Evangelism and the Erskine Brothers
John | Apr 26, 2010 | Comments 3
Evangelism is a command for the Church and a privilege for each member to freely share the Gospel with all. Stephen Myers, an expert on the Erskine brothers, says their evangelism began with a clear understanding of the Scriptures. As the Associate Presbyterians emerged in Scotland in the 1730-40’s, the Erskine brothers were the evangelical face of Scottish Christianity and noted for their sincerity and earnestness in their offer of the Gospel.
This is a quote from Erskine’s Whole Works, the 2001 reprint: “Now, believe this, that Christ is given, offered, and presented in the Gospel, even to you who are rotting in the grave of sin, that [he] may, through the faith of God’s operation, be the resurrection and the life to your souls in particular.” (II. 504-505)
This theological understanding drove the Erskines to offer the Gospel to all who would hear. This was revolutionary in Scotland where few ministers would freely offer salvation in Christ to anyone who would believe in Jesus. But the Erskines maintained a strict covenant theology, which was the impetus for a system that compelled them to do evangelism.
The Erskines understood the Scriptures to teach that the Gospel (the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, via the Covenant of Grace) confronted all people as sinners. They shared the Gospel wherever sinners were found because all sinners are “qualified” to hear the Gospel because they need to hear it. They often used Acts 2:39 to show Peter’s boldness in sharing the Gospel “to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off.”
John 6:32 was also a favorite where John declared, “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” This true bread is understood as the offer of salvation in Christ.
There was a great concern from the Erskine brothers about churches being planted that could mature people who had come to know Christ through their evangelistic work. They desired churches that were Gospel-driven and had a heart for worship and good teaching from the Word of God. Church planting was seen as an essential part of their work to promote sound doctrine among those who were coming to faith in Jesus.
How can we promote the sharing of the Gospel among our pastors and those seeking to plant new churches? How do we as pastors teach in such a way the Scriptures so that our people will desire to share the Gospel with others? How can we have a lasting impact like the Erskines through our church planting efforts?
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Well, how about if we circulated success stories? How about if we mutually encouraged each other by sharing how God had used us in His harvesting process? Maybe it would light a fire if we heard how God was using our brothers to scatter seed and to harvest? Perhaps our palates need to be salted so that we can thirst with a holy thirst to be used more by God in His kingdom expansion. We have plenty of great success stories here at Good Shepherd that I could speak about! I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if other pastors weren’t experiencing the same!
Great words John and if we would be as eager about missions and evangelism as we are about other things we would put the ARP church on the go. Thanks for your emphasis. Don
We have some church members who are employees about an hour away at the Univ. of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. They have felt somewhat isolated. They described their feelings as being in a spiritual wasteland. So for about the last six months I have been traveling there. The only proviso was that the core group had to keep inviting new folks. My job would be to teach and theirs would be to invite. We have as many as 20 – 25 there and we have even had to shift locations. We meet at lunch break and we walk through Scripture. Presently we’re using a John MacArthur Study Guide on I John. Recently we were asked to move once again. This time to the hospital cafeteria. The study gets great visibility there!
One Wednesday, as we wound the study down, just as almost everyone had left, one man quietly said, “Well, I’m a Catholic and this seems different than what I’m experiencing. You understand and teach the Bible and Catholics don’t. What’s the deal?” Those are words of invitation to a former Catholic. There were two other men in the room, friends of Nick (not his real name), and I asked if they wanted to stay and if it was OK with Nick. Everyone agreed and in a relatively short time I had explained the real Good News to him. Just as you might have expected, when it came time for me to ask him, “Who would you say that Jesus really is?” – well another group had come to occupy the room and the tables! After re-locating to a smaller, nearby unoccupied office, Nick encouraged me to finish what I was telling him. He heard, perhaps for the first time, through newly opened ears, about the substitution of Jesus and His righteousness for Nick’s sinfulness. He was very quiet when I explained that temporary faith and intellectual faith just wouldn’t cut it. When I asked, Nick said that he absolutely would like to receive the gift of eternal life. His friends rejoiced at Nick’s response to the Good News. We prayed and when we lifted our heads, God had done the same thing in Nick that he had done with me. He changed Nick’s countenance! It was not hard to see that something was different in Nick.
That was a few weeks ago now. I remember returning that evening and speaking with the elders and telling them that our investment had begun to pay dividends. God had smiled on our efforts and produced His results. It seems as though the drive to Galveston isn’t nearly as long these days because I’m wanting to know what’s new in Nick’s life. Nick is married. He has two kids. God isn’t finished with that family at all. He’s a rough, tough guy from the other side of the tracks. He’s all tattooed up and now he’s eminently lovable. And his friends who were waiting and praying for him to make that decision? They are both African-Americans and growing stronger in their faith each week. They needed to hear that the prosperity gospel and the health and wealth approach was to be questioned from Scripture. Now we’re praying for several of our other Wednesday attenders and I keep passing literature to Nick. It’s a pleasure to hear how he is growing each week.