Evangelism – Page 13 – See you in Heaven

Prayer In Evangelism

“Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live.” Joshua 9:14-15

After Israel had learned that obedience was necessary to experience victory at Jericho (6:1-27), they had another important lesson to learn. Not all of Israel’s enemies wanted to fight them. The Gibeonites were certain they could not defeat Israel, so they pursued peace with them. They approached Israel’s leaders pretending to come from far away to make a peace treaty with them (9:3-13). How did Israel’s leaders respond? “Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live” (9:14-15). Their failure to seek God’s guidance in prayer led them to compromise God’s will.

If we do not pray as individual believers and as a church, we will become more vulnerable to Satan’s attacks (cf. Ephes. 6:10-13, 18). Prayer protects us from the deception and bondage of the devil.

However, when we do pray to God, nothing is impossible with God. We see this in the next chapter of Joshua. When Joshua needed more light to defeat the Amorites, he remembered God’s promise to deliver the Amorites into his hand (10:8) and prayed for the sun and moon to stand still: “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon’” (10:12). God supernaturally stopped the rotation of the earth so Israel could defeat its enemies: “So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies” (10:13).

Never underestimate what God can do through one person who prays (cf. James 5:17-18). As we preach the gospel to a lost world, keep this in mind when you need God to overcome your circumstances (cf. Acts 12:3-12; 13:4-12; Philippians 1:12-19), give you boldness in a fearful situation (cf. Acts 4:29, 31; Ephes. 6:18-20), or grant you favor with others (cf. Acts 1:14; 2:1, 41, 47; Col. 4:3). He still answers the prayer of faith.

Preaching Repentance

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” Luke 3:4-6

When Luke writes that John the Baptist “went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (3:3), he refers to the prophet Isaiah’s beautiful description of John’s ministry (cf. Isaiah 40:3-5) which is compared to a highway builder that prepares “the way” (3:4). Isaiah tells how highways are built: “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth” (3:5-6a; cf. Isaiah 40:3-5). Check with a modern road builder and he will tell you that is exactly how a highway is built: the low spots (“valley”) are filled in, the high spots (“mountain”) are leveled, the “crooked” ones are straightened out, and the “rough” ones are made smooth.

This description of John’s ministry to people is still the way repentance works in the human heart today. If you feel low and worthless, depressed, insignificant, your life is meaningless, you are in a “valley” — then transfer your trust to Christ and He will lift you up: “Every valley shall be filled.” That is where Jesus will meet you. If you feel proud and self-sufficient, able to handle your own affairs, then come down: “Every mountain and hill brought low.” That is where Christ will meet you, and nowhere else. If you are handling things in a “crooked” manner, if you are devious in your business dealings and untrustworthy in your relationships with others, then realize there is only One who can forgive your crooked ways – Jesus. “The crooked places shall be made straight.” That is what John preached: “Repent.” Change your mind about whatever is keeping you from trusting Christ and trust Him for salvation. Christ will meet you right there. If you are given to riding roughshod over people, your life is filled with a lot of rough, tough situations, repent, change your mind and trust Christ to save you; decide to smooth out those places, deal with those things, and Jesus will meet you right there. “And the rough ways smooth.” That is a highway for God to come to you. That was John’s ministry all through his life.

John’s message of repentance is one of preparation: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight” (3:4). John summons the people to be ready for the coming Messiah so “all flesh shall see the salvation of God” in His Messiah (3:6). John is the one preparing the way for the coming King – an important role in ancient times that involved leveling the land and clearing the road. John’s “voice” was to prepare the way for Jesus the Messiah to come to His people so they may believe in Him (3:4a; cf. John 1:7; Acts 19:4).

Likewise, God calls believers today to be His “voices.” God wants to use each of us to prepare the way in our generation. Each generation has a voice, and we are the voice for this time and this place. Our role, like John’s, is temporary, but it is essential. Without the voice, the people will not hear. And if they do not hear, they won’t be able to believe in Jesus for eternal life (cf. Rom. 10:14).

The Ten Commandments and Evangelism

“I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 5:5

To prepare the new generation of Israelites to enter the Promised Land, Moses reviewed the Ten Commandments with them because they provided guidance concerning their relationships with the Lord and one another (5:5-22). These commandments have provided timeless truths for God’s standard of holy living. However, there are many misunderstandings regarding the place of the Ten Commandments in evangelism today. Let’s look at a few of them:

1. The Ten Commandments are not the means of salvation but show the need for salvation. Some people misunderstand that these commandments must be obeyed to get to heaven. But the Bible is clear that the Law (including the Ten Commandments) is to be used in evangelism to show a lost person that they are guilty sinners before a holy God so they will see their need to believe or trust in Christ alone for salvation (cf. Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:19-25).

2. Obeying the Ten Commandments does not take away our sins because our sins must be paid for. Only Jesus’ death on the cross in our place and His resurrection have paid for our sins in full (John 19:30; I Cor. 15:3-6). Therefore, those who believe or trust in Christ alone can be forgiven of all their sins (Acts 10:43; Col. 2:13-14).

3. Christians may think that people who openly disobey God’s commandments need the gospel more than those who appear to obey them. But the truth is, all people need the gospel because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) and are separated from God (Rom. 6:23) no matter how good or bad they may seem to be.

4. Those who seem to obey God’s commandments tend to be the most reluctant people to believe the gospel. The religious leaders of Israel were like this which is why Jesus often directed His most severe condemnation toward them (cf. Matt. 23:14; Mark 12:40). Those who trust in their own morality or righteousness have a more difficult time seeing their need to believe or trust in Christ alone for His gift of salvation (cf. Mark 10:14-25).

5. God wants Christians to be known for promoting Jesus more than the Ten Commandments. Our objective in evangelism is not to help people become more moral, but to help them see their need for Jesus Christ and His righteousness, so they will believe or trust in Him alone to save them from hell and give them eternal life (cf. John 3:1-16; Rom. 3:20-4:5).

(Adapted from EvanTell’s 2014 Evangelism Study Bible, p. 184).

How to reach self-reliant people with the Gospel

“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.’ ” Mark 10:21

After Jesus taught that childlike faith was necessary to enter the kingdom of God (10:15), He encountered a rich religious man who lacked this childlike faith because he trusted his riches instead of Jesus for his kingdom entrance (10:17-24). This man thought he was good enough to enter heaven. What he failed to understand was that only God was that good. If Jesus truly is “good,” (10:17), then He must be God because “no one is good but One, that is, God” (10:18).

Christ sought to show this rich man his need to trust in God (Jesus) who alone is good by using the Law (10:19; cf. Rom. 3:20), but the man proudly said he kept “all these” commandments “from” his “youth” (10:20). He thought he was good enough to earn his way to heaven. Even though this man arrogantly thought his own righteousness was great enough to get him into heaven, we are told that “Jesus…loved him” (10:21a). Christ’s love is not turned away by stubborn arrogance!

Jesus then sought to show this rich man the “one thing” he truly lacked – childlike faith in Christ (10:15) – by confronting him with the call to discipleship – “Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me” (10:21). But because the rich man trusted his riches (10:24), “he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (10:22). This wealthy man loved himself and his possessions more than his neighbor.

Jesus explained to His disciples that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a [sowing] needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (10:25). From a human perspective, this rich man was too big of a camel, too proud to ever become “small” enough to pass through the needle’s eye with a childlike act of faith. Instead of being ready to put child-like faith in Christ alone to save him from his sins (10:15), this rich man was confident of his own morality and goodness.

But Christ assures His disciples (and us), that “with God all things are possible” (10:27). Just as no man could ever push a big gamely camel through the eye of a sewing needle, so no amount of human persuasion could ever bring a self-reliant, rich man to trust in Christ alone for the gift of salvation. But God could do it. Salvation is a miracle. It’s not only a miracle that rich people get saved, but that anyone can get saved. Jesus had skillfully used the call to discipleship to reveal to the rich man that he was not as good as he once thought. Perhaps the rich man would come to grips with his own inability to save himself and see his need to trust in Jesus alone for His gift of everlasting life (10:15; cf. John 3:15-16, 36).

Maybe you know someone who is very wealthy and self-reliant and has no interest in spiritual things. Don’t give up. Trust God to prepare that person’s heart to place his childlike faith in Jesus alone to save him from his sins.

And if you are a person who is wealthy and self-reliant, I believe Jesus would look you in the eye and say to you, “Don’t you understand? I have done the tough part. I did the suffering. I died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead. Now all you have to do is open up your arms and receive this free gift of eternal life with childlike faith in Me.” And I think He might also say, “I know that is hard for proud people to do. I know it’s hard for successful people to do, people who have relied on themselves their whole life. I know it is difficult. But take courage and do the right thing and open up your arms and receive this free gift.” And when you do, Christ will give you His free gift of everlasting life which can never be lost (John 3:16; 10:28-29).

Why is being a Nice Person not enough to get you to Heaven?

I have met many nice people in my lifetime. In fact, they put me to shame with their kindness toward others. Instead of being selfish or judgmental, they are quick to help others regardless of their beliefs. Basically they live by the Golden Rule that Jesus taught – “Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them” (Matt. 7:12). Many of the world’s religions advocate this teaching. But is being a nice person enough to get you to heaven?

God has told us in His Bible that all people have a fundamental problem that separates them from Him. It is called sin.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

No human being is “nice” enough to get to heaven because we all have sinned against God and fall short of His standard for being “nice.”

“For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23a

“Death” in the Bible means separation from God. Sin separates us from God because He is holy, righteous, and perfect. He cannot be around sin. The only way to approach God is on His terms, not ours.

God tells us that there is only one way to receive eternal life (access to heaven) and that is “in” Jesus Christ.

“But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23b

Notice that eternal life is not in being nice or good. It is “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God loved you and me so much that He was willing to come to earth in human flesh (John 1:1, 14-17) and die on the Cross for our sins and come back to life (I Corinthians 15:3-6) so we could have everlasting life simply by believing in Him (John 3:16).

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

No amount of being nice can take away our sins.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6

God looks at the good things we do, such as being nice or good to others, and sees that it is like “filthy rags.” The good things we do are all stained with sin before a holy God. For example, we may be nice to someone with selfish motives such as wanting their approval or wanting something in return from them. God sees our sinful motives even though we or others may not be aware of them.

Being “nice” cannot take away our sins. Only Jesus Christ is qualified as the God-Man to take away our sins (John 1:1, 14-17, 29; 14:6; Acts 4:12; I Timothy 2:3-6). Only Jesus was “nice” or good enough to earn heaven. Believe in Him and God will credit Jesus’ righteousness to your life so He can welcome you into His heaven.

“But to him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” Romans 4:5

Then Jesus will come to live inside of you (Galatians 2:20) through His Holy Spirit (John14:16-17; Romans 8:9) to give you the power to be nice to others as you learn to trust and obey Him (John 15:5; Galatians 5:22-23).

Look and Live

“So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:9

As the people of Israel were on their way to the Promised Land, they complained against God and Moses because they were dissatisfied with the manna He sent them to eat (21:4-5). To discipline them, God sent poisonous snakes among the people, resulting in many physical deaths (21:6). Moses then prayed to the Lord (21:7) and God told Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten when he looks at it, shall live” (21:8). This invitation to look at the bronze serpent was given to “everyone.” How did the people respond? We then read, “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (21:9). One look of faith at this bronze serpent delivered the bitten person from physical death.

Jesus refers to this passage when He talked with Nicodemus (John 3:14). In a similar fashion, all of humanity has been struck down by sin (Rom. 3:23). Sin has sunk its fangs into our spiritual souls and the venom has made its way to our hearts and we are dying in our sins. But God saw our hopelessness and lifted up His Son on the cross to die for our sins (Rom. 5:8). To be born again and experience eternal life, Nicodemus needed simply to “look and live,” just as in Numbers 21 a bitten person had to “look and live.” Jesus explained their “look” as simply believing in Him:

“¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).

Just as the dying Israelites had to look at the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole, so all people who are dying in their sins must look in faith to Jesus who was lifted up on a cross to die for their sins. To Nicodemus, the admonition to look and live would have been both personal and effective. Having fasted, prayed, faithfully attended the synagogue, observed the feasts, and honored the Sabbaths, he was tempted to look at what he had done to give a him a right standing with God. Instead, now he discovered he must simply look to Christ alone for eternal life. He must believe in Him.

Have you been born again by believing in Jesus for His gift of eternal life? It doesn’t matter if you are a child who is nine or an adult who is ninety. It matters not if you are a morally good person or if you have spent more time inside a jail than outside, you must believe or trust in Christ alone to save you. Perhaps you can identify with Nicodemus – you have always believed the way to heaven was by living a good life or by believing in Christ plus something else. But now you understand you were mistaken, and you want to trust Christ alone as your only way to heaven. Again, the promise is “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (3:15). “Look” to Jesus alone in faith and you will “live” forever with Him in heaven when you die.

Urgency in Evangelism

“And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.” Numbers 16:48

After God judged Korah and his followers for rebelling against Moses and Aaron (16:1-40), the children of Israel still refused to submit to God’s will by complaining against Moses and Aaron, accusing them of killing the Lord’s people (16:41). Then the Lord sent a plague which began to kill the Israelites (16:42-45). As the plague spread, Moses instructed Aaron to take a censer and put fire and incense in it and go to the congregation to make atonement for them (16:46). So Aaron “ran into the midst of the assembly” and “put in the incense and made atonement for the people” (16:47). Aaron loved his people so much that he “stood between” those who were already “dead” because of the plague and those still “living” to protect the living from the plague and make atonement for them (16:48a). Because of Aaron’s intercession for the people, “the plague was stopped” (16:48b).

All of us have rebelled against God and deserve death (Rom. 3:23; 6:23a), but Jesus Christ loved us so much that He stood between us and death when He made atonement for our sins on the cross so that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christ has saved us from eternal death!

We can thank Jesus by living for Him now (2 Cor. 5:15) and telling others about His great love for them. Like Aaron, we are to have a sense of urgency (“Aaron ran…”) and take the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection to unsaved people so Christ can save them from eternal death the moment they believe in Him! If we do not go to the lost people in our lives with Jesus’ message of everlasting hope, then who will go to them!?! Let’s be passionate and intentional about rescuing people from an eternity separated from God.

Do All Religions Lead to God?

“I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.” Isaiah 43:11

God created Israel to worship and serve Him alone. He said, “Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior” (43:10-11). Among “all the nations” of the world (43:9), only Israel’s God could deliver His people and know their future and be in control of all things.

We live in a world today that teaches there are many different ways to God. Many people insist that all religions lead to the same God (Universalism). Is this true? The God of the Bible has told us Himself that “besides Me there is no savior” (43:11). If God had said there are many ways to Himself, then, yes, there are many ways to Him. But He has not said that. He says that He alone is the “savior.”

In addition, God became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14, 18), so we can believe what Jesus says about this issue. Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).Jesus did not say that He is “a way…to the Father,” implying that there are many different paths to God. No, He said He is “the way” to the Father. According to Jesus Christ, there are no other ways to God the Father.

You may ask, “What right does Jesus have to make such an exclusive claim?” The Bible affirms that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead”(Romans 1:4). The proof that Jesus rose from the dead was that He was seen alive after His death by over five hundred eyewitnesses (I Corinthians 15:5-8).

The resurrection of Christ is the most attested fact of history. Thomas Arnold authored a three-volume history of Rome and was appointed to Oxford’s Chair of Modern History. Concerning the evidence behind the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he said, “I have been used for years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than that Christ died and rose from the dead” (see EvanTell’s tract, “How Can I Believe in Christ, When I Don’t Even Believe The Bible”).

The early followers of Jesus made it clear that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”(Acts 4:12)other than Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 4:10-11). The Bible, God Himself, and His followers teach that there is only one way to God and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. To believe or teach something else means you must deal with the authority of the Bible and the credibility of Jesus Christ (see EvanTell’s 2014The Evangelism Study Bible, p. 776).

If you have never understood and believed this, listen to what God says in Isaiah 45:22: “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” God the Son, Jesus Christ, now invites you to believe or trust in Him alone to save you from eternal death and give you His free gift of everlasting life. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). When you believed in Jesus, the Bible says you can “know” you have eternal life. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life”(I John 5:13).

How to Reach those Steeped in Tradition

“Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods… answered Jeremiah, saying: ‘As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you!’” Jeremiah 44:15-16

After God declared through Jeremiah that He would punish the Jews who fled to Egypt for refuge instead of to God (44:1-14), those Jews defiantly declared, “We will not listen to you!” (44:16). These men listened to “their wives” who “had burned incense to other gods” in Egypt (44:15) instead of to God. Their idolatrous traditions kept them from hearing and seeing the truth of God’s Word.

How can we effectively reach people with the gospel who are deeply entrenched in religious traditions whose customs and practices keep them from hearing and interpreting the gospel in the way God intended?

1. Take them to the Lord in prayer because only the Holy Spirit can convict them of their sinfulness and their need to believe in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life (John 16:7-11).
2. Express appreciation for their commitment to glorify God by following traditions. Although their traditions may be wrong or unnecessary, they may be very sincere about doing what they think is right.
3. Encourage them to study the Bible for themselves, reading out of the text what it says in comparison to what they were taught about their traditions (cf. John 5:39).
4. Ask the Lord to bring one or two people who were saved out of the same tradition who can effectively share their testimonies with them (cf. Acts 18:24-28).
5. Build them up with the hope that God could use them to reach others from the same tradition. They do not have to abandon their loved ones, but they can return to them with the life-changing message of the gospel of grace (cf. John 1:40-51)!

(Adapted from EvanTell’s 2014 The Evangelism Study Bible, p. 864).

How to Witness to those who do not Believe the Bible

I was recently asked the question, “How do you tell a person about Jesus if he/she does not believe in the Bible?”

A mentor of mine, Larry Moyer, has effectively witnessed to many non-Christians who did not believe the Bible. He taught me the following:

I would recommend you start with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The truth about Jesus does not stand or fall with the Bible. It stands or falls with Jesus’ resurrection. Even if there was no Bible, every person on earth would still have to deal with the Person of Jesus Christ because of His empty tomb. So challenge the non-Christian by asking, “Has anyone disproved Jesus’ empty tomb?” The empty tomb is based upon well documented historical facts apart from the Bible. Challenge them to read former skeptics’ books containing evidence that persuaded them to believe in Jesus such as Josh McDowell’s “Evidence That Demands A Verdict,” or “The Resurrection Factor,” and Lee Strobel’s “The Case For Christ,” or “The Case For Easter.” No one has succeeded in proving that Jesus did not rise from the dead. If Jesus did rise from the dead (and He did), then they must deal with what Jesus said in the Bible.

For example, many skeptics have a difficult time believing the supernatural events of the Old Testament such as the creation of the first man and woman, Noah and the worldwide flood, or Jonah and the great fish. Jesus taught that such events were historically true (Matthew 12:39-41; 19:4-5; 24:37-38; Mark 10:6-7; Luke 11:29-32; 17:26-27). Have them start with the Gospel of John which is written to non-Christians to tell them how to get to heaven (John 20:31). When they eventually believe in Christ for everlasting life (John 3:15-16), His Holy Spirit will help them understand and apply the Bible to their life (John 14:26; 16:7-14; I John 2:20-21, 27).