Fellowship and Evangelism- Part 2

Evangelism and Fellowship- Part 2

Primary Text: 2 Corinthians 4:1-7

Last week we focused more on the theology of evangelism as a church community. This week we will be looking more at the practical side of doing evangelism as a church. 

I.                   The entire church (all believers) should be competent in proclaiming the gospel.

a.       Remember our definition of evangelism: “To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe.”

b.      1 Thess. 2:4 “But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. “

c.       Remember, evangelism is a special gift for some, but it is a responsibility of all Christians. (Ephesians 4:11-12) “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”

d.      Our churches need to make sure we know the good news and that we can all express it clearly.

e.      Our proclamation of the gospel should include both Law and Gospel… in that order!

                          i.      Ask someone if they think they are a good person.

                        ii.      Use the 10 Commandments to see how they measure up, and help them see their guilt.

                       iii.      Explain to them God’s justice and his wrath against sinful lawbreakers. Do not be afraid to speak of the realities of hell and judgment. Speak seriously, and be gently urgent.

                      iv.      Once the person is aware of their guilt before God and their inability to save themselves, then explain to them the good news of God’s provision of Jesus as a Savior.

1.       Jesus pays their debt for sin, satisfying God’s justice. (Romans 3:23-24)

2.       Jesus dies in their place to appease God’s Law. (Romans 6:23)

3.       God will exchange their sinfulness for Christ’s righteousness.

4.       God is willing to show them mercy in place of his wrath.

                        v.      After clearly presenting the gospel, you should make it very clear what God demands as a result of this good news. We must tell them 2 things they must do in response to the gospel to enjoy its blessings:

1.       Repent- Turn from sin, hating the things God hates and loving the things God loves. Not just saying you are sorry, but changing your mind about sin and seeking to love God.

2.       Believe/Trust in Christ- Instead of trusting in their own goodness/self-righteousness, they must transfer their trust to Jesus. It’s not enough to simply believe in a parachute, you must put it on. In the same, way, we must put on the Lord Jesus by faith, trusting him and him alone to save us from God’s judgment.

                      vi.      Explain the blessings that come from repentance and trust in Christ:

1.       God will drop the charges against us and dismiss our case. We will be declared righteous in his sight. This is the heart of justification.

2.       God will forgive us of all our sin, past, present, and future.

3.       God will grant us the gift of eternal life.

                     vii.      Urge them not to delay in their response to the gospel, but do not press them for an immediate response. This is the Spirit’s work, we must trust Him.

1.       We must let go of the idea that every gospel conversation we have must end with a sinner’s prayer. Just because a person does not immediately believe does not mean that the Spirit is not working in their heart.

2.       We must realize that salvation is often a process, not a one-time event.

3.       We must be careful how we deal with people’s souls. Do not treat them as a statistic.

4.       If the person seems to genuinely desire to believe, encourage that person to “call on the name of the Lord.” You do not have to lead them in a standardized prayer. Allow them to speak to the Lord in their own words. You will be amazed at how God can regenerate a person’s heart

f.        Resources: Read books and learn from people who are specially gifted in evangelism.

                          i.      The Gospel and Evangelism- Mark Dever

                        ii.      The Soul Winner- Charles Spurgeon

                       iii.      The Way of the Master- Ray Comfort (www.wayofthemaster.com)

                      iv.      Living Waters Ministries- www.livingwaters.com

                        v.      The One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven- Mark Cahill

                      vi.      Youtube: Look up men like Todd Friel, Ray Comfort, and Kirk Cameron doing “street witnessing.” You will be inspired, encouraged, emboldened as you learn from men who are truly “gifted” in evangelism.

II.                 The church must not be complacent by withholding the gospel from others.

a.       Ray Comfort: “If you are not concerned about your neighbor’s salvation, then I am concerned about yours.”

b.      Romans 1:14 “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”

                          i.      We are not in debt to God. We could never repay him.

                        ii.      We are in debt to others who need grace just as much as we did.

                       iii.      We owe them the gospel of grace.

c.       If we withhold grace, we show that we have never known grace.

d.      2 Corinthians 5:11, 14- “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others… For the love of Christ controls/compels us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

III.              The church should be compassionate towards those who have never heard the gospel.

a.       We should be gripped with the reality of Hell.

b.      Spurgeon encouraged his people to meditate on the condition of unbelievers: “Meditate with deep solemnity upon the fate of the lost sinner, and, like Abraham, when you get up early to go to the place where you commune with God, cast an eye toward Sodom and see the smoke thereof going up like the smoke of a furnace.  Shun all views of future punishment which would make it appear less terrible, and so take off the edge of your anxiety to save immortals from the quenchless flame. (from Lectures to my Students)

c.       John Harper

IV.              The church should demonstrate the nature of the gospel to the world by their conduct.

a.       Our lives should give credibility to our words.

                          i.      (Philippians 1:27) “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

b.      Our lives are the confirming echo of our witness.

                          i.       (John 13:34-35) “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

c.       However, “lifestyle evangelism” is incomplete and ineffective apart from the vocalized proclamation of the gospel. Faith comes by hearing. But we must seek to remove any sinful habits that may become stumbling blocks for others coming to Christ.

V.                The church should promote a culture of evangelism within the community of faith.

a.       Martin Lloyd Jones said, “Evangelism is pre-eminently dependent upon the quality of the Christian life which is known and enjoyed in the church.”

b.      Through Preaching

                          i.      Distinguish between Christians and non-Christians in our sermons. There is a different message intended for the “lost” and the “saved.”

                        ii.      We want to not think the main thing we are doing Sunday mornings is bringing people to Christ. We want to build our people up so that when they are distributed throughout the world during the week they are healthy, happy, and evangelizing.

c.       Through Worship

                          i.      We should not seek to artificially hype emotion at the expense of truth.

                        ii.      We sing gospel-centered songs that speak of God’s salvation in the cross of Jesus Christ.

d.      Through Conversations (Psalm 145:10-12) “All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.”

                          i.      Spurgeon once told his congregation that he doubted whether the lost people of London would learn how to be converted simply by eavesdropping on the conversations of the members of his church.

                        ii.      In a sermon called “Christian Conversation,” Spurgeon said, “It is, however, much to be regretted that true children of the Lord often talk too little of him. What is the conversation of half the professors of the present day? Honesty compels us to say that, in many cases, it is a mass of froth and falsehood, and, in many more cases it is altogether objectionable; if it is not light and frivolous, it is utterly apart from the gospel, and does not minister grace unto the bearers. I consider that one of the great lacks of the Church, nowadays, is not so much Christian preaching as Christian talking,—not so much Christian prayer in the prayer-meeting, as Christian conversation in the parlour. How little do we hear concerning Christ! You might go in and out of the houses of half the professors of religion, and you would never hear of their Master at all. You might talk with them from the first of January to the last of December; and if they happened to mention their Master's name, it would be, perhaps, merely as a compliment to him, or possibly by accident. Beloved, such things ought not to be.”

                       iii.      Talk to other Christians about the gospel.

                      iv.      Ask people what they think the gospel is and if they can explain it.

                        v.      The more you meditate on the gospel and help other people meditate on the gospel, the easier evangelism will become to them.

                      vi.      We encourage members to stay around after the services to talk with each other and with other people. We encourage them to have deliberately spiritual conversations. We shouldn’t be embarrassed to talk to one another about spiritual matters. As we are built up, the body of Christ will be attractive to people. We build this community, not just for ourselves, but for those outside.

e.      Through Prayer

                                                               i.      As a church, we should always be praying for the salvation of our lost friends. (Romans 10:1) “Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.”

                                                             ii.      As a church, we should also pray for more laborers in God’s harvest. (Matthew 9:37-38) ” Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

f.        Through New Membership/Baptism Classes

                          i.      we cultivate a serious approach to church membership, that cultivates a culture of evangelism. The more our people understand the basics of the faith and live them out in their lives, the more every aspect of life is shown to be related to the gospel.

                        ii.      We do not assume everyone knows the gospel, even if they have grown up in the church.

                       iii.      We make sure to teach the gospel in special classes. Every member will hear the gospel multiple times.

g.       Through Connect Groups

h.      Through Church Planting –Statistically, church planting is the most effective method of evangelism!

i.         Other means of evangelism

                          i.      Tracts (Ben Hansard wrote his own!)

                        ii.      Invite them to church events like the Passover Seder

                       iii.      Read evangelistic books with non-believers and talk with them about it.

VI.              The church should be confident in the power of the gospel.

a.       As a church, we must understand three main things about the nature of salvation:

                          i.      People are dead in their sin and morally incapable of seeking God or saving themselves. (Human Depravity)

                        ii.      God is sovereign in salvation. Only He can bring about regeneration/new birth in a person’s heart. “The flesh is no help at all. It is the Spirit who gives life.” (John 6:63) (God’s Power to Save)

                       iii.      The church is responsible for gospel proclamation. We are the means by which God has chosen to make his gospel known. (Our Responsibility to Preach)

b.      These truths are revealed in the text: 2 Corinthians 4:4-6

                          i.      People are blinded by Satan, the god of this world. (Human Depravity)

                        ii.      God is the one who shines the light of the gospel into their dark hearts. (God’s Power to Save)

                       iii.      In the midst of this cosmic battle for souls, Paul says, “We preach Jesus Christ as Lord.” (Our Responsibility to Preach)

c.       Do not miss the testimony of God’s power to save throughout Scripture:

                          i.      Jonah 2:9 “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”

                        ii.      Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

                       iii.      Acts 13:48 “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”

                      iv.      Acts 16:14 “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

                        v.      Acts 18:9-10 “And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

d.      Be encouraged by verse 2 Cor. 4:7. We are merely clay pots. Our value does not come from ourselves but by what we possess within… the gospel! “But we have this treasure (the gospel) in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”