1278. What Is Evangelism?

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today on The Daily Platform, we're continuing a four-part series on evangelism. Today's message will be preached by Pastor Tim Richmond of Grace Baptist Church in Queens, New York. I have three questions for you. Three questions. What is evangelism?

What is evangelism today? And what we're going to do, I think what we're going to try to do with these three questions is give you an opportunity to answer them yourselves. And so some of you gave some answers to that question.

I think we had that on Instagram and Facebook. And you can answer that as well. Let me just read a few of the answers that were given to what is evangelism. And then tomorrow, how should I evangelize?

That's going to be a really practical session. And I think what would be really helpful is you just share with the student body some things that the Lord has laid on your heart that way. This is some, the Lord really used this as I shared the Gospel in this way. So share on that.

Take part. And then the last one, why should I evangelize? There are a lot of reasons for us to share the Gospel and we'll just share those things together.

I will read a few of these. Stephen Shelton, what is evangelism? Speaking the Gospel either to yourself or someone else.

I'm going to really, really mess up some of these because this is like people's Instagram handle. So, AsYouWish45, what is evangelism? The spread of the Holy Spirit.

That's great. Carol Frazier, Seeking the Lost. Katie Reed, share the Gospel. I like this one. These all get A, A+.

They all get As. Share the Gospel with people personally walking close with Jesus, using your life to touch others' life and making disciples with the help of the Holy Spirit. A lot of themes in that one. That's great.

And there's several others here. Sharing the good news to people that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that he offers forgiveness. All of these are good answers to the question, what is evangelism? What is evangelism?

Well, I want to look at 2 Corinthians 5 to help us answer that. Each day you also have a little card that has the question on one side. And what I want to do is have you place this card in a specific place each day.

So this question, what is evangelism? You have a little card with a picture frame on the back. What you can do is you can peel off the top of that and I want you to stick that by your mirror. That is not a sticker. You can't peel it off, but thank you for trying. Those of you who have sticker collections are mad at me now.

What is evangelism? And also, I think the cleanup crew would really get mad at me if this was a sticker. But you can tape it there. Tape it to your mirror. Somewhere you will see it in a mirror framework because I want us to see that evangelism is not just something we do.

We've got to look at it like a mirror. It is something that I am. It's part of my being as a Christian. Alright, so let's read 2 Corinthians 5 together. This is verses 20 and 21. Could you read this out loud with me? And then we'll jump right into those first two words. Let's read 2 Corinthians 5 verses 20 and 21 all together. Big choir classroom here. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us.

We pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God, for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Excellent. This is you.

This is who you are. I want to pause for 10 seconds. I don't have too many seconds, but pause for 10 seconds. And I want you to look at this, and I want you to put in here, this picture frame, where you will be in 18 years. 18 years ago was the last time I was in this room.

And I was sitting there. 18 years from then is now. I want you to picture yourself in 18 years. And just start drawing on this picture what it will be like.

I don't know that I pictured myself bald, but there were some pretty clear hints at that point. Picture not just what you'll look like, but your responsibilities. Your occupation.

Maybe your church involvement. Picture yourself with family or not with family. Just take a second. I'm going to do the same thing.

I'm going to picture myself 18 years from now. It's kind of like laps around the track. You run a mile. You guys have run one lap. I've run two.

Sometimes we only get to run two. Are you doing it? Just think. Picture yourself 18 years from now.

What do you got? Did you picture your pets? Who pictured their pets? Good!

Maybe one or two. What did you picture on there? Well, what I want us to understand today, and what I want you to leave with, is to recognize that all of those things you pictured, all of those things, really are subservient to and really are platforms for and foundational towards the big picture of who you are. And so with our session today, we just want to get a big picture, finding yourself actually who you are. Who you are.

Who am I? Well, we are, the text says, ambassadors. Ambassadors. You are ambassadors.

We have two questions that the text answers. The now then kind of points to how you come to view yourself in this way. How do you get this view of yourself as an ambassador? And then the text itself, from then on, really shows who you are. What I'm going to say is a new view of yourself for all of you who are made new in Christ. So, the now then.

How is it that you gained this new view of yourself, of everything fitting into the picture of being the ambassador? And really, the hard thing here is it's really all of chapter 5 leading up to verse 20. And we don't have time for that. But if you look in your text there, if you just see leading up to verse 20, there's all these kind of building on top of each other logical ideas that relate to one another. And you look at verse 17, the first word is therefore. Verse 16, the first word is wherefore. You go back to verse 9, the first word is wherefore. Verse 6, the first word is therefore. And so all of chapter 5 is kind of like these logical progression.

And Paul does this, right? He builds one idea on top of the other, on top of the other, on top of the other. And the climax of it all is that you're an ambassador.

So how do we gain the truth that I am an ambassador for Christ, or how can I really motivate myself forward in that? I really have to just get a brief understanding of what He's done to this point bringing me to that place. And I'm just going to summarize those in words, okay? One word each and we'll just fly through them. Alright, the first one is a new destination, verses 1 through 8. Verse 1 we have, we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. You have something eternal that lives beyond your four laps around the track.

Four laps around the track and then you really have something great. You have a new destination, in fact verse 8 he says, I'm kind of wanting that more than I want this life. It's kind of like your commute, right? You have this, you're all in your commute now to heaven.

Now that you know Christ, it's just a short period of time and some of you have stinky commutes or you think, boy there's just, this is a rough life. And some of you don't have stinky commutes and you have like pleasantness but all of it's just a brief time and then you really gain the glorious presence of Christ for eternity and that motivates us because not only is it the new destination, we have this motivation that when we get there, when we finish our four laps, we'll see him. And so I'm motivated to live for him. And so that's what he's saying there, verses 9 and following, Wherefore we labor that whether we're present or absent, we may be accepted in him. We'll all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

The four laps, I can't live it anyway, I please because when I stop, to the finish line I'm going to see Jesus who brought me there, who died for me. And in fact that motivation is so great that Paul summarizes it, how can he summarize it with an idea that Christ has died for me and he's purchased me and he's placed me in glory. So how can he summarize how that changes me other than it's like creation. You are now a new creation. All old things are passed away, all things become new. And so that's the next kind of logical progression, verses 15 and 18, there's this new creation.

You're new. All these things are of God, verse 18. God has done all of these things and because of that, he leaves us to share on our track, on our commute, about this great person and what he's done for us to the glory of God. And so he gets right into that reconciliation, verses 18 and 19.

Let me read those verses. All these things are of God, this new destination, this new motivation, the judgment seat of Christ, this new creation that Christ is living in you to do these things. All these things are of God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. And not only has he reconciled us, this is all of God, God has done it all. We were alienated to him and he reconciled us by Jesus Christ. He has delegated to us this message. This reconciliation, this message of the Gospel, he has delegated to you and to me. Because of that, because of this new creation that changes the way I am so that I have a message of reconciliation, therefore, to wit, this is what God has done because of all that, verse 20, therefore, now then, some translations will say, therefore, now then, this is who you are.

So evangelism is not what we do, it's who we are, it's a part of our being. And so let's look at who you are now, who you are. This is the new view of you, this is who you are. Verse 20, who are you? Well, there's a title there of who you are. And then there's a message that you give and then a basis for that message. Look at the title, who are you?

You have a new title, this is like top of your resume, it's got to be here. Now then, because of all that God has done, we are ambassadors. Now then, we are ambassadors. The word there has reference to an older brother, an older brother that speaks for the family. Goes to the gate and tells the business of the family, speaks on behalf of the family, it's kind of the family head, that's spilled over into city-states, politics, where you have a person who speaks for the group, speaks the interests of the group, sent to negotiate on someone else's behalf. We have a few folks in our church who work with the UN, United Nations.

There's a delegation that comes to Manhattan from a different country, and this team studies what's going on in the world, and they make proposals of what they will say on the world stage for their country. And the ambassador will take all of that research and will speak on behalf of their country, on behalf of their president, on behalf of their king. Ambassador, that's you, that's really important. Not just because of the position itself, I'm an ambassador, but who are you an ambassador for there? For whom?

Not the US. I'm an ambassador for Christ. This is an honor, this is a high honor.

As you paint your future, all of it subsides under, relates to this being. This is who you are. Who are you now? You're a student, okay? But it all relates to who you are as an ambassador. I'm a student ambassador. I'm a pastor ambassador. All that relates to that calling, that title.

This is the new you in Christ. So for the next 18 days on campus, this is who you are. In the 18 weeks of your summer, this is who you are.

At camp, at work, or maybe you're just going to sail the seas on a yacht your dad bought you. Whatever you are doing doesn't distract from who you are. I am an ambassador. I'm just reading a biography of a lady who was a spy in World War II in France. She would have to change her appearance, change what she did, her occupation. So she's an older lady who's a farmhand and she's a younger lady who's a press reporter for the U.S. But really who she was, her big picture was that she was a spy subverting Nazi interests in France.

And actually was on one of the top hit lists that Hitler was gunning for. Did a great job. Who are you? You may have this label right here, but who you are according to God, according to this text, this summer you're an ambassador.

You're an ambassador. That's the big picture. This title has a message. It comes with a message. Look at it. And what Paul does is he kind of jumps out and he starts doing it.

He gives us an example. This is the way it looks. As though Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ said. And then this is the message itself. Be reconciled to God. You're not right with God. And the actual message itself, the phrases leading up to that message just kind of tells us the way we should share it. But be reconciled to God is the message.

You're a strain. You're not right with God the way you're born. And a lot of, like this is, the world doesn't think this way. Even very secular people have a system of morals of right and wrong.

It may be politically correct, political correctness. It might be Buddhism. It might be Islam.

But in their peer group, they usually have a group of aughts and they feel like they're doing okay with those aughts. Our message goes way against that. That you are alienated from God. You're estranged from God.

We are born that way. And we need a reconciliation. Right now you may not be talking to your roommate because they did something. They totally left the trash all over the ground this morning. Let me reconcile you. Just pick up the trash, be kind to them, and love them. That's reconciliation.

This is it. You're estranged to God. You were born estranged to God. And you need someone to come down and mend the relationship. Jesus did that.

You were born that way. We have a prison in New York City, Rikers Island. Politicians are wanting to close that right now and set up a jail in our backyard.

It's actually two blocks from my house. This is the plan. And a lot of people just don't want prisons at all. But jail, we're going to set up a jail in Tim's backyard. A captive audience.

That'll be great. But Rikers Island, you can actually, this is interesting, you can actually give birth and have a child stay with you in jail there. It's one of the perks. You can be born in prison. This is the way we are born. You and I are born in prison with the sentence of death on us by the decisions our parents made all the way back to Adam and Eve.

And all of us are born that way. And actually, to this day, we continue to walk in that rebellion against God. We are in need of reconciliation, and so Paul just appeals. And look what he says.

This is mind-blowing. He says, this is how you're to present this to that person in their jail cell that's awaiting the sentence of condemnation. And he says, say it like this, as though God pleaded with you, be reconciled. And so it's like as if God came to the prison cell and said, listen, here's a pardon, here's your ticket out of here.

I've paid for it. Be reconciled to God. That's what God's doing in the Gospel.

He's coming to all of these prison cells and he's saying, here's your pardon, here's your pardon. It's as if God did it, and he says, this is what I'm commanding you based on this in Christ's stead. You be reconciled to God. Well, that's what our message is. We're doing that, and as we do that, some may balk at it and say, what's your basis for being able to do that?

How does this work? And so that's verse 21. The basis for this message is the Gospel.

He hath made Jesus, Him, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And so we beg, the word there is beg. God is beseeching, but you are praying, you're begging someone to receive this pardon. We're coming to their jail cell with a full pardon, and they might say, well, how can you offer this to me?

This is how. You were condemned, you're alienated from God, you were condemned, and God sent his son, the prince of this kingdom, and the prince himself paid with his death your death penalty. He went to the electric chair for you. He came to this city, and he died in your place. And he's offering his perfect righteousness to you. Perfect pardon. We will never be righteous, but we are offered the righteousness of Jesus, and we will be draped in his perfect obedience forever. The Father is so willing to give it, the Son is so willing to earn it, the Spirit opens our eyes to wear it. And the amazing thing here is that he leaves it there.

Jesus did it all. Everybody that you meet this summer, they're in a prison cell, unless they've received the pardon. They're in that prison cell.

They're born there. They've lived there to that point, and Satan is bent on giving them Tylenols, giving them things to do, giving them anything to distract them from the fact that they're in prison, and they have a pardon that they can get out of prison. And the only thing that will change that is you. And I just want us to feel the effect of that.

God could have done it any other way. And what he did is he's going to leave the responsibility of this pardon being passed on that Jesus paid for with his blood. The Father loved humanity this much, and then he's going to leave it there on the table, all of these pardons. And he's going to leave the responsibility of sharing that pardon with students at Bob Jones University.

And it's your job. This is who we are. We are those who need to take this pardon and share it.

Take this pardon and share it. This is who you are. You're someone who is going to people in the prison, and you're sharing with them the fact that you're alienated with God, but Jesus died on your behalf, that you could have eternal life with him. This is what God offers to you as a part of who you are. Evangelism, then, is what you are.

I don't know that I would have put on here 18 years ago the pictures that I can put on here now. But I can put on here Jocelyn. Jocelyn was one of the first ladies I met when we moved to Queens from Brooklyn. Our next door neighbor, we had an evangelistic Bible study. Jocelyn, her husband Mark, always hear them through the door there, the wall.

They love watching NBA and arguing. But Jocelyn, we invited her to our home Bible study. Jocelyn comes with her Bible, and she says, Wow, here's the sinner's prayer.

Is this a good prayer to pray? Yeah, Jocelyn, that's a great one. I can see Jocelyn, the first lady I baptized.

I can see her face still going down under the water. I was scared because her husband is a little hot-tempered. Paul, saved from Nazi in Holland by some sweet ladies. But he never knew Jesus until we met him in the diner. And it's going to be done.

I used two examples real quick because those two people's race are done. They're dead. And so as you look out in the next 18 years, by God's grace, may we see faces of people that we felt responsible for. God is sovereign in using means. And you are the means by His Spirit through which this pardon is passed on to others. May this picture be full of folks that you befriended and you shared this pardon with, and God miraculously, supernaturally opened their eyes to this glorious message and eternally they will be saved from the penalty of their sin. Let's pray. Oh Lord, this is such a high calling. I pray by Your grace that we would do what You've made us to be. There's a lot of dads out there that are dads, but they're not doing any dad stuff.

Maybe there's some students here who, they are students but they're not doing a whole lot of student stuff. Lord, You've made us ambassadors. Have we shared? I pray that You would give each person here this summer an opportunity to share this pardon with someone. And that You would use this by Your Spirit to build Your church, we ask. In Jesus' name, Amen. You've been listening to a sermon by Pastor Tim Richmond of Grace Baptist Church in Queens, New York, which is part of the series on evangelism. Listen again tomorrow as we'll hear part three of the series on The Daily Platform.