Spirit of Revival Evangelism

Revive us O Lord in the midst of the years...Hab.3:2

• Spirit of Revival Evangelism
• P.O.Box 12703
• Smethwick
• West Midlands
• B67 9AN

07985 547 362
Email Us

 

Evangelism Articles

 

Welcome to our Evangelism Articles page. Here we discuss issues related to evangelism in Britain today and  consider some reasons why the Church on the whole is ineffective when it comes to preaching the Gospel. If we want to see God move we must preach the Gospel and meet the challenges of atheism and agnosticism that threatens to sweep through our young generation. God has an aswer to the atheism of today, His Gospel message. For this to happen we must first  get back to the Great Commission. 

 

 1. Article 1: Neglecting the Great Commission.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”  Mark 16:15-16

 “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” Matt. 28:19-20

A major reason why the Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches have been unable to change their communities is that many of them have neglected evangelism. The majority of them have abandoned the Great Commission. According to Jesus, the Church exists for two reasons, to preach the gospel to every creature and to make disciples of all nations (Mark 16:15-16, Matt. 28:19-10). In chapter 6, I go into detail about what it means to preach the gospel and make disciples. In this chapter, I discuss how the Church has neglected evangelism, and what has happened to it because of this. Many churches focus on making disciples but do not preach the gospel.  Some do not even have evangelism as part of their mission statements. Effective evangelism is obeying the command of Jesus to preach the gospel to every creature (Matt. 28:19-29, Mark 16:15-16). When the Church is doing this, it becomes God’s powerful instrument to change the hearts and lives of men and women. This can only happen when the Church makes evangelism its priority.  In the majority of churches, evangelism is totally neglected, or none existent. The Church that is supposed to be God’s instrument to bring salvation to a lost and dying world has become powerless, because it is too busy doing other things. Whilst involved in these activities, millions of souls perish because they have not heard the gospel message.

The Church has been given divine power to change the world (Matt. 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, 17:6). It has the answer to the needs of mankind in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When the Church preaches the gospel, it becomes divinely empowered to change the political, social, and moral conditions of society and the nation. As men and women are converted to Christ, they in turn change the communities and societies in which they live. We can see this in the past through the ministries of John Wesley and George Whitefield. Their preaching affected the population of 18^th century England producing mass conversions. Some historians believe that it was their preaching that stopped revolution coming to the shores of England from France. In the 20^th century, the preaching and ministry of General William Booth and the Salvation Army had a significant effect on the population of London. Booth preached to prostitutes, the homeless, and drunkards. After they were converted, they were enlisted in the Salvation Army. They in turn went out, preached the gospel, and brought others to Christ. Even today, the Salvation Army is active all over the world. Evan Roberts in the Welsh Revival of 1904 saw 100,000 souls come to Christ. We could also mention the Jefferys Brothers and their ministry in England and Duncan Campbell and the revival in the Hebrides in 1949. Today we hear of thousands being converted to Christ in Argentina, Africa, India, and China. All these examples prove that the gospel is able to change communities, societies, and nations.

However not all churches in Britain have abandoned the Great Commission. There are churches that are serious about evangelism. They have good evangelism programmes that are reaching their communities for Christ. They are involved in evangelistic programmes to prisons, schools, hospitals, universities and amongst the poor in our inner cities. Yes, there are thousands of churches doing this, and we acknowledge and thank God for them. A recent evangelistic initiative that has affected thousands of people is the Alpha Course. Through this course, many have given their hearts to Christ. Unfortunately, churches that are committed to evangelism are the exception rather than the rule. Major cities outside London, have many churches, but few of them are actively involved in evangelism. How many of them are changing their cities for Christ? The Church is constantly complaining about how crime and immortality have increased in our cities. What it fails to realise, is that it is partly responsible for this situation. Jesus taught us that we are the salt of the Earth (Matt.5:13). Salt preserves, it prevents decay. Our society is getting worse because we are not preaching the gospel. We are the “spiritual preservative” that should prevent our cities from falling into moral and social chaos. Unless the Church wholeheartedly embraces, the Great Commission our society will continue to deteriorate and millions of souls will perish.  

 Some Christians argue that the Church is fulfilling the Great Commission through Christian Radio and Television.

Some Christians disagree with the view, that the Church has neglected the Great Commission. They point to Christian radio and television as proof of this. They believe that Christian radio and television has affected the nation with the gospel message. I welcome Christian radio and television. We must use every means available to us to preach the gospel. Through them millions have heard the Christian message that otherwise would never had entered a church building. Through their programmes, thousands of people have made decisions for Christ. They are a powerful form of communication that we need to use today. However, they have some serious limitations. As good as they are they are limited in what they can do in spreading the gospel for several reasons. Firstly, Ofcom and other broadcasting authorities, tightly monitor the content of Christian programmes. In our age of political correctness the pure gospel message, of man’s, lost condition, and his need for salvation is seldom preached. Those ministries, who do preach the gospel, present a message that makes no mention of repentance, judgement, sin, or Hell. This weak “gospel message” is not the biblical gospel. Unbelievers are encouraged to come to Christ to improve their lives, rather than being told that they must flee the wrath to come (1 Thess.1:10). A weak gospel message will result in weak converts, with many making decisions for Christ but never becoming His disciples.  Secondly, much Christian programming is geared towards improving the lives of Christians. Hundreds of hours are given over to teaching Christians how to get a better job, have a successful marriage, and how to become wealthy. It is unlikely that an unbeliever would be interested in these programmes. Thirdly, Christian radio and television can never replace local church evangelism. They do not take away the responsibility of churches to evangelise. Yet many churches think so. They assume that radio and television will now evangelise their communities for them. The Christian media can offer the message of salvation to unbelievers, but cannot give them the discipleship and love that young converts need. Only the local church can do this. Fourthly, the sheer cost of radio and television airtime means that ministries have to generate finances to go on air. To do this they produce programmes for Christians, whom they hope will give financial support to their ministries. Most unbelievers are not interested in these programmes and are put off by the fund raising methods of these ministries! Radio and television airtime is expensive and we do need good programmes that Christians can view. Yet how many of these programmes are evangelistic in nature? How many of them regularly preach the gospel to the unconverted? How many ministries or Christian channels sacrifice money by making programmes that only preach the gospel message? Very few are prepared to spend finances to minister exclusively to unbelievers, because there is no financial return for them. Radio and television has the potential to be a great tool to evangelise the nation. They can only be this tool if ministries and churches are prepared to make the financial sacrifices necessary to preach the gospel to the nation.

When the Church neglects the Great Commission, it aborts its purpose, stifles creative evangelism, and becomes powerless.

We mentioned that the majority of churches focus on improving the lives of their members, but neglect to preach the gospel to a lost and dying world. They fulfil half of the great commission. We see scores of conferences, seminars, retreats and other activities geared to improving the lives of church members rather than teaching them how to win their families and communities to Christ. Go to any local church and see how many of its members are involved in evangelism. There are serious consequences for churches who fail to evangelise. When churches neglect evangelism, they abort their purpose and role in society. God has created everything for a purpose. Every plant and animal, mineral and object was created for a specific purpose and function. Mankind has invented all sorts of machines, each having a specific purpose and function. Most people today are aware of the importance of having goals and a vision for their lives. Popular psychology teaches people how to fulfil their dreams and goals. Management consultants teach businesses the importance of having a mission statement that clearly defines what their organisation is all about and communicating it to their employees. Without a vision, the people do indeed perish. When an organisation knows what it is about and is dedicated to achieving its vision, then its employees are happy and it produces breakthroughs in its products and services. With this unity, dedication, and breakthrough products, it can become a powerful company in society. On the other hand, if it is unclear about its vision, its employees will become disillusioned, it will not produce new products, and it will eventually become bankrupt.

The Church of Jesus Christ was created for a purpose. The Incarnation was the result of God's plan to redeem mankind from sin, Satan and the world (John 1:14, 3:16). God sent the Holy Spirit to birth and equip the Church to do its mission in the Earth (Acts 1:8, Eph. 4:11). God’s purpose for the Church is for it to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16). If the church neglects this then it fails in its purpose and mission. A result of this failure is that church members become bored and disillusioned because they have nothing to do in church. They have not been taught that their purpose is to evangelise the world and bring new souls into the Kingdom. This is why many Christians backslide and go into the world. They see no purpose for being in church except to listen to sermons every week. When the Church abandons the Great Commission, it aborts its purpose and role in the society. Its leaders and members wander aimlessly trying to find a reason to continue or create their own goals and vision. Neglecting the Great Commission also results in a lack of creative evangelism in the Church. New ways and methods of reaching the lost are not developed. It is through intense focus and determination to achieve a goal that breakthroughs are made in any area of work. If the Church had focussed on fulfilling the Great Commission, it would have developed new ways and methods of doing this. Again, history shows this to be true. Wesley’s methods of reaching the masses led him to form the Methodist Church. General Booth’s aggressive evangelism formed the Salvation Army. What motivated these men was their passion for souls. Churches today that are committed to reaching the lost develop new methods and programmes of evangelism. The Alpha Course was birthed from an intense desire to reach the lost and has affected millions of lives.

A more serious consequence for churches who neglect evangelism is that they become powerless in their communities. The power and presence of the Holy Spirit is no longer working through them to preach the gospel. The Holy Spirit was sent to empower the Church to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). When the Church is preaching the gospel, He is right there empowering it to do so. He will provide the Church with the financial resources to evangelise. He will give it creative methods and programmes to reach the different people groups with the Gospel message. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement to come (John 16:8). He can only do this when the Church preaches the truth about Christ to a lost and dying world. The degree to which a church moves away from the Great Commission is the degree to which the Holy Spirit will distance Himself from that church, for He can only work effectively with churches that obey the command of Christ to preach the gospel (Matt.28-29-20). This is why many churches are not affecting their communities. The Holy Spirit and Heaven’s resources are not behind them, because they are not behind the Great Commission.  The Holy Spirit is the power of God that causes the Church to advance in society as it preaches the gospel. We see this in the book of Acts and in Church history. In Acts the early church was so aggressive in their evangelism that they were accused of  turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6 ) God went before them, confirming His word with signs and wonders and mighty conversions ( Acts 2:1-11,42, 3:1-9, 10:1-43,28:7-10). Churches today that are doing evangelism are growing and affecting their communities. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is being released, to do what He was sent to do and results are always forthcoming. His mission is to fulfil the Great Commission. Churches need to realise that when they take evangelism seriously, God goes to work on their behalf to change their communities and bring souls into His kingdom.

Neglecting the great Commission is indeed a serious issue and churches need to realise how it will affect their congregations, their ability to be creative and ultimately their power and influence in society. Effective evangelism begins when the Church rediscovers the reason and purpose for its existence; to seek and to save that which is lost (Luke 19:10).

 2. Evangelism Article 2: The Gospel  Message to Britain
     for this hour

Coming soon