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Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector.
Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Severely disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. “Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?” he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions were deeply stirred. “I have no right to keep that to myself,” he exclaimed. “It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it.”
According to the Book of Acts, this should be precisely our attitude toward evangelism. We have no right to keep the gospel of Jesus Christ to ourselves—we should take it into the world, and let the people hear it! Jesus calls all of us to share the message of forgiveness from sins and the hope of eternal life with everyone we know!
As we have studied the book of Acts over the past year and a half, you couldn’t help but notice how often Luke has highlighted the importance of evangelism. Remember back to the opening chapter—right before the resurrected Christ ascended into heaven, he said to his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” A few days later the Christian church was birthed with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the church immediately grew from 120 to 3,000 members.
In those early chapters we read about Peter and the other apostles sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem and Judea. Then in the middle chapters we learned about the conversion of the apostle Paul and watched him on three separate missionary journeys’ take the gospel all over Asia. In these last chapters, we are going to see Paul evangelize his way to Rome.
As we have walked through the story of the church’s expansion, we have experienced Luke’s attempts to motivate us to follow in the apostle’s footsteps by evangelizing the world around us. I suspect that most of us have gotten his message by now—we should be telling others about Jesus! And even though I believe that the majority of us are already convinced that we should be evangelizing, I suspect that few of us are actually doing it. I also suspect that one of the biggest reasons for us not evangelizing is that we don’t really know how to do it.
Well, if you have always wondered how to evangelize others, you have come to the right place today. In this morning’s passage, as Paul makes his defense to King Agrippa, he provides us with a wonderful biblical model of evangelism. There are four key components!
1.) Biblical Evangelism utilizes the Scriptures (6-7, 22-23, 27)
As Paul attempts to evangelize Agrippa, Bernice, Festus, and the other high ranking officials and leading men of Caesarea who had gathered at the audience hall, notice how he utilized the Holy Scriptures. In verses 6-8, Paul alludes to the fact that his hope in the promised Messiah was the same hope that God promised to their fathers! This was the promise that their twelve tribes were hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly served God. Where were these promises found? In the Holy Scriptures! The reason Paul was on trial was that he believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah who died and was resurrected from the dead. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies that were recorded in the Scriptures.
Likewise, in verses 22-23 he utilizes the Scriptures when he asserts that he is simply proclaiming what Moses and the prophets have already said—that the Messiah would suffer, rise from the dead, and be a light to both Israel and the Gentiles. The Scriptures prove that Paul’s assertions were in line with Jewish expectations, and he knew that this would add credibility and clarity to the gospel.
Biblical evangelism utilizes the Scriptures. When we share the gospel with others, it is very wise to utilize the Scriptures. It adds credibility and clarity to our message! It shows that our message is consistent with what other Christians have believed for over two thousand years. Now we don’t have to understand every verse of the Bible to utilize the Scriptures in evangelism, but we should be able to show people a few places where it affirms the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, forgiveness from our sins, and the hope of everlasting life.
Now it would be good if we could all open our Bible and show others some of these verses, but it would be even better if we had some of these verses memorized. At the very least, we should all have John 3:16 memorized. It is one of the most concise statements of the gospel in the whole Bible. On the back of your sermon outline you will notice a collection of verses entitled “The Romans Road”. These verses will help you lead someone through the whole message of the gospel. I would like to challenge all of us to memorize these verses. Know them so well that you will always be prepared to share the gospel when God gives us an opportunity.
Biblical evangelism utilizes the Scriptures! Are you willing to follow Paul’s example by knowing and utilizing the Scriptures. Are you willing to memorize some verses to prepare yourself to share the gospel?
2.) Biblical evangelism centers on Jesus Christ (8-9, 12-18)
Throughout Paul’s ministry, the person and work of Jesus Christ was always at the center of his message. It is no different in this passage. As Paul simultaneously defends himself and attempts to evangelize King Agrippa, he makes sure to proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. In verse 8, after alluding to the biblical prophecies about the Messiah he asks a provocative rhetorical question, “Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” He is obviously referring to the death and resurrection of Jesus because in the very next verse he affirms that he too had been convinced that he should do everything possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The same name he once opposed he now proclaimed with all of his heart.
After this, in verses 12-18, Paul recounts the story of how the resurrected Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus, blinded him, and called him into the ministry. If it hadn’t been for this dramatic personal encounter with Jesus Christ, he would have continued to persecute Christians. From this point on, the message of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the center of Paul’s life and ministry.
We always need to remember that the gospel message is about Jesus—who he is and what he has done. The gospel is not about following some ancient religious rituals. It is not about signing on to some moral code. It isn’t about pursuing some transcendental spiritual experience. It is about Jesus Christ! It is about God loving you and me so much that he allowed his only Son to die on a cross so that we can be saved from our sins. It is about Jesus rising on the third day to offer eternal life to anyone who would dare to trust in his name. This is why the Bible says that there is only one name under heaven whereby we must be saved—Jesus Christ. Many people today are convinced that there are many roads to heaven, but it just isn’t true. Jesus Christ is the only way! If he isn’t the only way, his death and resurrection is meaningless.
Is Jesus at the heart of your gospel? Is his death and resurrection the central message of your evangelism? Are you proclaiming that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Paul did! I hope we are!
3.) Biblical evangelism reflects personal transformation (4-5, 9-11)
As Paul continued to plead his case to King Agrippa and persuade him of the truth of the gospel, he knew that it would be important to reflect the personal transformation he experienced. So, he gives us a glimpse of his life before and after Christ. In verses 4-5 he shows us the “before” picture. He was raised in Jerusalem and followed the Old Testament Law in the strictest sense as a member of the Pharisees. In verses 10-11 he conveys how he opposed Jesus Christ and anyone who put their faith in him. He was personally responsible for the imprisonment and death of many Christians. He even went to foreign cities to persecute them. Then he had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and everything changed.
In verses 19-20 we have the “after” picture. The persecutor became a preacher! The murderer became a minister! The opponent of Christ became a proponent of Christ! The adversary of the faith became an advocate of the faith! He now traveled all over the world sharing the grace and love of Jesus. He was completely transformed. This was a powerful testimony of how Jesus can transform lives, and Paul made sure to reflect this in his evangelism.
Not much has changed in two thousand years of evangelism. People love a human interest story. When we evangelize, yes we need to reference the Scriptures and center our message on the person and work of Jesus Christ, but people want to know what difference the gospel has made in our lives. This makes good sense! If Jesus hasn’t changed us in any way, why would anyone be interested in following him? Sharing our personal transformation stories are powerful forms of evangelism.
Now as soon as I say a story of “personal transformation” most people immediately assume I only mean a conversion story. Well, conversion stories certainly reflect personal transformation (Paul relayed his conversion story), but it is not the only way to reflect personal transformation. Some of us have compelling stories of how Jesus delivered us from destructive addictions. Some of us have stories of how Jesus has healed us from dreadful diseases. Some of us have stories of how Jesus saved our marriage from the brink of disaster. Some of us have stories of how Jesus rescued us from financial ruin. Some of us have stories of how Jesus restored us after some tragic loss. And the list goes on and on.
Personal transformation stories are powerful. Why do you think so many people watch Oprah, Dr. Phil, The Biggest Loser, and Extreme Home Makeover? Why do you think Paul shared his story with Agrippa? In Jesus, we have the most incredible transformation stories! Are we reflecting personal transformation when we evangelize? What does your “before and after” Jesus Christ picture look like?
4.) Biblical Evangelism requires a response (20-29)
After Paul utilizes the Scriptures, centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ, and reflects personal transformation, there is one more thing he does that is essential to our biblical model of evangelism. He requires a response! Biblical evangelism requires a response!
In verse 20 Paul says that he preached with the purpose of producing repentance from sins and helping people turn to God. Every time he preached he hoped that his listeners would respond to the gospel positively, even though he was usually met with a negative response. He was also mindful of the importance of people proving their repentance by their deeds. This is another response to the gospel!
In verse 27 Paul brings King Agrippa to the point of decision. His question as to whether or not he believed the prophets required Agrippa to respond to Paul’s whole gospel presentation. Festus had already given a negative response when he accused Paul of being out of his mind in verse 24, and Agrippa responds negatively in verse 28 when he asks Paul if he thought he could be persuaded to be a Christian in such a short period of time. Paul says he doesn’t care whether it is a short time or long time as long as he and the others respond positively. He would be praying for this response. Regardless of the final decision, Paul’s evangelism required a response!
Indeed, biblical evangelism requires a response! Anything less would be irresponsible! Now by requiring a response to the gospel I am not advocating any attempts to manipulate or coerce people into following Jesus. Paul didn’t do that and neither should we! He simply shared the gospel and brought people to the point of decision and left it there.
Here is where many modern evangelistic strategies fail. I remember walking down Wells St. in Chicago one Friday night about ten years ago. I came by a Pakistani restaurant where many cabbies hung out. I saw a well-dressed young man standing on top of the hood of a car holding a twenty-five pound Bible in his hand shouting at the top of his lungs, “If you don’t turn to Jesus right now, you are all going to burn in hell!” Half of the cabbies were laughing at him and the other half were furious with him. I don’t think that either of these responses is what the young man desired, but I believe that it was his own fault. Instead of just proclaiming the gospel and bringing them to the point of decision, he was trying to manipulate them. This wasn’t biblical evangelism!
Like Paul, when we evangelize, we need to be ready for a negative response. When this happens, we should not argue or coerce, but simply pray for their response to change. We should be very careful how we dot it, but I hope that when we evangelize we will remember that biblical evangelism always requires a response!
Well, there you have it, a biblical model for evangelism. Biblical evangelism utilizes the Scriptures, centers of Jesus Christ, reflects personal transformation, and requires a response. After today, you will never again be able to say that you are afraid to evangelize because you don’t know how! So, let’s get to it!