Bible Study 3 August 2021: Evangelism: God’s Heartbeat
TOPIC: Evangelism: God’s Heartbeat (1)
TEXT: Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 20:20-24.
I MUST work the works of him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work. John 9:4.
Jesus made an imperative statement stating the degree of involvement, urgency of the commitment and the time frame for its execution. It is worth noting that God the Father in His unique plan for man completed the work of creation without any fault. Gen. 1:26-27; shortly after this, there was the fall in Gen. 3:1-7; God designed the Son Jesus to come and accomplish the work of redemption through the excruciating death of the cross.
Now, Man’s plan in God’s scheme for salvation is to take the gospel to all the nations of the world using any available resources. For decades of centuries, this singular assignment has remained an unfinished task of great demand in the purview of every church although it has suffered neglect in most churches today or some have simply shifted attention to something else’s thereby delaying the coming of the Lord. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:14.
THE URGENCY OF THE TASK FOR EVANGELISM: Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 26:15-20; John 20:21; Acts 1:7-8; Luke 9:59-60. The task of the commission is so demanding and urgent that the church should at no time make it a once in a while programme. It should be inculcated into the church programme as a day to day project. Evangelism is as relevant to every Christian as food is to our daily survival. In actual fact, it should be our lifestyle and not classified under special program. This is a complete violation of scriptures and should be corrected hitherto. Jesus had it tough in His home town and Capernaum the capital city of His Ministry with His people who did not readily accept Him as the Messiah because of their familiarity but he was never deterred from preaching the word. He rigorously evangelized the neighbouring communities thereby setting the pace for us.
THE THRUST OF THE TASK FOR EVANGELISM: Isaiah 1:18-19; Matt. 11:28; John 3:16-18; Acts 17:30. The main objective of the commission is to bring the sinner to the point of realization of his sins, openly confess to Jesus and then acknowledge Him as his Saviour. It is not a time for arguments, condemnation of churches; sing the praise of our papa in the Lord, etc. but to present Jesus as the Saviour of man from all forms of sin. We are under spiritual obligation to CREATE TIME for the task. We are aware of our busy tight schedule but beyond this is the schedule for evangelism that must not be negotiated otherwise.
Do yourself no harm of running into the crisis of Lamenting at the close of life with the song Must I go an empty handed must I meet my Saviour so. Not one soul with which to greet Him. Does this song describe you? Then, you can rise up and do something righteous by going out for souls TODAY.
NOTE: Evangelism is not just a special programme but a lifestyle of the believer. Have you witnessed to anyone TODAY?
HYMN – Give Me Oil In My LampÂ
Today’s Bible Study was written By Redemption Ministries Worldwide, Church of the FirstBorn, Eastern By-Pass, Port Harcourt Rivers State, Nigeria.