GRACE ANSWERS 27

These are questions sent to GraceLife Ministries by Internet E-Mail. We appreciate each person who sent the questions and hope our answers will be a help to many. If you would like to have a question answered for Grace Answers, please e-mail Mark McGee.

• QUESTION: I am trying to figure out this program called "Evangelism Explosion." Are you aware of what James Kennedy teaches concerning this program? I think they include the "Great Commission" in it but isn't that predominantly Israel's message? Aren't we given an even greater commission with what The Apostle Paul says?

• ANSWER: I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Kennedy about 20 years ago. We met at a conference and had lunch with him. I found Dr. Kennedy to be a loving man who cared deeply for lost people. He had experienced outstanding results at his own church, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida. Dr. Kennedy trained others in how to use the program and it spread across the country. We used the Evangelism Explosion program in our church and I had been an EE trainer for several years. It was a thrill to meet Dr. Kennedy in person and have the opportunity to ask him questions about his efforts.

  I have not used Evangelism Explosion for many years and no longer have the EE materials. I'm not sure how it's changed since the early 80's. I do remember that Evangelism Explosion used Matthew 28:19-20 as its primary vision. The program was effective in introducing Christ to people in door-to-door visits around our community. You can access Evangelism Explosion's International web site at http://eeinternational.org/ .

  Matthew 28:19-20, known as the Great Commission, was Christ's vision and mission statement to His Apostles. Those Apostles were the men Christ would use to establish His earthly Kingdom. Each man would sit on one of the 12 thrones of the 12 tribes of Israel and rule with Christ in His Messianic Kingdom. When the Apostles asked Christ if He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel at that time, Jesus answered: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8) The Apostles went forth with Christ's vision and mission in their minds and hearts. The Holy Spirit came upon them on the Day of Pentecost and empowered them for the mission. The Apostles preached the Kingdom Message and watched God build up the Kingdom Church. The Apostles also watched as the leaders of Israel rejected their message and killed and persecuted their members. It was during that persecution that Christ introduced His Mystery to His chief persecutor, Saul of Tarsus. As we know, Christ did not restore the Kingdom to Israel at that time. Christ knew that when His Apostles asked Him, but it was not for them to know the times or dates the Father had set up by His own authority. The Apostles had a job to do and they did it to the best of their ability.

  We learn much about our current mission from what Paul related about his first encounter with Christ.

  "About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. My companios saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. 'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. 'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.'"

  Acts 22:6-10

  Christ told Ananias this about Saul.

  "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

  Acts 9:15-16

  Ananias also told Saul that God had chosen him to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from His mouth. Saul (Paul) would be a witness to all men of what he had seen and heard. (Acts 22:14-15) Paul related how he fell into a trance a short time later and heard the Lord speaking.

  "Quick!' he said to me. 'Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me...Go: I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"

  Acts 22:18, 21

  We get more insight to the mission Christ gave Paul when Paul spoke before King Agrippa.

  "Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."

  Acts 26:15-18

  Paul's evangelistic mission was different from the Kingdom Apostles, but in many ways the same. The Kingdom Apostles preached Jesus the Messiah, ready to return to Israel and set up His Messianic Kingdom. From Israel, the Apostles, with Christ on David's Throne, were to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything Christ had commanded them. They would do that because all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Christ. As we all know, that did not happen. It will happen in the future, but it has not yet happened. What has happened is that Christ revealed a Mystery through His Special Apostle Paul.

  "Surely you have heard about the administration [dispensation] of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things."

  Ephesians 3:2-9

  Paul explained more about the mission Christ gave him and the Mystery to the Colossians.

  "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I will fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

  Colossians1:24 - 2:3

  What is similar about the Kingdom and Grace Messages is that God reached out to an entire world about His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is the promised Messiah. Christ is also the Mystery of God. Israel knew God had promised them a Messiah, a Savior. But they didn't like the Messiah's Message, so they killed Him. Israel continued to reject their Messiah even after He rose from the dead and returned to Heaven to sit at the Right Hand of God's Power. If Israel had received its King, Jesus Christ, the Kingdom Apostles would have reached out to the world with their Kingdom Message. That's what Christ told them to do. However, since Israel did not receive its King, Christ reached out to the world in a different way, a hidden way. He chose to use His chief persecutor, Saul, and reveal to him the Mystery of Gentile and Jew together as brothers, members of the same Spiritual Body, heirs together of the promises of Christ. Christ sent Paul to the world of his day to preach the Grace of God.

  God has a Heart of filled with Love for the entire world. Jesus said: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17) God had two plans for saving the world. One was Prophetic--the Gospel of the Kingdom. One was Mystery--the Gospel of His Grace. What has not changed is God's desire to reach everyone in the world.

  The Apostle Paul is our Apostle. He was the Apostle to the Gentiles. He was the Apostle of the Age of Grace. Look at what he did. He went from town to town, country to country, preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. He told his student Timothy: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." (2 Timothy 2:2) Paul gave Timothy this charge: "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuk and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction...keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:2, 5)

  God loves the world. That's plain to see as we read His Word. Today, God loves the world through us, His Children of Grace. Christ is "in" us and we are "in" Christ. Christ is loving people and reaching out to them through us. He is making His appeal through us. He is reconciling people to Himself through us!

  "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."

  2 Corinthians 5:16-20

  God wants us all to go to the lost, wherever they may be, and preach the Good News of His Grace. Some of the specifics of our Good News are different than some of the specifics of the Good News of the Messianic Kingdom, but we preach the same Lord, Jesus Christ. We are "workmen" who do not need to be ashamed, who correctly handle the Word of Truth. We cut the Word straight and understand its meaning for us. Our goal, as members of the Body of Jesus Christ, is to reach out to the world as God builds His Body, the Church. God is building a mighty and holy temple that will bring glory and praise to His Name. The foundation of the Body Building is Christ. "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22)

  All Christians can learn from each other. I appreciate the many things I learned about evangelism from Dr. Kennedy's program. I learned much through the years from other programs. My study of God's Gospel of Grace has led me to evangelize personally through friendships and relationships, in addition to preaching and teaching. What's important is that we share Christ with others. We need to be ready at all times to "do the work of an evangelist." People are lost and in great need of our Savior. We know Jesus personally. He lives "in" us and we live "in" Him. Each of us who are saved know what it's like to be lost. We know what it's like to be saved. We should know enough about the message Christ revealed to Paul to explain it to others and answer their questions. As we do that, God will bless our service and lead lost souls to Himself. What a privilege we have to participate in the Holy Work of God!