"Natural" Evangelist (1 John 5:11-15)
Gary McManus, 06/11/2017Part of the DCC Basics series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
June 11, 2017 The First Sunday After Pentecost
1 John 5:11-15 (p. 1210, p. 1231)
J.B., died June 4, 2017.
Jay was a member of DCC for about ten years.
He was a “natural” evangelist.
Evangel= literally, good news
Town criers would announce an evangel
meaning that good news was now to be
Shared/announced.
The Bible writers took over the term as
a description and name of Jesus’ message—
the good news of God’s love share in Jesus
Christ, son of God, Savior, Redeemer.
An evangelist, simply put, is any person who
claims/proclaims Jesus’ message. An evangelist
soon became an “office” or special task (Ephesians 4:11,
Acts 21:8). It can be assumed these people were
particularly “gifted” for this work and this gift was
seen as being from the Lord (Ephesians 4:11).
However, 2 Timothy 4:5, states that the letters
recipient should DO the work of an evangelist
(not saying that the recipient is either gifted or
Chosen for any office of evangelist).
Jesus gave the task of “evangelist” to all followers
(Matthew 28:19-20).
If Jesus intended ONLY the Apostles to be
Evangelists, then the task died with them.
Ephesians 4:11 makes clear that the giving
of evangelists is on-going.
1 Peter 3:15 states (and it may have been a sermon
for new believers): ALWAYS be ready to GIVE
REASON for the hope in you (that is, the Gospel
of Jesus Christ).
Key number 1:
The message always has to be about Jesus.
The message is not about you or what people
think of you or your message.
The Holy Spirit does not care what people
think about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s
job is declaring and praising God.
(Acts 2:11)
HOW we communicate the message IS
about the people hearing the message.
In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit speaks the
languages the people understand.
So many times the WAY we say something
makes a big difference.
It is also true of the Gospel message.
[This is why Pastor Gary rarely uses the
King James Version—no one speaks it.
No one has spoken King James English for
400 years. The Pilgrims did in Massachusetts
(1620), the Virginia Colonists at Jamestown
did (1607) and Shakespeare did. ]
It has been said that honesty without love
is cruel. The Bible says “speak the truth in
love.” (Ephesians 4:15)
Many people sometimes feel that
judgment is loving but that is only usually
true in cases of intimate relationship.
Intimacy comes before judgment may be
spoken and heard/received, yes?
[Consider children and punishment.]
For almost 200 years American evangelists
have emphasized judgment. One foreigner,
when told the Gospel message without mention of
hell, said it was the most beautiful story they had
ever heard. Shall our hearers/recipients know of
hell before they know of the beauty?
[John 4:42, John 6:69, John 8:32, John 10:14,
1 John 5:12]
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