Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Evangelism, then, is the communication of the good news regarding Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit with the view to winning others. That's evangelism. telling others about Jesus, the good news of Jesus Christ. This is the verdict: the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor John Monroe.
Over the past few weeks, we've been learning about next steps in following Jesus. And today, we're thinking of winning others, a task for which all of us probably feel inadequate. But our Lord Jesus Himself commands us to reach out and promises He'll be with us.
So let's join Pastor John Monroe as he introduces today's lesson titled Winning Others. Followers of Jesus are commanded by a risen Savior to go and make disciples of all the nations. God's love embraces all of the world.
So, those who have been saved by the grace of God are to tell the amazing good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. Are you doing that? When did you last talk to someone about the Saviour? In this series, Next steps in following Jesus, we come today to the subject of winning others. The good news of the gospel goes to everyone.
as everyone needs a Saviour. Saving souls is the priority of our Lord Jesus, so we need to take this very seriously. Was it no? As we think of the privilege we have, to share this good news with others. This morning, our subject is winning others.
Now, in one sense, we can't win anyone. Salvation, true salvation, is a supernatural event. It is God who saves us. It is Jesus Christ who only can forgive our sins. It is God the Holy Spirit who convicts us and who indwells us.
Yet, God, in His grace, gives us this wonderful privilege. Of partnering with him in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to others. Isn't that a tremendous privilege? Our mission statement, let me remind you, is being and making authentic followers of Jesus Christ. This is why church exists for the glory of God, that we would be authentically following Jesus.
And furthermore, that we would be involved in this wonderful process of making disciples. Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all the nations. This message, this message of new life in Jesus Christ, is so important, it is so powerful, It is so eternal in its implications that every single one in this world needs to hear it. Don't you believe that? We believe that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.
We believe that whoever believes in the Savior will not perish, but have everlasting life. What a powerful message. As we're going to read, Paul says, as he quotes from the Old Testament, that whoever believes Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then can we keep this good news to ourselves? It must be shared with our family, with our friends, with our neighbors, with those at work, indeed with all the world.
So, as we begin to look at this this morning, I ask you. And when did you last talk to someone about Jesus Christ? I realize all of us feel inadequate for this task, I do. In talking to others. And it's certainly true that we can equip ourselves by saturating ourselves with the Word of God, but we feel inadequate, and yet.
Our Lord promises. That as we obey his command, remember the wonderful promise at the end of Matthew chapter 28, he says, I'll be with you. To the end of the age, we are assured of the presence of God, of His help, of the filling of His Spirit. As we embark on this wonderful, wonderful privilege of telling others about Jesus.
Now, this morning, I want us to learn, first of all, the biblical importance of evangelism, biblical evangelism, and then look at an example from Scripture. Let me ask you to turn in your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 10. This is in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. And Romans, of course, is Paul's great exposition of the gospel. And he writes magnificently here in Romans chapter 10, and we're going to read from verse 13 through verse 13.
17. Here is God's word to us this morning. I'm reading from the English Standard. version Says Paul, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in him of whom they've never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? Notice the four rhetorical questions. As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.
But they've not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?
So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. Paul is telling us over and over again that the gospel begins and ends with our Lord Jesus Christ. He is central to the gospel. It is the gospel concerning Jesus Christ. And.
Paul is making the basic point, but the very important point that we need to hear: that the gospel must be preached, it must be communicated, it must be shared, it must be taught. in order for people to believe.
Now you say, what is the gospel? Look back at verse 9, Romans 10, verse 9. Paul says, here it is, if you confess with your mouth, That Jesus is Lord. And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Grasp that verse.
For with the heart one believes and is justified. And with the mouth one confesses and is saved. There it is. Evangelism, then, is the communication of the good news regarding Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit with the view to winning others. That's evangelism.
Telling others about Jesus, the good news of Jesus Christ, and to do that not in our own strength, but in a conscious dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit with the goal. That men and women and boys and girls would place their faith in Jesus Christ. And then verses 14 and 15, we have a description of how people are brought to call upon the name of the Lord as Paul asks these four rhetorical questions. Here is biblical evangelism. Here is how people are saved.
What is the apostolic method? What is the biblical pattern? What is true evangelism? Here it is. Notice the goal, verse 13.
For everyone. Who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Today, if you call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved. And so people must call upon the name of the Lord. But before they call on the name of the Lord, verse 14, they must believe.
How are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?
So, before the individual calls upon the name of the Lord, they must believe in Christ. And before they believe in Christ, Verse 14 again, and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? People must call on the name of the Lord. Before they call on the name of the Lord, they must believe in Christ. Before they believe in Christ, they must hear and understand.
Many people today have a very false view about Jesus. We need to communicate not a Jesus. made by our culture, but the true, the biblical Jesus, God incarnate, the one who comes to bear the sin of the world, the Lamb of God who dies for our sins and who is risen from the dead. And we proclaim his life, his death, his resurrection. But before people can hear and understand, end of verse 17, how can they hear without someone preaching?
That is the gospel, the good news, not our opinions. Not what you believe, but what is the true gospel. That must be proclaimed. And before that can be done, verse 15. How are they to preach?
unless they are sent. Before the gospel is preached, then, people must be sent to preach the gospel. You say, well, are these pastors, are these people like Billy Graham and Cliff Barrows, or you, John, that are a pastor? No, this involves all of us. every authentic follower of Jesus Christ It is to communicate the gospel to others, beginning, as we saw this morning, beginning with their own family, beginning with their own children.
Moms and dads, I hope. You're teaching the gospel. To your children. Yes, we seek to do that in our children's ministry. We seek to do that in our youth ministries, that is true, but it is your responsibility.
Who is going to communicate the gospel to people at your work? I don't know them. It is your responsibility before people believe They must be sent. We must be sent, and we are sent by Jesus. To preach the gospel.
So here are the six steps. Christ sends us. We proclaim, we communicate. People here People believe. People call upon the name of the Lord.
and people are saved.
So, if you take it from the reverse order, you could say, well, how were people saved?
Well, people are to call upon the name of the Lord. Before they call upon the name of the Lord, they must believe. They must have heard the message. Where are they going to hear the message from? From people like you and me.
We are called by Christ to go into all of the world and tell people about Jesus. This is biblical. Christ-centered evangelism. It is about Jesus Christ from beginning to end. This is not a program, this is not a technique.
Of course, we can learn different methods, but whatever we do, it must be centered on Jesus Christ.
Now, do you regard that? as a high privilege. of proclaiming the good news of Jesus? We believe, I believe. That without people calling upon the name of the Lord, there is no salvation.
Evangelism is God's way, God's way of saving people. And notice What verse 15 says. As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. You say, well, I'm not a Billy Graham or a Cliff Burrows. I realize that.
Neither am I. But think in your own life. of the beautiful feet. of those who communicated the gospel to you. Perhaps your father.
A pastor, an evangelist. A friend at school, a neighbour.
Someone at work.
Someone who prayed for you. And who said, I need to tell you. about something that is so important. I want to tell you about Jesus. Don't you agree with me?
That that is a beautiful thing. And that is the greatest privilege that we can have to sit down and tell someone about Jesus Christ. Here is the word of God. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good news, of all of the things that we could do in this world, of all of our achievements, of all of our high points. Surely, this is the highest.
Communicating. The message of the gospel. To others. May many, many call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. The goal is that many, many people would call upon the name of the Lord.
Will you share? This week, the good news of Jesus with someone. We are called to win others for Jesus Christ.
Now I want to give an example. of that from scripture.
So doing I I want to Tell you about A man, Samuel Rutherford, who was a Scotsman. He lived, he was born in the 1600s. And he had a difficult ministry. And he ministered to many, many uh people and and his writings are very very profound. But for many years uh he served as a pastor, as a minister in the church there in a small town called Anwath, A-N-W-O-T-H, in Scotland on the Salway Firth.
And Samuel Rutherford was a great writer, and he wrote various letters, and someone took some of his letters and put it into a poem, and I'm going to quote two verses of the poem. He writes, The sands of time are sinking. The dawn of heaven breaks. The summer morn I've sighed for, the fair sweet morn awakes. Dark, dark has been the midnight, but day spring is at hand.
And glory, glory dwells in Emmanuel's land. His name for heaven is Emmanuel's land, Emmanuel, God with us. And then he writes this. Fair Anworth by the Solway. He loved the little village of Anworth by the Solway.
None of you have been there, that's okay. Fair Anworth by the Solway, to me you still are dear. Even from the verge of heaven, I drop for you a tear. Oh, if one soul from Anworth meets me at God's right hand. My heaven will be two heavens.
in Emmanuel's land. Isn't that wonderful? Just to think of that. Think of the person who led you to Christ. Wouldn't that be some reunion in heaven?
Can you imagine the reunion in heaven as Cliff Barrows is received into heaven and of the countless souls that have been touched through his ministry? And you say, well. I don't know about me. Just think. of one person Yes, your child.
Your son. Your daughter. That little boy in a Sunday school class, that little girl you taught in VBS, that man who made life so difficult for you in the office, and you prayed that God would give you the courage to share Christ with that person. And in God's grace, that man came to Christ. Your heaven will be two heavens.
In Emmanuel's land.
Now, what am I saying? I'm saying that Jesus calls us to win souls. Look over with me to John chapter 4 to see an example of a woman who was a great soul winner. John chapter four. Jesus' priority, his priority in his ministry was to win souls.
He himself said that he'd come to seek and to save that which is lost. His very name Jesus means he will save his people from their sins. His ministry primarily was not just to heal or to teach or to give us an example of love. He did all of these things. His primary ministry was to save sinners.
Paul says that in 1 Timothy 1:15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of everyone's acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world. to save Senators. That's it. And Jesus was concerned about the eternal destiny of those he met in his earthly ministry.
Many of you know John 3, where Jesus interacts with this religious man, Nicodemus, and Jesus presents to Nicodemus the message of the new birth. Nicodemus, you must be born again. Look at John 3, verse 36, the last verse. John writes, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
How clearer could it be? It is clear from the teaching of Jesus that souls can be won for all of eternity or lost for all of eternity.
Now, if you believe that it doesn't matter what you do, what you believe, you'll all get to heaven, then I suppose you're not going to be involved in winning souls. But if you believe as the Bible teaches, as Jesus taught, as I believe, that an individual for all of eternity will either be in heaven or on earth, how important it is then. that we share The gospel. with others. No.
Read with me in John chapter 4. Let's break into the passage in verse 7, John 4, verse 7. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
The Samaritan woman said to him, How is it that you are Jew? Ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria. For Jews have no dealings. with some errors. When I was recently in Israel, I was talking to this Orthodox Jew, trying to get him involved in the scripture.
He fairly artfully uh turned away from that. But when we were finished, he introduced me to his wife. And as as I was leaving, I went to shake I shook his hand and I went to shake his wife's hand and he said, No, no, uh you you you can't shake hands with my wife. And I thought, yes. Under the Jewish law, she's going to be unclean.
If I Shake her hand.
Now, here we have a setting where you have the Jews and the Samaritans. And they are totally separate. John says that. Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. And here is the Lord of glory.
Our magnificent Saviour. Nobody does. He reaches out. Not only to Samaritan. but to a woman of some of Samaria.
The Jews look down on Samaritans as lacking racial and religious purity. But Jesus sees through that, he sees a woman with deep, deep needs, and he bridges all of the normal barriers. Barriers of religion and racial barriers and social barriers and gender barriers. He demolishes them all. Because he wants to tell this woman.
the good news of the gospel. He wants to present to her the gift of God. This is a woman who had many. troubles. many troubling relationships.
As we read the story, we find out that she had five husbands. The rabbis felt that three marriages were the maximum allowable, but this woman had had five marriages, been married five times. Imagine that. And she's alone at the well. Here is a woman, undoubtedly, who had experienced the pain, the disappointment.
The resulting insecurity of many broken relationships, divorced by five different men. Discarded by them likely. And she's searching for security and meaning in her personal relationships.
Now she's living with another man, but she's not even married to him.
Sounds like life in America, doesn't it? Many are like that. Trying to look for hope. For security, for love. in a multiplicity of relationships.
and feeling used, feeling cheapened. feeling discarded. Isolated by her community, this woman comes to the well. John says in verse 6, about the sixth hour, that is in the heat of the sun. Notice what Jesus says to this woman.
Verse ten. Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God, And who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink? You would have asked him. and he would have given you living water. The woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.
Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. Jesus said to her, Now listen to this. Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again.
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, Sir, Give me this water So that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw. water. This woman had been trying to quench her thirst in many ways, including promiscuity.
But now Jesus offers her living water, which will be in her, a fountain of water, springing up into life eternal. How wonderful. This living water is a picture of the grace of God, a picture of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
So that when we come to Jesus Christ, when we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, He indwells us and gives us this wonderful. Spiritual fountain, the Holy Spirit Himself. Because deep within us And deep within you. And deep within every person you meet this week, however successful they appear or however troubled they are, there's a deep, deep void which only God can fill. This is the verdict featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity.
Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website.
Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ. We invite you to join us for our Sunday services.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? When did you last talk to someone about Jesus Christ? I ask that question, not to make you feel guilty, but to challenge you. We often think that people don't want to hear the message. But many people are open to talking about spiritual matters.
We saw That the priority of Jesus was to win souls. And that is also to be our priority. Pray today for God to open the door.
so that you can tell someone about Jesus. Join me next time on the verdict as we continue this subject. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
