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| "He findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him,
We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou
art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by
interpretation, a stone." John 1:41-42
What exactly is evangelism? It is bringing men to Christ. It is a great deal more than "soul winning" (leading men to a salvation experience). It is taking the whole gospel to the whole world. It is exposing sin in the lost man and in the sinning Christian. It is leading the blind man to the light, whether blinded by his carnal nature (lost man) or by his worldly actions (saved man) Evangelizing is revealing the whole counsel of God to mankind and then letting the Holy Spirit convict the hearer of the truth. It was perhaps best described by John in those verses above when he said, "And he brought him to Jesus". There is a tremendous emphasis on "soul winning" without regard to the whole man. In many churches there is an interest in bringing men to Christ, and then failing to provide for their continued spiritual growth. "Christianity" of this sort has done a disservice to Christ and to the world by "giving birth" to Christians and then abandoning them to the world. Many have done no better than the mother and father who produce children and then dump them in the trash containers of the world. While bringing men to Christ is a Christian's responsibility, the consummate soul winner is probably less concerned that it is a responsibility and more concerned these individuals need Christ. Rather, it is his desire to show to another person his own experience of close communion and fellowship that is available in Jesus Christ. This is why he desires to bring men to Christ -- not just to fulfill an obligation, but because he loves to do so, because he loves the Savior, and because he wants others to know the same Lord in the same way. This evangelist does not view telling others about the Master as a burden. This lesson is not intended to be a "how-to" book on evangelism. It is a simple introduction to the need, problems, and scriptual approach of bringing men to Christ. Monday Hyper-Evangelizing "Hyper-evangelism" is a term used to describe modern day "gospel sellers," men and women who make their "pitch" and then press for a quick decision. What this usually amounts to is no more than high pressure salesmanship. The justification for this method is that it "works", as proved by the thousands of decision cards from the recipients of this process. Does it really work? There is NO such action as hyper-evangelism, only wrong evangelism. You cannot over- evangelize the world. You cannot preach Christ too much. You cannot try to bring men to Christ too many times. The only thing you can do is try to carry out the Great Commission in the wrong way. Hyper-evangelism is sold to the Christian world on the basis of several unfounded principles. First, hyper-evengelism often bypasses or excludes the work of the Holy Spirit. No man can come to God except the Spirit of God draw him. You cannot "push" for a decision if the Spirit is not convicting the individual. Suppose the Spirit is not convicting and drawing the man to Christ -- what happens when you then require them to say the sinner's prayer? The evangelizer cannot coerce a true decision for Christ. It must be the Spirit of God that convinces a man of his need for salvation. Present the truth and let the Spirit work, don't interfere in his work. Do not negate the convicting power of the Spirit by a forced entry into a man heart. Second, where numbers are counted for success, there is little argument that hyper-evengelism works. "You can't argue with success"; however, you can argue that there was success. This writer has seen numerous reports where 50, 60, 100 people were "saved by the grace of God." Perhaps they were, we may never know for sure in this life. However, when follow-up reveals that only a small percentage of those "saved" continue in active service for God, the methods used are called into question as to whether or not they were successful. If evangelizing is taking the whole counsel of God to the whole world, then it would appear that what they did, did NOT work!. What happened to those 50's and those 100's who were initially brought to Christ? They may have been saved, but getting people saved is not all there is to bringing men to Christ. If getting large numbers means success then a man married 10 times is more successful then one married only once. One must not forget that our need is to tell others about Christ. In the old west the winner of the gun fight could carve a notch on the handle of one of his six shooters if he won the fight. We don't need six gun evangelists. God demands people who care and who love the truth and yearn to see it spread. Sure, the gospel has been preached even by the gunslingers, and we should thank God for any souls saved from hell, but there are adverse consequences down the road to not following the exact plan that God has prescribed for evangelism. One last note on selling the Gospel. There are those salesmen who, after pitching their "wares", ask the poor soul to pray by repeating after him. They then proceed to pray the sinner's prayer while the lost man follows, word for word. If any man does not know enough to pray in his own words, however crude the prayer might be, he probably does not know what it means to be saved. In other words, he may still be lost even after praying the "sinner's prayer". The "evangelizer" didn't explain salvation and commitment well enough so the lost soul could virtually fly to the arms of God! When this writer understood his wretched lost state and the final results of that state, it took no stock prayer to get through! His heart was heavy with guilt and sin and knew he needed a Savior, and he went to God with his heart even before he spoke a word! A man "saved" against his will is not saved at all! 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the __________; be __________ in season, out of ____________; ______________, ______________, _____________ with all _____________ and ___________. 2 Corinthians 4:5 For we _____________ not ___________, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ___________ your __________ for Jesus sake. 2 Timothy 2:25 In ___________ instructing those that ___________ themselves; if God __________________ will give them ______________ to the ___________ of the Truth. Questions:
Other Types of Salesmanship
Pizza bashes, clown Sunday, bicycle give-always and cash prizes are only a few of the many tools the "modern" church will use to draw the crowds in. "Get them to church so they can hear the gospel" is the cry of many in the fundamentalist movement today. "If it brings men to Christ, what difference does it make how you do it?" "Get them under the sound of the gospel so they can be saved". For years churches have had to out-offer their competitors (the world, and sometimes other churches) in order to bring the masses to church. However, the Bible has never told the lost person to attend church so he could hear the gospel. In fact it declares the very opposite -- the church is to take the gospel to them! The early church actually took the gospel to places like Rome, Corinith, and Ephesus. You will notice they didn't bring Rome to Jerusalem, or Ephesus to Antioch, but they sent Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and John to the world. Remember the first word of the great commission was GO, not BRING! You can only bring men to Christ one way, through repentance and faith in him! No man ever became a Christian because he ate pizza on Saturday night. He came to Christ by faith in him. If it is pizza that brings him to church it will usually be pizza that keeps him there! The results may be that souls are saved, but it was in spite of what you did, and not because of it. To deviate from God's method of taking the Gospel to all the world is still a deviation from the truth, even in the matter of achieving God's ultimate purpose, that is, salvation of lost souls. You can only do God's will God's way. Would it be all right to pay people to come to church? It is certain the answer is no. They should come because they love the Lord, not because they have been bribed to do so. Why then would it be all right to bribe men to come to Christ with a bicycle or a pizza or other means by which we merchandise the house of God? What should be luring the lost to Christ is a hunger for meaning in their lives, which they sense is available through us or through the church we represent. There is a lot of effort that goes into making these gospel-selling promotions successful. Would not the time spent doing that be spent more productively in telling other about Christ? If you give a flyer away about you promotion would not it have been just as easy to give away the gospel in a tract? Romans 1:16 For I am not _______________ of the _________ of Christ: for ___ is the ___________ of God unto __________________ to ____________ one that ______________; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the _________ of God the world by wisdom ________ not God, it _____________ God by the __________ of __________ to _________ them that ________. 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the __________ of the ________ is to them that perish __________; but unto us which are ____________ it is the _________ of God. Questions:
Wednesday The Church's Mission Who is responsible for this great task of taking the Word to the world? The church! _____ ye therefore, and __________ all nations, ____________ them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: _____________ them to __________ all things ________________ I have _____________ you: and, lo, I am with you _________, even unto the end of the _________. Amen Matthew 28: 19-20 These verses do not just contain the Great Commission but they ARE the Great Commission! This commission was given to the church. Never was this commission given into the hands of an individual or another organization, such as conventions or boards. It is the church's assignment: Go, make disciples, baptize them, teach them. Involved in God's plan is a fail safe way of reaching the whole world with the message of Christ. God promised that the gates of Hell would not prevail against his assembly (church) nor would he ever forsake or leave it. Some day Christ will return, there will be a marriage supper and the Bride (the church) will be joined to her Husband (Christ). In other words, the church will exist forever! What better way of having the Gospel message spread than through God's agency on earth that will never go out of existence? A word of caution must be inserted here. Not all those who claim to be God's spokesmen or one of his churches are. There are many who claim the right to evangelize the world but actually have no authority to do so. Yes, it is true that some do present the plan of salvation and many are truly saved and God be praised that people are saved. However, remember that evangelizing is more than "saving souls". The whole counsel of God must be delivered. Those without the authority to do so only present a portion of God's Word. They cannot go farther because they have no right to do so. Therefore they are like those hyper-evangelists who bring men to Christ and then leave them stranded at the cross. A church must be made up of saved, baptized, fellowshipping men and women. They must have an unbroken succession of baptisms back to Christ. There are hundreds of churches that do not meet these standards, therefore they have NO right to preach the gospel. Remember, to do God's will you must do it God's way. Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, ________ ye into _______ the _______, and _______ the ________ to _________ creature. Luke 24:46-47 And said unto them, Thus it is ________, and thus it behoved Christ to __________, and to ________ from the dead the third day: And that _________ and _________ of sins should be ___________ in his name among _______ nations, ____________ at _______________. Questions:
How to Witness There are umpteen different ideas as to the method for taking the Gospel to the world. Volumes have been devoted to the subject and thousands and thousands of man hours gone into perfecting techniques for evangelism. This writer prefers the one book that has worked for several hundred years, i.e., the Bible. The scripture reveals that men and women took the gospel door to door, into the streets, by the river, into the synagogues, into the market place, wherever someone would listen to the Good News of Christ. There is only ONE means by which an individual can be saved. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12 Of course the name he refers to is Christ Jesus, the Son of God! No matter what you teach or believe or practice, if anyone is ever born again, it will take place only because he was saved by the blood of Christ. Whether you lead a child or an old man to repentance and faith in Christ, if they are to be born again it will always be the same way. Following is a list of "musts" for the effective evangelist for Christ: 1. You will need a keen awareness of the sinfulness of man and the righteousness of God. 2. You must always depend on God for the harvest. 3. You must always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. This will come through study, prayer, and the resultant wisdom. 4. You need a good knowledge of the Word of God. If you do not know the Word you will not understand the sinfulness of man, the righteousness of God, and you cannot be sensitive to the Spirit for He will not work separate and apart from the Word of God. However, even if you know little of the Word, you still can tell what Christ has done in your life. (If you don't think this is effective, see how many times Paul used his Damascus road experience in his soul-winning efforts.) 5. You must pray for people and opportunities to reach them. 6. You must allow God to develop a strong desire in you to take the message of Christ to the world. This will come by commitment, prayer, study, and wisdom. 7. You must develop a sensitivity to the needs of other. 8. You must learn to understand that when you are rejected, it was not you who was rejected, but the Truth. 9. You must always allow God to hold you up -- never go in your own power and energy. 10. You must care if people live or die, if they are going to Heaven or Hell. Your mission is not to just build a church -- you should have a burden for people in their wretched condition. The scripture plainly states that one person may plant, and another may water, but it is always God that gives the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6 I have _________, Apollos __________: but ________ gave the _______________. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 Let a man so _________ of us, as of the ___________ of Christ, and _________ of the ____________ of God. Moreover it is _________ in _________, that a man be found ________________. Questions:
Answering Objections to the Gospel There are all manner of excuses encountered when attempting to bring men to Christ. It is the purpose of today's lesson to learn how to apply God's Word to these excuses. Following is a list of some of the reasons given for not coming to Christ and a verse of scripture that will answer each reason. 1. I don't believe in God. (Romans 1:19-20) 2. We have our own church. (1 Timothy 2:5) 3. I'm doing the best I can. (Ephesians 2:8-9) 4. I will be saved before I die. (James 4:14) 5. I don't have time. (2 Corinthians 6:2) 6. I'm not interested. (1 Corinthians 2:14) 7. I'm a good person. (Romans 3:10-12) Following is another list of excuses. Think about them and see if you can give a good answer from the Word of God. Write out the verse at the end of each excuse. 1. My mother made me go to church all my life. ______________________________ 2. My husband will not let me.__________________________________________ 3. I don't have any clothes to wear.__________________________________________ 4. There are nothing but hypocrites in the church.______________________________ 5. I can worship God anywhere.___________________________________________ When confronted by a barrage of "reasons" not to obey God, the "seed sower" must always look to God for the answer. Allow God to work in the moment by convicting, comforting, directing, or anything else that may be a spiritual lacking in the individual. And remember you probably don't know what is lacking, therefore you must pray and also seek God's direction in the matter. There is a myth that you need to get to know the person and win their confidence before you can be an effective witness for Christ. This was not the case in the Bible! In fact it was among the ones that knew the Lord that he could do the least. You must remember you are not the one being presented, it is Christ. It is true your lifestyle may have a negative effect on those you seek to bring to Christ, but again it is Christ you are holding up. It is not your friendship that is at stake, it is their need of a Savior and Lord. It is even possible that you and your message will be rejected, but if the world hated Jesus for preaching the truth what makes you think you will be different? Bringing men to Christ is not a job, but a way of life. Questions:
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