But does such hesitancy line up with Scripture? It’s certainly not found in the Book of Acts. The earliest Christians preached the Gospel and extended persuasive Gospel invitations to repent of sin and believe in Christ then and there. They also baptized new converts immediately as a sign of conversion.
Peter’s sermon on Pentecost affirms that. After Pentecost, Peter preached again in Jerusalem and invited his listeners to “repent and return that your sins might be washed away.” Many did so immediately (cf. Acts 3:19f). Philip preached to a eunuch from Ethiopia and invited him to follow Christ. He was saved and baptized immediately (cf. Acts 8:35–36). Paul preached to the aristocratic Athenians, inviting them to repent and believe in Christ saying, “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.” Some were saved on the spot (cf. Acts 17:30–34).
I began preaching in 1977. I’ve served as senior pastor of four Southern Baptist churches since 1983. I’ve preached thousands of sermons. I have ALWAYS concluded my sermons by publicly extending a Gospel invitation. I encourage listeners to repent of their sins, believe savingly in Jesus, and receive Him as Lord and Savior. I call them to do all of that at the time and place I preach. Thousands have responded to those invitations. And each time, I’m reminded that we plant and water, but only God gives the increase.
My mentor in extending public invitations was the late Dr. Roy Fish. He served at SWBTS as Professor of Evangelism for 40+ years. He suggested multiple ways to extend an invitation at the end of a sermon. There’s the “come forward” invitation where the preacher invites those who want to be saved to walk to the front of the worship center at the end of the service in order to be counseled. To be sure, a person does not have to “walk an aisle” to be saved. At the end of the sermon, the preacher can invite potential converts and seekers to a room that is close to the worship center to talk with a counselor about being saved. At Bellevue, we use both of those methods every Sunday. We also inform them that when the worship service concludes, counselors will also be available at the front of the worship center to share the Gospel with them. It doesn’t matter which method you utilize as long as you invite them to be saved then and there.
Every preacher should include in every sermon a clear invitation to respond to the Gospel. Tell the listeners what they need to do, how to do it, and then encourage them to do it then and there. Invite your listeners to repent of sin, believe in Jesus and receive Him as Lord Savior.
The Gospel demands a response. That is why Jesus, Peter and Paul extended the Gospel invitation, and so should we.
This article on the importance of the gospel invitation originally appeared here.Â
