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Scoping out Christians in College

SCOPING OUT CHRISTIANS IN COLLEGE
Mike Cunningham
June 29, 2014

I don’t know how often I’ve been told things such as, “No problem,” “You got it,” “Anything else?” The person always knew what he or she was talking about and I received exactly what I asked for. I’m sure you folks have had similar experiences, haven’t you? However, a college freshman asking someone if they knew if there were any Christians on the campus would soon find out that it isn’t “a piece of cake.” In fact, it’s often very difficult to distinguish a believer from a non-Christian. Try it some time.

You can ask the same question in places such as a place of employment, a retail pharmacy, a retirement-community, fast food restaurant, and I’m sorry to say, countless Southern Baptist churches in our country, too.

Because my grandson Zac, who, Lord willing, will be a college freshman in the fall, followed by my granddaughter Amanda a year later, today’s sermon will be focused on “Scoping Out Christians In College.” I’ve been in constant fervent prayer that these kids wont give up their faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when they attend college. It’s vitally important that they fellowship with like-minded fellow believers.

However, they have to first find them and that’s easier said than done. I believe that one of the main reasons for this dilemma is that all too many Christian churches in America are numbers driven. A case in point is that often the focus of a new church plant is getting folks to attend the church and then get them baptized. The people at the top controlling the cash to fund these pastors seem to have forgotten that God the Holy Spirit is the One who plants churches. Many sincere pastors are so eager to produce results that they unknowingly baptize and recommend non-believers to become members of the congregation. The result is that all too many so-called “converts” are man-centered instead of being God-centered. Allow me to explain.

According to Pastor Ernie Reisinger, “Man-centered evangelism on Christ’s savior-hood: that He is a Savior from our selfishness, our mistakes- a Savior from life’s casualties, and a Savior from the consequences of sin. Thus Christ came and exists for our benefit.

God-centered evangelism puts the emphasis on Christ as the Savior from sin and its consequences, but more important, from the sinful nature, which is the root cause of every sin. In other words, Christ came not only to save us, but by His Spirit, to change us. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [new creation]….” Please note, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, is a new creature. Not “likely will become a new creature.” Christ not only does things for us, but He does something in us.

Reader, don’t be deceived with this generation of poor, lost church members who have not been changed within by the power of Christ’s Spirit. Be sure of this: if the blood of Christ covers your record in heaven (justification), the Spirit of Christ does something in your heart on earth (sanctification begun).

To put it theologically, justification and sanctification are graces inseparably joined together in the application of God’s salvation. This is made crystal clear in the blessings of the new covenant; that Christ came to enact by His person and work. The Bible says He is the Mediator of the new covenant. And that covenant has two parts:

One part is that “….their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” [justification-something that takes place in heaven by the blood of Christ] (Hebrews 8:12).

The other part of the covenant is “…. I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them…”[sanctification]-something that takes place on earth] (Hebrews 8:10; 10:16).

    Be sure of this-if nothing has taken place on earth in your heart by the Spirit of Christ, there is no reason to believe that anything has taken place in heaven, by the blood of Christ

. The Spirit and the blood are inseparably joined together in the application of God’s salvation.

God-centered evangelism emphasizes both parts of the new covenant at the outset. Man-centered evangelism emphasizes the first part of the covenant and makes the second part optional.

To solve this awful error of separating justification and sanctification, man-centered evangelism has invented many strange and erroneous doctrines, under a thousand different names and forms of “second works of grace” teachings such as the damning doctrine of the divided Christ (taking Christ as your Savior, and then later making Christ (“Lord”), or the “victorious life,” “abundant life,” “higher life,” “triumphant life,” and a “taste of new wine” teachings. They are born because of the man-centered evangelism that in practice separates what God has joined in the new covenant, namely, justification and sanctification.

This is not an attack on the person or character of some of the godly and able men who teach some form of a second work of grace. However, any second work of grace teaching reveals an improper understanding of the new covenant (Hebrews 8:10-12; 10:16-17), that is the biblical teaching of the relationship between justification and sanctification or the nature of saving faith.

God-centered evangelism does not separate what Christ’s blood does in heaven and what His Spirit does on earth. Here lies one of the main differences in the two views in respect to Person and Work of Christ. Which view honors God? Which one is true to the new covenant?

THE DIFFERENCE IN THE TWO VIEWS IN RESPECT TO THE SINNERS RESPONSE TO CHRIST

“For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake (1 Thesalonians 1:5).

When the gospel comes to sinners in word and power, it not only summons and draws forth, elicits, and evokes a decision, but also powerfully engages the mind, and powerfully changes the will. In other words, it powerfully reaches and changes the whole man, therefore, the whole man responds. God-centered evangelism is aimed at the whole man. There is a very important reason for this. The reason is that true religion cannot be less than:

1. Right thinking in relationship to God.
2. Right feeling in relationship to God.
3. Right acting in relationship to God.

This is the whole man: mind, affections and will). 1

There must be spiritual growth as Joel Beeke explains.

Colossians 1:9-10 (TLB)
9 So ever since we first heard about you we have kept on praying and asking God to help you understand what he wants you to do; asking him to make you wise about spiritual things;
10 and asking that the way you live will always please the Lord and honor him, so that you will always be doing good, kind things for others, while all the time you are learning to know God better and better.
“Paul was thrilled that the ‘word of the truth of the gospel’ had come to the Colossians through the faithfulministry of Epaphras, and was bearing much fruit. He thanked God for the new believers in Christ and their ‘love for all the saints’, both of which were a gift from God and marks of His grace at work among them. Many members of the infant churchat Colossae had been soundly converted, by the grace of God, leaving the darkness of their unbelieving past behind, and embracing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Clearly the particular circumstances of the church did not matter to Paul. The location of the church and its temporal circumstances, were of no interest to him. He was not concerned about numbers or budgets or programs. What mattered was, the gospel was being preached, and the Lord Jesus was gathering His church at Colossae. God had honored his Word. God had used His faithful servant.A good foundation had been laid, and the Colossian believers had begun well. This is something to celebrate, something to give thanks to God for.

But Paul went on to say that he prayed constantly that what God had begun in the believers at Colossae would continue and increase in depth and scope, filling them with the knowledge of God’s will, inclining them and empowering them to ‘walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing’, more and more.Paul rejoiced in the beginning they had made, but he also longed for spiritual growth. So should we.

What is spiritual growth? Spiritual growth is the development of the believer’s faith and life in learning to know, trust and honor the Triune God intellectually and experientially, which issues from the Spirit’s graces exercised in conformity to Christ through practical Christian living. By this growth a deeper insight is also gained into spiritual liberty.

There is a saying; ‘The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.’ Certainly that is true of our spiritual lives. We must not be satisfied to say that we have been born again, but pray that the child of the new birth would grow into a mature man. Spiritual growth should be as natural to believers as physical growth is to children.

Regardless of the number of people involved, or the social or strategic importance of the church, God’s will for all His children is that they grow to maturity in Christ. Wilhelmus a’ Brakel provides several reasons spiritual growth should be a staple part of every believers life: first, ‘God promises that He will cause His regenerated children to grow’ (Psalm 92:13; Hosea 14:5-6; Malachi 4:2); second, ‘it is the very nature of spiritual life to grow’ (Proverbs 4:18; Job 17:90; third‘the growth of His children is the goal and objective God has in view in administering the means of grace to them’ (Ephesians 4:11-15; 1Peter 2:2; fourth, ‘it is a duty to which God’s children are continually exhorted, and their activity is to consist in a striving for growth’ (2Peter Philippians 3:12-13; and finally, the need for spiritual growth is also conveyed by the difference in believers in regard to their condition and the measure od grace’ (1John 2:13).

Such spiritual growth vindicated a believers claim to have been converted. Regeneration creates new desires. As Mathew 5:6 says, ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.’ Such persons are blessed because they have been begotten again unto a new life in Christ. A healthy infant has a strong appetite, and the newborn child of God wants more of God. Lack of appetite in a child is a symptom of sickness. Lack of spiritual appetite in a professing Christian is a very disturbing sign. [He or she may not be a Christian].

Gardner Spring (1785-1873) said, “The hypocrite, when once he imagines himself to be a Christian, views his work as done. He is satisfied. He is rich and increased in goods. But it is otherwise with the true Christian. The more he loves God, the more he desires to love Him.”

So Paul prayed for the new converts at Colossae. He provides a detailed summary of his prayers, giving us a description of true spiritual growth.Let us soak our minds and hearts into the rich broth of this passage of Holy Scripture so that we may know what true spiritual growth is, and how it takes place. Then let us climb this text as a high hill from which to survey the broader biblical teaching on growing in grace.

Before getting into the details, let us observe something we may otherwise overlook. All spiritual growth ultimately comes from the Holy Spirit.

Why else would Paul pray for such growth if God did not give it? Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I have planted, Apollo’s watered; but God gave the increase.”Just as we must thank God for our conversion, so we must also pray for spiritual growth from His hands. Indeed, Paul by example teaches us that praying for spiritual growth should be a high priority for us. We are told that Paul and his co-workers did not cease to pray for this growth. It was their constant prayer for the ‘saints and faithful brethren’ of the Colossian church. We see this same priority in Paul’s other letters: constant prayer for the spiritual growth of all Christians, and the churches they belong to.

Do you pray for spiritual growth in yourself and in the church? Is it your priority? It will do us little good to talk about spiritual growth if we do not yearn for it and pray for it. Robert Rollock (1555-1598) said, ‘Ernest and fervent prayer to God is the means to get grace from Him.’ If we do not want to fall under the rebuke of James 4:2: ‘Ye have not, because ye ask not.’ We must pray for ourselves, our families, and fellow believers, and our churches.

Notice that the church at Colossae was not one that Paul planted, for which he was personally responsible. This church was planted by Epaphras with the assistance of Archippus (4:17). But even so, these Christians were dear to Paul, and he prayed for them as lovingly and faithfully as for any other. As you pray for the church you serve (or are a member of), do you also pray for other churches in your community? Do you pray for other churches in other places? Let us offer our prayers that walk all over the globe for the sake of God’s church!” 2

I realize that parts of this sermon will be difficult for Zac and Amanda to understand. However, I think they will agree that there is enough information in it to assist them in Scoping Out Christians In College.

Lord willing, next week….

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1. Pages 100-102, Today’s Evangelism, Its Message and Methods © 1982, Earnest C. Reisinger. Craig Press, Phillipsburg, N. J. 08865
2. Pages 10-14, Developing Healthy Spiritual Growth © Joel R. Beeke 2013. EP Books, Faverdale North Darlington, DL3 OPH, England.

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June 29, 2014 Posted by Categories: Uncategorized Tagged with:
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