Last night I was able to go to Tamworth to see Will Graham and hear him speak about the passion he has and the passion that we should have for evangelism. It really challenged me and thought that I should share it on here.What I am basically going to do though is recount what he said in my own words. (I hope that I represent what he said well) So here goes ...
How bad will things get in this world? Things are pretty bad at the moment, with the GFC and the like. It makes some of us think that maybe it is about time that the world as we know it to come to and end. As John in Revelation says "Come Lord Jesus"
At the same time though we want to be able to tell people about Jesus. Even though we may want to give up as everything is a bit hard, we need to remember that Jesus never gave up and that we are on the winning side even if at times it does not feel like it in this world.
In Luke 17:20-37 Jesus begins to speak about the coming of the Kingdom of God. He speaks about how it was in the days of Noah and the days of Lot, then in vs 32, he says "Remember Lot's wife!" This verse sticks out as a warning to us. Her heart was in Sodom - she looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. (Gen 19:26) When the end times come we need to guard our hearts. Now seeing that we are in the end times now, we need to have a heart for evangelism, but what does that mean. What should our heart look like at this time? There are 5 things ...
1. Need a Heart that Wants to Rescue People
Luke 12:35-48 talks about being watchful and ready for when the Lord returns and ensuring that when he returns we will be ready. Remember that our master is coming again and we will have to be accountable for what we have done to Jesus. What we need to do in the meantime is to rescue as many people as possible until Jesus returns.
Imagine being in a life boat and going around a sinking ship, you would want to save as many people as possible. There is no reason just to be there rowing around in circles watching people drown. You will want to get as many people in the life boat and to safety as possible.
We only have one life to live and then eternity to rest. When you stand before God will you be exhausted from making the most of every opportunity that you have. Make sure that you spend everything you have to rescue as many as possible.
2. Need a Heart with a Passion to Preach in the Darkness
Have a look in the bible at people like Daniel, Elisha and Elijah. They all prayed for the people that were around them. They were light in a dark place. A light in the midst of darkness. There are so many crises in this world that makes it very dark and when it is dark outside, we then need to make sure that we let our light shine and continue to proclaim the truth.
3. Need a Heart of Humility
1 John 1:8 - If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Romans 3:10 - There is no one righteous not even one.
We need to realise our own sinful nature and to stop being proud of ourselves and what we have done. Whilst we need to be strong in the pulpit, but at the same time meek and loving. What is meant by being strong in the pulpit - we need to remain strong in God's word.
Therefore we need to humble ourselves both before God and each other.
4. Need a Heart for Holy Living
There seems to be people out there who are functional atheists. They proclaim that they believe in God, but live as though they do not. There are also people out there who say that I will win people over by my actions, but the challenge is how many people have seen our actions and been won over? It is only by speaking the truth that people will come to know Jesus as their Lord and saviour. (Rom 10:14)
Holy living however will validate what you say about Jesus. We still need to have holy lives though for "just as he who called you is holy so be holy in all you do." (1 Peter 1:15)
5. Need a Heart that Relies on the Holy Spirit
People out there need to hear about Jesus - the spiritually dead people, but only God can revive them. No matter how much we do, we can not do it on our own. It is his work and the Holy Spirit will work in the people's lives through regeneration. Ultimately it is easier to work rely on the Holy Spirit anyway.
Billy Graham (his grandfather) when he finished preaching would stand back from the microphone and pray these words: "Lord I have done everything that I can do - the rest is up to you." He could preach his heart out, but it was not up to him to work in peoples hearts, but the Spirits.
We then need to preach the gospel message and fully rely on the Spirit, for by the Spirit things will happen.
So What?
In the end it is not easy to be an evangelist, especially in the current world that we are in, but remember that Jesus has not given up on anyone, so you had better no give up on anyone either.
Will you be the next generation that takes the good news and shine the light in a dark place?
What did I take away from this you might then be wondering. Well I want to make sure that when I stand before God that I will be exhausted. That I will have spent every moment that he gives me here on this earth telling people about him, playing my part in saving as many people as possible for his sake. To not be ashamed about doing this and standing up for Jesus in all areas of my life.
