Principles of Evangelism

7/29/2019 Principles of Evangelism

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Summary of Biblical PrinciplesOak Lake Berean Church

(NOTE: Pages 1, 2 are identical to Pages 1, 2 of Notes on Exaltation )

Introduction

The problem most churches face is not that they don’t anything; they do plenty.

The problem is that they often don’t do the right things. What ARE the right things?

We have focused on Biblical principles related to the nature and purpose of the Church.

Rather than pull out a bag of tricks and programs that will get people into our church,

we have focused on what the Scriptures teach about church health.

When a church is healthy, it will grow.But, what is a healthy church, and what’s “growth” look like?

Proper Church health is possible only when we conform toGod’s idea

of what the Church IS and what the Church Does.

Ekklesia: “ek” (out from) “kaleo” call : “called out ones”

Of the 114 occurrences of ekklesia in the New Testament, it has two major

applications to assemblies of Christians....

Invisible : the whole community of redeemed in this present age of which

Christ said, A I will build my Church,@ which is His body ( Eph.1:22; 5:23) Visible: company consisting of professed believers in Christ

(Acts 20:20; I Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:13; I Thess. 1:1)

Biblical Pictures:

The church is likened to salt, light, sheep, a bride, a spiritual temple, a household,

members of Christ’s body, branches in the vine, athletes, soldiers, and

heavenly lights, children of God, adopted sons, priests, servants, bondslaves,

stewards, and partners with Christ, just to name a few. There are over eighty

images or figures of the church. All these pictures never suggest that the church

is a physical building. The Church is people!

One Purpose: Glorify God ! The great purpose of the church is to be to the praise of God’s glory and grace (Eph. 1:6,12). What does it mean for us to glorify God? We cannot add to His glory, for He is

already perfectly and infinitely glorious. Rather, for us to glorify God means for us to

ascribe to Him the worthiness due His name. When we give God glory we essentially are

saying: He gets the credit. He is the only One worthy to receive credit. Everything we do,

we do it so He gets the glory.

While there is no technical

definition in the scriptures,

we can come to somewhat of

a “definition” based on the

Biblical word,

and the Biblical pictures.

For from Him and

through Him and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory

forever! Amen. Rom.

11:36

Pg.

What the Church is to DO

What the Church IS



How does the Church Glorify God? God has established certain objectives in order for the church to bring glory to Him.

The Church glorifies God by intensely pursuing His objectives for the church.

But we must know what they are and be committed to carrying them out.

So, what are they?

God calls the church to Exalt Him, Edify the Body, and Evangelize the lost.

To fulfill these God-given objectives, the church must follow the mandate of our Lord.There is ONE MANDATE: “Make disciples” !All other commands (go, teach, win the lost, baptize, feed the hungry, etc.) are

subordinate to Jesus’ main command: Make Disciples ! What kind?

His command is expanded in 2 Tim. 2:2, and Eph. 4:

Discipleship is the process in which a believer in

Christ is becoming more like Christ increasing in

the knowledge of Christ and able to minister to

others who will be able to do the same thing. The

process of discipleship involves a relationship

where a spiritually minded person uses the Wordof God to teach reprove, correct and train a learnerin Christ in order that he/she becomes increasingly

more like Christ.

Our church has developed a Mission Statement based on the 3-fold purpose of theChurch, and the mandate of our Lord.

Which objective(exaltation, edification,

evangelism)is most important?

That’s like asking“which leg of the

stool is mostimportant?

Which one wouldyou rather not

have?”

Everything thechurch does must

revolve aroundthese purposes

(the “3-E’s”),and our Lord’scommand to

make disciples!

How do we carry out this mission statement

We must clearly understand what Exaltation,Edification, and Evangelism is!

We should then flesh out the Biblical principles inclearly stated objectives and goals.

All activities and programs should flow from these

objectives / goals.

We will look 2 nd at EVANGELISM

Pg.2



When it comes to God’s 3-fold Purpose for the Church, it’s not a question of which one is most important. Godhasn’t given us a choice. We must exalt Him, edify the Body, and evangelize the lost. When it comes to the

reason for the Church’s existence, it’s to Exalt Him. When it comes to the reason the church exists as a gatheredcommunity, it’s to edify, build one another up to Christ-like maturity.

But, when it comes to why the Church exists in the world—it’s to evangelize.

The first actions of the first disciples were evangelistic. Andrew found Simon and brought him to Jesus. Philip

found Nathaniel and led him to the Lord. Jesus told his disciples that He would make them “fishers of men”

(Matthew 4:19). The first commandment of the risen Lord was evangelistic. “As by the Father has sent Me, I also

send you” (John 20:21). The first directive of the Great Commission is evangelistic. “Go into all the world and

proclaim the gospel to all people” (Mark 16:15). At the birth of the church, the writer (Luke) emphasized that after

Peter proclaimed the Truth, “there were added about three thousand souls...” (Acts 2:14-41).

Unfortunately, many local churches have lost perspective. They measure success in terms of how many people

attend the church, how financially stable they are, or what kind of building they have. They measure in terms of

activities, and busy agendas, or even in the presence of sound beliefs and teaching.

Year ago a man by the name of Wahlstrom purchased an old bombsight and took it apart to see what made it work. As he

began to put it back together, he decided to add to it some spare parts he had from other projects. Over time, friends and

neighbors took an interest in the matter and started bringing him parts and pieces, which he incorporated into his

contraption. Over a period of about ten years, he added to his machine hundreds of wheels and cogs, belts and whistles

and gears and who knows what all until the thing “a marvel to behold.” became He would throw the switch, and the

machine’s thousand parts would begin to move. Wheels turned, lights flashed, bells rang, and belts whirred. The device

came to be known as "Wahlstrom’s Wonder." It was incredible. Once a spectator asked, “what’s it DO?” The answer:“It doesn’t do anything!” While there was a lot of activity, what was all the activity for?

Similarly, local churches must continue to keep God’s purposes in focus. Our agenda (priorities, allotment of time,

and activities) are to be ordered by the Word of God, not by the agendas of people following their cultural

expectations set by the traditions of men.

To help us stay clearly focused, we need to be clear about what the Bible teaches aboutevangelism….

Exaltation

Edification

Evangelism

Pg.3



1.Why is defining evangelism important?

Most Christians know the importance of evangelism.

But, there is a great deal of difference between knowing that evangelism is important and knowing

what evangelism is. .

Knowing the character and purpose of evangelism

helps determine how it is to be done and whether or not one

has been successful in it.

Evangelistic effectiveness hinges on knowing exactly

what it is and what it is not.

First, we need to consider some wrong ideas about evangelism

2. What Evangelism is NOT

Evangelism is NOT “ trying to make unsaved people live by the Bible”

This puts the emphasis on us transforming the culture rather than God transforming

sinners. It removes the need for responding in faith to the message of the gospel and

replaces it with moralism. Lastly, this is the social gospel that leads to apostasy, rather

than the Savior’s gospel that leads to eternal life.

Evangelism is NOT “helping people conquer their habits”

This puts the emphasis entirely on my lifestyle rather than telling others the gospel.The problem is: NOT our bad habits that keep us from a relationship with God.

The problem (as we’ll see below under “What is the “gospel”?) is the cause of those bad

habits! It includes sharing the good word and doing the good deeds – but it is more than

that!

Evangelism is NOT “ getting someone saved.”

This puts the emphasis on conversions rather than content (2 Cor 2:17;

1 Thess 2:3-4). It puts the focus on results instead of our responsibilities

(Acts 18:5-6; 20:26-27). It puts our confidence in our persuasiveness instead

of God’s power (1 Cor 2:1-5; 2 Cor 4:1-7).

Evangelism is NOT “Being a good example” Often “evangelism” and “witnessing” are confused. They aren’t the same. I am a witness

for Jesus by living in a way that is pleasing to Him and Glorifies Him. I am witnessing

when I give testimony of how God saved me and changed me. Evangelism is not the mere

testimony of a good, consistent life. Being friendly, helpful, and neighborly may be a

necessary preparation for evangelism, but it is no substitute for evangelism.

Evangelism is more than being a good example, trying to get people saved, etc.

What Evangelism IS

Pg.4



3. What evangelism IS

The word used

The Bible does not give a quick answer when we search for a definition of evangelism.

The word evangelism in fact is not in the Bible —

but the words evangelist and evangelize are there, and from these we can learn something

about what evangelism is.

The Greek word euanggelizo gives some idea as to what evangelism is.

From the word euanglizzo… it means to tell, announce, or communicate something.

The angels evangelized. They brought “good tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10).

Jesus evangelized. He preached the “glad tidings of the kingdom of God” (Luke

8:1).

Paul evangelized. He said, “I have preached to you the gospel” (2 Cor. 11:7).

Paul also said, “We preach Christ….”

Philip evangelized. He “preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

But…. The question is: “WHAT good news ?”

(But to understand what evangelism is, we must go beyond the word itself……)

Evangelism is an integral part of a larger picture (3 E’s)

As we’ve seen, in scripture we find 3 God- given objectives for the local church.....

Exaltation - the reason the church exists: to Glorify God --------upward focus

Edification - the reason the Church exists as a gathered community--inward focus

Evangelism -the reason the Church exists in the world --------------- outward focus

As we seek to exalt God/ bring Him glory, we are called to edify the body (build

one another up to Christ-like maturity), so that we can effectively evangelize the

lost.

Unfortunately, many Christians focus on one objective at the exclusion of another.

They think, “As long as you win souls, you are doing the most important thing…

some are called to evangelism, and some are called to discipleship”But Jesus didn’t teach that, early church didn’t believe that, and NT doesn’t teach

that!

We cannot be content simply to “win converts”… our Lord’s command is to “make disciples”.

While the focus of evangelism is helping people become disciples,

we must never stop short of the goal: to make re-producing disciples who are

becoming more like Christ.

Evangelism focuses on how one becomes a disciple and “discipleship” focuses onbeing a disciple.

What, then, is “evangelism” ?

Pg.5



The Definition of Evangelism

To clarify the kind of evangelism that best fits the Great commission of our Lord,

It is helpful to see 3 types of evangelism:

1. Presence evangelism Our primary relationship to those outside the faith should be to do good

works and help them with needs they might have.

(But, as we’ve seen, evangelism is not simply “living a Christian life before others”)

2. Proclamation evangelism

Proclamation goes beyond presence. In order to evangelize effectively,

a Christian presence must be established. Once unbelievers have heard

and understood the gospel, they are considered evangelized.

Jesus’ command to make disciples involves more than “preaching the

gospel” But, the question is: “what message do we proclaim”?What is the clear message people must hear and believe?”

Which type of evangelism is consistent with the Great Commission (Mt 28:19, 20)?

3. Persuasion evangelism

Persuasion evangelism says that a person is not regarded as

evangelized until he or she becomes a disciple of Christ and a

responsible, reproducing disciple in a local church.

The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, being a part of a local

church, and becoming a responsible, reproducing Christian.

What IS the Gospel message?

Pg.6



What is the message we must communicate to lost people ?

1 Cor. 15:1-4

Christ death, burial and resurrection for our sins

For our sins “Christ” (Christos= “anointed one”) He is the appointed one by God who died for our

sins implies that we are sinners in need of forgiveness. The word “for” (hyper ) conveys

the idea of “on account of,” “instead of”

And was buried Only dead men are buried. Christ’s death was witnessed by multitudes.

He HAD to die; otherwise the penalty for our sins could not have been really paid.

He arose The second proposition attests to Christ’s resurrection from the dead, which implies that

God accepted the sacrifice. A dead man cannot save anyone. A Savior has to be alive.

Only then can He offer and effect salvation.

According to the Scriptures The OT Scriptures pictured or predicted the suffering of God’s Messiah (e.g., Ex 12; Lev

16; Ps 22, 110; Isa 52-55, especially 53:4-6). The resurrection of Christ is in the OT not

only explicitly (E.g., Ps 16:8-11; 110:1), but also implicitly. When the suffering and

death of the Messiah is discussed, this is often followed by a declaration of His reign

(cf. Isa 53). The implication is clearly that He rose from the dead.

The message of the book of Romans:

The Bad News:

Francis Schaeffer in his book, Death in the City, discusses the question,

“What would you do if you met a really modem man on a train /plane and youhad just an hour to talk with him about the Gospel?” Schaeffer says, “I would

spend forty-five or fifty minutes to really show him his dilemma; to show him

that he is even more dead than he thinks he is; that he is morally dead because

he is separated from the God who exists. Often it takes a long time to bring a

person to the place where he understands the negative. And unless he

understands what’s wrong, he will not be ready to listen to and understand the

positive.”

That’s exactly what the Apostle Paul does when writing to the Romansabout salvation.Notice the sequence of each section beginning with the need in 1:18-3:20…..

What IS the “Gospel” ?

Key texts:

1 Cor. 15:1-4Book of Romans

Paul’s purpose in writingthe epistle to the Romanswas to explain the gospel

from beginning to end.

He first explainsthe bad news and then

the good news.

Pg.7



First and foremost, Christianity is a work of God to set man right with God.

Christianity addresses the fundamental problem in the universe first andforemost. And that problem is not that human beings are mean to each other but

that we are alienated from God and under his wrath. (Rom. 1:18, Eph. 2:1-3)

The first issue for every human being is, "How can I be right with God?" Not,

"How can I become a nice person?"… “How can I be happy?”… “How can I befulfilled ?”

The gospel is not good advice for what I can do to become a better person. It is good

news of what God has done to remove his wrath and to lift the curse and to forgive

our sin and take away our guilt and to set us in a right relationship with Him.

– ( John Piper)

The good news(God has provided a way for sinnersto be declared righteous)

(Vs. 21) God has provided theonly way for sinners to bedeclared righteous!

Not through the Law

The Old Testament points to it

(Vs.22-24) How Righteousnesshas been provided

Through faith in Christ

Available to all who believe

All are guilty....but all have the same provision: Christ’s work on the cross

“Justification” comes through faith in Christ’s blood

What is the “decision” people must make?

The gospel message is profound, yet simple (the Bad News/ Good News)…But Christians often fog up the message when it comes to the decision people mu

make in light of the bad news and good news…..

The first step in the revelation of the

righteousness that God provides for

people by faith is to set forth their need

for it because they are under God’s

judgment. In 1:18-32, Paul shows that

the human race stands condemned

before God and is helpless and hopeless

apart from God’s grace.

Rom. 3:21-3121

But now a righteousnessfrom God, apart from law, hasbeen made known, to whichthe Law and the Prophetstestify.

22This righteousness

from God comes through faithin Jesus Christ to all whobelieve. There is no difference,23

for all have sinned and fallshort of the glory of God,

24and

are justified freely by his gracethrough the redemption thatcame by Christ Jesus.25

God presented Him as asacrifice of

atonement, through faith inHis blood….

26He did it to

demonstrate His justice at thepresent time, so as to be justand the one who justifies those

who have faith in Jesus.

Pg.8



Some language commonly used to explain the decision we must make to be saved

Ask Jesus into your heart. Not that the heart is not universally understood as the very essence of our being and person. But, people

are not called to “ask Jesus to do something”, but TRUST completely in Jesus as the One who died in our place. While Jesus lives

in the heart of the believer, the New Testament makes no such request to unbelievers in order to be saved.

Give your heart (or life) to God . The issue in salvation is not what we give to Him anyway, but what He gives to us. Eternal life is

Christ’s life in us (1 John 5:11). Unbelievers have NOTHING to give to God. Salvation is what we receive, not what we give to

God! (Rom. 12 is for believers!)

Invite Christ into your life. This is certainly a courteous approach, but we must remember that it is the Lord who does the inviting.

We don’t invite Christ… He invites us! Another form of this is the admonition to “open the door of your heart,” based on Rev

3:20. But, this was written to the Laodicean church as a whole and was more of an invitation for fellowship than salvation.

Accept Christ as your Savior. There is some biblical support for the idea of receiving Christ--John 1:11-12 and Col 2:6. Both uses

are in the past tense, pointing to the result of faith, however. Receiving Christ is what happens when we believe and He comes to

live in us. Note how the immediate context of each passage refers to faith/trust as the condition of salvation. “ Accept Christ ” is

similar, but it is not used for faith in Christ in the NT.

Make Christ Lord and Savior. Spare the effort. No person can do this. The Bible says God the Father “has made this Jesus

. . . both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Of course Jesus is Lord! But He is Lord whether we accept Him as such or not.

Make Christ Lord of your life. Making Christ Lord is not a condition for salvation (read Romans!). Lordship decisions aredecisions for Christian obedience made by believers in the light of transforming grace (Titus 2:11-12; Rom. 12:1-3), not something

done to merit that grace (Titus 3:4-7).

Put Jesus on the throne of your life. In other words, give Him control of all areas of your life. Has anyone accomplished this?

How many areas of an unbeliever’s life must he/she give Jesus control of in order to be saved? Yielding to Christ’s Lordship is

what Christians must do on a continual basis. But again, yielding all areas of one’s life is not a condition for salvation. It is better

to deal with this issue after a person understands the issue of faith in Christ for salvation.

Confess your sins. Rom. 10:9, 10 is often used to teach that we must believe AND confess. But, how many sins? To whom? What

happens when a Christian discovers sin in his life following conversion? Must he again believe and confess and be saved again

(and again, and again)?

We are saved from something, and that is our sin. But “confessing” implies our problem is specific individual acts rather than our

sinful position or nature. God wants to cure the cause, not the symptoms. Our sins are the symptoms, not the cause (being underGod’s wrath because we’re sinners by nature).

Repent of your sins. (“turn or burn”! ) If by this it is meant that we must turn from every individual sin in our lives, then salvation

and assurance would be impossible. In the OT the word for repent meant (for Israel, God’s people) a change of ways. But,

repentance (meta-change / noia-mind) in the NT speaks of an inner change of attitude and heart, not an outer change in conduct.

Changed conduct is the result of true repentance, but we should not confuse the root with the fruit. Some well intentioned

Christians suggest that we must believe AND repent (change our ways, turn from our sin). If that is so, then, salvation is based

upon faith PLUS our works (turning from our sins, changing our ways, etc.)(cf. Eph. 2:8-10).

Pray a prayer. WHAT prayer ? The Gospel teller must be careful to make the issue faith/trust. Faith in whom and for what?

Not all of the above conditions are totally void of all truth. The point is that they are

often misleading or confusing. Some give a wrong message, others an unclear one...But we must strive to use the words that give a clear message as to what the gospel

is... presenting it as clearly as possible using the right words.

Why not be as biblical as possible in our communication of the condition for

salvation? In the Gospel of John the verb believe is used ninety-eight times as the

condition for salvation. We should take the hint, especially when the Holy Spirit had

John tip us off that he wrote his book in order to bring people to faith in Christ

(John 20:31)

A suggested prayer Pg.9



Summary :True evangelism cannot occur unless we share the Bad News / Good News (in that order!)

The gospel is the message of the good news of salvation by God’s grace,

through faith alone in Christ alone.The basis for salvation is Christ’s finished work on our behalf.The condition is our belief/trust in Christ and His work on our behalf.

The results of our trust in Him, God declares believing sinners “righteous”!

The world is blinded to the gospel by Satan who wants to keep people fromseeing the glorious nature of the gospel of Christ (2 Cor. 4:3-4), but the

Christian should never be ashamed of the gospel nor reticent to share it because

the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes for the

righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel (Rom. 1:16-17).

Those specially gifted: Evangelists

The “apostles” are those personally commissioned by Jesus. (John 16:5-16). The

“prophets” are the early church leaders who had the gift of prophecy (not the Old

Testament prophets. The apostles and prophets Paul is referring to here are those in early

church who had the gift of prophecy (Eph 3:4-5).

The early church devoted themselves to the “Apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42)

Thus, the gifts of Apostle and Prophet are foundational, having already been laid...

we don’t have the continued need for apostles and prophets!

But, we do for evangelists and pastor-teachers.

The point: Apostles/prophets (foundational), evangelists and pastor-teachers ongoing).

So where does that leave the rest…the ungifted, ordinary Christians?Pretty much on the sidelines watching and cheering the gifted few.

But… scripture also tells us that the task of evangelism is for…….

Those not specially gifted : every Christian

Too many people think that the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19 – 20) is just forevangelists, elders or missionaries. In Colossians 4:2 – 6 the great Apostle clearly

demonstrates that everyone is to be proactive in evangelism. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told His

disciples that the Holy Spirit would enable them to be witnesses in Jerusalem and Judeaand Samaria and the furthest part of the earth. Did the early church understand this to

mean that the command to be witnesses was to the 12 apostles?

From Acts 8:1, ff, we know that all believers (i.e., everyone EXCEPT the Apostles) who

were scattered from Jerusalem went everywhere preaching the Word. They understoodthat the responsibility for evangelism was not only for those specially gifted, but for

every believer. The book of Acts demonstrates that God used believers, not just the

apostles, to evangelize the lost!

Evangelism: Whose Responsibility?

Pg.10



The early church evangelized corporately and individually.

Two methods clearly seen in Scripture.......

Our Walk—Modeling the Word (Titus 3:1, 8, 14)

Making Friends (Matt. 22:39; Luke 10:33; John 4:4f; Gal. 6:10a; Tit. 3:14). Believersmust be taught and encouraged to build bridges and develop relationships with the lost.

Penetrating society for contact is vital to evangelism. People must learn to help their

neighbors, show mercy, and, according to their ability, give to those in need to

demonstrate the love of Christ and build bridges for the gospel.

Preserving (Matt. 5:13-16; 2 Thess. 2:6-7). The calling of the church is not to control the

political process at local, state, or national levels, but to seek genuine political and

moral reform by spiritual renewal through prayer and reaching our society for Christ

because it is impossible to effect genuine political reform through legislation withoutspiritual reformation.

While our walk will help build bridges to the lost, it is only our talk that willeffectively communicate the gospel.

Our Talk—Giving Out the Word (Col. 4:5-6; 1 Thess. 1:7-8)

Personal Witnessing (Rom. 10:17; Luke 10:2).The church must be involved in an active ministry of sharing the gospel to the lost.

This should involve an outreach that involves:

Refuting, Reasoning, Persuading, Demonstrating, Proving(Acts 9:22; 17:17; 18:4, 28; 19:8-9; 1 Pet. 3:15).

While only the Spirit of God can illuminate a person’s heart to the truth of the gospel,

God still uses the witness of the believer.

So…Clear communication is an art. When it comes to telling the Gospel it is an art

worth refining. We must work to tell the Gospel as clearly as possible. Not always will

we succeed. But isn’t it a wonderful fact of life that God can still use us in spite of themisplaced approaches and methods that we use? We know, however, that He canaccomplish more through us according to how clear and biblical our message and our

methods are. And that means that we are clear in our motives, in our Gospel content, in

our statement of the condition for salvation, and in our invitation to believe. Given all

that is at stake, we want to share the Good News as clearly as possible in a way that is

pleasing to God, not just convenient to men.

HOW do we evangelize ?

Paul asked

the Colossian believers

to pray for him that

“God may open a door for

our message, so that we

may proclaim the mysteryof Christ…pray that I may

proclaim it clearly,

as I should.

(Col. 4:3,4)

Pg.11



“I want my husband to come to Christ so we will stop abusing me, cheating on me, etc.”

“I want my wife to come to Christ so she will stop nagging me.”

“I want my child to come to Christ so he or she will stop misbehaving.”

“I want my neighbors to come to Christ so they will stop throwing all-night parties”

“We want people in this community to come to Christ so that our church will grow.”

“I want our society to come to Christ so it will be a better and safer place to live.”

While all of these sound good, they fall short of the reasons why we should evangelize.

Why should we evangelize? We need a biblical mindset and a biblical motive.

A Biblical Mindset:

Humanity’s condition: All are lost and need to be saved

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners….”We are motivated to evangelize because men are lost (Luke 19:10), without hope (Ephesians 2:12),

under condemnation (John 3:36 Romans 3:19-21), and destined for destruction (Mark 16:16)

Christ is the Only Way for Salvation

John 14:6- “I am the way, truth and life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.

Acts 4: 12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which

we must be saved.”

Since God is love, won’t He provide a way of escape for the heathen other than Christ? Answer: John 3:16 shows that God HAS provided a way of escape for the heathen, and that way is His

only begotten Son. If there is another way, God never would have sent His only Son. (Cf. John 14:6.

Christ’s words and His death was absolutely useless if there is another way.

People in Christian lands are lost because they have heard the gospel and rejected Christ. The heathenhaven’t heard the gospel, thus, haven’t rejected it, therefore aren’t lost ?

Answer: People in Christian lands are not lost because they have rejected Christ alone. They are lost

because they are sinners (Rom. 3:23, 6:23) Thus, the heathen are lost NOT because they have rejected

Christ, they are lost because they are sinners, without excuse, because they have rejected the light which

they have been given. (Rom. 1:18-32)

People must hear through a human instrument

We shouldn’t be troubled about people who have not heard about salvation through Christ .

Why can’t we leave them into the hands of God? Answer: In God’s Word, there are 5 forms of the Great commission. Christ Himself and His disciples were

concerned about proclaiming this message of salvation to the world. (Luke 24:46, 47, Acts 1:8). Whatever is

of utmost concern to God should be our concern too. Furthermore, although we can depend upon God to do

justly, God has included the proclamation of the gospel by the believer in His sovereign plan (2 Cor. 5:18, ff)

Can’t God make Christ known by a dream, vision, rather than through a human instrumentality? Answer: Yes, but He has not chosen to do it that way. If God allowed one person to hear by a dream, He would

be unfair to others who don’t hear by dreams or visions. Ultimately, the Bible says, that God has chosen to usepeople to communicate the glorious message of reconciliation to the world. (Rom. 10:13, ff)

WHY do we evangelize ?

Pg.12



World Evangelization is Christ’s command

Christians are motivated to share the Good News primarily because our Lord commands us to evangelize. The

heart of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 is “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” Thecommand in Acts 1:8 is “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.”

At the Berlin Congress on Evangelism John R. W. Stott said: “We engage in evangelism, not necessarilybecause we want to, or because we choose to, or because we like to; but because we have been told to.

The church is under orders. The risen Lord has commanded us to go and to make disciples, and that should be

enough for us.”

The Glory of God

God is calling us above all else to be the kind of people whose theme and passion is the

supremacy of God in all of life. No one will be able evangelize effectively who does not

feel the magnificence of Christ. There will be no big world vision without a big God.

God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful

worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has aninexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of his name among the nations. Therefore

let us bring our affections into line with is, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldl

comforts, and join His global purpose. If we do this, God's omnipotent commitment to His name will be over u

like a banner, and we will not lose, in spite of many tribulations (Acts 9:16; Rom 8:35-39).

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't.

The goal of world evangelization is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The Lord reigns; let th

earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” (Ps 97:1). “Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the people

praise thee! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Ps 67:3-4).

The Great Commission is first to delight yourself in the Lord (Ps 37:4). And then to declare, "Let the nations b

glad and sing for joy!" (Ps 67:4). In this way God will be glorified from beginning to end and worship willempower the missionary enterprise till the coming of the Lord.

(What should motivate us to do it?)

A Biblical Motivation

The Source: Christ will make us “Fishers of men”

Rather than telling his disciples to get with the program, Jesus reminds His disciples that HE will make them

fishers of men. Our responsibility is to follow Him. (Luke 5: l-11, Matt. 4:19, Mark 1:17).It is only as the Holy Spirit enables believers that His task of world evangelism can be accomplished (Acts 1:8).

We follow, He enables.

The Basis: As we walk in fellowship with the Lord

Ps. 51:12 Restore me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

May we be so captivated by Him, and in love with Him that we can do nothing but live for Him and be committe

to what His heart longs for — that the lost be found, that the nations praise Him.

You can’t commend what you don’t cherish.

God is passionately committed to His fame. God's

ultimate goal is that His name be known and praised by

all the peoples of the earth. John Piper

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Conclusion:The gospel is a message of words since words are basic to the intelligent communication of God’s truth. As a

message, the gospel is a witness to the historical work of God in the person and work of Christ for which the right

words are crucial. However, this message is not merely a message of words. Words can be very eloquent, persuasive,

and entertaining and they may move people emotionally and intellectually, but such cannot save them and bring them

into the family of God (see 1 Cor. 2:1ff). It is clear that when people come to trust Christ, it isn’t because we’ve saidthe right words alone. Paul emphatically said, “For our gospel did not come to you merely in words, but in power and

in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction (in much assurance) (1 Thess. 1:5).

Paul and his associates knew they were indwelt by the Spirit as their helper or enabler for ministry (John

14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7f; Acts 1:8). The Spirit of God, as the third person of the Trinity, is called “the Spirit of Truth”because of His role in taking the truth of the Word and revealing it to men (see John 14:17; 15;26; 16:8-13; 1 John

4:6; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 2:6-16). Because of the blindness and hardness of men’s heart, they are powerless to even desire,

much less grasp the life-giving truth of the gospel (cf. Rom. 3:11), but by the powerful pre-salvation ministry of the

Spirit who led the missionaries (see Acts 16:6-10), who prepares hearts (Acts 16:14), and who convicts and draws

men to God (Rom. 2:4; John 12:32; 16:8f), some will listen, grasp, and believe the gospel and experience its saving

power (see also 2 Thess. 2:13).

It was not in their looks, in their beaming personalities, in their eloquence or oratorical skill, nor in their

methodology that they trusted. They preached the gospel with conviction resting in the fact they were preaching the

powerful, life-giving truth of God fortified by the powerful ministry of the Spirit of God who worked both in the

missionaries and in their hearers.

May we realize with Paul that the gospel is a sacred trust (1 Tim. 1:11). Thus, may we with the apostle be

under divine compulsion to proclaim it (1 Cor. 9:16), and seek the prayer of others that we may carry out the task of

sharing the gospel with boldness (Eph. 6:19). This will often involve us in opposition (1 Thess. 2:2) and affliction (2

Tim. 1:8), but the gospel of salvation is “the word of truth” (Eph. 1:13).

© Copyright 2012, G. Simms

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