Our Purpose: Evangelism
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Introduction
Introduction
My Life Verse
As a teenager, we were encouraged to choose a verse to help base our life upon. Many chose verses such as to trust in the Lord with all your heart or other excellent promises.
Since I had the desire to be an evangelist like some of the men I had the privilege of hearing, I chose
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Later in life, that direction in my life became clearly closed, but I reexamined that verse and determined that it was still a good verse for life. to be a witness for Christ wherever He placed me.
Today, I would like to look at four facts of evangelism from
We are focusing on missions, evangelism, and discipleship this month and this seems like a good text to examine. Christ gives this charge to his followers upon response to their question about His earthly Kingdom and whether it would be established at that time.
Instead, He gives them this charge and proclaims that they need to remain in Jerusalem and then to be witnesses for Him.
Following that, He is immediately taken up into heaven - from which He will soon return to catch up or rapture the church. In the meantime, we, His church, must witness and share the gospel of grace to a world that is perishing.
There are four facts about evangelism we need to acknowledge this morning:
Fact 1: Power is Given Unto Us
Fact 1: Power is Given Unto Us
Shall receive power: to receive or accept an object or benefit for which the initiative rests with the giver, but the focus of attention in the transfer is upon the receiver—‘to receive, receiving, to accept’
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 571.
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 571.
The New American Commentary: Acts 3. Christ’s Legacy: The Call to Witness (1:6–8)
The power they were to receive was divine power; the word is dynamis, the same word used of Jesus’ miracles in the Gospels. It is the Spirit’s power (2:1–21). The endowment with the Spirit is the prelude to, the equipping for, mission.
Fact 2: Witnessing is Part of Our Being
Fact 2: Witnessing is Part of Our Being
Shall Be: to possess certain characteristics, whether inherent or transitory—‘to be.’
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 148.
The New American Commentary: Acts 3. Christ’s Legacy: The Call to Witness (1:6–8)
The role of the apostles is that of “witness” (martys). In Acts the apostles’ main role is depicted as witnessing to the earthly ministry of Jesus, above all to his resurrection (cf. 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39, 41). As eyewitnesses only they were in the position to be guarantors of the resurrection. But with its root meaning of testimony, “witness” comes to have an almost legal sense of bearing one’s testimony to Christ
The Book of the Acts 2. The Apostles’ Commission (1:4–8)
An Old Testament prophet had called the people of Israel to be God’s witnesses in the world (Isa. 43:10; 44:8); the task which Israel had not fulfilled was taken on by Jesus, the perfect Servant of the Lord, and shared by him with his disciples.
Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, And my servant whom I have chosen: That ye may know and believe me, And understand that I am he: Before me there was no God formed, Neither shall there be after me.
Fear ye not, neither be afraid: Have not I told thee from that time, And have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any.
in the world:
John Stott:
“And now he sends us “into the world,” to identify with others as he identified with us, to become vulnerable as he did. It is surely one of our most characteristic evangelical failures that we have seldom taken seriously this principle of the Incarnation. “As our Lord took on our flesh,” runs the report from Mexico City 1963, “so he calls his church to take on the secular world. This is easy to say and sacrificial to do.” But it comes more natural to us to shout the Gospel at people from a distance than to involve ourselves deeply in their lives, to think ourselves into their problems, and to feel with them in their pains.”
The Uttermost Part of the Earth:
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, That thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Fact 3: We fail to witness verbally
Fact 3: We fail to witness verbally
Dr. Kathleen Nielsen describes five myths about evangelism:
Myth 1: Evangelism is something I do myself
Myth 2:We don’t have to speak the gospel—we just live it. Or at least wait and earn the right to speak.
Myth 3: Evangelism requires special training
Myth 4: It;s better not to talk about hell
Myth 5: I’ll get to it eventually!
Myth 3:
“If we’ve just seen a great movie, that movie will often find its way into our conversation . . . usually with a lot of enthusiasm. It’s got to be true that if we’re regularly encountering the God of the universe speaking to us through his Word, then his Word will probably overflow into our conversations. Wouldn’t it be strange if it didn’t?
“Your daughter is living a life that shocks you, and you just don’t know how to relate to her? You know, I was just reading this amazing story about how Jesus related to a woman he met . . . ”
Maybe the best ongoing training is wholehearted participation in church body life, Bible study, prayer, service—those basic elements of the Christian life that help us grow to maturity.”
Ignorance
Ignorance
We don’t know how to witness.
Apathy
Apathy
We don’t care for sinner’s eternal destinies
Fear of People
Fear of People
Fear of People
Fear of People
This may be from the fear of people naturally or a fear of specific people in particular.
The fear of man bringeth a snare: But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.
Fear of Speaking
Fear of Speaking
Busyness
Busyness
We don’t know unsaved people
We don’t know unsaved people
Isolation from unbelievers may be the most common excuse for a lack of evangelism. This is the excuse of choice for mature Christians. When I’m honestly reflecting on my own life, I see that I have fairly few significant relationships with non-Christians. I’m a pastor. I’m not around non-Christians much as part of my job. I am busy writing sermons, counseling, planning, training other Christians, returning phone calls—even writing a book on evangelism! I’m generally unavailable to people except for my church members during the day or my family in the evening. I’m really absorbed with Christian relationships, and I think that I’m called to be.
But in cases like mine, how does evangelism fit in? If you’re a young mother at home with her children, or an older Christian, retired and not easily able to build new relationships, then you, too, know something of this challenge. If you’re a new Christian, you’ve probably been advised (wisely) to build new, significant friendships with Christians. And if you’ve been a Christian for a while, then you’re probably busy with service in the church and spending your time discipling younger Christians. One of the best decisions we can make is to pray and talk with a Christian friend about how we can legitimately fulfill our roles in the church, in our family, and in our job while also getting to know and speak with non-Christians
Dr. Kathleen Nielsen describes five myths about evangelism:
Myth 1: Evangelism is something I do myself
Myth 2:We don’t have to speak the gospel—we just live it. Or at least wait and earn the right to speak.
Myth 3: Evangelism requires special training
Myth 4: It;s better not to talk about hell
Myth 5: I’ll get to it eventually!
Fact 4: Neglect of Verbal Witnessing is Sin
Fact 4: Neglect of Verbal Witnessing is Sin
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Remember
Remember
Repent
Repent
Re-Do
Re-Do
5 simple steps:
Pray - for boldness and for an opening
Prepare - know the basics and have literature
Plan - set aside time; purposefully create times to get to know unbelievers
Risk - this is the hardest thing - it takes a step outside our comfort zone and routine to make a friendship and a witness for Christ
Rest - Trust God’s promises that He will bless obedience and that His Word will not return void, but will accomplish His purposes
For as the rain cometh down, And the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, But watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
John Stott reminds us that evangelism is not results, but proclamation of God’s Good News:
There is no mention whether the word which was “evangelized” was believed, or whether the inhabitants of the towns and villages “evangelized” were converted. To “evangelize” in biblical usage does not mean to win converts (as it usually does when we use the word) but simply to announce the good news, irrespective of the results.
