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Effective Evangelism!

Today, so many Christians think the creation vs. evolution issue is just a side issue.  This is sad and unfortunate. 

I always hear Christians today say, "Just preach the Gospel of Christ"..."Just stick with Christ!"  While I am all for introducing people to Christ, there is a problem with those statements... let me prove it to you.

How can you preach Christ crucified to a person who sincerely believes (and was taught) that the very book (Bible) that proclaims His name, has been proven wrong by science?  To them, they hear Christians state that the Bible was written by God through men.  So if just one part, creation, flood...etc. has been 'proven' wrong by science, then how can ANY other part be trusted?  Shouldn't God know His science?  If you go to a person who sincerely believes the Bible to be wrong they will laugh when Christ is preached, why? It is foolishness.  If there was no Adam and Eve in a literal garden, and sinned a literal sin that passed upon all men, what need do they have of a Saviour?

Compare this to society today.  Children are raised being taught that everything came about by random processes called evolution by natural selection.  Without God.  In fact every aspect of evolution is opposite to creation, whether it be morals or physical elements. 

And the list goes on...

So the child is raised believing nothing of the Bible.  In the child's mind evolution is right.  And, if evolution is right, the Bible is wrong.  If the Bible is wrong, there is no such thing as sin...sin would be normal (according to evolution's struggle to survive).  So if there is no sin...why the need of Jesus Christ?

Is not today's society just like the Greeks in Acts chapter 17?  Let's take a quick look at the two major sermons in the book of Acts.  There is something very important here.

The first sermon we have Peter preaching to Jews (Acts 2:14).  Now, what did Peter preach on?  Well, he first started to explain why there were all speaking different languages suddenly.  He goes on to quote the prophets and explain the Holy Spirit. Then he expounded on Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ and again quotes the Old Testament to show that this very Jesus they crucified is Lord and Saviour.  After this, about 3000 souls were saved.

The second sermon is from Paul in Acts chapter 17.  Now there is a neat chain of events here.  We will get to that in a minute.  But the main sermon starts in Acts 17:22 with Paul expounding on God as the Creator and Lord.  Then Paul speaks of the coming judgment then onto Christ and the resurrection.  The result was this: Acts 17:32: "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter." [34]"...Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed:..."

Now, just imagine for a second what would have happened if the sermon topics were reversed.  If Peter preached to the Jews using Paul's sermon, and Paul preached to the Greeks Peter's sermon?  Well, if Peter started in creation and preached that God was creator...the Jews would have been bored!!!  They already knew that God was the Creator, they already knew the prophecies, they already knew the Law... they had a basic understanding of the Bible.  They just didn't realize that Jesus was the Messiah!

Now if Paul preached Peter's sermon, what would the Greeks have done? Well, we see exactly what their reaction is to the preaching of Christ and His resurrection in Acts 17:18.  Read what happened:

"Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection."

These people thought this teaching to be strange, unlike the Jews who feared and wished to be saved! These people just seemed to think the teaching 'strange'.  Why did they think the teaching strange? Because he preached to them Jesus, and the resurrection.  Acts 17:20 "For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean." (Remember this was BEFORE Paul started in creation in Acts 17:22)

The Bible backs these results in 1 Corinthians 1:23, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;"

Why?  The Greeks had NO basic understanding of the Bible.  They didn't know the prophets, they didn't know God as the Creator, they certainly didn't know what sin was/where it came from... so preaching Christ crucified was FOOLISHNESS unto them!!!  "What need we of a Saviour?" they may have said.

Therefore, Paul had to teach them the basics before preaching the cross of Christ!  Peter didn't start in creation because the Jews already knew about all that.  They were taught it since they were children.

So again, look at society today!  Ever wonder why so many people say, "No thanks" and close the door when you are witnessing?  What are you preaching? Christ crucified?  Well, if they are a "Greek" and have NO basic knowledge of the Bible... would this not be foolishness unto them?  Most people nowadays are being taught a God-less evolution.  Prayer has been banned from schools, the 10 commandments have been torn out of court houses! Society is filling with Greeks! They have nbo basic Bible knowledge, therefore no knowledge of sin or it's origin... so why the need of this Jesus?

 Now, there are still "Jews" out there who have a basic knowledge of the Bible.  They may have been raised in a home that taught them about sin, to be good to everyone.  Taught that God created everything...but they are not saved.  They do not have the knowledge of Jesus Christ they may have been taught that Jesus was just a man, or that Jesus was a good teacher.  Well we can then show them the prophecies from the Old Testament, the virgin birth of the New Testament and show them Jesus was More than a teacher and man... He was God manifest in the flesh!  Going into explaining how God created everything would be useless to these people, for they already know, but expounding on Christ as Lord and Saviour and speaking of a coming judgment compared to a judgment passed already (flood) they will most likely react like the "Jews" and say, "What must I do to be saved?!"

The next time you encounter someone who seems to think what you are teaching is strange or foolishness after you preach Christ crucified...DON'T just "stick with Jesus" or "keep bringing the focus back to Jesus" because what USE would that be...? It is just foolishness unto them... it won't make sense to them and they will most likely inturrupt you and say, "No thanks." Instead, do what Paul did and re-start with creation.  I even suggest starting with creation and tearing down the faulty foundation of evolution at the same time.  Today, even the preaching of creation may seem foolishness to a person who has been taught evolution all their life.  I hear many Christians say, "But I'm not going to argue!" I agree that one shouldn't enter into a heated debate, or continue with an ongoing professing heretic: Titus 3:10 "A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;" But be careful here Christian!  A foolish question to you may be a sincere question by the presenter!  Listen for the attitude in the question.
Many people WANT to know the truth, but many are offended at first because of the realization they were taught a lie (evolution) But even an heretic is to be admonished 2 times!! 

Reason with them out of the Scriptures:  Acts 17:2 "And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures," and show them that evolution could not have happened using the SAME science that the evolutionists use, then rebuilding it upon the SOLID Rock foundation.