Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Go and Tell Your Friends

"'Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.'  And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him" (Luke 8:39)

If you have ever visited a well-stocked Christian book store, beloved, then no doubt at some point you were impressed with the amazing selection of evangelistic tools available to churches and other outreach ministries.  I am not sure that I could personally list how many different programs I have taught to congregations over the years, all in their own right good and solid approaches to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who do not know Him.

What is so very amazing to me by contrast, however, is what Jesus told the former demoniac whom He had delivered from his spiritual, mental, and physical bondage.  When that young man wanted more than anything else to travel with Jesus, to sit at His feet in worship and adoration, the Master refused his request and rather sent him on a very special mission of his own.  Basically, He sent that new believer "home" to be a personal missionary in his own hometown.

There is so much for us to learn today about personal evangelism, beloved!  The first lesson which comes immediately to the eye here is that evangelism is not primarily a program or an outreach tool.  It is rather a way of life that is to be carried out throughout the normal day to day routine of living.  Very simply, we are to "tell" as we "go."  That young man set free by Jesus did not first go to seminary and earn his degree. He did not even sign up for an outreach training seminar.  He simply went home and began to tell everyone who would listen all about what Jesus of Nazareth had done for him.

Then we also learn that the most natural place for personal evangelism to begin is within one's own family.  "Return to your house" is what Jesus told the young man.  And though none of the synoptic gospels records that he went home and began with the members of his own family, it seems obvious that such is precisely what he did.  In fact, he told his whole family and then began telling his neighbors until he had covered the entire town.

Finally, we note here that the focus of his sharing was not the precise doctrines of grace but rather what Jesus had personally done for him.  You see, beloved, that was the one thing about which this young man was already an absolute authority.  He knew what Jesus of Nazareth had done for him!  And, if you think about it, that is precisely what a "witness" (Greek martus) is, one who speaks authoritatively of what he knows firsthand to be true.

What has Jesus Christ done for you, beloved?  If He has transformed your life by grace, then He has also given to you the instruction to "go and tell" those who are a part of your life, those within your personal arena of influence.  Go and tell - now that is a winning approach to evangelism!

Ron 

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Power in the Blood

"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" (Romans 1:16)

I know that there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ, beloved!  I just watched a video clip on Face Book of my 12 year old grandson taking a public stand for Jesus Christ and being obedient in believer's baptism today.  And that glorious scene was made even more precious because he was baptized by his dad, our son Jerry, who as an 8 year old himself took that same stand and allowed me to baptize him as his dad.  So you see, I know that there is power in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

I know first of all that there is power in the blood of Christ to save us completely from our sins.  As the Apostle Peter wrote to believers of his day: 

"Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19)

But I also know that there is power in the blood of Christ to set us free from the power of sin and to enable us to live holy lives.

"What shall we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?  May it never be!  How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2)

Lewis Edgar Jones while attending a camp meeting in 1899 wrote the words to that beloved hymn that we know today as Power in the Blood.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood!
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's wonderful power in the blood!

I have just told you about two young boys who have not only discovered that there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ, but who have taken an amazing stand to publicly identify themselves by faith with Him as Savior and Lord.  Have you personally made that same choice yourself?  If not, why not do that right now and discover for yourself that there is power over sin and death and hell in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Ron