T HE N EW T ESTAMENT C HURCH E VANGELISM. I NTRODUCTION Primary mission of the church is to “ evangelize ” the world. Evangelism means “ good news ”—

THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH

EVANGELISM

INTRODUCTION

• Primary mission of the church is to “evangelize” the world.

• Evangelism means “good news”— one who proclaims the good news.

• This fits the spiritual design that God designed for the work of the church.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS WORK

• Seen in the universal need of salvation.

• All are under sin– “What then? Are we better than they?

Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one.” {Romans 3:9,10}

– “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” {Romans 3:23}


• Seen in the universal need of salvation.• All are under sin– “But the Scripture has confined all under sin,

that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” {Galatians 3:22}

– “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” {Ephesians 2:1}


• Seen in the universal need of salvation.

• All are under sin– “That at that time you were without

Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” {Ephesians 2:12}


• The Gospel of Christ is God’s power to save sinful men.– “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of

Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” {Romans 1:16,17}


• Corinthians saved by the gospel.– “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the

gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” {1 Corinthians 15:1-4}


• Words preached to Cornelius.– “So I sent to you immediately, and you

have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.” {Acts 10:33}

– “Who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.” {Acts 11:14}


• Begotten by the gospel.– “For though you might have ten

thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” {1 Corinthians 4:15}

– “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” {1 Peter 1:23}


• Cleansed by the word of God.– “You are already clean because of the

word which I have spoken to you.” {John 15:3}

– “That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” {Ephesians 5:26}


• Seed is the word of God!– “When anyone hears the word of the

kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.” {Matthew 13:19}

– “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” {Luke 8:11}


• Gospel is veiled to some.– “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is

veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” {2 Corinthians 4:3,4}


• Partakers of the promises of Christ.– “That the Gentiles should be fellow

heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.” {Ephesians 3:6}


• Give inheritance among sanctified.– “So now, brethren, I commend you to

God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” {Acts 20:32}


• Life and immorality brought to light.– “But has now been revealed by the

appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” {2 Timothy 1:10}


• Made known unto obedience of faith.– “Now to Him who is able to establish you

according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever.” {Romans 16:25-27}

THE CHURCH IS GOD’S AGENCY IN THIS WORK OF EVANGELIZATION

• Church compared to householder who goes out to hire laborers.– “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner

who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went.” {Matthew 20:1-4}


• Church the sending agency.– “Now in the church that was at Antioch there

were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.” {Acts 13:1-3}


• Church the sowing agency.– “... Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he

sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” {Matthew13:3-8}


• Church the pillar and ground of the truth.– “These things I write to you, though I

hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” {1 Timothy 3:14,15}


• Wisdom of God made known by the church.– “To the intent that now the manifold

wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” {Ephesians 3:10,11}


• God to be glorified in the church in all ages.– “Now to Him who is able to do

exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.” {Ephesians 3:20,21}


• Building up the body of Christ is a mission of the church.– “And He Himself gave some to be

apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” {Ephesians 4:11,12}

LOCAL CONGREGATIONS MEDIUM OF THE WORK OF THE CHURCH—NO MISSIONARY ORGANIZATIONS

• Churches of Macedonia.– “I robbed other churches, taking wages

from them to minister to you. And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself.” {2 Corinthians 11:8,9}


• Church at Thessalonica.– “…To the church of the Thessalonians

in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love...” {1 Thessalonians 1:1-3}


• Church at Philippi.– “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.” {Philippians 1:3-5}

– “Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.” {Philippians 4:14,15}


• Church at Antioch.– “Now when they had come and

gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.” {Acts 14:27,28}


• Church at Jerusalem.– “Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.” {Acts 8:1,2}

THE PLAN FOLLOWED THE NEW TESTAMENT DAYS IN

PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL

• Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and uttermost parts of the world.– “But you shall receive power when the

Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” {Acts 1:8}

T HE N EW T ESTAMENT C HURCH E VANGELISM. I NTRODUCTION Primary mission of the church is to “ evangelize ” the world. Evangelism means “ good news ”—

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