Oh crossing church, I love you, but I am not the only one that
loves you. Our staff loves you.
This church loves you, but more importantly, God loves you.
That is at the very heart of the Bible.
That is at the very heart of the gospel message.
In fact, we discussed it last week in John chapter 3, verses
16 through 18. We find these words for God so
love the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
At some point in time you and I are going to come to our
deathbed unless the Lord returns.
And at the end of that, it is not the end.
You either go up or you go down. There is eternal life.
What you want is eternal life. What you do not want is eternal
death. So that's why God sent His Son
Jesus to die on the cross. For God did not send His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him. So God sent Jesus on a save
mission so you and I could be saved.
And when you come into a right relationship with Jesus Christ,
you join him in the mission of saving other people.
For whoever believes in him is not condemned.
So if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of living
God, you are not condemned. But whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because they have not believed in the
name of God's one and only Son. If you are here today within the
sound of my voice at the very end of this message, I'm going
to give you another gospel message.
And if you have not yet believed and you are going, I do not want
to be condemned. You will get an opportunity to
make things right. And this message, throughout
history, those who have been moved and impacted and changed
by this message have arisen. And this group of people that
have arisen out of this are gospel patrons.
They are people who value the advancement of the Kingdom more
than the accumulation of more. I want to welcome all of our
different locations. Those of you watching online and
inside, we are so glad that you were here today and I titled
entitled My Message. You have been invited to break
free so that others can experience a breakthrough.
New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg many years ago made
this shocking statement. Money and possessions are the
single greatest rival to faith in Jesus Christ.
That is a shocking statement. He didn't say.
He didn't say politics. He didn't say secularism.
He didn't say social media. He didn't say sexual immorality.
He didn't say revisionist history.
He said money and possessions is the greatest rival to faith in
Jesus Christ. If we were honest today, we
would have preferred him saying something else because chances
are we might not struggle with the something else, but all of
us on some level struggle with money and possessions and you
might be going. I don't care how smart Craig
Blomberg is. I don't care how many degrees he
has, how many books he's written, how many classes he's
taught. We came to church because we
want to know what the Bible says.
Well, if you look at the Bible, it doesn't get much better.
Jesus says in Mark chapter 4 verses 2 through 8 he that's
Jesus taught them many things by parables and in his teaching
said, listen, a farmer went out to sow his seed.
As he was scattering the seeds, some fell along the path and the
birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places where
it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the
soil was shallow, but when the sun came up, the plants were
scorched. They withered because they had
no roots. Other seed fell among thorns,
which grew up and choked the plants so that they did not bear
grain. Still other seed fell on good
soil. It came up, grew, and produced a
crop, some multiplying 3060 and some 100 times.
As you can see in the story, there is so much potential in
the seed, but the seed is limited by the soil.
I'm guessing that most of you want to live a life of
consequence. You want to live a life of
impact. You want your life to matter
here on earth, and you want your life to matter in eternity.
Jesus goes on to explain this story.
If you're a person who wants your life to matter, pay
attention. The farmer shows the word.
That's the gospel. Some people are like seed along
the path where the Word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan
comes and takes it away, takes away the word that was sown in
them. We've seen happen over and over
again here at our church. People show up, they hear a
gospel message, but for some reason they walk away that day.
They never say yes to Jesus. Others, like seed sown in rocky
places, hear the Word and at once believe it with joy.
But because they have no root, they never get connected.
They never grow in their relationship with Jesus.
They last only a short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away, and we've
seen that happen over and over again.
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the Word, but
the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the
desire for other things come and choke the word, making it
unfruitful. Others, like seeds sown on good
soil, hear the gospel word, accept it, and produce a crop
some 30, some 60, and some 100 times what was sown.
Look at the progression. Let's go back to the third one.
The seed makes it past Satan. It puts down roots.
It doesn't fall away. And then right before the
breakthrough, right before the 30 and the 60 and the one
hundredfold impact, it gets choked out.
What chokes it out? Jesus tells us the worries of
this life. While money and possessions are
not all the worries we navigate, we have all had financial
worries. The worries of this life, he
goes on. The deceitfulness of wealth.
This is financial. The desire for other things.
No doubt all across this region we have desires for lots of
different things. We have lots of different
desires, but many of our desires focus on more money and more
possession. This one has financial overtones
as well. If you're following Jesus
identifies 3 areas that prohibit gospel effectiveness and all
three of them have financial implications.
Craig Blomberg was right because Craig was reading his Bible.
And I wonder today how many of you are right on the verge of
breakthrough, right on the verge of impact, right on the verge of
3060 and one hundredfold impact. But the worries of this life,
the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things are
standing in your way. So what if?
What if today you could break free so that others could
experience a breakthrough? What if today you were to decide
to become a gospel patron so you could break free from the thorny
soil? So 3060 or 100 people could find
an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Fortunately, by God's grace, there have been people so moved
by the gospel that they have become its patrons.
They have faithfully supported its advancement.
We know that Jesus had patrons, but did you know that Paul had
them too? You guys know this.
I just spent time walking in the footsteps of Paul all across
Greece and Turkey. And did you know that Paul had
patrons? He had people like Priscilla and
Aquila and Phoebe who all helped fund his ministry and his
missionary journeys. If you were to turn to the very
end of the book of Romans to the 16th chapter, Paul lists a group
of people. I'm just going to read the first
5 verses. This is Paul.
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a Deacon in the church
in Centria. I ask you to receive her in the
Lord in a in a way worthy of His people, and to give her any help
she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor, the
patron of many people, including me.
If you have ever read the New Testament, a majority of your
New Testament was written by Paul.
You have been blessed by the writings of Paul, who funded the
pen and the paper and the food and the travel.
It was Phoebe because of her generosity.
Our lives are better, Our understanding of the Kingdom is
better, Our understanding of the gospel is better.
She has been the patron of many people, including me, Great
Priscilla and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus.
They risk their lives for me. Not only I, but all the churches
of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
Greet also the church that meets at their house.
God didn't just raise up gospel preachers and gospel patrons in
the 1st century. Thankfully, He has done it over
and over and over again. And because of these preachers
and these patrons, you and I have been profoundly impacted
and incredibly blessed. Despite Whitfield and Lady
Huntington's massive impact on the Christianity of England,
10,000 Church of England churches remain stale and
lifeless. Like many times before in
history, the men who were supposed to be men for God
retreated from the old doctrines of Christianity and amassed,
mistakenly or in masses mistakenly thought of themselves
as decent Christian people. Most Englishmen sat in their
pews week after week, but never encountered the God of the Bible
instead of real Christianity. They were fed a cheap imitation,
and they didn't even know it. Religion was kept in its
official place, all dressed up and outwardly impressive.
But the salt had lost its saltiness.
The Church of England, like a tired old man, seemed ready to
lie down and give up the ghost. And so it fell to the next
generation to spread God's movement among the church.
And so God saw fit yet again to raise up a preacher and a gospel
patron. And he began this work through
an uneducated merchant and a former slave trader, both with
the name John. The Patron was John Thornton.
Thornton's business endeavours began humbly.
He bypassed college and went right to work in his family
business of international trade. He soon found that he had a
knack for trading with Russia, and by the time he was 30 years
old, he had amassed a large fortune and eventually became
the wealthiest businessman in all of England.
Even on vacation, he would not miss an opportunity to turn a
profit. And in the 18th century, wealthy
patrons controlled church pulpits.
Under this system, royalty and nobility and land owners could
purchase the right to appoint their favorite preachers to a
particular church. Don't get any ideas.
And sadly, many lazy and lukewarm clergymen filled the
position. But not the calling and George
Thornton had no tolerance for this and he looked for ways to
overturn the tables. And over time John Thornton
purchased for himself 11 pulpits and filled them with gospel
preaching men. And one of those men was a man
by the name of John Newton. Newton's testimony had become
famous all across England thanks to his best selling
autobiography and authentic narrative.
It chronicled his radical transformation from a rebellious
slave, a rebellious sailor, a brutal slave ship captain into a
preacher of the gospel. Thornton had come into a
possession of a pre released copy and could tell right away
that Newton was a man for God. Unlike many of the religious
leaders of his day, Thornton loved to surround himself with
preachers. They were his best friends.
One of his favorite ways to spend time with them was to take
them along on all expense paid vacations.
And one of his favorite people to take was Newton.
As Thornton navigated the temptations attached to his
increasing riches, he called upon his pastor and friend John
Newton to keep him grounded in the gospel.
Years later, a preaching opportunity arose in England
that would open many doors for the Gospel.
Near the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange was a church
called Saint Mary Walnut. London's movers and shakers
passed within walking distance of the church every day, and
Thornton owned a share in the church's pulpit.
And he knew that if a gospel preaching man were in the center
of the city, opportunities for the Gospel we're sure to abound.
So the patron invited the preacher to join him in London.
And under Newton's leadership and Thornton's patronage, within
weeks the pews of Saint Mary Wilderness Church filled up.
People could no longer find their normal seats.
As people were cramming in huddled in the back.
The standing room crowd swelled like a balloon being filled with
air, and Newton ascended to the pulpit and his words rang out
with power. And this is what he said.
What hope do we have? He cried.
Oh, that I could prevail on you to earnestly seek the Lord while
he may still be found. You cannot serve or love or
trust Him unless you be born again.
And until this is done you are neither fit to live nor fit to
die. But Jesus is exalted to produce
this change in the heart of a Sinner by the power of his Holy
Spirit to give faith, repentance, and remission of
sins. Jesus says, Whoever comes to me,
I will never cast out. May we turn to the Lord from
whom we have so greatly revolted.
O Lord, convince them by your power, open the blind eyes,
unstop the deaf ears, and turn the Stony hearts to flesh.
Newton preached for three weekly services, but now that he was in
the city, well connected urbanites would host dinner
parties for their business partners and influential
friends, and they invited Newton to come and preach to them.
In these house preaching assignments, men like Thornton
set the table while Newton set forth the gospel.
And through Thornton and Newton's joint influence, the
Gospel was advancing all over London, most notably among a
young member of Parliament who sought a secret meeting with
Pastor Newton. This young man was William
Wilberforce and through the friendship of of Thornton and
the leadership of Newton, God gave the young politician the
clarity he had been searching for.
Wilberforce knew God's calling on his life and he wrote it down
in his journal dated October 28th, 1787.
God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the
suppression of the slave trade and the Reformation of morals.
For Thornton Newton and Wilberforce, the Gospel was
fundamental. Thornton loved to accelerate the
ministries of men who would preach this gospel and so Newton
played the part of a patriarch to England's future church
leaders and missionaries and leading laymen.
Wilberforce went on to write a best selling book on Christian
doctrine that he called my Manifesto.
These men believe that the foundation of justice.
The engine of activism and the catalyst of change is not
politics nor morality, not votes nor campaigns, but a return to
faith in Jesus Christ. More than anything, these three
men were gospel men. And because of the efforts and
the leadership and the patronage and the preaching of these
gospel men, the Church of England, which had long been
barren of gospel fruit, had now exploded with buds and blossoms
on many branches. And the number of gospel
preaching men had risen to more than 400 within the established
Church, And by the end of the next generation, evangelicals
held 1/4 of all Church of England pulpits.
In addition to Newton's preaching, he was a prolific
songwriter. God laid it on his heart to
publish some of them, and in June of 1779 the hymns were
printed and Thornton's investment in the 1st 1000
copies propelled it to become a best seller.
This caught the attention of bookstores owners who promptly
stocked it. Within a year, the hymn book
went on through 5 editions and showed no signs of slowing.
And tucked away in the first section, as #41 was a hymn
called Faith's Review and Expectation.
This simple hymn used mostly one syllable words to powerfully
weave together biblical theology and Newton's own testimony.
Initially, it did not attract a lot of attention, but as the
song crossed the Atlantic, it caught on with Christians of
every denomination in the United States and it went on to become
the most sung, most recorded, most loved hymn in the world.
And you might be asking yourself, how can it be the most
sung and the most recorded hymn in the world?
I have never in my life heard of Faith's review and expectation.
That's because you know it by another name.
Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a Wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see
twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears
relieved. How precious did that grace
appear the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come.
Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me
home. The Lord has promised good to
me. His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail, and mortal life
shall cease, I shall possess within the veil a life of joy
and peace. The earth shall soon dissolve
like snow and sun for bear to shine.
But God, who called me here below, will be forever mine.
What was it that moved Newton and Wilberforce and Thornton?
So what was it that compelled Paul to preach and Priscilla and
Aquila and Phoebe to be his patrons?
I'll tell you it was the gospel. And what is the gospel, you
might ask? Well, if you were to turn to the
book that Phoebe paid for, Romans chapter 5, verses 6
through 11, one of the most succinct explanations of the
gospel is recorded there. This is Paul.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,
what do you bring to your salvation?
You are powerless to save yourself.
You have nothing of yourself to give or to bring but the sin
that has stained you and shamed you.
At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ
died for the ungodly. He didn't die for the people who
showed up for church and think they got it right.
He didn't die for the people who thought they've read enough of
their Bible. He didn't die for the people who
had a grandma who went to church.
He died for the ungodly, and that is the position that you
and I find ourselves before a holy God, while we were still
powerless for our salvation, He died on our behalf, and he calls
us ungodly. Then he explains how radical
this is. Very rarely will anyone die for
a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might
possibly dare to die. But hear me, you and I are not
the righteous person, and you and I are not the good person.
We are the Wretch that was saved by God's grace.
You want a picture of who our God is?
When somebody says something evil or nasty or untrue about
them, slap it out of their mouth.
Because God demonstrates His own love for us in this.
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
You've heard me say it this way. When we were at our worst, God
was at his best on our behalf. Since we have now been
justified, Justified means made right.
Since we have been made right, why not by your works, Not by
what you bring to the table, not by your long prayers and your
weak prayers, not by your busted up Bible reading plans, but by
His blood. How much more shall we be saved
from God's wrath through Him? For while we were God's enemies,
what was the status of your life pre Christ?
Enemies deserving of God's wrath.
But God so loved the world that he sent his Son to die on behalf
of his enemies. We were reconciled to him
through the death of His Son. How much more, having been
reconciled, shall we be saved through his life?
We are saved through the work of Jesus.
Not only this is so, but we also boast in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received
reconciliation. We have been made right with God
because of His love expressed in His Son on the cross.
And this gospel message that I just preached to you is too
precious and too powerful to be compared to more money and more
possessions. You and I, today we have been
invited to the edge of impact. We stand at the doorway of not
just our deliverance, but the deliverance of those who are
close to us and far from God. We have been invited to break
free from the choked out life so that we can see breakthrough in
the lives of the 30 and the 60 and the 100.
And don't you dare shrink back. Don't you dare.
This is our moment, not just to become gospel Proclaimers, but
to become its patrons. Will you join me?
We're moving to a time of decision.
To those of you who are here or watching online who have never
started an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
hear me. You are powerless to save
yourself, But there's hope you can be saved.
And Satan, and I mean this Satan, will try to get you to
put it off. He'll try to get you to fix
yourself, to clean yourself up, to think that you have to do
stuff on your end, but you can't.
If you could fix you, do you think God would have sent His
Son to die for you? If you were the solution to your
salvation, would there be a bloodied cross?
You and I are saved because God moved on our behalf, and Satan
will do whatever he can to get you to put it off or to dilute
the effect of the cross in the empty grave.
To think that you bring something to it.
Listen, you bring your sin and we bring faith.
We bring our sin and go, this is what I've done.
But because you said it, because you said if I come to you in
faith, that your blood will cover over my sin and my life.
And if you say it, I believe it. And the voice that keeps telling
you to try harder and to get more things figured out, you are
listening to the voice of Satan. The Bible tells us that Satan
masquerades as an Angel of light, which means he can tell
you things that sound scriptural and sound biblical and sound
true, but are not. They're a heresy leading you
away from Jesus and into the pit of hell.
Jesus says, come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. And if today you're going, it's
about time, It is about time for me to get right with God.
Don't put it off any longer. If you're looking for a verse to
memorize, you're looking for a verse to get for a necktat.
It is Romans 58. But God demonstrates his own
love in this. While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. And you have never experienced a
love like that. And you could spend the rest of
your life trying to understand the power of that one verse.
But that one verse can save a soul if it's ready.
And so in just a few moments, when the people around you stand
and sing and some of them come to the steps to pray, I want to
encourage you to walk right over there next to that baptistry,
underneath that screen, and talk to somebody, to the rest of you,
to those of you who would call yourself a Christian, every
single one of us. If you don't believe me, go home
and read your Bible cover to cover.
I'm right. I'm standing on the Word of God
on this. Every single one of us has been
called to be a gospel proclaimer and to be a gospel patron.
So I have two questions for you. Who do you need to tell?
Who needs to hear the gospel message?
Maybe today you'll come to the steps and you'll just pray over
them. Pray that God would give you the
words. Pray that God would give you the
boldness. The second question is, what do
you need to do to become a gospel patron?
And the moment I say it, I know that there's this uneasiness
that falls across the room, shows up in your gut and in your
heart, starts your mind racing. And that uneasy feeling that's
keeping you from taking a step towards becoming a gospel patron
is the very thorn that is choking out the gospel impact in
your life. It's the very thorn that's
keeping you from 3060 and hundredfold impact.
It's the very thorn keeping you from making sure that heaven is
crowded, and every so often it's time for us to just get tired of
the thorns and trust that God who saves us can also supply for
us. So maybe you'd spend some time
asking God to help you to break free from those thorns so the
people in this region can experience a spiritual
breakthrough. Would you stand with me?
Heavenly Father, I just want to say thank you.
You've been abundantly good and abundantly patient with us.
We've made mistake after mistake.
We've committed sin after sin, some of them consciously and
some of them unconsciously. Some of them we didn't know what
we were doing, and other times we knew exactly what we were
doing. And yet, and yet, through all of
that, we have not outran Your grace.
We are truly undeserving of all that you have done on our
behalf. And God, I pray that you would
stir something in us that is not easily forgotten and that is not
easily walked away from. My prayer remains the same.
Would you start a fire in us that Satan can't put out?
Name I pray. Amen.