Evangelism: The Churche's First Priority

Chapter 12

Evangelism, Discipleship,
Apologetics & Spiritual Warfare

EVANGELISM

What is the Difference between Evangelism, the Gift of Evangelism, and an Evangelist? Evangelism is not a spiritual gift, but the loving responsibility of all Bornagain Christians. Evangelism is explaining to a person what it means to be a Christian and how to become one. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."

Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20,

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. GO THEREFORE and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’"

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2,

"And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—for He says, ‘At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you’; behold, NOW is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, NOW is ‘The day of salvation.’"

The Gift of Evangelism

The Gift of Evangelism Is not preaching the Gospel, it is Motivating, Training, and Equipping Christians to do the work of Evangelism. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:11-12,

"And He gave some as evangelists. . . for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ"

I, Dale P. Kruse, have the Gift of Evangelism of which my books and website are an expression of. Paul in the Book of Ephesians Chapter 6 tells us to put on the full armor of God. He commands as part of the armor in Ephesians 6:15 to "Shod your feet with the PREPARATION of the Gospel of peace." Submitting yourself to an Evangelism Training Program is receiving and experiencing the Gift of Evangelism, preparing to share the Gospel, and thus obeying God’s command to you in His Word to put on the full armor of God. We are all soldiers in the army of Jesus Christ called to battle to win men and women to saving Faith in Jesus Christ. However, your armor is not complete nor are you fully prepared for battle without first receiving Training in Evangelism.

AN EVANGELIST

An Evangelist Is a Christian God has called to full time Evangelism work with the primary job of reaping the fruit of the labor of Bornagain Christians doing Evangelism work with their free time. Jesus said in John 4:35-37:

"Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to You, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages, and is gathering fruit for life eternal; that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’"

If You are not called to be a full time Evangelist, you are called to use your free time to do Evangelistic work. You are called to sow the Word of God in men’s hearts to prepare them for the coming of the Evangelist. In John 4:35-37 Jesus is telling us that we do not need to wait until we see ripe fruit on the trees before we do Evangelism. This is because THE TIME IS ALWAYS RIPE FOR EVANGELISM . This is because before there can be a harvest we first need to plant the seed, water, fertilize and weed the ground. If we don’t go out weekly and do the work of Evangelism, there won’t be a harvest when the reapers, the full time Evangelists, come. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 11:4 "He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap." This is why THE TIME FOR EVANGELISM IS ALWAYS NOW! What is more important? The reapers, Evangelists, who come at the end of the season to reap the harvest? Or you the Farmer, the Christian worker, who sows the seed, waters, fertilizes and weeds and prepares the crop for harvest? It is the Farmer who gets the blue ribbon at the fair, not the reapers.

If Jesus has not called you to full time Evangelism work, He has called you to use your free time to do the work of Evangelism. He has called you to sow, water, fertilize and weed. He has called you to share His love and forgiveness with men and women with your free time. To do this, first, you need to submit Yourself to the Gift of Evangelism which is receiving Training in Evangelism. This is what our membership classes are all about: giving you training in Evangelism, Discipleship, Apologetics and Spiritual Warfare.

Why YOUR Sharing the Gospel Is So Important

Why is YOUR involvement in sharing the Gospel so important? The Bible teaches us that unsaved man cannot come to a knowledge and understanding of the Gospel through his reason:

"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21)

This is why Paul wrote in Romans 1:16-17,

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’"

When a person reads the Bible all he or she sees is God’s condemnation and judgment. That is because it takes the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to see God’s love and forgiveness in the message of the Bible. Only a Christian has the Holy Spirit and can communicate to a non-believer the message of Jesus’ love and forgiveness found in the Bible. This is what Paul means by "Faith to Faith". It is our Holy Spirit living faith which gives unsaved man the courage to have SAVING FAITH in Jesus Christ: "From faith to faith."

For More information on the importance of Evangelism and Evangelism Training, see the following books:

Why All Christians Need Training in Evangelism

How to Bring a Person to Saving Faith in Jesus Christ

Evangelism: The Time is Now!

DISCIPLESHIP

Discipleship Is teaching a person how to discern what is truly Jesus’ voice and then encouraging them to obey what He commands them to do. Jesus said in John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." Jesus also said in Matthew 28:18-20,

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. GO THEREFORE and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

APOLOGETICS

Apologetics is explaining to a person how we know that what the Bible teaches is true and is truly God’s Word—God’s Word alone. The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:15,

"But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence."

Evangelism is more than sharing the simple Gospel, it is giving people honest answers to honest questions about the validity of our Christian faith. This is the work and discipline of apologetics. Most of the books written by me and my work on our website focus on this area.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Spiritual Warfare is gaining back territory Satan has stolen from us, holding onto the territory we have, and conquering and taking away new territory Satan currently holds. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Paul then describes the armor of God, God has provided for us for our protection. In Ephesians 6:15 states about part of this armor: "Shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace." Part of the armor for our protection is preparing ourselves to share the Gospel with others. This is why you need to submit Yourself to the Gift of Evangelism which is going through a Training Program in Evangelism where you learn clearly what the Gospel is, how to share it in love, how to lead a person into saving faith in Jesus Christ through prayer, how to disciple a new Christian so that they will succeed in their walk with Jesus, How to give honest answers to honest questions about the validity of our Christian faith which is apologetics, and, finally, how to have victory in spiritual warfare. For more information on Spiritual Warfare see my book The Nature of Spiritual Warfare.