Sermon Tone Analysis

! I.              Why Evangelize?

The Bible teaches that God chose Israel from the start to be a nation of missionaries.

In addition to calling the nation as a whole to proclaim by *word *and *lifestyle *His truth to the world, God chose from within Israel special men to fulfill the missionary task.

Those prophets first exhorted Israel to maintain her holy and righteous testimony; then they preached to the nations the message of repentance from sin, necessary because of God’s coming judgment on the unbelieving world.

Although Jonah’s example is primarily negative, the Holy Spirit placed his story in Scripture because it is instructive for believers of all eras.

!!! 1.             Jonah is the best biblical example of what a missionary should /not/ be.

!!! 2.             Jonah teaches us about one mans pitiable attitude toward spiritual service.

!!! 3.             Jonah teaches us how deeply concerned God is for the heathen & how unconcerned Israel (personified in Jonah) is for them.

!!!

That statement seems to be what the church is today.

Today, many Christians and churches are unwilling to obey the divine call of preaching the gospel and reaching the lost.

What we want to look at for our first message is, “Why Evangelize”?

* *

!! A.           Three Reasons Why.

!!! 1.            God Commands It.

!!!! a)            God Commanded Jonah (Jonah 1:2).

!!!!! (1)           God was sending Jonah to Nineveh not only to call Nineveh to repentance, but also to shame Israel in a dramatic way.

!!!!! (2)           God’s design was to offer salvation first to the Jews and then use them as His missionaries to the rest of the world.

*Paul writing to the Romans said* "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

" (Romans 1:16, NASB95)

*Jesus Himself said* "for salvation is from the Jews.

" (John 4:22, NASB95)

!!!!! (3)           Instead of proclaiming the one true God to the nations around them, the Jews had become entrenched in a proud, self-indulgent form of religion.

Now their dreaded enemy, Assyria, was about to repent in sackcloth and ashes before Yahweh as a result of the simple preaching by an unknown prophet.

!!!!!  

!!!! b)            God Commanded Us (Matthew 28:18-20).

!!!!! (1)           Before the Lord states the Great Commission, He establishes His divine authority to command it.

It is because of His sovereign power that His followers are to have the attitude of complete, humble submission to His will.

!!!!! (2)           “Because I am sovereign Lord of the universe,” Jesus was saying, “I have both the authority to command you to be My witnesses and the power to enable you to obey that command.”

!!!!! (3)           Some statistics show that: 1 in 20 Christians never share their faith; 1 in 10 think that they should; 9 out of 10 don’t think that they should.

Listen to these verses:

*Again He said,* "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

(Mark 16:15, NKJV)… "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations."

(Luke 24:47-48, NKJV)

*Paul writing to the Church in Corinth says:* "For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.

This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.

We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you.

We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, “Be reconciled to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."

(2 Corinthians 5:19-21, NLT)

*Jesus said to His disciples: *“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”"

(John 20:21; 17:18)

 

*Paul says this:* "So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ.

We *warn *them and *teach *them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.

I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me." (Colossians 1:28-29, NLT)

*Paul writing to the church in Corinth said, *"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, *and *has given us the *ministry of reconciliation*, 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.

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.

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 5:17-21, NKJV)

!!!!! (4)           The only way the world can ever hear about the great ministry of reconciliation is through believers.

Believers must proclaim the message of reconciliation or it will never be heard.

!!! 2.            Evangelism Starts In Heaven (John 3:16-17).

!!!! a)            This was planned in Eternity Past (Acts 2:22-23).

!!!!! (1)           /God had ordained it:/

*Luke writes* "For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed.

In fact, everything they did occurred according to your eternal will and plan."

(Acts 4:27-28, NLT)

!!!!! (2)           /God had ordained it from all eternity:/

*Paul writing to his son in the faith said, *"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus *before time began*," (2 Timothy 1:7-9, NKJV)

"And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast.

They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life, which belongs to the Lamb who was killed before the world was made."

(Revelation 13:8, NLT)

!!!!! (3)           /Starts with the Holy Spirit:/ The Holy Spirit sets people apart to go out and do the work in preaching the gospel.

"Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers…As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”"

(Acts 13:1-2, NKJV)

!!!!! (4)           The holy spirit convicts people of their need for Christ, and sets people apart in the church to go out and to run across those very people that He’s convicting (John 16:7-11).

!!! 3.            God Loves People (1 Tim.2:1-4).

!!!! a)            God desires all men to be saved.

!!!!! (1)           If we don’t have a love for people then something is dramatically wrong in our relationship with Him.  *Paul had a sorrow in his heart over the lost (Romans 9:1-3)*.

!!!!! (2)           Some things Christians say baffle me: I am not into prayer, or worship, or reading the Bible, or going to church, or evangelism.

*Writing to the Romans, Paul says, *"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

(Romans 5:8, NKJV)

*Speaking of our old life before Christ, Paul writes* "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," (Ephesians 2:1-5, NKJV)

!! B.           Four Excuses.

!!! 1.            Fearful of man (Acts 9:10-19).

!!!! a)            God is working on both ends.

!!!!! (1)           Both Ananias (v.10) and Saul (v.12) have a vision from God

!!!!! (2)           God is speaking to Ananias, telling him what to do (v.11a).

!!!!! (3)           What is Saul doing during his 3 days without sight?

Praying (v.11b).

Prayer is the spontaneous response to the believing heart.

Prayer is as for the Christians as breathing.

!!!!! (4)           Saul has a vision of a man called Ananias (v.12).

Who gives visions?

God of course!

!!!!! (5)           Ananias is fearful (v.13-14)

!!!!! (6)           The Lord tells him to “go” (v.15-16)

!!!!! (7)           Ananias obeys (v.17).

*Note:* Ananias did not have to go through some terrible trial as Jonah did.

Ananias obeyed the first time.

!!!!  

!!!! b)            Immediately Saul preached Christ (Acts 9:20-22).

!!!!! (1)           New believers often have a “fire” and “fervency” of telling others about Jesus.

!!!!! (2)           For some as they grow in the Lord, they seem to lose that fervency, however that did not happen to Paul:   

*Paul pronounces a woe on himself:* "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16, NKJV)

!!!!! (3)           Those who are transformed by the grace of God cannot help but speak of Jesus.

Even if they are warned not to talk about Jesus: 

*When Peter and John were threatened by the rulers, elder, scribes and High priest, they did not let this stop them* "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.

And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, “What shall we do to these men?

For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”