I have preached lots of evangelistic sermons and many revival services. I have a natural God-given bent toward evangelistic preaching, but I am by no means an expert.
Famous nineteenth century evangelist D.L. Moody is credited with saying, “Many a man can preach the gospel better than me, but no man can preach a better gospel.”
We need more evangelistic preaching in our state. When the gospel is preached, God’s people are both encouraged and trained to share the gospel themselves, and lost people are confronted and convicted about their standing before God.
But how can we preach evangelistically? Peter the Apostle gives us a clue.
If you could learn to preach from a man who was used by God to preach simple sermons and see thousands of people repent, believe and be baptized, you would probably want to learn his approach wouldn’t you?
Acts 2:40 summarizes Peter’s preaching with this commentary: “With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Notice three things that Peter did in his evangelistic preaching that those of us who preach the gospel can also do.
1. Peter preached Jesus: A 2016 article posted on The Spurgeon Center website points to the priority of preaching Christ. “In his 1859 sermon ‘Christ Precious to Believers,’ Spurgeon quoted a Welsh minister as saying … I have never yet found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if I ever do find one that has not a road to Christ in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savour of Christ in it.”
This was also the practice of Paul the Apostle as seen in 1 Corinthians 2:2 where he wrote, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
That is what Peter was doing in his famous sermon in Acts 2. He explained that Jesus was, “a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs” (Acts 2:22b). He told them that they put Jesus to death, but God raised him from the dead (Acts 2:23-24). He told them that Jesus is the Messiah and that they must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:36-38). Peter preached Jesus to them, and we must preach Jesus to others.
2. Peter warned his listeners: To warn someone is to let them know of a danger or something harmful ahead, and that there are consequences of certain actions or inactions. Evangelistic preaching must warn listeners of the dangers of rejecting Christ, of dying in their sins and of the reality of hell. Hell is a biblical doctrine that should frighten every person and lead us to consider our own standing before God. Jesus spoke about hell as have all faithful preachers who have sought to follow Him. We must warn people of the reality of hell, the reasons for hell and make sure they are clear on the rescue from going to hell that is available to them in Jesus.
3. Peter pleaded for souls: It was magician and entertainer Penn Jillette, also an atheist, who said after meeting a Christian at one of his shows that he respected the man for trying to witness to him. Jillette went on to say, “If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward … How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that.”
I recently listened to one of our Kentucky Baptist pastors preach a simple evangelistic message from Romans chapter 3. He carefully exegeted the text and explained theological nuances about sin and salvation. But he didn’t stop there. He went on to plead with people to be saved. There were four souls who professed faith in Jesus following that message.
Pastor Aaron Menikoff in a March 2020 article on gospel preaching offers this encouragement about the power of the gospel preached. “I’ll never forget the first time I heard the gospel preached. On one hand, I was mesmerized—he spoke straight to me, as if I was the only person in the room. On the other hand, I thought it must be a trick. Perhaps seminary trained him to preach in such a way that everyone felt singled out, like the eyes of the Mona Lisa following each person who walks by.”
When the gospel is preached God moves in the hearts of lost people.
May God be pleased to use Kentucky Baptist pastors and preachers to preach the gospel across the Commonwealth, and may God use our preaching to bring spiritually dead people to life in Christ.
Dr. Todd Gray 