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Personal evangelism – Telling the good news (gospel) on a one-on-one basis.
This command to tell the good news was repeated five (5) times by the LORD HIMSELF; namely:
Matt. 28:19
Mark 16:15
Luke 24:47
John 15:16
Acts 1:8
The above repetition shows that:
Telling the good news is important; and
The LORD knows we are hardheaded.
Why the LORD selected us to preach the Gospel?
The LORD did not commission the angels to tell the good news.
The LORD selected us to preach the gospel because we can suffer and thereby show love. The gospel can be shared only in love.
What is the Gospel?
The gospel means good news. JESUS is the gospel.
All have sinned – Rom. 3:23
The wages of sin is eternal punishment in hell – Rom. 6:23
But JESUS became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of GOD in HIM – 2 Cor. 5:21.
JESUS is the only WAY to the FATHER – John 14:6
When one receives JESUS, that person receives eternal life – John 1:12; 1 John 5:11-12
How does a person receive JESUS?
The person decides:
To turn away and repent of his sins; and
To surrender his entire life to JESUS and make JESUS the LORD or Owner of his life.
When you do the above, then the Lord JESUS comes in to your heart (Eph. 3:17 and Rev. 3:20) and you received eternal life.
JESUS is truly the good news!
Urgency of Preaching the Gospel.
Man is condemned already – John 3:18
If we do not evangelize, we fossilize – Gen. 30:1; Rev. 3:1
We are responsible to give warning to the sinner –Eze. 3:18
Man had only one life and if he loses his life, then this loss is for all eternity – Heb. 9:27; Rev. 20:15
Essential Qualities of An Effective Soul Winner – John 4:28-30, 39
She left her waterpot – v. 28
This means that she changed her priority. She made as her first priority the telling of the good news.
She went into the city = c.28
This means that she came out of her shame and went to the people.
She told others what JESUS did to her – v.29
The woman simply told the people her experience of JESUS. She told her testimony.
Sure Way of Having Converts – Psalm 126:5-6
Sow in tears.
This means to pray, fast and intercede. Cry souls before the LORD.
Then we bring to the seed, which is the WORD of GOD (Luke 8:11), for sowing in the hearts of people.
C. When the above steps are done, GOD promised that without any doubt we shall come again with rejoicing bringing our sheaves (or converts) with us. Hallelujah!
The title of this subject is personal evangelism. It means telling the good news on a one-on-one basis. Every believer is commanded to go, bear fruit and take care of their fruit so that it remains (John 15:16). In fact, this command has been repeated five times:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19
“And HE said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15
“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47
“You did not choose Me, But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My Name He may give you.” John 15:16
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
All the above commands referred to the believer’s duty to evangelize and bear fruit. Why was this command repeated five times? I believe there are two reasons, namely:
that it is important; and
that the Lord knows we are hardheaded.
WHY THE LORD SELECTED US TO PREACH THE GOSPEL
Why did Jesus choose the believers to bring the good news? He could have chosen the angels to do this work. I believe there are many advantages if the angels had been the ones to preach the gospel. The angels do not get tired. They do not need to ear nor ride on buses or planes. So the angels will not need to collect tithes and offerings. But why did the Lord select us to preach the Gospel.
One day, we went to preach the Gospel to a tribe in the Southern part of the Philippines. We walked about four hours over hills and valleys. We endured the very cold nights. We were bitten by insects. Because of the itch, I was scratching my body everyday for ten days until my arms and legs and abdomen were wounded from my constant scratching. Nothing could remedy the itch, neither soap in bath nor alcohol, nor powder. The tribal people were laughing at me because I was scratching all over my body while I was preaching the Gospel. But many were saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Why? They were touched by our willingness to suffer while preaching the Gospel. Some of them came to me and said: “You must have loved us because you came to us and suffered.”
The Lord Jesus selected us to preach the Gospel because we can suffer and thereby show love. The Gospel cannot be preached without love. And love cannot be shown unless one is willing to suffer. The angels cannot suffer because they do not get tired and be weak and be wounded and even die while preaching the Gospel. Love can be shown only in suffering. That is the reason why God Himself has to have a body in order to show us His love. Jesus who is the living Word and God, became flesh in order that He could show love for us.
The Gospel can be preached only in love.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
The “Gospel” means “good news.” This good news is Jesus, who came down from heaven and became man in order that He may suffer and die for us. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. All have sinned and cannot come to the glory of God but the Father loved us so much that He provided the only remedy for our sins, the Lord Jesus who died and rose again from the dead to give us eternal life. Jesus became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). When you receive Jesus, you receive eternal life? (John 1:12 and 1 John 5:11-12). How do you receive Jesus? You receive Jesus by:
Deciding to turn away and repent from your sins; and
Deciding to surrender your entire life to Jesus and make Him your lord or owner of your life.
When you do these, Jesus comes into your heart (Ephesians 3:17 and Revelation 3:20) and you receive eternal life. Jesus is truly the good news.
URGENCY OF PREACHING THE GOSPEL
Man is condemned already:
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18
Please notice that everyone who does not believe and has not received Jesus is “condemned already.” The condemnation is finished, done. This means that everyone who does not believe is condemned to go to hell. The only way for this condemnation to be changed is for the person to receive Jesus as his lord, to receive the Gospel. Therefore, it is very urgent to preach the Gospel because all who do not believe are now perishing.
What would you say to a man who saw a house on fire? It was the middle of the night, everybody must be asleep and this man who saw the fire refused to give the alarm because he is afraid that people may be angry to him for disturbing their rest. What do you call this man? He is irresponsible, hardheaded and he out to be punished.
Ezekiel 3:18 says:
“When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but is blood I will require at your hand.”
It is our obligation to give warning to the sinner and if we fail to do so and the sinner dies in his iniquity, then God says that He will require the blood of the sinner of our hand.
IF WE DO NOT ENVANGELIZE, WE FOSSILIZE
In Genesis 30:1, we find Rachel saying to her husband Jacob: “Give me, give me children, or else I die!” The Lord used this to speak to me one day. He said, “Your zeal and enthusiasm would die if you do not evangelize.”
Because of lack of zeal the Christian may eventually backslide. I have see some believers and some local churches that lost their zeal for the Lord because they do not preach the Gospel. They are like the church in Sardis that had a “name that is alive, but in fact is dead” (Revelation 3:1). If you do not evangelize, you fossilize.
ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE SOUL WINNER
What makes a believer effective in evangelism? Let us learn from the Samaritan woman (Please read John 4:5-39). This woman was ashamed of her sinful life, so she was avoiding people. She went to the well to get water at noontime when it was very hot. No one would likely be there at the well in the heat of the day. But Jesus was waiting for her and He introduced to her the Living Water. The woman finally asked for this living water. Jesus pointed out her sin that was an obstacle to her receiving the living water. The woman was totally changed by this encounter with the Lord Jesus. What were the effects of Jesus upon the Samaritan woman? We see three effects on the woman, namely:
She left her water pot – John 4:28
The woman’s priority in life was changed by her encounter with Jesus. The woman’s intention why she went to the well was to get water. That is why she was carrying her water pot in order to draw water from the well. But this intention was changed after she me Jesus. Her priority changed. She went on to tell people that Jesus is the Christ.
What is your priority in life? Is telling people about Jesus your priority? Or are you holding a water pot? What is your water pot? Is your water pot your business, your family? Your water pot will prevent you from preaching the Gospel. You cannot be an effective soul winner if you are holding a water pot. You must leave your water pot.
She came out of her shame and went into the city – John 4:28
The woman was ashamed to face people because of her sinful life. So she was avoiding people. But her meeting with Jesus totally changed her. She became a brand new person. She came out of her shame and then she went to the people to tell them about Jesus.
You must also come out of your shame. Your sinful life is totally forgiven and washed by the blood of Jesus. You are a brand new person because of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). Therefore you can now boldly go to the people and tell them about Jesus.
She told others what Jesus did to her – John 4:29
The woman simply told the people: “Come see a Man who told me the things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” This woman never studied in a Bible School. She had no formal training on evangelism. Yet she became an effective evangelist. Almost an entire city came to Jesus because of her. What was the woman’s technique? She simply told what Jesus did to her. She testified about her experience of Jesus, look at the result: “And many of the Samaritans in that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” John 4:39
Surely you also have a life testimony to tell. Use it to evangelize others. Paul used his testimony to evangelize King Agrippa and all those in the king’s court.
To summarize, we can all become effective evangelist if we:
Make our priority the preaching of the Gospel.
Go out of our shame and go to the lost to tell them the good news; and
Tell what Jesus has done in our life.
SURE WAY OF HAVING CONVERTS
“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:5 & 6
Please notice that if we sow in tears we shall reap in joy. What is to sow in tears? It means crying before the Lord for lost sinners. It means praying and interceding with fasting before the Lord. After doing this we are to bring the seed for sowing (v.6). The seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). When these two steps are done, the Word guarantees that without any doubt we shall come again with rejoicing bringing sheaves (or converts) with us. Hallelujah!
PERSONAL EVANGELISM: GUIDE QUESTIONS
What is evangelism?
How did Jesus save us?
Why must we evangelize?
What are the essential qualities of an effective soul winner?
What is the sure way of having converts?
Write the personal testimony about how you became Christian and sent it to some people you know. Write the names of the people to whom you sent it and the date you sent your personal testimony.
Share the gospel to your friends.
ANSWERS:
To go and tell the people the Good News – That Jesus is the Savior.
We have all sinned and our sins will bring us to hell. God loved us so much. He sent His Son to die for us and pay for our sins. He rose again from the dead to give us eternal life.
(1) Jesus commands us.
All who do not believe are condemned already.
Salvation is RIGHT NOW (urgent message)
If we do not evangelize, we fossilize (backslide).
The essential qualities of an effective soul winner.
Change the priority
Forget your shame and go to the lost.
Telling what Jesus has done in your life.
SOW in tears (pray, fast, and cry before the Lord for the Lost) and then, go and reap. (Psalm 126:5,6)