Soul Winning-Part A

We might say this, evangelism is God's work. Yes, He uses people. He uses their words, their lifestyles, their bold proclamation. But ultimately, it's the Lord who does the work. And welcome to Connect with Skip Weekend Edition. And as we continue our series Church, Who Needs It?, Skip points out that when it comes to winning souls for Christ, we need to be clear about whose job that is.

Since 1995, the number of born-again believers who feel they have the gift of evangelism has dropped from 4% to about 1%. Skip explains that evangelism isn't just the job of gifted evangelists. It's something that we've all been called to participate in. So are you ready for that?

We'll talk about how you can be in just a moment. But first, we have a great resource from Levi Lesko to offer you this month at connectwithskip.com. The year was 1962, and the United States was behind in the space race. Boldly, President Kennedy threw down a strong claim. I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. Three, two, one, zero, and liftoff. When JFK made this challenge, America had little space experience.

Here's Levi Lesko with some background. The most incredible thing that mankind's ever done. The late President Kennedy makes this outrageous goal. We're going to go to the moon, and not only that, we're going to do it in the next 10 years, and it's going to end in safety when the man comes safely back home.

I mean, what an incredible thing to say when all of our space experience at that moment amounted to 15 minutes in space. The Last Supper on the Moon is an epic new hardcover book by Levi Lesko, and it is our resource offer this month. Receive your copy when you give a gift of $35 or more to support this program. Just go to connectwithskipp.com or call 1-800-922-1888.

That's connectwithskipp.com or 1-800-922-1888. We continue today in Acts Chapter 2 with this message entitled, Soul Winning Part 1. So let's join Skip Heisig as he starts with a brief book review. Here's a book that I bought years ago by Charles Haddon Sproul, and it's called, The Soul Winner, and I have a picture of that book up on the screen. This is actually a picture of the book that I purchased in 1974.

That's when I bought it. I was a year old in the Lord, and the book is a great book, but also the picture is a great picture, and I've often been stirred by just that image on the front of this man with that chiseled featured face extending his arms, sowing seed in the hopes that he's going to reap a harvest, and so I would look at this and often place myself in this picture. We're called to do that, or my wife in this picture as well.

I've often thought of her in this place. There you go. And then my son, he's doing the work of evangelism. So the idea is put your picture there. You are a soul winner.

That's what I want to talk to you about today is the message and bearing forth that message. George Sweeting, who was the superintendent of Moody Bible Institute, tells a great story, a true story. There was a man named John Currier who was sentenced for life imprisonment because of a murder he committed.

This is back in 1949. So he went to prison. After a while, he was paroled to a work farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee, where he was working hard labor.

But in 1968, his sentence was terminated. He was a free man. A letter was sent to him. He never got the letter. Nobody ever told him. He kept working on the farm for 10 more laborious years till finally some parole officer got wind of the story and told him the good news.

You're a free man. So George Sweeting asked this every time he tells the story. Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message, the most important message of your life, if year after year the urgent message was never delivered?

Today I want to talk to you about fishing or soul winning. How did the early church feel about giving out the most important message ever? What did they do with the letter that God sent to mankind about their freedom because of the cross of Christ? And that's where Acts chapter 2 takes us this morning. We've seen a pretty comprehensive picture of the early church so far. We've understood that they were a learning church, right? They devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine. They were a caring church that continued steadfastly in fellowship.

This is all Acts 2 42. They were not only a caring church but they were a Christ-centered church. They devoted themselves or continued steadfastly in breaking bread and in prayer. We also saw that they were a generous church.

Last week we considered how this group gave of their time and their talent and their treasure. But with all of that, if we were to stop right there, we have an incomplete picture of the church. Because so far all we have been told is about their interior life or what they do when they gather together by themselves.

We're told nothing of what or how they're related to the outside world, their exterior life. And verse 47 clears that up. The very last verse of chapter 2, it says they were praising God and having favor with all the people, and here's the verse we will center on this last sentence, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Now that balances it out. Without verse 47, we have the wrong impression. Without verse 47, we might think they're only interested in Bible study and only interested in fellowship and hanging out with each other. But it's not till verse 47 where we realize, no, they had a relationship with the outside world and they were interested in evangelism as well. That is hinted at in this verse. It is expanded upon throughout the book of Acts.

Here's a sampling of verses. Acts 4 verse 33, and with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Acts 5 42, and daily in the temple and in every house they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Acts chapter 8, those who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.

That's just a sampling. So we discover, put it all together, this group of people wasn't just a worshiping community, they were a witnessing community. It wasn't just about praise but proclamation. They understood that they were called out of the world, ekklesia, that's what church means, but they were also apostolons, sent out back to the world. So in a dual sense, we get called out of the world and equipped, only to go back into the world for evangelism. So we might say that the early church were saved souls eagerly wanting to see more souls saved.

That is a complete picture. But look at verse 47, for that is where we're going to spend our remaining time this morning. Verse 47, and especially that final sentence of the chapter, gives us three characteristics of the evangelism of the early church.

Here's number one. They saw it as a divine work. It was a divine work. Notice it says the Lord added. The Lord added to the church daily. Go back to verse 41.

I want you to notice a comparison. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. Notice it's put in the passive voice, were added to them. It's not until verse 47 that we're introduced to the active agent doing the adding. The Lord added to the church daily. So we might say this, evangelism is God's work. Yes, he uses people. He uses their words, their lifestyles, their bold proclamation, but ultimately it's the Lord who does the work. And perhaps this is no more completely stated than in Romans chapter 8 verse 30, where it reads, Moreover whom he predestined, these he also called. And whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified.

So you have in one verse this beautiful panorama of salvation from predestination that happened somewhere in times past before the foundation of the world to glorification which will happen in the future. So then evangelism is a cooperation between heaven and earth, between God and people. God operates and we operate.

And you put it together, we cooperate. That's evangelism. I put it this way. Evangelism is the intersection of divine predestination and human volition.

Now I'm going to say that again and explain it. Evangelism is the intersection between divine predestination and human volition. Question. Should we invite people to Christ? Should we ask people to receive Jesus Christ?

Well, depending on who you ask, you'll get different answers. The ardent, strict Calvinist would say no. I had a conversation with a young man downtown a few weeks back who was such an ardent individual. We had a great conversation, but I talked about receiving Christ and he squinted his eyes and he said, I wouldn't use that word. I said, what word? He said, receive Christ.

I don't think that's accurate. He said it puts too much of the onus and responsibility on the human receiving rather than on the sovereign Lord who's doing the saving. So I said, oh, I get it. You have a problem with the apostle John. And he said, what? I said, yeah, it was John in John chapter 1 verse 12 who wrote, for as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the children of God to those who believe in his name. That's what he said. You got a problem with him. True story. I was talking to Billy Graham.

This is years ago. We were at his home one evening and I was asking him questions about his crusades and especially about a crusade in London with some of the famous preachers that I love to read, like Martin Lloyd-Jones. He said, let me tell you a story about that. When we were there for our crusade and we were trying to get all the churches involved years ago, Dr. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, who pastored Westminster Chapel, I had a meal with him and I said, Dr. Jones, can I count on your involvement in our crusade? And Dr. Lloyd-Jones says, well, perhaps. I won't do that.

It just sort of takes away from it. Anyway, he said, Dr. Graham, you have our support under one condition and the condition is is that you do not publicly call people forward at an altar call to receive Christ. Dr. Graham said, well, I can't promise you that. And Dr. Jones said, then I cannot be involved. And that's because of this idea that the sovereignty of God may not be calling a person to Christ through that means.

But Dr. J.I. Packer was correct in his little book called Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God when he writes, it is a matter not merely of informing but also of inviting people to receive Christ. I agree with him.

And Paul would agree with him. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5 11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. We persuade them. We talk to them. We invite them.

We get them to that place where are you ready now to receive them? We persuade men. Probably the altar call was popularized by Dwight L. Moody.

He's probably the first guy, though others had done it, who made it popular. Dr. Moody would give a crusade or a campaign or even a church would call people forward to receive Christ. Well, after one of his meetings, a woman came up to him and said, Mr. Moody, I don't like your method of evangelism. And he said to her, you know, I've never really liked it all that much either. So tell me, dear woman, what's your method? And she said, well, I don't have a method. And he smiled and said, then I like the way I do it better than the way you don't do it.

He did it. Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Now, what are the forms of evangelism?

Well, the New Testament speaks of three. Number one, there is, believe it or not, in the Bible, mass evangelism, where the preacher or the evangelist addresses a crowd. Jesus did this to the crowds in Galilee, saying, come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Peter did this on the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2, to the crowds gathered in the Jerusalem temple.

Paul did this in the town of Lystra for the whole town and at Athens in Acts chapter 17. And I'm particularly grateful for mass evangelism. That's how I came to know Jesus Christ. It was when Billy Graham turned toward the television and said, if you're watching by television, you can know Christ. And I did.

I made a commitment. That intersection between God's predestination and human volition happened for me that day. That's mass evangelism. Then there's personal evangelism, where a person one-on-one shares. Some of you have done that. Sometimes personal evangelism is taught in a class and then people are taken out to do it.

It's formalized. Even door-to-door evangelism. I don't know if you've ever done this, but some people love knocking on doors. Just door opens, boom, they start witnessing to them. Other people knock on doors and pray to God nobody's home, because that's just not their gig. They just don't like to do it without a relationship.

And I think it's hard to do it without a relationship. But the New Testament speaks about personal evangelism. John chapter 4, Jesus personally spoke to a woman at the Samaritan well.

In the book of Acts chapter 8, Philip personally evangelized the Ethiopian eunuch, and we have both a responsibility and a privilege to personally share with neighbors, friends, and family members. But there's a third form of evangelism that I think combines the first two, and that is really the heart of our text this morning. I believe it's the spirit of the text, and that is local church evangelism. It's where the apostles preached and the people themselves were out sharing.

It was a combination of all of the talents, all of the gifts, all of the lives of all of the church. It's what naturally flows from a church in its church life. I believe that every congregation, every church, ought to be both a worshiping community as well as a witnessing community. And the very existence of this church in Jerusalem, they proved to be exactly that. In fact, I would put it this way, true worship will lead to witness.

You worship God, and He's so wonderful, and He's so good to you, and you understand who He is, and that makes you want to testify of Him out there to people who don't know Him. Worship leads to witness, and witness will lead to worship, because if when you witness they respond, they also become worshipers, and that cycle continues. According to evangelism explosion, they said it has been estimated that 95 percent of American church members have never led anyone to Christ. Now hear that statistic again, this is their statistic. 95 percent of American church members have never once led anyone to Christ.

Now don't misunderstand that. It's not saying that people don't witness. In fact, I think people do witness. According to the Barna research group, 55 percent of people in America who claim to be born-again Christians over the last 12 months have shared their faith with an unbeliever. 55 percent.

And that's sort of been the norm over the last decade. About 50, 55, 60 percent of those who claim to be born-again Christians share their faith. Most of them are evangelicals, people like you. The highest activity for evangelism in America is guess where?

Here. The western United States. The western states per capita have more Christians that are actively sharing their faith than anywhere else in America. The place in America with the least amount of witness is the Midwest.

So I say let's raise some people up and ship them out to the Midwest. You know there are a lot of things we can accomplish in life, but there's no greater accomplishment than helping bring someone to new life in Christ. To change someone's eternal destiny is a glorious undertaking, and the fact that God wants us to be part of that is an amazing privilege.

So are you ready to be a soul winner? We'll have more from this teaching next time here on Connect with Skip weekend edition. But before we go for today, here's Skip and his wife Lenya with some tips on evangelizing.

Lenya? Skip, there might be some who find it difficult to share their faith. I wouldn't know anybody who used to be like that. Do you remember when you took me to Knott's Berry Farm or the Huntington Beach Pier? I was petrified. And I said, we're going to go out street witnessing, and you said, what is that? And I said, well, we're just going to go out and walk up to people and invite them to have a conversation about the Lord. So I let you walk up to people and have a conversation, and I prayed.

That's right. I remember we met at Leo's Coffee, a little joint in Costa Mesa. We drove to the pier, and I just said, just watch and pray.

And then eventually you were thinking things in your mind because you wanted to get engaged pretty quickly, pretty early on. Yeah, I'm a chatterbox. It doesn't take long. So some of us think you have to do that, preach to a crowd or go cold to a door, but that isn't always the case. Can you give us some tips on how we can share the gospel?

Sure. When it comes to evangelism, it doesn't mean that you have to speak to a crowd. In fact, if you think of Jesus, he was engaged in personal evangelism, not just crowd evangelism. He spoke to a woman at a well. It was personal. He encountered her. He engaged her in conversation.

He spoke to the need in her heart that he saw and that he knew. Philip preached to an Ethiopian eunuch. It's just a conversational walking up to him, hey, what are you reading, and then getting into a conversation. So I think it's as easy as inviting somebody to church. I know our church here in Albuquerque, they're so used to seeing evangelism take place in the main services that they're really good at inviting friends and relatives because they know that in a couple weeks' time or in a week time or whatever, there's going to be an altar call given, an invitation for their friends, their relatives, the person they invited to know Christ. So invite somebody to a church or to an event. Another good thing is to give somebody a book. If they're interested or they have questions and you can't answer the questions as good as somebody who wrote a book can, just give them a book and say, hey, when you get a chance, I know we've talked about this, read this and let me know what you think. That's always a good conversation starter. And then I think it's also good to just be honest when you're having a conversation and not try to act like you know everything or that you have it all wired, but to say, you know, I don't know, I've struggled with that myself.

And it opens, it lets people see you're real and opens up your heart to them in a way that they feel safe to engage. You know, another simple way is just to ask someone if, can I pray for you? We don't realize that a lot of, you know, people don't have anyone who care or prayer or trying to bear a burden for somebody. And so just simply, you know, even in a grocery line, you can just say, can I pray for you? You know, I just feel like I, you know, want to encourage you and you'll be amazed how many doors that will open. True, especially a suffering person.

I was at 9-11 after the towers fell and anyone and everyone we ran into, when I asked that, they said, please do that. They were so open to it because they were in such despair and you're showing forth the heart of a God who loves. Well, thanks for that encouragement, Skip and Laniya. And if you'd like a copy of today's teaching, Soul Winning, it's available for just $4 plus shipping when you call us at 1-800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com. Next time, we'll talk more about the importance of every Christian being involved in evangelism. So be sure to join us right here in Connect with Skip weekend edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. .... Connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.