2. “We Persuade Men” “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:11).

3. “We Persuade Men” “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:11).

4. The Word Persuade defined: “he... persuaded the Jews,” meaning he sought to convince them” (CWSD, p. 1133). Thayer says, “or to seek to win one, strive to please one” (p. 497).

5. “We Persuade Men”  The Individuals

6. The Individuals Involved 1) The persuader – “we” “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20). “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

7. The Individuals Involved 2) Those to be persuaded – “men” “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16). “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister” (Colossians 1:23).

8. “We Persuade Men”  The Individuals  To Do What?

9. To Do What? 1) To be reconciled to God. “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Reconciled – “properly denotes to change, exchange (especially of money); hence of persons, to change from enmity to friendship, to reconcile…By reason of this men in their sinful condition and alienation from God are invited to be reconciled to Him…” (Vine, p. 942).

10. To Do What? 1) To be reconciled to God. (a) Sin makes us an enemy of the Lord. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:8-10).

11. To Do What? 2) To become a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Creation – “is used of a man regenerated through Christ” (Thayer, p. 363). Vine says, “In 2 Cor. 5:17 the reference is to what the believer is in Christ; in consequence of the creative act he has become a new creature” (p. 257).

12. To Do What? 2) To become a new creation. (a) There is a new birth that puts one in Christ. “Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27).

13. To Do What? 3) To walk by faith. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other” (1 Corinthians 4:6).

14. To Do What? 4) To please God. “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:29). “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

15. “We Persuade Men”  The Individuals  To Do What?  The Motive

16. The Motive – Why Persuade 1) In view of death. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

17. The Motive – Why Persuade 2) In view of the building from God. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). Building – “used of the heavenly body, the abode of the soul after death” (Thayer, p. 440). “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).

18. The Motive – Why Persuade 3) In view of the goodness of God. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

19. The Motive – Why Persuade 4) In view of the terror of the Lord. “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:11). “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22). “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

20. The Motive – Why Persuade 5) In view of judgment & eternity. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).

21. “We Persuade Men”  The Individuals  To Do What?  The Motive  The Means

22. The Means To Be Used 1) Things not authorized to use. (a) Not with physical force, pressure and threats. (b) Not by the doctrines of men – things people want to hear. (c) Not by recreation, entertainment, nor by some social functions. (d) Not by building some kind of facility, some program offered, nor any other thing that promotes the physical well-being or the personal happiness of the community.

23. The Means To Be Used 2) What Paul used. “that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15).

24. “We Persuade Men”  The Individuals  To Do What?  The Motive  The Means