What are the three main factors that helped spread the gospel in the early church according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?

According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in this sermon, there were three main factors that helped spread the gospel in the early church:

1. The preaching of the apostles - Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that "preaching must always come first" as "God's chosen method." He states, "Nothing can ever replace preaching" and points to how God "raises up men, gives them abilities and powers, gives them the message, puts his spirit upon them."

2. Persecution - Surprisingly, Lloyd-Jones identifies persecution as a key factor in spreading the gospel. He states, "What was the second great factor in the spread of the gospel and the extension of the church? The answer is that it was persecution." He references Acts 8:1-4, showing how persecution scattered believers throughout Judea and Samaria, which actually expanded the reach of the gospel. Lloyd-Jones notes, "God has often used persecution to extend his kingdom."

3. The witness and testimony of ordinary church members - The third factor was the everyday witness of common believers. Lloyd-Jones points out that Acts 8:4 mentions, "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." He emphasizes these were not the apostles but ordinary church members who shared their faith as they were scattered due to persecution.

What does Lloyd-Jones mean when he says the early Christians went "gossiping" the word?

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes an interesting distinction about the word "preaching" in Acts 8:4. He explains that in the original Greek, the word used for the scattered believers "preaching" is different from the formal proclamation done by Philip in verse 5. For the ordinary believers, Lloyd-Jones suggests a better translation might be that they went everywhere "gossiping" the word.

By "gossiping," Lloyd-Jones doesn't mean spreading rumors, but rather:

1. Casual conversation - They talked about their faith in everyday settings: "they went into these people's homes... and they began to talk together."

2. Natural introduction of spiritual truth - "In the conversation, these Christians were careful always to introduce this word."

3. Informal witness - It wasn't formal pulpit preaching but ordinary people sharing in ordinary conversations.

Lloyd-Jones applies this to modern Christians: "This is what we are all called upon to do. It's no longer the custom for people to go to places of worship on Sunday. Very well. That makes the responsibility of every individual church member altogether greater. You meet with people, you talk to them across the garden wall, you go into one another's houses... and people begin to talk about what's happening... Now then, our business is to introduce this word, to gossip the word."

Why did early Christians boldly share their faith despite persecution according to Lloyd-Jones?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies several motivations that compelled early Christians to continue sharing their faith despite persecution:

1. The transforming power of the gospel in their own lives - "They did it, of course, because of what this word had done for them. These people were people who had been born again... they were partakers of a joy unspeakable and full of glory."

2. They were "full of" the message - "Whatever is uppermost in our minds is the thing that we always talk about... This was the big thing to them in the whole world."

3. A desire to praise their Savior - "They wanted to praise the name of their great and glorious savior" out of gratitude for what Christ had done for them.

4. Seeing the spiritual need of others - "They saw the need of these people with whom they were now living... they could see that they were in gross darkness, that they were the slaves of the world and the flesh and the devil."

5. Being filled with the Holy Spirit - Lloyd-Jones emphasizes this as the most important reason: "What makes a man do that? There's only one answer. It is the fire of the Holy Ghost. Any man who is filled with the spirit, he always acts like this."

Lloyd-Jones concludes that this Spirit-filled witness is "what is lacking above everything else amongst us at this present time" and urges believers to pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

How does Lloyd-Jones distinguish between Christian experience and the "word" in evangelism?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes an important distinction between merely sharing personal experiences and "preaching the word" in evangelism:

1. Experience alone is insufficient - "If we don't do the same as these people but simply talk about ourselves and our experiences, we shall not be able to withstand the opposition to the christian faith at the present time."

2. Cults claim similar experiences - Lloyd-Jones points out that members of various cults (Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Scientists) also claim transformative experiences: "These people rarely base their whole position upon certain experiences and they're always talking about them... if you say, 'I've had a marvelous experience. My life has been changed,' they'll say exactly the same thing."

3. The "word" provides distinctiveness - What distinguishes true Christianity is not just experience but the specific content of the gospel: "This is the thing that marks us off from all the cults."

4. The "word" is definite - Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that the Christian message is "something very definite" that can be defined, not just vague spirituality or feelings of brotherhood: "The christian message is a very definite message... it is the faith once and forever delivered to the saints."

5. The proper relationship - Christians should share both the objective truth (the word) and their subjective experience: "A Christian is a man who knows what he believes and he knows in whom he has believed... you must be ready at all times to give a reason for the hope that is in you."

Lloyd-Jones concludes that true evangelism requires both the doctrinal content of the gospel and the Spirit-empowered testimony that comes from experiencing its transforming power.