THE NECESSITY OF "REACHING OUT"

TEXT: Rom. 10:13-17

I.    Nobody can be saved if nobody preaches the gospel to them.

A.  It is absolutely ridiculous to pray that God will give a harvest if we are unwilling to plant a crop!!  Give some examples of the farmer who plants his garden and prays for God to give the increase.  The fruit of the garden must be preserved.  Saved people must be taught.  Remember Apollos, Acts 18:24?

1.   Gal. 6:7-9 - Whatsoever we sow, that shall we also reap.

2.   I Sam. 14:1-23 - the story of how Jonathan and his armor bearer defeated the Philistines, giving a great victory to Israel.

3.      Matt. 20:1-6 - The parable of the laborers who earned a penny  a day.  There is plenty of room for you to labor, but you will receive a wage only if you labor.

4.   If a church had 20 members and each member invited one person a week to church services, 20 people would be invited each week.

5.   If a church had 20 members and each member talked to one person a week about their soul, 20 people would be talked to each week.

6.   I don't mean to be talking about the "growth record" of a church, but this example will help to understand the necessity of reaching out to others.  If a church has 4 members and each member reaches 4 souls the first year (that's 1 person every 3 months), that church would have 20 members at the close of that year.  In year 2, if each of those 20 members reached four souls for Christ, the church would close out year 2 with a membership of 100.  In year 3, if each of these 100 members reached 4 souls, the church would have 500 members at the end of three years.

B.   This is what the first church did.

1.      Acts 2:41 - 3,000 were saved on the Day of Pentecost.

2.      Acts 4:4 - 5,000 were saved by the preaching of the word.  Probably this number wasn't saved when Peter and John were preaching, but this is the number of people saved since the Day of Pentecost.

3.      Acts 5:14 - Believers were added to the Lord, not only by the public witness of God's holiness, but saved people (church members) agreed with what God had done.  There was no "belly-aching" or complaining that God or Peter was unjust.

4.      Acts 12:22-26 - When Barnabas discovered believers in Antioch, he got Paul to help teach them.  It seems there was a shortage of able teachers, not a shortage of believers.

5.      Acts 17:6 - The Pharisees declared that the early church had "turned the world upside down."  The doctrines of the early church were very different from the Pharisee's religion.

II.   I Cor. 1:17-31 - the foolishness of preaching reveals the power of God.

A.  If you don't like the preaching of the gospel, you are not aware of it's power.  I don't mean you are lost, I mean you are unaware of it's power.

B.   Matt. 13:18-23  - Everybody  you talk to won't believe, but keep on sowing.

1.      Some don't hear.

2.      Some hear with the head, but not with the heart.

3.      Some hear, but fail because their salvation is choked with the cares of this life.

4.      Some hear, and give good results.

5.      Conclusion, fully one out of four will give good results.

III. Matt. 9:35-38 - The harvest is great, but the laborers are few.

A.  Satan wants the laborers to fight among themselves.

1.      Baptists are about the only people I know who are short of laborers, and they continually bury their wounded.

2.      There is no system in place to rehabilitate the fallen.

3.   I'm not talking about trying to rehabilitate sinners who don't want to live right.  I'm talking about saved Baptists who fall into sin.

B.   If the person you talk to isn't interested, go to another.

1.      There are plenty.

2.      Many people feel they have proper burdens when they pray for only one or two individuals for years and years.

3.      Don't limit ourselves to just a few.  There are millions that need the gospel.