Foundation Stones: Evangelism

Name of Assembly: United Apostolic Church

Type of service: Bible Study

Date: December 21, 2021

Series: FOUNDATION STONES

Lesson 4: EVANGELISM

Scripture Text: Joshua 4:1-8

“And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, 2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: 5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: 6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? 7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. 8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there” – Joshua 4:1-8. 

“19 And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. 20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. 21 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? 22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: 24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever” - Joshua 4:19-24. 

SERIOUS HUMOR

Our church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, Someone Else.

Someone's passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person's share of the work. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone's list, "Let Someone Else do it." Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results; "Someone Else can work with that group."  

It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most liberal givers in our church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference.

Someone Else was a wonderful person; sometimes appearing superhuman. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did?  

When you are asked to help, remember - we can't depend on Someone Else anymore!  

INTRODUCTION

We are a church that is built on the firm foundation of the BIBLE, the ONENESS of God, the Biblical plan of SALVATION, and the lifestyle of HOLINESS. Those are the four foundation stones that we have explored in this series, and each one is critical to the success of the church.  

In tonight’s lesson, we will focus on the Fifth and final Foundation Stone in this series: Evangelism. 

EVANGELISM 

There is absolutely nothing more important to God than a SOUL. In fact, the Bible tells us that a SOUL is worth more than the entire world. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” - Matthew 16:26. 

That is why one of the most important roles of every Christian is EVANGELISM. WINNING SOULS is one of the primary purposes of every genuine believer in Jesus Christ and it, along with discipleship, is the primary reason for the existence of the church. If we are not personally involved in winning souls, we are not doing the will of God – and He is not pleased! 

Let’s consider the following Scripture verses: 

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” – Proverbs 11:30 

“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” - Daniel 12:3  

There is a great reward in Heaven for soul winners. Evangelism is the last and most important command Jesus gave to His disciples, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” - Mark 16:15. In fact, the reason we were given the Holy Ghost is not just so our lives would be blessed, or just so we would be able to live above sin – the Holy Ghost was given to us to make us powerful WITNESS. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” - Acts 1:8 

Look at this next verse and you will see the results of the sustained evangelism that occurred in the church at Jerusalem. “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” - Acts 6:7.  

The church was promised “POWER” in Acts 1:8. But the narrative contained between Acts 1:8 and Acts 6:7 covers a period of about ten years. During this time, the church in Jerusalem was blessed with divine visitation, miracles of healing and holy boldness – and they grew despite persecution, opposition, and even internal disputes. 

Their growth rate is impressive by any standard: 

1. 3000 people in Acts 2:40-41 - “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”
2. 5000 men in Acts 4:4 - “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”
3. Multitudes of men and women in Acts 5:14, “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.”
4. A great company of Jewish priests in Acts 6:7, “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” 

However, these all happened inside Jerusalem! Jerusalem certainly enjoyed the rich blessings of the Lord during the church’s first decade, and many souls within her walls did come to salvation during that span of time. But what about the 99.9% of people in the world of their day who did not live in that one city? And what about the other cultures that Jesus specifically told them to reach? 

In many of our conferences, conventions and other church services, the attention is usually centered on our “Jerusalem” which is already largely saved. We have “received power” (the first promise of Acts 1:8) but we have not truly given ourselves to “become witnesses” (the second promise of Acts 1:8) to all people. This second promise is more significant than the first, because the real test of any visitation of God is whether it results in evangelism. 

The Jerusalem church started out in obedience to Acts 1:8; but stopped too soon. They wanted to reach out in Jerusalem – among their own kind – but they did not really want to go to the ends of the earth, or even to Samaria for that matter! They needed a complete reversal in their thinking. Their focus is observed in Acts 1:6, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” They wanted to sit in Jerusalem and have the nations come to them, but Jesus wanted them to leave their comfort zone and minister to the souls in Judea, Samaria, and the rest of the world! 

“And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” - Luke 14:23 

Many Christians tend to disconnect themselves from unsaved souls.  In fact, there are two extremes in this regard, namely:

1. Spiritual Isolation - to have no contact with the lost.
2. Spiritual Immersion - to have no distinction with the lost (to blend into their worldliness). 

However, these extremes were never practiced by Jesus Christ or the Apostle Paul! They were not isolationists nor were they immersionists - they were compelled to impact their world with the gospel and so must we.

• “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.” - Matthew 11:19
• “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.” - 1 Corinthians 9:22-23

So, what if we fail to become the evangelistic church that we are called to be? What if we focus all our attention on just having “church for the churched” because it is more familiar and comfortable? The troubling answer to these questions is found by contrasting Acts 1:8 with Acts 8:1, “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.”  

The ten-year “honeymoon” was shattered with the martyrdom of Stephen and the intense persecution led by Saul of Tarsus – suddenly, disciples were being scattered everywhere. But while things grew worse in Jerusalem, great things were beginning to happen in Judea and even in Samaria. In one swift act of persecution, God’s church was becoming mobilized to fulfil the Great Go Mission. Stephen’s death probably resulted in more obedience to the Great Commission than any other single event since the birth of church and was even a major factor in the conversion of Paul. 

The message here is both awesome and fearful – God loves lost people so much that He will allow things to happen just to reach them. God is not primarily committed to what we call “successful” ministries or even our idea of “great” churches; He is committed to the propagation of the Great Commission. If we will not “GO” then God can use any of these two alternatives to move us from our “comfort zone” – 

1. PERSECUTION, to drive us out, or
2. SUBSTITUTION, to find someone else who will go willingly! 

When the Jerusalem church continued to resist, God eventually switched from persecution to substitution. Here is the firsthand account: “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord.” - Acts 11:19-21 

Antioch was a predominantly Gentile city, and it is inconceivable that the Christians who ended up preaching there should ignore everyone except the Jews who were the minority in that population, assuming that they were the only ones God wanted to save. But that is exactly what they did, because their vision was limited only to the religious culture they already identified with. 

Thank God there was a second group (from Cyprus and Cyrene, not Jerusalem) that followed the will of God and targeted their efforts to reach the Greeks in Antioch – and the hand of the Lord was with them! 

This was a moment of destiny when the church at Antioch was born. It was not just a few transplants from the Jerusalem Jewish subculture, but some sinfully irreverent, biblically illiterate Gentiles who came to know God. This moment is why the Apostolics would soon be known as those who “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) in the first century. 

Jerusalem never did know how to deal with revolutionary revivalists like the Apostle Paul, who continually jumped fences, ignored protocol, and broke tradition to win the lost. That’s why they sent him back to Tarsus to “cool off” when he first appeared in Jerusalem with wild tales of a life- changing encounter with God and wild ideas about evangelizing those pagan Gentiles. And that’s why Jerusalem never got to send out history’s greatest missionary – instead, that honour fell to the church in Antioch because they had a missionary heart. 

“19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you” - 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. 

“Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” - 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (MSG). 

Most churches just want to touch their Jerusalem and leave it at that. The Jerusalem church was richly blessed and doctrinally sound, but God still turned His attention to Antioch because Jerusalem overlooked one of God’s foundation stones – they would not embrace His command to witness to the world! 

Jerusalem held on to their resources and blessings, but Antioch accepted that God had the right to demand of them anything or anyone He wanted to use. They accepted that the Great Commission was at the very TOP of the Lord’s priority list. Today, Great Commission churches continue to defy the status quo. No matter what they achieve they never feel like they have arrived, because there is always one more soul just beyond their borders that needs to hear about Jesus Christ. 

“Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” - Acts 11:25-26 

There are two New Testament church models, the Jerusalem Church model, and the Antioch Church model. We must be one or the other – and the choice is ours. The Antioch church was full of risk-takers, change- agents, and radical revivalists. They reached for everyone and anyone. They embodied Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”  

EVERY PERSON IS EITHER A MISSIONARY OR A MISSION FIELD! 

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” - Matthew 4:19. IF YOU ARE NOT FISHING, THEN YOU ARE NOT FOLLOWING!  

WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT EVANGELISM: 

1. Evangelism should be PERSONALITY-ORIENTED. 

Christians are to BE good news before they SHARE the good news.  

There are many different styles of evangelism:

1. • Confrontational Style – Peter in Acts 2:14-37
   • Intellectual Style – Paul in Acts 17:22-31
   • Testimonial Style – Blind Man in John 9:1-11
   • Invitational Style – Woman at the Well in John 4:6-26
   • Serving Style – Dorcas in Acts 9:36-422.       
2. Evangelism should be PEOPLE-ORIENTED.

An evangelistic “event” tends to rush people, but an evangelistic “process” is patient with people.

      3. Evangelism should be TEAM-ORIENTED.

A person’s coming to God is like a chain with many links; we don’t have to be every link, just one link!

      4. Evangelism should be ETERNITY-ORIENTED.

If one soul is worth more than the entire world, then any person we meet is incredibly valuable to God. 

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” - Colossians 4:5-6

 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh.” - 1 Peter 3:15 

“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” - Matthew 9:37-38

 Do you know what Jesus did immediately after He asked His disciples to “pray for labourers”? He sent THEM out to be labourers! (Matthew 10:5) 

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” - Isaiah 6:8