may God bless us
to be witnesses of this resurrected life that we have found in our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.