THE DISCIPLINE OF EVANGELISM
Foundations for Discipleship • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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-{1 Corinthians 9; 2 Corinthians 5}
-So, back at the Harvest Feast I joked around about my bad back and sciatica and being old and all that. And I probably wouldn’t have those issues if I would do more stretches and other exercises to keep myself healthy and fit and fight off all those pesky issues of growing old. If I want to have less problems and more health, I need to do something about it.
-The same is true for us spiritually, and so I have been doing this series on spiritual disciplines to help with our spiritual formation. We’ve talked about the Bible and prayer and fasting and worship. The last time we met on a Wednesday we were blessed to have Rebecca who is going to be a missionary in north Asia. And really I want to use what she said as a springboard for tonight’s topic. She is going to go to another country that is closed to the gospel to try and work around their system so as to share the gospel of Jesus Christ so people can come to faith. She is putting herself in harm’s way halfway around the globe to make sure people hear about Jesus.
-But here we are in an open country in which we can speak freely in a country that is majority lost. While a good portion of people may claim a form of Christianity, the percentages that they are truly born again are quite slim. They either have a cultural Christianity or they are part of a religion that gets the gospel wrong. And there is a good portion of people are claiming to be irreligious. So, the work of sharing the gospel is right in front of our faces, without us needing to go halfway around the world—although going to other countries and missions ties in with what we are talking about.
-Sharing the gospel, or what we call evangelism, is a spiritual discipline. It definitely grows us to talk with people about a subject that might be very sensitive to some people. You can talk about the weather, you can talk about sports, but you can’t talk about Jesus for some reason. And there are several possible reasons that we might not share the faith.
-First, because it has been ingrained in our brains that you don’t talk about religion in any sort of social gathering. We have been told that in polite company you don’t talk about politics and religion. I might understand the politics part, but why is it impolite to talk about your beliefs? And what is very interesting is that this ban is usually one sided—you can talk about any religion except biblical Christianity and you can talk about any religious leader except Jesus. We have been told that biblical Christianity is too exclusive (and so on and so forth). Yes it’s exclusive because Jesus is the only way, that’s why you need to believe in Him. False religions have no problem talking about their religion because it’s false and pretty much accepts any other false religion, so all the false religions get along just fine. But they all lead to the same judgment.
-A second reason that we might not share the faith (somewhat tied to the first one) is because society has taken on a postmodern philosophy that renounces any sort of claim to know truth. The whole concept of truth has been deconstructed to the point that it is meaningless. Those who hold to this philosophy believe that anyone can make up their own truth, and if it is true to them then it is their truth and nobody has any input into somebody else’s truth. The only problem is that this flies in the face of reality. There is one truth, and if you don’t agree with that one truth you are wrong.
-A third reason that we might not share the faith is fear—fear of rejection, fear of humiliation. A fourth reason might be they don’t think they know enough about the Bible, but you just need to know the gospel—nobody knows everything about the Bible. So, the list could go on, but we have good news to share and we are told to share it and there is much encouragement found in Scripture.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.
3 “And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
11 “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be presented to My name, as well as a grain offering that is clean; for My name will be great among the nations,” says Yahweh of hosts.
14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Jesus told us: John 20:21 “21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.””
Jesus said in Acts 1:8 “8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the end of the earth.””
-So, there is much encouragement that we as born again believers in Jesus Christ have been given a stewardship, a ambassadorship, to share the truth of who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and what people are supposed to do about it. Paul very much felt that burden upon himself. Look at:
19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.
20 And to the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews. To those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law.
21 To those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.
23 So I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
-You notice how he talks about winning people and saving people. But it’s a recurring theme in all his letters. Let’s look at another example:
11 So then, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we have been made manifest to God; and I hope that we have been made manifest also in your consciences.
12 We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an opportunity to boast of us, so that you will have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.
13 For if we are out of our mind, it is for God, or if we are of right mind, it is for you.
14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died.
15 And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 So then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as God is pleading through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
-There are several motivations here for sharing the gospel:
-First is the fear of God. Because we hold Christ high and we revere our triune God, and knowing that we ever live in His presence, we desire to please Him. And we don’t do it merely because we have to, but because we desire to.
-A second motivation in v. 14 is that the love of Christ controls us. Because of Christ’s love for us that sent Him to the cross, the Father’s love for us in sending His Son, and their love for the lost, we are compelled by that love. The love that we have been shown we share with others.
-A third motivation is found in v. 15 in that we no longer live for ourselves, but we live for God. We no longer belong to ourselves, we have been bought with a price. Therefore we are submitted to His will and purpose.
-A fourth motivation found in v. 18 is that we have been given a ministry of reconciliation. Every Christian is given a ministry of helping other people find peace with God through Jesus Christ. We all might have different spiritual gifts, but they work toward the same ministry—bringing people to God through Christ.
-And because we have been so motivated, I want to share with you a quick way to share the gospel through the Romans Road. These verses are easy to remember, it all comes from one book of the Bible, and it hits all the important points that someone needs to know and understand and respond to the gospel.
-First, we need people to understand that everybody has the same problem—we are not excluded from this. Every human has the same problem, and that problem is sin.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
-Next, we need people to understand that there are consequences to sin.
Romans 6:23 (LSB)
23 For the wages of sin is death,
~These consequences do not only include physical death (that is a consequence, but not the only one) but it also includes spiritual, eternal death.
-People need to understand this bad news because the good news won’t make sense without the bad news. But we don’t want people to despair from the bad news, so we start sharing the good news:
Romans 6:23 (LSB)
23 ... but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-How did Jesus secure this gift?
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
-Jesus Christ died for us. His death paid the price for our sins. And Jesus resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus’ death as the payment for our sins. So, what do we do?
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
-We receive this gift by faith—we trust that Jesus died for us personally, we believe the truth of who He is and what He did, and we are saved. And we know this:
13 for “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
-Whoever calls on Jesus in faith is forgiven their sins. And we want to tell them the results:
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
-Through Jesus we have peace with God. And if you want to explain further, you can add:
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-A simple way to fulfill the discipline of evangelism. Let’s pray that God gives us opportunities...
