Evangelism

  
All I Have Commanded, Chapter 4
by Dan Bentley and E. Jay O'Keefe
 

Important Note: The “one-liners” for each command are provided in order to get a quick grasp of the entire category of commands. They can be read at a single sitting, which we recommend doing. But they are not a substitute for the full text, which we suggest you read from the Scriptures in context.

FROM JESUS

MATTHEW
5:14-16 Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
9:36-38 Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send workers into His harvest.
10:32 Whoever confesses me before men will I confess before my Father in heaven.
10:33 Whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.
28:18,19 Go and make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
28:20 Teach them to obey all I have commanded, and I will be with you to the end of the Church Age.

JOHN
15:16 Go out and bear the fruit that remains, that whatever you ask in My name the Father may give you.

ACTS
1:8 Be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth.

FROM THE APOSTLES

ACTS
1:22 Become a witness with us of His resurrection.
2:38 Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the Holy Spirit.
2:40 Be saved from this perverse generation.
3:19 Repent and return, that your sins may be wiped away.
3:22-24 Moses said, “God shall raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Give heed to Him in everything.”
4:2, 20-21,33 Teach people and proclaim in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
5:20 Stand and speak to the people the whole meaning of this Life.
10:34-35 Understand God does not show partiality, but whoever fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.
10:42 Preach to people and teach that Jesus has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.
13:32 Preach the good news of the promise made to the fathers.
17:30-31 Declare that all men should repent, because God will judge the world in righteousness through Jesus.
26:20 Keep proclaiming that all should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

2 CORINTHIANS
5:18-20 Understand that God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation, making us ambassadors of Christ.

1 TIMOTHY
2:1-4 Pray and give thanks on behalf of all men, including kings, for God desires all to be saved and know the truth.
4:13-16 Teachers, give attention to public reading of Scripture, exhortation, teaching. Take pains with these things.
4:13-16 Teachers, watch yourself and your teaching. Perseverance will insure salvation for you and those you teach.

2 TIMOTHY
4:1-5 Preach the word, when convenient and when not. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.
4:1-5 Be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

HEBREWS
10:26-30 Realize that if we go on willfully sinning after receiving the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sin.
12:25-29 Do not refuse Him who speaks. If those warned on earth did not escape, much less those warned from heaven.

1 PETER
2:12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, and thus glorify God as they observe your good deeds.
3:13-15 Do not fear those who would seek to harm you.
3:13-15 Sanctify God in your hearts, and be ready to give a defense to any who ask of the hope that is in you.
3:16-17 Keep a good conscience so that those who revile your good behavior in Christ might be put to shame.

2 PETER
2:21-22 Better not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away.

NOTES AND COMMENTS

The disciples really took to heart the essence of the great commission…….you hear it repeated in many of their commands. Evidently, the early followers of those committed eyewitnesses took the torch and ran further than anyone but the LORD Himself had imagined. They went to find all those called to believe. They became witnesses, passing through an unbelieving and skeptical land with the message of repentance from dead works and turning to faith in One resurrected from the dead. They really did declare to everyone everywhere the whole message of this Life.

They took seriously Jesus’ instructions to His disciples to “Go out and bear the fruit that remains.” (John 15:16) What is the fruit that remains? We think it is probably a double reference. On the one hand it refers to human souls who will live forever. To bear the fruit that remains means giving the gospel to those who will trust Christ as Savior and live forever in heaven with Him. But the fruit that remains probably also refers to eternal reward which the one who leads another to Christ will receive…………treasure in heaven which will be his for all eternity.

What does an account of witnessing the resurrection firsthand, being commissioned by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel, then being indwelt by the Holy Spirit have to do with us today? Did God anticipate twenty centuries between the first conversions in response to Peter’s sermon and you and I reading this set of notes on evangelism? Of course He anticipated it, and the account in Acts is today another stimulus to observe all that He has commanded us. It is another measure of how much He loves the world, that billions more people have been born and given the chance to take hold of eternal life through belief in Jesus Christ our Savior. The same ones have the opportunity to affect the hearts of others, to be part of evangelism, when they first become one of those who believe.

Put it all together. Believe first. If you haven’t done that, get it settled with Jesus Christ. All other saviors are impotent. Now you are chosen, to believe, but also to go and speak on the witness stand you are called to.

These exhortations and commandments have to do with your lifestyle as a witness, and the words of your testimony as a witness. Do not refuse Him. Be ready to make a defense. Keep your behavior circumspect and your conscience clear. Testify that Jesus is the Christ, and has been appointed as judge of the living and the dead. The prize awaits those who excel at this command. Disciples love their Master, obey His commands, and share in His glory. May each of us put aside our fear of man, our adherence to our reputations, and run this gauntlet with joy. Testify to the truth. That is the expectation and the order.

The Lord alone is responsible for the results of evangelism. We are evaluated not on the results, but on our adherence to the commandments to deliver the message of life in Christ through belief in His death and resurrection for us. He is in control, and He works all things for our best interests. The elect are secure. Will you participate in their conversion?