New Testament Evangelism — Peter Brandon

The Pentecost Pattern for New Testament Evangelism

But we should look at this chapter under the heading New Testament Evangelism and as you all know we are going to wage a great battle in so winning in the coming week. We are read from verse 1 because of our limited time of chapter 2 and perhaps down to verse 15.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. Please note verse 4, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues or languages as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the people came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how here we every man in his own tongue, wherein we were born, Parthians, and Medes, Elamites, and dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and in Cappadocia, and in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians.

We do hear them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

Repentance, Baptism, and Continuing in the Faith

Now would you turn over please to verse 37. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

And then verse 41, 42,. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and prayers.

And the Lord will bless that reading to us. I think we were all encouraged last night by seeing a number of unsafe people present. And there seemed to be three people that were quite touched. And that shows that the spirit of God is beginning to move.

Bringing People to Hear the Gospel

But this morning I was thinking what basically is a New Testament gospel service? Well first of all we must have the people. May I say this carefully and I heard this from an old Scottish evangelist, it's ridiculous to be fishing in a fried fish shop where they're all well caught and kept.

We must have the fish. Now you will notice here that when the spirit of God came with supernatural signs there was a great multitude when this was noise the brawl. Again you get the same idea in Luke chapter 5 when it was noise that Jesus was in the house, the place was packed to capacity.

And therefore immediately it's noise the brawl that the Lord is among his people and the power of the Lord is evident there, there will be people. But we all have the responsibility to bring someone with us.

Compassion for Souls and the Love of Christ

Now how are we going to do that? Well number one we need a compassion for souls. And therefore we need to ask ourselves some questions. I really believe that if a man or a woman dies without Christ they go to a Christless hell.

Do I believe at this moment that there are millions of people in outer darkness? Now immediately I believe that and it really captivates my heart then I must do something about it, otherwise I am spiritually immoral.

Secondly do I believe that the son of God the creator of the whole universe was willing to hang upon a Roman gibbet and bear our sins and taste our death so that we might have everlasting life. The apostle believed that and do you know what he said?

The love of Christ constrains man. And that word constrain is very strong. It's the idea of a patient gripped with a malarial fever and when the vortex of the fever grips the patient every part of his body is affected.

And what he is saying is simply this, as I look at Calvary and see the son of God being judged for my sins, the love of Christ has gripped me like a malarial fever. Now beloved I can't point the finger at you, I must ask these questions myself.

It's so easy when you are constantly preaching the gospel to become mechanical and legalistic. And so constantly all of us must ask ourselves this question, do I believe in those two mighty facts? The moment we do we shall find ourselves asking this question, who can I bring to hear the gospel?

Now I know it's hard, I know it's difficult. There's a sister in your assembly that's been a soul winner for years and she said to me last night it's very difficult to bring them, I agree. But if we've got that compassion I'm sure we can do it.

So that's the secret of bringing the people, it's not so much advertising, thank God for that, but it's all bringing someone with us. And think of the joy, you might bring someone with you one night and they're sitting in that seat and the spirit of God brings conviction and divine revelation and that person may be born of God.

And that means eternal life is given. And you know it thrilled me, moved me this morning when I heard a voice of someone that was saved a few years ago worshipping the Lord and that's the great joy of soul winning.

The People and the Power of the Holy Spirit

Not so much the moment of salvation but the continuation in the things of God. Is it possible then for a place to be packed with people and no one saved? Yes, seen it. Do you know I remember being in one place and night after night I would say there were almost 30 to 40 unsaved people there.

But no one saved, now why? We need the people and we need the power. Now souls are saved in the environment where God is, can I repeat that? Souls are saved in an environment where God is. Therefore we read here there was this rushing mighty wind.

Now if my memory serves me right I believe this is the only time you get in scripture a rushing mighty wind. You read of a mighty wind, you read of a rushing wind but here it's a rushing mighty wind meaning an irresistible force.

And therefore when the Holy Spirit came he came as a sound of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the house. Now that speaks of his corporate presence among the people of God. Then you will notice cloven tongues of fire set upon each of them and this speaks of the individual aspect of the Holy Spirit.

And then we read two things, the house was filled with the wind and each disciple was filled with the Spirit. Now it's in that atmosphere that God can work. And beloved let's all ask the question are we filled with the Spirit of God?

Are the fruits of the Spirit of God seen in us? In the local church not in our special meetings but in the ordinary meetings is there a sense of God among us and the power of the Holy Spirit? Now that's the secret of soul winning, the people and the power.

Praise and Worship in Gospel Evangelism

And then you will notice the moment they were filled with the Holy Spirit they spoke in languages. Now there were thirteen nations, nineteen languages and the people that were speaking them were Galileans.

And as you know it was said of the Apostle Peter his speech bereath him. Edersheim says and it rather disturbed me that the Galileans were the Cockneys of the East. In other words you could tell them a mile off.

So these men were not natural speakers but there was this supernatural manifestation which was given as a sign that the Holy Spirit has come and therefore they were speaking fluently in other languages but they were praising God.

Now that's the third thing. When God's people can praise him and worship him and speak out the wonderful works of God God will bless. Now why? You know it's possible to preach the gospel and to be theologically correct but to be spiritually dead.

And I wouldn't point the finger. I could be a culprit. Knowing all the facts and figures and as it were giving them out but no luck. Now these people they were taken up with the Lord Jesus when they were filled with the Spirit and they were speaking out the wonderful works of God.

It must have been wonderful to hear them. And that's why Sunday morning is so vital. It's lovely when the saints can stand up and speak out the wonderful works of God. Especially concerning the Lord Jesus.

The Participation of the Whole Church

So we move from the people to the power to praise and then we have the priestly participation. Peter stood up with the eleven, not seven, eleven. Would you mind if I repeated that? Not seven, eleven. They were all there.

You see they function now as a body and when we come into fellowship in a local church it's a body fellowship into which we are brought. And every single member is essential. Stupidly I had one of the British razors and I cut that part of my lip yesterday.

Couldn't stop it bleeding and it affected all my speech. I was speaking with a lisp. All because a little teeny nick on my lip. It was a member of the body very small but it irritated me. And you know beloved it doesn't matter what member we are, we are all essential.

And it's lovely when you're going to preach to stand on the platform and see the eleven all there. Now some of you have got children, some of you have to work I know. But let's all be in this. Peter stood up with the eleven.

They were all there. And then they were all filled. It's lovely when the preacher is filled. But every one of us needs to be filled with the spirit. So that the power of God is there. And then they were all with him.

You know I love to think that when he stood up and said we're not drunk with wine as you suppose. Seeing it is but the third hour of the day. They were all with him saying Amen. Then when he got to the prophet Joel chapter 2.

There were no critics there saying that's only partially fulfilled. They were all with him when he quoted Joel 2. When he got to the vital point where he preached Christ. For that's the centrality of his message.

They were all with him. You know I shall never forget a man by the name of Mr Chapman. He lived in Melbourne. He died when he was 91. And he died full of spiritual activity. And one night I was preaching and he brought along six of his neighbours.

In the Bayswater Community Centre. And he marshalled them all in. And would you believe it as I was preaching he was saying to his neighbours. Have you got that? Have you got it? And when I got to the cross I could hear him saying.

Have you got that? And when I got to the point where he I said. Everyone that calls upon the name of the Lord. He said what about that? He was so caught up with it. Preaching with the preacher. Now I'm not asking you to do that.

Scriptural, Simple, and Christ-Centered Preaching

But dear friends can you see the point? All there. All with him. And all preaching with him. And that's the secret of it all. And then notice now the preaching of Peter. First of all it was scriptural.

I remember going through this passage a few months ago. And I noticed that 55 was a pure quotation of scripture. And roughly 45 was exposition. What a wonderful way to preach the gospel. 55 a pure quotation of scripture.

And then 45 exposition. Secondly it was simple. The average person standing hearing the apostle Peter preaching. Could understand every word. Now beloved we mustn't preach the first century gospel. To a 20th century society.

In a 19th century way. We must learn to use the first century scriptures. We must stay by them. But put it over in a language that the modern man can understand. I could tell you some stories about people misunderstanding.

Give you a case in point. I was preaching once. He that believes on the sun has everlasting life. And a lady left the meeting and she said. I'm surprised that you believing in sun worship. S-U-N. You see that shows the ignorance of people today.

And therefore when we preach the gospel. We've got to use language that the people understand. And then lastly the centrality of his preaching. He lifted up Christ in his death. Lifted up Christ in his resurrection.

And in his glory. And he preached with emphasis repentance and faith. Now I've come to my class. When he had preached. They were pricked to the heart. Now beloved could we pray. That we shall not see mechanical decisions.

They are most disappointing. But we might see in this building. People under divine conviction. Pricked to the heart. Divine revelation. So that we might see the real work of God. And then the converts being baptized.

The Urgency of Revival Before Christ's Return

And continuing not bedfastly. But steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. Breaking bread and so on. So that we might see. A lovely work that continues. Now in closing. I do want to say this. I believe with all my heart.

And I know you've heard this before. But I believe it. That this could be the last ever mission in this hall. I believe that the Lord is coming. Very. Very soon. The Jews are back in their land. Europe now is being united.

We can see the abounding iniquity. And may it be before the Lord comes. We shall see a reviving among the people of God. And souls brought into the kingdom. Amen.