Scripture: Matthew 28v18-20; Ephesians 4 v 11- 13.
These words are known as The Great Commission. That is
the command that Jesus gives to all who follow Him: Go and tell everyone the
good news that Jesus Christ is Lord. We all have the right and duty to do
whatever our skills and talents may be to further the gospel or truth about the
Kingdom of God and our Lord Jesus.
We should all know how to introduce a new seeker of
righteousness to Jesus; how to determine if they are ready to take that first
step of faith; how to lead them to the foot of the Cross and pray with them to
be born again.
If these steps that you yourself took to become a citizen
of the kingdom of Heaven have become lost or unfamiliar you will never gain the
confidence to share the truth with another. So find out that vital information
and be ready if the Lord should call on you to meet a need like that.
Evangelists have a special calling on their lives. They
are appointed and anointed (set apart) to minister salvation to crowds and
multitudes. They live, eat and breathe the way of salvation. They will do anything or go anywhere to save
a lost soul. They have been equipped with the gifts of healing and miracles
which draw people to Jesus. When those crowds see the lame walk and the blind
regain their sight, their faith grows to believe that Jesus is alive, which of
course He is. No other god of any other religion claims to be alive. They are
dead and gone, unhearing and unseeing, not able to hear or answer prayer or
meet any needs.
But our Jesus lives today in our hearts and expresses
Himself through our bodies; our mouths, our hands. He loves through us and
touches and heals through us. He uses us to deliver people from demons and set
the captives free. (See "To Follow
Jesus" on our blog).
Just surrender to His Lordship and let Him draw the
sinners to Himself through your testimony. Never be ashamed of the gospel or
afraid of how people may react. The whole purpose of this Earth and man upon it
is to give those who are lost in sin an opportunity to be saved. The whole
purpose of Jesus coming to Earth was to tell people about His Father; the
Heavenly Kingdom; and the judgment for remaining a sinner; and particularly to
die on the Cross to break the power of sin permanently for those who choose to
believe that He is the Son of God.
On the flip side there are evangelists who have taken
their eyes off Jesus and put them firmly on the size of their wallets. On the
Day of Judgment, if they do not repent and make right, the Righteous Judge will
declare those four terrible words to them
- I never knew you!
These false evangelists have taken their own reward here
on Earth and the Bible says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as they
are forbidden eternity in Heaven.
The ministry of evangelism is a full time calling which
can be very exhausting. I have done some evangelism in Black townships around
South Africa. Once we were ministering in a township where we could hear
running gun battles in nearby streets.
I remember preaching that day on our spiritual weapons
and how superior they are to guns and bombs. That day every person present gave
their hearts to Jesus! I was particularly moved by a 94 year old lady who came
forward. She told me she had been in the Church all her life but this was the
first time Jesus Christ had been made real to her!
So to effectively evangelize it is vital to let the
congregation know how real Jesus is and how much He loves every one of us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father we praise and worship You. Help
us to yield our lives to You so sinners may know Jesus Christ and the power of
His resurrection, and be saved. Father teach us to use every opportunity every
day to reach out to those who are lost; to shine our Light into their darkness
and show them the way out. In Jesus' name. Amen.