This morning I'd like to talk to you about a familiar part of our
worship service something that we do several times each week but we
rarely discuss it. We never talk about it and that is the response.
Good response songs by the way that we've been singing you know what I mean you know what I'm
talking about that moment at the end of the sermon when the preacher invites the listeners to
come forward for various reasons
some people come to the front then they ask for prayers concerning various struggles in their lives.
Others decide that they need to be baptized and they respond by coming forward and
being immersed in that very moment that very day. Sometimes
a person hears something in the lesson that touches their heart and they need to
demonstrate their renewed commitment by coming forward to be
restored. There's a situation where perhaps a person has
been unfaithful to the church or guilty of an unchristian lifestyle
or action that has affected others and needs to signal to God and to the
church that they are back and they want to be faithful and fruitful again in the
Lord. This is called a restoration. And people respond to this need
by coming forward. And then there are Christians who are new to the
area and the community and they want the church to know that they wish to be
recognized as being part of the Christian family here at Choctaw
and an expedient way of doing this is to come forward and allow the elders to recognize
them and introduce them to the congregation. And then one more
reason to respond is to share with the congregation one's gratitude and
joy for various blessings that God may have given a member
perhaps acknowledge this by asking for a prayer to be made
because of the joy of having a new baby or a good job or a prayer answered
that that has been long standing in that person's heart. Now
I've heard some folks comment that coming forward or responding is
simply a tradition.
It's not really something that's based in the Bible. You know why I hear why do we have to do that every
time. Why can't can't you finish the sermon in some other way.
You know sometimes the sermon is not even about coming forward and a preacher finds a bridge to get himself to
you know offer an invitation even on Wednesday we have some songs and you know we encourage
people if they if they reply do we do that all the time.
Well the idea that it's not Biblical that's that itself is not accurate.
Extending an invitation or calling on people to respond to God's word
is a very biblical practice.
For example Matthew describes the outcome of John the Baptist's preaching in Matthew
Chapter three verses 1 to 6 and I just like to read that very
shortly in Matthew Chapter three he says. That in those days John the Baptist came
preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
For this is the one referred to by Isaiah of the prophet when he said the voice of one crying in the
wilderness make ready the way of the Lord make His paths straight.
Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist and
his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem was going
out to him and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan and they were being
baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed
their sins. Notice that John preached and the
result was that people responded in a very dramatic way. They
acknowledged what their sins were and they were immersed in the Jordan
River immersed baptized in the Jordan River. In other words
they responded. It wasn't just I listened to John the Baptist and go yeah
OK pretty good little applause and then go back home. No. No no. He was
demanding that they deal with what he just said. And in this
context the way to deal with that was to come forward and be baptized in preparation
for the kingdom to come. That's what he was preaching. Then on Pentecost Sunday
Peter preaches the gospel of Christ for the first time. And what does he do?
He finishes his sermon with an invitation to his hearers Chuck will read that whole
passage from 36 down to 41. Usually we usually go just up to 38.
You know repentantly baptized we go to there but I wanted him to go all the way to 41 because in
41 What is it that we see.? We see the response.
And we see Peter extending that invitation with many
words with many words that he's already preached the
sermon and then it says when many other words he continued to exhort
them to be saved from this.
Generation and The people responded. And 3000
people came forward to be baptized.
There's no passage in the Bible that says. Thou shalt offer an invitation.
Every time you preach. No no no. You know no
passage that says that. However we see the Apostles and the disciples
they teach they preach and we observe that when they did so they made
an appeal for their hearers to respond to their teaching.
For example Paul when he was preaching to the to King Agrippa and
Festus, these are kings. These were the important people of
his time. And so when he preaches to them he urges them to become
Christians at the conclusion of his lesson in Acts 26 verse
29 just want to read that one passage.
And Paul said I would wish to God that whether in short or long time not
only you but also all who hear me this day might become
such as I am except for these chains he's in front of these two
kings. They have the power to release him. He's a prisoner. They can just say ok
just let let's let this guy go. And what does he do. He preaches to them.
He convicts them of sin. He tells them You people are sinners you people are lost. You need to
respond you need to become Christians.
Did they respond? Yeah. Sure they respond they said, 'maybe some other time.'
'Maybe you know we'll think about it.' That was their response.
We can't fault Paul. He made the invitation.
And so to extend an invitation to respond in some way and to come forward
as a result of that invitation follows the biblical example of preaching with a
purpose. And listening with the desire to
obey. So that's one of the big issues.
Are we preaching with the purpose of obedience.
Are we teaching never mind from the pulpit. Are we teaching the kids in
second grade and third grade. Are we teaching them that God requires them
to respond to Him.
Isn't that what Jesus said teaching them to do what.
To obey all things that I have commanded you not teaching them to hear all things
teaching them to obey. What is it that we're supposed to be teaching or are we just supposed to be teaching the facts. No
we're supposed to be teaching you got to obey.
From cradle roll to the pulpit.
We teach with a purpose. We preach with an objective
and you brothers and sisters listen with the responsibility
and the responsibility is to obey not me not
Marty not the teachers to obey God's word.
In other words if you went back in time. And you listened to Jesus and the Apostles
preach at some point in their lesson you would be encouraged to do or
change something in your life.
In response to their teaching.
The response therefore is an important and biblical part of our worship service.
It's an individual's response to God's word. It is a time where
the congregation ministers to its own.
It is an opportunity to teach and encourage others by our example of courage
humility and willingness to confess our faith. I mean there
is nothing more edifying than to see a young person come forward and give their
lives to Christ. So encouraging. Those of us who are
older, we're seeing this young person 12 years old 16 you know we see them and
we're thinking oh. They have just saved themselves from so
much heartache. They have just saved themselves period.
They have just put themselves in a position where they will be able to
know and serve the Lord for the majority of their lives and those of us who were baptized
when we were 30 or 50 or 70 didn't have that chance.
Or when we see an older saint come forward or put in a card
admitting fault. And humbling themselves before God before the
brethren how encouraging that is how humbling for ourselves that is.
Because this can be such a life changing moment there are always many
obstacles that will stop a person from actually coming forward. I mean the
heart you know the heart wants to but the feet remain nailed to the floor.
I call these obstacles response killers. So this morning I'd
like to talk about just a few of these response killers and hopefully find a
way to overcome them.
So here are a couple of response killers. Number one. Ignorance. I don't mean stupidity I mean
ignorance. Some people just don't know the procedure.
There may be new Christians or they are new to our congregation not familiar on how things are
done. Hopefully this lesson will help some to understand more clearly the purpose of the
invitation and how it relates to them personally. For others
however the ignorance is rooted in their lack of knowledge of self. They don't
realize that the invitation is for them.
And other is they always think the invitation is for somebody else. Never them.
I love that when I'm you know doing a just on a class on marriage and divorce and you know
marriage enrichment so and when I'm talking about these things about marriage you know I always see one of the
partners going. This is for you.
I think we have that mindset when the preachers are going at it. Stepping on
toes thinking wow he's really stepping on her toes. We never seem
to think it's it's for us.
Many times their ignorance of self is caused by the fact that they're not really
listening. If you're not really paying attention if you're not
examining yourself in light of the word you're never going to feel the need to respond.
How can somebody come to church for 40 years and never respond.
How can that be?
Ignorance is also the reason why people put off responding.
They know and feel that they have to in some way but they keep putting it off until some other
time in the future when they will be better or they'll be more ready to respond. How do you
get more ready?
Ignorance is a terrible response killer because the Lord says that no one knows the day or
the hour of judgment. Matthew 24:36. He's either going to come at
the end that it's all going to be over in the twinkling of an eye or He's going to come for you in a heart attack.
Or he's going to come for you or I,
through some driver that blasts through a red light and T-bones us one minute
we're driving to the store to pick up some stuff at Wal-Mart and the next minute we're dead.
We never expected, we never think it's going to happen. Even people who are this
close to death. They just want one more breath. They don't think this is the breath that's
going to be the last one. They think they're going to have one more breath.
To risk eternal punishment simply because they want to put off their response to God to a more
convenient day. This is ignorance indeed the.
Another response killer: pride. Many people will not respond to the lesson because they're
too proud they're too proud to admit fault or to admit when they're too proud to give
in and obey God in the simple commands to repent and be baptized. They're too
proud to acknowledge the fact that they are weak and need prayer and support. They're
too proud to admit. I need the church.
I need the Lord. I need to get rid of this burden of sin I need to throw
off this guilt. I need to confess this and I need to stop the secret junk that I'm
doing. I need to do it.
When your heart or conscience is touched by God's word and you know you have to come to
him somehow. But you do nothing. You just let the moment go by.
Usually pride has had its victory not Jesus.
Oh there'll be a lot of excuses and rationalizations to comfort you in the decision to not
respond. But in the end it was
foolish human pride that killed the flickering flame that was lit within you
by God's word.
You know brothers and sisters come into church, singing the songs, hearing the sermon. Yes it's
supposed to make us feel good and encourage absolutely and assured of our things
but it's also there to deal with our sinfulness.
One other response killer: worldliness. Paul describes one of his former
helpers Demas who became unfaithful and as far as we know was never
restored. And he describes him in the following way.
He said Demas having loved this present world has deserted me. (II Timothy 4:10)
Can you imagine being Paul the Apostles assistant?
You know when I was in college I admired great men
that taught me and I still do. You know Dr. North who comes here on Wednesday night have
such admiration for that brother, 86 years old traveling back
and forth from Edmond teaching us on a Wednesday night, sharp as ever lucid mind,
kind. I admire him.
And I would do anything if he said Michael I need your help to do this. Boy I I'd be right on it.
Can you imagine being Paul's assistant the Apostle witnessing the
miracles and then just deserting him.
What do you think is happening when a person would rather eat
than be restored. Worldliness is happening. Well what do you
think the problem is when someone refuses to respond to God with obedience in
repentance and baptism because they don't want to change their lifestyle. What's causing
that? Worldliness. Anytime we prefer our life
here to the life that God has promised to those who respond to him with faith in
Christ we are guilty of worldliness just like Demas.
In the end what causes us to lose our souls is about 40 feet.
And that's the distance between where you're sitting and the front of this auditorium.
I have mentioned before. That there are many ways to respond to
the invitation. The Bible shows us that John and Jesus and then the
Apostles and early disciples appeal to their audiences for a response of some
kind. The New Testament writers often describe the final results of the
responses some repented some were repenting and being baptized or some were making a
commitment to a certain ministry. What the Holy Spirit left out the manner in
which many of these responses were made this God leaves to
each generation and culture to figure out. For example I've mentioned this
before in Haiti during the invitation song the deacons and the elders go
into the congregation and encourage individuals whom they
have studied with or know to respond to the lesson. So you'll have a
brother a deacon you know go out you know while we're seeing just
and you know and then the deacons the elders go out and say well you know Billy you know don't you
think you need to stop drinking and be time to come forward. Now.
I've spoken to the elders about change in that system but I for some reason or other they
are hesitating. We don't want to start any fistfights in the church
you know. Put it that way.
Of course we don't do that here. They're used to that. There they started doing it like
that there. But we do have various ways that people in the assembly can
respond to the invitation when it's made. They can come to the front during
the scene of the invitation song and let the elders know what they need at that time.
For example maybe they need to confess Jesus to be baptized or be rebaptized if they're not sure
of their original baptism. Or they need to be restored to faithful service to the
Lord or the church because of bad behavior or the neglect to attend worship
over a long period of time. Some people come for prayers for illness
or struggle with problems or sins and don't necessarily come to the front but they fill out that
blue card.
One of the elders will read the need that person has come forward has said I have a need.
Others either come forward or put on prayer cards there need to be recognized
as members of this congregation as we have seen this morning.
Some need to give special thanks to the Lord again during our prayer time.
Coming to the front during worship is not the only way to respond. However.
Remember our response is to God and His Word.
And a public response is not always necessary. Sometimes a
personal call or visit with an elder or minister is more appropriate for a
particular need. Yeah I need to come forward but I need to talk somebody to
somebody and it needs to go on for a long conversation. I need to study something I'm not
sure about a certain decision whatever that is. And coming forward for five minutes is not
appropriate.
So maybe making an appointment or dropping in and visiting with with one of the ministers maybe
that's the coming forward.
During our worship services many people will fill out as I say a prayer card as a form of
a response and this can be done at any service. And of course a personal and
sincere encounter with God in private prayer is still an effective way to
respond to what he has said to us in a public sermon. I personally have sat there
and heard Marty and others preach and realize you know I that's he's touching an area I just
need to think about a little bit more.
And I add that to my personal prayers.
That day and the day after because I've been shown a new way a better way of approaching
something or weakness has been revealed that I need to work on. Well no need to make a
public thing out of it but I do need to discuss this with the Lord in prayer.
I'm not saying to you no I'm not saying all of this the sermon is not you know to up the total
number of responses for selfish reasons we don't put a notch on the gun every time somebody
comes you know we don't go out we don't get paid by responses. If he says Amen.
Responses are not about ego gratification from preachers.
The response is for members not ministers.
The lesson is given so that you will think differently about this important part of this
worship program.
And this lesson is given so that when you feel the need to respond you will not
allow the response killers to destroy a legitimate and potentially life
changing experience for you.
Of course it is impossible to speak about the response portion of our worship service
without referring to the invitation that all of us will have to answer one day.
When Jesus returns Paul says that he will do so with a shout.
First Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16. I believe
he will say to all the same thing he said to Lazarus who lay dead in his toe.
He said Come forth. And Lazarus came forth.
From the grave. This is the response that all will have to
give. One day no matter who you are and what you believe Jesus is called to
resurrect to come forth from the dead in order to be judged. I
encourage all who are gathered here today to be ready for the final
invitation by responding to this morning's invitation to prepare yourself
for that day. Examine your life and if you see that you need to
respond to the invitation. Do not let the response killers of ignorance or
pride or worldliness hold you back. Come right now. Don't delay.
Not another moment. As we stand and as we sing our song of invitation.