"THE LORD IS WITH YOU IN EVANGELISM!" 

TEXT:  Matt. 28:16-20                         

The Violin

Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. “Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?” he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions were deeply stirred. “I have no right to keep that to myself,” he exclaimed. “It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it.”

Rom 10:9-15

 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."   12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." 

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,

Who bring glad tidings of good things!" 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years. His mind, wit and work earned him the unofficial title of “the greatest justice since John Marshall.” At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.”

Even though we know the joy of being a Christian, how rarely we share this joy with others

INTRO:       One of the more difficult things for Christians to do is to witness for Christ, to do the work of evangelism.  For many Christians they just ignore this command!  The call of Jesus for us to witness to others was never a suggestion, it was a command!  Many things hinder us in this area, mostly fear!  Often we are afraid of what others will think, or worse, that it won't make any difference if we do share our faith!

God clearly states however that He will be with us in evangelism!  Yet even when we know He is there we still are not sure about it!

PROP. SENT:       The Bible teaches us that God promises to be with us when we witness to others, this means He will make Himself real to us and through us to others!  We have His Word on this!

Evangelism Statistics

Ninety-five percent of all Christians have never won a soul to Christ.
Eighty percent of all Christians do not consistently witness for Christ.
Less than two percent are involved in the ministry of evangelism.
Seventy-one percent do not give toward the financing of the great Commission.

Abilene Christian College did a survey on its evangelism within the Church of Christ. The results are as follows:

• 63% of the leadership, including ministers, deacons and elders, have not led one stranger to Jesus in the last two years through the method of “Go Ye” evangelism.
• 49% of these leaders spend zero time in an average week ministering outside of the church.
• 89% of the leaders have zero time reserved on their list of weekly priorities for going out to evangelize.
• 99% of the leaders believe that every Christian, including leadership, has been commanded to preach the gospel to a lost world.
• 97% of the members believe that if the leadership had a greater conviction and involvement in evangelism, that it would be an example for the church to follow.
• 96% of the leadership believe their churches would have grown faster if they would have been more involved in evangelism.

Because of this, our results in evangelism have been mediocre, at best.

I.      WINNING THE WAR!      28:16-18

A.   Christ's Commitment     28:16

1.   Jesus would not ask His disciples to fight a battle that He hadn't made winnable!!

a.   This was one of the big lessons of the Viet Nam war; don't fight a war unless you intend to win!

b.   Christ would never ask us to do what can't be done!

2.   Christ's commitment to make the war winnable for us was to die and settle the sin issue for us!

3.   He does the hard part, we just have to share the news!

a.   This was the point of this meeting, to give instructions to them for proclaiming the best news since the world began,

that man could have a new beginning, he could be "born again!"

b.   When God proclaimed to Adam and Eve that the wages of sin would be death

 He planned to take His own medicine, to send His Son to die for us!

c.   This is the gift of love ... and life!

4.   One of the great honors when war is raging is the task someone is given to finally announce the end of that war, that peace is now possible, that life would take priority over death ... that enemies were no longer to be hought of as enemies.

a.   This is the message of Jesus!

b.   He secured the peace accord with God the Father by His own death!

Remember the sermon preached by Dan Winkler when he told of the runner who had news of the battle that he took to David, running all night, delivered the message, and then died. Delivering the message is an honor!

c.   And we have been selected to be the messengers or heralds of "PEACE!"

B.   Conviction & Conflict         28:17

1.   As soon as they saw Jesus they did what many of today still do!

a.   They worshipped Him ...

b.   And yet doubt was there too!

2.   The doubt here is not condemned, it is merely reported; after all this news was quite radical!

a.   Like all wars when they first end, the news of peace is sometimes hard to really believe, especially if the war seemed impossible to win!

b.   Jesus certainly recognized the difficulty of faith here!

c.   Certainly there are times when our faith is small but that's ok if we continue to build on it!

  Small faith can become great faith in time!

ILLUS:            Years ago when the Niagara bridge was to be built the task seemed impossible.  It was prior to the great technoLOgies we have today ... how would they start this suspenSION bridge over such a large chasm?  The solution that was accepted and used SUCCESSFULLY is instructional about faith!  The first crossing of the gulf was done by shooting an arrow across with a piece of string attached to it!  This tiny threaD was then removed and a larger string attached, and it was shot across again.  The heavier string was replaced with a type of narrow rope and pulled across.  Each time it reached one  side a larger and large rope was attached and pulled across until finally heavy cables were used and then the great chains that the bridge was to hang from!  Today STANDS one of the great suspension bridges of all time ... started by a small piece of string shot from one side to the other by an arrow!  It is ok for faith to start small as long as we continue to build on it! –  

3.   Jesus understood the difficulties of belief, this news of God's salvation for man was quite remarkable!

a.   Faith grows in time as it experiences God's reality.

b.   God asks only for the faith of a grain of mustard seed to get us doing great things for Him!

4.   Even in the midst of conviction (they worshipped Jesus), conflict of faith existed ... this is often our experience still today!

C.   Commander in Chief!     28:18

1.   To help them realize this task was achievable, unlike their earlier attempts at getting the message out, Jesus emphasizes for them the present reality of Himself as the resurrected Lord!

a.   "All authority in heaven and earth are possessed by Him!"

b.   This is not the weak effeminate Jesus often pictured by artists when they painted Jesus!

c.   This is the Lord of the Universe and beyond!!!

2.   There is no challenge to Christ's authority here or in the heavens!

3.   He is the SUPREME Commander in Chief!

4.   His orders for action carried the weight of the greatest authority ... and the Mission was possible, not mission impossible!

a.   Jesus wasn't looking for weak disciples who were uncertain of their call

or uncertain of their power to effectively witness.

b.   He wasn't calling into existence a church that would sit around and look for having its needs met by a hired few professionals!

c.   The modern concept of church is so unbiblical ... for us to sit and be entertained and inspired by moving sermons only to return home and ignore those who are dying without Christ ... feeling satisfied with having our own needs met, but ignoring those whose greatest need of salvation goes ignored!

ILLUS:            A generation ago. Dr. F.B. Meyer said this about the local Church:  "IT IS URGENTLY NEEDFUL THAT THE CHRISTIAN PEOPLE OF OUR CHARGE SHOULD COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE NOT A COMPANY OF INVALIDS, TO BE WHEELED ABOUT, OR FED BY HAND, COSSETED, NURSED, AND COMFORTED, THE MINISTER BEING THE HEAD PHYSICIAN AND NURSE; BUT A GARRISON IN AN ENEMY’S COUNTRY, EVERY SOLDIER OF WHICH SHOULD HAVE SOME POST OR DUTY, AT WHICH HE SHOULD BE PREPARED TO MAKE ANY SACRIFICE RATHER THAN QUITTING!"  

5.   Jesus is not just a "Santa Claus" in the sky, He is the commander in chief of the most powerful and awesome fighting force in the universe, the church!

6.   We have been given a mission, not a pew to warm, or to just have our needs met ... we are to be ON ACTIVE DUTY!

a.   This is possible because of Jesus' authority!

b.   Unlike a President's power as Commander in Chief which comes to an end at the close of his term of office ... God's never ends!

II.    WITNESSING THE WAY!    28:19-20

A.   Calling the Church     28:19

1.   "Therefore..." indicates that because of Jesus' mission accomplished and the reality of His authority and call we are being asked something!

a.   Christianity WITHOUT demands is NO CHRISTIANITY!

b.   Christianity WITHOUT SERVICE is no Christianity!

2.  Therefore what?

a.   "GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES..."

b.   The call is pretty clear ... we are to be witnesses for Christ!

c.   This is not “THE GREAT SUGGESTION ... IT IS THE GREAT COMMISSION!”

3.   Notice that there were no qualifiers in His statement of purpose for the church!

a.   Didn't say some should go, like paid clergy!

b.   Didn't say only those who are good at speaking should go!

c.   Notice too that He doesn't define a certain territory, but “ALL THE WORLD!”

d.   The extent of the command is quite sweeping!

4.   There is more to being a Christian than just an uplifting worship experience ... there is the work or calling of the church also, evangelism! 

ILLUS:            D.L. MOODY ONE DAY WAS WALKING ALONG A STREET IN CHICAGO WHEN HE NOTICED A MAN STANDING BY HIM­SELF, GOING RIGHT UP TO THE MAN HE ASKED, "SIR, ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?"  THE MAN'S RESPONSE WAS, "WHY DON’T YOU MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!"  MOODY REPLIED, "THIS IS MY BUSINESS!" ... Not just because he was a Minister but because he was a Christian! –

5.   You will note that this calling was for far more than just making converts ... it was for making disciples!

a.   Just getting people saved doesn't fulfill the great commission; we need to disciple them, to teach them!

b.   This is done by teaching by word of mouth and also by example!

6.   As we disciple we baptize them in the name of the FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

7.   In fact ... notice that making disciples is stated first by influence

 or example before verse 20 mentions "teaching them to obey everything!"

8.   One of the greatest tools of discipleship is EXAMPLES!

a.   You don't have to be a gifted speaker!

b.   We need gifted EXAMPLES!

Power of Example:              .

I was reminded of this recently when I came across an interesting item about President Coolidge. Once he invited some friends from Vermont to dine at the White House. They were worried about their table manners, so they decided to do everything their host did. All went well until coffee was served. Coolidge poured his into the saucer. The guests did the same. The President added sugar and cream. So did the visitors. Then Coolidge leaned over and placed his saucer on the floor for the cat.

B.   Calculating the Costs!    28:20a

1.   We are not talking about comfort here ... or hoping that unsaved people will simply walk up to us or attend our church and ask to get saved!

a.   This may happen from time to time ... but we must understand that evangelism is a full time job, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day!

b.   We are supposed to be FISHERS OF MEN, not KEEPERS OF THE AQUARIUM!

c.   Too often we want evangelism to be easy or convenient!

Return the Cross to Golgotha

I simply argue that the cross be raised again
at the center of the marketplace
as well as on the steeple of the church.

I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles;
But on a cross between two thieves: on a town garbage heap;
at a crossroad of politics so cosmopolitan that they had to write
His title in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek.

And at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse and soldiers gamble.
Because that is where He died, and that is what He died about.
And that is where Christ’s men ought to be,
and what church people ought to be about.

2.   It just isn't always going to be easy, the task of evangelism is everyone's task ... and it involves commitment and sacrifice of time and energy!

3.   Teaching others to obey everything Jesus commanded means also that we are endeavoring to be obedient to His commands as well!

a.   This requires discipline!

b.   Certainly it requires obedience!

c.   It requires effort

d.   It requires all the saints’ involvement!

C.   Confidence in Christ!    28:20b

1.   Jesus adds here at the end the encouragement that will help inspire us to try reaching out for Him!

a.   "and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

b.   There is no restriction on God's promise here to believers!

c.   His promise is SURE, and the extent of it is SPECIFIC,  end of the age!

2.   Two things make evangelism a guarantee:

a.   The certainty of Jesus' death and resurrection.

b.   The promise of Jesus' presence with us!

3.   The real confidence we need for witnessing comes from this promise of Jesus ... you are NEVER ALONE WHEN WITNESSING FOR CHRIST, He is present when you are sharing Him!

a.   Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost.

b.   Therefore evangelism is a high priority for His church, it is the fulfill­ment of the mission we have been given by Christ!

CONCLUSION:    Healthy organisms grow and reproduce.

In reproducing, they don't just create life; they nourish it and guide it.

It is not God's plan for us to just "go to church!"

We are to be "the church" and "go to the world" with the Gospel ("good news")!

Our message is that Christ is the "way, the truth, and the life!"

 What makes this call for action potentially successful?

Jesus said, "I am with you always, to the end of the age!"

EVANGELISM WORKS IF WE DO!