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2 Corinthians 4:1-7 Evangelism 6/1/14

Good morning! If you were here last week, you know that we are going through a series called Grace Core Values. Now honestly, these values hopefully aren’t unique to us but rather things that all churches anywhere in the world should value. I also want you to know that this is not an exhaustive list. There are topics like prayer and multiculturalism that certainly are values, but won’t be taught this summer. We have prayerfully chosen these values in light of where are church is now. Some of them are things that are going well and we want to keep the accelerator down while others might be areas we aren’t hitting it out of the park on. But we hope by God’s grace we would see some course correction in these areas. !

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And this morning we get to one that while it is certainly happening, for the majority of us, and I included myself in this, we probably don’t feel like we are operating on all cylinders. The value I want to talk about this morning is evangelism. ! 
 Now I know the moment I mention this word, lots of different things popped up in your heads. Kirk Cameron might be the first picture that pops into your head. For some of you it brings back memories of being cornered by a stranger as he read you his gospel tract. For others you might think of someone yelling at you in the Grove. Some of you might be thinking about the Jehovah’s Witnesses who woke your kids up at 7am on Saturday. If this is your first time to Grace, you might be wondering if you just walked into a fundamentalist revival church. !

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To be very honest with you, the thought of going and sharing my faith, even in the most comfortable of atmospheres makes me nervous. I often feel inadequate. I feel scared of rejection. And I’m scared to look stupid. But every time I think of evangelism, I can’t help but smile as I think about the person who shared his faith with me. I was a very lost student at Florida State and guy who is now one of my best friends in the world shared the gospel with me over lunch one day and it changed my whole life. It wasn’t flashing. Looking back, I’m not sure it was all that well presented. But it was the gospel, and I was ready to hear it. !

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So this morning, I hope not to make anyone feel beat down for not having won somebody to faith on an airplane this week. But rather I hope that we can all get a bit more excited about what God has done in our lives and what He wants to do with our lives. And with this in mind, I want to look at this text and look at evangelism from four angles. ! 1) The need for evangelism! 2) Our role! 3) God’s role! 4) Why !

! I. The need for evangelism! !

There is a need for evangelism because of the present blindness. Look at vs 3 and 4. !

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And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ! Many people back in Paul’s time were complaining that his gospel was too hard to believe. They would say, “It was only the spiritually minded elite who are able to grasp it. People don’t want to hear the harsh realities contained in your message. Can’t you just water it down some? Make it easier for people to believe?” So what does Paul do? Well, in a way, he concedes. Paul says, “Ok, I agree. But even if our gospel is veiled somehow. Who is it that can’t see it? The very people who need it! And we have to see that they aren’t ok. They are perishing.”!

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Paul is saying, their immediate need is not for me to water down this message. Their immediate need is to hear and believe in this message. Paul then refers to this message as the light of the gospel. Probably thinking back to his own conversion when Jesus dramatically appeared to him and he saw a light from heaven he said was actually brighter than the sun. Paul saw this light and longed for others to see it as well. But not everyone sees it. !

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They can’t see it because the god of this world has blinded them. Satan, in many different ways has worked since the fall to blind people to this light and to keep them waling in darkness. And if we look, we can see this all around us. !

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All of us can relate to some level of mental of spiritual blindness. Who hasn’t looked back at a dating relationship where your parents and maybe all of your friends told you dating this person was a bad idea? But you did it anyway an went on to really regret it. You look back and wonder, “how could I have been so blind?” I know an recovering alcoholic who now can look back at all the ways his alcoholism was hurting those he loved most. But he couldn’t see it then. In fact, he would say he was completely blind to it. !

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Now, certainly some of this can just be attributed to maturity, but it is helpful to relate to this kind of mental blindness because spiritual blindness is so much more profound. Every believer I know can look back at a time they were blind to their own sin. Then their eyes were opened and Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf made absolute sense! This is the reason we often sing, “I once was blind, but now I see.”!

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Their is a terrible, desperate and chronic spiritual blindness on this earth and we who can now see have the opportunity to help others to see as well. Let’s look at Paul’s conversion more closely and see what Jesus called him to once his veil was lifted and he could finally see the light of the gospel. !

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But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ....to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.!

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Paul is converted, his eyes are opened, and he is then sent to open other peoples’ eyes and so are we. !

! So the problem is blindness. What can we do?! ! II. Our role! !

I love how Paul first states what is not effective and healthy evangelism before he tells us what is. Verse 2a! But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word..!

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I think we can all agree that we have seen some pretty bad and manipulative methods of evangelism. So we, like Paul, reject methods like yelling at people in the Grove. We reject deliberate and manipulative bait and switch events. We reject cornering people into a twenty minute 3 point alliterated sermon at Walmart. We also reject adding anything to the gospel like telling the Jesus will make you rich and protect you from ever getting cancer if you would just believe. All the these methods play on peoples’ emotions, they are manipulative, unhelpful and unloving. Paul has rejected them and so should we. !

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But what do we do? vs 2b! but by the open statement of truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.!

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So what do we do? We open our mouths and state truth to peoples’ consciences. Now this is where I really want to camp out. I want to spend some time making this very practical. What does this proclamation of truth look like? Because I can tell you, just because your mouth is open and truth is coming out, it doesn’t mean it’s helpful. And it certainly doesn’t mean it is making it to anyone’s conscience. !

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First, I want to acknowledge that evangelism is hard. Don’t let anyone make you feel unspiritual because the idea of sharing your faith scares you to death. It’s hard for a variety of reasons:! 1) First it’s hard because it takes courage. You don’t know if the other person is going to be at all interested in what you have to say. You don’t know if they will ask a question you can’t answer. You don’t know how it will affect your relationship with that person. And it takes courage because we may very well be rejected. ! 2) Secondly though, it’s hard because so many of the people we might want to share our faith with here in Oxford already think they are a Christian. The lines are so much more clear in most of the rest of the world. But it is hard to evangelize a lost person who thinks they are a Christian!!

! So what do we do?! ! 3

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I know when I go to read books for listen to sermons on this topic, I really long for practical help so I 3 thoughts and then 10 ways all of us here can be more actively involved in evangelism here in Oxford. !

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1) Before you do anything, pray. Pray for opportunities. Pray for specific individuals and I think you could be amazed at the doors that begin to open. ! 2) Prepare. For most of us evangelism isn’t something that we can just wing. It may sound elementary, but know the gospel. I’m just using logic that we would all use in any other area of life. If you knew you might be shooting the 3 point shot at halftime for $10,000, you would be preparing. All this means is that if someone asked you, “what exactly do you believe about God?” you would have an answer for them that contained the Christian gospel. There might be 4 points to it, there might be 12. But in your explanation, they will hear that 1) God created men and women in His image, holy and perfect. 2) Man rebelled and sin came into the world and this sin has spread to all of us 3) God then began to pursue His people and ultimately became one of us in the form of Jesus Christ. 4) Jesus lived the life we never could, never having sinned, yet died the death we deserve. 5) He came back from the dead and we can receive all He earned if we decide to follow Him. That’s basic preparation.! 3) Proclaim. There is a phrase that has wrongly been attributed to St. Francis of Assisi that goes something like, “preach the gospel and when necessary, use words.” Now I appreciate the heart of making sure your actions line up with what you believe, but this is a really stupid statement. Words must always be spoken or written for someone to believe. And I know this is the really scary part. So here are 10 very practical ideas that might help you get into a gospel conversation. ! 1) Questions. Ask good questions. Don’t go in with a sermon. And I’m not talking about leading questions like, “What makes you think you’re not going to hell?” That’s not helpful. But genuine questions that let people know you care. Questions that go past the surfacy topics of sports and shopping. You might be very surprised where the conversation goes if you ask someone how their marriage is going. They might really open up and you would then have the opportunity to help them see that marriage is hard, but it is much easier when we see that the purpose of it is create a picture of the gospel for all to see. You could tell them you have a book called, ‘The Meaning of Marriage’ (which we have on our bookstall) and that this book has helped you and you’d be happy to give them a copy. Sometimes it is as simple as “How can I be praying for you?” to open the doors to someone’s real thoughts. I have found many people will lie when asked, “how are you doing?” But they seem to have a much more honest answer when they know you wan to pray for them. ! 2) Some of you moms have your kids home for the summer and you might take them regularly to the park or pool. Maybe you could get another Christian friend of yours and together invite a non-believing friend to join you. Then go back to point one and ask good questions. Maybe ask each other, what has been the hardest part of this year in raising kids. What an easy opportunity to talk about seeing your own sin and selfishness and your need for Jesus and His Holy Spirit every day. !

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3) Third idea. Listen to JD”s sermon on hospitality and have a family over for dinner. If you pray before you eat, they will hear the gospel there. I remember eating at a friend’s house in Starkville and after we ate, they did a Bible time for their kids that we got to watch. It was really impactful see a family doing that and we certainly heard the gospel. This friend used to say, I have never had someone get mad at me for talking about Jesus after we have cleaned up our house, had them over and fed them a good meal. Again, not a bait and switch, just letting them into what already happens at your house around dinner time. ! 4) Fourth idea. Guys, maybe you like to hunt, hike, golf or fish. I know guys who use these hobbies to get alone for more than an hour together with unbelieving friends. I know a lot of you think men don’t want to talk about mushy stuff like dating, marriage and family, but I can tell you you’re wrong. I might take more than 5 minutes to get there, but if you are out fishing together and ask a few questions about their life, I would be surprised if you don’t get there. ! 5) Fifthly, I know of a pastor who tried to use the same coffee shop, the same restaurants, the same person to cut his hair and he would always spend an extra 5 minutes getting to know the people who worked there. And after a period of time, there developed a relationship where he could ask them questions like, “What do you believe?” or “Do you go to church? Why or why not?” ! 6) Sixthly, I know many of you have friends in crazy liberal churches where the gospel is no longer preached, but they consider themselves Christians. This is personally an area of passion for me. Simply asking them questions like, “What was the sermon on this week?” can be really productive. Or maybe say, “I have always loved your building. Tell me, what is the thing you love the most about your church?” It might go no where, but my hunch is that more than 40% of the people you ask will follow up and ask you the same question. Then you are able to say, “Well, it’s in a strip mall which I don’t love, the auditorium and the kids rooms are way overcrowded and they really are still trying to establish their basic identity, but the gospel is preached and the Bible is taught.”! 7) Seven. You know the nice thing about our culture is that we can use the Bible Belt to our advantage. Women, maybe you start a six week Bible study on marriage or children and purposely invite other women who you don’t think believe. The funny thing is that they think they do believe and will be willing to come and hear the gospel applied to a real felt need in their life. Men, you can do the same thing in a morning breakfast going through a 6-8 week study on manhood, leadership or raising boys. There are endless great curriculums out there designed just for this purpose. ! 8) Eight. Invite. This is the easiest and requires the least of us. Invite people to places the gospel is taught. Church is an obvious and great one. But you could invite them to community group. You could invite them to a Bible study. We are hoping to have a conference at the church each semester you could invite someone to. We had a parenting conference this spring and it was the best parenting event I have ever been to. It would have been very comfortable and 5

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helpful to any unbeliever and they would have heard the gospel clearly. We will have Vacation Bible School and the end of July you could invite your friends and their children to. ! 9) Nine, and I sort of already touched on this. You can share resources. You can share books, sermons, articles, links that you think would be helpful to your friends by bringing the gospel to bear on very felt needs in their life. It could be depression, parenting, death, marriage, finances, etc. The gospel is the answer to all of them. ! 10) Ten. Be patient. Most people, like children and plants, take time and love. Gie them time and give them love. And make sure you listen more than you talk. !

I hope that is a very practical and helpful list. Very simple ways you can be more engaged in evangelism in this town. I don’t want you to think that’s all there is to it though. If this were all there was to evangelism, half the people who tried would become arrogant and the other half terribly discouraged. There is a huge piece that I haven’t mentioned yet that will protect us from this. !

! III. God’s Role! !

Notice that Paul doesn’t only talk about what he does to overcome spiritual blindness. He has a very significant role to play, but his isn’t the only one. Look at verse 6. ! For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.!

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Do you realize what he is saying? We speak the truth, but the results are 100% up to God. Wouldn’t it be nice if your job worked that way? Hey, you do the best you can selling stuff and we won’t hold you accountable in the least for the results. You just study hard and we can guarantee an ‘A’ on every exam! But this is precisely what Paul is saying about evangelism. We do the best we know how and leave the results to God. !

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Paul is actually quoting Genesis 1 here that JD read earlier where nothing but darkness existed in the universe, but then God said, “Let there be light!” and the universe was lit. In the same way, there is a veil and under it, total spiritual darkness. But then God says, “Let there be light!” and our hearts see the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God lifts the veil and God gives the sight. You speak truth and light shines! That they don’t see it is irrelevant. That next part is up to God. !

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I knew an older man with little kids once who would try and give his children a picture of bad evangelism as they were gardening. They would finish tilling, planting and watering and as the kids were walking off, he would say, “Hey, there is still one more thing to do.” The kids sort of looked confused and he would start yelling at the seeds in the ground, “Grow!!!! Grow!!!!!” His kids would start laughing at him knowing that wouldn’t help because whatever happened next was clearly out of their hands. !

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The same goes with evangelism. And knowing that God ultimately causes sight will make us more loving, more patient, and more bold and will protect us from pride and discouragement. !

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The last question we need to address is this. If this is true, if God is ultimately lifting the veil, why are we necessary? !

! IV. Why He uses us! !

He uses us because He gets more glory that way. Don’t be deceived by the paragraph breaks. The original text had no such breaks. Let’s look at verse seven in light of this question. !

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But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us. !

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2000 years ago, just like today, you would never have stored your treasure in a clay jar. It made no sense. It could easily be broken and, therefore, was not an ideal vessel for a treasure. God has done just this though by placing a treasure, the gospel, inside broken, delicate, sinful vessels....us. It makes no sense. No earthly sense anyway. !

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And because it makes no earthly sense, when peoples’ lives are dramatically changed, only the supernatural is a sufficient explanation. Think about the person or people who shared the gospel with you. They may have been nice, they may have been studied, they may have been well-spoken and convincing, but were any of them truly capable of the heart transformation you have experienced? NO! And when we really ponder this, the only explanation is a super-natural one. !

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I have used an illustration before of a friend in Starkville who was an Olympic class runner. His 400 meter time was a second off Michael Johnson’s world record. Now imagine if my friend and I lined up for the 400 meter fun alongside Michael Johnson. If my friend beats him, he would get all the glory because it is within his ability to beat him. If I, on the other hand, were to beat Michael Johnson, we would all be looking for a supernatural answer. !

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And God has designed evangelism to work in the same way. Do you think you are insufficient for the task? Do you think you might not be able to answer all the questions? Do you think your speech might not be eloquent or convincing enough? Good!! God would love an opportunity to show you His glory more clearly through your very real limitations. !

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I want to land the plane with verse 5 which summarizes everything we have talked about. ! For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. !

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The Corinthian people didn’t think much of Paul’s ability. Paul likely was a poor, short, bald, fat, stuttering guy. And the Corinthians wanted a different type of person to be associated as their spiritual leader. But Paul is boldly saying, “My gifts don’t matter! My appearance doesn’t matter! Whether I impress you doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter because I am not your Savior. Jesus is. And I am not here to proclaim myself, but Him as Lord.!

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He is saying, “I will serve you, love you, pray for you and speak to you because He has saved me and I want to point all those in my life to His love, His mercy and His grace. I long for others to see the light of the gospel. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”!

! May this be the heart of all of us here at Grace Bible Church. ! ! Let’s pray. !

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