Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Luke 15:6-7 There's more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine "righteous" persons who do not need to repent.

But people act as though I'm doing something awful by talking about

1 Thessalonians 3:2-4 In spreading the gospel of Christ, we're destined for trials, so don't be unsettled by them. 4 Remember how we kept telling you we would be persecuted for preaching the word. And it turned out that way as you well know.

2Co 2:14 But... God always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus.

We are to God the aroma of Christ among those being saved and those who are perishing.To one we smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.

But my employer, friends, the government and schools all warn me NOT TO SPEAK ABOUT JESUS. Of course.

Act 4:17 we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.

Act 4:18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

Act 4:19 But Peter and John replied, Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.

Act 4:20 For WE CANNOT HELP speaking about what we have seen and heard.

The Harvest is Great, the Workers are few

Luk 10:2 Jesus told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Sharing Your Faith is how you overcome Satan

Rev 12:11 They overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Phm 1:6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Php 4:9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me— put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (The Apostle Paul)

2Co 5:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.

2Co 5:20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. (Paul)

Paul’s prayer to preach Fearlessly

Eph 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Paul)

1Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Act 5:42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

Heb 5:12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.

Mar 16:15 He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Mar 13:10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.

2Ti 2:2 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.

Pro 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Matthew 9:37-38

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Luke 19:10

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. (Jesus)

Luk 24:46 He told them, This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

Luk 24:47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Act 8:30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. Do you understand what you are reading? Philip asked.

Act 8:31 How can I, he said, unless someone explains it to me? So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Rom 10:13 for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Rom 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

Rom 10:15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!

2Ti 4:2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage— with great patience and careful instruction.

1Co 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

1Co 9:20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.

1Co 9:21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.

1Co 9:22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.

1Co 9:23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

1Co 4:14 I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.

1Co 4:15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

1Co 4:16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

1Co 4:17 For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

Heb 6:11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.

Heb 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Heb 13:7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

The gospel, by its very nature, is going to be offensive to evil, evil minded people, apathetic people, the Devil, and those under heavy Satanic influence. An evil man resists Jesus' teachings even as they affirm anyone who censors Jesus' words.

The Christians should always be as “shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves,” and “become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save a few.” But many care what people will think of them more than their devotion to the message Jesus died to give to the whole world.

It might be worth noting that Jesus and Paul said: Whether from false motives or pure, the important thing is that Christ is preached(Php 1.18); and, “So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practise what they preach.” (Mat 23.3)

Luke 11:23

“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

Most people are not gathering and not gathering, as Jesus said, is not as innocent as it may seem. With every tick of the clock, the reaper draws a wage for eternal life.

John 5:24-29

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 ¶ I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. 28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out-- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

Ezekiel 33:6-9 6

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’ 7 ¶ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.

8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

Proverbs 24:11-12 1 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

These are strong warnings against not warning people of the coming judgment while others exhort to preach the gospel.

Isn’t loving one’s neighbor tantamount to saving his soul? What else matters?

Mat16.26

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul, or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

John 4:34-38

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Luke 12:19-20

And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' ²⁰ "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.

“James concept” - “this very night your life will be demanded of you” and is like the phrase Jesus repeated often, “I come like a thief in the night.”

Romans 14:16 ⁶ Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.

1 John 5:19-20 ⁹ ¶ We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. ²⁰ ¶ We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

HOMOSEXUALITY is a reason for a thousand PRIDE parades down a thousand main streets but BIBLE THUMPERS are the target of everyone. You tell me - which do you think God finds more offensive?

But Preacher - I'm not pure enough - my motives are wrong - so I don't have to preach!!! Shucks my little persecution avoider - I hear ya :-) Only problem is what Paul said about this

Philippians 1:12-18 ¹² ¶ Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. ¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴ Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. ¹⁵ ¶ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶ The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸ But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached.

I bet the Spirit supports all gospel outreach, even the ones denounced here.

John 6:63-65 ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

Some say certain kinds of evangelism are ineffective but Jesus and the Apostles were rejected so hard they had to wipe the dust of whole towns from their feet.(Lk10.11) So “effectiveness” is not a good measure of strategy.

THEY KILL EVANGELISTS or at least hate you.

Acts 9:27-29 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him.

Should disciples of Jesus use the sensibilities of a people under Satan's control as our ultimate guide on how to offer Life to a depraved and dying World?

The BIG SECRET TO Discovering what’s in a person’s soul: Where are you going to church Sunday? Elma at Hornbacher’s Express just last night said, “Oh God, I’m not going to church!!” How ironic hmmm?

You can almost see the thoughts flood across their face as it forces their brain to quickly review their religious history, their church attendance habits, even their conscience before God’s Spirit (who is standing beside every gospel encounter) and very often they will say:

Yes…I used to go a lot but haven’t gone in a while; or I moved and haven’t found a church; or no but my parents do.

Obviously it’s a no brainer to follow up by asking where they went to church. If they say they went for years I feel free to ask what that church taught about going to Heaven. Inevitably they say, “Obey the 10 commandments” or “Just be a good person.”

And every Christian should know how to respond to these myths.

Reactions to Evangelism:

Acts 9:28-29 ²⁸ So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him.

Debating in Scripture:

Mark 12:27-28 ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" ²⁸ ¶ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

Acts 15:2 ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.

Acts 18:27-28 ²⁷ When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. ²⁸ For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

I’m not going to argue about it – is the mantra of those unwilling to admit Christ calls them higher.

Acts 19:8-9 ⁸ ¶ Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way.

Colossians 2:4 ⁴ I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.