165-Leading the Lost to Christ with Darrel Davis

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. What's the most exciting thing you've ever experienced in life?

Hi, Alex McFarland here. I often meet people that have seen things and done things. Maybe they've been to Alaska and seen the Northern Lights, or I talked to some people that walked a section of the Great Wall of China, or been to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I mean, to be sure, whether it's the Grand Canyon in the western part of America, or to be to the equator, or travel the world, I mean, it's very exciting. But I'm going to talk about what I believe is the most exciting thing I've ever experienced. And I've been privileged, been blessed by God to experience so many wonderful things in life, and certainly being married to my wife Angie for 36 years has been one of them.

I've met so many of my heroes, from Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys to Carole Shelby, you name it. I've had a lot of goals, and the Lord has blessed me to realize so many of those goals. But I would submit to you the most exciting thing that I ever experienced, and I prayed for it as a young Christian. I was so introverted and very shy, but I just wanted to lead a soul to Christ.

I realized that the Great Commission is every Christian's privilege and responsibility. And I had tried to share the gospel a little bit, and I just was so reluctant and inept. And yet, one day I was at a gas station, and some people, a guy and a girl, asked me directions.

And this just goes to show the power of being obedient. I'm not sharing this to talk about myself necessarily, but it was a guy and a girl, and they asked directions. And we were making some chitchat while I was putting gas in a vehicle. And I asked them if they knew Jesus Christ as their Savior. And I knew that the way they responded was a little awkward.

And I tried in my own clunky little way, began to try to share the gospel. So the guy looked at me, and he said, We don't really have time to hear this. We've rented an apartment, we're moving in together. We're going to live together, right? And the girl all of a sudden blurted out, she goes, We're supposed to move in together, but I've never been comfortable about it. And now that you bring up God, I have to say, I don't want to move in with this guy. Well, the guy glared at me, like, Thanks a lot, buddy. Anyway, she looked at me, they were probably in their early 20s, and I said, You know, we're all sinners, but Christ died and rose again, and if we put our faith in Jesus, He'll forgive us. And she kind of whispered, I need to get right with God in my life. And the guy, suddenly his apparent anger began to abate, and he said, I need to get right with God too.

And on a rainy Virginia day, at a gas station, these two guys, a guy and a girl, these two young adults, and they weren't much older than me, I think I was 24 at that point, they might have been 22, but they prayed to accept Christ. And I remember I asked them, I said, If I could explain the gospel, would you like to accept Christ today? And they said, Yes. And I was like, Really?

Okay. And in my heart and my mind, I'm going, Lord help me, what do I say, what do I say? But they accepted Christ, and we prayed together, and they both, their very countenance had changed. And I'll never forget getting in the car to drive away, I was so excited because I felt like finally my life counted for something that I had been able to share the gospel, and someone got saved. Charles Spurgeon, the great British preacher, more than a century ago said, To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in the world.

And I would agree. And so I want to talk to you about the thrill, the joy, which just so happens to be the call of every believer, that we are to witness for the gospel, and in our life, do what we can to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ. And of course, Paul wrote that one sows and one waters, but God gives the increase. And sometimes you can share the gospel, and people will get saved.

You'll be amazed if you ask people, if I could explain in the next two minutes, if I could explain how you can know that you're right with God and you have Jesus Christ in your life, would you want to hear that? Well, a LifeWay study shows that of unchurched Americans, 86%, 86% say, quote, I would be willing for a Christian to explain to me what it means to be a Christian, even if we disagreed. I mean, that's nearly nine out of ten people. I mean, those are great odds.

I'll take that, right? So 86% of unchurched Americans are essentially saying, I'd be willing to hear a Christian explain Christianity, even if we disagreed. So sometimes people will pray to accept Christ, and other times not.

Maybe they are moved by the Spirit of God later on. But 1 Corinthians 3, 6 through 8 says this, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now, listen to this from Paul.

1 Corinthians 3. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are now God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building.

So you've got a planter, a waterer, and a harvester. Now, on the road in our conferences and events, we have seen, by God's grace, a lot of harvest. We've seen a lot of people walk the aisle, and those of you who pray for me and our team, those of you who financially support, you share in those rewards. You are a part of the harvest. But I will tell you, up in heaven, the rewards are going to be to the one who planted and watered.

Now, I've seen people respond, and I give God the glory. But, you know, I think about maybe even the greater reward is the person who first planted the seed, and first put in someone's mind to think about the state of their soul. How about the people unknown, except only to God, who've interceded, prayed, by name, for people to become believers. They've watered the seed such that the Holy Spirit is working and the seed germinates. And then finally one day they come and they accept Christ and they're born again.

But I will tell you, Spurgeon was right. It is the greatest thrill in the world to see a soul saved. The great evangelist in colonial America, George Whitfield, he said, God forbid that I should travel with anybody a quarter hour without speaking to them about Christ.

Even fifteen minutes. We've got to bring up the Lord, salvation, and the state of one's soul. Stay tuned.

We've got a brief break. We're going to come back and visit with the great evangelist, Daryl Davis, longtime friend and colleague, probably witnessing to more people one-on-one than anybody I know. Stay tuned. We'll talk with Daryl Davis about how to evangelize here in the 21st century. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Do you know what is one of the most important topics in American life?

The state of the family. Hi, Alex McFarland here. I want to invite you to our very, very special speaker series, Conversations That Matter, to be held in America's number one resort city, Myrtle Beach. Gary Chapman, the man that wrote The Five Love Languages, one of the biggest selling Christian books of all time. Dr. Chapman will be speaking on relationships, family, marriage.

Oh, my. It's June 15, 7 p.m. at the Greg Rolls Legacy Theater in North Myrtle Beach. Visit Alex McFarland dot com for information and tickets. That's Alex McFarland dot com.

June 15. Here, Dr. Gary Chapman, the man who has saved more marriages than probably any other author. There will also be open mic question and answer June 15 as we hear Dr. Gary Chapman. He's been called trusted, truthful and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show.

Welcome back to the program. Evangelism is the subject today, something very near and dear to my heart. And I've got with me now my longtime friend and colleague, Reverend Daryl Davis, of Giving Others Eternity Ministries. Really, I don't think I know another individual evangelist that has probably done more personal outreach, sharing the gospel throughout America, but internationally.

He's on the road now headed to an event that we'll hear about. But if you want to learn about evangelism or you want your church to become equipped at sharing the gospel, honestly, Daryl Davis is probably the preeminent trainer that we've worked with. So it's an honor to converse with him. But, Daryl, thanks for making time to talk with us just a little bit about that assignment that the church has been given, which is evangelization. Thank you, Alex.

I appreciate the opportunity. Yes, it is true that the Great Commission and the call to go share the gospel into all the world is the task of the church. And as individuals, as believers, it's our task. It's not just the task of the professionals, the pastors, the missionaries. No, it's the task of every believer.

I believe that's what the Scripture teaches. Well, and we are the beneficiaries of somebody that had an evangelistic heart, and thank God for that. I want to talk about some of the basics of evangelism, but I know you're en route to Maryland for one of the multiple outreaches you do throughout the year. Tell us about that.

Give us your website, please. Sure. Well, we'll be heading up to Ocean City, Maryland, June the 8th through the 13th. I'll be joining a group of guys that will be out on the boardwalk.

We're not just going to be out there catching rays. We're going to be out there to share the gospel to win souls. And so we go there every year during this particular week, second week in June, because that is the primary week that a lot of high school students show up. They're finished with school.

They may have graduated. And so they come to the beach to party, to have a good time, and we get the opportunity to meet them where they are and share the gospel. You know, I'm reminded of the story that Jesus gave about the servant that he sent out into the highways and the hedges to compel people to come in. And so this kind of ministry is just that. We go to the highways, the hedges where people are to compel them to come to Christ. And our ministry website is www.goeministries.org, if you want to know more information about what we do. G-O-E, as in giving others eternity.

That's right. G-O-E Ministries, I-E-S, dot org. You know, evangelism is something that I think most people probably think of Billy Graham or somebody. But every individual church is called to make disciples.

So let me ask you this. What are some of the things that must be conveyed when sharing the gospel? I think a lot of people probably know John 3.16, For God so loved the world.

But when you're sharing Jesus, how to be saved, what are some of the core realities that must be conveyed? Well, I think first we need to help people understand that God has a plan and a purpose for them, and that is for them to find life and to have it in abundance. You know, Jesus talked about that in John chapter 10.

He talked about the thief came to steal, kill, and destroy. But I've come that they might have life and have it in abundance. The problem is we don't have it in abundance.

Why? Because the Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So we have this problem. Our sin separates us from God. It keeps us from having a relationship with God.

And the bad news about the problem is that problem comes with a penalty. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. And so because we've sinned, we deserve that punishment. We deserve to be separated from God. There's a paraphrase of Romans 6.23 that I think is really good. Work all your life for sin and your paycheck is death. And so that's what we deserve.

Most people understand that illustration. But God has made a provision so that we would not have to experience that penalty. And that is His Son Jesus. The Bible says that even though the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is everlasting life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so God provided a way for us to be forgiven by putting the wrath of God on His Son instead of on us. And so Jesus took our sin on the cross. And when we repent and put our faith in Him and make a personal response, He's promised to give us eternal life and to forgive us of all of our sins so that we can have that relationship with God. So those are the basics of the gospel that we need to communicate. And, you know, Paul wrote, you know, one sows, one waters, but God gives the increase. When I was in college at Liberty, I was very blessed at Darryl. My evangelism professor was Bill Bright of Campus Crusade.

And he wrote this wonderful book, which I highly recommend, called Witnessing Without Fear. And sometimes a person accepts Christ. Many times I've asked people, would you like, right now today, would you like to make sure of where you stand with the Lord? And sometimes people say, yes, I want to pray.

Other times people say, let me think about it a while. Bill Bright, my professor, he said, and this is a quote, Success in witnessing is sharing Jesus in the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, but leaving the results up to God. So here's my question. If we share the gospel, and maybe the person doesn't accept Christ right here on the spot, but there's a seed sown, or as Greg Kochel says, I put a stone in their shoe. I mean, is that obedience?

I think, do we have the pressure that we feel like we have to close the deal every time? Or is it still fruitful obedience just to nudge them along? Well, that certainly is successful, according to the gospel. None of us can save a single soul, but we can share the message that saves souls. And so if we have communicated the gospel, we've done what God's called us to do.

That's our act of obedience, you know, and we leave the rest to Him. I've had dozens and dozens of conversations that have never resulted in someone trusting Christ. But then God's blessed me every now and then to see someone come to faith in Christ.

And it's all because the Holy Spirit is at work and drawing them to Jesus. You know, I kind of look at it like this, like links in a chain. And so the link that you share, your seed might be the very first link in the chain, it might be in the middle of the chain, or it might be right there at the hook, which is the end where they trust Christ. And so faithful obedience to sharing is what we're called to do, and let God do the rest. Is there a time in a conversation, though, when you can sort of tell that the person is ready? And it's not contrived, it's not manufactured, it's completely them and God. But you, as a Christian, you kind of know that they're ready, and it's appropriate to sort of nudge them toward making a decision.

Absolutely. I think you'll be able to tell in a lot of ways. First of all, you can look at their body language.

Sometimes when you witness to people and they become under conviction by the Holy Spirit, you'll see a change in their continents. They'll kind of look down instead of look straight at you. You can usually tell because the Holy Spirit is leading in your heart as well as in their heart. So you can tell by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

And there's other signs that you can see, yes, that person is to that point where they're ready to embrace Christ. So you've just got to, through experience, got to learn what to look for. And what a great experience it is, because you know my story. I was the most nervous, awkward, clunky, the last guy in the world that could learn how to be a soul winner. But I got saved when I was in college. I knew all my buddies were lost, and I just had to do something.

And I still feel very inadequate. But friends, we're talking with Reverend Darrell Davis of Giving Other Eternity Ministries. Folks, if you will get on this adventure called Being a Witness for Christ, you will be blessed.

Absolutely. And I appreciate Alex and his heart for evangelism and having me on to be able to share a few insights. The biggest thing, you know, when I was at my Friday morning Bible study this week, we'd meet with a group of men, 40 to 60 men, every week.

And many of them are very open to sharing the gospel. But one of the things that came to my mind is the leader asked a question, what can you do to overcome fear in witnessing or in sharing the gospel? And what came to my mind is this, the only thing you can do to overcome fear in witnessing is to witness more. There's no shortcut, you know, there's no easy way to do it. You just have to do it. You just have to put yourself in a position where you do it. And you're talking about being a nervous witness. I'm an introvert, you know, and most people don't think of introverts as being the kind of people that can do this.

But introverts tend to have more detailed conversations. And so you've just got to do it. Even Paul, at the end of Ephesians, asked the Ephesian believers to pray that he would have boldness, that when he opened his mouth, he would share the gospel. So if Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, had to pray for boldness, what makes us think that we don't have to? Indeed, indeed.

Well, we're almost out of time in this particular segment, but you're headed to Ocean City, Maryland, leading a team. How may we be in prayer for you? Well, just pray for the conversations that we have out there on the boardwalk. You know, it's usually a pretty easy outreach.

We do get some pushback sometimes. But a lot of these young people have not been exposed to the gospel. We run up with a lot that are from a Catholic background or who have gone to church, but they may not have understood the gospel. So pray for all the conversations that we have. We hand out gospel tracts. We do a ministry with what's called a sketchboard, where we draw out the message. And people hang around and listen, and so we talk to those people afterwards. So just pray that God will open up some hearts, and we'll see some lives change. Indeed.

Well, we've got to take a break, folks. Stay tuned. We're going to come back, talk more about the basics of evangelism and how you and your church can be a witness for Christ. Many thanks in this particular segment for Reverend Darrell Davis of Giving Other Eternity Ministries. Stay tuned.

We're back after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Over the last several decades, it's been my joy to travel the world talking with children, teens, adults, people of all ages about the questions they have related to God, the Bible, Christianity, and how to know Jesus personally.

Hi, Alex McFarland. I want to make you aware of my book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. You know, we interviewed hundreds of children and parents and families to find out the questions that children and people of all ages are longing to find answers for. In the book, we've got practical, biblical, real-life answers that they have about how to be a Christian in this modern world.

My book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, you can find it wherever you buy books or at resources.afa.net. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. We're talking about evangelism in the 21st century. And Daryl Davis, by the way, a great friend and longtime colleague and really is a great, not only a great evangelist.

God has used him to lead a lot of people to Christ, but a great trainer if your church wants to learn more about how to do what churches are supposed to do. Evangelize lost people. We are to present, explain, and defend. And before we resume our topic on evangelism, let me say a great thank you to those who pray and support and who make it possible for us to do what we're doing. You know, we have a growing staff of full-time, part-time, 15 people now, and events, publishing, broadcasting.

We're distributing literature. Even as you're hearing this broadcast, I am on the road to Montana for the first of seven summer youth camps where last summer at this one particular camp we had 36 teens pray to accept Christ, and over 168 total. And our ministry, yes, we are about apologetics and biblical worldview, but we are all about implementing it and applying it. And as John Wesley said, the great founder of the Methodist movement, he said, we have nothing to do but the saving of souls.

Charles Spurgeon said, every Christian is either a witness or an imposter. So we are to take seriously this thing about telling lost people how they can be saved. And by the way, please do pray. You know, as Paul said, there are goers and there are senders, and there are those that sow and harvest and those that water. Your prayers and your financial support enable us not only to evangelize but to equip and train others.

We've got a number of things going on this summer that God is using. We do need financial help, really in a big way. It's about $50,000 a month to run all that we're doing, and it is a walk of faith, I assure you. And so if you would, consider going on alexmcfarland.com and donating online. We are deeply grateful for your prayers and support, which are vital to this growing work. And then take a look at the calendar. My travel schedule, we've got the Billy Graham Training Center in western North Carolina, the Cove.

We've got the Conversations That Matter speaker series with Dr. Gary Chapman of the Five Love Languages and Charlie Kirk and so much more. And on and on we go. We give God the glory. And we are committed, as I hope you are, to living out and contributing to the fulfillment of Christ's great commission.

So before the break, we were talking about watering and sowing. And I'm going to give you some principles. And that's why I would encourage you to consider listening and re-listening to this program, because really there are some things that really must be conveyed in the sharing of the Good News Gospel. Now, apologetics is defending the faith, giving an answer and a reason and a defense, and we are all about that. God has allowed us to speak in hundreds and hundreds of locations, do thousands of radio broadcasts, publish 20 original, nationally released books. We give God the glory. But it all comes back to that simple gospel message. Man's condition, sin's result, God's provision, and God's offer and God's promise.

Okay, what is the condition of every human apart from Christ? Romans 3.23 says, All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And I think a lot of people really don't take sin seriously. But sin is that wedge that separates us from God. And sin is that reality in our life that only Jesus can solve. And sin will be our destruction in this life and the next, apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ.

So the human condition? Sin. Sin's result? Well, Romans 6.23 says, The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so one modern translation says, If the job you work is your life without Christ, your paycheck will be death.

How sad it would be if the story ended there. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And what is God's provision? Romans 5.8. God demonstrated his love, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The fact that Jesus lived and rose again is proof, proof positive, that yes, Jesus loves you, and you're valuable to God. And God's offer and promise for whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10.13. So we have sin? Romans 3.23. The result? Romans 6.23.

The remedy? Romans 5.8. And the response is Romans 10.13. That if we call upon the Lord, he will save us. 1 Corinthians 15.3 says this, Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

Isn't that amazing? And so we don't have to stay lost. We don't have to be in hopeless despair. We can know the Lord. So let me for just a moment share some truths, some key facts that I think people today are longing to know. I've got a friend that was telling me about, he just talked to a woman about God, and she said that she had just gotten baptized. And he said, well, tell me about how you were saved. And she couldn't explain it. And he asked that question, if you died and stood before God, and God said, why should I let you into heaven, what would you say? And she said she didn't know.

Isn't that amazing? Church member, religious pedigree, water baptized, and yet didn't know how to be born again. So some key truths. Well, Jesus said that people must be born again, born from above, spiritually born, regenerated.

How do you do that? You admit your sin, you put your faith in Jesus, you ask him. That's one thing. Jesus has promised to hear you. If you pray and you ask and you say, dear Lord, I believe in you, please wash my sin away, he will save you. So we take God at his word. But here are some key truths that people really need to know. Number one, that God is good. God loves us unconditionally.

He really does. God wants to be our Father, our Comforter, our Guide, who never leaves us or forsakes us, but sin has separated us from God. And the sin issue cannot be paid off with money, eradicated through effort. It can only be resolved through Jesus. And people need to know that God desires to have an intimate relationship with us, and he will reveal himself when we seek him. People have asked me, you know, will God treat me fairly? No, you really, you don't want fairness and justice, because if we got what we deserved, it would be judgment and condemnation. God will deal with us in grace if we call out and put our faith in him in this world while there is time. There is no second chance after death. People need to know that God's word is truth, and the blood of Jesus Christ is all sufficient, the only way for sin to be cleansed.

And people need to know this, as we're regrettably almost out of time. God is true to his word. By the way, that's a promise and a warning. God is true to his word. And the very same word that promises forgiveness for those who turn to Christ, that same Bible promises warning for those that reject Jesus Christ and leave this world without him. And so God is not bound by time, constrained by our mistakes.

He will forgive you, but you must ask. And so let me encourage you to do that today. Jesus is as close by as a prayer. And if you need to come to Christ, or come back to Christ, you can do that today.

And I certainly hope that you will. If we can help you in any way, in your walk, your witness, becoming equipped to evangelize, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at alexmcfarland.com. In the meantime, let's do what Christ assigned his church to do, and tell the world of the Savior. Alex McFarland Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ, and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmcfarland.com. You may also reach us by calling 1-877-Yes-God-1. That's 1-877-Y-E-S-G-O-D 1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of The Alex McFarland Show.