2009-10-14

Evangelism 101: Part 01 - First Things First…

“1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

John 3:1 – 8
The very first thing right off the bat that every Christian needs to know is that ‘truly accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior’ is a Fruit of the Spirit. This is of the utmost importance to realize, as I have seen many friends and family beat themselves up over the fact that someone died and didn’t know Christ whom they were witnessing too. You should not do that; you need to realize that you are only an instrument that God the Father has chosen to use to bring people to Christ. It is not by man’s will or decision that man is Born Again; it is an EXCLUSIVE work of the person of the Holy Spirit in both the Evangelist and the Spiritual Dead. Let us to Ezekiel for further examination of this…

“1The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.””

Ezekiel 37:1 - 14
Ezekiel tells us that the only way for us to live is by God putting His Spirit into us, and he further tells us that only the living will be placed in the Kingdom of God (looking at verse 14 in light of John 3:3). Since God had chosen to condescend and use us to bring His sheep to Himself, as the tool or instrument we need to communicate with God to know what to do. So before doing absolutely anything we need to devote ourselves to both Prayer and Devouring of God’s Word. Notice in Ezekiel that Ezekiel is in conversation with and being shown something by God, then he prophesizes God’s very Word to God’s DOA Elect, and through both the prayers to (communication with) God and the preaching of His Word (the Gospel) the Spirit works, to both guide the Evangelist and the Spiritual Dead.

Things Needed to be Done for Evangelism

1. Devoted Prayer to God for His Will and the Individual Sinner in Question (or people you meet in General)
2. Knowing and being familiar with and regular reading of God’s Word

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