GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND EVANGELISM

Rev John Westendorp

 

Text – Acts 2:47b; 13:48b

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:29-47.

Singing: Book of Worship 34a, 130, 372, 23a

 

Introduction:

Some people hold the view that the book of Acts portrays the ideal Christian community.

They claim that if we want a healthy church we should all return to this situation here in Acts.

These folk forget that the early church had its problems too. I could mention Ananias & Sapphira.

Or that nearly all the NT letters were written in response to problems that troubled the church.

 

In any case, we can’t go back to Acts… the early years of the church are HISTORY. It’s past!

And God has led His church a long way since those early years.

 

That does not mean however that there are no lessons to be learnt from the book of Acts.
This book too is part of the inspired Word of God that has been given for our instruction.
And one thing we can learn from the book of Acts is about the MISSION of the church.
Acts has much to teach us about the spread of the gospel.
Because Acts is the story of the growth of the church thru Missions.

 

Our texts this morning are verses that highlight God’s sovereignty.
And that’s a problem for many people.
They cannot or will not relate missions and evangelism to God’s sovereignty.
At least… they will not do that consistently.
So let’s consider God’s sovereignty as we find it here in Acts and in relation to evangelism.
(If you want to study this further read James Packer’s ‘Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God’)

 

A] THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN ACTS.

 

1. Let me begin by telling you what I mean by the Sovereignty of God.

Briefly stated, it means that God directs every process…
and that He orders every event… and that He does so in order to fulfil His eternal plans.
For example: in Eph.1¹¹ the apostle Paul puts it this way:
God… works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.

 

Obviously that is an immense subject.
It includes what we call “God’s Providence”… by which we mean God’s care for the world.
It includes the idea of election that God has chosen for Himself…
out of a fallen and sinful humanity… a believing community to serve Him.

We can’t possibly hope to cover all of that.
So we’ll stick with the book of Acts and how God’s sovereignty relates to Christian outreach.
There is a sovereign God who is at work in the church’s evangelism and in your witness.

 

I should point out that many Christians of non-Reformed persuasion reject this teaching.
Calvinists strongly believe in the Sovereignty of God.
Others strongly oppose it… especially the idea that God is sovereign in evangelism.
But I want to show you that all Christians… deep down… do acknowledge God’s sovereignty.
Not only SOME Christians… but all Christians. They are just not consistent.
The problem is that many Christians just don’t realise that they do believe it.

 

On one occasion I was debating God’s Sovereignty with a friend from another church.
I argued that people will only truly respond to the gospel if God first opens their heart to Jesus.
He disagreed and argued that it all depends on whether or not we accept the gospel as true.
At the end of a long evening we decided to pray together.
In his prayer he particularly prayed for his unbelieving brother, asking God to bring him to faith.

 

Afterwards I said to my friend: Thank you for agreeing with me about God’s Sovereignty.
He looked puzzled so I reminded him of his prayer: asking God to give faith to his brother.
That was a practical recognition that God is sovereign… that it all depends on Him.
In fact, every time we pray we recognise our dependence on God.
Every time we pray: “Your will be done!” we are bowing before a Sovereign God.

 

This is why I find it strange that some Christians deny that God is sovereign in our salvation.
They oppose the teaching about election and predestination.
Or they explain it away by saying: Well it’s really only God looking into the future.
God doesn’t first choose us… we first choose Him… but God knows beforehand if we will or not.
Yet those same people will ask God to bring a loved one to faith in Jesus.

 

Or let’s look at it another way: If you are a Christian don’t you thank God for your salvation..?
You thank Him not only for providing salvation by sending Jesus to die for us.
You also thank Him for opening your eyes to the truth… and for drawing you to Himself.
I know of no Christian who compliments himself for being so smart as to believe in Jesus.
No! We thank God that He forgave us and brought us out of darkness into light.
We admit God did it all… and in that way confess God as sovereign in our salvation?

 

So the strongest opponent of this teaching that God is sovereign – also in salvation –
will still turn around and ask God for the GIFT of faith for a friend or relative.
And the most outspoken opponent of the teaching about election
will still come to God in prayer and say: Thank you for how you have changed my life
Every Christian is really a Calvinist when he is on his knees.
In prayer they admit God’s sovereignty… even if they reject it when doing their evangelism.

 

2. Let’s now see how all of this is taught in the book of Acts… and not just in an isolated verse either.

Let’s check out a number of instances where this is spelled out.

We see it particularly already in our text in Acts 2^47b.
It says: the Christians were… praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

 

Notice! Who added to the church? The apostles… by their preaching…?
The rest of the Christians by their faithful witness…? No!
God is the One who brings people into the church.
And those He brings in are those whom He in His sovereign goodness is busy saving.
That verse is saying to us:
All those whom God in His mercy is saving thru the death of Christ…
they are the ones God adds to the church in His own way and in His own time.

 

In verse 41 of this same chapter we have the same thing.
There it is not said in so many words but it is strongly implied:
“…and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” (similar words are found in 5¹⁴).

Why didn’t Luke just write it the way most people today would have put it?
Wouldn’t we have simply said: “And 3000 joined the church that day…?”
But he doesn’t just say that 3000 joined the church that day.
Because He wanted to imply very strongly that this was God’s doing.
Because when he says: THEY WERE ADDED… then we are naturally inclined to ask:
Okay… but who did the adding? And the answer is obvious: God did!

 

All this becomes much more explicit in Acts 13⁴⁸.

Here it says that the people whom God had chosen… or elected… were coming to faith.
And all who were appointed… (or: ordained) for eternal life believed.
In other words: God brings to salvation all those whom He chooses.

 

If you have at home an early copy of the LIVING BIBLE you’ll find this translated quite differently.
The author, Kenneth Taylor, didn’t agree that God is Sovereign in evangelism.
So he translated Acts 13⁴⁸: As many as wanted eternal life believed. (contrary to all other transl).

 

There is also another way in which Acts shows God’s sovereignty in salvation.
That’s by making clear that we humans in our blindness
and opposition to God could never come to God of ourselves in any case.
Take for example the story of Lydia in Acts 16¹⁴:
Here there is no compliment made to Lydia for her brilliant spiritual insight.
Nor did she respond because of Paul’s profound gospel preaching.
No it says: “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” God did it!

 

We also see God’s sovereignty in that faith and repentance are spoken of as GIFTS that God gives.
They are never merely our human achievement… they are always gifts of God’s grace.
And He gives those gifts to those whom He wills to give them… and in His good time.

Let me give you two examples: first from Acts 5³¹ where Peter speaks to the Jewish leaders.
God exalted Jesus to His own right hand as Prince and Saviour
that He might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.
Notice that not only forgiveness, but also repentance is spoken of as a gift to Israel.

Secondly: in Acts 11¹⁸ repentance is spoken of as a gift to the Non-Jews… the Gentiles.
So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.
Notice that this repentance is something that God grants. In other words, it is a gift.

 

3. This has some profound implications for us.

It means that no matter what evangelistic methods and programs we use as a church…
no matter how cleverly we witness to the gospel to our neighbours…
no matter how forcefully we present Christ Jesus to prisoners in the prison ministry
it is not we who bring about belief… only God can do that.

 

It’s fine to talks about acts of evangelism… but we should first talk about acts of God.
In fact, the Book of Acts is wrongly called the Acts of the Apostles.
Because it is a book about what God is doing. It is the Acts of God the Holy Spirit.

 

So a study of evangelism is really a study of how God Almighty carries out His plans and purposes.

The Lord’s great purposes for His church are unfolded as He causes people to come to faith.

 

Think about the practical applications of this.
This impacts us in many of our activities as a church and as individuals.
We are involved in witnessing, in outreach projects, in evangelism and missions.
We support overseas missions; we run a Holiday Bible Club; we do Prison ministry.

Part of our calling is to address our own community right here with the gospel.
We know that… we believe God has placed us here for that purpose.
That’s why we encourage non-church kids to come to kids’ activities.
That’s why we have members involved in radio work… that’s why we witness.
It’s an important aspect of our youth programs to draw others in.
Yet in all those things we now need to keep this our central focus:
That a sovereign God gives the gift of faith to whom He wills and when He wills.

 

God and God alone added people to His church.

If we add people without God doing it… then they won’t stay added to the church for long.
So let’s keep a strong view of the sovereignty of God… not only in salvation…
but also in the whole area of our outreach, missions and evangelism.

 

B] IN THE CONTEXT OF PREACHING THE GOSPEL.

 

1. At this point I can imagine some of you saying what many people often say.

“If it is true that God is sovereign in our witnessing…
if it is true that He gives faith to whom He pleases and when He pleases…
then what’s the point of all our hard work in things like Prison Ministry or Holiday Clubs?”

 

Doesn’t the stress on God’s sovereignty somehow undermine the need for missions and evangelism?
If God chooses people… they’ll get there anyway.
And if God doesn’t choose others then they won’t get there regardless of what we do.
So why worry about supporting our missionaries… and why bother with radio ministry?

 

If we react that way we are making a terrible mistake.

Then we take one important Bible teaching but ignore another important part of the Bible.

If we see God’s sovereignty cancelling out the need for evangelism
then we neglect the Bible’s teaching about human responsibility.
Acts is a book where people are constantly called to decision… called to make choices.
They are confronted with the claims of Jesus and called to turn to God and be forgiven.

 

Repeatedly it happens… and often in the same chapter…
that we read something about God’s sovereign role in salvation…
but at the same time see people called upon to repent and turn to God.

 

For example: Acts 2 not only tells us that God added to their number.
In vs.38 of the same chapter Peter calls on the crowd to repent.
In vs.40 he even challenges them… and in terms as if it somehow all depended on them.
He calls out: “SAVE YOURSELVES from this corrupt generation.”

 

In other words, two different truths are placed side by side in Acts.
On the one hand – we see that only a sovereign God can raise up spiritually dead sinners
and only He can add them to His church as He opens their heart to the gospel.
On the other hand – we see that this same God calls on all people everywhere to act responsibly
to repent and believe the gospel and find true life in Jesus Christ.

 

The problem is that we human beings like to figure it all out neatly and logically.
We want to get our minds around it so that there are no loose ends.
So we conclude: If God is sovereign… then we can’t be free to choose.
If we are totally responsible… then God can’t be sovereign in salvation.

 

Scripture never faces us with that kind of either/or dilemma.
It teaches us both truths… it calls us to respect both teachings… like two rails of a railway track.
We ought not to try to harmonise them or to work them out logically.
Simply believe both: That God is sovereign… and that man is responsible and accountable.

 

2. A moment ago I took you through passages in Acts that clearly show God’s sovereignty.

Let me now also show you that human responsibility is stressed right throughout this book.

Acts, you see, is really a book full of sermons about Jesus.
Dozens of sermons… or at least… summaries of sermons!
In chapter after chapter the gospel of Christ is proclaimed… by Peter, by Stephen, by Paul.

And it is especially in that proclamation of the gospel
that men and women are confronted with their responsibility.
Every sermon preached in Acts is a call to decision.
Consciences are touched… and people called to turn to God in faith.

 

Let me just highlight a few of these instances where Gospel preaching takes place:
In Acts 2 we have Peter’s challenging sermon on the Day of Pentecost.
In Chap.3 he preaches to the crowd that gathers when a lame man is healed.
In Acts 4 we have a challenging sermon to the Jewish leaders.
In 5:42 we read: “They never stopped teaching and preaching the good news.”
In Chap.7 there is a lengthy summary of a hard hitting sermon by Stephen.
In Acts 8 Phillip preaches to the Samaritans. And so it goes… on and on and on.

 

The point is that in all that preaching, God is appealing to human responsibility.
And today as the Word of God is proclaimed God (through that Word) still calls for decision.
He still holds you responsible as He calls out to you: Be reconciled to Me!
He is saying to you again this morning: Believe in Me!
So if there is any place in the Bible where we should see very clearly
that God’s sovereignty is never a threat to evangelism…
and that it never cancels out human effort and responsibility then it is here in Acts.

 

What a lot of human activity there is in the 28 chapters of this book.
So much witnessing to the grace of God… so much outreach… so much mission work.
But all that is simply God’s way of confronting men and women with His claims.
That they are responsible to repent and believe… to turn to God and receive eternal life!

 

3. Let me sum up by showing you one way in which we can reconcile these two things.

There is one way we can bring together God’s sovereignty and our responsibility.

God calls His church to do all this evangelistic activity that we see in the Book of Acts.

Jesus called us to missions when He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations!”
He calls us to preach and teach, to serve and to witness.
But it is because precisely thru these means that God carries out His sovereign will.

 

The proclamation of the gospel in word & deed, in preaching & witnessing is God’s INSTRUMENT.
It is the MEANS God uses to put His eternal decrees into effect.
It is precisely through your witness that God carries out His timeless purposes for the church.
And it’s the means of bringing His love and forgiveness to those He wishes to save.

 

Many other Scriptures confirm this teaching.
That from all eternity God has chosen those who are His.
He, the sovereign God, predestined all of us from before the world began.
But it is also true that God actually only puts that into effect
as we hear the story of His love in the cross of Jesus.

This is the mystery: That it pleases God thru the message of Jesus and Him crucified…
to add to the church those who are being saved.
In Acts 2 Peter preached…
And it’s only as Peter preached that God added 3000 to the church in one day.

 

So this morning I want to stress this point:

The sovereignty of God in salvation does not cancel out the need for our witness…
nor does it cancel the need for the various outreach efforts into our community.
What it does do is really make those things all the more urgent…
because it has pleased God to save His people through faith…
and He has ordained that this faith comes by the hearing of the gospel.

 

God has put you here as His witnesses. This city of _____________ is your mission field.
But you can be confident that your efforts here will not be in vain.
It is precisely because God is sovereign that we are guaranteed that our work is not for nothing.
God will use your efforts to bring to faith all those whom He has appointed to eternal life.
In this way the Sovereign God makes our witness and evangelism truly meaningful.

 

Amen.