Bringing
People To Christ
By
Shelby
G. Floyd
Our
purpose is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.
I rejoice in your presence and our visitors today. Let us all work to bring people to Christ and
to take Christ to the people. We all
have it within our power to fill this room with people who are seeking Christ.
Let us read together the record of some
who brought a person to Christ:
Mark
2:1-12
2:1A
few days later, when Jesus again entered
8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were
thinking in their hearts, and he said to them,
"Why are you thinking these things? 9Which is easier: to say to the
paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Get up, take your mat and
walk'? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up,
take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his
mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they
praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
NIV
BRING PEOPLE TO
CHRIST BY USING OUR HOUSES
The first thing we will notice is that we can bring people to Christ by
using our houses to teach and preach the word of God. A crowd gathered in a certain house, because
Christ was in that house. People will
come to Christ if Christ is dwelling in your family, your home, and your house.
We need to think about our city and community and the largest circle of
influence from which we can gather people.
In our situation it would be
The Crowd
We desire to have big crowds and great attendance. But that is not the most important
thing. What is important is having big
crowds with people in that crowd who have the right condition of heart. That is
what is really important. We hope all of
us have open hearts, good hearts, and honest hearts.
Many houses of worship today are full of
people, but many are there for the wrong reason. If we are part of a crowd and we are not
thinking about those outside of Christ, we just might be present only for a
selfish and personal reason. If so, our
hearts would not be right (Cf. Acts
This house was full of
people, but no one was thinking about the man with palsy. We still have churches today that are full of
people who stand in the way and hinder others from coming to Christ. Let it not be said that even one of us is
standing in the way and hindering others from coming to Christ. Someone has said, "A full house does not
necessarily mean that the house is full of God." We want a house full of people who are also
full of God. It is good that people came out to seek Christ, but no one in the
crowd was thinking about a poor paralyzed man outside of the house.
However, on this occasion
there were some people outside the house who were thinking about someone else
beside themselves. There were four men
who were concerned about a poor unfortunate man who was paralyzed. The crowd blocked the entrance to the
house. There were so many people in the
house that no one could get through the door.
This was the only access into the house.
These four men cared about
this paralyzed man so much that they became very innovative. They took the initiative and found a way to
bring this man to Christ in spite of the obstacle before them. How did they find a way to bring him to
Christ? They uncovered the roof and let
the man down on his stretcher into the room were Christ was preaching. If we find ourselves in this situation in our
houses, I would recommend that you not tear off someone’s roof! That would likely land you in jail today.
Christ did not criticize
these men for what they did to the man's roof.
In fact he commended them for their faith in action. The Bible says that Christ “saw their
faith.” These four men had what we might
call a "Kodak moment," when Christ saw their faith. We manifest our faith to God and to others
when our faith is coupled with works (Cf. Jas.
What did Jesus do when all these people came into
the house? The Bible says, "He
preached the word unto them." There
is no substitute for the power of the word of God. "The word of God is the seed of the
kingdom" (Luke
So
when we have a crowd like we have today, what is the job of the teacher or
preacher? "Preach the word" (2
Tim. 4:1-4). That has been my aim and purpose from my youth. In the great commission Christ commanded us
all to "go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. He that they
believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark
Previously
we have urged everyone to be ministers of the word and take Christ to the
people. But now we are taking a
different tack. We are to bring the
people to Christ. Take the word and
Christ to the people and bring the people to Christ and the word. This amounts to the same thing. Some ways we can do this is to bring people
to a worship service, a Bible study, and a devotional. Christ preached the word to the crowd. We must do the same. The early Christians ministered
the word on a daily basis from house to house and in the temple courts (Acts
Think of those early Christians who used
their houses to bring people to Christ and to strengthen the Christians. For example, Mary the mother of John had a prayer
meeting in her house while Peter was in prison (Acts
The jailor at
As was said recently, the leadership is challenging each one of us to stretch ourselves and to get out of our comfort zone and become involved in one or more of the ministries of this congregation. Take a risk and work for Christ doing something that you have been fearful of doing. In other words, be like these four men who took the risk of breaking up a man's roof in order to bring a man to Christ. They found a way to get this man to Christ. And their action turned out for the man's good and the glory of God. We want to bring people to Christ by opening up our houses so people outside of Christ can hear the word and be saved from their sins.
FIND
Like the four men in our story, we need to look for new ways to bring people to Christ. The traditionalist may complain and criticize those who look for new ways to bring people into contact with Christ and the old, old story, but usually this means that they are only thinking of themselves. This crowd in our story was not thinking about the paralyzed man but only themselves. They were literally blocking the way for the helpless man to enter in and find Christ. They had a full house, full of people, full of pride, and even full of preaching. Someone has said, "Because the house of God is full does not mean that the house is full of God." Outside of the crowd there were four men. They had an active faith, and compassionate hearts, and they carried the paralyzed man on a stretcher to Christ. They found that the entrance was blocked. "Lead, or get out of way." These four men had their "Kodak moment." The record says Christ "saw their faith." How can you see someone's faith? How can this be since faith is a subjective act of the heart and mind? We can see a person's faith when we see their works. "Faith without works is dead." If our faith has no action it is a dead faith.
These
four men had an active faith. And the
text says, "When Jesus saw their
faith, he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2: 5).
What was it about these men that caused Christ to take notice of their
faith? First they were concerned about
other people. Secondly, they were
capable of action. They were not
paralyzed in their action. If our faith is not active we may have a paralyzed
faith. Thirdly, they were cooperative
and helped each other. It takes
cooperation to build the cause of Christ. "For we are God's fellow
workers" (1 Cor. 3: 9). In the fourth place, they were committed to a task
and purpose. Fifth, they were confident
that Christ could make this man whole again. They were not
disappointed in that he healed him physically and spiritually.
We can manifest our faith by finding some
creative ways, means and methods to bring people to Christ. Do you want to be a spiritual
stretcher-bearer and bring people to Christ like these four men? Someone
suggested these 15 ways to become a spiritual stretcher-barrier:
1. Be determined. We can bring people to Christ without
committees, but not without sheer determination. It may take years and numerous attempts, but
resolute determination will eventually accomplish the will of God.
2. Be creative and innovative. They were creative even to the point of
tearing up the man's roof. Sometimes we
need to use new means and methods to bring people into contact with Christ and
the gospel. What worked in previous
generations may not work for us today.
Do not rely on the old methods only, but also seek out new ways to bring
people to Christ.
3. Be ready to meet all
human needs to bring people to Christ.
These needs may be emotional, physical, social, mental, economic, and
spiritual. These four men started with a
man's physical need. He was paralyzed and he needed some help. Start with people where they are and try to
meet their need, so you can lead them to Christ who can fill their spiritual needs.
4. Be ready to bear one
another's burdens in order to bring people to Christ. We may need to carry some people up to a
point. This does not mean that people
who are lost cannot do anything to be saved.
However, the Scriptures teach that many people are in need of someone to
help them out of some bad situations. "Bear one another's burdens and so
fulfill the law of Christ."
"For every man shall bear his own burden" (Galatians 6: 1-10).
Many people have so many problems that they become almost helpless and they
need someone to give them a helping hand, like the four men did for the
paralyzed man.
5. Be willing to
minister to people publicly first, then personally and privately later. Sometimes we will say, "I can't bring
anyone to Christ publicly, until I deal with them personally and
privately." But in our story we
have an example of someone who was first brought to Christ publicly. These four men realized they might never have
another opportunity to do good for the paralyzed man so they seized the
day. So must we.
6. Be willing to take some risk. Taking risk involves being willing to upset
people yet doing what is right because we know it will please God. Many ministries are often misunderstood and
will face terrible criticisms from some other religious people. Conflict resolutions are not always possible
until Christ is recognized as the one who has all authority in heaven and on
earth. These four men took a risk in
tearing up the man's roof, but the results were well worth the cost and risk.
7. Be prepared for the positive and negative
consequences of bringing people to Christ. For Christ the consequence of
bringing us to salvation was the cross. “I
have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20, NKJV). Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you."
8. Be prepared to go to work with what has been
provided for you. Jesus said to the
paralyzed man, "Take up your mat and walk." We do not bring people to Christ only for
their immediate needs to be fulfilled, but also for them to go on to maturity
and obedience. Encourage the people we
bring to Christ to “walk the walk” and to grow in all aspects in Christ. Christ uses acts of faith to teach others
about the importance of his authority above all others. Christ is Lord of heaven and earth and has
authority over all powers, even though many powerful people fail to recognize
that fact.
9. Be prepared to shine your light where your
roots are located. Jesus commanded the
paralyzed man to take up is mat and go home. Our faith will be proven in the
light of those who really know us. No
one can successfully fake his or her relationship with Christ.
10. Be prepared for great results when God works
in and through his people to bring others to Christ. In our text, the people were all amazed and
praised God saying, “we have never seen anything like this." Expect great things for God and expect great
things from God.
11. Be perceptive and
have the ability to overcome people's misperceptions and wrong understanding of
the truth. Christ recognized that his
opponents thought they knew God but in fact they did not.
12. Be willing to change
your perception about a problem. If you
can do this you can change about anything else that needs to be changed in your
life. Try to see people through the eyes
of Christ so you can have more compassion on those who are scattered abroad
like sheep without a shepherd.
13. Be
willing to do whatever it takes to bring others to Christ, who is the only one
that can solve people's problems. No
matter how dysfunctional a person may be they still need the love of God and
forgiveness of sin. Every person is made
in the image of God with a soul worth more than all the wealth in this world.
14. Be willing to get involved in the work of bringing people to Christ regardless of the cost or embarrassment or pain. Do not overlook anyone in bringing them to Christ.
BRING
PEOPLE TO CHRIST SO THEIR SINS CAN BE FORGIVEN
People
today have many needs and Christ can meet these needs. But the most important need that anyone has
is to be forgiven of his or her sins.
Christ has the power to forgive sins.
He proved that proposition in the story of the men who brought a
paralyzed man to hear him preach. Jesus
said, "Son, your sins are
forgiven" (Mark 2: 6). The critics replied, "Who can forgive sin, but God only" (Mark 2: 7)? When
Christ knew what was on their mind he said to them, "but that you may know that the son of man has power on earth to
forgive sin, get up, take up your bed and walk" (Mark 2:10). When
Christ was born he was given the name Jesus because the Bible says he would
save his people from their sins (Matt.
BRING PEOPLE TO CHRIST SO THE PEOPLE CAN BE AMAZED
When
we bring people to Christ and they obtain the forgiveness of their sins and
change their whole life, people will observe and be amazed. Others will want the joy and gladness of
heart that Christian people are experiencing.
This will cause others to praise God and worship him who made heaven and
earth. Bring visitors to Christ and to
the New Testament worship and they will leave saying, "we have never seen
anything like this" (Mark
*Shelby G. Floyd delivered this sermon