Category: Evangelism

5-7 How Beautiful Are The Feet

One of the great passages on evangelism is Romans 10:12-18. I realize there is more to the context than these verses, but these say a great deal about evangelism. Consider these beautiful and thought provoking concepts:

• The Lord is rich in his blessings to all that call upon Him. Brothers and sisters, we are “spreading the wealth” (to borrow a phrase often used in an unpopular way) when we spread the gospel. God has deposited the riches of salvation into an open account for the world. Let’s be more vocal in letting that be known than we would want someone to be toward us if it were riches in dollars that were being offered.
• One of the things of which we are trying to convince people is that calling on the name of the Lord means obeying the Lord.

Whoever calls will be saved (v.13)                          but they have not all obeyed (v. 16)

They cannot call if they do not believe (v. 14)          because they have not believed (v. 16)

They cannot believe if they have not heard (v. 14)   they have all heard (v. 18)

•  We need to send willing feet. We might look at this thought two ways. True, we should each strive to be involved in supporting missionaries. But we should also be a missionary, if only in our neighborhood or town. In the congregation you are in, are people being stirred up to go. Are you setting the example and encouraging other “beautiful feet” by setting the example.

Brothers and sisters, let’s spread the riches of God with our own beautiful feet. Go ye means go me.

5-6 Philip Goes To Samaria

Go ye means go me. Many in the first century took that thought to heart. One of those was a man named Philip. In Acts 6, a man named Philip was appointed as a servant of the Jerusalem church to help with distributing needed items to the Grecian widows. Later, because of the persecution which scattered the Christians from Jerusalem, Philip went to the city of Samaria in the country of Samaria and preached Christ to them. I believe there are some nteresting things for us to learn from the account in Acts 8:

• He took the commission to “go” seriously. None in this early church were preachers by trade.They were men from various professions and stations in life who became Christians. Like the apostles in Acts 4:19-20, they could not help but speak the gospel. May our love and zeal for God give us the same need to teach.
•  Philip used the gifts and abilities that he had. He was given miraculous ability by God to perform miracles. But, the gift that he had that was most valuable is one that we all have. He had the gift of speech/communication. That was the gift he used that had the most impact. Brothers and sisters, that is also a gift that we can use. Let’s do it.
• Philip, a Christian, went to preach to a group which he would have avoided as a Jew. As the woman at the well said, “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” We are Christians also. Let us take the gospel everywhere, no matter the race, color, wealth, education, etc.
• The Samaritans believed this Jew because of the miracles which he did (v. 6), buy also because they heard (v. 6). People will listen to us, not because of the miracles we do, but because of our good works (Matt. 5:16), because of our character (Tit. 2:8-10), because we refrain from former sins (1 Peter 4:3).

5-5 Go Teach  But Where

We know that we are supposed to teach the gospel. But the where, the who, the how and the when often are questions that hinder our execution of the Great Commission. Courage to do what is commanded and right is often gained when we are sure of the proper application of the principles of truth. The answers to the four questions mentioned above are accessible to us. If we will accept our marching orders from the Lord, we can be certain we are on right ground. Here are the answers He records for us.

• The where: into all the world (Mk. 16:15); everywhere (Acts 8:4); where you are (Acts 9:19-20); in the palace (Phil. 1:13-14); in the streets and in homes (Acts 20:20); amidst the false churches (Acts 17:18-22); in the stores (Acts 17:17)
• The who: every creature (Mk. 16:15); all nations (Mt. 28:19); a friend (John 1:44-46); a stranger (Acts 8:29-30); a crowd (Acts 17:22); an individual (John 9:35); a husband or a wife (1 Cor. 7:16).
• The how: in love (Eph. 4:15); with boldness (Eph. 6:20); with humility (Acts 20:19; Col. 3:12); with knowledge of consequences (2 Cor. 5:11);
• The when: when you are traveling (John 4:3-15); when you are at home (Mark 6:1-4); when it is well received (Acts 2:41); when it is rejected and hated (Acts 14:44-52); when you are imprisoned (Acts 24:24-26); always (2 Tim. 2:3)

As the army of the Lord, let us go forth, for “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord…but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:7-8)

5-4 The Conversion Of Saul

Go ye means go me!! Because the church was in its infancy in the first century record of conversions in the book of Acts, some have occasionally had difficulty drawing 20^th C. principles from the 1^st C. events. Today, let’s consider one of the better known conversions and some things it may teach us. Our text is Acts 9:1-20 and Acts 22:1-16.

• Sometimes, those who seem to be bitter enemies of the truth can become faithful workers for God. Let’s be sure to give everyone the chance to study, for we do not know who will listen and who will not.
• Events in life can change a closed heart into an open heart. Saul’s event was his miraculous encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus. For many today, birth, death of loved ones, job changes, serious illness might be the catalyst that opens a heart. Or, something as simple as a kindness given (Matthew 5:16) might open a heart. For others, the life changing event might be nothing more than a request from you for them to study. Let’s be aware, when we can, of things going on in the lives of friends, neighbors and family.
• Like every other person on earth, Saul heard the truth from another man (Acts 9:6). Whether we are reading the words of the apostles and writers of the N.T. or hearing those words through another person speaking, it will always be true that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17; John 6:45). This, brothers and sisters, is our strong motivation for “going.”
• Despite good intentions for God (Acts 23:1; cf. Matthew 7:21-23), despite days of prayer (Acts 9:9-11), despite undeniable faith that he had met the Lord, Saul was not saved until he was baptized (Acts 22:11). Many are leaning in the direction that minimizes the importance of baptism, but the Bible is the standard that teaches we come into Christ and have our sins washed away in the obedient act of baptism (Gal. 3:26-27; Col. 2:11-12; Romans 6:3-4).
• The newly saved can be the new teachers of the word of salvation (Acts 9:19-20). Let us all immediately begin sharing the truth with folks we know.

5-3 Buried with Christ

As we have been emphasizing the JG characteristic, evangelism, this month, it will do us good to review a message or two gleaned from Romans 6. As we evangelize, we never need to lose sight of the thoughts implied in this passage.

• Folks are saved by the grace of God (v. 1). We do not save people, we prayerfully strive to lead them to salvation made available by God (Titus 2:11). Our work is but an extension of the blessings God has provided us. We are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Ephesians 2:10).
• We are not just trying to baptize people. We are trying to lead them to newness of life (v. 4). It is not the number baptized that is important. It is the number saved and faithful to the end. Jesus taught us this in the great commission in Matthew 28:19-20. We are to “make disciples” (the proper translation where the KJV has “teach”) by baptizing souls and teaching them to continue in faithfulness by “observing all things” God has commanded.
• The new Christian (and the old) has renounced sin in order to become a new creature. We are “dead to sin” (v. 2). We should not serve sin (v. 6). We should consider ourselves to be “dead indeed to sin” (v. 11). We must not allow sin to “reign in your mortal body” (v. 12). We are not to obey the lustful desires of the flesh (v. 12). Sin must not have dominion over us (v. 14) because we are under grace.
• We and those we teach must have indelibly imprinted on our hearts that freedom from sin is the result of obedience from the heart (v. 16-17).
• Dear teacher, we must ever remind people that the wages of sin is death (v. 23), but there is eternal life through Jesus Christ.