“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
We discussed last time that the reason personal evangelism is difficult is that we’re smack dab in the middle of a spiritual war where the eternal destinies of men and women hang in the balance.
So what resources can we access to effectively engage this war? What weapons has God given us to fight the good fight? Those divine resources are God’s Word, the Gospel message, the Holy Spirit, and Prayer.
It’s good to remember that we are not sufficient of ourselves, rather our sufficiency comes from God, who has qualified us as ministers of the new covenant (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).
And one of the reasons we are sufficient for all things He’s called us to – including the work of personal evangelism – is that “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Yes, in His Grace He has made us sufficient and in His Grace He we are able to engage all to which He calls us.
There is no way to overestimate the power of these resources at our handy as we seek to reach the lost. Certainly volumes could be written on each of these resources and the impact they can have on our witness. For our purposes, we’ll touch upon them.
First, let’s touch on God’s Word. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) – both for the Christian and for the one who hasn’t yet met Christ!
In Ephesians 6 the Apostle Paul describes the Spiritual War that the devil and his minions wage against us. In verses 10-18 Paul describes the whole armor of God His children are to put on in this fight. And in verse 17 he notes the only offensive component of the armor – the Sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God.
Whatever methodologies and strategies we or anybody may employ, at the end of the day, we must share God’s Word with people we’re seeking to reach. God tells us in Isaiah 55:10-11, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
In our present day of media abundance and technological tools, how we share it can vary – via Facebook and other social media, books, tracts, personal notes, via audio and video recordings, etc. We can also share the time-honored way: verbally – person to person with bibles open. The point is there is no end to the delivery systems. The goal is to share the Word of God and let it do what it does – accomplish His will!
And in God’s Word we find His message – the message that saves – the gospel message:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Personal evangelism is done in and through the power of God. In the book of Zechariah, Zerubbabel was encouraged to complete the temple rebuilding project after the Lord brought the Jewish people back to Jerusalem in 538 BC. God spoke about this effort by saying it would be completed “’not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of Hosts.”
More directly, Jesus in John 15:5 says “without me you can do nothing.” The point is our evangelistic efforts need to be both Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered.
Finally, prayer is our constant companion and essential to the evangelistic endeavor. In fact, whatever we do, we must bathe everything in prayer, including our efforts in the arena of personal evangelism. So go to God on behalf of people before you go to people on behalf of God! An excellent website for praying for the lost is kingdompraying.com. Dr. Kevin Meador has done a wonderful job providing many scriptural prayers for the lost.
So follow Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesian Church in Ephesians 6:18 by ‘praying always with all prayers and supplication in the Spirit.’
Onward Christian soldier! By faith access and appropriate these divinely bestowed resources and walk in the manner in which you’ve been called – in victory! “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” (1 John 5:5)
