Sermon: The Fire of Evangelism

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10232016thefireofevangelismdonruhl

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The Fire of Evangelism 

Romans 9.1–5

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • October 23, In the year of our Lord, 2016

Scripture Reader and Reading: Wayne Duncan – Second Corinthians 5.13–14

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Phil Joseph – Songs on evangelism

Prelude: 

1. The Lord has commissioned the church 
   1. to take His Good News to the world,
      
      15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16.15–16).
      
   2. And Matthew’s account shows that this applies to all generations,
      
      18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matt 28.18–20).
      
   3. All the world and all nations means
      1. that this would always be, because
      2. new nations come into being over the centuries.
   4. Whatever He commanded the apostles,
      1. they were to teach us to do the same, and
      2. that included the Great Commission.
   5. He hinted that this would go on until the end of the age.
2. Therefore, all of us, 
   1. either together or alone,
   2. must contribute to this in some way.
      1. Some can do the direct teaching.
      2. If you cannot, you can do other things.
         1. Make sure we have the funds that we need.
         2. Go as a silent partner.
         3. Teach through World Bible School–Connect.
3. However, we must possess a certain spirit. 

Persuasion: 

1. Second Corinthians 12.15 – Spend and Be Spent for Souls
   
   15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls… (2Co 12.15).
   
   1. A warrior spends and is spent
      1. for the sake of freedom for those living back home.
      2. We spend and are spent for souls.
   2. Jeremiah 20 shows the heart of the prophet,
      
      9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him,
      Nor speak anymore in His name.”
      But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
      Shut up in my bones;
      I was weary of holding it back,
      And I could not.
      (Jeremiah 20.9)
      
   3. Do not parents spend and are spent for the sake of their children?
   4. Remember Air Florida Flight 90, January 13, 1982.
      1. The plane could not gain altitude because of ice on the wings.
      2. It went across the top of a bridge,
         1. destroying cars, and
         2. plunging into the Potomac River.
            1. One man kept handing a rescue rope from a helicopter to others.
            2. Another man went into the water to help a struggling woman.
   5. Paul, Jeremiah, and those men
      1. had what we need to want to save lost souls.
      2. Like the two men in the Potomac,
         1. I think many of us have it,
         2. without knowing it.
2. Those with the Fire 
   1. Jacob – Gen 43.14
   2. Judah – Gen 44.33
   3. Moses – Exo 32.30–32
   4. David – 2Sa 18.33
   5. Esther – Esth 4.16
   6. Paul – Rom 9.3
   7. Jesus
      1. Not just His family.
      2. Not just His nation.
      3. Isa 53.4–6
      4. It truly happened: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”