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Aug 13, 2017

The "E" Word

The "E" Word

Speaker: Dennis Gallaher

Series: Love Thy Neighbor

Category: Sunday Morning

Evangelism is a word that sometimes seems like a dirty word or makes us uncomfortable. But, God calls us to go out and spread the Gospel to everyone around us.

Opening Scripture:
Jeremiah 51-7-10  Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, Intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; Wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed. We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, For her judgment has reached to heaven And towers up to the very skies. The Lord has brought about our vindication; Come and let us recount in Zion The work of the Lord our God!

Babylon is a constant theme from Genesis to Revelations.

Genesis 11:9  Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

Babylon has been the personification of all things evil since time began.

Revelations 18:2-5  And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.” I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

In the closing chapters of the Revelation, Babylon’s destruction is front and center; it is the fulfillment of the prophetic promise in Jeremiah. Babylon represents the world system while Zion represents the people of God.
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I’ve never been a fan of preachers that talk about evangelism. I’ve had some wild experiences evangelizing including being attacked by a dog when I was going door-to-door.

Evangelism is often thought of as doing something. It does no good to a soul bound for hell for someone to stir up conviction without a willingness to bring them straight to Jesus. Sharing does no good until you care enough to tell them the truth about their lost condition. I have offended people by sharing Christ; better to offend now than to hear at the Judgement, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

This is why the subjects of faith and holiness are so important.
What kind of influence could a church have that practices holiness and forges faith in the Babylon where they reside?
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The world is going crazy and the culprit is confusion.

We are confused about:
- Violence in the world.
- When life begins and ends.
- Morality and issues on alcohol and drug abuse, marriage and divorce, personal responsibility.

Evangelism needs to be seen through this lens:
2 Corinthians 6:17  “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you.

We are called to “come out from their midst and be separate.”
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As we have been discussing, holiness and forged faith are the key ingredients to the kind of evangelism that is needed today.

3 Keys to a New Evangelism:
1)  “Come and see”
- Invite people to church; church should be s safe place.
Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

2)  “Look at me”
- We need to people who say, “look at me and you will see Jesus.”
John 13:15  For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.
1 Corinthians 11:1  Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

3)  “Do you want to be?”
- Evangelism always brings a person to the question, “Do you want to be a Christian?”
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Close:

Ephesians 5:1-2  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

-  Babylon is filled with death. The people of God are filled with life.
-  Babylon is inhabited by slaves. The Kingdom of God is filled with sons and daughters.
-  Babylon smells like a sewer. The Kingdom gives off the beautiful aroma of the Fruit of the Spirit.

The end of the prophecy:
Jeremiah 51:58  “The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razed and her high gates will be set on fire; so the peoples will toil for nothing, and the nations become exhausted only for fire.”

Babylon is destined for destruction! In light of that, what sort of people ought we to be?

People who say,
- “Come and see”
- “Look at me”
- “Do you want to be?”

Are you caught by the sounds and sights of Babylon? Don’t be!