ISEMA Newsletters
No Excuse
In order for an unsaved person to come to Christ, he or she must be absolutely convinced that he is a lost sinner, and that there is no way he can save himself by his own works or by any other means. As long as he thinks he has found a loophole–that somehow God will accept him without the need for faith in Christ, he will invariably take advantage of that loophole. The unbeliever will comfort himself with the thought that most of the people he knows don’t believe in Christ and that all these people couldn’t be wrong. As we know, this is a dangerous deception.
In a similar manner, in order for a Christian to commit himself to evangelism, he or she must come to the realization that God has commanded him to do so. If he can convince himself that God has made an exception for him, that he is excused from obeying the Great Commission, he will invariably take advantage of this loophole. Unfortunately, the vast majority of evangelical Christianity has allowed itself to be deceived into thinking that a Christian who never witnesses for our Lord can be right with God. Such a Christian comforts himself with the thought that most other Christians don’t witness, so it must be OK.
Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). Before He ascended into heaven, He gave us the commandment to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The apostle Paul understood the necessity to preach the gospel. “When I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me” (1 Corin. 9:16-17). He told the Ephesian elders, “I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:26). In making this statement, he referred to God’s words to Ezekiel and considered them applicable to us in New Testament times: “When I say to a wicked man, `You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself” (Ezekiel 3:18-19).
I’d encourage you to read the whole third chapter of Ezekiel. Some will argue that this passage only applied to Ezekiel, but Acts 20:26 is a clear reference to it, and shows that Paul thought the passage referred to him. The passage in 1 Corin. 9 confirms that Paul considered that some adverse consequence would fall on him if he refused to preach the gospel.
It may come as a shock to us that the great apostle Paul was motivated by the fear of having the blood of unsaved people on his hands in preaching the gospel. Surely he would have been motivated rather by his great love for God, by the great joy he had in his salvation that he couldn’t keep to himself, and by his love for the lost. I’m sure he was motivated by all these things, but sometimes he needed this extra motivation–Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. Witnessing for Jesus isn’t always pleasant or convenient. Even Paul at times would have avoided witnessing if he thought he could have gotten away with it and still be right with God. After all, it wasn’t fun having people throw stones at you and being thrown into jail.
Again, some will argue that these scriptures only applied to the apostles or to those specifically called as evangelists or missionaries. Certainly there are different callings in people’s lives. But do you think that God has placed this great responsibility on Paul, where the blood of others would be on his hands if he disobeyed, yet He has given you no responsibility whatsoever to the lost?
Why do you think God did not take you to heaven as soon as you were saved? Why must we endure all those trials and tribulations? Yes, God is purifying us so we will be more like Jesus but His purpose in bringing about these changes is for us to become better witnesses for our Lord. When I am in heaven I will be totally like Jesus and will have perfect fellowship with Him, but it will be too late to help anyone else. Again Paul wrote, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Phil. 1:23). The only reason we stay on this earth is for the sake of others–to help other believers mature in Christ and bring salvation to the lost. If we are not doing these things, we are wasting our lives.
I realize that these are strong words. Some have probably stopped reading this newsletter and are angry at me. Some are still looking for loopholes. “My ministry is to the church, not to the lost.” No–God has called you to minister to both. “You’re trying to put me into legalistic bondage in which I’ll feel guilty whenever someone passes me by and I don’t witness to him.” Obviously, we can’t witness to every single person we come into contact with. But we sin both when we fail to witness to someone God tells us to talk to and when we fail to give evangelism the priority in our lives God wants it to have. When we confess our sins of omission in regard to evangelism, God will forgive us– but we need to change our ways. Thinking about the blood of others being on our hands may seem crude but Paul needed it to motivate him and we need it to motivate us as well.
Once we stop looking for loopholes and making excuses for our failure to witness, we will find a way to witness for Christ as a central part of our lives. If we need training, we will get it. If we are fearful, we will overcome the fear. If we are busy, we will find time to witness just like we find time to go to church, read our Bible, and pray. Getting past the excuses is the hard part; the rest is easy.
Coming Events
Sat. September 11, 18. San Francisco Worship rally and outreach. 3-6 PM. Powell St. BART Station. Contact SOS Ministries Box 27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (510) 531-5325.
September 23-25 National Street Ministries Conference, Dallas, TX. Tommy Barnett, Rich Wilkerson, Winkie Pratney, John Dawson. Contact NSMC, P O Box 380306, Duncanville, TX 75138, (214) 283-3900.
October 2-10 Balloon Fiesta Outreach, Albuquerque, NM. Contact Christ in Action, Box 100, Chatsworth, GA 30705, (706) 695-1868.
October 22-23 No Greater Love Ministry Conference. Contact NGL, Box 263, DuQuoin, IL 62832, (618) 542-4503.
Forward Edge is sending outreach teams to Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Crow Indian Reservation, Romania, Kazakhstan, and China this next year. Most outreaches are about two weeks long. For more information write or call them at 15121-A NE 72nd Ave., Vancouver WA 98686, (206) 574-EDGE.
Jeannie Griffin (The Missionary Outreach) is taking teams to Romania in September and Guatemala in November. For more information, write Box 1761, Columbia, SC 29202 or call (803) 799-0502.
A FINAL WORD
I want to thank all of you for your prayers and financial support for ISEMA. Thank you also for sending in reports of what is happening in your ministry. Please continue to send us reports on outreaches you have been involved in. We would like to include them in our newsletter so others can be encouraged.
I urge you to attend the National Street Ministries Conference, September 23-25 in Dallas. This is a gathering of hundreds of Christians interested in street ministry from all over the country. It is an opportunity to receive practical teaching, encouragement, and best of all to fellowship with others who are interested in street ministry. I have been able to get a booth for ISEMA this year and am planning to attend the conference. I hope to be able to see many of you there.
Our Tape of the Month is True Conversion by Ray Comfort. Ray gave this message on July 11 at New Life Christian Church, San Lorenzo, CA during the SOS-San Francisco outreach. It is a strong word, but one that very much needs to be heard by the church.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
