Success in Evangelism

By Rev. Mike Foster

 Matthew 28:18-20 – “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

I have had the privilege of being with many of God’s dear people all across the United States of America the past few years. What a blessing to be in several churches and see people who are attempting to live for the Lord. However, it has also been a bit disheartening to see a mentality that is creeping into many Baptist churches around the country. Some Christians believe it is too hard, or nearly impossible to win people to Christ in their community because of how bad our culture is getting today. My friends, this is exactly what the devil wants us to think. The last thing the devil wants is for God’s church to be storming the gates of Hell and being successful in winning people to Jesus Christ in confidence and with God’s help. I would like to address the fact that churches have the means of being successful in evangelism and encourage us to win more to Jesus. There is too much at stake!

First of all, we can be successful in evangelism because it is a command. When God said, “Go” in Matthew 28:19, he was not giving us an option or even a suggestion. This is an imperative we are to obey. If we don’t, that is sin. However, I want us to realize that when God commands us to do something, He then gives us the ability to do it. Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, “Back of every command, God puts His omnipotence.” This statement has really helped me in the area of evangelism. While successful evangelism may seem like an impossibility to us, and the thought of witnessing may cause fear in our hearts, God still says, “Go…and, lo, I am with you always…” This wonderful truth should encourage us to share the gospel faithfully.

By way of illustration, suppose I told my five-year-old daughter to go outside and change the flat tire on my minivan. Would she be successful? She would probably stand outside and stare at the van wondering how to do it. In short, she would not be successful. However, if I went out and put my hands on her hands and helped her with all the details in getting it done, she would be successful. Why…because I am giving her the ability to do it. This is a simple illustration but it helps to give us a picture of what happens with evangelism. God tells us to do something and then gives us the ability to do it if we simply put ourselves in His hands.

Second, we can also be successful in evangelism if we have compassion. Matthew 28:19 talks about “all nations,” referring not geographically to countries, but people. God wants us to reach the multitudes. One important motivator to help us get this done is if we have some compassion on the lost. To be perfectly honest, there are many people I would never dream of speaking to apart from compassion. People are people, and people are problems. Also, people are the same anywhere you go. I have had the privilege of being with God’s people in different parts of the world, and it is amazing to see the problems that people have in those countries. Not surprisingly they are the same as we have here in the United States. Drinking, smoking, drugs, immorality, gossip and backbiting are just as much a problem in other countries as they are right here at home. The only way to see around that is to view people with compassion so we can then win them to Christ.

Psalm 126:5-6 says, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Notice the order in this verse. The weeping comes before the sowing indicating that the soul winner should go out with compassion, sow the seed, and then come home with the sheaves. When we have the attitude that people are too hard and we can’t reach people anymore, then we don’t have compassion, and we won’t be successful.

How then do we cultivate compassion? The first step is to view people the right way. They are souls that will spend eternity somewhere. When you see the kid with green hair, chains all over, and sloppily dressed do you think of him as a punk, or do you see him as a soul? When that messy little girl comes to your Sunday school class and causes trouble for you, do you see her as a little brat, or do you see her as a soul? When that politician gets up and makes promises that they don’t keep, do you view them as another liar, or do you see them as a soul? When you view people as they really are, it helps cultivate compassion.

The Bible says in Matthew 9:36, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Jesus saw people in two ways, fainting and scattered abroad. This helped Him cultivate compassion. I believe the idea of fainting is that people are weighed down by their sin. People are completely sinful and that sin makes them become weary and faint spiritually. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” This verse describes the state of every person. For this reason they need Christ.

Jesus also noticed they were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. People when left to themselves cannot find their way to Christ. They need someone to guide them. The Bible says in II Corinthians 4:3-6, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” People are lost and wandering about seeking someone to lead them by the hand. We have the light of the gospel that can break through the deception that is blinding their minds and lead them to Christ, their shepherd. We need some compassion to lead them to the Saviour.

We also cultivate compassion by looking into the future and seeing the lost person’s destiny. Luke 16 gives us a sobering look at what happens when someone wakes up in Hell. What struck me once was the rich man’s second request of Abraham. He first asked for water to cool his tongue, and then he stopped thinking about himself and started thinking about his family. He didn’t want them to come to that place of torment. Who in Hell is calling out for someone to go and talk to your unsaved friends and relatives? Who in Hell is crying out for someone that is your neighbor, “lest they also come to this place of torment”? This thought should stir us with compassion.

We can also cultivate compassion by asking the Lord for it. When we get on our face before the Lord and yield ourselves to Him, we will have His heart and His compassion. We need more believers that look at the lost world through the eyes of our Saviour. When we do, we will have the compassion we need. Then we can go forth with weeping, bearing precious seed and come again bringing sheaves with us.

The final way we can cultivate compassion is by being involved in evangelism. I can talk about lost people all I want. I can sit in my office and write articles about how we need compassion. However, one way to build compassion is to go and be with the people that need the Savior. By way of illustration, I recently took a trip to the country of Cambodia. Before leaving I studied about the country, saw pictures and prayed for the Lord to work while trying to envision myself carrying out the task God called me to do over there. Having a heart for the people before I got there was important. However, I did not truly understand the needs of those people and how to effectively address them until I stepped on Cambodian soil. From the comfort of my home in the United States I was able to develop some sense of the need in that country, but until I got there I didn’t fully understand the poverty and spiritual help the Cambodian people need. When you get involved in evangelism you appreciate the need a whole lot more, and this will help cultivate compassion.

Finally, we can also be successful because of the commitments God has given us about evangelism. One is found in Matthew 28:20 when it says, “And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” These promises of God I will give you are significant because God will always keep His promises. II Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” We can be guaranteed God is going to keep His word because God always fulfills His promises. We have to simply claim them by faith and trust the Lord to do so. What are these promises?

The first promise is that the gospel is powerful. Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel is powerful! We don’t have to try any newfangled methods or philosophies. All we need to do is preach the gospel and people will be saved.

A highwayman once stopped John Wesley and demanded his money or his life. Wesley, after giving him the money, said, "Let me speak one word to you; the time may come when you will regret the course of life in which you are now engaged. Remember this, 'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.'" No more was said, and they parted. Many years after, as Wesley was going out of a church in which he had been preaching, a stranger introduced himself, and asked Wesley if he remembered being waylaid at such a time. He said he recollected it. "I was that man," said the stranger, "and that single verse you quoted on that occasion was the means of a total change in my life and habits. I have long since been in the practice of attending the house of God and of giving attention to His Word…." The gospel is powerful!

I had tried to win a man to the Lord for five years. I had been unsuccessful because I was many times interrupted by his wife who thought it was helpful to give her two cents every time I talked about the Bible. I finally caught him at home alone without anyone to bother us. I opened the Bible and showed him verse after verse and explained the gospel thoroughly. After bowing his head and accepting Christ he looked at me and said, “Do you know what convinced me?” I answered, “No, what?” He said, “I saw it with my own eyes.” That is not the mentality that a lot of preachers have today. They want to smooth things over or not say anything that may offend an unsaved person. Preach the gospel! It is powerful!

The second promise of God is the provision of the Spirit. God did not leave us here to flounder on our own and somehow manage. No, God has provided His Spirit for us so we can have the power we need to share the gospel. Act 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” When we are filled with the Spirit, we will be witnesses for Christ. We are filled with the Spirit by getting rid of all known sin, yielding ourselves to Him and then asking for the filling. Notice it says that we will “receive power” indicating that I “take Holy Spirit power” for service. There is a conscious decision on my part to receive the filling of the Spirit. When I am filled with the Spirit, I am an effective witness for Christ.

The third promise of God is that the fields are white unto harvest. Two passages come to mind when I think of the harvest. John 4:35 says, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38 says, “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” Notice it doesn’t say that God wants to send laborers into His fields. It says God wants laborers for the harvest. There is a big difference. This means there are people out there ready to be saved if we take the gospel to them. How many times have you taken the gospel to someone and they were ready to be saved? I’ve had that happen many times because the fields are white unto harvest.

We can expect God to give us success in evangelism because He commands us to tell others about Him. If we would simply have some compassion and ask God to give us His heart about the souls of men, then we will be successful. If we claim the promises of God and preach the gospel with God’s help believing that the fields are white unto harvest, then we can be successful. God is still at work and longs to see His people winning others to Christ. May we go in faith believing that God will put us in the right place, at the right time, to talk to the right person.