The Era Of Evangelistic Ministry Is Now

2Timothy 4: 1- 3:

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. 2: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”

EVERY Christian has a commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ and that commitment is soul winning; the very purpose that brought our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to the world to reconcile human beings to God, the Father. This is the case as man lost the Kingdom of God through disobedience of God’s word and sinful activities such as killing, armed robbery, terrorism, fornication and adultery and all kinds of evil took over the life of all men on earth. The things of God, the creator, then became secondary matter to the people, as they were engulfed in the pursuit of wealth and earthly glories. The plan of life after death was almost forgotten, yet people go to places of worship only to seek for miracles and other material blessings.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, came to reclaim the lost kingdom and started the evangelism of recovering the kingdom on the street of Galilee. In Matthew 4: 17 the Bible says: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, repent: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. 18: And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19: And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ has a mandate from the Father in heaven to go into the earth and recover the lost souls. To actualise the Father’s mandate, He started preaching the gospel and telling people to repent that the kingdom of God is at hand. Those who repented and followed Him were told that He would make them fishers of men.

As fishers of men, they became evangelists who later preached the gospel of the Kingdom to every creature. All through His ministry on earth, our Lord, Jesus Christ, taught people the gospel of the kingdom, instilling in them, the spirit of evangelism and preparing them to seek for the lost souls. While His work was coming to an end, He sent evangelists out and charged them in Mark 16: 15, saying: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16: He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17: And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. 18: They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ gave a command to the apostles and to all the disciples all over the earth to go and preach the gospel. There is opportunity for anyone who is still alive here on earth to repent. It is not the will of God that any human being should perish and go to hell fire. The plan of God is that all should live under the glory and will of God. There would be no sin or death, but as the kingdom was lost to Devil, the evil one brought sin and death into the world. The coming of Jesus Christ is to recover the kingdom; re- establish it for mankind.

The opportunity and grace are now available for every Christian to preach the gospel and for the unrepentant soul to repent and come to the knowledge of God.

In the lead scripture above, the Great Apostle Paul writing to his spiritual son, Timothy,

urged him to preach the gospel in season and out of season, now that the grace is available for the salvation of the people, adding that time will come when it will no longer be possible and people will be desiring to hear sound doctrine, but will not have the opportunity to hear it. The door is open for everyone that wants to come into the kingdom.

As the Messiah, He is ready to accommodate all, hence He declared in Matthew 11: 27- 29: “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. 28: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

There is a clarion call by our Lord Jesus Christ for all to come unto Him for rest. All things are available to you when you embrace Jesus, and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour. Christ is calling all sinners now, to come to Him now the grace is available. Salvation of soul comes only through Jesus Christ and He is coming again to rapture the saints; whosoever refuses to accept Him now that the grace is available, must eventually meet Him as a judge when the grace must have been taken away. At that time, hell fire will be the portion of those

people that fail to accept Him now He is calling everyone to come to Him.

It is, therefore, a matter of expediency that evangelical programmes should be increased at all levels. Many souls are wallowing in ignorance of the word of God. They will only hear the word when someone preaches to them. They will only repent when they hear the message of salvation. There is no room for procrastination, there is no reason for excuse, just preach the gospel in season and out of the season. In Luke 9: 1- 6, the Lord charged His disciples again saying: “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. 2: And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. 3: And he said unto them, take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. 4: And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. 5: And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. 6: And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere.”

The harvest is ripe, the field is open and the crops are there for harvest; we should not for any reason relent on our effort to evangelise the whole world now that the grace is available. There is no time to waste, go into the field and preach the gospel. There is reward of eternal life hereafter in Jesus’ name.