Introduction:
Over the next several weeks you are going to get to hear about how great God was during our Mission Project to Brazil. We saw Him work in wonderful ways and because of the willingness of people both here and in Campos, over 4,500 people prayed to receive Christ. What happened in Campos was not unique to that place or that time. Wherever, and whenever God’s people are committed to evangelism, others will get saved!
I read an account of an interaction between the Evangelist D.L. Moody and a church woman in England. Moody was in England conducting evangelistic services and after one service this woman approached him and said: “I don’t much like the way you do evangelism.” Moody replied, “Neither do I ma’am, it needs to be better, how do you do it?” The woman responded, “I don’t.” To which Moody said, “In that case, I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.”
Doing evangelism is something that is the responsibility of all believers, not just evangelists, missionaries, pastors and so forth. Jesus clearly called His followers to share the Good News with their world, and as His followers today we have the same calling. In Romans 10 Paul gave a picture of the importance of evangelism, and through quoting the Prophet Isaiah, he showed his readers the “Beauty of Evangelism.”
Text: Romans 10:8-15
Special Music: How Beautiful
I. God Has Provided the Gift of Salvation (8-13)
How do we relate to His provision?
1. Faith
God provides the necessary faith to be drawn to His Son Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Myself.” Jesus does this through the Holy Spirit who through conviction draws all people to Christ. It is true that we are “saved by grace through faith,” but understand that the faith we have is given to us because of God’s grace. If we could someone muster up enough faith on our own, then in essence we would be “earning,” or “deserving” of our salvation.
2. Belief
Paul identified what belief was necessary for salvation. First, it has to come from the heart not the head. Secondly, you must believe that Jesus is who He said He was, and that He did what the scriptures said He did! In other words, that Jesus is God’s Son who died on the cross for your sins, and that the Father raised Him from the dead to conquer sin and death and provide the hope of eternal life to all who believe. These are non-negotiable beliefs. They are the center of the salvation story. Paul made the resurrection is the key because many have died for good causes, but only one man, Jesus Christ rose from the dead to turn a good cause into a heavenly promise.
3. Confession
When we think of confession we normally think of admission of sin, and that is the largest portion of how confession is lived out. But that is not the only aspect of confession. When a person responds to the invitation of God to accept His Son as their Savior they must confess their sin and ask for forgiveness, but they must also confess Christ before others. In that case, which is what Paul was talking about here; it is a matter of commitment. To confess Christ before others is to identify oneself as His disciple, one willing to follow Him no matter what.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33—“Everyone who confesses Me before men I will confess before My Father in heaven. But anyone who refuses to confess Me before men I will deny Him before My Father in heaven.”
Paul challenged Timothy to—“Not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord or of me his prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:8).
Those who respond to the message of salvation must be willing to take a stand with Christ, and with other believers, to be willing to be counted as one of His disciples.
II. God Wants Us To Share the Message of Salvation (10:14-15)
One of my favorite stories is about a young seminary student who was terrified of speaking in front of others. He waited until his last semester to taking his preaching class, knowing that he would have to get up and present a sermon. His professor tried to reassure him that God would give him the strength but the student was truly shaken by the prospect of standing before his classmates.
The class all had to prepare their sermons on the urgency of evangelism. The sermons had to be in manuscript form, and the young student had the best material of his entire class. He had done great textual research on his passage, including historical context, and cultural implications of the verses to those who first received them. He had put together a very concise outline that clearly explained the text, and had found wonderful contemporary illustrations to help make application of the biblical truth. His professor was very impressed with all the work, and was sure that the student would have no problem presenting the sermon to the class.
When the day came for the student to preach his sermon he stood and nervously said, “The Urgency of Evangelism,” and then read his text. He then looked down at his notes, looked out at the class and stuttered, “Do, do, do, you know what I am going to say?” The class all shook their heads “no” to which the student preacher said, “Neither do I, lets pray!” After which he went and sat down.
His professor was very disappointed, he told him to come to his office immediately after class to discuss the matter. The professor pointed out the student that he had done all the hard work, that all he needed to do was share out loud what he had discovered. He asked the student, “Do you understand?” The student nodded “Yes” and was told to be prepared to preach the next day.
The next day came and just as before the young student nervously said, “The Urgency of Evangelism,” and then read his text, then after looking down at his notes stuttered, “Do, do, do, you know what I am going to say?” The class all chuckled a little and nodded “Yes” after which the preacher said, “Then there is nothing else for me to say, lets pray!”
The professor was livid. He met with the student again and told him that if he didn’t get up and preach his sermon tomorrow that he was going to fail the class. The professor reminded the student of the topic of the sermon—“The Urgency of Evangelism” and that he expected to hear about that topic tomorrow in class! The student nodded “OK” and left.
The next day as the student stepped before the class there was a sense of anticipation. As before, he nervously said, “The Urgency of Evangelism,” and then read his text. He looked down at his notes and then looked up at the class and said, “Do you know what I am going to say?” This time the class was divided with some nodding their heads “Yes” and others shaking their heads “No.” The student then with all the boldness he could muster stated: “Then let those who know, tell those who do not! Let us pray!”
As the student sat down the professor looked down at his grade book and under the assignment “The Urgency of Evangelism” he marked an “A.” In the margin he made a note for himself: “The urgency of evangelism is for those who know to tell those who do not!”
Paul’s point about the Beauty of Evangelism is simple:
People need to hear so that they can believe
People need to share so others can hear and believe
People need to sent so they can share so others can hear believe
Paul then quoted Isaiah in saying, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!” That is the beauty of evangelism—that you and I get to be a part of God’s redemptive plan. The Great Commission is just as valid today as it was when Jesus gave to His disciples 2,000 years ago. We need a renewed commitment to that commission—to go and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
I’d like for us to finish by singing together a chorus that has been around since the 1970’s. Most of the time we only sing one verse, but when it was written it was written like a hymn with several verses. It is a story of salvation, and of the Beauty of Evangelism—“Our God Reigns.”
