15 March 2014
Speaker: Prof. Duro Adegboye
Key Passage: Matthew 24: 14;
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Personal Testimony
When God asked me to be a travelling evangelist, He made a Covenant with me;
- When I travel, there will be no armed robbery
- My car will not break down
- Petrol in my car will not run dry.
There is a need to go back to basics: why was the Church formed?
The church is the Ecclesia, i.e., those who are called out. Note, Jesus prayed for the church he formed on earth in John 17.
Why did Christ Call His Disciples?
“And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons“.
1. He called them to spend time with them. Little Christs, or Christians were so named by pagans, because they acted like Christ. Why do you come to church? Decide to become like Jesus!
2. Jesus called them to send them out to preach. Thus, if we have come to Christ, we should preach.
3. Jesus called them to give them healing powers. You must have confidence in yourself. Before you were even formed, God had a plan for you! Jeremiah 1: 4-5 says;
“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations”
4. Jesus called them to give them power to cast out demons.
You will serve either God or satan. If you do not preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons, you have shortchanged yourself.
Jesus will not return until the gospel is preached to everyone on earth. We will bring back the King when we spread the gospel across the earth!
What Do You Need to Go to Heaven?
A Person May Go to Heaven Without:
- Wealth
- Education
- Fame
- Culture
- Friends
You Cannot Go to Heaven Without Jesus!!!
15 Things God will Not Ask on That Day
- God won’t ask what kind of car you drove. He’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t
have transportation. - God won’t ask the square footage of your house, He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home
- God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.
- God won’t ask what your highest salary was. He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it
- God won’t ask what your job title was. He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability
- God won’t ask how many friends you had. He’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
- God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, He’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.
- God won’t ask about the color of your skin, He’ll ask about the content of your character
- God won’t ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation. He’ll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell
- God won’t ask how many people you talked to but how many you witnessed to
- God wont ask you the size of your Church Building or Home, but He will ask you how you raised the funds to build it
- God wont ask you the amount of Tithes & Offerings you amassed, but HE will ask you the percentage you spent on Evangelism & Missions.
- God wont ask you the population of your congregation, but HE will ask you how many members you trained to be Soulwinners.
- God wont ask you the CHURCH You attended, but HE will ask you if You gave Your Life to JESUS CHRIST.
- God wont ask you what property you left behind on Earth, but HE will ask you how many souls you have brought to Heaven
God has faith in you: this is why he has preserved you. He believes in you. Have faith in yourself.
The Demands of Christ: COME, FOLLOW, FISH
If They Could, I Can!!
Unnamed people who proclaimed the Good News..
The Slave Girl
“Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” 4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.”
5 Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
The slave girl had been taken captive from her home. Yet, she had a testimony which was believed. Your life must be transparent, so that Christ is radiated. Otherwise, people will not believe your testimony. The slave girl was conquered, but she was not bitter. Her testimony connected Naaman, a General of Syria, with Jehovah.
The 4 Lepers
“Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” 10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.” 11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.
12 So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city“
The Ex-Mad Man
The Ex-Blind Man
He said, “I am he.”
10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”
Then they said to him, “Where is He?”
He said, “I do not know
They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight”
The Ex-Prostitute
“So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
This woman had been married 5 times,and lived in sin. She knew the cultural taboo which prevented men from speaking to women. She was also aware of the barrier between Jews and Samaritans. Yet,she was transformed by Jesus, then immediately went into Samaria to tell the story of her encounter with Jesus. She who was shunned, was able to bring a crowd to Jesus: “The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.”
Her simple, yet powerful testimony brought people to Christ: Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. (John 4: 42)”
How do You Win Souls?
1. Prepare:
Your Testimony Matters!!
A Sinning Christian Cannot Win a Sinning Sinner
Go Ye Into the World and Preach the Gospel!!!
