June 6, 2021
Theme: “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Family Affair.”
LESSON 2 CONT (June 6th): “How To Effectively and Efficiently Preach The Gospel To The Lost.”
Before we make our way back into the classroom of the School of Evangelism, where we are learning how to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and give our personal testimony to the lost, I want to talk to you about “Excuses.” Yes, excuses, excuses, excuses that Christians offer as reasons why they do not participate in evangelism. However, in response to the excuses Christians make, the question God is asking every born-again Christian is: Are you fit for Kingdom of God, or not?
One often quoted proverb says, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Another proverb says, “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
Well here is my proverb: He that makes excuses never starts anything, and has no useful lesson to pass on to his children’s children—He is a dead man walking!
Excuse giving is nothing new to Jesus Christ. In fact, at Luke 9:57-62, several people who either offered to, or were personally called by Jesus Christ to follow Him and preach the gospel, resisted and made excuses for not immediately obeying the Lord’s command.
In verse 57, a scribe [also see Matt. 8:19]—a teacher of the law—offered to follow Jesus everywhere. But immediately, Jesus let him know that the places where his ministry would go, there would be no houses for lodging, and the places where he would lay, offered no human comforts for rest and security. Given that nothing is written thereafter about the scribe making good on his pledge to follow Jesus everywhere, it is presumed that the scribe did not make good on his offer.
In verses 58-60, Jesus told another disciple to follow Him. But, the man replied, that he first needed to bury his father. But, Jesus insisted that the man follow Him immediately, and told him, “let the dead bury their dead, but go and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God.” There was nothing genuine about the man’s request, because the Jews buried their dead on the same day that death occurred. Thus, he would not have been following Jesus on that day anyway.
Lastly, in verse 61, another disciple offered to follow Jesus, but asked first to go home and tell his family goodbye. Jesus told him directly, that any person who puts his hand on the plow and looks back is unfit for the kingdom of God.
We can clearly see from these three encounters, in which all three men called Jesus “Lord,” that Jesus expected the men to immediately drop whatever they were doing, or planning to do, and follow after Him. This is what Jesus requires of every one who names Him as their Savior and Lord—to render complete and unequivocal dedication to whatever He says go and do. Half-hearted commitment and compliance is unacceptable!
Moreover, at Luke 9:23-26, Jesus Christ laid out the criteria for following Him. Jesus said if any man desired to come after Him, first he must deny himself, and then pick up his cross daily and follow Him. As a born-again Christian, examine yourself right now. Have you denied yourself—disowned, forgotten, and lost sight of your own self-interest?” Are you willing to take up your cross daily and follow Jesus Christ? Your cross is the preaching the gospel and sharing your testimony of Jesus Christ with unbelievers. Is there anything that you give a higher priority to do than the work that Jesus has called you to do?
Evangelism is always accompanied by hardships and persecutions. (II Tim. 3:12) Are you willing to suffer with Jesus, to reign with Him? (II Tim. 2:12) Christians who are fit for the kingdom of God—say to the Lord, “Here I am Lord, send me! With a holy zeal they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is not just first in their lives, but Jesus Christ is ALL!
Reflect with me for a moment on what these three men missed out on in the story at Luke 9:57-61. All three of the men called Jesus Lord, but none of them followed His commands, and were thus, deemed unfit for the kingdom of God. Many theologians equate the kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven as one in the same. But they are not.
The kingdom of God is the spiritual realm over which God reigns. The kingdom of God rules over, and is far above, “ALL FOREVER.” The kingdom of God had authority and power over everything visible and invisible in heaven, earth, and beneath the earth; including all spiritual and natural kingdoms of the world, principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and wickedness in high places. (I Chron. 29:11, Eph. 1:20-23, 6:11-12 & Col. 1:16-18)
Whereas, the kingdom of heaven is the place where God, Jesus, the holy angels reside, and where Christians transition to upon death. (Ps. 103:19 & John 14:1-3) All born-again believers make their transition to heaven upon death, but few Christians ever experience life in the kingdom of God while on earth because they make excuses for not preaching the gospel to the lost.
If the men had followed Jesus and obeyed the command to go and preach the gospel, the men would have been given power and authority to operate under the rule of the kingdom of God—to tread down on all the power of Satan, and nothing by any means could have hurt them. (Luke 10:1-2 & 17-20) They would have seen blinded eyes opened, the lame walk, lepers cleansed, demons casted out, the dead raised to life, and the poor made wealthy. Most importantly, they would have received confirmation from Jesus Christ that their names were written in heaven. But because they refused to obey Jesus, the men were deemed unfit for the kingdom of God.
Tell me, in the final analysis, were the excuses the men gave to Jesus worth it? NO!!! Can you even imagine what the excuses they made sounded like in the ears of Jesus?
Sadly, times have not changed a bit in this regard. Most Christians today conjure up all kinds of excuses for not obeying the commandment of Jesus Christ to go and preach the gospel to the lost. Mark Dever, author of “The Gospel and Personal Evangelism,” stated that “the word, flunk accurately summarizes how Christians have performed at obeying Jesus’ commandment to evangelize.”
He identified several excuses Christians often use for not witnessing their faith to unbelievers, such as (1) evangelism is illegal in their states, (2) witnessing on the job could cause work disruptions and potential job loss, (3) other things during the day come up that take priority over evangelism, and (4) assertions that they have no interactions with non-Christians during the course of their day. According to Dever, “this may be the most often used excuse of Christians, especially seasoned saints, such as pastors who claim they are seldom around non-Christians and are busy with other church-related activities.” Any clergy or Christian that would make such a statement is not fit for the kingdom of God!
In the book entitled, “Witnessing Without Fear,” Bill Bright noted that from his study of Christian evangelistic behaviors, that the most frequently used excuse for not evangelizing is, “unbelievers will become offended by their witness of Christ.” According to Bright, Christians “assume that people do not want to hear the gospel, will not be interested, or already have heard about the gospel and will not believe” the message.
To these lame and lousy excuses I say, Jesus Christ is not pleased. Regardless of the setting or situation we find ourselves in, do we really think that Jesus Christ is unaware of how people will respond to the preaching of the gospel, both positively and negatively? Jesus made himself abundantly clear when He told His disciples to go and preach the gospel to every person in the world—anyone who does not believe the message of the gospel shall be damned. (Mark 16:15-16) Jesus also told 70 disciples that He sent out to preach the gospel, that if they were not received in any home or city to let their peace return to them, shake the dust from off them, and move on to the next place. (Luke 10:1, 5-6, 9-11)
When we make excuses for not preaching the gospel to the lost, we are telling Jesus to pardon, forgive, or release us from our duty; and to allow us instead to go and do whatever it is we want to do. Think about the gravity of that?
We expect Jesus Christ to accept the excuses we make, and say to us things like: “Oh its ok, I understand if the sinner man is not saved today, after all you had something more important to do than preach the gospel and witness.” “No worries, if the sinner man misses out on salvation altogether and goes to hell, its ok.” “You know what, don’t even trouble yourselves about preaching the gospel at all. Just keep on going to church on Sundays, doing your church-related activities, and having a good time. I will just get another one of my few and faithful Reapers to go and do the work that I called you to do!”
But wait, I have one more excuse that I have heard repeatedly from Christians for not evangelizing. They say, “I don’t go out and preach the gospel to the lost, I just let my light shine and people can see Jesus in me, without me having to say anything to them.” And, to that I ask, exactly how many unbelievers have come to Jesus Christ and are disciples today because of your silent witness?
As Christians, we must all boldly proclaim the gospel everywhere and to everyone. The only way to prove yourself fit for kingdom of God, is to obey the Lord and go preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and give your personal witness of Christ to non-Christians. There are a multitude of great and mighty things that God has prepared for Christians, but He is unable to reveal them to Christians because they refuse to obey the Spirit of the Lord and go evangelize. (I Corinthians 2:9-12) So let’s stop making excuses and get equipped to do the work of the ministry. Excuses only have the evil habit of holding you back from executing the plan of God for your life to reap the lost to Christ.
Below is another example, of a presentation I often use to evangelize. It is shorter in length than the one I shared last week. (See the Sermon dated, May 30, 2021.)
Sample Presentation 2: Preaching the Gospel/Witness to the Lost
1. The Greeting:
Good Day kind Sir/Madam, may I have a few moments of your time?
My name is Darryl Joyce, and I am Christian, who serves at the pleasure of Jesus Christ, the Anointed One and His Anointing.
2. The Love Inquiry:
May I ask whether Jesus Christ is your personal Savior and Lord?
If the person says Jesus Christ is not their Lord, then I tell them: “I have great news to share with you.”
3/4. Preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ/Personal Witness (The green highlight shows the specific preaching of the gospel, and my personal witness of Christ is shown in yellow highlight.)
Dear friend, think for a moment, if you died today, where would you spend eternity? Can you say for certain that heaven would be your eternal destination? This is too important a question to leave for chance.
The good news I have for you today is that if you believe in Jesus Christ, you can have the gift of eternal life, and spend eternity with God in heaven upon your death. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten and sinless son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of the world, and it was God who raised Jesus from the dead on the third day! Jesus is alive and seated at the right hand of God forevermore. Any person that will believe and put all their trust in what Jesus has accomplished on the cross shall be saved.
My friend, we were all born into sin and shaped in iniquity from our mother’s womb, because the first man Adam sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. Adam’s sin separated the world and entire human race from God, and brought death, hell, and destruction on every person born into the world.
There are no amount of good deeds we can do in life to earn God’s favor and the reward of heaven. However, our belief in Jesus Christ and what He alone accomplished on the cross for all mankind, is the only way for us to be reconciled to God and have fellowship with Him. If you fail to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you will die in your sins and go to hell for all eternity. God does not want you, your family, or anyone to perish, but that all persons would come and repent of their sins and receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
We do not know when it will be our last day on earth, nor do we know the day when Jesus Christ will come for His Church—so it’s vitally important that we make a decision now on where we will spend eternity.
My friend, the best thing I ever did in life was to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord. Jesus has changed my life forever. Through Jesus Christ I am redeemed from the bondage of sin, He has delivered me from the addictions of alcohol, sexual immorality, lying and many other degrading and destructive behaviors.
Moreover, God has given me the same Spirit that resides in Jesus Christ. Now I have the same mind, love, peace, power, joy, and so much more that Jesus has. And, I have been called to bear witness of Christ to all the people of the world so that they may also come to know Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior.
Praise God, when I take my last breath on earth, in an instant, I will be present with the Lord in Heaven. I want the same for you! Moreover, Jesus Christ is coming again in the clouds to rapture His church—comprised of all those who have received Him as their Savior and Lord, called Christians—and we all will receive glorified bodies like unto His body, and be with Lord forever. I want you to be a part of that great catching away of the saints too!
5. Invitation to Christ:
Would you like to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and the gift of eternal life? Do you want to have a new life in Jesus Christ that is free from the bondage of sin?
If so, repeat this simple prayer after me:
“Lord Jesus, I am a sinner, I am sorry for my sins and the life I have lived. I ask for your forgiveness from my sins, I invite you to come and live in my heart. I believe you shed your blood on your cross at Calvary, died, and rose again for me. I confess you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you Jesus for saving me. Fill me with the gift of the Holy Ghost so that I may become a witness for you. In Jesus Christ name I pray. Amen!
Welcome into the family of God, all of heaven is rejoicing!
Finally, I invite the new convert (and their family) to come for Worship Service at Exousia Ministries on Sundays to learn more about the teachings of Jesus Christ, and to fellowship with the saints of God who will love-up on them, and make them feel at home.