OFFERING HOPE TO THE HELL-BOUND

 

Paul told the young pastor, Timothy, “do the work of an evangelist,” (2 Timothy 4:5). The gift to the church of the pastor-teacher is not the same as the gift of the evangelist (cf. Eph.4:11). Seeking the lost may not come as freely to the pastor as shepherding the flock, and the effort in evangelism may not be as fruitful as those gifted in it, but this does not absolve us from trying.  The truth is that if the pastor-teacher does not stir a passion for evangelism by his model and equip the saints in his teaching, then few souls will be reached by the local church. God has put us here to offer hope to the hell-bound.

Consider the GRAVITY OF OUR EVANGELISM,  “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire,” (Rev.20:15).  What a dreadful day for the damned!  Hell is a reality, and those who do not receive Christ as Savior are doomed to spend eternity in the flames!  May they have to climb over us to get there!  This is an awful future, and yet an avoidable fate.  Our witness may be the only impediment to their everlasting suffering!

So, there is the URGENCY OF EVANGELISM. John records, “And the dead were judged,” (Rev.20:12c). Scripture is clear, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” (Heb.9:27). We do not know when that appointment is set for an individual, we only know that it is a certainty. What if it is today for someone we know or meet along the way?  God puts people in our path that we might warn them of the judgment to come and offer them hope in Jesus Christ, “so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many,” (Heb.9:28a).

I am ashamed at opportunities I have missed. I am alarmed at the prospect of souls I have not warned—of those hell-bound who were not told of the hope in Christ!  All I may do is grieve those missed opportunities and resolve by God’s grace to be a better watchman (cf. Ezek.3:16-19).  I am sick to my soul that as I type these words there is blood on my hands—stained from the sinners I failed to warn. May God have mercy on them, and send someone to share before it is too late, and have mercy on me for shirking soul-winning!

DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST!