Epaggelia

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  ~ John 11:25-26

In this world, no one likes to pay a ransom to free victims, because we are afraid the kidnappers will get what they want, while killing the victim. But God paid the ransom price because the resurrection guarantees the kidnapper (Satan) will not get the victim or the price! Satan does kidnap people and victims do not want the ransom paid when they fall victim to their kidnapper Satan. In this world Patty Hearst, Natascha Kampusch & the original four Kreditbanken Hostages in Stockholm (1973) fell victim to what is described by doctors as “the Stockholm Syndrome”. Spiritually, there are many different reasons humans fall prey to the lies in our sinful world which trap us to sympathize with Satan and/or sinners that actually become our demise. This takes place today physically in the form of human smuggling. There are hundreds of victims that the police never find, which die and are forever lost. God will not force the ransom money to be paid if the lost kidnapped person does not want it. If we fall in love with Satan’s ways, loving this world instead of God, we assign ourselves to the kidnappers’ evil trap & destiny of destruction. We must convince people that we need to accept the ransom price as paid and apply it to our soul, obeying from the heart this good news of the crucified Christ resurrected. This releases us from the slave-ship of Satan.

THE RESURRECTION IS REAL: Christ’s proof that the redemptive price paid is powerful, Romans 6:16-22

1. The Change in 12 disciples becoming apostles & the change in Saul to Paul, 1st Corinthians 15:1-17 & 2nd Corinthians 11:22-28
2. The Empty Tomb, guarded by Temple Soldiers that had Roman authority from Pilate, Matthew 27:58-66, and also publically known by Joseph of Arimethea on the Sanhedrin.
3. Fulfilled claims of Jesus & prophecies in the Old Testament, John 2:13-22
4. Hundreds of Eye-witness accounts of His resurrection, 1st Corinthians 15:3-9. Paul the apostle had many critics accusing him of being a liar and false-apostle. All his critics needed was for just one single eye-witness to deny the resurrection, and then Paul could be proved a liar, but it never happened because it’s true!

 This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come ~ Mt. 24:14

Evangelism is defined by dictionaries as “the activity of persuading people to become Christians, often by traveling around and telling people about your beliefs”. But this is not evangelism as defined by Jesus in the above verse in Matthew 24:14. It is not about our beliefs as a Christian, it is about the Kingdom of Christ.

The apostle Paul defined it as “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry”, it involves labor as a service that involves your own personal efforts, talents and/or skills. See 2nd Timothy 4:3-5. In other words, the good news of the Kingdom can be shared by our own personal actions in public, just as effectively as it can by words. 

The message of the Kingdom can be stolen by “the evil one” and never take root in a person’s heart, if our heart is too hard, Matthew 13:19. This message has 3 virtues in this single verse.

1- K_____________ .       2 – G_______________ .    3 – S___________________ .

In John 18:36-38. Jesus forcefully let Pilate know that His Kingdom was not worldly to fight a physical fight, but his Kingdom’s purpose and message was in this world with a spiritual truth that some people will listen to. His voice is part of His Kingdom, so when we speak about the good news of his Kingdom, it should only be about whatever Jesus says, because only Jesus has authority to define the Kingdom’s message. To Pilate, Jesus was clearly claiming to be King, and for that, Pilate let the Jews sentence him to death. Do you as a Christian, understand the spiritual nature of the Kingdom, please read Luke 17:20-21.

 “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, 

‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the ___________

 of _______.” 

When the apostle Peter describes us in 1st Peter 2:9-10, he defines the purpose of our existence as PROCLAIMERS. What exactly are we supposed to be proclaiming?

 “the excellencies of _______ who called you out of darkness into his marvelous ______ 

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received

 mercy, but now you have received __________. 

Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!

Jesus Christ ~ Luke 11:28

An essential part of being a growing congregation is learning how to react to different attitudes in the world towards the Bible. Peter knew this when he wrote we should “set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, 1Peter 3:15-16

Here are 3 different attitudes responding to the “hope”, we possess as Christ in the Scriptures.

1 – “Whatever it’s glorious truths, the Bible looms as an intimidating, hard-to-understand book full of esoteric names and mystifying practices” – (G. Gallup Jr., “The Next American Spirituality” Jan. 2002). There are five words that are now becoming the mantra of the new millennium: “I’m into spirituality, not religion”… More and more people are viewing the Bible as more about feeling good and not being good, more about stress reduction than salvation, more therapeutic than theological. The world sometimes treats the Bible as being as much about the body as it is the soul, they lose the emphasis God has on the soul and not the body. What should a Christian’s reaction be?

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and _________  ________ will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ~ Mat.7:24  A Rock for what? The body or soul?

2 – “The Bible is outdated, mistranslated and not essential for learning the truth”. Many agnostics are of this view. What should a Christian’s reaction be?

Man shall not ________ by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God ~ Mat. 4:4. Helping people understand how truth is discerned from scripture, see Psalms 119:160.

3 – “You can trust the Bible, but not it’s interpretation”. This false view is sometimes found in the Church and abounds in the denominations. What should our reaction be?

________________ them in the truth; your word is truth – John 17:17

Interpretation is best approached with Peter’s advice in 2nd Peter 1:20-21. Our view of the Bible directly affects how we use the Bible, “Know This First…” (v20) Charles Spurgeon said, “How do you defend the Bible? The way you defend a lion, open up the cage and let it out!” Remember there are two lions in the world, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Gen.49:9-10 & Rv. 5:5) and the roaring lion (1Pt.5:8) Peter says he is seeking to devour any of us. In the Bible, the spirit of Judah’s lion wants to exercise His power and word on your heart and the hearts of others we talk to.

But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Matthew, Mark 8:29 & Luke all record Jesus asking this same question about his identity (Lk. 19:18 & Mt. 16:15)  Even the gospel of John emphasizes the identity of Jesus by highlighting his 7, “I Ams” and is the only gospel that states plainly his purpose for writing based on Christ’s identity, John 20:30-31. This fundamental fact should lead us to ask “How or Why Do We Talk About The Identity of Jesus”?

1. The Most Important Person in Human History, Luke 2:1-4 & 3:1-2. It is very advantageous to be knowledgeable of Josephus, Mara bar Serapion & Tacitus writing about Jesus, and also Suetonius & Pliny the Younger writing about the first Christians.

2. The Perfect Price Paid As Our Savior, John 1:29-35

3. The Perfect Revelation of God The Father, John 12:44-50 & 14:8-11

4. The Perfect Example of Service To Follow, John 13:14-17

5. The Pre-existent Presence in Creation (Logos), John 1:14-18

6. The “I AM” (Bread, Light, Door, Shepherd, Vine, Way, Truth, Life & Resurrection)

7. The Judge, John 12:48 & Acts 10:42-43

How do we relate our own experience of Jesus to others? How has Jesus and his teachings affected our life? How do we talk about our faith in who Jesus is? 

We are witnesses of God with a testimony in our life, 1st John 5:8-11. Many believers in denominations talk about “giving their testimony”, but we don’t talk about Christ affecting our life to the same extent. If not, why not?

Are we guilty of pointing people to the Scriptures, while ignoring what Jesus has done in our life personally?

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The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:28 & Mark 10:45 

Why would a Ransom need to be paid for “MANY” ?

Why would Jesus make this statement in the context of serving others?

When a ransom payment is procured and accepted as payment, what does the Apostle Paul call it? See Hebrews 9:12-15 in the NIV.

R __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 

Where can anyone find it? (see Romans 3:24)

When will our redemption be fully realized and shown to be glorious? (see Ephesians 4:30)

Why do you believe Christ’s blood is so unique, valuable and empowered to actually procure our redemption? (see Eph. 1:7 & Col. 1:14)

According to 2nd Timothy 2:25-26, who has taken people captive?

What should we do about this kidnapping?

What did the Apostle Paul do about it? (See Romans 10:1)

How can Christ guarantee the price of his blood will be applied to your soul forever? 

(see Ephesians 1:13-14)

When do you think you may get the opportunity to talk about “the Price” ?

Jesus says, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers (Sailors) of people” (Mark 1:17)

There are 3 different kinds of sailors, (navy, merchant & fishers)

Would you like to become a sailor? Jesus was speaking to all his followers, and he used the word “Sailor” to fish for people instead of fish. His view of fishing was to get in a boat on the water, it is typically a little more dangerous than fishing from the bank or coast. Yes, women can be Sailors too! Factually all kinds of people can sail for people, but it takes some faith to follow Jesus in this way. What kind of fishing did these sailors do from their boats?

What kind of “following” does Jesus expect from us? Read Luke 9:23-26

Jesus wants to transition disciples from a physical trade to a divine mission of gathering souls into the Kingdom, this requires using their existing patience, to “catch” hearts through the gospel of the Kingdom, rather than harvesting fish for their profit. God was to teach them how to gather souls to bless the ‘catch’ for their own blessings and salvation. Jesus first used ordinary working-class people rather than religious leaders to prove that being His kind of sailor was a spiritual job any one can achieve, even if they didn’t have specialized knowledge in religious training. Why didn’t they need a formal education in the Scriptures? See 1st Peter 5:7

Four of the 12 disciples were Sailors that knew a lot about fishing for fish, so what did one of them (Peter) say about casting? What was the only thing the apostle Paul worried about? Read and compare both passages in Philippians 4:6 & 2nd Corinthians 11:28. 

What kind of essential tool must sailors have in order to fish? Read Matthew 13:47-50.

What is the difference between this parable’s definition of the net, and how Jesus defines the fishermen? (haulers and/or gatherers, not sailors) 

It is not coincidental that Jesus performed a miracle by filling nets with fish, twice! Read Luke 5:1-11 & John 21:1-14. Do you think there is any significance to the fact of Jesus doing this at the beginning of his ministry and and also at the end?

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Christ Came to Search & Save the Lost! ~ Luke 19:10

Christ prayed for people who would believe in the message of the apostles – John 17:20-21.

Memorize two reasons he prayed for us?

1)

2)

Mark 2:17 Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 

I came not to call the righteous, but _______________.

Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous but _________________ to repentance. 

Do we talk to people about the need for real change or purpose in their life?

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world 

might be _____________ through him.

Can we see the need for change in our life, as that which releases us from guilt or vanity?

John 10:10 ….I came that they may have _________ and have it abundantly. 

Do we challenge the very definition of what it means to be really alive, really living?

John 18:37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to 

the __________. Everyone who is of the ___________ listens to my voice.” 

Do we talk about spiritual realities and moral truths?

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If any man has ears to hear , let him hear… Take heed what ye hear, Mark 4:23-24

Jesus recognizes that everyone needs to make an effort to listen to the truth, not just hear it. See how he rewards the Queen of Sheba for her efforts to hear God’s wisdom. Now we have someone greater for people to listen to than Solomon. Read Matthew 12:42.

Jesus also recognizes that we must help people listen and give them a message that is true and clear, See Matthew 10:26-27. How can we keep the truth up on the “rooftop” today?

Do we ever share with people that it is imperative for people to listen with intent? What does Jesus mean when he tells his disciples to “Let these words sink into your ears”? Luke 9:44.

Do we as Christians have a responsibility to help people listen with intent to learn? See Matthew 9:37-38.

When do we pray about people getting the message out into the world and into people’s hearts?

The condition of people’s hearts is very important, when they are hearing the message of the cross. This is the reason Jesus tells the parable of the sower, and is recorded in Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:1-15.  Even if we have evidence of someone being hard-hearted, should we hold back from telling them the truth?

The reason people listen is known by God, and he knows their hearts, and Jesus , pronounced a “blessing”, read Luke 11:28-29 for those who hear with a good heart.

Isn’t this blessing an important promise we should remind our visitors, or friends and family that might hear the good news?

Jesus says, “Whoever then ___________________ me before people, I will 

__________________ before my Father in heaven, but whoever ______________

Me before people, I will ___________ him also before my Father in heaven, ~ Mt. 10:32