Title: The Lord's Command / Matthew 28:19-20
Content From now on, I am going to talk about evangelism in three parts, but I am going to talk about evangelism in a very broad sense and evangelism in a narrow sense. I hope that you will have a comprehensive understanding of evangelism through this opportunity.
If a church wants to become a church, it must first become a church that evangelizes. And the church must change, be renewed, and grow every year. The church has to be like that. There are several reasons.
First, because it is a command from Jesus.
Evangelism is the great command given to Christians. Evangelism is the greatest task on earth that must be given priority even for those who have been saved. Some horses weigh more than any other horse. That's the advice. A will has value and meaning because it is the last word spoken by a person.
When Jesus ascended to heaven after completing His work on this earth, there are the last words He left to His disciples. These words are not just words, they are the wills and commands of Jesus.
In the last chapter of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28, he says, "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations and baptize them." In the last chapter of Mark's Gospel, chapter 16, "(Mark 16:15) He also said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Also, in Luke 24, the last chapter, he said, "(Luke 24:48) You are witnesses of all these things." Also, in the first chapter of the book of Acts, it is said through the Holy Spirit, "You will receive power, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." This is the will and command of Jesus. That is why the greatest task on earth for Christians is to evangelize and spread the gospel.
Someone surveyed the contents of their religious life with believers. As a result of the survey, 35% of church members said that they never read the Bible at home. So, most people come to church and worship, read the Bible once and leave it there for a week. It is very strange to see that the life of faith is maintained even after that. And 85% said that they had never done evangelism in their lifetime. This is not someone else's story, it is our own story today, and our reality today. I hope these miracles can be broken this year.
In the early church, believers followed the Lord's commands very faithfully. “(Matthew 28:19) Therefore go ye and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” 100% of the words of the Lord were fulfilled. That's why Acts says, "(Acts 2:41) Those who received the word were baptized, and on that day the number of the disciples increased by three thousand." He said, "(Acts 4:4) Many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of men was about five thousand."
(Acts 6:7) And the word of God continued to prosper, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased exceedingly, and a great multitude of priests also obeyed this way. Here, "very much" is said to mean ten thousand in the commentator's expression. That is, in the early church, there was already a church with 10,000 people. And this means that you have faithfully carried out the Lord's command. So, the church must evangelize. Because this is the will and command of the Lord.
Second, because it is the command of the Bible.
The Bible speaks of everything from the creation of the world to the end of this world. So the Bible is a mystery book. So the authority of the Bible weighs more than anything else in the world. That's why this Bible is called "The Bible." The word bible means scripture. When the gospel came to China, the Chinese were the first to translate this Bible as "the Bible." The word "jing" here is used in the most dignified religious sense in China. That's why the Chinese did not mean "Bible" but translated "Bible".
However, the gospel came to Japan through China. As the Japanese followed the Chinese and tried to call the Bible the Bible, Shinmin's self-esteem became a problem. So the Japanese translated the Bible as "the Bible." So Japan is still not a "Bible", but a "Bible". However, if you think about it strictly, "The Bible" is one step higher than "The Bible". If you look at it this way, Chinese people are more profound than Japanese people in thinking.
So, didn't it say that Chinese people lived with a librarian in their left hand and three sutras in their right until the Bible came along? The Chinese beat the three scenes more than the librarians. That is why he was holding the Three Sutras in his right hand. It means that the teachings of the Three Sutras are recognized the highest in the world than any other teaching. Then, when the Bible came to China, the Chinese called it the “Bible” with a higher standard than the Three Sutras that they valued so much. So, did the Japanese understand the deep spirit of the Chinese?
The authoritative bible like this has something to recommend to us all the time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . These are the words, "Preach, proclaim, know, enlighten." This word appears 300 times in both the Old and New Testaments.
So what does this mean? If the word "tell" appears 300 times in the most authoritative Bible in the world, how important is this "telling" issue? So, this is a command from the Lord, a command from the Bible, and at the same time, it is an earthly command given to us. So we must do evangelism.
Third, because there is life.
The reason the gospel must be preached is because it has vitality. If the gospel has no vitality, there is no need to preach it. The text says, “Go ye and preach this gospel to all nations.” This verse refers to the cosmic scope. This is the message that this gospel must be preached to the east and west through the feet of those who cross the mountain, not just our town.
Also, in Acts 1, it says, “to the ends of the earth”. It means that the gospel must be preached not only in our town, but also in our country, and to the ends of the earth. In Genesis 1, God commanded Adam to "fill the earth, subdue it, and rule it." This word doesn't just refer to our neighborhood. The message is to conquer and rule not only this earth but also the universe, and spread the gospel wherever there are humans. That's why He said, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."
Westerners will take this gospel with them when they conquer the moon and settle there. Because this gospel has vitality. So, where there is the gospel, there has been change, progress, and creation. When Westerners conquer the universe and the human world is established on the moon, we Koreans will surely go there. We Koreans are a nation with a history of emigrating. What you do when you go there is selling bulgogi.
The gospel played a major role in the reason why people in this world became close so quickly and interacted with each other. Where blessings are transmitted, a common phenomenon is that they met, socialized, and cooperated. And the gospel made it easy to conquer the world. So it is said that people like the pioneer Columbus moved instead of sitting every day. His life motto is "to the west, to the west". In this way, the gospel moves people, enables them to interact, to socialize, to meet, and to do. This is the characteristic of the gospel. Because there is life force.
That is why he said that the gospel is not a dead philosophy, but a living, active, and saving gospel. So that's what I was told to tell. We must preach the gospel.
The fourth is for us to develop.
The reason why Western society developed rather than Eastern society is because there was the Gospel. The reason why Western society developed more than Muslim society was because the gospel was there. So, looking at some statistics, it is said that among the countries on this earth, there is no poor or uncivilized country for a country that has accepted the gospel of Christianity. The gospel enables people to progress, move, and improve. The reason the Lord keeps telling us to preach the gospel to us is to give us this kind of development and improvement.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is a difference between a church that preaches the gospel diligently and a church that does not. Even if the church does not move, does not evangelize, even after 10 years or 20 years, the church is not renewed and the development is stopped. In the church where development has been stopped, all the believers themselves who are living the life of faith will also stop developing and improving. Not only living, but consciousness ceases, thinking ceases, and there is no significant progress in life. How can a believer living in a stagnant church, where the church is dreary, gloomy, and without a new look, go out into this world and display a new spirit and live an enterprising life?
Now, there are many churches that are at odds with each other, resent each other, and have conflicts, but the cause is that the church does not evangelize, fails to develop, stagnates, and has no new image. For example, the church has stopped growing. If the church prays diligently, evangelizes, and develops in accordance with the Lord's command, and the church is renewed every day, why would there be discord, grievances, and quarrels?
Everyone, please keep this in mind. If the church is discordant, degenerate, stagnant, and does not develop, it is not only the church that does not develop, but also your living environment and your home environment. A church that thrives, moves powerfully, and is renewed, a church that has some ambition and spirit, and within such a church, people are produced, faith grows, and the lives of believers improve, and so on. This is because where the church is evangelizing, trying to be renewed, and moving, the minds of all believers are new, and their attitudes and attitudes to live are different. That's why the Lord said, Preach the word in season and out of season. Of course, it is a message to do evangelism for God, but at the same time, it is also the consideration of the Lord who is trying to improve ourselves.
So we must do evangelism. Evangelism is the highest command above all else. Evangelism must be done for the Lord and also for our own improvement. Now, pray earnestly for the person you have decided in your heart, and have the joy of bearing fruit by praying hard and evangelizing.