Preaching Any Passage Evangelistically
By R. Larry Moyer
President and CEO
EvanTell

There are many ways to handle the biblical text. What is the right one?

My wife and I have a friend whose name is Joy. When she was in her early twenties, a young man asked her for a date and she politely declined. He insisted that God told him that he was to go out with her. When she inquired as to how God revealed that to him (since He had clearly not revealed it to her), he told her that he took his Bible to study it and it fell open to Isaiah 55:12, “for you shall go out with joy.” He wasn’t kidding. The problem is that verse is actually referring to the excitement of God’s people as they are delivered from captivity. It’s not the name of a person to invite out on a date.

A preacher was fond of speaking on baptism.  He selected a text on baptism for every message he gave.  The elders in the church became weary of him speaking on this subject.  They decided the only way to solve the problem was to suggest the text from which they wanted him to speak.  So, they asked him to speak from Revelation 9:1-12.  (The text does not even mention water.)  The next Sunday, the preacher got up, read Revelation 9:1-12, and began his message by saying, “By the way, do you realize this is one of the few texts in the Bible which does not mention baptism?  Speaking of baptism let me say this . . .”

An evangelist who handles the Scripture carefully should not misuse or abuse the text. Nor should he take a text and leap from it.   He is not to preach a word. He is to preach the Word. 
Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  God is saying, “I’ll use My Word.”  It is the preaching of the Word which God has promised to use in convicting the lost and bringing them to Himself. The Bible, properly interpreted, is the basis, not the background, of the message.  Hebrews 4:12 explains why - “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The preaching that is needed in evangelism today is referred to as expository evangelistic preaching. It’s preaching that unfolds Scripture in such a way that the audience does not just know what the evangelist said, but knows where in the Bible God said it first.  In so doing, he has not preached his thoughts about God but instead God’s thoughts about us. 

If one practices expository evangelistic preaching, what must the evangelist be careful to do as he preaches the Word?

I. Be certain His message is your message. 

An expository evangelist who preaches the Word must be so committed to the text that once he reads it, he explains it.  Instead of preaching around the Bible, he preaches from the Bible. He doesn’t use an emotional experience, a “catchy cliché” or personal opinion as his “Bible.”  He uses the text. If his text is John 3:1-15, the story of Nicodemus, he will clearly explain John 3:1-15.  If his text is one verse, such as Romans 4:5, the listener understands Romans 4:5.  His message is so much the message of the text, if a person disagrees with the content of his message his disagreement is really with God.  The evangelist merely repeated what God said. 

II. Do not take Scripture out of context.

Suppose a friend made three statements:

1) “I stayed in Joe’s house.”

2) “Joe had a fire in his fireplace.” 

3) “It reminded me of hell.”

If one only repeated the first and third statements he would tell people that his friend stayed in Joe’s house and it reminded him of hell.  Obviously, that is not what the friend actually said.  The second statement clarifies the truth.  To understand what was said, one must understand the complete context.

It would be easy for the evangelist to take the Bible out of context. But God’s words have meaning.  His words were written to particular people living at a particular time. We must examine what the meaning was to the people of that day to properly apply it to people of our day.

In 1 Samuel 20:3, David said to his beloved friend Jonathan, “. . . but truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”  Since the text says, “There is but a step between me and death,” an evangelist might be tempted to use this text to appeal to lost people and say, “There is but one step between you and death. You need to come to Christ tonight.”  But that is not the meaning of that verse.  David was not talking about the brevity of life and the need for sinners to get right with God.  Instead, he was confiding in Jonathan his fear of Saul, who was trying to kill him.  The context of that passage is not the need for a sinner to come to God but David’s need to get away from Saul! 

Expository evangelistic preaching unfolds the Bible in its proper context.  When an evangelist interprets a verse, he interprets it in light of the passage in which it is found.  For that reason, when he steps into the pulpit, the evangelist gives the words of the Bible the meaning God gave them.  He has studied the historical situation and geographical setting of the text.  He can imagine standing on that dusty road, seeing the crowd, and hearing the Master beckon, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).  He can explain what the Word means to people today, because he understands what it meant to people in that day. Otherwise he is preaching the words of the Bible, but not the Word.

That’s why the evangelist must choose his text carefully.  He cannot choose a text directed to Christians and preach it as though its primary thrust is to non-Christians. He may choose a text that is directed to non-Christians, such as in the Gospel of John (cf John 30:31). Another option would be to choose a text that reminds believers of how they came to Christ. For example, Ephesians 2:1-10 speaks to believers but also communicates to non-Christians how they, too, can come to the Savior.  The text chosen must be properly applied to unbelievers.

This doesn’t mean that every text an evangelist uses to appeal to the unbeliever must contain all the elements of the plan of salvation - the fact that we are sinners, Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection, and the need to trust Christ. Few passages contain all three elements.  Some verses explain man’s sin problem, but do not explain Christ’s sin payment.  An example is Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  It’s up to the evangelist to explain substitution and faith. Others explain our sinful condition and His substitutionary death, but do not emphasize the need to believe. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It’s up to the evangelist to explain faith. Every time an evangelist preaches a text though, whatever elements of the plan of salvation it contains, he must preach it in the context God wrote it. 

III. Preach the message in the context of life today.

A Christian took an unbeliever to hear an evangelist who spoke on how we are sinners before God.  From the text, he explained how each person has broken God’s laws and has chosen to live life without God, as a rebellious, self-seeking person.  He also talked about how people avoid God and prevent their thoughts from turning to Him.  The non-Christian turned to his friend and with a convicted look whispered, “Did you tell him about me?”

Evangelistic preaching must relate to where they’re living. Hebrews 4:12 states that the Word “is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Word is relevant. The evangelist must explain how and where it’s relevant. The non-Christian should feel as though the evangelist read his journal, lived in his house, or talked to his friends.  The evangelist has identified with the unbeliever’s situation and has brought the Word to life where he is experiencing it.  In clear terms, he explains how God’s Word, written to people living then, applies to people living now.  Through the effective use of the Word, the non-Christian should see his life as an open book before God. 

As the evangelist does so, the unbeliever is aware that God’s Word demands a response.  Whether he responds negatively or positively, he must respond.  An unbeliever remarked, “As I sat in the pew, I knew I had only two options.  I could trust Christ, or I could reject Him.  There was no middle ground.”

 

Conclusion

Expository evangelistic preaching is the preaching of the Word.  The evangelist’s message is the message of the text.  He preaches the Bible - not around the Bible. His message is in its proper context.  He understands the historical setting and knows what the words meant to the people of that day. The  message  is in the context of life.  The unbeliever feels as though the evangelist has lived in his home, watching him behind a one-way mirror.

Here’s a way to characterize the preaching needed in evangelism today.  Suppose only two people are sitting in an evangelistic service:  One is Jesus Christ; the other is a non-Christian.  Upon the conclusion of the evangelist’s message, each is asked to comment.  If the evangelist has done the job God called him to do, Jesus Christ should be able to say, “That’s My Word!”  The sinner should say, “That’s me!”

©EvanTell, Inc. 2005