The Message of Evangelism

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...

—1 Corinthians 15:1-4

What is important in this life? There are many, many things that are important to us as human beings, as fathers, mothers, children, husbands and wives, professionals and students. To some it is their jobs and career goals. To others it is their children and the future of their children. To others still it is the simple happiness of their life partner. Whatever it may be, each one of us has something, something specific that is dear and important to us.

Whatever that important thing is it will be the last thing as well that we will give emphasis too when our life is almost done. The apostle Paul, basically writing his final farewells to his son in the faith Timothy, reminds Timothy not about wealth, not about fond memories, not even about those that he would be leaving behind, but in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he writes:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

—2 Timothy 4:1-2

Even in the twilight hours of his life, all that Paul was concerned about was the preaching of the Word. The preaching of the Gospel. It was, in fact, of first and utmost importance for Paul, so much so that it transcends all other things of this life.

What is Not the Message of Evangelism

1. Be a good person, live like Jesus, love God and love others

"If you try your best to be a good person, follow the teachings of Jesus, love God and love your neighbor as yourself, then God will accept you and He will let you enter heaven."

This is not the message of evangelism. There is not even one ounce of Gospel in this supposed message. All that this statement presents is straight Law. It screams out at us like the Old Testament law saying, "Do this and live." Yet the same inspired text of Scripture tells us plainly, "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?" (Gal 4:21)

The moment we tell people that salvation is based upon anything they do, no matter how small it may be, we have begun to present not Gospel, but law. And if it is by the law that we are to be justified, then not one will be justified. In Paul's words, "Christ will be of no advantage to you" (Gal 5:2), "You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace." (Gal 5:4)





2. Your personal testimony

No matter how dramatic, no matter how compelling or how convincing your personal testimony may be, your personal testimony is not the Gospel. Your personal testimony is not the message of evangelism. People do not repent from their sins because of a dramatic presentation of one's personal testimony. Not one has put their faith in Christ savingly because someone else's life was changed.

One's personal testimony may be helpful when used wisely in giving credance and integrity to a person as a bearer of the message, but it is not and must not take the place of the message itself. The message is and always is Christ and Him crucified.

We are to preach God's story, not our story. We are to preach Christ not ourselves.

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

—1 Corinthians 2:2

3. God has a wonderful plan for your life

What happens when you tell an unregenerate person that God supposedly has a wonderful plan for his life? He will be interested, compelled and intrigued for all the wrong reasons, why? Because he too has a wonderful plan for his life. I don't think that there's any person that despises a wonderful plan for their own personal lives. So you tell a person that God has a wonderful plan for his life, he'll surely take that God, but he will be given no reason for repentance, there will be no conviction of sin and no saving faith in Christ. He has only come to God because the gifts of God appeal to Him, not the Giver.

So then, "they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Romans 1:25)

4. Jesus will save your marriage and heal all your sicknesses

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

—Philippians 2:5-8

How many of us are prepared to say that Christ Jesus, God in the flesh endured all these things, humbled Himself even to the point of death, even death on a cross, Him who knew no sin became sin (2 Cor 5:21), so that your marriage will be fixed, you will be healed of your sickness, have nice homes, and have perfect families?

This here is the same sin again, the lifting up of gifts above giver, the exchanging of the created instead of the Creator. It is esteeming God as the provider of needs, a cosmic butler, not a sovereign Lord that graciously condescends to save wretched worms like you and me. The only reason people will come to God with such an invitation as this is because, like the 5,000 disciples that Jesus fed, they were given free food. They are still dead in their trespasses and sins and still wedded to their idols and lusts.











What is the Message of Evangelism

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...

—1 Corinthians 15:1-4

1. A message in accordance with the Scriptures

What then is the message of evangelism? Basically and plainly, the message of evangelism is the Gospel, the Good News. It is the message of first importance. A message not based from opinion. A message not drawn from personal experience, or from one's own personal testimony. But a message that is an objective reality that occurred in History. A message that is drawn from Scripture itself, from the breathed out Word of God. (1 Cor 15:3-4)

So then the message of evangelism is the message of God Himself. It is in fact, a declaration from the Creator God Himself about what He has done in time. Not a story of personal experience, not an episode of heights of emotion, but a declaration of what God has done, and what He has done and accomplished in the person of Christ Jesus the Lord.

A message by God drawn from the Word of God.

2. Christ died for the forgiveness of sins

What is this Gospel? "That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..." (1 Cor 15:3-4)

It is generally known that Christ died to accomplish a purpose, but for some reason that "purpose" has taken a whole new different meaning in our day and age. Christ did not die that you and I may have material wealth. Christ did not die to fix your family problems. Christ did not die to fix your financial problems.

See, the problem with us today is that we do not see the fundamental problem of the human race. The root of man's problem is not that he doesn't have enough money, or his relationships are falling apart, or that he's unhappy in this life. The root of the human problem is this, it is sin!

Leonard Ravenhill said this,

If I was to ask you tonight if you were saved? Do you say 'Yes, I am saved'. When? 'Oh so and so preached, I got baptized and...' Are you saved? What are you saved from, hell? Are you saved from bitterness? Are you saved from lust? Are you saved from cheating? Are you saved from lying? Are you saved from bad manners? Are you saved from rebellion against your parents? Come on, what are you saved from?

Post-modern Christianity thinks that Christ died to help us mend our character flaws and make us better people and grant us happy lives as our finances and relationships are fixed, that is not what Christ came and died to accomplish. Christ died to save us from the condemnation and wrath of God against us because of our nature as sinners, because of our sin!

In the final analysis, Christ died to save us from God Himself. Though deserving of nothing but death and Hell, the fury of the wrath of Almighty God, "for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21)

3. Christ was raised for our justification

Christ died on the Cross for the propitiation of sins (Rom 3:25). He was made to be sin, receiving the full weight of the punishment of the wrath of God against sin. He was forsaken by the Father. Condemned, and He died.

Brethren, herein is the glory of the Gospel. The glory of the Gospel is this, Christ did not stay dead.

If all we preach and herald in making known the Gospel to men is that Jesus died, we have robbed God of His glory and withheld grace from men. Yes, in a way the resurrection is always implied when the death of Christ is mentioned, but it is a grave disservice if we refuse to declare this amazing event in History.

If it seems it’s not important for most Christians, well, it was very much important for Paul to emphasize it.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

—1 Corinthians 15:14

If all we mention is Christ dying and never giving emphasis of Christ being raised on the third day, would it be too farfetched to say that our preaching as well is in vain?

It [righteousness] will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. —Romans 4:24-25



Why is the resurrection so important? Because without it, there is no redemption. Without the resurrection Christ dying for sins is for naught. Without the resurrection, no one person would be justified. Without the resurrection we are still in the bonds of death.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

—1 Corinthians 15:17-19

But yes, Jesus did rise from the dead. He rose and showed Himself to Peter, to 500 of his disciples, to the rest of the apostles and lastly to the apostle Paul (1 Cor 15:5-8). Jesus rose from the dead as a historical fact. He did really, factually rise from the dead.

Christianity is not a religion that is based from poetry and superfluous fairy tales. No, Christianity is built upon this truth, that the Creator of the universe, because of the love that He loved His Son in that the God-head would be glorified throughout all eternity, created a people to reflect His glory, and though this people went their own way, violated the character of the Holy God, profaned His holiness, exchanged His glory for a lie, deserving of death eternal in the fury of the wrath of God in Hell, still in His love and mercy He sent His Son to live a perfect life that not one of us could ever live, He was tortured, crucified, murdered, bearing our sin, He died, was buried, and on the third day was raised from the dead.

So then, we now can declare with the apostle:

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

—1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Coram Deo

When was the last time you gave consideration to this Gospel? If indeed this is the message of utmost importance, if indeed this message declares the most historic and most momentous event in history, as Christians, how much of yourself do you give to it? How much of yourself do you give to study it? To love it? To live it? A couple of minutes a day? An hour or two?

We spend so much for education that we may be able to earn a living. How much have you lost, how much have you spent to take hold of a knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in this Gospel?

When was the last time you preached this Gospel? If I gave you a hundred dollars for every person you would share the Gospel to, would you do it more often than you have before? Most would. A hundred dollars is a lot of money, and a hundred dollars for each person we share? We can make a living out of that. But consider this, I can give you ways and reasons to help you overcome the fear of man and the pride of self, in this case by using money, but how is it that a love for God and a love for dying souls cannot compel us to preach in the highways and byways?

"Some wish to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell;

I want to run a Rescue Shopwithin a yard of hell." —C.T. Studd