Address—Robert House
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With Christ, our thing begins.
The Lord of the world when the earth starts.
He told me.
Our hearts are glad we raise the voice of Lord as man. We are to rejoice the Lord.
Our hearts are glad we raise the voice the Lord has made us to rejoice the Lord.
Hath made us still great.
Sweet that, I said. Oh Jesus.
Lord Shallow and take his friend.
Into his father's alone.
Our hearts are glad we raised the voice of the voice, the voicemail.
Rejoins, The Lord has made us to bring yours.
Well, let's pray.
Our God and our loving Father, thank you so much for this opportunity to be together. And Dorothy, have your word open to study Galatians now we pray as we take a little time to meditate and think about.
A subject that is close to your heart that you would bless me and each person in the audience and those who might hear this message in the future.
We ask for your help that your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, will be honored and glorified.
And that we'll each be able to live lives that are of better use and service for our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask this in His alone, precious and worthy name. Amen.
What I have on my heart as the subject for this afternoon is the subject of evangelism, and I'd like to start by turning to Ephesians chapter 4.
Ephesians chapter 4.
And we'll start with verse 7.
But unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, when He ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Verse 11 And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying.
Of the body of Christ.
This chapter, chapter 4 of Ephesians touches on that subject, that there is one body. There's the ones of the first part of this chapter, but particularly what I was thinking about is the gift that God has given to each one of us and says that that on to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. So each one of us has been given something.
To do for the Lord Jesus and so later on in verse.
11 He says he gave some apostles, some prophets.
Some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And all those different functions and gifts are necessary for the body of Christ to grow. But the one that I wanted to focus on particularly today is the one that is the gift of.
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The evangelist and the reason why I want to talk about that gift of the evangelist specifically.
Is in Timothy, Second Timothy chapter 4.
Second Timothy chapter 4 and verse five, it says watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. And I find this an interesting verse because I don't believe that Timothy particularly had been given the gift of an evangelist if you look at how Paul describes him.
Paul describes him as a more of a timid person.
And he particularly gave him tasks related to looking after assemblies, helping them to grow, helping them to mature. For example, Timothy was a brother that when the assembly in Corinth was having trouble, Timothy was a brother that the apostle Paul sent the court to help deal with and help correct the issues that were in Corinth. And in when he's writing to Philippi, he's also sending committee there and he's saying that he has no man.
Minded who will naturally care for your state, which is typical of a pastor and very often going along with the gift of a pastor's and ability to teach. But I think when you consider Timothy particularly, it was that of caring for the people in the assembly, caring for the body of Christ and trying to see them grow and develop. And like we were talking about in Galatians chapter one, if there was somebody that was having trouble carrying their burden or somebody that had an issue.
He would be the kind of person that would be able to step up, come along beside that person and help lift the corner of their load, help them get back up and get going. But I find it interesting here in Second Timothy, which is one of the second epistles, obviously, and is characteristic of what Paul would typically say to those who are in last days and last days is the days that I believe we're living in. And so I take it as a message for us.
So Paul speaks to somebody who has a gift specifically given by the laying on of hands. And I believe that gift had to do with pastoring and caring for people. But what does he tell him to do? He says do the work of an evangelist. And that's distinct from what he says right after in this verse. In verse five, make full proof of thy ministry. Whatever service it was that he had been gifted with, he was to make full proof of it. But there's this other thing that he's told to do.
And it's through the work of an evangelist. And that's a challenge to me because to a certain degree I feel like I fall into the same sort of a character as Timothy, that evangelism isn't necessarily what I do first or what comes first in terms of what the Lord has given me particularly to do. But I think that in this verse, there's a call to me and a call to each of you.
To do the work of an evangelist. So I have a number of things that I want to talk about in that connection.
And if you think of your life, if you know Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord of Lord and Savior, evangelism is part of something that you do naturally because you have faith in Jesus Christ. But I'm hoping to spend a little bit of time and discuss some aspects of evangelism that might help me, first of all, and also you.
In this aspect of your Christian life.
So the first thing to consider is what actually is an evangelist? And an evangelist is somebody who comes bringing good news. And that's the reality of what we have as people with faith in Jesus Christ is that we have good news and that we have a message that's of benefit to anybody who will hear and believe. And that's.
Something that I think is.
Worth keeping in your mind and keeping in your heart that you have.
A message, a good news message that can be a blessing to anybody on this on this earth. So if we turn to first Peter chapter 3.
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I want to talk a little bit about the preparation for sharing the gospel.
And being an evangelist, doing the work of an evangelist first Peter 3, verse 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse you.
Accuse your good conversation.
In Christ.
So this is an important first step.
If you're going to be able to effectively share the gospel.
You need to. The very first thing that's on the list here is sanctify the Lord. Guard what Lord, Lord, God in your heart. And what does that mean? That means that you're setting him apart as Lord and giving him that that first place in your life that I'm giving him the first place in my life. It's one thing to come to Jesus.
And say I know I need my sins forgiven, I want to go to heaven.
So please wash my sins away. I'm going to let you into my heart.
It's a different thing to say to the Lord Jesus. OK, now I'm going to let you be Lord of my life, which means I'm going to let you make the decisions about what I'm going to do in my life.
And.
It says in the beginning of verse 16 having a good conscience.
That's that's important if there's been a conflict going on between me and the Holy Spirit, between me and Jesus, about who's the boss.
Whether he's Lord or whether I'm Lord, then there's going to be difficulty with me trying to communicate the gospel message.
The other thing that is important, I think that we understand is that you don't have to know everything in order to be able to talk about the Lord Jesus in the gospel. What's important is that you do understand your own personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.
And that you speak from what you know and what you have experienced personally, that makes it your own personal story that you're sharing. And there's absolutely nobody that can contradict your personal story. And then the other thing that goes along with that is the essential fact that it's not just your opinions. And you shouldn't just use your opinions when you're talking to other people. Yes, your exper.
Important.
But what is powerful is the word of God. Hebrews 412 tells us that the word of God is quick, is powerful, is sharper than A2 edged sword, and it's the word of God which is the sword of the Spirit that God uses to convict people.
Whether it's from actually picking up their own Bible and reading it, whether it's from you reading it to them, whether it's from them reading a verse that's in a track that you would hand out to them or a calendar that you might give to them, or something that you just quote as part of your conversation, as part of what you're expressing. You don't even necessarily give the verse reference to communicate that God. So.
World that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You all know what I just quoted because you all learned that when you were children. And probably even the children know that verse, am I right? Yeah, I'm getting some head nods that you have. The children know that first. And so it just came out as part of my conversation. And what I'm saying is, in addition to a good conscience, you need to have some verses.
And you need to know some verses and don't be afraid to use them because people can argue with what you know. People can argue with what you think, but they can never, ever argue with what's written in this book because they can't ever get the author to change one single word. And the author and the Spirit of God uses that effectively on their conscience.
And it can make a big difference in their life when the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to cause a seed to grow.
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And I'd like to.
Look at that First Corinthians chapter 5.
Might be Second Corinthians. Sorry, Second Corinthians.
Two Corinthians, chapter 5.
And we're going to start at verse 6.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Wherefore we labor that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
That everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
So we're people that bring good news, the good news of the gospel, to other people when we're doing the work of an evangelist.
And part of what we do is, and part of what we're saying is our motivation for taking this message. And this is one of the motivations that we have. And that is verse 1111. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.
And one of the questions that I have to ask myself, and I sometimes come up with the answer that I don't believe quite enough, is do I believe in hell?
Obviously the answer is yes, I believe in hell.
But the concept of what the rich man experienced in the Lake of Fire, where he wanted a drop of water for his tongue.
The fact that he was separated from his loved ones forever and couldn't get any satisfaction for his soul and that there was a great gulf fixed and there was no remedy for him.
Do I really know the terror of the Lord and do I believe that? So that is a question.
That is an answer to the question of why do I preach? And it's part of the reason for communicating to other people, because if we really love them and we really cared for them, then we don't want them to go to the place of punishment and we want them to be able to escape. And that's a that's an important thing. Now the other thing that I want to say in connection with this is in.
Acts Chapter 17.
We have a verse at the.
End of the chapter verse 32. The apostle Paul was preaching.
And what I wanted to look at was people's reaction.
To his good news message.
Says in verse 32 of Acts 17 when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked and others said we will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave on to them and believed. There are three reactions recorded here that I believe are fairly common when you talk to people around you about the Lord Jesus.
Some people when they hear what you believe.
Whether it's the resurrection, or that God created heaven and earth, or that you even believe in God, they mock and they laugh, and that's a fairly normal reaction.
The second reason, the second reaction is that some people will say, OK, we can talk about this again some other time. And then the third reaction is that some people actually believe. And that's extremely rewarding and a good experience to to have, but.
There's a fourth type of reaction that people have and it's very real, but in our country don't get it a lot and that is the Lord Jesus said in the world you shall have tribulation and sometimes you get the response of persecution. So I think in my own personal life I have left from the time I was a little child.
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From the time that I knew for sure that I was saved, which was about grade two, that.
That I would let fear what other people think of me and what other people might do to me because of what I believe affect my willingness to open up. I also tend to be a fairly introverted, introverted person and not open up. Very willing to open up myself and expose myself. And it feels very much when I do that when I'm starting to share about something that I care about passionately that.
Which is the Lord Jesus and who He is and what He means to me.
That I feel like I'm getting exposed and that gives me the the kind of the fear response and I just like to encourage you with a little story of my own experience. I was in university going to school and there was AI was reading my Bible in the hallway one day and one of the guys in my classes came by French Canadian guy sat down beside me and he said, can you tell me what?
You find interesting about that book. So I had an opportunity and I probably spent 15 minutes explaining to him.
About the Lord Jesus and the gospel and these things. It was interesting he said when it was done, he said that thank you very much for talking to me and thank you very much for what you explained. But if you're ever talking to anybody else in the future, maybe you could be a little bit less tense when you're talking about it and and that that was very much me and I think it still is very much me when I go to talk about something like that that I think is important and that is actually.
Exposing me to other people that I get, I get afraid and that shows up. Now, God has not given us a spirit of fear. He's given us a spirit of power. That's the same message that he gave to Timothy, and it's the same spirit that he's given us. So that communion, that fellowship that we need is what enables us to be able to communicate effectively. But what I'm trying to say in talking about these four reactions is you don't get the persecution reaction.
Very often you get the laughing one. Maybe sometimes, but.
Most often you'll get the one that's, well, that's interesting and maybe we can talk about it later, But it's occasionally really lovely to have when somebody actually believes or you meet another believer when you're sharing in in that way. And it's very encouraging. So I'm just putting that forward as those are the reactions that you could have in terms of what the gospel is. I'm saying that because for myself.
The fear thing.
Shows up and it's a reaction. That's not necessarily a godly reaction, but it's natural. And what I'm saying is to you is don't be afraid.
Just try and be yourself. Talk about it like it's something natural to you when you're talking to somebody that you know that's your age from the community or somebody older or younger or whatever.
Don't be.
Afraid.
You can talk about what you know, you don't have to know everything. It's a completely acceptable to say. You can go and try and find out an answer, but if you speak from your heart to their heart, they'll feel that. And if you use the word of God, it'll be effective. So I put these things in front of you in terms of how and I wanted to look at 4 examples from the word of God.
Of people who had a gospel message and delivered it, and the first one.
Is the Lord Jesus himself?
So turn to John 4. The Lord Jesus communicated to lots of people the good news message. He came from heaven to deliver it and.
There's a sense in which even today, when we share the gospel, we're doing what he he's gone back to heaven, and it's our job to fill in for him and share the good news that God wants people to have.
So in John chapter 4.
It says.
In verse four and he that's Jesus must needs go through Samaria.
And verse 5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore being wearied with his journey, Saath thus on the well. And it was about the 6th hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus Seth unto her, Give me to drink.
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For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. Then set the woman of Samaria onto him. How is it that thou?
Being a Jew asks, drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knowest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink. Thou was to ask of him, and he would have given thee living water.
I'm going to stop there.
But there's a couple of things already that I want to point out that the Lord Jesus needed to go through Samaria. He went to Sychar and he went there on purpose. He went to the well and he stopped there on purpose because he had one woman that he wanted to meet.
And the same thing happens in my life and your life.
God has people that He brings into our path for different reasons at different times. You don't know what's going on in their life. The Lord Jesus is unique because He knew exactly what was happening in that woman's life.
You know, you meet somebody on the street of Dorothy.
If you if you know them, you might know how many times they've been married.
In this case, the Lord Jesus knew exactly how many times this lady had been married and what her current status was in her in her relationship.
In the case today, when you meet somebody, typically you don't know, sometimes you might know a little bit about them, sometimes you don't. But if you look at what the Lord Jesus did with this lady, he started the conversation about needing a drink of water. And what I find interesting about what he did was you watch how the conversation shifted.
So.
He asked her a question.
Men didn't talk to women and she shouldn't have been there or wouldn't normally have been there at that time of the day. And he met her and he asked her for a drink of water. And that was a little bit unique. And that's what got her to ask him the question about why are you asking me for a drink of water? And then when she asked that question, he answers and makes an answer that says.
If you knew who was talking to you, you'd ask him for living water. And I find it interesting and I think God can direct in any conversation that we're having. And sometimes you can see it happening as a conversation going on. You can see this conversation is going in a direction that God's going to open the door so that I can talk about the Lord Jesus.
Now I can talk about the gospel and I know when I start sensing that happen that I got a lot of internal conflict going on about.
First of all, am I going to be ready to open up and express something about the Lord Jesus and start praying that the Lord will help me to walk through this door, this opportunity that he's providing? And so the Lord Jesus asked her questions and he talked to her. And I think that that's important for us to understand about the relationship when we're going to have with somebody when we're talking to them.
How to shift the conversation just slightly?
To bring in something about the Lord Jesus and those of you who like to fish.
Some of you are probably pretty good at it. I don't particularly like to fish, but when I was a boy I used to use different kinds of lures. And I know that in my mind that if you pick the right artificial mineral for what kind of fish you're trying to fish for and what you hope is down in the water, you throw it in and you, you, you reel it in and you see if anything starts biting, see if anything's interested. And that's the Lord Jesus said to his disciples when he called them, he said, follow me. I'll make you fishers of men.
And one of the ways the fishermen work is they try one kind of bait and see what happens. And so you might put something in your conversation if you see the door kind of opening in the Spirit of God making an opportunity to just mention something about the Lord Jesus or mention something about a meeting that you went to or whatever it is the Lord puts on your heart and see if there's any reaction. And then, and if that doesn't work, maybe you try something slightly different.
And I put that forward as and learning from when the Lord Jesus.
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Was reaching out to this woman. But the other thing that's important?
Is that the Lord Jesus loved this woman? I quoted John 316. He loved the whole world. But it's not just generally. The Lord Jesus has a love individually for me and for you and for every other person, and he wants to see a blessing go to each and every one of them.
And that's part of what?
I think helps us to be able to spread the gospel is if to whatever degree I've caught the Lord's desire to bless the people around me with the good news of who he was, where he came from, what he did, and where he's going to.
So that's the part that I wanted to get. The Lord Jesus came, He had that love for individuals. He had the time for him and he can guide and direct in our conversations with individuals when we're trying to reach out to somebody. Now I'd like to look at the second person and that's in the.
That's Phillip. He's called the Evangelist in Acts chapter 21.
And verse 8, but we'll look in chapter 6, Acts chapter 6.
Where we see his beginning.
There was a problem in the church in Jerusalem.
There was some unfairness going on.
People who were full Jews and Hebrew speaking Jews, their widows were getting lots of money and the widows that spoke Greek, they didn't get quite as much. That's not really fair, is it? And the people, the Christians were complaining about that. And so in chapter 6 and verse five, the solution was it says.
The saying please, the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Ghost, and Philip.
Prochorus in the Canor, and Timmin and Perminus and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased in the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. So you notice the name Philip in there. He was given the job of what we would call a Deacon. He had a responsibility with the money that they collected in Jerusalem, and it was a significant amount of money, and it had.
Be redistributed to the widows. And that was part of his job. And if you look in the later in the epistles, you'll find that those who desire the office of a overseer of a Bishop desire good work. And there's another office in the church that goes along with it, and that's the office of a Deacon, which is exactly what Philip had.
Phillip had Philip had the office of a Deacon and it tells us.
There that those who do the work of the Deacon faithfully they've earned a good degree in the Lord Jesus and boldness in the faith and that's what you see in the in the life of Philip. So if we turn over to the 8th chapter.
There was persecution, the Christians were scattered, but Philip had this responsibility in the assembly of looking after the money and he did it well and helped solve a problem in the assembly. But then what we see him now, there's something that he's been blessed with spiritually. So if you're given a responsibility, no matter how small it is, do it well, do it for the glory of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said he that is faithful not which is least.
Is faithful also and much.
And if you do well, the little things he gives you, he'll give you more to do for him. That'll be a blessing to others and a blessing for yourself and for credit for eternity. So turn over to Acts chapter 8.
And verse 5.
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake.
Hearing and seeing the miracles which he did for unclean spirits, crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them and many.
Taken with palsies and that were lain or healed, and there was great joy.
In that city. So Philip went down to Samaria and he was preaching there, announcing in A to the the whole city the good news of Jesus Christ. Now when I was talking about the Lord Jesus, I was talking about one person, the Lord Jesus going to see one individual, the lady at the well, the woman at the well.
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And he met her need, and he used her to bring blessing to the whole city.
Saikon here. We have Philip coming as an evangelist to the city, and he's announcing the good tidings and the good news. And sometimes you're given opportunity to speak to a lot of people. And that's the approach that the Spirit of God created in Samaria. First that.
Philip was able to speak to speak to large quantities of people.
So, for example, tonight there will be a gospel message and the brother who's responsible for speaking will speak the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ to all of us. And that's a wonderful opportunity. Sometimes you get that.
In different circumstances, and the Lord can use that to present the gospel message. And again, I would say, you know, if you speak as the person who has the opportunity to speak from your heart.
Part of your audience you will go through you speak spiritual things by spiritual means and use the word of God when you're delivering your message. And we'll come back to that in one of our other examples in terms of how the apostle Paul did that. The second thing that I wanted to bring out specifically about Philip is later on in the chapter.
In verse 26.
It says The Angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Rise, go toward the South, under the way that goeth down from Jerusalem on to Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went.
This is an important part of being an evangelist, and that is listening to what the Spirit of God wants us to do. And Philip is a great example in this because the Spirit of God said, get up and leave this tremendous field where you're doing all this great work and hundreds, if not thousands of people are coming to the Lord. And I want you to leave the city of Samaria and I want you to go out.
Into the desert where there's nobody.
That's a real strange thing to say to a gospel preacher. I want you to go where there's nobody. But God had a plan, and I think you know it. It's the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, and it will just keep reading here in verse 27, he arose and went and behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of its Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem to for the worship.
It was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. Philip ran thither to him, and heard him. Read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
And he said, how can I accept some man should guide me? He desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
So there's an important lesson here, I think if you're doing gospel work, and that is to be willing to ask questions. I know personally, I have been very ready to assume things about people based on what they look like or where they are. And that's not always a good thing because I assume things and I make mistakes. I don't know exactly what's going on, their thoughts or heart, where they're at, what their.
Experiences the Holy Spirit does, but the way we find out where people are is by getting into a bit of a conversation and asking a few questions. In this case, the Holy Spirit directed Phillip down there and as Philip got close, he saw that this man was reading and he understood it was from the scriptures. And Philip said, do you understand what you're reading?
And that got the conversation going, so.
You need wisdom as to what the Spirit of God would have you to say what question it is, and that's why that closeness to the Lord is important to not have something in between so the Spirit of God can communicate to you what question that you maybe you should ask to help. If the door is open a little bit, go through it and find out what the person is, what they're thinking about is very easy to make an assumption.
And I'll just tell one story to illustrate that point. I once had a conversation with somebody.
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About the Lord for about 10 minutes and after 10 minutes I realized there was something wrong with the conversation and.
Asking them which Lord they believed in, they said it was Allah. And because I was talking about the Lord and not using the name of Jesus, it was very easy to confuse with this Muslim man who was talking about the Lord and he was meaning the Muslim God. So if I had asked questions earlier, I might have understood that this person was actually not speaking the same language I was speaking.
So that's an illustration of the importance of being able to ask questions and understand where people are coming from. Now the next person that I want to talk about is the Apostle Paul.
We'll just turn over to Acts 17 again.
And we'll just watch.
He again starts with individuals, so Acts chapter 17, verse 16.
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred up in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he and the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons, and in the marketplace and the market daily with them that met with him.
So what Paul was doing was he was alone in this city. Paul, by his nature and by his heart and by his gift, was an evangelist as well as an apostle. And what was he doing? He was finding people, individuals to talk to, and he would get into conversation with them. But what I wanted to look at here is that the conversations grew with more and more people. And what happened next? Verse 18.
Certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him.
Some say, What will this babbler say? Others say some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection, and they took him, and brought him on to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine where of thou speakest is? For they'll bring us certain strange things to our ears. We would know therefore what these things mean.
So.
This conversation that he was having with individuals progressed where there's enough of them that they wanted to know and they wanted to get him having a formal talk with them to show them all at the same time and have a debate and in the Areopagus, which was their sort of religious court, about what Paul was teaching them. And that's what happens in verse 22.
Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things.
Ye are too superstitious, for as I pass by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription through the unknown God Him, therefore ye ignorantly worship. Him I declare unto you.
So Paul moved from talking to individuals to talking to a large group. But the point that I want to make here is that he understood the culture that he was speaking to. And it's a follow on with the discussion that I had are the the point that I was making. But you need to understand the individual that you're talking to. In this case, you need to understand the group of people. And Paul had been in the city long enough to know that they were full.
Of superstition, full of worshipping all kinds of demons and idols.
And he'd found this one in particular that said to the unknown God, in case they've missed one, they had a, they had a idol, a statue, an altar for the God that they didn't know. And Paul used that as a way to introduce the whole gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the point that I'm saying in this is that it's an example of a place where.
Based on what the current culture is the current conversation.
It's a possibility to use what people are talking about to introduce the subject of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel. He did it in front of a great crowd of people and he goes through and he talks from a point of view of what a Gentile person would know. He isn't referring to the Old Testament Scriptures. In fact, he talks to some of some of their own writers and what some of those people actually wrote in their poetry and he used that.
To help bring the gospel message to them in a way that they understand. So when you're talking about the gospel, when you're bringing your message, you try and deliver it in the power of the Holy Spirit in a way that people can understand it by using illustrations that they relate to, maybe from their work.
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Maybe from a joint work, if you're talking to somebody in your work location or in school based on something that you share in common, or maybe it's from sports or whatever it is that the Lord puts on your heart as a way to communicate to those people. So Paul is interesting. There's another aspect of the apostle Paul that is worth looking about looking at, and it touches on one of the things I said in my introduction, and that is our heart. So turn to.
Chapter 9.
Romans Chapter 9 and this is the apostle Paul speaking.
Imagine you're the Apostle Paul and these words are coming out of your heart.
It says here, I say the truth in Christ.
I lie not, my conscience also bear me witness in the Holy Ghost. I have great heaviness and continual sorrel in my heart.
I could wish that myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
Who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and those and the promises? Whose are the fathers of whom is concerning the flesh? Christ came, who is over all. God bless forever. Amen.
OK, I want to put this into our language.
The apostle Paul is saying.
I wish.
That I could go to hell if the people of my nation could be saved instead.
How strongly do I want my neighbor to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as His own personal Savior?
Would I be willing to go to hell so that my neighbor could go to heaven?
That's an incredible amount of love that Paul had in his heart.
That's an incredible care that Paul had in his heart and I think that it's something that I can personally work on because.
God commends his love toward us, and that while we're yet sinners, Christ died.
And if I'm going to have the heart of Christ in me, I'm going to have some of that desire for the people around me. And that's the kind of thing that will help me who's not naturally an evangelist.
To maybe step up to the plate and do a little bit of the work of an evangelist.
If I have the love of God in my heart, we had this morning in the meeting about the law, the hoss had to love your neighbor as yourself.
In connection with the gospel, am I willing to expose myself so that my neighbor or my friend, my colleague can know about the Lord Jesus? And that's a that's a real challenge. Paul had an incredible burning desire to be a blessing to other people.
Now at the same time as I say that the Lord Jesus was very wise in what he approached things, so is Paul, so is Philip. They understood the people they were talking to and they did not go out of their way to be obnoxious to people. I had an experience with one of my professors once and he was paralyzed from the waist down. He went to a 1967. He went to man and his world in Montreal and there were some Christians there that were handing.
Out gospel tracts and things like that, which I commend them for.
This man was by himself in his wheelchair and they cornered him and he couldn't get away and they forced him to listen.
And he, 20 years later, still resented what had happened to him such that it became a problem for him to hear the Gospel message. And So what I would say in that connection is to be sensitive to what the Spirit of God wants. Peter, when he was in the garden, took his sword and he cut off the servant of the high priest's ear. And I think that there's an illustration in that, that.
We need to be careful when we're talking to people that we don't offend them and we don't cut off their ear. And I think that that's what happened to my French professor. He got his ear cut off by people who had good motives and good desire, but they weren't being considerate the way the Lord Jesus was considerate of the people that he was talking to.
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With true love in their hearts. So there's another example that I want to use and I think this is a it's one verse.
It's in First Timothy. Sorry, Second Timothy, chapter one.
And verse 5.
It's not very obvious that this is evangelism, but I think it's a very powerful part of evangelism.
Paul's writing to Timothy, he says in verse 5, second Timothy, chapter one, verse five, when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother loss and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in the also.
This is evangelism. Do the work of an evangelist.
That looks like Sunday school work.
That looks like.
Mom's telling Bible stories to their kids, it looks like. Dad's having family readings, it looks like.
Brothers and sisters telling their younger brothers and sisters about the Lord Jesus. And this is where I want to come back to one of the things that I started with having a good conscience.
That's.
And moms.
What's your relationship like between each other?
What are you teaching your children about the relationship between Christ and his bride, the Church?
What are you teaching them day by day in your reaction to the events that come into your life?
Do they see a vengeful spirit? Do they see a loving spirit? Do they see the Spirit of Christ? What are they seeing?
And so it's a challenge to me, and I hope a challenge to you, that you have a conscience.
Without a fence nor nothing in there interfering between you and God and communicating in the picture that you're communicating to your children because I had a friend that used to say that, you know, preach Christ.
Preach Christ. And if you have to use words now, I think it's essential that you do use words because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
You need to quote the scriptures to your children. You need to encourage them to learn the scriptures. You never know which ones the Spirit of God is going to use to work in their hearts to bring them to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
It's important that our life is consistent before them, that they're not getting a mixed message that Jesus is important to him only on Sunday morning. The rest of the time, something else is far more important.
So.
This is, I think, an essential part of evangelism, the faith that was in the mother and the faith that was in the grandmother and that came down.
Through 2 generations.
The grandmother, the mother and the son. The encouraging part about that is that the father wasn't in the picture.
If the father was anything, he was probably an ungodly Greek. I don't know, but probably.
And God worked through a faithful grandmother and through a faithful mother to bring blessing to Timothy. And you know the blessing that Timothy was to the Christian community.
He's part of the example we're talking about today.
A pastor told to do the gift of the evangelist. It's a beautiful thing to think about. It's something that we really hold out as not to belittle the role of a mother, not to belittle the role of a grandmother. You have the work of an evangelist to do with your own children.
So in wrapping this up, this subject of evangelism.
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I'd like to turn to Revelation chapter 3.
The Church of Philadelphia One of the characteristics of this church that continues up until the time Christ comes, this part of the church is in.
Verse 6.
To the Angel of the church in Philadelphia, right these things, saith you that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David.
He that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. It's the idea of an open door. There's an opportunity and.
It's one of the things that you can ask for in evangelism.
Ask the Lord to give you opportunity.
He wants to see people come to blessing, come to know Him as their own personal Lord and Savior. He wants to be the one that takes away their burden. And that's what you can really communicate with them. Is that what Jesus has done for you?
There's a him that I think all of us know.
I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus since I found in Him a friend so strong and true. I would tell you how He changed my life completely. He did something that no other friend could do. No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as He. No one else could take the sin and darkness from me.
Oh, how much he cared.
For me.
That's our message that we have is my personal message. How well do I know him? Not nearly well enough, but I know him well enough to know that he loves you, he loves me, loves my neighbor.
And I know that he is this kind of a friend. He allows me more than Tongue can tell.
He loved me enough to die for me.
He has a desire to bring blessing and if you ask him to open the door.
They'll do that.
I know a lady.
In her 80s.
Home alone most of the time, not much people contact.
She asked the Lord for an opportunity.
To witness to somebody and that day she had to go and take a car and get the snow tires changed. Those of us who live in Canada often put snow tires on in the winter time and she asked the Lord for an opportunity to witness to somebody.
Took her car in, drops it off. They called Uber. Give her a drive home, they said we'll call Uber. On the way back. She gets into the car. The Uber driver is a Muslim and.
Asked her how long she lived in Ottawa and she said I've been living here since 1961. He was impressed that she'd lived there that long, he said, Can you give me some advice?
For life.
He got some advice for life about Jesus Christ. She asked for an opportunity in her life.
She got given it later that day.
That's the kind of God we work for. That's the kind of God that's our friend. Excuse me?
We're here on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To be appealing to people, to see them reconciled to God. Christ has done the work. The doors open wide.
Ask, it'll be given to you and then the other thing that I'd say.
One waters.
One plants, God gives the increase. Just do what God wants you to do.
On that day, it's not your job to save anybody. The only exception potentially is if you have an unsaved husband or wife. The scripture says you might be able to be used to save your wife. Save your husband. Beautiful thing to think and meditate on. But finally, Hebrews 10.
Hebrews, chapter 10.
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Verse 35.
Cast not away, therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. For yet a little while he that shall come will come, and will not parry.
Now the just shall live by faith. The Lord is coming. Scripture tells us He is faithful, that He will not forget about our labor, what we have done for him, that there will be a reward. And so I put that forward to you, as well as encouragement for each one of us. We've not been given a spirit of fear. We have the Holy Spirit inside to give us courage.
We have a resource in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can pray at any time.
Ask the questions, be willing to open up. Speak about what you know, the person that you know, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Take the opportunity to tell them about the Lord Jesus and God will give the increase.
Let's pray. Our God and Father, we just come to you now and thank you for the message that Jesus came to heaven from heaven to share. Pray that thou help us to have our hearts filled with love for Him and as a result, to love our neighbors, people in the community, our brothers and sisters in Christ. That we would encourage one another to be followers of the Lord Jesus and obedient to Your Holy Spirit, to know what you would have us to do to walk through open doors.
When appropriate to have the discernment and wisdom to walk and act for the Lord Jesus Christ here to do the work of evangelists. And we ask for your blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.