Trinity Baptist Church

Serve Oklahoma

The Power of Personal Evangelism

Acts 8:26-40

 

For the last few weeks we’ve been looking at the four main emphasis of Serve Oklahoma; The Power of Prayer challenged us to put together a list of people who need to be saved and pray for them.  And many of you are doing that individually and collectively with your Sunday School class.

 

Then we talked about the Power of Community which focuses us on the church and we zeroed in on the characteristic of service.  God has called, equipped, commanded and placed us in the church to serve others.

 

Next we moved to the Power of 10 and the ministry of small groups like Sunday school classes.  In that message we looked at what real Bible fellowship is all about.  It’s more than getting together for refreshments.  It is the very basis of why we exist as the people of God.  We are able to have fellowship with one another just as Jesus does with God because of the blood of Jesus Christ.

 

Then last week the emphasis was on the power of one.  IT really doesn’t matter much if the church or Sunday school makes a commitment to honor God unless you and I as individuals are willing to get on board.  And we learned God is able to use anybody if they are willing to give the glory to Him.

 

Today, and for the next three Sundays, I want to keep the focus on us as individuals by looking at four different aspects of the Power of One.

Today we will begin with the Power of Personal Evangelism.   There were several methods of evangelism used in the life of the early church.  The book of Acts contains about thirty-five years of the history of the early church.  There is preaching evangelism, teaching evangelism, house to house evangelism, and personal evangelism.

 

That is reflective of the ministry of Jesus Himself.  Jesus didn’t limit His outreach to only one approach.  You will see Him preaching to thousands.  You find Him discipling small groups like the 12 apostles. And He engaged in one-on-one personal encounters.

 

And if we will be effective in reaching people for Christ, we will be using all of those tools as well.  We will continue to have worship services and preach to the crowd who attends.  We will employ the ministry of Sunday school which provides small group opportunities.  But we must never minimize the importance of one-on-one evangelism.

 

In fact, I would say the most effective evangelism is person to person evangelism.  God hasn’t called everyone to preach to crowds.  Not everyone will teach a Sunday school class.  But we call all talk to others about what God has done in our life.

 

Now to illustrate the power of personal evangelism, let’s look at Acts 8:26-40 because in this text we find everything necessary for a saved person to lead a lost person to the Lord.

 

Acts 8:26-40

 

 

 

There are four participants in the salvation recorded here and every one of these people are present every time a person is born again.

 

First of all, there is

 

 

Now I don’t know what all had gone on in this man’s life, but I know every time a person is saved, there are some experiences that lead up to that time that prepare that person for the Gospel.

 

Maybe he met some Christians in Jerusalem who were spreading the good news.  Maybe he had some family issues.  He might have been thinking about the emptiness in his life.  I don’t know what they were in particular, but I know God uses events in our lives to bring us to Himself.

 

And often times, we aren’t aware of it, therefore we forget about it and that contributes to our hesitancy to share the faith.  Several years ago when we were living in Duncan, I was getting a haircut.  As the girl who was cutting my hair was snipping away, I asked her about if she went to church.

 

She said no, but she needed to get her children in church.  AI replied that church was good for children, but also for adults.  I said, “Tonya, has anyone ever told you how to become a Christian?”  She said, “No, but I’ve always wanted someone to”.

 

I said, “Well put those scissors down because I don’t want to be all gapped up.” And she came into the Kingdom of God in a cloud of hair clippings, talcum powder and tears.

Now I am not going to mislead you and tell you it’s always that easy because it’s not, but sometimes it is as God prepares the circumstances and arranges the appointments and at just the right time it all comes together.

 

Listen:  we’re talking about the power of personal evangelism, but never that salvation initiates with God.  Therefore, in every salvation, the Power of God is at work.

 

Think about the salvation of Zaccheus.  Generally, we concentrate on him climbing up the sycamore tree and trying to see Jesus and being told to come down and all that.

 

But that story began a long time before the encounter we read about.  And you have to read between the lines to see it, but did you ever think about the fact that God saw to it that a sycamore tree was growing in that very spot and he began that process early enough for it to be big and strong enough to support the weight of a man so that at just the right time Zaccheus could climb it so that when Jesus passed by, he would be there waiting for Jesus to say come down from it?  Is that not amazing?

 

I believe God put that tree there in His providence so a little man could see Jesus.  He has done a lot in your life to bring you where you are.  And He is constantly at work to arrange the circumstances so others can encounter Him.

 

 

 

 

Think about this man in the text. He just happened to be traveling down a certain road on a certain day at a certain time reading a certain Scripture so a certain servant of God could happen to show up at the right place at the right time.  All of that came together so a waiting sinner could be saved.

 

But in truth, there are a lot of waiting sinners.  They’re everywhere you look.  They’re scattered all over the world.  People whose lives have been broken; dreams have died; families have disintegrated; finances have disappeared.

 

They have all of these questions and they’re trying to make sense of life and they have no answers.  So they are just waiting.

 

That’s why ever waiting sinner needs to encounter

 

 

Phillip was one of the original seven who were set apart by the church in Jerusalem to serve.  Now immediately before this account in chapter 8, Philip was in a revival meeting in Samaria.

 

In fact, back in the early verses of chapter 8, we read

 

Verses 4-13

 

So things couldn’t have been better for Philip.  He had the dream position.  Obviously God was using him; people were being saved; miracles wee happening; it was amazing.

 

 

However, the Spirit of God led him to leave that place to go south toward Gaza.  And he went.  Now all of that is reported rather matter-of-factly in verses 26 and 27, but consider carefully what we read there.

 

He’s in a place where God is working and blessing.  There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing you are where God wants you to be and you are being used of Him in that place.  But rather suddenly, an angel shows up and tells him he needs to relocate.

 

It made no sense; it wasn’t practical; it challenged his prejudices; it was inconvenient; I’m sure he found all kinds of excuses.

 

However, he was obedient.  We do not always know what the Lord has planned for us but that really doesn’t matter does it?  Remember, God is putting circumstances together.

 

God is working a plan.  There was a waiting sinner down near Gaza and he needs a willing servant of God to show up and help him understand the Holy Scriptures and God taps Philip on the shoulder and says, “You’re the man!”

 

The issue was obedience.  That’s always the beginning point.  Will I be obedient to the Lord?

 

Every call that comes to us to help someone be saved always takes us back to our own salvation. When we get saved, we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus.  We make Him Lord of our life.  So when He calls us to go, our response has already been given at our own conversion.  We made Him Lord, therefore our answer is “yes”.

In fact, it’s kind of hard to conceive of anyone saying, “No Lord”, isn’t it?  It doesn’t even sound right to say it.

 

(sing)  “I’ll say No Lord No, to your will and to your way.  No, Lord, No, I won’t trust you or obey. When Your Spirit speaks to me, my whole heart will disagree, and my answer will be No, Lord, No”

 

Listen:  If the Lord comes calling, He’s looking for obedience; He expects obedience and He deserves obedience.  In fact, it was the Lord Who said, “Why do you call me Lord and not do what I tell you to do?”

 

Philip was not only obedient, he was observant.

Now notice, when Philip was called, he wasn’t given any details about what to expect.  He was only told which road to travel.  That’s in verse 26.

 

Then when he got closer, he was given additional instruction.  Now I don’t know how you picture what was happening, but I have an idea that Philip is traveling along with eyes wide open.  He knows something’s up, but he doesn’t know what.

 

And I wonder how many chariots passed by him as he traveled.  But Philip is content to wait for further instruction.  And all of a sudden, this Ethiopian and his entourage pass by and the Spirit nudges Philip and says, “Go catch that chariot.”

 

So Philip takes off running and overtakes the chariot.  And notice, there is not further direction from the Spirit, but Philip is observant.  He accesses the situation and notices this dude is reading the Scripture.

What better opening could you want for an opportunity to share the gospel?  So Philip seizes on that opportunity and initiates a conversation with the eunuch about what he is reading.

 

There are no telling how many witnessing opportunities we miss every day simply because we are not observant.  We get so caught up in getting our way or arguing our point or making our case that we forfeit the opportunity to point people toward Jesus.

 

Several years ago, early in my pastoral ministry, I traveled with a deacon in my church to a building just one block south of here that was being used as a halfway house for alcoholics.  This deacon’s brother was a resident there and he asked if I would go with him to visit his brother and talk to him about the Lord.

 

When we drove up, his brother was sitting on the hood of a car in the front yard.  I was introduced to him and almost before I could say anything, this man said, “You know preacher, this old building doesn’t look like much on the outside, but on the inside, it’s a whole different story.  It’s really nice.”

 

I thought, “Thank you Lord for this opportunity”, as I said to him, “You know, Leroy, that’s the way our lives are also.  And I’ve come today to talk to you about what’s on the inside.”

 

Every day, all around us, the opportunities are there if we, as a willing servant, would simply be obedient and observant.

 

 

Finally, in this example of the power of personal evangelism, we see

 

 

Verses 30-37

 

This man was reading from the book of Isaiah, in particular, Isaiah 53:7-8 which is all about the crucifixion.  And he’s reading about Jesus, but he doesn’t know it.

 

And as they travel along, Phillip started right at that passage of Scripture and shared Jesus with the man.  Now keep in mind, he was reading an Old Testament passage, but it’s about Jesus.  Jesus is, in fact, the centerpiece of the Old Testament.

 

Immediately after the resurrection, as Jesus walked with a couple down the road to Emmaus, they talked with him about all that had happened concerning Jesus, not knowing it was Jesus to whom they spoke.

 

And in that conversation we are told He began with the writings of Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

 

To the Jewish leaders who were experts in the Old Testament, Jesus said, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me.”

 

Philip had no problem finding Jesus in the Old Testament. 

 

And it doesn’t matter whether it’s Old or New Testament, when Jesus is preached, the Holy Spirit uses that Word to penetrate the heart of sinners and lead them to Christ. He convicts and converts.

 

And upon meeting the Savior, this Ethiopian gave evidence that he had been saved through baptism.

He must have seen the Christians baptizing people in Jerusalem and he has this desire to do everything right and be identified as a follower of Jesus Christ.

 

And notice, he was baptized because he had been saved.  He wants to know if there is anything that would prevent his baptism, and Philip’s response is, “Not if you believe in Jesus with all your heart."

 

They stopped the chariot, went down into the water and Philip baptized him and sent him on his way and he became the first missionary to Ethiopia.

 

A sinner, a servant and a savior all came together that day on the road to Gaza.

 

Now if you were listening closely when I began you heard me say there were four individuals involved in  every salvation experience and I’ve only mentioned three.  Actually I’ve mentioned four, I just didn’t name Him individually and that is by design.

 

The fourth participant in every salvation is the Spirit.  Every time a willing servant comes in contact with a waiting sinner seeking to introduce him to the wonderful Savior, the Spirit of God shows up.

 

He is present in every part of this story.  He is behind the scenes directing circumstances and providing direction to see that Jesus is lifted up.

And dear friend, if you will be willing to share the Savior with others, He’ll show up for you also because He is the Power of personal evangelism.

 

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Jeannie Braca switched on the TV to check the weather report, only to hear that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. Jeannie’s husband, Al, worked as a corporate bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. His office was on the 105th floor of Tower One.

 

Al had survived the WTC bombing in 1993 and had even helped a woman with asthma escape from the building. Jeannie knew that Al would do the same thing this time, “I knew he would stop to help and minister to people,” she said, “but I never thought for a minute that he wouldn’t be coming home!” A week later Al’s body was found in the rubble.

 

Al’s wife, Jeannie, and his son Christopher were devastated! Then the reports began to trickle in from friends and acquaintances. Some people on the 105th floor had made a last call or sent a final e-mail to loved ones saying that a man was leading people in prayer.

 

A few referred to Al by name. Al’s family learned that Al had indeed been ministering to people during the attack! When Al realized that they were all trapped in the building and would not be able to escape, Al shared the gospel with a group of 50 co-workers and led them in prayer. This news came as no surprise to Al’s wife, Jeannie.

 

For years, she and Al had been praying for the salvation of these men and women.

 

According to Jeannie, Al hated his job and couldn’t stand the environment. It was a world so out of touch with his Christian values, but he wouldn’t quit. Al was convinced that God wanted him to stay there, to be a light in the darkness, and although Al would not have put it this way, to be a hero! Al was not ashamed of Christ and Christ’s words…and he paid the price of taking up his cross daily. Al shared his faith with his co-workers….many of whom sarcastically nicknamed him “The Rev.”

 

And on that fateful day, September 11, in the midst of the chaos, Al’s co-workers looked to him, and Al delivered! At the same time, Al too tried to get a phone call through to his family. He asked an MCI operator to contact his family. “Tell them that I love them,” he said.

 

It took the operator more than a month to reach the Braca’s, but the message brought them much-needed comfort. “The last thing my dad did involved the two things most important to him—God and his family,” his son Christopher told a writer for Focus on The Family.  “He loved to lead people to Christ. That takes away a lot of the hurt and the pain.”

 

II think it safe to say that for many people that day, Al Braca was an answer to prayer because, like many of you, there were people all over the country who were praying for friends and family members that day.  And the answer to their prayer was God putting a believer in that building to minister.

 

Listen:  You may not know it, but every time you lead someone to Christ, you are the answer to somebody’s prayer.   May God help us to be willing servants.  Let’s pray.