The Greatest Commision

Evangelism is the message of the love of Christ. The message about how God loves every man so much to send His son to reconcile mankind back to Himself.

Evangelism is not first about a religion. Evangelism is not about creating fear in the heart of people neither is it about judging or condemning people.

Every born again Christian who loves God and loves people. Once you claim to love God, you will want to do His will while your love for people will also mean you care about they make heaven or end up in he’ll.

You can start by praying for the salvation of those you know are not yet saved. You can also start by being a good example of good doing, honesty and all Christ like features that would make people want to move closer to you and be like you.

Canada’s workplaces are a controlled environment and not generally open to what they call “proselytizing”. And there have been instances when believers suffered unintended consequences in the workplace for doing so. However, the term “proselytizing” or preaching is not even in Canada’s criminal code as much as they make it look as though it were. And Jesus said to us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The workplace, like any other place we meet people, is still a mission field for the gospel. We can begin by making a list of our co-workers’ names and commit to praying for their salvation regularly. We refrain from being the initiator of religious conversations in the workplace to avoid the unintended consequences of doing so. But we wait for legitimate opportunities to show that we belong to Jesus in a way that others will be attracted to the light we have in Him. And these opportunities come almost every work day. For example, this is a common question co-workers ask: “how was your weekend” or “what did you do at the weekend”? It would be safe to say “I was preaching Jesus to people on Saturday and on Sunday, I went to church to worship Jesus as I want to be in heaven with Him someday”. You see, you are just talking about what you did but sharing the gospel at the same time. And if a colleague requests they want to come to church with you or know more about your faith, keep a record of it showing they initiated it. For example, send them a text message or an email and begin your writing with ” As per your request saying you want to know about Jesus [or] you want to come to church with me….” Then arrange to meet with them outside of the workplace to share your faith with them. Other questions that often come up at workplaces include ” what are your personal interests or hobbies outside of work. That’s your chance to express your delight in Jesus – how you enjoy worshipping Him and talking about Him outside of work. I was at a work training meeting and the instructor asked each participant to share a personal story that profoundly impacted our life. When it got to my turn, I shared about how Jesus healed my left foot from the injury I had sustained while playing soccer as a teenager. The atmosphere changed. One of my senior colleagues said she wanted the same for her ailing husband. After the meeting, some of my colleagues came to identify themselves as christians too and we obtained permission to start a lunch and bible meeting in that workplace.

Jesus once said to the disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). In another instance, the Lord said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). To become a fisher of men into God’s Kingdom, we follow Jesus. To follow Jesus, we need some self-denial. And fasting is one expression of self-denial. I encourage you to take a fast and pray for your family members. Here are some Scriptural examples that can form the basis for your intercession and petition: God reckons with Lot, Abraham’s nephew because of his uncle, Noah’s family entered the ark on account of Noah’s righteousness, and Scripture says that “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now they are clean” (1 Corinthians 7: 14,). Just as the effect of iniquity can be transmitted through the bloodline from generation to generation, these scriptures reveal that the effect of the righteousness we obtained through Jesus can influence our bloodline. Use them to pray for the salvation of your family members. After doing all of these, leave them at the cross and have a joyful expectation that at the appointed time, they will come to a knowledge of the truth in Christ Jesus.

Such a person does not need a revelation of Jesus the Manifest Love, as we spoke about on Sunday. They do not need Jesus the Ancient of Days or Jesus the Son of God. They need a revelation of Jesus the Chief Justice – one of the 11 cardinal truths or sign posts or functional identities of Jesus, which we did not have the time to talk about. Indeed, some people need to be told or reminded that Jesus was coronated as the Chief Justice of the universe who will judge the world in righteousness. They need to be reminded of what He said about lukewarm believers in the book of revelation. The Apostles said they were commanded by Jesus to announce Him to the world as the judge of the living and the dead. Such a person needs to be told about the truth of hell and that the execution of God’s judgement on the rebellious people described in the Book of Revelation are not mere allegories. They are indeed things that will soon take place.

Honor them, speak the truth in love and respect. Pray and fast for them. Remember, if there are 12 steps on a ladder of salvation for the sinner, the more you or anyone else speaks the truth of the gospel to them, the more the Holy Spirit reveals a different functional identity of Jesus to them, and then the higher the steps they climb until they reach the pinnacle of the ladder of salvation.

Let them stay within their lane as a child for now as you gradually train them in line with Scriptural instruction. For example, in 1 Peter 3:15, Scripture says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”. Our children, just like us, need to be trained to have a reasoned defense of our faith to anyone who asks us, and we do it with meekness, that is strength under control. A little child may be unable to demonstrate that kind of strength under control in expressing the truth of their beliefs especially when confronted with common controversial subjects like sexual perversion and sexual identity. While they are being trained to safely articulate their beliefs, here is a baby step they can take in evangelism in the meantime: ” I know that Jesus loves us little children and He said the Kingdom of God belongs to us. He also said our angels see the face of God, which means some angels don’t have that privileged access to the presence of God. Our parents and other grown up people can be little children to Him too. That is why He went to the Cross, shed His blood and died for everyone’s sins so that we can all be with God in heaven at the end. All He asks us to do is to confess our sins to God and believe in Him as our Lord.” And if they are confronted with the controversial subjects, they can say, ” I don’t talk about things like that. I talk about who Jesus is to us and what He did for us”

There are three things to consider here:

1. Recognize that your persistent visit to them may someday be God’s channel to bring healing to those who are faced with the disease.
2. Get used to a one-way communication with them. That is, get used to speaking to them the word of life, the message of the cross and how they need to respond to the message to be saved, without expecting them to respond to you.
3. Many decisions are made in the heart. Iniquity was found in Satan’s heart. Jesus said he who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Mathew 5:28). In the same way, those with dementia can make the decision and confess Jesus in their heart and heaven sanctions it as valid. Generally speaking, people who are sick in hospital, at the end of life care, etc, almost always never reject an offer of eternal peace which the message of the cross gives. So out of every 10 people you speak the message of the cross to consistently at the seniors home, there is a 90 per cent chance that 9 of them will say yes to Jesus without you knowing and they will be in heaven when the time comes.

Each time you go out to preach in the public, you already take them along with you, if you are married. And two shall become one. They are probably angry because they are ashamed as they see you, a part of themself in the public preaching. And that shame is likely coming from one of three sources – the flesh, which is an enemy of the Spirit and anything the Spirit is invested in, Satan or demons. This is worsened by the prevailing Christian culture in which only a few believers are ever seen in public preaching making them look weird even though they are doing exactly what a professing follower of Jesus should do. However, you need to pray for them for the voices of the flesh, Satan and demons to be silenced. You also need to carefully and lovingly admonish them in the way of the Lord in Scripture. For example, Jesus said “But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). In Mark 8:38, He repeats this warning more directly, ” For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels”.

After the Lord asked me to continue giving out that our ministry’s “Best Gift” gospel cards, thoughts from the devil were coming to me multiple times that there are no results of my efforts. I shrugged them, casting down imaginations that have raised themselves beyond the knowledge of Christ. The knowledge of Christ in this case is that heaven has endorsed the gospel cards and is invested in me giving them out as much as possible. I knew that my obedience is the result heaven is reaping. However, some time later, after the devil realized he failed in dissuading me, he came through a person of great authority and reputation in the body of Christ as the person spoke the exact same words to me on the phone. They later denied they ever said those words that I have no results. Then I knew it was the devil who spoke through them. Indeed, in our outreaches, we experience people saying yes to Jesus. And when I go to Whyte Avenue on Friday night, sometimes I can have 11, 10, 8 or just 5 people say yes to Jesus and I connect them to churches where they hopefully are nurtured. And there are many times I go out with no one saying yes to Jesus. But success and result are not in how many people we witness responding to the gospel in conviction. It is in our obedience in sharing it as the Holy Spirit does the work of conviction. That’s why for a long time, I refrained from sharing how many people say yes to Jesus when I go out so people are not motivated by the physical result which is not always there. Some people will embrace matyredom during the Great Tribulation and believe in Jesus to gain eternal life just because you shared the message of the cross to them by giving out a tract. In eternity future, you may be connected with the people you give the gospel to now as your effort supported them as when they take the steps in the ladder of salvation. Please encourage that person with these words.