Sunday, April 26, 2015 pm
EVANGELISM 2015
Examples of Evangelism in the New Testament
We
are devoting the 4th Sunday evening of each month to the
subject of evangelism. We
began with a few lessons last year.
Up to this point we have addressed some of the perspectives and
attitudes that will help us to become involved in evangelism.
Tonight we want to look at some Biblical examples of personal
evangelism.
a.
Great commission – Mark
16:15-16, Matt. 28:18-20, Luke 24:46-47.
As we have emphasized on many occasions, the great commission
began with the apostles (and was at first issued to them), but its
fulfillment was the result of not only the apostles, but those they
taught.
b.
As Paul told Timothy in
2 Tim. 2:2, the words he committed to Timothy were to be passed on.
c.
Romans 10:13-15 – those
who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, but it requires the word
being preached.
d.
Acts 5:42, “And daily
in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and
preaching Jesus as the Christ.”
e.
Acts 8:4, after
persecutions in Jerusalem, the disciples went everywhere preaching the
word
f.
Philippians 1:14 – “and
most of the brethren in the
Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak
the word without fear.”
g.
Colossians 1:23 – the
gospel was preached to every creature under heaven.
h.
As we seek to restore
the church and faith of the first century, let us include this effort as
well.
a.
Recorded only in Luke
2:36-38, she was an elderly woman who had served God for decades in the
temple. As Jesus was
presented we read, “And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the
Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in
Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38)
b.
In her example we find:
1) The devoted life that leads to telling others
2) That age and gender should not stop us from doing what we can
3) We use the abilities we have
4) We learn of and speak of redemption that is found in Christ Jesus
(cf. Rom. 3:24)
a.
He was one of the twelve
and one of the first recorded disciples of Jesus.
He was a disciple of John (John 1:35-41).
When John saw Jesus he sent the disciples to Him.
They begin following Jesus.
Vs. 41 tells us “He first found his own brother Simon, and
said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the
Christ).”
b.
Simon is Peter.
We do not hear much about Andrew, but we have substantial
information on Peter. Peter
was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew.
c.
Whether or not Peter
would have found Jesus we don’t know, but we know Andrew took the time
to tell his loved ones about Jesus.
1) He first found Jesus.
Being a disciple of Jesus (the Messiah) was important to him.
2) Notice how it says he “first” found Peter.
This was something he wanted to share with his family.
3) He cared about his brother and COULD go to him.
I say that because not all can go to their families for a variety
of reasons – hypocritical lives, unreceptive attitudes, relationship
issues, etc.
d.
NOTE: Andrew is actually
mentioned on 2 other occasions in John (the only 2, other than being
identified as an apostle of Jesus).
John 6:8 and 12:22.
In both instances, he brings people to Jesus – John 6 – the boy with 5
loaves and 2 fish and in 12:22, some Greeks that Philip brings to him
who desired to see Jesus.
a.
Like Andrew, we don’t
read much about him, but in John 1:43-48 we find him doing as Andrew
did.
b.
We are told it is the
next day and Jesus finds Philip and calls him to follow Him.
Philip finds Nathanael, a godly man looking for the Messiah and
tells him that we have found Him.
c.
He I simply mention, we have an example of one who is alert of others
seeking the truth. He takes
the time to introduce Jesus to him.
a.
We read about another
Philip in the book of Acts.
He is a servant. One of the
7 appointed by the apostles to help relieve the needy widows in
Jerusalem (Acts 6:5).
b.
His evangelistic efforts
are recorded in Acts 8.
After persecutions spread the Christians (8:4), Philip went to Samaria
(Note this Philip could not be the apostle because apostles were needed
after the conversions in Samaria – Ac. 8:14).
In Acts 8 you find Philip going to Samaria where he teaches and
converts many – including Simon the sorcerer (Ac. 8:5-13).
Later he is sent by an angel of the Lord to the Eunuch returning
to Ethiopia from Jerusalem (Ac. 8:26-40).
c.
He is a study in
evangelism within himself.
i.
In Samaria, we find that
facing rejection, he moves on to the next potential subject(s)
ii.
He is willing to teach
many at one time
iii.
Concerning the Eunuch,
He obeys God’s commands – and goes, even though it was considerable
distance.
iv.
He is willing to go to
great lengths to teach a single soul.
v.
He is no respecter of
persons – he goes to an Ethiopian, and a Gentile proselyte
vi.
He see urgency as he
runs to the chariot (vs. 29)
vii.
When he is invited into
the chariot, he uses the following method to teach:
1.
He asks questions,
breaking the ice.
2.
He had enough knowledge
to be able to teach and answer the eunuch’s Biblical questions.
3.
He preached Jesus (Isa.
53 was the text he began with).
4.
He sought further
opportunity (40). Found in
Azotus, he goes to Caesarea preaching in all the cities on the way.
NOTE: He remains in Caesarea for some time.
Acts 21:8 finds him in Caesarea many years later with daughters
that prophesied (raised his family believing in God).
d.
We need more Philips
today.
a.
Fellow laborers with
Paul (Acts 18:1-4 – they were tentmakers).
They were a source of encouragement for Paul and the gospel.
You find the church meeting in their house (1 Cor. 16:19, cf.
Rom. 16:3, 2 Tim. 4:19).
b.
In Acts 18:24-28, they
find Apollos teaching the word of God though he knew only the baptism of
John. They took him aside
and explained to Him the way of God more accurately.
Apollos repented and began teaching the whole counsel of God.
c.
Sometimes, personal
evangelism involves taking aside those in error and correcting them.
A part of our evangelism is striving to keep the saved (Gal. 6:1,
James 5:19, etc.). In some
ways it is the easiest thing to do, but in other ways it is the most
challenging and heartbreaking.
a.
As in everything, Jesus
is our ultimate example, 1 Cor. 11:1.
As disciples, we learn from Him in this endeavor as well.
Matt. 10:24-25 tells us we need to be like His teacher.
b.
His purpose for coming
was to evangelize – seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)
c.
While He often taught in
public, He often taught one on one.
He took time to speak with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman,
Zacchaeus, just to name a few. He
built up His apostles and disciples to further spread the word.
d.
Tonight we simply
mention some things about Him.
In our next lesson, we are going to address His evangelistic
efforts personally.
In
addition to this, you can look at the churches of the first century as
they too were involved in evangelism.
Our next 2 lessons in this study will examine the evangelistic
efforts of Jesus (mainly, the Samaritan woman in John 4) and the work
the churches were involved in.
Let
us study the word of God, not merely to learn what to teach, but also to
move us TO teach! Think
about it.