M’s of Evangelism (12/9/2001)
It’s jokingly said that the average man’s idea of a good sermon is one that goes over his head and hits his neighbor. By that standard I don’t want to deliver a good sermon. If I do I have failed God and wasted all of our time. I want to speak in the spirit with my mouth from my heart and hit you between the eyes. If I speak a little long please forgive me, God called me as a Sunday School teacher first and then as a preacher so I’m used to having an hour not 20 minutes. Anyway today I want to talk about evangelism. Evangelism is the spreading of the Gospel. The word gospel comes from Anglo-Saxon "Godspell" meaning God’s spell or God’s story. So evangelism is the telling or sharing of God’s story. Today I want to speak on the M’s of Evangelism
Matthew 28:19-20
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
This passage of scripture is one of 4 known as the Great Commission. If you’d like to read the other 3, they can be found in Luke 24:46-49, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:7,8. Skipping the first few words, the first thing I want to look at is...
The Merciful maker
...and [Jesus] spake unto them, saying,…
Jesus is our maker. In this passage, Jesus is the speaker. He is the author and finisher of our faith according to Hebrews 12:2. ("Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;") Without him there would be no Gospel, without him there would be no faith. All things were created through him but thankfully he loves us and has mercy on us.
The Master’s might
...All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth…
We see here that Jesus is all-powerful. He has it all and is willing to give the power to us, as we need it. What as shame that the old battle cry, "win the lost ant any cost", has become "win the lost unless it costs". Why? Because we have forgotten the power of God. And what incredible power it is. It is the power to remove obstacles or to move mountains, the power to convict and to move men’s souls, and the power to compel and to move men’s hands and mouths.
Beyond that, it is the power of restoration. John 1:12 says "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name". It is promised power. According to Acts 1:8a, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…" And lastly it is heavenly power. As Luke records the words of Christ in his gospel, "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke 24:49)
I took a course on evangelism a few months back - the final exam worried all of us. We had to go out and knock on doors. It was scary but Jesus said in John 16:33b "be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." If He overcame the worst the world could do, He can overcome my fears. And He did with all of us in that course, many lead souls to Christ that night. He also has the power to take the most botched words coming out of one mouth and bless them as someone else hears them.
Philips Brooks in Lectures on Preaching wrote:
There is a power which lies at the center of all success in preaching, and whose influence reaches out to the circumference, and is essential everywhere. Without its presence we cannot imagine the most brilliant talents making a preacher of the Gospel… [but] where it is… present, it is wonderful how many deficiencies count for nothing… The power is the value of the human soul, felt by the preacher and inspiring all his work.
Adding to that a man named Bill Bright said, "Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy spirit, then leaving the results to God."
The modest mandate
...Go…
Go is really a simple command. Don’t wait for them to come to you; go to them. Go is translated from a Greek word poreuomai (por-yoo’-om-ahee) meaning go forth, go one’s way. In other words, as you go - as you go about your lives or as part of your daily routine. Nothing out of the ordinary here; Jesus doesn’t say go to a foreign land; He says go wherever you normally go in your day-to-day life.
Also notice this is a command not a suggestion. It isn’t something we can do it is something we should do. It is an order from the Master to the servant and from the King to His foot soldiers. A cartoon I’ve seen shows a man with his feet propped up on his desk. He’s kicked back and relaxed looking yapping on the phone and he says, "Boy I haven’t done a thing since I discovered this new boss judges us by faith and not works." Funny as that may seem that is the attitude of many today. The great thing about Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses is that they are eager to tell others about their religion because they are judged by their works. Whereas, we sit back and think well God’s taken care of it all, I’ll come to church on Sunday mornings since he saved my life but I don’t want to do anything more than I have to.
According to legend, after Jesus ascended back to heaven all of the angels gathered around to welcome him home. They all talked for quite some time. Finally Gabriel asked, "Master, you suffered terribly down there. Do they know and appreciate the extent of your sacrifice?"
"No," said Jesus "Not yet. Only a handful in Palestine know"
"Then what have you done to let everyone else know?" asked Gabriel
"I’ve asked Peter, James, and John and a few others to spread the news. They will tell others who will tell others who will tell others until the message spreads to the ends of the earth."
Trying not to doubt Jesus but still knowing the nature of man, Gabriel asks, "So what’s plan B?"
"I have no plan B," replied Christ. "There’s no alternative strategy. I am counting on them"
2000 years later there’s still no plan B. He’s counting on you and me! Do you want to let down the one who died for you?
The many messengers
...ye…
Who is this ye? He was not addressing the 12 apostles, nor was he speaking just to the leaders. He was addressing all His followers, every believer. He has given this message to everyone that receives Him as Lord and Savior from that day forward. As A.T. Pierson puts it, "Witnessing is the whole work of the whole church for the whole age." We are all called but only a few answer. You know it breaks Christ’s heart but He knew while he was alive that not every one would have the faith to face their fears or the courage to take a stand for their beliefs or the compassion to share the plan of salvation. In fact Luke 10:2 records Jesus saying, "...The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."
In the Southern Baptist Convention there are over 40,000 churches. Last year 10,000 of these churches had 0 baptisms - that’s 0 people coming to know God. I did not say that these churches didn’t grow as members moved from one church to another but they had now new growth only grafts from one tree to another. Doing a little math here that’s 10,000 preachers preaching at least 2 times a week or 1,040,000 messages. Figuring at 5 deacons per church, that’s another 50,000 people - deacons not bearing fruit in their lives. Even just a mere 6 Sunday School teachers per church means that 60,000 teacher teaching 1 lesson per week taught 3,120,000 lessons without stirring the soul of a single person. 120,000 people "working" and not a single soul won. Exactly what are they working for - their own glory or the glory of God?
All Christians are willing some are willing to work others are willing to let them. What group of willing will you be in?
The momentous mark
Now we come to the grand objective or the big picture. It’s really a three-fold goal. That is there are 3 parts to this objective - 3 tasks necessary to hit the mark. Doing just one or two and we’ll fail to hit the target.
...teach all nations…
In the NKJV, it says make disciples of all the nations. If we look back at the Greek we see the word matheteuo (math-ayt-yoo’-o) which means intransitively, to become a pupil and transitively, to disciple, i.e. enroll as scholar:--be disciple, instruct, teach. The command is to make disciples, not merely converts or supporters of a cause. Then the word nation is from Greek ethnos (eth’-nos). You may recognize it as the root of our word ethnic. Ethnos means race or tribe; specially, a foreign one (usually, by implication, pagan). Two of the other great commissions record this part as "…ye shall be witnesses unto me…" (Acts 1:8b) and "…preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15b).
There’s a story of an old man walking down a beach at sunrise. As he is walking, he encounters a kid throwing starfish into the sea. Of course this seems odd so the man asks what he is doing. The kid responds, "Throwin’ them back so they won’t die in the hot morning sun."
"Useless, the beach goes on for miles," proclaims the man. "What difference will it make? There are so many starfish that nothing you can do will matter."
Picking up and throwing another, the kid says quietly, "It matters to this one."
...baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy ghost…
After conversion comes baptism. They become part of the fellowship of believers. They are converted or saved and then baptized. In case I stuttered, baptism is NOT a required portion of salvation. It is a simple step to take to share your testimony with others and begin to lovingly serve him and follow his teachings and example.
...teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…
Here’s the tough part, stay with them. Teach them and minister to them. Don’t show them The Way then go your own. Don’t give them the Light of the world then leave them in the dark. At salvation, a spark is lit; encourage that spark to burn and grow into a roaring fire.
Ephesians 4:11-13
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Look at this other translation, the Worldwide English version, reads as follows:
The gifts he gave are these: some are to be apostles; some prophets; some evangelists; some pastors and teachers. These gifts are to make God’s people better able to do their work for him and to make the body of Christ become stronger. The gifts are given so that we will all believe the one way and all know the Son of God. They are given so that we will be really grown-up Christians, like Christ himself.
A guy in seminary was called on to speak at the last minute. Nervous and afraid to speak he says, "How many of you know what I am going to say?"
No one raised their hand. "Well then neither do I!" he exclaims and he sits down.
The president of the school calls on him again at a later date hoping he will overcome his fear of speaking and again the question comes, "How many of you know what I am going to say?"
Knowing what happened last time, everyone raised their hand." Then if you already know, I don’t need to tell you." and again he sits down
The president decides to give him one more opportunity to speak and called on the young man a third time and again the question comes but this time only half raise their hand.
"Then those of you who know can tell those of you who don’t"
Funny story but still a lot of truth in that final statement. That’s exactly what we are all to do. Tell those that don’t know what it is that we know.
The Master’s ministering
...lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen
Disciples are made through teaching, though not with words only, but with the power of the always-present Jesus, who will be present with His people until the end. Isn’t that awesome to know that Jesus is always here to help us when we need it. We even have a promise recorded in Hebrews 13:5b "…for he [Jesus] hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." He will always be with us to aid us, guide us, minister to us. Even though it’s true that we serve Him as disciples it is also true that in this way he serves us. Amen is from Hebrew meaning "so be it". That’s the way it is and the way it will be.
The methodical map
There is a geographic plan for spreading the gospel. It is a carefully crafted plan of attack. To see this you only have to look over and read Acts 1:8.
Acts 1:8 - But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Here we see we are to start locally and work our way out. Charity begins at home and so to must sharing. Sharing with friends and family is tough because you can shrug off a stranger but you see these all the time. But if you don’t tell them you are screaming "Go to hell!" to each and everyone of them. The prayer of Jabez is popular it says "enlarge my coast" or "increase my territories" that needs to be our prayer when it comes to evangelism. You and I must work in the territory God has given us and the increase will come.
The mighty message
If you remember I skipped the first few words of this verse so now returning to those first few words of Matthew 18.
And Jesus came…
John 3:16 tells us God loved us all and sent His Son. And Jesus came. He came and He died and He rose again. He did it for us; we have all purchased sin after sin on credit. He paid the balance in full so we would not have to. The price He paid was death. He died for us so we could live forever. That is the mighty message.
We must admit we are sinners, believe that Jesus, the son of God, came and died for those sins and that he rose again, and confess our sins and beliefs to him or, in other words, pray and tell Him. This is the mighty message because believing gives us life. John 20:31b tells us "…and that believing ye might have life through his name." Romans 1:16 compels and encourages us saying, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
Closing
For many of us it may not be the great commission but the great omission. If you’re not telling others, why not? Do you need to get right with God or maybe this is your first time hearing the Gospel message. If that’s the case don’t let the final M’s become the missed moment.
A 13-year-old Mongolian inherited land from his father. Through great strategy and awesome fighting ability, he formed fighting bands that conquered village after village. Eventually he became known as Genghis Khan and ruled over 2 million people. His empire stretched from China to India and from Siberia to the edges of Western Europe. Meanwhile in Western Europe a great revival was occurring under the preaching of men like St. Francis of Assisi. At his death, the bulk of Khan’s empire went to his grandson, Kublai Khan. He had 2 Italians in his court named Polo (the father and uncle of Marco) that told him of Christ. Kublai was very interested and he sent them back to Europe with a request to bring 100 missionaries saying, "When we learn about Christianity, there will be more Christians in my empire than in all Europe."
The Polo’s returned to Europe to enlist men willing to share the gospel. They begged and pleaded but only 2 friars and Marco would follow them back to the Orient. So these 5 men began their long journey but the 2 friars turned back. When the 3 men arrived in Kublai’s realm, Kublai asked "Where are the missionaries?"
No one came. No one cared enough. Despite the great revival going on in Europe no one was willing to serve the Lord. Oh eventually, the church did send a small handful of missionaries but by then it was too late. Can you imagine what the largest communist nation today would be like if it were the largest Christian nation?
You can dream of worthy accomplishments or you can stay awake and do them. Now’s your chance; come to the Lord and make your life right with Him.
