In the history of the church no one exemplified this kind of evangelistic preaching better than Charles Haddon Spurgeon (note this). The following sermon from Dr. Lawson is a great example of how to preach the gospel (as a Reformed minister).
"The Gospel is very simply Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, and He is the Son of Man. Sent by God the Father into this world to be born of a virgin that He might be sinless, and that He might be born under the Law. It was part of His mission to keep the very Law that every other man, woman, boy and girl continue to break day after day, after day by their sin. This perfect, sinless, Son of God perfectly met all the requirements of God’s Law, and was (and is) ready to give His righteousness to those who will believe and surrender to Him that they will have a perfect standing before God. In order to accomplish this, He went to a cross; there He was lifted up to die. There upon that cross, the sins of everyone who would believe in Him were transferred to Him. And He who knew no sin of his own God made to be sin for those who would believe so that they might become the righteousness of God as they are in Christ. This the the great exchange of the cross—the worst about me laid upon Jesus, the best about Him now to be laid upon me, that is, considered as mine, as He shed His blood upon that cross.
Jesus Christ reconciled sinful man to holy God. There is no other way for sinners to have a relationship with an infinitely holy God except through the freely-shed blood of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. In His sin-bearing, substitutionary, vicarious death upon that cross, it was as if He took sinful man in one hand, and holy God in the other hand and brought the two together through His death. By that death He satisfied the righteous anger of God and appeased His wrath towards all who would believe in Him.
There is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Being justified by faith in what Christ has accomplished, those who believe have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It was through that death that He redeemed sinners out of the slave market of sin, and redeemed them out of the tyranny of Satan’s grip upon their lives through sin. It was by that death that Jesus Christ has provided now salvation free for all who will call upon His name. He was taken down from that cross, He said, “It is finished.” Not I am finished—“It is finished.”
Jesus Christ completed the mission of salvation that He had come into this world to accomplish. He was buried in a rich man’s donated tomb and on the third day by the power that was inherent in Him—the Son of God—He raised Himself from the dead. He came walking out of that tomb a risen, living, victorious Savior. After appearing to many people and teaching for forty days, He ascended back to heaven, He is now seated at the right hand of God the Father, and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He is mighty to save to the uttermost all who call upon Him.
To call upon the Lord Jesus Christ for this freely given salvation is to look away from yourself, to look away from religion, to look away from your church, to look away from your denomination, to look away from your baptism and your church membership, to look away from all of your good works, and to look exclusively to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says, “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” He loves to save sinners. He is the friend of sinners. He came to seek and to save those who are lost. He came not for the righteous, He came for the unrighteous. He is a good physician. He came not for the well but for those who are sick.
So, here is the question: Will you admit to Him this moment what a sinner you are, how spiritually dead you are by sin?—that you’re unable to save yourself. Would you call upon Him? Say, “Lord Jesus save me. I am a wretched hell-bound sinner, but your grace is being offered to sinners like me.” If you will call upon His name this very moment you are promised by the authority of the Word of God that He will save you—that He will save you today! He will wash your sins away. You will be clean and pure from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet.
It is God who says, “Come now, let us reason together…though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” If you will call upon Him, He will give you His righteousness. It is a free gift. There is nothing you can do to earn it. There is nothing you can do to merit it. He will clothe you with the perfect garments of His righteousness. And as God looks upon you there will be a covering for your sin. He will see only the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ covering the entirety of who you are—your sin-sick soul. You will find acceptance with God, and one day when you die, Jesus will take you into the very presence of His Father and present you faultless before the throne of God.
Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The apostle Peter said, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” And the apostle Paul wrote, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”
If you turn away from this free offer of the gospel there is no hope for your soul. You will be trampling underfoot the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In reality, hell cannot be hot enough for those who will hear and understand this message, who hear and understand this truth, and who still refuse the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and bled and died upon Calvary’s cross to save sinners. Indeed, those who hear and understand yet refuse the gospel, their blood is on their own hands and they will suffer in hell forever under the torment of the wrath of God. Theirs will be among the torment of the damned, and they will never find relief for their soul.
But today the gates of paradise are swung open to all who can hear this message, and they may come in and they may enter. Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” How glorious it would be to come under the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive His salvation. This is a decisive moment in your life. You may never have an opportunity like this again where the gospel is so clearly presented to you…if you are not saved, if you are not committed, this moment commit your life to Jesus Christ. He will receive you, Hewill save you, He will wash you, and one day He will take you to heaven where you will spend all eternity with Him."
