EVANGELISM LESSON  13        NOVEMBER 25, 2000.

These lessons are from the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto

Study Scripture: MATTHEW 28:18-20; 2 CORINTHIANS 4:1-2,5-6

 INTRODUCTION

The Bible is quite clear that Jesus gave up living in ‘ glory’ with his Father, and came down to earth as a human being, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  He became a man so that he could lay down his life for those he loved.  Jesus had compassion for men who had been caught in a helpless and hopeless situation.

 Jesus came in fulfillment of promises made by God when man sinned.  All the people of God, and the prophets, had looked forward to the coming of this Savior.

When this Savior came, he chose twelve Disciples, trained them, taught them, and sent them out to preach and announce that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

He made it quite clear to the disciples that he had been sent by his Father, and that in turn he was sending them, to convey the good news of his coming.

 Jesus regarded evangelism as the reason for their being.  Their task was to go and preach the Gospel, and make disciples wherever they went. The disciples were in turn to make other men disciples. All this is quite plain and unmistakable from the Scripture readings.

Jesus was their Lord, and the disciples were under his rule, and therefore they were obligated to do what he asked. See John 14: 15 and 15: 14. His call that they evangelize was a command, it was not optional.

 Jesus had authority.  See Matthew 28: 18.  He therefore commissioned his disciples to go out as his agents, and he would empower them with all necessary support. As his agents, they should not operate in their own strength, but in his power.  They had all right to evangelize the nations, for Jesus had  authorized and empowered them, assuring them that his presence would be with them to the end of age.

 Note that the commission given to the disciples referred to all the nations.  The disciples were specifically told where they should operate.

 Firstly, they were to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in the immediate vicinity of where they were to gather and wait for empowerment.

We might think that witnessing in Jerusalem was easy, but it would be a very difficult place to witness.  Jesus had just been scandalously and shamelessly tortured and crucified.  He was resurrected, but this was being challenged actively by those in power.  In Jerusalem the disciples would therefore face natural distrust, hostility, antagonism, and a bitter enemy who would oppose the presentation of the Gospel message there.

 It is worthwhile to mention here, that when we carry the message of the gospel to friends and family we are talking to people who know all the scandals of our lives, whether perceived, imagined, or real. It is often very difficult to witness to them, because they distrust us. 

But sometimes our closeness to friends and family is an advantage.  They can look at us and see the change in us for the better.

 Secondly, the disciples were to witness in all Judea.  The disciples could identify with these people, since they were like them, knew the customs, and would know what appealed to them.

 Thirdly, they were to witness in Samaria, a most distasteful prospect.  For Jews, Samaritans were difficult people to love, and they were always in conflict with them.  As a matter fact, it was the greatest of insults, to call a Jew, a Samaritan.  See John 8:48.

 Fourth and finally, the disciples were to witness without any geographical restrictions.  They were to go to all nations, to people beyond their contact and influence.

 In order for us to look and understand what evangelism is, we must look now at who these disciples of Jesus were.

They were not powerful, articulate, and effective evangelists overnight.  They had to be taught.  They had a crash course lasting for three years.  Jesus aimed to reorient their thinking, end their wills, teach them the true facts about the Kingdom of God, get them to lose their fears, lose their slowness, and learn to watch and pray. They had to be prepared for the great spiritual battle that they would face. We can learn much from observing their behaviour while they were with Jesus.

WHAT IS A DISCIPLE? WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS?

A disciple is really someone apprenticed to, or a pupil of some teacher.  We read about  ‘Disciples of Moses’ who are really students of Mosaic Law.  There were ‘ Disciples of the Pharisees’, who were students developing a detailed knowledge of Jewish traditions as taught in the Torah and other religious books.  These students studied under a Rabbi.  John the Baptist also had disciples, who were very committed to him, and who fasted, prayed, and remained loyal to him while he was imprisoned, and even after his death.

 In those days people who wanted to study under a Rabbi, chose the Rabbi, and joined his school voluntarily.

Jesus had very different approach, for he chose his disciples, asserting that they had been given to him by God the Father.  See John 15: 16.  Jesus’ disciples faced a costly and demanding set of requirements.  Most who came to him did not to want to live up to these demands, and Jesus was left with only the Twelve. Even they deserted him at his Crucifixion. But their lives were still wrapped up in his, and they had no peace of mind.

 Note that Jesus emphasized that he had chosen, called, and commissioned his disciples.  It is clear therefore what the Scriptures mean when it speaks about presenting our bodies to Him as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”

There was therefore a divine constraint on every disciple.  They had been called by Jesus to follow him personally, and commit their all to him. They could only run away for a short time.

 Jesus shared his life with his disciples.  He really love them, and wanted them to love him.  He was with them, comforting them and assuring them of his presence.  They walked with him, talked with him, ate with him, and came to depend fully on him.  They were lost without him.

Jesus’ disciples did not live solitary lives.  They had to develop a great love one for the other, for this would prove that they were indeed disciples of Jesus.  See John 15: 16.  Jesus’ discipling was clearly very different from any other.

 When we speak about evangelism therefore, we are speaking about the activities of making disciples.  Discipleship is clearly part of God’s plan.  The call is to those who are willing to commit themselves and dedicate their lives fully to Christ.

Jesus’ commission in Matthew 28 and in Acts 1 indicate, that every Christian is called to clear, dedicated discipleship.  This is a commitment to Jesus personally, and involves an intimate, ongoing, and inseparable bond to Christ.  In other words, the disciple is not his own person but has been bought with a price.

 We know that Jesus chose many different kinds of men as disciples.  They were not particularly educated, nor were they from the nobility.  Several were rough fishermen, two were sons of a Zealot. Zealots were a party of revolutionaries hostile to Roman rule.  One disciple, Simon was a Zealot.  Another disciple was a despised tax collector, an occupation whose members were regarded as traitors.  Another disciple was a betrayer.  Clearly the disciple can come from any walk of life.

WITNESS OR EVANGELIST?

Jesus called the disciples not only to be disciples, but to be witnesses, and to be fishers of men.  Is there a difference between witnessing and being an evangelist?

 Evangelism and evangelists are all about witnessing and witnesses.  That is the only way to spread the good news of salvation.  We can therefore state that all Christians must be witnesses, but not all Christians will be evangelists in the sense that they are in full-time commitment to spreading the gospel in the same way as the Apostles.

 There are several things which identify the witnesses of Christ.

First, they must have firsthand experience of meeting and knowing Christ.  As a witness, they can only say what they have personally seen and heard.

 Second, they must be able to express themselves, mainly verbally, but also through their life, work, attitude, and relationships.  They must be ready to give an answer for their belief, and explain the great hope that they have. 1 Peter 3:15.

Third, they must have confidence in the power of God, depend on God alone, feel that God can do all things, and rely on the Holy Spirit to provide power for the message.

Fourth, a witness must have compassion for those spiritually lost.

 All Christians are by definition witnesses.  This is one of the greatest privileges we have, for we will be working with God to seek the souls of men.  This is the basic work of witnessing or evangelism, and it is not the work of a select few.

Witnessing is something that everybody can learn.  It is not an inherited talent. However it takes personal preparation, for we need to know what to say, how to say it, and be bold enough to say it.

 We need to know how to approach someone that may be hostile, uninterested, or simply preoccupied with other matters.  We need to prepare ourselves therefore, and learn how to tell the story of the Gospel simply, carefully, and with feeling.

Once you are certain that Jesus is your Saviour, and has come into your heart and life, then you have most of what you need to be a great and effective personal witness for Jesus.  All that is needed is knowledge of the Scripture and faith that Jesus is with you.

 In the work of Jesus, there is a role for the full-time committed worker.  But note that the Bible gives no indication that the people who spread the word on their way from Jerusalem were professional evangelists.  They were simply members of the body of Christ, who fully participated in the work of Christ, as far as they were able.

It is from this group of believers that evangelists came, in the sense of full-time commitment.  We regard these fulltime people as people who were especially chosen by God, who used the Church as his instrument to do the choosing.

 These people were called by God and given a gift.  They were given the ability to clearly and simply explain the gospel, so that it became relevant to the specific needs of the people hearing the message.

They were given special faith so that they would have confidence that the hearers would respond.

They knew how to appeal to the will through the power of the Spirit.  They would therefore give the message, call on people to turn to Christ, and fully  expect them to accept him.

 We have the example of Phillip, who was full of faith, wisdom, and the Holy Spirit.  He was bold, for the suffering and death of Stephen did not stop him.  He was guided by God, listened to God, and was eager to do the work.  He knew the right words to say, when he approached the Ethiopian Eunuch, and knew his Bible so well that he recognized the passage that the Ethiopian was reading, and could explain the passage to him.  He was ready to baptize the Eunuch at his word of acceptance.

THE MESSAGE

The message of evangelism is quite clear.  In passages such as Acts 8 we are told that  Phillip preached Christ in Samaria.  The Word of God was used, for the Bible was the only Scriptures that showed the way of salvation.  See 2 Timothy 3: 15.  Christ was presented as a unique person, who died for our sins, was resurrected from the dead, and who would return to judge the living and the dead.  See 2 Cor. 5: 10.

 Jesus was described to the pagans as the last Word of God, the Creator of the world, the one who reflected God's very nature and glory, and who upheld the world by the power of his word.  This same Jesus, had been long awaited.  He offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins, so that man would be accepted by the Father in Heaven. Salvation could not be obtained by any other name, except the name of Jesus.  See Acts 4: 12.

 The Scriptures are the only effective weapon in personal witnessing.  All the disciples and evangelists pointed to Christ and to him alone.  Jesus’ words were the Words of life.  Paul and the other Apostles spent considerable time teaching the Scriptures, exhorting those like Timothy to study and be faithful to the Scriptures.

 We must realize that evil exists, and that it is very powerful.  There is a boiling underworld of crime, lust, cruelty, and immorality which exists beneath the surface of life.  Sometimes it breaks out and we see the evil in societies and in people.

This sinister force of evil is everywhere, and it hates the very name of Christ.  Evil can be very sophisticated and subtle, but it is still evil and against God.

 It is only the power of God, and the word of God that can breakthrough to people.  Witnessing or evangelism with the word of God is therefore the only way to save men.

The disciples memorized Scripture and stressed the importance of this.  Jesus knew Scripture, and he used this knowledge to repel Satan's attacks. 

Knowing and memorizing Scripture is therefore critical for victory over sin in our own lives, and for effective witnessing.

 The enemy Satan will always attempt to get a believer to doubt that he is saved, and doubt that his only help comes from God.  The witness or evangelists must therefore memorize passages like Matthew 4: 3-4 which comes from Deuteronomy 8: 3, 1 John 5:11-12, 1 Corinthians 10: 13, Psalms 119: 11, and 1 John 1.

 God appeals to men through us, and has given us a ministry of reconciliation.  This ministry is not as difficult as people think.  We can lead people to Christ by following several steps.

 First, we have to point out and get people to admit that they are going their own way, instead of God's way.  All of us are very short of God's perfect standards which are recorded in the Bible, and which were demonstrated in life of Jesus.  Romans 3: 22-23 sums up by saying that everyone has sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Each one has sinned, and needs forgiveness.

Second, after this admission comes the necessity to encourage the one we are witnessing to, to believe in something.  Sin had put a barrier between man and God.  Jesus came and took the sin onto himself, dying for each one of us personally, paying the penalty that was required to bring each one of us to God.  See 1 Peter 3: 18.

Third, the witness must get his hearer to consider carefully. He must say “no” to sin, and to whatever is wrong in his life.  Jesus must now come first, before self, money, ambition, relationships, and everything else.  One must follow Jesus alone.

Fourth, the witness must give the person they speak to something to do.  They must be directed to give their life to Jesus, and he would then give them life.  The Holy Spirit would then come to live inside of that person who gave their life to Christ, and a new relationship would begin.

 Jesus told his disciples to make disciples of all men, teaching them to observe all things he commanded.  A disciple therefore is a follower, committed to walking in the way of Christ, leading the life of Christ, and sharing the love of Christ and the truth of Christ with others.

 To “disciple” someone is to encourage them to become a follower of Christ, to help that person to grow in Christ to the stage where he can then “disciple” someone else. There is no hint anywhere that the Church is to depend on a professional evangelist to do it’s job, which would then allow the Church to grossly neglect it’s work of witnessing. 

 It is often pointed out that if one true disciple brought one person to Christ each year, and then trained that person to bring one new person to Christ each year, and that pattern were repeated by each new convert, the entire population of the earth could be converted in under 100 years.

  Individual members of the body of Christ, are clearly the most effective witnesses and evangelists, if they could be persuaded to do what Christ commanded.

THE MARKS OF A DISCIPLE

David Watson lists several characteristics of a disciple.

First, a disciple must be waiting to serve.  See Mark 10:35-45.

Second, a disciple must be willing to listen.

Third, a disciple must be waiting to learn, that is, be teachable.

Fourth, a disciple is submissive to authority.  See Thess. 5: 12 and Hebrews 13: 17.

Fifth, a disciple is willing to share the faith with others in open and honest fellowship.  See1 John 1:1-3.

Sixth, he is willing to learn humility, and is glad when others are blessed.  See Philippians 2:3-4.

Seventh, he examines his own life before criticizing others.

Eight, he knows his own weaknesses and allows God's grace to work through them.  See 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Ninth, he is not a perfectionist. He does not suffer from self-righteousness or have a judgmental spirit. See James 3:2 and 1 John 1:8-10.

Tenth, he is forgiving.

Eleventh, He is persistent, courageous, and not easily discouraged. See Ephesians 6:10-18 and 2 Corinthians 4:8-11.

Twelve, he is trustworthy and responsible.  See 1 Corinthians 4: 2

Thirteen, he is not a busy body or gossip.  See John 12:21-22 and 1 Timothy 5: 13.

Fourteen, he does both the small and the great things well.  See Colossians 7:17.

Fifteen, he uses time wisely. See Ephesians 5:15-17.

Sixteen, he aims to please God.  See Galatians 1:10.

Seventeen, he is quick to obey when God speaks.

Eighteen, he has faith in God, even in circumstances where there is nothing visible that would encourage such faith.

Nineteen, he is willing to follow the Spirit's leading.

Twenty, he has a clear understanding of God's priorities.

Twenty-one, he knows that he is a servant, and that his work is not primarily for his benefit, but for the benefit of the body of Christ.

FINDING AND MAKING DISCIPLES

The first and basic step is to pray fervently and constantly.  We can ask God to direct us to those to whom we should witness or we can ask God to send them to us.

We can also pray that God will reduce the indifference in the heart of those we wish to speak to, so as to prepare their hearts to receive the Word. We must remember that Satan blinds the eyes of people, and therefore we should pray to God to open their eyes, for he is the only one with the power to free those who are bound.  It is a good thing to have a list of one’s unsaved friends or acquaintances, and pray regularly for them.

 Remember that we are dependent creatures.  We must live in dependence on God at all times, just as Jesus lived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and remained dependent on, and in obedience to his Father.  Our dependence must be marked by prayer.

 Jesus prayed to the Father often, and we note that he prayed before he chose his disciples.  Jesus encouraged his disciples to pray, warning them that they should pray so as not to enter into temptation.

 Jesus told us that the fields are white to harvest.  There are therefore many opportunities around us.  We can pray that God will open our eyes to see the opportunities to witness.  There are many people in need, and we live, work and play beside them, without noticing that they are in need of Christ. 

We can pray seriously, persistently, and honestly that God will give us sympathy and compassion for the people around us.

We can also pray that God will allow us to have a sincere interest and love for the people around us.  We can then ask God to prepare our hearts and allow us to be humble, and not to be easily discouraged when we speak to people. 

 We can ask God to bring us to depend entirely on the Holy Spirit, and to learn to get along with people, even though these people that we have to witness to might not be people that we consider pleasant.

  When we pray we must drop our mask, and do not pretend to be what we are not.  God knows us, and he wants real and true prayers from us.  We are to be persistent in prayer, and thank God for hearing us even before he grants our petitions. Only when we approach God humbly and reverently will he hear us and honor our requests.

 To make a disciple one has to start small.  Jesus started with only a few disciples and we should not think we can do better than he.  It is fine to spend a lot of time on teaching a large group, but often this will be only superficial teaching.

When a group is small there is the possibility for interaction, for growth, for learning by example. Jesus spent much time with his disciples, imparting knowledge to them.

 Note that ‘discipling’ aims at creating maturity, and this occurs only when time is spent at it.  When a person is properly discipled, they will then be able to train others to operate independently and responsibly. 

We know from experience that it takes time to teach people the Word of God.  It also takes time to impart to them the lessons one has learned during their Christian walk.  It might be time-consuming to teach others, but it is very rewarding.

Note that ‘ discipling’ is not the same as dominating, or playing the part of a ‘ guru’.  The idea is not to dominate, but to have the person develop and be able to operate on their own, teach others, and help others to grow in their relationship with God, dependent only upon God. 

 Leadership is therefore very important in evangelism.  It is often pointed out, that natural leaders do not necessarily make good spiritual leaders.  This is so because the natural ability to lead always has to be broken, so that a person can come to a genuine dependence on God.  The spiritual resources necessary for spiritual leadership is something that only God can give.

 Jesus warned about this in Matthew 20: 25-27 for spiritual leaders are made by the Holy Spirit, and are not born.  Leaders must not have a desire to lord it over others but must be humble, gentle, self-sacrificing, and ready to follow the Spirit.  Leaders in the body of Christ, must never be the people who like to put themselves first.  This attitude is a warning sign.  See 3 John 9.

 This matter of authority is very important, for those who want to disciple others must have spiritual authority.  The spiritual authority must come from obedience to God.  They must be filled with the Holy Spirit.  They must be like Jesus, and operate totally under the control of the Holy Spirit, in order that there be health and harmony in the body of Christ. 

The qualifications for leadership of any sort is spelled out for us in 1 Timothy 3: 2-13, and Titus 1:5-9 as well as in many other passages.

 Those in the body of Christ must bear fruit.  Fruit only comes from witnessing under the power of the Holy Spirit.

 Leaders have a tremendous role to play in this matter of evangelism.  They will be judged by the Chief Shepherd, and they will not escape the discipline and wrath of God if they do not guide the Church to carry out it’s primary task.  They are many warnings to both groups in the Scriptures.  We have the example of Jesus himself who did things correctly.

 Let us always understand that God will provide an opening for us to witness to people.  We are ambassadors for Christ and we must therefore always be courteous, gentle, patient, and meek when presenting the gospel to people.

We must never be negative or assume we will have a negative response.  We must realize that the Holy Spirit is with us, changing the hearts of people.

We must use our Bibles, and not try to force people to make a decision.  That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

 We are also warned to avoid arguments, for all we would be doing with an argument is building resentment.  Our message is simple.  It is the message that the Gospel we have is the power of God unto salvation.  We must get across that we have the only remedy, and that remedy is Jesus Christ.  We must tell people that sin is a fact of life, and that the penalty for sin is death.  Christ has paid the penalty, and one should accept that fact, and give their life over to him.

 Evangelism calls for people to make a decision about particular things in their lives.  People are conscious of their sins, and their bad habits such as dishonesty, lust, bad temper, laziness, and pride.  We can help men to stop fooling themselves, and to turn their lives over to Christ, including their sins, their talents, their will, and their situation.

 The Parable of the Sower tells us a lot about human nature, and the response people will make to the message of salvation.  The world has not changed much.  Technology has allowed us to call many, but there is little evidence that the many that are called are true believers.  The lack of fruit that they bear testifies to their condition.

 God knows his own, cares for his own.  But we also have a task to care for the new Christian when they come to us.  We must teach them that God will always be with them, for doubt will rob them of their joy.  We must constantly seek to develop the new Christian who responds to our witnessing.  If we do not do this and constantly counsel, pray for, and guide the young, we will not be doing the job that Jesus called us to do.

 The path of obedience is the path we must all follow.  The way of the Cross requires much work and labor, for the World exerts a very powerful pull on all of us.

 A strong Church, is constantly evangelizing, studying the Word of God, and supporting each member, for giving a witness to the world, is the only thing worthy to be called a Church.  Anything else is failing.  We have begun with Christ, so let us go on with Christ from strength to strength.

 It was God's Love and compassion that saved us.  We his children, must love and show compassion for those around us.  God has appointed his people to preach the Word.  He will one day return for an accounting of the talents that he gave us, and for the work that we performed