Evangelism – Its Place in History

Evangelism – Its Place in History

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:1-18)

Your theme for this Church year is “Know Christ – Make Him known.” During the Bible hour this week we are to talk together concerning the seconded part of this theme: “Make Him known.” This is evangelism. The bases of our study will be the Gospel of John. Naturally we cannot hope to conduct a systematic study of John’s gospel. We will use the gospel as our source material for study in evangelism. You might be interested in the titles of our study:

1)    Evangelism—Its place in History

2)    Evangelism – Its Message

3)    Evangelism – Its Method

4)    Evangelism – Its resources

5)    Evangelism – Its Claims Upon Me

In preparation for tomorrows study will you read the third chapter of John.

Evangelism has always been the primary aim, purpose and program of the Church. When a Church or the Church ceases to be evangelistic in character it signs its own death decree. Evangelism is and must ever continue to be the blood of the Church.

Perhaps there is no singular word in the Christian vocabulary which has suffered more from those who claim to love it than this great New Testament term: Evangelism. Often time’s evangelism is associated with periods of great emotional appeal; it has been identified with all sects and denominations that move from periods of so called revival to another; it has been thought in connection with certain unsavory practices and publicity stunts. The result is that the mere mention of evangelism raises a barrier in the minds of people.

The time has come for us to reclaim this word and to clothe it in the garments of respectability. Christ gave us a definition of evangelism in the words of the great commission: “Go ye into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe whatsoever things that I have commanded you. Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the earth.” In its narrower scope evangelism is bringing men to Christ; in the broader scope evangelism is bringing men to Christ and training them in the way of Christ. The message of evangelism is the message of the Christmas angel: “Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” The evangelist is the one who heralds the news.

The roots of evangelism go deep. When you look at the massive trees on the campus of Davis and Elkins you see only the outstretched limbs, and the rich growth of leaves. But this tree could not live without a tap root going down from the trunk to the ground. It could not live without the network of roots that correspond to the limbs, holding the whole tree in place as the winds blow upon it, and feeding it with food taken from the ground. The tap root of evangelism is found in the loving heart of a Father – God. The roots of evangelism are found throughout the Old Testament. Its branches and fruitage are found in the New Testament times and in this present age in which we live.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and God made man in His own image and placed man in the world which He had created. Man’s first home was in the Garden of Eden and all that man needed for his welfare was to be found there. Man had only one restriction placed upon him. “He was not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” But man used his God – given gift of freedom of will to rebel against his Creator and he ate of the forbidden fruit. Man had sinned. But where sin abounded, grace did more abound. The eternal God appeared unto sinning man and gave His message of hope and cheer: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; and it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise His heel.”

Years passed on, and then one day from Ur of the Chaldeans’, He called Abraham and said, “Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation … and in thee and thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Generations came and went: God’s promise to Abraham of seed was fulfilled, out of him had grown a great nation, Israel, and under God’s guiding hand the land of Palestine was given to them as their home. Then it was God that called from the sheep cote a young lad, David, the sweet singer of Israel and anointed him king of his people and said unto him: “I will set up thy seed after thee and I will establish His kingdom … and I will establish His throne forever.”

Many times God’s people forgot Him as sin came into their midst and the glory of Israel began to dim, but through the darkness always there shown the beacon light of God’s love as the prophets, the great men of God stood out to call men back from sin, and to point the way to Him who would come to take away the sin of the world. Listen to their voices:

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of council and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord; with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove the equity for the meek of the earth.” “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us.” “But thou Bethlehem, Ephrathah, which are little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me, that this is to be ruler of Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting … and He shall stand and shall feed His flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty in the name of Jehovah His God, and they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be our peace --- For unto you a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulders: and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.  The zeal of the Lord of Host will perform this.”

Finally the fullness of time has come. God sent forth His Son. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, (and we behold His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth … and as many as received Him to then He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed upon His name.” “The grace of God … appeared.”

God, the eternal God who had created the heavens and the earth, the God of grace who had given these marvelous promises came to earth in the person of His Son. He became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. The record of this matchless life is familiar to us all.

The purpose of this man’s life was to seek and save that which was lost. He came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life as a ransom for many. That His ministry and His message might continue throughout the rest of time he gathered a band of followers about Him, whom He trained and sent forth to proclaim the good news. These went forth everywhere preaching the Word.” Throughout the Christian era a “noble army, men and boys, the matron and the maid,” have followed in their footsteps proclaiming unto the world the message of salvation, through Christ the Lord.

On December the 4^th in Augusta, Georgia the Presbyterian Church of the US, (The Southern Presbyterian Church) was organized. At that time the first general assembly adopted this statement: “The General Assembly desires distinctly and deliberately to inscribe on our church’s banner as she now unfurls it to the world, an immediate connection with the headship of our Lord, His last command … regarding this as the great end of her organization, in obedience to it as the indispensable of her Lord’s promised presence.” thus from the hour of its conception our Church affirmed its evangelistic purpose. Today we are in the midst of the Program of Progress. The Program of Progress has five goals: Evangelism, Church Attendance and Growth, Organization of New Churches, Presentation of Stewardship of Life and certain financial objectives. You notice that it is evangelism that heads the list and also that each of the other objectives are evangelistic in nature. The protestant denominations of America are enlisted this year in a United Evangelistic Effort. The Young people of our Assembly have chosen an Evangelistic theme: “Know Christ, Make Him Known.” This all points to an increased emphasis upon evangelism.

Young people you are living in a day when there is evidence of a “stirring in the mulberry trees.” You have never heard this phrase before. It comes from an experience in the life of King David related in 2 Samuel 5:23-25 "When David inquired of the LORD, He said, "You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. "It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for then the LORD will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines." Then David did so, just as the LORD had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer."

Dr. Robert W Kirkpatrick