Evangelism


Christians go to heaven & eternal life.




But people who do NOT believe that Jesus is their Saviour will go to HELL.



Let's see how you and I can HELP TO SAVE THEM from that.





1. We'll cover











(Many Christians love evangelism, as long as someone else is doing it!)




2. Why should we evangelise?



2.1 Jesus TOLD us to


Mark 16:15 ~ And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.



--> Do we want to do God’s will - but aren’t sure how?


--> If we evangelise - we’re GUARANTEED to be doing God’s will!




Further reading

Proverbs 11:30

Daniel 12:3


Matthew 4:19 / Mark 1:17 / Luke 5:10


Matthew 18:11-14

Luke 15:3-10

John 10:16


Acts 1:8, 11:13-14


1 Corinthians 1:21

2 Corinthians 5:18-20


Ezekiel 3:18-19 & 33:1-9 then Acts 18:4-6 and 1 Corinthians 9:16 




2.2  Think what others have done before us:








These early missionaries OBEYED God’s command to evangelise.




Despite:







 Acts 15:25-26

25It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord (= we all agreed), to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,


26Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.


 

--> We serve the same God as Barnabas, Paul & their team.


--> If THEY did it, so can WE!




Q - What if the early disciples had decided to please men, rather than serve God?

 

A - The church would never have got started!




Further reading

Psalm 40:10




2.3 Evangelism is a BEAUTIFUL activity to be involved in


Isaiah 52:7 ~ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace;


that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!



--> Never mind the well-known quote: ‘Football is the beautiful game’.


--> Evangelism is the realbeautiful game’!




There’s NOTHING BETTER to be fanatical about:






2.4 Keeps churches HEALTHY


History shows that churches which only look inward:




--> So all believers & churches should also be outward-looking




2.5  Because evangelism is the work closest to God’s heart (as David Livingstone said: ‘God had one Son and made Him a missionary) - HE BLESSES evangelising believers & churches



John 4:36 ~ And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 




When I’ve said:






Churches which are growing are those which evangelise!




2.6 There’s a massive need - but only a few believers are committed to it



Matthew 9:37-38

37Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;


38Pray ye therefore (= pray to) the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest.




The problem is:






Further reading

Luke 10:2




3. Recap of six reasons why we should evangelise
















4. What should our message be?




4.1 About Jesus


Acts 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him (= to the Ethiopian) Jesus.



--> Our message must be about Jesus.


--> Not about church - the people we’re speaking to may have a poor image / experience of church!




There’s a saying: ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover:






4.2 From our hearts


On the day of Pentecost - Peter had no time to prepare a sermon.


He just told them what he knew about Jesus - from his heart.  (Acts 2:14-41)


Telling people what we know about Jesus - from our hearts - is an important part of our message.




4.3 Our testimony (= Sharing the story of our Christian experience) 


We can all share our testimony, and no-one can deny it.


We should cover:




A. BEFORE we believed


This helps people to understand that we were once an unbeliever - so we know how they feel.


Deuteronomy 24:18 ~ But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee …




B. HOW we believed


The need to be ‘born again’, and what that feels like.


John 3:3 ~ Jesus answered and said unto him (= to Nicodemus), Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.



Further reading

1 Peter 1:3




C. SINCE we believed


Mark 5:19 ~ Jesus … saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.


--> Explain how our lives have improved since we believed:






Further reading

'Tough times' message on WholeCounselofGod.com




4.4 There’s something much better than this world to look forward to



2 Corinthians 4:3-4

3But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 


4In whom the god * of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,


lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image (= likeness / representation) of God, should shine unto them.



 * Paul used the Greek word ‘theos’.




Q - What did Paul mean by ‘the god of this world’?



Some people think Paul meant:






That may be correct - but why didn’t Paul use Satan’s name, like he did later in the same letter:


2 Corinthians 11:14 ~ And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.




Another interpretation is that Paul meant:


To many people - THIS WORLD is their GOD.’

 

--> So they ‘worship’ the things & people of this world:




Philippians 3:18-19

18For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:


19Whose end is destruction, whose godis their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.



* Paul used the same Greek word ‘theos’  here in Philippians 3:19 as he used in 2 Corinthians 4:4




This 'worship' of earthly things, BLINDS them from seeing something FAR BETTER - the Kingdom of God:



1 Corinthians 2:9-10 

9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.


10But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.




Being ‘blinded by this world’ is like:





So in our evangelistic message - we should tell people there’s something FAR BETTER than THIS world to look forward to!




Further reading

Isaiah 42:7

Luke 8:1


2 Corinthians 5:6-7, 12:2-4

Hebrews 12:22-23


'What is heaven like?' section in 'What happens when we die?' message on WholeCounselofGod.com 




4.5 We’ll all go through a five stage process


 DJ  ACE



D = Die / Death of our body - It’s going to happen: whether we like it or not!


J =Judgement - God will judge us.




A = Accountable - God will hold us accountable for what we’ve done / not done.


C = Consequences - There are consequences for what we’ve done / not done.


E = Eternity - These consequences are eternal - where will we spend eternity?




We can ask people: ‘If you were to die tonight - do you know where you’re going: heaven or hell?’   


… and then explain how to be saved:







Further reading

Deuteronomy 32:9


Messages on WholeCounselofGod.com:




4.6 Never compromise / water down our message because of 'fear of man'


The purpose of the gospel is:






5. Where should we evangelise?



Roman 15:20-21

20Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:


21But as it is written, To whom He was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.



--> If we don’t know where to start - go to the place which has least exposure to the gospel:






This is how J.C. Ryle (the first Anglican Bishop of Liverpool) described the 18th century British evangelists (Howell Harris, John Wesley, George Whitfield etc.):



"They were always acting on the aggressive, not waiting for sinners to come to them, but going after, and seeking sinners,


not sitting idle till sinners offered to repent, but assaulting the high places of ungodliness like men storming a breach,


and giving sinners no rest so long as they stuck to their sins."




Mark 2:16-17

16And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him (= Jesus) eat with publicans (= tax collectors for the Romans) and sinners, 


they said unto His disciples, How is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?


17When Jesus heard it, He saith unto them, They that are whole (= strong & healthy) have no need of the physician, but they that are sick:


I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.




Further reading

2 Corinthians 10:16




6. But what if that seems like 'a hard place'?


I heard an evangelist explain that whenever he visits a new area, he first calls on the local clergy.


Nearly all of these ministers respond with: ‘This is a hard place’!




Q - What does GOD THINK of ‘hard places’?



Jonah 1:1-2

1Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,


2Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.



--> Nineveh was wicked / ‘a hard place’.


--> So Jonah ran away.




Q - But what was God’s perspective?


Jonah 4:11 ~ And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city,


wherein are more than six-score thousand (= 120,000) persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?



A - God wasn’t bothered that Nineveh was ‘a hard place.


His objective was that people were saved - which should also be our main concern.


After Jonah evangelised - the people did repent & turn to God.  (Jonah 3:4-10)




Mark 16:15 ~ And He (= Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.


--> Jesus did NOT SAY to His disciples: ‘But leave out the hard places’!




Further reading

Mark 16:20

Luke 24:47


2 Corinthians 2:14

1 Timothy 2:4




7. Q - What methods can we use?

   

A - Here are three:




7.1 One-to-one



a. To people we KNOW


If we need a plumber / garage / restaurant etc.


... we trust the personal recommendation of someone we know - more than searching on the internet / responding to an advert


... because they pass on their personal, first-hand experience.




In the same way - we can give our personal recommendation about Jesus to people we know.


We can also lend  them a Christian DVD / CD / book etc. and ask later what they thought of it.




b. To people we DON'T KNOW


We can smile and say to people: ‘Would you like a leaflet about Jesus?






It’s also important that we:






7.2 Build links into the community


These have a common theme of caring for people - for example:





etc.



But we need to strike the right balance and not neglect our MAIN purpose - which is to save people from going to hell.


General Booth (who founded the Salvation Army) said: ‘Don’t give social action without the gospel’.


So we should not partner with any organisation or individual if that would hinder the preaching of the gospel.




We don’t need to share the gospel the whole time - but we should make sure that we do at some stage.


Having friendly leaflets / DVDs about the Christian faith for non-believers to take away is a good approach.




7.3 Public events - for unbelievers to hear the gospel



It's like:






Successful methods include:








RECAP of the three main methods of evangelism:







In all of these methods we can use the Sow, Water, Harvest approach:


Sow - Gain people’s attention.


Water - Tell them more.


Harvest - Invite them to respond.




8. Once people are saved - we should tell them how to grow in their faith




A. On their own:






B. With others:






C. Be baptised:






Further reading 

Messages on WholeCounselofGod.com:




9. Overcoming five main concerns we may have about evangelism




9.1 Fear of man


Romans 1:16 ~ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto (= that brings) salvation to every one that believeth …




Q - Are we ashamed of telling people about our hobbies or holidays?



 



Matthew 10:32-33

32Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven.


33But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.

 



Further reading

Mark 8:38 / Luke 9:26 & 12:8-9

Matthew 5:14-16 / Mark 4:21 / Luke 11:33  (Not hiding our faith from unbelievers)

2 Timothy 2:12




9.2 Thinking we can’t do it


Because God wants everyone saved - He helps us when we evangelise.


It’s like cycling when the wind’s behind us and blowing us along --> that makes our journey much easier!




Acts 11:20-21

20And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.


21And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.




Further reading

Exodus 4:10-12 (Moses)

Luke 4:18

Acts 1:8


2 Timothy 4:17

Revelation 14:6




9.3 People thinking it’s none of our business



Jude 23 ~ And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire



Evangelism is like grabbing someone who’s about to step off the pavement and be run over by a vehicle which they haven’t seen.



People who go on to be saved, may think it’s none of our business at the time.



But they’ll be PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL when we meet them in heaven.




John 12:35 ~ … he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.




Further reading

John 11:7-10

2 Corinthians 5:10-11


2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

James 5:20




9.4 People not liking what we say



Luke 10:16 ~ He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me.



--> If people despise our message - they’re actually despising Jesus:






Further reading

Psalm 69:9 / Romans 15:3

Luke 4:28-30


John 3:19-20, 12:10-11, 15:18-25, 17:14


1 Corinthians 1:18

Galatians 1:10

2 Timothy 4:5




9.5 No-one responding


John 4:37 ~ One soweth, and another reapeth.



Most people DON'T say ‘Yes’ to Jesus the FIRST time they hear the gospel.



It’s like fishing:





So we should be patient and not give up!




Isaiah 49:5 ~ And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him


Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.



--> God wants us to evangelise and then blesses us - even if we DON'T SEE results at the time.




Further reading

Matthew 22:14




10. Finally - here's a reminder of what the G.O.S.P.E.L.  is all about


GO

Save People

that they may have Eternal Life



Amen