“Feed My Sheep”Encouraging Evangelism

Introductory Thoughts• Is there a need?• I am no expert.• “It’s a secret to everybody … ???”

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (Romans 1:16; see also, II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:3)

If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom

brings success. (Ecclesiastes 10:10)

“Pins in the People”A company hired an efficiency expert to train its sales force to be more productive . The “expert” set up a meeting with all the sales people and enthusiastically presented his plan – complete with organizational charts and a territorial map. He carefully placed map pins representing the salespersons. He gives his estimate of a great improvement in sales over the next few years. Most of the sales people were sitting with mouth open and hanging on every word. He then asked for feedback from those present. After different ones had expressed their thoughts on “the plan,” an older fellow, who had been with the company for years and one of their top salespeople, was seated near the rear of the conference room. One of those present turned and asked the man, “What do you think of this plan?” The expert echoed, “Yes, we would like to hear what you think.” The older gentleman looked up over his glasses, “Well, since you asked, I think you should take all those pins out of that map and stick them into the sales people .”

Over my years of preaching, I have observed a good many “evangelism experts” come up with a multitude of “sure fire” plans and gimmicks virtually guaranteeing more baptisms and hence church growth. They make themselves available for churches to have them in to present their super-duper plans. Some of these have even put together kits that they will sell for a nominal fee. For the most part, I think these men are sincere in their belief that they found “the solution” and want to share it with their brethren. But, after evaluating the real results [from] most of these “plans,” my conclusion is pretty much like that of the old salesman – take the pins out of the map and put them into the people. No amount of organizational planning can be as effective as instilling knowledge and conviction (the pins) into the hearts of individual members through effective edification for the whole church. -- Edward O. Bragwell Sr.,

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Outline• Introductory Thoughts• Recognizing Our Responsibilities• Overcoming Doubts, Answering Excuses• Developing Enduring Motivation• Conclusion

RECOGNIZING OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

The Great Commission“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)• Given to apostles? Yes, but was it limited to them?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, … teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20)• Does their responsibility not generally pass onto us?• Ultimately, whose disciple are we? Who are we

following?• Are we not Christians and disciples of Christ?

Christ’s Mission on EarthBut He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. (Luke 9:54-56)

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:9-10)

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. (I Timothy 1:15-16)

My Mission on Earth?“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)• Do we have any responsibility to work toward the

primary goal of our Master, Redeemer, and God?• Does His love for us not demand the same from us?• Does His love for our fellow man not demand the

same from us?• If we are truly Christians, should our mission not be

the same as His, “to seek and save that which was lost”?

OVERCOMING DOUBTS, ANSWERING EXCUSES

“Not my talent!”• True, some people are more skilled at various tasks

than others:

For in fact the body is not one member but many. … If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. (I Corinthians 12:14-20, 29)

“But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” (Mark 4:20)

Why not my talent?• Lack of knowledge?My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6; Romans 11:20-22)For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb. 5:12-14)• Is this from a lack of time in Christ or lack of diligence?

Why not my talent?• Lack of opportunity?Then Esther spoke ... “any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” … And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: … “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:10-14)• Sometimes, opportunity must be created, even forced!

Why not my talent?• Can we be trusted with a true opportunity?“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:10-11)• What might be some of the “lesser opportunities” that we

have shirked?• What “beams” prevent us “seeing clearly” (Mat. 7:5)?• Have we been “faithful” in learning God’s Word?• Have we been “faithful” in purifying our own hearts?• Have we been “faithful” in pursuing existing opportunities

through family, work, and our community?

“But, I can’t persuade others!”But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; (I Peter 3:15)• If we are unable to “give a defense”, we need to get

able! • It naturally follows from “sanctifying the Lord God in

our hearts”.• How???

Sufficiency of ScripturesAll Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17)For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, (II Corinthians 10:3-5)See also: Ephesians 3:3-5; II Timothy 2:15; II Peter 1:2-11; 3:15-18; I John 1:3-4

Sufficiency of God’s DesignYour hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. (Psalm 119:73)

Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” (Exodus 4:10-13)• Will the union of God’s Word and His creature not perform

as He designed and planned?

“But, I don’t have time!”• Does God understand when we truly don’t have

time?• Yes! (Luke 14:5; Hebrews 10:25; II Cor. 8:12)• But, why do we not have time for evangelism?

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. (II Tim. 2:2-4; see also, Heb. 12:1-3; Eph. 6:10-18)

What bank do you use?“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. … But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:19-33)

“It’s the preacher’s job!”• aka, “We need a program!”• What was the “program” used in the 1st century?

As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. (Acts 8:3-4)• Do not dismiss “programs” or “preachers”, but …• Only preachers?• What about Andrew (John 1:40)?• What about Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:26)?• If they could do it, why not me?

“But, nobody will listen!”• Some generations are worse than others. Compare:

For if God … did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; (II Peter 2:4-5)• Is our generation that bad?• Noah still preached during this time – maybe for as

much as 120 years (Genesis 6:3-9; I Peter 3:20)!• Can we make somebody listen?• What is required of us?

What does God ask of us?Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. … But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.” Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.” (Ezekiel 3:4-11)• Whether they “hear” or “refuse” is not our concern – just “plant”

and “water” (I Corinthians 3:7; Matthew 13:3-9).

“For how long?”• As long as there is people to hear:

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.” Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate, The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.” (Isaiah 6:8-12)• Again, what is our responsibility? Our place to despair?

“We’ll be rejected by men!”• Whose rejection is worse?“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:32-39)

To Be An Innocent Watchman“When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.” (Ezekiel 33:8-9)

“Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:26-27)

“We’ll be persecuted by men!”“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12)• If we are committed to faithfully speak the truth of

God, will men be able to ultimately prevail against us (Ezekiel 2:3-11; Jeremiah 1:17-19; Hebrews 13:5-6; Matthew 10:21-31)?

DEVELOPINGENDURING MOTIVATION

Have we endured? Why not?• Fear of punishment failed (Matthew 10:28-33).

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. … whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. … He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:28-39)

Have we endured? Why not?• Fear of punishment failed (Matthew 10:28-33).• Knowledge failed (I Corinthians 8:1-3; Mat. 23:1-4).

Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” (Matthew 23:1-4)

Have we endured? Why not?• Fear of punishment failed (Matthew 10:28-33).• Knowledge failed (I Corinthians 8:1-3; Mat. 23:1-4).• Faith failed (II Corinthians 4:3).

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, (II Corinthians 4:13)

Have we endured? Why not?• Fear of punishment failed (Matthew 10:28-33).• Knowledge failed (I Corinthians 8:1-3; Mat. 23:1-4).• Faith failed (II Corinthians 4:3).• Love failed (John 10:11-13).

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.” (John 10:11-13)

The Supremacy of Love• Greater than fear (I John 4:18).• Transcends knowledge (I Corinthians 13:8, G2L).• Outlasts faith and hope (I Corinthians 13:13).

“Love never fails.” (I Corinthians 13:8)

We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. (I John 4:19-21; see again, Galatians 2:20)

Where is our compassion?And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:31-34)• Love transcends self (I Corinthians 13:1-8).

To Love Jesus Is …So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” (John 21:15-17)• … even mildly, is to love and care for His sheep!

Otherwise … HateBut as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left - and much livestock?” (Jonah 4:7-11)• Sometimes, we are more merciful toward that which is less valuable and

worthy. We can be very inconsistent and blind.• God can use us, wherever our heart lies, if we will just open our eyes,

listen, and think.• Atheist: “If Christians really believed in hell, they would crawl on glass

to share the gospel … Why do you hate me?”

CONCLUSION

Conclusion• Wisdom can help us be more effective (Ecc. 10:10).• Recognize our responsibility owed and defined by the

redemption of Christ (Luk. 9:54-56; Gal. 2:20).• Immerse ourselves in God’s Word (II Tim. 3:16-17).• Develop ability continually (Hebrews 5:12-14).• Seek, create, and seize opportunity (Est. 4:10-14).• Do not despair!• Pray for Boldness, Reapers, Wisdom, & Open Doors (Eph.

6:18-19; Acts18:9-10; Lk. 10:2; Jm.1:5; I Kn. 3:5-12; Rev. 3:8)

• Trust God’s design, judgment, and preservation.

“Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” (John 2:17)

“the man will not rest until he has concluded” (Ruth 3:18)

“Feed My Sheep”Do I truly love Jesus and His sheep?

Or, am I a hireling?