DAY 16 - 31 Days of Evangelism Tips and Training

REPENTANCE

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:14-15) 

Repentance is one of the most positive of all words. John the Baptist centered his preaching on repentance (Matt. 3:2, Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3). Jesus also preached repentance, commanding His disciples to do likewise (Mark 1:14-15; Luke 24:47). The angel predicted that the Messiah would save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). The requirement for this salvation would be repentance. 

To repent means to stop going one direction, to turn around completely, and to go the opposite way. Repentance involves a dramatic and decisive change of course. God urges us to repent when the path we are taking leads to destruction. Repentance will save us from disastrous consequences! What a wonderful word! How comforting that the Creator loves us enough to warn us of impending danger!

Our problem is that we think of repentance as something negative. When we recognize our sin, we prefer to “rededicate” our lives to God. We may even tell others we have resolved to be more faithful to God than we were before we failed Him. Yet the Bible does not speak of rededicating oneself. It speaks of repentance! Repentance indicates a decisive change, not merely a wishful resolution. We have not repented if we continue in our sin!

Repentance involves a radical change of heart and mind in which we agree with God’s evaluation of our sin and then take specific action to align ourselves with His will. A desire to change is not repentance. Repentance is always an "active" response to God’s word. The evidence of repentance is not words of resolve, but a changed life. 

~Blackaby Ministries   

Source: Facebook 

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Since repentance has been mentioned a lot since we started this 31 days together, I thought I would share what I came across on Facebook yesterday (the message above) and I want to take a moment to make note of something......

In talking to people over the years there seems to be much confusion over two words, "confess" and "repent". Many think they mean the same thing. When a preacher or other Christian says, "You must repent", there are those who believe he is talking about getting all choked up and emotional over our sins and then confessing those sins before God. BUT, confession and repentance are NOT the same thing.  

In our "steps" to salvation, confession has played a big part in leading others to Christ (which is often used in The Sinner's Pray), but the need for repentance, in some cases, has been left out. Now, this may be a key explanation as to why we, too often, witness the following. People go to the altar, confess all kinds of sin, claim to "get saved" and then......

- Never return to church.

 

- Return to church, but still live like the devil...thinking, okay, I confessed and believed...I'm saved..."once saved, always saved", right? Even if I continue on in my sin, God will one day welcome me into His heaven. Most often, their fate is now sealed because other "believers" have assured them they are saved because they have "believed". These people are now dangerous to the cause of Christ because others will look at their lives and say to themselves, "What hypocrites! They are no different from me. Why do I need Jesus?" 

 

- Continue on in the church for a time, but then fall away. Many will never return. The ones that do, are most likely those who didn't "get it" the first time, but think they are "rededicating" their lives to the Lord, when in truth, re-dedication is never mentioned in scripture. What they may actually be doing is getting saved for the very first time. But, if there is no repentance this time either, re-dedication will have no lasting effect. This can cause a vicious, deadly cycle of coming in and out of the church...each time vowing to start living for God. These people are also hurtful to the cause of Christ. Each time they will tell their friends that they are now "gonna live for God", yet then they fail...again and again. Their friends will then think to themselves, "God cannot even keep a person saved. What hope is there for a sinner like me?" 

 

- Continue on in church, maybe even getting involved in ministry, but the person doesn't seem to possess the fruit of the Spirit. There is no love for ALL the brethren (only their group), no burden for the lost, no compassion for those who are not like them, etc. Many become legalistic in their views and try to live a good life in order to maintain their right standing with God. Many people will even look up to these individuals as being God's "cream of the crop". Remember the Pharisees and Scribes. They were well respected in their day for their, continual, striving to keep the law. They seemed to be above reproach. But, one thing was lacking...humility and a broken spirit over their own sin. They loved to look down their noses at others in order to make themselves look good. This group is VERY dangerous. They have caused many people to turn from Christ. Those who have been hurt by these people will either turn away from church, never to return...turn to false gospels (looking for love in all the wrong places)...or become Atheists and Agnostics (because they were turned off by what they thought were the best of Christ's followers). 

 

What damage can be done when confession is made without repentance. Repentance means "turning away from". It can be put this way...you were walking in one direction...then you made a 180 degree turn and started walking in the complete opposite direction. 

 

In a true salvation experience, here is basically what happens: When we first came to Christ we loved our sin and that was what enticed us. Every day of our lives we walked in it and toward it. BUT, one day we met the Savior. He was made known to us by the preaching (proclaiming) of the gospel and someone showing us from God's Word that we were a sinner. Our hearts were broken, knowing that all along we had been sinning against our Creator and by faith we accepted the sacrifice of His beloved Son. This saving faith is not passive, it is active. It produces repentance...a desire to turn away from our sin. We are now repulsed by it and set out to live a life that is holy and dedicated to the Lord...not to earn our salvation, but because the Holy Spirit has now entered in and turned us into a new person...a different person than we were before. A person, set apart, for good works. 

 

Confession is also a part of this saving faith. It will cause us to cry out to God for mercy and forgiveness for all that we have done and then it will cause us to confess to others that we now know the Lord. There are no silent disciples. We will be bursting to tell someone...anyone...about what we have experienced. 

 

We don't walk away from a saving faith with the same burdens we had before and we don't walk away with the old desires of the flesh. ALL things are new! From that day forward we WILL grow, no matter how small the growth. We were dead, but have been made alive. The fruit of the Spirit will only grow from a vine that has life.

 

Now, don't get me wrong...after our salvation, satan will start to work as soon as possible on stirring up the "old man" that is still inside us. He may even convince us to sin, but this time, there will be no pleasure in that sin and we will be miserable in it until it is confessed. We no longer look for sin, sin looks for us. Sometimes, we may stumble, but God is now our Father and He will do whatever is necessary to bring us, quickly, back into fellowship with Him. He will chastise us if we are disobedient, He lift us back up when we become discouraged, He will gently nudge us back in the right direction when our spirit is wounded. We also have the Holy Spirit to comfort us in sorrow and convict us every time we are tempted to do evil. And we have Jesus Christ who is ALWAYS interceding on our behalf and ready to offer up forgiveness for any sin that we have allowed to creep in.

 

Saving faith is an active faith and it is a producing faith!! It starts working the day we are saved and remains in us until the day we die. It keeps us with the Father. It helps us to know His voice. We can never disown Him, no more than He can disown us, because He is now a part of us. And even when we sin against Him and we fight the desires of the flesh, we will also have His desires...and that is to love the brethren, to love souls, to love His Word (for it is no longer grievous to us), to talk to Him through prayer, to worship Him, to live separated from the world, and to do and accomplish His will.

 

My friends, "REPENTANCE" is necessary. Unless ye repent, ye shall ALL, likewise perish! You cannot accept Christ in the free pardon of sin with the thought in mind that there are sins you can still commit. Either we are willing to give them up or we have not fully grasped that is our sin that has separated us from God in the first place. Saving faith will compel us to repent...to turn from all known sin in our lives. It will compel us to dig into to God's Word and see what else we are doing that does not please God. Again, not to earn our salvation, nor to maintain it, but because an all-seeing God has shown us our heart and we are no longer the same!  

 

Dear Friends, apparently satan doesn't want this message to go out. I've had problems with getting it written, formatted, and published due to problems with Blogger. I'm going to go ahead and publish it now and then come back and add in the verses that came to mind as I was writing this. I just want to get it out to you while the system seems to have stabilized. Thanks for your patience! God bless!

 

~The Princess Warrior ♔ 

DAY 5 - 31 Days of Evangelism Tips and Training

Now, that we have it settled in our hearts and minds that we are indeed a child of God, we are now equipped to go into all the world preaching (proclaiming or making known) the gospel to every person...and we can go in the power of Jesus’ name!!!

Let's put it this way...here are the power tools we need to be effective:  

A Changed Life (and Heart)

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The life can only be changed to the extent that the heart is. It is the heart that God looks upon (1 Samuel 16:7), for it holds who we truly are. We can go through life with a mask on and fool the world, but what’s inside is laid bare before an all-seeing Creator and we will be held accountable for its content (Hebrews 4:13). 

Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

When the Holy Spirit comes to reside within the believer, every single one of these fruits are planted within our hearts. Every one of them will be present, and no matter how slow, there will ALWAYS be growth. By using the example of a tender plant to describe a believer, we can see that our new birth in Christ has sprung us into life. We are new plants that have sprouted up out of the earth and as long as the plant is alive it will grow. Now, we know that when God gives us life, it is eternal, so we will be ever-changing and growing until the harvest comes (when He brings us home). (Philippians 1:6)

God will do His part to guide and nourish His tender plants, but we must make sure we are staying in the light of the Son and keep remembering that even the rain is for our good.

The Holy Spirit

John 16:8-11 – And when he (the Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgement, because the prince of this world is judged.

Roger S. Oldham says, “The Holy Spirit has the role of convincing and convicting the world (mankind) of sin. The conviction of sin exceeds all human ability. Only the Holy Spirit can do this, even though He can and will use us as instruments in His hand.

The Holy Spirit, using the biblical message of the Cross, "awakens in man that deeply hidden awareness of guilt. He convinces man of sin, even where previously no consciousness of sin was apparently present. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God and touches the heart of the hearer, making it accessible to the Word."

When the Holy Spirit convinces people of their sin, of Jesus' righteousness, and of certain judgment, He awakens the human heart to hear and see truth in a new way. Upon seeing and perceiving (cf. Isaiah 6:10; Matthew 13:15), the human heart cries out for God.

The Word of God

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Romans 10:13-17 – For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Our words, especially when they are backed up by a changed life, can be very powerful, but only the Word of God can pierce the souls of mankind. His message will either anger people and they will resist or it will humble them and bring faith and repentance. Do not take it personally when scripture is rejected. They are not rejecting you, they are rejecting God. They are rejecting His standard…His holiness…and, therefore, will not understand, nor accept His mercy. God resists the proud, but He will give grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

Let God’s Word and the Holy Spirit produce the change in a person’s heart. Your job is to share His life-giving, heart-changing message! Their faith will come through hearing the Word!

A Lot of Prayer

James 5:16 – Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

It is harder these days to find someone you trust enough to admit all your faults to. From scripture, we know that it is God’s intention that we have other people to confide in. Knowing that we have someone to lift us up in prayer and give us good counsel is like a healing balm. We do not need their judgment or betrayal of trust, for that can destroy. It will not only change our countenance, but can also render us ineffective.

If you have believers in your life who are mature in the faith and will lift you up, then you are indeed, fortunate. I am afraid that it is a sign of the times that we live in that these people are becoming few and far between. However, do not fear. Even if you don’t have one single person you can confide in, you can ALWAYS go to your Father and find grace.

Confession and repentance restores the Father / child relationship and opens up the flood gates of heaven. God will withhold nothing from an obedient son or daughter.

Jesus said in John 14:13-14, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” But, He also said in the next verse, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

It is obedience that God rewards. Un-confessed sin in the life of a believer can hinder prayers. When we are trying to win the lost we must rely on the Lord. We need His power. Souls are hanging in the balance and God has chosen men, women, boys, and girls to go and tell! So, in essence, when we live contrary to God’s Word we not only hurt ourselves, we also may be hurting others when our prayers for them go unanswered. To me, that is serious business!

Precious friend, again, I really appreciate you hanging in there with me. We have had to do some hard examining of our hearts and minds and standing in Christ. I hope you have seen the importance of that. You also may have read and/or heard some things that you are still trying to wrap your head around. You may even be blown away like I was, but please, just buckle your seat and hang on…we’ve got 26 more days to go! Lol!

If you have any questions at all, please leave me a comment and I will try, to the best of my ability, to give you an answer. May God bless you today and may He give you souls for your labor!!