As we were sitting in our morning bible study this past Sunday, I couldn’t help but think of the paradox found in living the Christian life. On the one hand, it is extremely difficult. Paul himself confesses that he does the things that he does not want to do, and does not do the things that he wants to do (Romans 7:15). And his analogies leave us thinking of anything but ease—“fighting the fight” and “running the race.” But on the other hand there is the apparent ease in living the Christian life. The greatest and most enduring satisfaction is to be found in God, and his greatest commandment is simply an invitation to delight ourselves in him, loving him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
So as I sat there thinking, I realized the great need to renew our minds daily to the truth that the greatest joy in life is found in God and that the pleasures of sin are fleeting. For the fact that our flesh is prone to forget and Satan is prone to deceive is in direct opposition to our constant realizing and remembering this truth. And my conclusion, then, was that when we sin we allow ourselves to be deceived into thinking that there is greater pleasure to be found in the sin than there is to be found in God. Therefore, I think much of our conversation with ourselves and with one another needs to be a reminder of the joy and satisfaction that is found in God. For if we are constantly aware of this, then surely the allurement of not following the ways of God would fade away, and sin would appear much less inviting than it so often does.
But how does this whole philosophy relate to evangelism? For if you are like me, evangelism is often this thing that weighs on you as something you should do while there are so many things with which it is competing that seem much more delightful. But if there is truly greater joy to be found in God as we follow his ways, then there must be a great joy that awaits us in evangelism. Therefore, maybe the reason it appears oftentimes as simply this thing we need to do that offers little joy is because we do not understand the privilege that awaits us as we embark upon this task. And without understanding this, we do not see the allurement that lies in this glorious work.
Therefore, I want to try to unveil the privilege of evangelism and the joy that can be found in evangelism as we look at the work and calling of Philip and Paul. And as I do this, I pray that the Holy Spirit would quicken our hearts to genuine repentance. And by that I do not mean that we would all simply feel guilty and not change, but rather that we would feel genuine sorrow as we see how we have despised the beauty and joy that is offered to us in this work and long in our hearts never to miss out on its deep and lasting joys again.
Therefore, as I try to unmask the joy in evangelism, I want to make three observations from the text and then answer the question, “Why should we be involved in evangelism?”
The first observation is that
What I mean by that is that there is something that happens that we would not know without the understanding of the Scriptures. For example, in Acts 26, Paul gives a detailed account of what occurs in Acts 9 as he is converted. And in this chapter he tells of God’s commissioning of him as a missionary to the Gentiles. However, God does not simply tell him to go make converts, or to go create believers, or even to go make disciples. Instead, God says to him, “Arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:16-18).
It is important that we remember the condition of man without Christ. He is blinded from seeing the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). He loves darkness and hates light, and until that changes, he is unable to come into the light (John 3:18-21). And he is in the dominion of Satan (1 John 5:19).
In other words, when we are sharing the gospel with someone, it is not that the person we are sharing with is just sitting there on neutral ground, weighing the pros and cons, and deciding whether or not he will follow Christ. It is not like that at all. You are talking with someone whose heart is not tender, no matter how tender the person might appear. He has a heart of stone, a love for evil that is so great that it is morally impossible for him to come to the light, he is in the grip of his father, the evil one, and he is unable even to see the truth of what you are saying.
Therefore, if you speak with someone and he is converted, repenting of sin, and embracing by faith all the satisfaction that God is for him in Jesus Christ, an incredible miracle has happened. He has not just made a decision. Though you could not see it, his heart that was as hard as a stone and was loving darkness was removed, he was given a heart that now loves light and is tender and bleeds. Satan was bound from blinding his eyes to what you were saying. And Satan was bound in order that he might no longer have power over him. Salvation is the greatest miracle in the world. There is nothing that compares to it.
A few years ago, if I had received a call that my brother-in-law had been converted, I would have celebrated. However, now, after understanding that it is much more than him making a decision, I would sit for hours, I believe, before God, thanking him for the miracle that has occurred in his life.
If you understand this, it makes evangelism exciting. For there is the possibility that you will be able to witness God’s greatest work of power—greater than healing, prophecy, miracles, whatever—you will see him make someone who was spiritually dead come alive. And you will behold God placing a satisfaction so great that what once appeared as his greatest pleasures will now taste bitter in his mouth as he pursues them, because he has tasted the bread of life and living water.
So, first of all, as Paul’s commission has revealed, study to understand what happens when one is saved, or what must happen for one to be saved. For only by understanding this will we understand more clearly how worthy God is of praise for one being converted.
My second observation is that
Paul’s commission was the commission that we are to complete today, taking the gospel to every tongue, tribe, and nation. However, just as he could not, we cannot do what God has told us to do.
You cannot save anyone. I cannot save anyone. As we are sharing the gospel with someone, we are completely dependent upon the mercy of God. How are we supposed to open their blind eyes, pluck out a heart that loves darkness and give them one that loves light, and bind Satan so that he no longer has power over the person? We simply cannot do what we are commanded to do.
But isn’t that what makes the Christian life so exciting? For if we cannot do it, and it is accomplished, then who is the one who has accomplished it in us? It is God. That is why Paul told the Corinthians whom he had led to Christ, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6).
Therefore, let this second observation be an exciting one:
Third,
This cannot be avoided in Scripture, especially in the passage with Philip. What is going on is that there is this Ethiopian eunuch who is the court official of the queen of the Ethiopians. And as he is returning from Jerusalem, he is sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah 53. The circumstances are pretty good for him to be saved. However, God does not simply sit back and watch this situation. He sends an angel to Philip to tell him to go to Gaza, where this Ethiopian was. And then when he got there, the Spirit told him to go and join the chariot. As he joins the chariot, he sees the Ethiopian, asks him if he understands, and he “opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35).
And the Ethiopian ends up being converted. And after he is converted and Philip baptizes him, the Spirit snatches up and takes Philip to another place. He was here one second and gone the next.
So, if God is able to have an angel tell Philip to go to Gaza, through his Spirit tell him to go join the chariot, and then snatch him away and put him on another path, why did he not just save the Ethiopian without doing all this crazy stuff with Philip only to snatch him away afterward? The reason is that God has ordained that men are saved through the proclamation of the gospel. Therefore, Philip was a chosen vessel to share the gospel with this man whom God would save. And we have the same opportunity.
And Philip is a good example because sometimes reading Acts is counterproductive in encouraging us toward evangelism. What I mean is that we read of people being added to the church, and we long for that to happen. But we also read of miraculous works, preaching to great crowds, and 5000 people being saved all at once. And we think, that can’t happen in my life, and so we do not strive after that.
Philip, however, shared the gospel with just one man as the Spirit directed him, and Luke sees it as so significant that he records it right along with the stories of the great crowds being saved.
And I think one reason might be that Luke wants us to see what a miracle it is for one person to be converted. And then to show us that God can do these same works in our own lives. You can share the gospel with one of your co-workers, or acquaintances, or friends, and you can share in this great miracle of salvation. And if we are sensitive to the Spirit of God, he might even direct us as clearly as he did Philip.
Therefore, to sum up: a great miracle occurs when one is converted, we are sent to do what only God can do, and God has ordained men to be saved through the proclamation of the gospel.
Now, what is the answer then to “Why should we be involved in evangelism?”
In short, my answer is: we should be involved in evangelism because we are invited to be a part of God’s joyous work of glorifying himself in the conversion of one of his children.
Or to state it more systematically,
1) If beholding God in his glory is the most delightful, enjoyable thing our soul can know
2) And if God’s glory is clearly seen when we understand the miracle of conversion upon one being converted
3) Then our deepest enjoyment awaits us in the hope of evangelism.
But if you are as critical as I often am, then you are probably saying to yourself, “He has totally ignored the hardship of evangelism. He has just painted it as a glorious picture. Evangelism is hard.” I, however, do recognize that. I battle with a hundred things like that every day. However, I also am aware that the pleasures of sin are fleeting, especially in comparison to the abiding joy of loving God.
Let me give you one glimpse of how this should work. The author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 10:32-34, “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property.”
Now that is hard. They were obedient and it cost them their property. Yet they accepted it joyfully. How? The author writes, “Knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.” They set their eyes on a lasting joy, not the fleeting pleasures of this world. And in the light of the glory to be revealed, and the joy one can know now, the hardships of obedience begin to diminish.
Therefore, do not deny yourself of the greatest joy and settle for the lesser joys of things that we would put in its place. Do not hew for yourselves broken cisterns when God is offering a fountain of living water. Do not turn away from the joyous work of evangelization when there is great joy that awaits you. Do not continue to settle for the fleeting pleasures of sin instead of reaching for a deep and abiding reward.
I long for days when we will be able to baptize men, women, boys, and girls because they want to proclaim that they have been made alive, and we will gather around singing praises to God, understanding more clearly the miracle that has occurred in their hearts and thanking God that he ordained us to be a part of it.
O God, pour out your grace and Spirit on us. And drive our hearts to genuine repentance if we deny this beautiful and joyous work you have given us in evangelism. Amen.