Biblical Evangelism
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Evangelism
Evangelism
Reaching the Lost
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
mat9337
There is an “urgency” in this command
There is a passion in it
Jesus was “moved with compassion” for them
There is almost a desperation in the instruction
imagine this, coming from Jesus Christ, Our Lord
There is a sense that something will be lost, permanently lost, unless this is done
Laborers are needed - Jesus says to pray for them
Do you Care?
Do you Care?
Please keep this question in your mind as we continue
Jesus was “moved with compassion”
what could “move” us?
What could “move” us to be willing to labor for the harvest?
What is Evangelism?
Webster: evan•ge•lism
evan•ge•lism \i-ˈvan-jə-ˌli-zəm\ noun
1: the winning or revival of personal commitments to Christ
1: the winning or revival of personal commitments to Christ
2: militant or crusading zeal—evan•ge•lis•tic
:evan•ge•lize
evan•ge•lism \i-ˈvan-jə-ˌli-zəm\ noun
circa 1626
1: the winning or revival of personal commitments to Christ
2: militant or crusading zeal—evan•ge•lis•tic \-ˌvan-jə-ˈlis-tik\ adjective—evan•ge•lis•ti•cal•ly \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
evan•ge•lize \i-ˈvan-jə-ˌlīz\ verb
-lized; -liz•ing verb transitive 14th century
1: to preach the gospel to
2: to convert to Christianity
Winning people to Jesus Christ
Saving the dead to life
Ideas I would like us to consider today:
The Necessity of Evangelism
Methods of evangelism
Who should evangelize
When should we evangelize
Where should we evangelize
The Necessity of Evangelism
The Necessity of Evangelism
Jesus asked us to evangelize - pray for the harvest
Jesus commanded us to evangelize in the great commission
mark16:15-
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. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
If we do not evangelize the lost will stay lost
Those who die without Jesus, die in their sins
Consider these three passages
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
rom10.13-1
For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.
8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
eze
It is so necessary that we try to reach the lost for Jesus
What could be more important?
Or how could there be anything that is more important to us?
This very cause for which Jesus Christ came into the world
this very cause for which Jesus Christ endured the cross
Now, He has sent us. Shall we not go?
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
How shall we not go?
Consider the story of the Moravian missionaries -
Or is it just a song to us now?
3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.
dan12:3
Methods of evangelism
Methods of evangelism
Christianity has become so much like a spectator sport that many people think that evangelism has to do with a pulpit and a professional preacher
our hollywood mentality has us trained to think in terms of a star at the front who gets the attention and without whom the job just can’t get done
evangelism should actually be a natural outflow from the heart of every converted Christian
this is the picture that I see in the book of Acts
As such, there are many ways or methods to evangelize, just as there are many personalities in Christendom
Here are a few broad methods of evangelism
Confrontational (direct)
· Intellectual (apologetics, debate)
· Testimonial (personal stories of God’s power)
· Relational (interpersonal)
· Invitational (events, etc.)
Service
1 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman,
3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people,
4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.
8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
10 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?” ’
11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
12 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’
13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.
14 Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right,
15 if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
16 None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17 “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair!
18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it.
19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it.
20 Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.”
eze33.
Intellectual (apologetics, debate)
Testimonial (personal stories of God’s power)
Relational (interpersonal)
Invitational (events, etc.)
Service
Direct Approach
Direct Approach
This is the style you often see Paul using
places like Mars Hill and Lystra
Peter at Pentecost and at the temple
John the Baptist
Jesus in many places
with he Pharisees, with those who didn’t repent, numerous others
Some people seem to be specially gifted in this approach
Often called “confrontational” this does not have to be negative
Although some people are very uncomfortable in this method, others cannot seem to do it any other way -
(Moody example)
Be who you are!
Intellectual
Intellectual
Some people are more gifted in reasoning
appeal from apologetics, science, knowledge and debate
this can also be seen with Paul at Mars Hill
This method is an important way of reaching some people
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”
we often see Paul “reasoning" with people
Intellectual (apologetics, debate)
Testimonial (personal stories of God’s power)
Relational (interpersonal)
Invitational (events, etc.)
Service with peole
Intellectual approach is helpful to reach people from their point of understanding to help change their belief concerning what they think they know
Intellectual approach is helpful to reach people from their point of understanding in order to change their beleifs concenring what they think they know
Testimonial Approach
Testimonial Approach
Sharing personal stories of God’s power to transform lives
Just about everyone can use this approach
We all have a testimony (if indeed we are saved)
A person with a testimony is never at the mercy of a person with an argument
consider the man born blind:
24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”
25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
jn9.24*
The woman at the well is another example of this approach
Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood were seeking Jesus because they had heard someone else’s testimony
Invitational
Invitational
Inviting people to church, Life group and other events
Phillip said to Nathaniel “come and see”
Service
Service
Doing good is an excellent way to open people’s hearts to be willing to receive the gospel
All of the miracles have this end as their purpose
examples include: ---
When people receive an act of kindness, especially one they know they did not deserve, they are often more willing to listen to what you have to say
Jesus mentioned these works of service in concerning His return
He also mentioned them as being a reason the people should have repented
23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.
23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.
mat11.
Methods have a Purpose
Methods have a Purpose
In order for any of these “methods” to be “evangelism” there must be purpose, intent, and execution.
Just because a Christian invites people to his house does not mean he is evangelizing
Just because you do a good deed for someone does not mean you were evangelizing
consider the man healed by Peter and John - and what it cost them
or the man healed by Paul at Lystra - and what it cost him
in both cases they could have simply ben silent after the miracle and there would have been no problem
A hammer is one method of driving a nail, butt hat does not mean that swinging a hammer automatically drives a nail. In fact, unless it is swung correctly it can hit many things that are not a nail, and perhaps even do damage.
Evangelism should be intentional
Evangelism should be intentional
and finally, our last two points:
When Should we evangelize?
Where should we evangelize?
The answer to these points couldn’t be simpler
Everywhere you go
Every chance you get
If not why not?
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
1 I CHARGE [you] in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, Who is to judge the living and the dead, and by (in the light of) His coming and His kingdom:
2 Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, you as preacher of the Word are to show people in what way their lives are wrong.] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.
3 For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold,
4 And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.
5 As for you, be calm and cool and steady, accept and suffer unflinchingly every hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fully perform all the duties of your ministry.
1tim4.1-
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Will you go into the harvest for Jesus with me?