Dr. Michael Youssef, pastor and International Bible teacher with a word on the gift of evangelism. I am convinced in my own heart that the gift of evangelism is the most important of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And I'll tell you why. Because it is the one gift that the Satan hates. He hates people to come to Christ and be saved.
He hates it. Welcome to Leading the Way, the worldwide ministry of Dr. Michael Youssef, pastor, evangelist, and author of more than 50 books. Evangelism, mostly defined as sharing Jesus with others.
And some are afraid to attempt to reach out because they're fearful that they won't be able to answer questions that people might ask. Others possess the gift of evangelism, excited and energized and ready for each and every opportunity to talk about Jesus. In this episode, Dr. Youssef makes it biblically clear that every Christian should be ready to share their faith, even if they don't have the gift of evangelism. Hey, do remember that if you'd like to connect with Leading the Way and Dr. Youssef, visit ltw.org slash connect. Do that later though, because right now Dr. Youssef is here with a challenging word.
Listen as he begins. Before I talk about evangelism, which is the last in the series of 11 messages on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, there are several things I want to say about evangelism. First, I want to tell you that the word evangelism really never occurs in the Bible, not in the New Testament. The second thing about the word evangelism, it conjures all kinds of images that not necessarily you want to be associated with.
Do you know what I mean? I mean you think of a tent with somebody who's short on brains, big lungs, hollering and then winding with a song just as I am 27 times. I mean there are all sorts of images. Or have a two week emphasis on evangelism with a flashy evangelist and an ex-entertainer or ex-convert giving a testimony. I mean there are all kinds of images of what we think evangelism is. Evangelism is exactly the lifeblood of the church. It should be in every area of life. Any activity in the church that does not have that in it is a dead activities.
It is self-serving activities. But evangelism should permeate every aspect of church life. And that is why the devil does not like evangelism and he kills it in most churches.
God forbid as long as I have breath he's not going to do that here. Others think that evangelism is like doing nice things to non-believers and just hope that they'll get the message. Now whatever your image of what evangelism is and the word means I hope by the time I finish with God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit that you'll change your view completely of this vitally vitally important backbone of the church. I am convinced in my own heart that the gift of evangelism is the most important the most significant of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And I'll tell you why. Because it is the one gift that the Satan himself tries to stomp at every side. If he cannot stop it directly he will work to stop it gradually. That churches and schools and institutions that have been founded on evangelism and on reaching out to the lost within a very short period of time they cool their artists and all of a sudden they become a social institution. They do everything except what they were founded to do. Satan hates it. He hates soul winning. He hates soul saved. He hates people to come to Christ and be saved.
He hates it. I said the word evangelism never mentioned in the New Testament but the word evangelist is mentioned three times. In Acts 21 8 we read about Philip the evangelist. In Ephesians 4 11 the apostle Paul lists it among the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He lists it but he doesn't call it evangelism. Here's what he said and he gave some talking about the Holy Spirit he gave some to be evangelists.
The third time you see it is in 2 Timothy 4 5 where Paul urges Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. And so if I stand here today and say to you every one of you must evangelize then what am I doing? I am sending you on a false guilt trips and I don't do that. But if I say to you that every one of us is called of God to witness as second nature to us that you do it as normal as any conversation then that is a biblical command.
Now let me be very very blunt with you. If you can talk about a good investment that you made. If you can talk about a big deal that you've closed. If you can talk about the Braves or the Falcons you can talk to someone about how Jesus forgave your sins. About how Jesus released you from guilt. How Jesus gave you a new identity. How he healed your broken spirit. How he assured you of eternal life with him forever. How Jesus gave you peace in the midst of turmoil. How Jesus provided a way out when it seemed to be no way.
You can do that. I remember when I thinking of the witnessing I thought of the little boy who went to spend a weekend with grandma and went to her church for the first time and he's never been there before and so when he came home his grandma asked him what's the name of her Sunday school teacher. He said I can't remember but I am sure she is Jesus' grandmother. His grandmother said why?
She said because she bragged about him all the time. That is witnessing. You see all believers are witnesses but not all believers are evangelists or have the gift of evangelism. So what is evangelism? It is the Holy Spirit's endowment with a special ability to communicate the gospel in a relevant terms to non-believers so as to make a disciple out of them.
It's that simple. But you notice I use the word relevant and my goodness I know that there are extreme two extremes when it comes under the guise of relevance. You got people now in the churches and all the seeker friendly churches under the guise of relevance they watered the gospel down.
You can't find it. Then you have people of course on the other extreme that they don't know what relevant is if it hits them in the face. I mean they use words and language that most non-believers don't even understand what they're talking about. It's like this new enthusiastic guy who moved into a new neighborhood and he want to share Christ with everybody so he went to the next door to a neighbor who has been there for 30 years and he said to him he said sir he said do you belong to the Christian family? And the man thought for a minute he said no no I think they may live down the cul-de-sac. He said well let me put this another way he said are you lost? And the man said no not really I've been here for over 30 years. He said well I'll try again. He said are you ready for the day of judgment? And the man said well when will that be? He said well it could be today could be tomorrow.
He said I'll tell you what when you find out just let me know precisely when because I think my wife might like to go there both days. See people don't understand what we're talking about at times and you have to be absolutely relevant to them in explaining it and many ways that you can raise up thirst in them to ask you questions. Now there are other gifts that we covered as we look together at the scripture that are non-speaking gifts. Mercy is not a speaking gift. It helps, service, giving the non-speaking gifts.
But evangelism is a speaking gift. It is the announcing of the good news. You say what is the good news?
The good news is really much simpler than you think. That all of humanity is heading for the worst fate that would make the tsunamis we're watching on television look like a Sunday school picnic. It is the worst kind of disaster you can ever imagine. It is a forever darkness. It's a forever pain.
It's a forever suffering. But the good news is God made a way out. That God provided a way out. God gave us a way out to be sure it's only one way but he gave it to us. That's the simple gospel good news.
I know F.F. Bruce, a great professor of Manchester University in England said strictly speaking the word orangilion in the Greek does not mean good news. It means news. Just simple news and the Christians later on called it good news and this is for a good reason.
But his precise definition is it's news. It's good for those who believe it. It is really bad news for those who reject it. The reason Christians and evangelicals call it good news is because it is the announcing that you don't have to face this type of eternity of continuous darkness and loneliness and pain and suffering at all. That God came from heaven and he himself paid the price to give us a way out so that I, a person who's guilty of wanting to my own way to be my own God can be declared guiltless by a righteous God.
How? Because Jesus paid the price for my pardon. That I was a slave to sin, my own sin and willful desires but Jesus came to set me free.
That I am no longer a slave but I'm a son or I'm a daughter. Now those who have the gift of evangelism must always appeal both to the mind, to the intellect and to the emotion. Those who focus on one or the other get into trouble. Those who have the gift of evangelism also bring people to Christ. In fact, that's one of the evidence that they have the gift of evangelism, effectiveness, bearing fruit, producing results. When you are obediently witnessing to Christ, you may be just sowing seed, maybe somebody else is going to get the fruit but the one with the gift of evangelism always leading people to Christ. In fact, those who have the gift of evangelism never miss an opportunity to speak the good news.
They never remain silent when they get the chance to effectively speak the good news. Evangelism is not exclusive to those who are full-time evangelists but it is a gift that is given to people in the body and many of you have it. And just as sales people love to sell, I admire sales people, I really do. So is those with the gift of evangelism. If they are obedient and faithful, you will not be able to shut up about Jesus. And may I ask those of you who attend sales seminar, don't raise your hand, I mean what is the one thing they always go back to in every sales seminar?
I mean it doesn't matter what the subject is, they always go back to one thing. You know what it is? Close the deal. Make the sale. That's what those gifted evangelists do.
They always close the deal. So you can make the greatest presentation but if you don't take the order, if you don't say how much you want, would you like to give your life to Christ, then you kind of left it hanging there. In fact, there's a story about Henry Ford who one day bought the largest life insurance policy that was sold until that point in history. And the news was so big that it hit the front line of the newspapers and a friend of his who handled all of his insurance for the business, for the Ford company, read about it and he was really upset. He was disappointed.
So finally he called his friend Henry Ford and said I want to come and see you so he came to see him. And he said, is this news really true? He said absolutely. Did you buy this size policy?
Yeah. He said but Henry, I'm your friend. I handle all of your insurance. Why didn't you ask me?
He said no, you didn't ask me. There are some pastors and teachers have the gift of evangelism, not necessarily exclusively theirs. Now those who have the gift of evangelism use it all the way to the end. Phillips Brooks who, for whom a statue is erected in Boston Commons if you've ever been there, was really a very effective Christian leader in that city and bishop and doctor said to him, he said, you have one day to live. You're going to die. You got one day to live.
Go and do your business. So he asked for one person, not a family, not church leaders, just one person. Ingersoll. Now if you read some of the history, Ingersoll was a Boston socialite but more than anything else he was an outspoken preacher of agnosticism. I mean he was out and out known for his agnosticism. And so when he heard that Phillips Brooks wanted to see him, he went and felt honored and he said I feel honored that of all the family members and all the church leaders, all the leaders in the city, all the people that you could see, he asked for me because he was his classmate in school and he gathered all his strength, Phillips did. He said, Ingersoll, I'm going to be reunited with them in heaven but this is maybe my last chance to see you. You talk about pressure and how true it is because I want to tell you the American Institute of Church Growth has repeatedly showed again and again and again that on the average 75% of the non-believers who go to churches or visit churches or join churches, 75% of them have come to that church not because who the preacher is or what the church is or what the doctrine was or anything of those things because a friend invited them.
A friend invited them. But then there's something very important about evangelism that I must tell you about the gift of evangelism. Those who have the gift of evangelism sense in their spirit that their message is an urgent message. That their message is a life and death message. It is eternal life and eternal death message. It is the message that makes the difference between heaven and hell. And they don't waste their time on speculations and hypothesis and definitions. They know that their message is not improving the standards of living.
It is not seeing that education is the answer or reforming society is the answer, good as these things may be. But they are about the urgent rescuing of the perishing from certain eternity in torment. Let me tell you something. I told you the devil hates evangelism. The devil hates to see people saved and the devil fought for so long.
Those of you my age or even older or even younger would know some of these attacks of the devil on Christianity and the Christian gospel particularly. But now the devil has decided that it's not working. So he has invaded the church. He has invaded the pulpits in order to use these false preachers and false teachers to tell us that hell is empty. What should break every one of our hearts is that so many people are gonna be misled all the way to hell by so-called an evangelical preacher. See that's what the devil is doing all across the land now. He hates to see people saved.
So now he deceives them inside the church. But also those who have the gift of evangelism must be always warning people. Gently, lovingly warning them. In fact every time you see disaster in the world it should serve as a warning. Warn people to wake up before it's too late. Warning them that we are no better than all the people who are suffering right now. We know better than they are. Let these be warning, warning after warning after warning. And the Bible said in the book of Revelation that these warnings are gonna come but sadly and unfortunately some people's hearts are gonna be harder. Instead of seeing it as a warning they will focus on self.
In fact this attitude is best illustrated by the well-known philosopher Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard tells the story of a circus in a small village that caught on fire. The whole thing was in flames. All of the nearby wagons and equipment caught fire.
In spite of the efforts to control the blaze the fire began to threaten the village itself. When all of the circus performers and workers saw that the fire is about to engulf the whole village the ringmaster yelled out. He said go.
Every one of you go. Warn the people. The clown who was still dressed in his funny costume grabbed the bicycle and he rode quickly into town and he tried to sound the alarm. He was riding up and down the main street of the village yelling and calling out run for your lives. Fire is coming. The town is about to burn.
Quick get out while you can. The townspeople were curious. They looked out the windows.
Shopkeepers stood in the doorway watching. Children began to parade down the street behind the clown. People were clapping and laughing and the more desperate the clown shouted his message the more the village cheered. The village did catch on fire and many lives were lost because no one believed the message of the clown.
After all it was a clown. Beloved there are many people who view us and our message with contempt. There's no denying that. Many people laugh and mock our message but we are to keep on lovingly warning them. We are to keep on urging them. We are to keep on pleading with them.
This great philosopher Kiekegaard who told this story concluded by saying and I quote he said I think the world will come to an end and made general applause from all the wits who believe it is a joke. Yet those who have been endowed by the gift of evangelism must never be discouraged, must never give up, must never be dissuaded, must never be deterred, must never be surprised when they're attacked because that's what the devil hates and he'll go after them. You keep on praying. You keep on producing spiritual children. You keep on believing that your greatest reward is in heaven. You have the greatest message of all time.
Jesus, share it. Thank you for listening to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Learn more about Dr. Youssef and how he leads the worldwide team in taking the greatest message of all around the world through ltw.org. We do hope that you've heard how you can participate in a special opportunity to stand with Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way in reaching the unreached and the unengaged through the Open Door campaign.
Listen now for the details. The only answer is the gospel, not the gospel of accommodation, not the gospel of pandering, not the gospel of wanting to be accepted at any price. No, but the gospel that Jesus and Jesus alone can save men and women, boys and girls. Building upon the strong infrastructure established by your faithful and generous partnership, Leading the Way's Open Door campaign will focus on three strategic areas where the greatest need and opportunity exist. The first is in North America, where only 4% of adults have a biblical worldview.
Churches are distracted and losing relevance in today's secular culture. With your support over the next five years, Leading the Way will multiply its efforts to encourage the revitalization of the Western Church through far-reaching media ministry on traditional TV and radio, finding True Peace National Evangelistic Project, Dr. Youssef's Awake America prayer movement, mobilizing millions of people in prayer for our nation, citywide events to challenge the local church, biblically-based publications like My Journal and My Devotional. Through each of these outreaches, Leading the Way is reaching into homes, cars and communities with the gospel of Christ. We stand at a crossroad of history, and we can walk through these doors of opportunities that God has opened for us, or we can look at our current economic conditions and take counsel of our fears and do nothing.
We have the choice. Leading the Way is committed to using every available resource to reach every available person at every available moment. The door is open, and only God in heaven knows when will it be closed. Will you commit to joining me to boldly walk through these open doors together? Talk to a ministry representative right now at 866-626-4356 or learn more at ltw.org. Well, I do need to say goodbye for this episode, but please let me extend this quick invitation to join Dr. Youssef right here next time for more Leading the Way. I believe it is important to give testimony of how God is working in your life, and if Leading the Way is part of that, we would want to know. You can call our testimony line at 877-941-7934. Now I want to hear all about it, and we just might share it on the program that is 877-941-7934. Do it today. Thank you in advance and God bless. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org or through your favorite social media platform, including YouTube, Facebook, X, Instagram, and more.
