Get The Word Out

"GET THE WORD OUT"

One of the spiritual gifts I talked about in the series was evangelism. I mentioned at various times in the series that there are certain gifts we should all be doing; but someone with the gift has a greater power to do this than the average Christian. Evangelism is one of those gifts. We should all be sharing our faith. It doesn't mean we should all be going door-to-door but we should all be willing to share the gospel.

1) "Go".

Matt. 28:18-20, "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

These are Jesus' final words before his ascension. First he tells them that he has all authority. Why does he start with this? He wants his people to understand that as he sends them out to not be afraid because all authority belongs to him. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Although it will be intimidating for his disciples as they embark on this new journey without the physical presence of their leader-they need not worry.

That goes for us too. It can be pretty intimidating to share our faith, but we don't have to fear any opposition. Jesus' first and his last words encompass the rest. All authority is mine and I am with you always. So take heart, be brave and courageous as you share your faith. The gospel message is one of power and authority so don't be afraid to spread it. Don't be afraid to go.

In fact, this is our mission. Go and make disciples. He told his disciples to go and make disciples but eventually those disciples would pass away and it would be up to the new disciples to make disciples. That's how the church has survived all these centuries. Disciples willing to go and make more disciples. If you are born again it's because a Christian cared about the great commission and shared the gospel with you. And now it's your turn. Don't let it stop with you. Pass it on.

When Jesus sent out the seventy-two he said this in Luke 10:1-3, "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."

We see that Jesus sent them out two-by-two. This is a good idea if you are doing door-to-door evangelism. Two heads are better than one. Plus there is accountability and with two you get to strategize and discuss things with your partner.

Then Jesus reveals something about the harvest of souls. The field of souls was ripe for harvest but the amount of workers was low. Jesus wanted them to pray that more workers would be produced to cover more ground and reach more people.

That's another necessity for us to go and make disciples. Not only for the obvious-the saving of souls-but also so there would be more workers going out and trying to make disciples. The more disciples multiplying and going out the more ground that gets covered and the greater the impact and probability to save more souls.

Then Jesus warns them by saying they would be sheep among wolves. By this he meant that they would be encountering people who were going to try to take them down. Some people are vehemently opposed to the gospel message. Darkness wants nothing to do with the light. And some people who are deep in the darkness are too angry or afraid to come near the light. So they attack those who are in the light.

But just because we're sheep doesn't mean we're helpless. When Jesus sent out the twelve he said in Matt. 10:16, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." This means Jesus wanted them to have street smarts yet be innocent of its ways. To be shrewd means to be sharp, on the ball, perceptive, insightful. The antonym for shrewd is naive. We can't be naive to what's out there in the opposing arena or we'll be ripped to shreds. We need to be wise to the ways of the enemy so we can know how to combat him.