Multiplication through Evangelism

Paul’s ministry of reconciliation puts a holy burden on every believer. God has entrusted the good news about Jesus to people who did not earn it, and that good news belongs to a lost world. Paul says he is indebted, because the gospel placed in his hands is something somebody else needs. The church cannot sit back, enjoy fellowship, and leave the field untouched while empty people pass by every day.

Christ’s love compels believers to go. The cross shows how much God loves people, because Jesus was not ashamed to stand out in the open and die for the sins of the whole world. Christ died for all, so those who live should not live unto themselves anymore. The old life of self-centered living has gone, and the new creature has received the ministry of bringing people back to God.

Christ himself is the peace between God and man. Ephesians says those who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Jesus broke down the wall of hostility, made peace through the cross, and gave both Jew and Gentile access to the Father by one Spirit. The gospel is not a little religious idea. The gospel is the power of God that can blow a man out of sin without killing him.

Fear does not excuse disobedience. Paul witnessed in fear and trembling, but he did it anyway. The church has phobias about sharing faith, yet Christ has given the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to stand behind those who go. The great commission is a command, not an option for only evangelists. Every believer may not carry the gift of evangelism, but every believer can testify, hand somebody a tract, plant a seed, and tell people that Jesus loves them.

The gospel must stay simple and plain. Christ died for sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. Sin has left people dead in trespasses, blinded by Satan, unbelief, hardness, and ignorance. Jesus calls fishermen of men to bring dead people home alive through the quickening power of the Holy Spirit.

God gives the increase, but believers must sow. The soil, the water, and the wind all belong to God, yet the seed still has to be planted. One person may share, another may water, and the Spirit may blow upon that word long after the first witness has gone. Heaven’s joy over one sinner who repents should move the church to love what God loves: people.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ’s love leaves no alternative. Christ’s love is not merely a feeling believers admire from a distance. The cross puts God’s love on display and presses that same love into the heart of those redeemed by it. A life that claims to love Christ while refusing to care for people misses what Christ died to create. [14:34]
• 2. Fear must not silence witness. Fear may come when believers speak about Jesus, but fear does not have authority to cancel Christ’s command. Paul’s trembling did not stop his testimony, and neither should anxiety become a permanent hiding place. God gives wisdom in the going, not merely in the waiting. [06:18]
• 3. The gospel brings dead people alive. Jesus calls His followers to fish for men, bringing people who are dead in sin into the life of God. The gospel does not simply improve behavior or offer religious comfort. The Holy Spirit uses Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection to awaken souls that sin has left dead. [28:16]
• 4. God gives increase through planted seed. God alone prepares hearts, waters the seed, and causes spiritual life to grow. Believers are not responsible for controlling the result, but they are responsible for sowing something. A tract, a conversation, and a plain word about Jesus may become the seed God uses later. [31:13]
• 5. Love proves itself through action. God loves people with a costly love shown at the cross. Believers show that same love by refusing to treat neighbors, coworkers, and strangers as invisible. The church cannot say it loves the Lord while remaining unconcerned about those for whom Christ died.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [04:13] - Scripture and the Call to Encourage
• [05:56] - Fear and Sharing the Faith
• [06:40] - Multiplication Through Evangelism
• [08:29] - Seeing People Who Need the Lord
• [11:43] - The Ministry of Reconciliation
• [14:34] - Christ’s Love Compels Believers
• [16:28] - Christ Our Peace and Reconciliation
• [19:00] - Indebted to Give the Gospel
• [21:42] - Every Believer Is Called to Witness
• [24:26] - The Great Commission Is Not Optional
• [27:56] - Fishing for Men
• [31:13] - Planting Seed and Trusting God
• [33:16] - Keeping the Gospel Simple
• [40:30] - Breaking Through Spiritual Blindness
• [42:31] - Loving What God Loves

Bible Reading

2 Corinthians 5:11-21
“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to 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.” [05:56]

Ephesians 2:13-18
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” [16:28]

Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [24:26]

Observation questions

1. In 2 Corinthians 5:11–21, what reasons does Paul give for persuading people and for carrying the ministry of reconciliation?
2. What changes in a person’s purpose for living are connected with being made new in Christ? [15:35]
3. In Ephesians 2:13–18, what barriers does Christ remove, and what access does He give to those who were once far from God? [17:20]
4. In Matthew 28:18–20, what are believers commanded to do, and what promise does Jesus give to those who go? [23:15]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul says Christ’s love compels believers. What does it mean for Christ’s love—not guilt, pride, or pressure—to be the reason a believer speaks to others about Jesus? [14:37]
2. If Christ died for all so that believers would no longer live for themselves, how should that reshape the way a Christian sees neighbors, coworkers, and strangers? [15:35]
3. Ephesians says that Christ Himself is our peace and has broken down hostility. Why is it important that reconciliation with God is based on Christ’s cross rather than on a person becoming good enough? [18:25]
4. The Great Commission is given to disciples, not only to people with the gift of evangelism. What are some faithful ways an ordinary believer can take part in making disciples without trying to force results? [21:50]

Application questions

1. Who is one person in your everyday life—a neighbor, family member, coworker, or friend—who may need a clear and loving word about Jesus? What would be a natural first step toward them this week? [43:12]
2. What fear most often keeps you quiet about your faith: rejection, not knowing what to say, concern about offending someone, or something else? How can you obey Christ even while that fear is still present? [06:18]
3. The gospel can be shared simply: Christ died for sins, was buried, and rose again. How would you explain that good news in your own plain words to someone who has never heard it? [36:28]
4. God gives the increase, but believers are called to sow and water. How does trusting God with the result free you to take a small step of witness, even when you cannot tell whether someone is ready? [31:36]
5. What practical way could you keep yourself ready to share—carrying a tract, preparing a brief testimony, praying for open doors, or asking someone a thoughtful question? Which one will you try this week? [33:16]
6. Jesus was not ashamed to die openly for sinners. In what setting are you most tempted to keep your faith hidden, and what would loving action look like there? [43:44]