Evangelism
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2023 · 5 June 2023
Ever since the Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, we have been busy pursuing the ministry of evangelism. There are all kinds of approaches. There are multitudes of different efforts that have gone on throughout the history of the church in different climates, in different cultures, in different periods of history, all under the area of evangelism.
There are multiplied thousands of different tracts that can be used today in evangelism. There is a very simplistic presentation of basic verses to a very sophisticated media presentations of Christ. We have seminaries that have evangelism departments, and there are some professors of evangelism. But underneath all of this methodology, there are some foundation features of evangelism.
What God wants to say not only comes directly but very often it comes indirectly. So you have here in an indirect implication the foundations of effective evangelism. We’ve seen this in the book of Acts many times. They key to Bible study, is to be able to take the Scripture and extract the principles that are there either by direct statement or by an implication. That is what it is to study Scripture.
I’m not interested in just copying what it says. That gives us historical background, but underneath all of this, what is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? What principles are implied in what is going on here? Now, that’s really the difference between real Bible study and real Bible teaching, and that which is superficial. So we want to study some foundational features of evangelism.
Now, keep in mind that the Holy Spirit has been writing the book of Acts, using the apostles. As we approach Acts 15:36, the church has been growing. And the church has just gone through a crisis. Satan tried to split the Jews and the Gentiles over the issue of a false doctrine of salvation, you’re saved by faith plus works. Satan tried to make gentiles become Jews first.
God reversed everything and instead the church established its doctrine, which came out of the Jerusalem Council in great unity. So what Satan tried to stop, he only succeeded in speeding up. Verse 36, “After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.”
That’s a very significant statement. We think of an evangelist as a guy who gets people saved and then leaves them around for other Christians to follow up. But Paul was a biblical evangelist who saw his responsibility not only as winning people but as maturing them. He was planning with Barnabas to go right back to the same place they just finished evangelizing, which was Galatia.
Do you know what the priority is in evangelism? Discipleship. “Visit our brethren in every city.” You say, “Well, why does he want to go back there?” Let me give you a simple reason. His love for his own spiritual children. Paul wanted to go back just because he loved them and he wanted to see if they were growing. Remember, the Great Commission says “to teach them all that I have taught you.”
The results have been announced to the people in Antioch. There’s great joy because their salvation is valid by grace alone, and that is how you’re saved. Paul had a passion for the gentile world that is lying to the west of where he was located in Antioch. So Paul saw himself as a loving father responsible for the spiritual care of his children. The best way to evangelize is to produce reproducing disciples.
Paul knew that this evangelism, created spiritual infancy all over, and leaving a lot of spiritual babies screaming. That was not the way to go at it because they weren’t mature enough to reproduce. It is better to spend yourselves on some individuals that they might become mature and that they might carry the gospel to others. Jesus spent most of his time with twelve individuals. That’s really the heart of evangelism.
Paul was committed to the priority of maturing believers. You know where he went on his first missionary journey? Galatia, right? Where did he go on his second missionary journey? Galatia. You know where he went on the third missionary journey? Acts 18:23, “And after he had spent some time there in Antioch, he departed and went over all the country of Galatia.”
He knew that the effective way to evangelize is to produce reproducing Christians, and to produce a reproducing Christian, you must spend yourself on that individual. Now, it is the reproduction of reproducing believers that is really what multiplies the effectiveness of the gospel. In Colossians 1:28 he says, “Teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
In other words, he worked hard to bring people to maturity. And Evangelism calls for the right priority and the right personnel. God has special people for special tasks. Verse 37-38, “Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. 38 But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work.”
What did John Mark do? He quit. He got up there to Perga in Pamphylia and took one look at the Taurus Mountains and all the stories he’d heard and he also looked at the situation with Paul and Barnabas, where Barnabas was secondary while Paul was the leader. Maybe he was a little jealous for his cousin, Barnabas, and he just quit and took off and went home in Acts 13:13.
Well, Barnabas was a loving, restoring character and John Mark was actually a wonderful guy. He was the son of the lady in whose house the prayer meeting was being held the night Peter got out of jail. He’s also the author of the Gospel of Mark so he is no slouch, God really used him, but Paul didn’t want to be dragging him around and he didn’t have any confidence in John Mark.
Verse 39, “Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.” So when they departed, they departed. They were somewhat bitter, and they blasted off in two directions, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. That’s where he came from. Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus to continue the ministry there.
The Lord in the end did not have Mark go with Paul. So it seems to me that it was the plan of God that Mark not go originally. Verse 40, “Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care.” The church definitely recognized the duo of Paul and Silas, and perhaps they had the mind of the Spirit on that and so they commended them.
So the Spirit worked it out beautifully. But remember: Barnabas later was commended by Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:6. And when Paul was in Rome in jail writing to Timothy, he says, “Timothy, come and be with me. Demas has forsaken me. Luke alone is with me. And by the way, when you come bring Mark, for he is profitable to me.” Now, that’s restoration from Paul.
Now, Silas was a prophet says Acts 15:32. Silas, in verse 22 and verse 27, is mentioned because he was sent to Antioch from Jerusalem. Remember when they wrote the letter about the fact that salvation was by grace and they wanted the gentiles to know that. So they sent Silas and Judas along, two leaders of the Jerusalem church. So Silas was a prophet and God chose him for Paul.
God chooses the right people for the right job. If you’re travelling in the Roman Empire, it helps to be a Roman citizen. Silas was. And if you’re going to enter synagogues, it’s helpful to be a Jew. Silas was a Jew. And if you’re announcing the message of salvation by grace, it’s nice if you are from the Jerusalem church. Silas was. And if you are preaching, it’s nice to be a prophet. Silas was.
Now here, the fact that they were Romans was important. Verse 41, “Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.” The gospel that started in Jerusalem spread north until it hit this area of Cilicia and Syria. Now they were doing what? They were strengthening the churches, building up the saints. Again they knew that strong saints will reproduce.
Then they continued their journey. Where to? To Galatia. The Holy Spirit had their journey all laid out. They wouldn’t have reached those towns until the end of their journey. Instead, they reached them at the very beginning. Acts 16:1, “Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek.”
God wanted to add another member to the team. Verse 2, “Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium,” Now, this woman’s name is given to us by the Apostle Paul. Timothy’s mother’s name was Eunice, and his grandmother’s name was Lois, and she was a believer, but his father was a Greek, so here was a half-Jew and a half-gentile. What a perfect choice because he was a Roman.
And they had a meeting. In 1 Timothy 4:14 Paul says, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you.” So they had a commissioning service ordaining him, laying hands on him, praying for him, and they sent him out as a representative of the church right there in Lystra and Derbe.
Paul calls him his spiritual son.” But who led Timothy to Christ? Lois and Eunice. So Timothy was a second-generation child in the faith. Evangelism also involves the right precautions. Verse 3, “So Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.”
That isn’t necessary for salvation. Timothy was half Jew and half gentile. So Paul recognizing that the key to reaching the Jewish people, and that was the first place he went in every new town, was the Synagogue. The key was that Timothy had been brought up in a synagogue situation. All he needed to do was just get circumcised and he would have full entrance and full acceptance among the Jews.
So it wouldn’t hinder his work among the gentiles. It was only for expediency’s sake. It was just to allow the ministry to function more smoothly. Titus came along and Paul forbid Titus to be circumcised. Because Titus was a gentile. To circumcise a gentile would be to impose legalism, but to circumcise a Jew already a Jew was simply to allow him to be more effective.
If you’re going to witness to Jews, you need to know a little Judaism. If you’re going to witness to somebody in the Roman Catholic Church, you ought to know a little bit about them so your approach is more tactful, and the same is true with other religions and other systems of religion. If you’re going to talk to a fanatic, maybe knowing what he knows, can gain an entrance into his heart.
Evangelism is also founded on the right presentation. Verse 4. “Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.” What did they decide? Salvation by grace through faith. And add this: that you abstain from blood and things strangled and fornication and things offered to idols. Why? So you don’t offend.
The message of Christianity is twofold. One: Salvation by grace. Two: Living by love. The result? Verse 5, “So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day.” Evangelism needs to be done in the right place. Verse 6, “Next Paul and Silas traveled through Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.”
They never stopped. Just because this was closed, they thought, “Well, we’ll go north,” Verse 7, “Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.” Well, all the doors are closed. South is water, east we’ve been, north we can’t go, and west we can’t go. But Paul still had a corridor and he kept going between Bithynia and Asia.
Verse 8, “So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas.” Verse 9, “That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” Macedonia was across the Aegean Sea. What great cities were there? Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth and Athens. The gospel was going to reach Europe.
Verse 10, “So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.” God uses those who have the right passion for the right priority with the right personnel taking the right precaution to make the right presentation, and they submissively keep following until they get to the right place. Evangelism starts with those basics.
We all as Christians, have to do what they did and listen to the Holy Spirit. We all need to spread the gospel to others wherever we are. Even when it looks like the doors are closed, we need to find that one opening that God has provided for us. Don’t just sit around and think that others can lead and proceed. We are all saved to do works for God so we can store up treasures in heaven. Let us pray.