The Responsibility Of Evangelism

The responsibility of evangelism

I told you so

Ezekiel 3:16-21 (NIV)

16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: 17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked man, ’You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. 20 "Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself."

Preposition: We are our brother’s keeper and we are responsible for warning the world of sin. If not we will also be responsible for their deaths

Intro: We have been talking about evangelizing lately as something we need to do. We all know somehow that we should share Christ with people, but I am not to sure we know how truly responsible we are. Many don’t realize how responsible we are for not only sharing Christ but sharing the concept of righteous living.

We are responsible for not only sharing the gospel but also sharing righteous living

Many think its something that they should do when the time arises.

Many think it’s something for the real Christians to do.

Many think it’s the pastor’s job

But this scripture says it’s everyone’s responsibility

Run the story

Tells Ezekiel to give Israel a warning

1. That if we don’t warn a wicked man of his ways and try to dissuade him he will die and his blood will be on our hands

a. We all have been given a message and that’s salvation for mankind

i. In Jesus

ii. All have sinned and fall short

iii. Our wicked ways will separate us from God

iv. And Jesus is the answer

b. We need to warn people of this

i. Need to tell people

c. We need to dissuade people from their wicked ways

i. Yes its our responsibility

ii. To many times we just say its wrong

iii. Admit the problem

iv. But don’t try to dissuade

1. Don’t want to be look at bad

2. Don’t want to offend

a. I’ve been told not to talk about things because it will be offensive

i. Don’t have to say it offensively

ii. But I must give the warning

2. If we do and he doesn’t turn that’s on his hands

19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. 20

He Had Right To Be Hit

A New York Court of Appeals decided against a plaintiff in an action for damages. A man who was walking along Fourth Avenue stopped on a temporary bridge to watch some work being done on the subway.

A workman advised him to move on, as he was liable to get hurt. The man refused, claiming he had a right to be on a public street. A few minutes later he was struck on the head by a piece of iron from a pipe high above. He was severely hurt. He sued for damages.

The court decided that he was perfectly justified in staying where he was hurt after being warned. However, the warning he had received and had not heeded removed any further obligation on the part of the company. The court explained further that the contractor had no right to remove the man by force. Said contractor had performed his full duty by warning of the peril.

—Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations

3. He says this is not just for the wicked but for the righteous

20 "Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.