How To Evangelise
(3.12.00)
“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. and for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they may be sanctified by the truth.”
John 17:17-19. (NKJ)
Introduction:
The young salesman was disappointed about losing a big sale, and as he talked with his sales manager he lamented, "I guess it just proves you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink." The manager replied, "Son, take my advice: your job is not to make him drink. Your job is to make him thirsty." So it is with evangelism. Our lives should be so filled with Christ that they create a thirst for the Gospel.
Evangelism is all about our sanctification and it’s absolutely essential if true evangelism is to take place.
We are sent people (V17) & that includes all of us (V20)
“As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
We are sent into the world by Jesus Christ in the same way Jesus was sent by the Father. We are sent as His representatives, his ambassadors. And we are all sent look at verse 20. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” That’s us that’s all of us. all of us who have believed in Him through the word of one of His followers.
Lieghton Ford tells of when he was speaking at an open-air crusade in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was to speak the next night and had arrived a day early. Billy came incognito and sat on the grass at the rear of the crowd.
Because he was wearing a hat and dark glasses, no one recognized him.
Directly in front of him sat an elderly gentleman who seemed to be listening intently to my presentation. When I invited people to come forward as an open sign of commitment, Billy decided to do a little personal evangelism. He tapped the man on the shoulder and asked, "Would you like to accept Christ? I’ll be glad to walk down with you if you want to." The old man looked him up and down, thought it over for a moment, and then said, "Naw, I think I’ll just wait till the big gun comes tomorrow night." Billy and I have had several good chuckles over that incident. Unfortunately, it underlines how, in the minds of many people, evangelism is the task of the "Big Guns," not the "little shots."
, Good News is for Sharing, 1977, David C. Cook Publishing Co., p. 67.
We are all sent people.
We are saved not only to be made safe but for other’s salvation
The Bible tells us that as Christians we are all saved, not only that we may be safe, but also that God may use us in the salvation of others. That’s something which is very clear throughout the Bible, it’s God’s way of evangelising. God could have used other ways but He has chosen to work through you and me to bring about the salvation of others and it’s the task of not only those who preach but all the members of the Christian church. Jesus said it in another way in verse 10 “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them”. It is through Christian people that the Lord Jesus is glorified, that’s why He was so concerned about us and prayed for us. The world knows nothing of Him apart from what they see in us. They get to know him by what they see in us. and even judge Him by what they see in us. In fact Jesus says it very specifically in this prayer by saying that God sent Him into this world to glorify Him, and now He sends His people into the world in exactly the same way. We all must accept that the Bible teaches very clearly that every single Christian person is an evangelist.
Christianity spread that way in the first century, and it’s happened that way in all the great revivals, the influence of one person on another. The only hope for the Christian message is that it is spread through the individual person. Our Lord doesn’t argue about it He just states it. his teaching is that our sanctification is essential in order that we may do the work of evangelism.
Contrast Our ideas of Evangelising (programs) with the Bibles (sanctification).
You can’t but notice the huge gulf between the modern churches idea’s for evangelism and our Lord’s. Churches these days talk about programs, ministries, events ect ect. We talk about the way the Gospel message can be made more attractive more disgestable to our culture. We want to know what people want what they like especially young people, do they like to be entertained how? what’s their style of music. Then they must have it if it’s going to attract them. Then of course we must be trained in culturally effective ways of evangelising, the church must train their people in evangelism. That’s the attitude of the church today isn’t?.
But what’s our Lords method.....wooh what a contrast. There’s the great big world, here’s a handfull of Christian people, what’s the thing which our Lord puts first none of the things which the modern church considers important no our Lord says to the Father sanctify them., sanctification sanctify them for the work needs to be done in them before it can ever be done in the world. In the Bible from beginning to end the method outlined for evangelism is sanctification of the individual. not on his external methods, but on his character on his relationship with God. The apostle Paul says of himself in 1 Corth2:3 that his presence was weak, that is that he had no personality at all and that he wasn’t a good speaker, yet it was through him that Christianity spread. It was because he was sanctified (set apart for God’s service, consecrated); he was filled with God’s Spirit and God could use him to bring the enemies strongholds tumbling to the ground. Sanctify them, says our Lord as they face their task of evangelism.
On the Australian coat of arms is a picture of a emu and a kangaroo. These animals were chosen because they share a characteristic that appealed to our forefathers. Both the emu and kangaroo can move only forward, not back. The emu’s three-toed foot causes it to fall if it tries to go backwards, and the kangaroo is prevented from moving in reverse by its large tail. Those who truly choose to follow Jesus become like the emu and kangaroo, moving only forward, never back (Luke 9:62).
Why does God chose to use the individual (1 Peter 2::11,12)
Evangelism is done through the individual because the world looks at the individual Christian and judges our faith through them.
The person outside of the church looks at Christian people and says what have they got that I haven’t? Are they more moral? Are they kinder and more loving? Are they less spiteful? Are they less snobbish? They say what does Christianity do for people who claim to be Christian and their fair questions. The first step in evangelism is we start with ourselves and become sanctified.
Let’s just imagine for a moment if a great revival takes place in this town and masses of people turn up here next Sunday. What are they going to find when they come through these doors. Are they going to find people who substantiate our message. If opur lives contradict our message there is no point to evangelising.
1 Peter2:11,12. “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honourable amoung the gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” You know Peter says that these people aren’t Christians, and that they are saying all kinds of things against you. Now prove by your life that they are wrong and attract them.
God only works through clean vessels:
God can only use people who are sanctified, the vessel must be clean it must be fit for the Masters use. Let’s face facts there’s nothing that’s going to touch our district today except a mighty revival of the Spirit of God and God only works through clean vessels and channels. It’s so plain and clear from the Bible if only we would put all our efforts into seeking God and living in His presence and becoming truly sanctified, then revival would come immediately. But are we willing? We’d rather do anything but that..the thing God puts first we never mention...our sanctification.
“When I was a child, I often had a toothache, and I knew that if I went to my mother, she would give me something which would deaden the pain for that night and let me get to sleep. But I did not go to my mother--at least not till the pain became very bad. And the reason I did not go was this: I did not doubt she would give me the aspirin; but I knew she would also do something else. I knew she would take me to the dentist the next morning. I could not get what I wanted out of her without getting soemthing more, which I did not want. I wanted immediate relief from my pain; but I could not get it without having my teeth set permanently right. And I knew those dentists; I knew they would start fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache. Our Lord is like the dentists. Dozens of people go to him to be cured of some particular sin. Well, he will cure it all right, but he will not stop there. That may be all you asked; but if you once call him in, he will give you the full treatment.”
C.S. Lewis.
So what is real evangelism?:
Jesus died on the cross of calvary so that we may be forgiven, and thank God for that .... but it doesn’t stop there .... He died to make us good. And that’s what most of us tend to forget. That’s the whole object of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came into this world in order that we might be sanctified. There is a danger of seeking the experience of forgiveness only, without realising that at the same time we should desire to be holy and to be sanctified. Here in these verse our Lord reminds us that there is only one real aim in true evangelism and that is to reconcile men to God.
So what is true Biblically based evangelism? The first message we must tell men about is holiness. The truth about a Holy God who they will have stand before one day. the business of evangelism is to tell them that there is only one way in which they can stand before a holy God and that is by being made holy. It’s not enough to have a sense of forgiveness; the question is, Are they fit to stand in the presence of a holy God. Our whole problem is that we have become so inward looking, so influenced by modern psychological
thinking’t we always start with ourselves instead of starting with God. I’m unhappy, I want happiness, I want this I want that, and we go all kinds of religious meetings to gain our happiness. But my friends the place to start is at the other end, It’s with God. We are all in God’s hands and we are all going to have to face Him some day. So the first question we should be putting to people is not “How do you feel, are you unhappy or miserable”. No it should be “How are you going to stand in the presence of a holy God.
We must start with God, and if you and I claim to be Christians, the claim that we are really making is that we are God’s people His representatives, and that we are going to tell people about God and are going to bring people to Him. so it’s so clear that we can only do that if we are God fearing ourselves, as we are godly, as we are like the Lord Jesus Christ himself. A Christian by definition is one who is like Christ. Therefore our Lord prays, ‘Sanctify them’ make them like me, so that you can use them to glorify yourself among men and women of the world.
Conclusion
On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription: "James Butler Bonham--no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by his family so that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom."
No literal portrait of Jesus exists either. But the likeness of the Son who makes us free can be seen in the lives of everyone of His true followers.
That’s what I’ve been talking about today sanctification which leads to holiness and Christlikeness.
AMEN.
