By Jason Smith

A lot of churches are in the following position: there is a lot of talk about evangelism and teaching about evangelism, but nowhere near as much evangelism being done. We love to talk about lost people, their condition before God, where they will end up if they die, but we never overcome the fears and distractions in our lives to actually do the work that the Lord has left for us to do.

A faithful Christian and a faithful church fulfill the mission that the Lord gave his people. The mission we have been given is in Matthew 28:19-20.

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always , even to the end of the age.’”

The church’s mission is summed up in these verses. We are to 1.) Go share the gospel with the lost, and 2.) Teach and equip our brother and sisters in Christ to obey and serve the Lord. How are you doing in fulfilling this mission? Usually, Christians are a lot better at encouraging their brothers and sisters, and feel that they are being faithful to the Lord. But they are forgetting that the Lord also has commanded that we share the gospel with the lost. They think the words of Jesus in Luke 9:18-21 apply to them:

“And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, "Who do the people say that I am?" 19 They answered and said, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again." 20 And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God." 21 But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone”

Jesus is not giving you and me this instruction! Are you telling anyone about Jesus, the Christ of God? It seems that for many Christians that the Great Commission has become the Great Omission.

The Great Commission is a command that is given to all of God’s people, not just those who want to share the gospel. You can be successful in sharing the gospel with the lost of this world. Do you believe this? If you go out into the world and do what you can to give the word of God to others, whether that be by preaching, one-to-one conversations, handing out tracts, etc., you are being successful in the mission that God has given you. Success is not measured by the amount of converts that we make or the amount of lost people that come and visit the church for worship services. It is ALL about us obeying the Lord by doing the work of sowing the seed of the word. If we are faithful in this, the Lord will bring the increase. This is our mission! A church cannot begin to call itself “sound” in the faith if it is not fulfilling its mission of sowing the seed of the word of God and encouraging God’s people to serve and follow in the steps of Jesus Christ.

By Jason Smith (EvangelismHelp.com)

Whenever we are going to share the gospel with lost-people, there are many methods of doing it. When choosing which method to use, we need to consider why we are choosing it. For example:

• Are we choosing certain methods solely on how comfortable it is for us? If we are most focused on how we feel when doing evangelism, we may not really be denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following Christ. In my experience the methods that are used that are most comfortable are not even evangelism because the message of the gospel is never proclaimed to the lost person.
• What do the statistics show? Many people choose a method solely based on what other peoples’ experiences have been and what surveys have said. But honestly, you have no clue what the best evangelism methods are unless you try them. Don’t take peoples’ word for it. Most statistics show that “evangelism” methods in which the gospel is not always proclaimed are the most “effective” methods. Some methods are only more effective because they are practiced by the majority of believers. IF the other, less popular methods were done just as much as the popular ones, we would see that they are just as effective. The Gospel being shared is ALWAYS effective, no matter which method you use (as long as the gospel is shared). If your method doesn’t share the gospel, it is not evangelism.

These are the big two criteria that people use when choosing an evangelism method. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with doing things that are more comfortable (I do them), and I do not have a problem with using methods that have been proven to be effective (I do them also), but the things I take issue with are:

• When the gospel is not proclaimed. Once again, if your method does not lead to the gospel being taught, it is not Biblical.
• Not having a desire to get out of our comfort zones. Having a desire to only do things that are comfortable is not denying self, and it does not show love to those who you are neglecting to share the gospel with.

With these things in mind, here are some helpful criteria to use in picking an evangelism method:

• Make sure it gives the opportunity to a lost person to hear the gospel. You fulfill the Great Commission when you “proclaim” the message.
• Choose a method that gets YOU active in evangelism. Don’t brush off the responsibility on other people, such as the evangelist/preacher or pastor. You are commanded to proclaim the gospel also.
• Make sure it is Biblical. Is it done in scripture? If Jesus, Prophets, and the Apostles did it, we know it is a method that brings glory to God.
• Does it show you believe in the power of the gospel? For instance, If you have to bribe people to come hear the gospel using fun, games, and food, your faith in the power of the gospel may need checked, and you more than likely will lose those people if you ever stop offering those things. The Apostles and early disciples preached the gospel no matter how they thought the people would respond. Timothy was commanded to preach “in season and out of season” (2 Tim 4:1-5).

Lord willing, there will be more articles placed on this website in the future regarding different evangelism methods which are used today.

By Jason Smith

When was the last time that you shared the gospel with someone? The answer to this question can at times can lead us to feel ashamed because we just do not share the gospel as much as we should; if at all. Do we believe that the gospel is the power of God that leads to salvation? (Rom 1:16). Do we believe that everyone needs to hear the gospel and obey it? We may say wholeheartedly that we believe these things, but do our actions show this?"What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself" (James 2:14-17).

At times we are like those in this verse who say, "be warmed and filled" but do nothing to help them. These people claim to be Christians, but their actions do not show this to be true. If we really believe something to be true, will we not act? The Lord has given us a mission. If we really believe that the Lord wants us to evangelize, We will evangelize. If we really believe the gospel must be heard and obeyed for someone to be saved, we will tell it to the lost.

Do you have faith that the gospel is the power of God that leads to salvation? Do a lost person a favor. Prove it!

Question:

Isaiah 30:21 says, " Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left." Does this prove that the Holy Spirit speaks to us audibly today?

Answer:

This passage comes in the context of God warning Judah against trusting in other nations for salvation from Assyria. He is speaking to His rebellious children, the Jews, in this passage. Isaiah is told to write these instructions on a scroll/tablet that it would serve as a witness to the Jews (v8) because they are “a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD” (v9). They were rejecting the words that the prophets were telling them, instead desiring to have “pleasant words” spoken to them (v10). If they continue to trust in Egypt instead of repenting and turning to God, God will allow them to be crushed and taken into captivity (v12-17).

But in spite of their rebellion, God will still be gracious to them. He longs to be gracious to them (v18). When they cry to Him because of their oppression that He brought upon them, He will answer them (vs18-19). He will continue to be their teacher and bring them back when they turn off the straight way He has given them to the right and the left (v20-21). God’s words will turn them back to Him, lead them to destroy the graven images that they, the Jews, have made to worship (v22). Then the Lord would bless their land (Jerusalem and Judah) with rain so they can have crops and food and running streams (no more famines as punishment for their sins and alliances with Egypt: vs23-25). The Lord will bring light to their times of darkness and heal the bruises He has given them because of their sin against Him (v26).

Then the Lord will come with words of judgment upon His enemies, specifically Assyria. He will be a consuming fire to Assyria, and bring fear upon them because his people were again turning to Him and worshiping Him (vs27-33).


With the previous description of the context, I believe we can clearly see who the Lord is talking to in verse 21. He is talking to the Jews in Judea who were trusting in Egypt to deliver them from Assyria who had come against the land and had already taken Israel into captivity. Before and after the passage in question, the Lord speaks of their specific historical context. They were trusting in Egypt (before) and He would judge the Assyrians (after).

In verse 21, He is telling his people that if they turn off of the path of righteousness, He will call to them to bring them back to Him. Up to this point He has been doing this through the Prophets, and He will continue to do so because He cares for His people. He will always be reaching His hands out to His disobedient people and calling them back to Him through the prophets until there is no response to Him:

“The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; 16  but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16).

This is how scripture tells us God continued to call out to His people who have turned their backs to Him. There is no evidence that the passage is talking about a special audible voice that the Holy Spirit/ God uses to call His people to Him outside of His prophets (who later had their words recorded in scripture).

There are applications today from this passage, of course. It encourages us not to trust in things other than the Lord to be the one who delivers us. It teaches us that the Lord cares for us, even when we turn our backs on Him and leave the path of righteousness. He also, as our Shepherd, calls out to us through His servants who preach and teach His word to call us back to Him when we fall.

This particular passage is not promising an audible voice of God to us. He in those times used His inspired messengers who had their writings written down as scripture to call His people back to Him. If this is what He is referring to in this passage, why would we apply it to us differently in saying that God gives as a still small voice to nudge us in a certain direction in reference to a job choice, a person to marry, or other decision we need to make. The passage in question is not referring to these kind of situations, but only God calling His rebellious people back to Him.

In scripture, we only see God speak to Christians audibly who were inspired to the Spirit to be Apostles or prophets. This is what we also see in the Old Testament with God’s prophets. I do not know of a passage of scripture, especially in the New Testament which teaches that God or the Spirit leads us audibly or gives us messages/nudges outside of the teaching of the scriptures. This is usually just assumed into passages which talk about how the Spirit leads.

By Jason Smith

Jesus says to Pilate in John 18:37, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Those who are the sheep of Jesus Christ will only listen to the voice of the Shepherd and King. They will not listen to others who trying to take them away from the voice of their Shepherd.

When Jesus here in John 18 proclaimed to Pilate that He was born to be the King over a kingdom that is not of this world and that all who are part of this kingdom hear his voice, He was proclaiming something that in inherent in Kingship, that He as the King gives some standard of truth, a “law.” He began a New Covenant in which all who are His sheep must adhere to. Kingship and authority go hand in hand. They are inseparable. The King gives the standard that must be followed.

Paul told the Colossians in 1:9-10 that he prayed that they would “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…”

If we want to be fully pleasing to God, we need to be filled with the knowledge of His will. But where do we get this knowledge? The only way in which we can “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding…and increasing in the knowledge of God…” is to, as Paul says in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…” Only the word of Christ given through His Apostles and Prophets can equip us with the knowledge we need to be pleasing to God. We cannot know whether anything is pleasing or displeasing to God unless He reveals it to us in His word.

But the question arises, how does our King in His word communicate these things to us? I believe He communicates His will to us the same way any of us communicate our will to others. Parents, whenever you want to communicate to your kids that something is pleasing to you, how do you do it? Can I suggest you do it in one of three ways. You will either TELL them that what you want them to do, SHOW them what you want them to do, or IMPLY something to them in what you tell them or show them. Is there another way but these three ways to communicate your will to someone? This is how God in His word communicates His will to us.

• He TELLS us what pleases or displeases Him in direct statements and commands;
• He SHOWS us what is pleasing or displeasing to Him with illustrations or examples; or
• He IMPLIES something to us. He desires that we make logical conclusions from what He has told us or showed us.

This is how our Lord communicates to us in scripture. Let’s look at an example. Let’s look at what God reveals about baptism:

TELLS

He tells us, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). If we want to be pleasing to God, we will do what He tells us to do here in this direct statement to be saved. God uses both direct statements and commands to show us that baptism is something we must do to be pleasing Him.

SHOWS

Jesus gives us a multitude of examples in scripture of people being baptized. We learn in these examples that a way of baptizing that pleases God is by immersion. John was baptizing because it was a place where there was much water (John 3:23). When the Ethiopian Eunuch was baptized, we see that they went down into the water and then came out of the water (Acts 8:38-39). We are not given any examples of other modes of baptizing that are pleasing to God other than immersion. It is also the only mode that is inherent in the definition of the word.

IMPLIES

God also implies certain things to us in scripture about baptism. God implies to us that preaching about baptism is included in “preaching Jesus.” We are told that Philip preached Jesus to the Eunuch, and the Eunuch responded by saying as they travelled, “look, water, what hinders me from being baptized?” This implies that Phillip told him about baptism. Another thing God implies to us in scripture about baptism is that babies cannot be baptized. Since he tells us that one must believe, repent, and confess Jesus as Lord before baptism, then it logically follows from this that an infant cannot be baptized because they are not able to do those things. Also, when God tells us Mark 16:16 that we need to believe and be baptized to be saved, and when He shows us in Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost that one must repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, God is implying to us that these passages apply to us if we want salvation and the remission of our sins. We must us the ability to reason and the logic that God gives us as we come to commands, direct statements, and examples within the Bible as to whether they apply beyond their original audience to us.

How our King reveals His will on baptism shows us how He reveals what is pleasing to Him regarding every Biblical doctrine/teaching. Once again, what other way is there for our King to reveal His decrees to us other than these three ways? This is how communication works, and this cannot be denied. It is a self-evident truth. One cannot communicate their will about anything without telling you something, showing you something, or implying something to you, and if you disagree that God communicates in these three ways, try to do so without telling us something, showing us something, or implying something to us.