Essential Elements In Evangelism2

09/28/2008

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IN EVANGELISM!

MATTHEW 28:16-20

**In our text today we need to understand that these disciples have been through the full range of emotions in the last two weeks. With their own two eyes they have seen Jesus scourged, crucified and buried.

**Things have not been exactly comfortable for Jesus either! He is the one who was scourged, crucified and left to suffer and die on the cross. However during the three days that His body was in the tomb, He has been preaching to the spirits in prison and taking the thief on the cross that got born again to Paradise!

**According to a parallel comparison between John’s gospel account and Matthew and Mark’s gospel accounts we see that Jesus has been making some Resurrection appearances!

** On the day of His resurrection He met Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9-11), went on the road to Emmaus (Mark 16:12-13), saw the disciples that night in the upper room (Mark 16:14), and again eight days later (John 20:26-31).

**According to Acts 1:3 Jesus has been showing Himself alive through “many infallible proofs” and now He has scheduled f the most important Post Resurrection meeting with His disciples.

**Our text today is going to take us into that meeting and it is going to give us Six of the most Essential Elements for a Lifestyle of Evangelism!

**Now I am not talking about a PROGRAM or MEMORIZATION of a METHOD of EVANGELISM so please do not turn a deaf ear to the message today.

**I am talking about learning how to “share the GOOD NEWS as a regular part of your daily life. If you want to live in such a way that sharing the GOOD NEWS with people is as natural as talking about Georgia getting whipped by Alabama or Florida getting whipped by Ole Miss or Tennessee getting whipped by everybody (smile), then I want you to notice these six essential elements:

First of all I want you to notice:

I.                   THE AVAILABILITY THAT IS REQUIRED

28:16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated

**Somebody once said that 99% of life is simply “showing up”! The first essential element that is required for lifestyle evangelism is simply being AVAILABLE! 

Notice what Matthew says about these 11 disciples in 28:16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated!

**My question is this: When did Jesus tell these disciples to meet Him at this mountain that Matthew refers to in 28:16?

            **Turn with me in your Bible to Matthew 26: 32 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.

            **Now look at Matthew 28: 7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold I have told you”!

            **Now notice Matthew 28: 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me”!

**I don’t know about you, but if Jesus tells me three separate times in three different ways that He is going to make a supernatural manifestation of His presence in a particular place, then Praise God I am going to get there as soon as I can!

**Jesus has invited them to meet Him on a mountain in Galilee and they are demonstrating the very first Essential Element in a Lifestyle Evangelism. In other words, they are AVAILABLE to meet with and be used by Jesus!

**They are assembled on the mountain where Jesus told them to meet Him and then, all of a sudden, Jesus shows up. Now just how easy or natural do you think it is going to be to tell somebody else what you just saw, felt or experienced?

**One of our biggest problems is that most people who call themselves Christians (twice born men and women living in a once born world), is that we simply do not make ourselves available to Jesus like He has asked us to do!

**So today I am asking you to choose to make yourself available to be where Jesus wants you to be at the time or times that He wants you to be available!

**So the first thing that we notice is that if we want to develop into mature disciples who are characterized by a lifestyle of evangelism then our AVAILABILITY is REQUIRED!

**But secondly I also want you to notice:

II.                THE ACTIVITY THAT IS RECORDED

28:17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some were doubtful!

**What did the disciples do when they saw Jesus? When they saw Him, they worshiped (prostrated themselves at His feet), Him; BUT some were doubtful (28: 17).

**It is impossible to be very effective in sharing the GOOD NEWS consistently if we are not a passionate worshiper! It is in and through personal and corporate times of worship that we have encounters with Jesus that results in us being changed for the glory of God!

            **Notice  that this is the same thing the women did in Mt 28: 9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them.  And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped (prostrated), Him!

            **In Isaiah 6, what did Isaiah do when He found himself in the Presence of the Glory of God? He worshiped and as a result of his personal worship, God CONVICTED him and when Isaiah CONFESSED his sin then God CLEANSED him of his sin!

            **When God asked the question “Whom shall I send and Who will go for Us”?. Isaiah responded “Here I am, send me”! Do you think that Isaiah had a pretty good story to tell about the Holiness of God?

            **If we are going to develop a lifestyle of evangelism then it is imperative that we become WORSHIPERS! We must be willing to PROSTRATE ourselves in His presence and be cleansed from our sin and learn of our Father’s heartbeat for souls!

            **The second thing that I am asking you to choose to do today is to become a personal and passionate worshiper of God who regularly has encounters with the thrice Holy God that convicts you and cleanses you and gives you fresh stories to tell about your relationship with God!

            **So far we have seen that our AVAILABILITY is REQUIRED and the ACTIVITY is RECORDED but I also want you to notice:

III.             THE AUTHORITY THAT IS RELEASED

28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth

**After they “worshiped”, Jesus came up to them and spoke to them. What did Jesus have to say to them in response to their worship? “All Authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth . . .

**Jesus said that “ALL AUTHORITY had been given to Him in heaven and on earth. The question is: From whom did Jesus receive His authority? The prophet Daniel said, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man [Christ] came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:13-14).

**Daniel had a vision of Christ at His second coming, this is a description similar to Matthew 24:30, where Christ describes His second coming as "the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven."

"Ancient of days" is an Old Testament title for God the Father. The Son comes to the Father, and the Father gives all authority to the Son, obliging everyone to serve Christ.

**The word for authority is “ex-ou-sia” and it means freedom to do what needs to be done!

**Not only do we see that AVAILABILTY is REQUIRED and the ACTIVITY that was RECORDED and the AUTHORITY that will be RELEASED but I also want you to notice:

IV.             THE ASSIGNMENT THAT IS REVEALED

28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you

**There is only one COMMAND in this verse. The command is to MAKE DISCIPLES!

**What is a disciple? A disciple is someone who confesses Christ as Lord and Savior, believing that God has raised Him from the dead and declaring that belief publicly through baptism.

**Some say there are many Christians who aren't disciples. They know the Bible teaches that to be a disciple, one has to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Christ (Mark 8:34). If one is not willing to do that, he is not worthy to be Christ's disciple (Matt. 10:38).

**They say some Christians aren't up to that level of commitment, but according to Matthew 28:19-20, a disciple is made at the moment of salvation. One cannot separate discipleship from conversion. When one is saved he receives a submissive spirit that manifests itself by a willingness to make a public confession and obey whatever else Christ commanded. Even when the believer is disobedient, it goes against his deepest desire, which is to obey. 

**Now the Command it to Make Disciples so how do we demonstrate our obedience to this command? There are three participles in this verse that describe the activity of obedience and I want you to notice what they are:

“Going”: As you are going or having gone, make disciples.

**I preached about this last week in the message titled Where Are The Places of Refuge? We talked about Paving the Roads with our ministries and we talked about making sure the SIGNS are CLEAR and that the Gates are Open.

**The time has come for us to add another tool to our Road Paving Ministries and that is incorporating a lifestyle of evangelism into our daily lives. We want to make sure that whenever anyone asks us for the reason that we do the things that we do that “as we are going we can actually begin to “make some disciples”!

**What is a disciple”

Our assignment not only involves GOING but it also includes:

“Baptizing”: After you have been saved then the first step of obedience is baptism.

Our assignment not only involves GOING and BAPTIZING but it also involves:

“Teaching”:

**What are we compelled to teach our new disciples? Teaching them to OBSERVE (obey) ALL that I have COMMANDED you!

**We have seen that AVAILABILITY is REQUIRED and we have discussed the ACTIVITY that was RECORDED and the AUTHORITY that is being RELEASED and the ASSIGNMENT that has been REVEALED. There are two final things that I want to call to your attention. I also want you to notice:

V.                THE ASSURANCE THAT IS RECEIVED

28:20 . . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age

**The Greek word translated "lo" is an exclamation to gain attention, and the word translated "I" is emphatic: "I, no less than I, the living risen Son of God, am with you." The believer has great comfort knowing he remains in Christ's presence. He also has great power available to him as a result.

**Notice the word "Always". This word literally means "all the days," and "end" means "consummation," not cessation. Christ will be with the believer until the consummation of this age. His abiding presence is what makes the task of reaching the world possible. In fact, He "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Eph. 3:20, emphasis added).

VI.             THE APPOINTMENTS THAT ARE RESERVED

28:19 . . . make disciples of all the nations