How Will They Hear?

00:00 - Speaker 1 Jesus, if you really read the Gospels right, you don't walk away depressed. You walk away uplifted, happy. Why? Because he was Mr Positivity. He offered up life, he offered up victory. He came with the Gospel Good news. Yet with all that victory and good news, Jesus, God in the flesh, spoke twice as much about hell as he did about heaven. 00:26 - Speaker 2 Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you. 01:02 - Speaker 1 That he has a real hope and a future for you, we'll turn to somebody and welcome them to CityLight Church and I want to welcome you joining us online. I'm glad you're with us. Thank you Lord, thank you Jesus. Well, I want to let you know that November 1st in just a couple of weeks we're having baptisms, and so if you haven't been baptized as a believer, what do I mean? Why do I say it that way? Because you have to believe to get baptized, and an infant, a baby, doesn't get to do that Baby baptism. It's just not in the Bible. You can try to read between the lines, add to the scriptures, stretch them out, but you just can't put them in there. They're not in there. So everybody who got baptized in the Bible did it as a consenting person of age, not necessarily as an adult, but they had the intellectual capacity and emotional maturity to say yes, I'm giving my life to Christ. And so infant baptism isn't biblical, and many people they were christened as babies. But I invite you to get baptized the Bible way, as a person who's saying yes for themselves, not as a person whose parents said yes on their behalf. Amen, and what must you do to qualify to get baptized? Good question. Someone else in the book of Acts asked Philip that same question what hinders me from getting baptized? And Philip said well, if you believe with all your heart, you may. So that's the answer to you If you believe with all your heart, you may. Don't put unnecessary roadblocks to baptism that Jesus himself didn't put there. People do that. Well, I want to just kind of work on myself. It's like saying I want to lose weight before I go to the gym, I want to get healthy before I go to the gym, I want to get healthy before I check into the hospital. No, just come as you are and so be my pleasure and honor to baptize you. November the first. Fill out your connection card, email, info, citylightnyccom. Grab an usher, tackle them to the ground and say me baptism, baptism, want, and they'll make sure. Whatever, whatever works for you, but get baptized, amen. 03:53 Wow, those of you online who were afraid of the Nor'easter. I bless you, not bitter. I love you, not bitter. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. It's amazing, you know, we get so freaked out so easily because we have so much access to information, like I too, for a moment, was freaked out because my phone has all these icons, you know, and I don't just use the regular weather app that came with my iPhone. I pay for that good weather app, you know that gives me barometric pressure, moon cycles, everything. It gives me fresh graphics. On these Nor'easter graphics flood warning. You would think the world was coming to an end. You'd think we were in the apocalyptic stage of the end time events. But I think we're going to get a little drizzle and that'll be that. We'll all be okay, amen, hallelujah. 04:50 Well, we had a wonderful trip to Poland. Amazing people over there, hungry people, sincere people. I just particularly was touched by their hunger and their faith and their humility, their earnestness to receive. I don't know if I shared with you, mom, but unfortunately it's quite a cry from the Balkans. Did I tell you that? Yet I told Emily and I'm from the Balkans. So we're all former Yugoslavia, we're all considered Eastern European nations, but we've got to get our act together in the Balkans, amen. 05:29 You know, like in the Balkans, you got 10 men sitting in the back with their feet up, chomping their gum, with their mouth open, looking at you like you better impress me. I know you came across the Atlantic, but I walked here 12 minutes from my house and let's see what you got. And over there they traveled. Some one guy flew in from Sweden, was it? Or Norway, and from other parts of Poland, ministered for three services in one day. What a place, awesome. And then, of course, after Poland, since we were right in the neighborhood, I took my wife to Parisabad, which was very, very nice. If you haven't been to Parisabad, you have to visit. You can even see the Eiffel Tower through some of the mosques. It's very, very beautiful there. I took my wife to Paris. Relax, everybody, don't make me make you more uncomfortable. All right, let me explain to you. See, I said Parisabad as a joke, because there is a colossal Islamic invasion into Paris. Okay, something you should be aware of, as we have a mayor who's Muslim, trying to become mayor. 06:47 Oh what's wrong with that? Look at the news and pay attention and you'll see quick. I have a good Muslim friend. He says the same thing I do because he's an American Muslim. You know, he likes capitalism and he's Muslim, but he likes America too and he's like who's this clown, who's this joker? You know some of you are looking at me because you've been so brainwashed by the media Immediately, the knee-jerk response is Islamophobia. 07:12 You know, they come into Western nations, build tens of thousands of mosques. In Britain they're already trying to enact sharia. I didn't want to say any of this, by the way, you, with your silence, drew it out of me. Now you got to pay the price. They want Sharia law. Now what do you think would happen to me? Not if I wanted to start a church in Oman, iran, iraq, saudi Arabia, jordan, yemen. Not if I wanted to. If I just wanted to preach on the corner, what do you think would happen to me? Yeah, we got visuals and everything. We got a drama team at CityLight. We're a good pair. Yeah, they might not even use a gun. It might be like dragged through the streets on a rope and it's happening all over Western Europe. And because of your increasing silence, I'm going to get more uncomfortable. And when you look at the stats, up to 70% of them this is the case in Western Europe. They're living off the government and they don't have 1.3 kids like the natives. They have six to eight kids. 08:17 And so when I first got saved, I was told by one of those radical Islamophobes that they will not rest until there's a crescent moon and star waving over the White House. I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. You know, back in the 90s I mean, it was America, baby you wouldn't even think crescent moon and star. Some of you still don't but yet it's happening around the world and so at least take note. It does nobody any good, at least yourselves, if you just stick your head in the sand and pretend it isn't happening. I mean, we went how many of you have been to Paris recently? I was back in 07. We just went and they had a glass wall all around the Eiffel Tower and we had to go through security and the metal detector, get near the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't like that in 07. That happened after 2015,. After there was brace yourself, a radical Islamist terrorist attack, and they're attacking mainly Western civilization and monuments that are shining examples of Western civilization. 09:30 Hallelujah, but God, or I can get back to my regularly scheduled message. Amen. Just when I joked, parisa bad. It was either a very bad joke or I could just feel the tension in the air. It was a thank you. Thank you, praise God. My Barnabas she is. Anika is my personal encourager, my Barnabas. She told me it was a good joke. Nobody laughed, but hallelujah, just making sure I've said everything I wanted to say about that. Hallelujah, I think I have for now. Amen. 10:28 I do want to talk to you about evangelism, though, and the necessity of evangelism, sharing your faith. I'm going to use several synonyms Winning souls to Christ, leading others to the Lord. The stat is that only 2% of the church actively does that, which means that 98% are just consumers, and this is important. One because, well, Jesus said to do it. But two because if you are not sharing, if there's no current going through you, you are a dead sea. The dead sea is not called a dead sea because nothing lives in it. I was told that when I was a kid, were you taught that Nothing lives in the dead sea because of the high salt content. Right, they have fish in the dead sea They've adopted, even though seven times the salt content. The dead sea is the dead sea because it has no outlet. It's dead, it's a dead end. There's no current, and I don't want to be a Dead Sea. I want to be a crystal clear river of the Lord, a flow, and when you're flowing, then there's life. Something that's dead can quickly become a swamp, amen. So I want to talk to you about the necessity of evangelism. Then we'll hit on some very important practical points. But number one, let's look at Mark 16, verses 15 through 18. 11:53 Why the need for evangelism? Why do it? And, as you know, I'm not big on to-do stuff. If you've been coming to City Life for a while, I often proclaim it's not about what you do, do, do, it's about Jesus' finished work, his done, done, done, amen. I know that sometimes, to keep people engaged, pastors make. Every Sunday you walk out with a to-do list. You've already been clobbered all week. Right, life is hard as it is and you come to church, you go. I gotta do more, I gotta perform more, I gotta and I encourage you to live in the rest of God. There is a rest where you are enjoying the finished work and you're not a gerbil on a wheel, spinning going nowhere, but always trying to get yourself approved unto God. But there is a healthy is a healthy aspect to Christianity where you are not closed up but you are actually impacting the lives that are around you. 12:54 Number one when it comes to the necessity for evangelism, it's because Jesus said to do it. And note that he's speaking to his disciples, but this isn't just for his disciples. It's amazing how people will read everything he said to his disciples, but this isn't just for his disciples. It's amazing how people will read everything he said to his disciples and receive it for themselves. But then, when it comes to the Great Commission, they'll say, oh, but that was to them, not me. Well then, do that with all his other promises when he was talking to his disciples no, this is for all of us, this is for everybody, starting at verse 15. And he said to them go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Go into the whole world. Good news is, if you're living in Queens, the whole world's come here, 161 nations in Queens, so you don't even need a passport. You can go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, two-thirds of God's name is go. So we shouldn't be sitting, we should be going, there should be a movement Going in. 13:53 And, by the way, you're actually not responsible for the whole world. That can be a little overwhelming, right? If you think, oh, I got my own stuff that I'm dealing with with the Lord. There's stuff I'm trusting him for, stuff I'm believing him for, and I'm supposed to go into all the world. No, we're all cumulatively going to reach the whole world, but you're not responsible for the whole world. You're just responsible for your sphere of influence, where the Lord has put you and you touch hundreds of lives. Even if you think you're very isolated, still there's a sphere of influence that you touch and there's people in your circle that you're the only Jesus they're ever gonna see. Can you believe that You're the only Jesus they're ever gonna hear? And those are the ones that you're responsible for and those are the ones that you're responsible for. 14:44 Number two, for why we have this fire for evangelism. I'm calling it evangelism, but I used other synonyms. I have to use synonyms so people know what I'm talking about, because you know it was in the 90s where they decided evangelism. You know, I read this in. Like one of the Christian magazines Don't use the word evangelism, it's scary for people, and that's one of the Christian magazines. Don't use the word evangelism, it's scary for people and that's part of the problem. There's been a castration with Christianity just to make everything more palpable, more gentle. So evangelism, woo-hoo, mufasa, whoa, it's scary. So we're sharing our faith. Call it what you want to call it. I'm glad somebody did it to me. 15:26 I was born not in a Christian, culturally Christian family, ethnically Christian, but we didn't know God. We never heard the gospel. Somebody had to tell me how many of you here you weren't born in a Christian family. Somebody actually told you raise your hand, participate in this survey, let me see your hands. Somebody actually told you raise your hand, participate in this survey, let me see your hands. Campy, you're lying. There's gotta be more hands. Well, everybody here, their mommy ministered to them. Don't make me point at you. Somebody here heard let me see your hands. Yeah, somebody witnessed to you. Okay, see, this is why in surveys they'll ask the same question three different ways, because people may not. It's like how many of you got evangelized? How many of you? Someone shared their faith with you? Every hand goes up Speaking of castrating Christianity. 16:20 We've stopped talking about the reality of hell. Why? Because it's unpleasant. I Because it's unpleasant, I know it's uncomfortable, yet it's a Bible truth. In fact, Jesus, Jesus, if you really read the Gospels right, you don't walk away depressed. You walk away uplifted, happy. Why? Because he was Mr Positivity. He offered up life, he offered up victory. He came with the Gospel, good news. Yet with all that victory and good news, Jesus, God in the flesh, spoke twice as much about hell as he did about heaven. 16:55 Paul encourages the ministers in the New Testament. He says warn everybody, warn them, plead with them. Heaven is real and hell is also. There is a heaven to gain in following Jesus and a hell to shun. It's not a metaphor, it's not just a temporary bad place. It is eternal separation from God. 17:18 Jesus used vivid language. It said that their fire is never extinguished and the worm in them doesn't even die. It's forever, perpetual torment. I don't want to go there. I'm not going there. But what about the others in my life? I don't want them to go there. 17:35 We should have a compassion for people, a compassion like a yearning, like when we have people in our lives that haven't given their lives over to Jesus. This should be on our prayer list. We should cover asking the Lord to open their eyes, to make them, help them realize they need a Savior. Please if you would just put that verse back up 2 Corinthians 5, 11. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, there is a terror. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. 18:14 Yet hell is the real place. Well, if he's so wonderful, why did he create hell? Ask him when you get to heaven. Amen, I just know this. Hell wasn't created for man. Jesus himself said hell was created for the devil and his angels. And, truthfully, God doesn't send anyone to hell People. They go to hell by rejecting Jesus. In fact, in the book of Revelation it talks about not blotting your name out of the book of life. You know what that means. This is why I believe that the book of life in heaven contains everybody's name. That's how expectant God is. I know Calvinists don't like this, but it's only when you refuse the gospel, reject Jesus, turn your back on and trust in yourself your whole life, you reject him and then your name is blotted out out of the book of life. 19:12 But it was in other words God heart's not to send anyone there. The bible says Jesus is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, hallelujah. But we got to keep that in mind. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are well known to God and I also trust, are well known in your consciences. The point I want you to get here is that Paul is saying his personal motivation is he knows the terror of the Lord. 19:40 I preach on the intimacy we have in Jesus all the time, the friendship we have. He is he's my best friend. But I tell you what he's not my buddy. There's a little bit of a difference, I know in semantics. At the same time the Bible calls him terrible at times. He's the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. In him we live and move and have our being. In him all things consist. He holds his whole universe together. I'm not going to play games with him and I only have one soul. 20:11 You know, back in the day you used to go to the arcade, you get a quarter. You get three lives. If you die, you put it in again. You don't get that, you just get your one life. Some people act like they're going to get a do-over. Restart cheat code up-down, up-down, a-b, a-b. No, none of that works. You're showing your age. If you laughed, glad to see we have some contra fans in here, I mean if I was going into my car in my driveway and I saw a little pummel of smoke in my neighbor's house and I thought, huh, what is that? And then I said, oh, there's a little fire. Huh, I'm like that's really bad. 20:53 - Speaker 3 And then I drive off. 20:56 - Speaker 1 I come back an hour later, his whole house is burned to a crisp, him and his whole family outside in robes, six fire trucks outside of the house. I said, oh, that didn't work out for you, huh, terrible. It was like you knew. Yeah, I saw that happening, but I didn't want to tell you. I thought it might hurt your feelings. I didn't want to offend you, telling you your house was on fire. 21:25 We have people in our lives. Their house is on fire. We got to tell them it's not loving them, it's not being gentle. This only works when you're really liberated from the opinions of man. We got to be bold, hallelujah. And the greatest freedom that will ever come to you is to be completely liberated from. What will people think? What will people say? Hallelujah, hallelujah. Romans 10, 14. People cannot believe unless they hear. How, then, shall they call on him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? In other words, God uses people, people who, you, people, regular people. 22:18 The girl who helped lead me to the Lord. I was 16 years old. It started when I was in 10th grade. That happened in that summer, between 10th and 11th grade. She was saved for one day when she ministered to me. Literally it happened the night before. She said I got filled with the Holy Spirit. I said what's that? She said he's like a guardian angel who lives inside of me. That's not theologically accurate. She was saved less than 24 hours. She didn't have all her T's dotted in her eyes. Yeah, we'll just roll with that. Yet the Lord still used her. 23:08 So quit disqualifying yourself because you say well, I don't know enough, I'm not mature enough, I'm not perfect enough, I need to get better. No, God delights in using broken things. Say I don't know about that. You're looking at proof that God delights in using imperfect, broken things. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Who will go for the Lord? May your prayer be send me, Lord. I want to be the one. I want to co-labor with you. I want to be someone who plucks people out of the fire. I want to be someone who draws people from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God. And these people, they're all around you. Some in your life are hard, some in your life are mocking. You won't know unless you speak. 24:00 When I got radically saved at 16, it wasn't like no one had to convince me to share my faith. It's all I could do. I felt like it would be criminal criminal to keep it to myself. In fact, that's a similar word Paul uses. He says woe unto me if I don't preach the gospel. That word woe in the Greek means a calamity, like an utter woe, like he would say how devastating, what an utter calamity it would be if I didn't preach the gospel. 24:26 So I preached the gospel to everybody and a good chunk of people, like half a dozen in my high school that I ministered to, they said oh yeah, we know this. And they would like finish my sentences for me. Knew I said you're christian. Like yeah, I was. Like bro, I've known you since kindergarten. You never told me like we went to elementary together, junior high together, high school together. Why didn't you ever tell me? 24:52 Several of them said the same thing. We never thought you'd believe. Why? Because I was sinning. That's what sinners do. Sinners like sin. Sinners are mockers. You want them to come pre-saved. Like really ready, really right, oakley, doakley, what must I do to be saved? It's not going to happen. But when I got the word it pierced my heart Hallelujah, hallelujah. 25:26 2 Corinthians 15, 5, verses 19 through 20. So salvation requires proclamation. Silence from unbelievers means spiritual death for others. I'll say that again. Silence from believers means spiritual death for others. I'll say that again. Silence from believers means spiritual death for others. 2 Corinthians 5.19,. 25:50 That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. So God has given you the word of reconciliation. See the Father, he's forgiven the whole world for Christ's sake, the whole wrath of God that was to be placed on people. Jesus absorbed it. But if the people don't know and don't receive that, then they don't get the benefit of it. So our job is to take the unbeliever and say God, if you will receive it, he's already forgiven you for Christ's sake, be reconciled back to a loving God. He's given us the word of reconciliation. 26:37 And every believer is a minister. Can we just agree with that? That every believer is a minister? Can we just agree with that that every believer is a minister? Because some people just they don't want to do it, so they believe that it's like the pastor's job. It's actually not my job. My job is to equip you to do it. Although I have done this my whole life, I've got on the. 26:54 You know, CityLight was started. I preached in the subways. We didn't have any people. I didn't start with a team, it wasn't like you know. Now they train you have a team of at least 35, 45 people take a year. I came back to New York City in February, but March 17th I was launching a church. 26 years old, I'm like who's going to come? Well, I better go into the subways. Hallelujah old, I'm like who's going to come? Well, I better go into the subways. 27:27 That is that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 27:32 Next verse verse 20. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ. So you're an ambassador, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. And that's really what a Christian is doing. When they evangelize, they're yielding to the Holy Spirit within them. They're yielding. When you look at someone who hasn't placed their faith in Jesus, you realize they're going to die in their sins. They're going to go to hell. I'm going to yield and you sense the compassion of God and he's pleading within you, pleading through you, to get to them. Everybody wants the benefits of being an ambassador and have the full backing of heaven. If you want to do the work of an ambassador, I mean you actually do the work of an ambassador. Romans 1.16. Actually, let's begin in Luke 9.26. 28:31 Let's just take it back, because I was a few weeks saved when I came across this and it meant all the world to me, because you'll often hear things like well, you know, if you do start evangelizing, you'll hear things like well, you know, faith is a private thing, right? How many of you have heard that Faith is a private thing? Jesus didn't die in a cave, privately, in a secret chamber. He didn't die in a closet. Literally, he died suspended between heaven and hell on a mount, lifted up on a cross, naked, for the whole world to see. There's nothing private about it. What if my neighbor's house is on fire and I go? You know your house is a private thing. I didn't want to tell you about the fire Houses. I wasn't invited to tell you. 29:29 Jesus said for whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, the son of man will be ashamed. So I read that 16 years old, I made a decision I will not be ashamed ever. You know what's most important to a 16-year-old? To be cool, to be popular, to be accepted. I read that it's like it broke the Bible, the word of God. Even God said, is not my word like a hammer, and the word of God just broke that over my life to where I'm like ooh what? Who cares what anyone has to say? Who cares what anyone thinks? I will never be ashamed of Jesus. I will never betray Jesus so that somebody can just nod their head in approval of me. 30:25 You know I turned 50 in a few months so I've been paying attention to this a little bit more. That feels funny, just saying it. I turned 50. Those of that funny for you, very funny, because I don't feel 50. I don't. I'm looking at you. You got the same waist you had when you were in college and you bike 20 miles for fun. So don't you shrug your shoulders at me. I know exactly how turning 50 was for you. 31:00 But when it comes to the approval of man, I've been noticing just how, when somebody passes, when somebody dies, like the people close to that person will really mourn, right. The first week, like the second week they're already a little better. The third week, they're posting smiling selfies on social media. The fourth week, it's like it never happened. A year later, it's like no one even remembers the person who died. And you see that happen all the time. 31:31 If I asked you to tell me, give me 10 notable people from the 1300s, you'd have to chat. Give me 10 notable people the 1300s You'd have to chat. Give me 10 notable people we don't know. We just remember the most famous, most influential people. They come, they go, they expire. No one's going to write songs about us, immortalize us, make monuments to us, and so we're going to be with the Lord forever. And so are we going to compromise and do all these things in our life to try to win the approval of people who are going to forget us when we go like that? No way, no way. One of the greatest freedoms will come when you liberate yourself from that and realize that the reality is that nobody's thinking of you. They're really, really thinking of themselves. Hallelujah. What will people think? They're not, for whoever. 32:39 Did I read the verse now? I don't even know, it doesn't matter, it's worth reading twice For whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, the son of man will be ashamed. So let's just say this in Jesus' name, I will not be ashamed. I will not be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in his father's, and of the holy angels, hallelujah. Paul echoed that same sentiment, romans 1.16. Hallelujah. You know what it was like planting a church in the East Village? You're not Mr Popular. Nobody there said we're not Mr Popular. Nobody there said we're so glad to have you, nobody. The opposite happened. For whoever is ashamed of me I feel like I've read that before Romans 1.16. 33:46 For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Let's just purpose in our hearts we're going to be a New Testament church. We're going to be a church full of God's glory. We're going to be a church that releases God's glory. We're going to be a church that releases God's glory and a church that's unashamed and unabashed and bold. Hallelujah. We know that we've been made the righteousness of God. In Christ and the Bible say the righteous are as bold as a lion. Hallelujah, there's nothing they can do to you. Anyway, I was just I'm preaching this message because I was just I stumbled upon just some readings from these British missionaries, particularly from the 17th and 18th century, and I've learned this stuff years ago but it kind of hit different now. 34:38 You know, as you get older you realize some things. Sometimes you just read something. Then you get older and go, wow, that really happened. And then you have a wife and your own kids and you go how did they do that? You know they would travel to these unforgiving lands, totally pagan. 34:52 You read some of the accounts of these British missionaries. They say when they would land by ship they came only to preach the gospel. And they said when they would arrive they said the smell of rotting flesh was everywhere from the human sacrifices and the cannibalism and they would take forever to get there. And in many accounts the missionary was a whole family thing. The wife and the kids would die within the first few months. The husband never blamed God, he just saw it. As this is what happens when you give your all to Jesus, and they would continue and then that guy would die and then another wave of them would come until that country was broken through and opened up to the gospel of God, and I just started thinking, because when I think of British people, if you're British here, I love you, I'm sorry, but when I think of British people, if you're British here, I love you, I'm sorry. 35:39 But when I think of like, who are the boldest people on earth, I don't immediately think of a Brit, you know. But they were, and I began exploring what happened to the. What did they encounter? What did they? I mean this whole nation. I don't know what they're teaching in schools now, but the real history of this nation is the pilgrims. You know. They were the born-again Christians fleeing the Church of England and Catholicism and the papacy. They actually said we're coming here to establish a nation for the this is a quote for the express glory of Jesus Christ. They knew in whom they had believed. They were full of a boldness and a passion, willing to give their lives for it. And then we got it easy, right. We're going to go to Guatemala in February, take a bunch of selfies, spend a week there, get three meals a day, catered, preach in the villages and then come back and go. We were missionaries. 36:47 Yeah Well, it's my point I'm saying we got it easy, we got it so much easier. But then if we have to share the gospel with somebody, the Lord starts prodding us what about your friend? What about your friend? And then we lock up and some of you you're not witnessing to your friends because you haven't exactly behaved Christian around these friends. You're afraid of being called out. On that. I got a solution for you Apologize when you witness it and say, hey look, I was a putz, I didn't exactly behave in a Christ-like way. 37:25 You know me? Yeah, I know you. You were in a club with me last week. Yeah, I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, but still it's very hard for me because you can call me a hypocrite, but I love you enough to tell you this, amen. And then tell them the gospel in love. Oh, glory to God. 37:47 So here's some ways we miss it. We pray for them, right. Many times we pray for people. We tell them we're praying for them. We give them random Bible truths like truthisms. We think we're witnessing, but we're just giving out random Bible like Christian fortune cookies. We do these things, but rare is the Christian who can clearly lead someone through the gospel plan of salvation, and that's why I believe, so few are getting saved. In fact, the longer I'm a Christian, the more I think it's an absolute miracle that the church of Jesus exists. If you actually want evidence to the existence of God, look at the fact that the church is around, because most people aren't doing the work of the ministry. So the very fact that the church survived for two millennia is evidence to the Lord, hallelujah. 38:40 So let's just redefine some things here. Are you getting why I'm preaching this? Most Christians remember. I have no other way of doing it than other than relating it to something in the world. In the world, they'll say A, b, c, always be closing. When it comes to sales, always be closing. Christians have no clue how to close a deal. They have no clue. They'll just be like oh you know, God makes all things work together for the good. And unbelievers are like huh, like I'm going to church this Sunday. What the Christian really means is I love you, I'd love if you'd come with me because I want you to get saved. But they're like trying to do it in all these roundabout. Nobody's hitting bullseye Because we've swallowed these lies like that. 39:27 Evangelism is being nice and I've heard Christians over and over again say I'm just gonna let my light so shine before men. Right, you've heard that. Maybe you've said that I heard it all the time. Well, I'm just going to you know what Jesus said let my light so shine. And that's how people are going to know Really, how many people have come to you and said you know, bob, bob, I'm here in the office and there's something different about you. 39:51 I've known you these 23 years. Everybody's a jerk, but you, bob, your face glows like the noonday sun. It doesn't happen. Been saved for 35 years I'm a pastor. Nobody's ever stopped me and said there's something different about you. You hear these stories. They're baloney. What you've had that happen to you? They just drop at your feet. What must I do to be saved? It doesn't happen. 40:17 There's this quote attributed to Billy Graham. It's nonsense. The quote goes something like preach the gospel at all times and sometimes use words, or use words when necessary. What they're saying is preach the gospel at all times, be nice, be polite, be caring and sometimes use words. Nobody got saved without words. You need words. So what that kind of preaching has produced. We're not going to take communion for a while. You guys are making me nervous. What's going on here. They're ready, they want to feed you communion. What that kind of preaching has produced is a whole generation of Christians who just think that evangelism is being nice. I didn't get saved because Christians were nice. The nice ones kept quiet. I knew them my whole life. Somebody opened their mouth and showed me that I had a need for a savior. You didn't get saved because somebody was nice to you only. You got saved because someone explained the gospel to you, and we should care about those people. 41:28 I'm reminded of that Seinfeld episode where Elaine is dating this born again Christian guy. Of course they make the born again Christian a dork. And Elaine on Seinfeld she says does it ever bother you that I don't believe in God? And her boyfriend says no and she goes. Why not? He goes. Well, I'm not the one going to hell. It's a preposterous thing to say and the world laughs. Yet some believers have that attitude hey, sucks for you, but glad I'm not you going to hell and all Aren't you glad you came out this Sunday morning. I'm so glad you're here. How about this one? I'm just talking about the ways we miss it. 42:19 Inviting someone to church. This is a good thing. A lot of what I'm saying is a good thing, but it's not the bullseye thing. Inviting someone to church is a good thing, but it's not evangelism. Jesus said you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me. You have to proclaim Jesus to somebody, not proclaim a church. He didn't say you'll be witnesses unto a church, unto a movement, unto an organization, witnesses unto me. 42:56 Some people will do that. They'll say, hey, I'm bringing my auntie next week, wink, wink, like what they're saying is you better be good and you better do all the work and get her saved. And that's not on me, that's on you. You got to have coffee with auntie or your roommate or whoever you got to, and you probably won't do it in one shot. It'll take time. You lead them up through the gradient of faith. Somebody could be like a negative three, unbeliever. You want to try to take them to a 10. You're not going to take them from negative three to 10 in one night. It can happen. I'm just saying typically, the reason we think it always happens is because that's the only testimonies we glorify. You don't hear the testimonies. I was working on my roommate, my buddy, my long time friend. For six months I was praying for them, taking them out to coffee, asking them, provoking questions, trying to get in their heart. You don't hear those testimonies yet that's how 9.9 out of 10 people actually get saved. Thank you Lord. 44:02 What about just telling someone Jesus loves you? An unbeliever doesn't even know why that's important. Jesus loves you, why? What does it mean? That used to be evangelism in the 80s 90s. Jesus loves you. It's. Jesus loves you so much that he went to the cross in your place. The wrath that you and I deserved. He said no, I'll take that wrath on myself so they could go scot-free. Now that's love. 44:39 I'm trying to get the Mickey Mouse out of our evangelism, the stuff we do that just kind of, and people say, oh well, you know, my job is to I just sow seed. If everybody's sowing seed, who's watering it and who's actually bringing in the harvest? Everybody wants to be a seed sower. What they really mean is I want to be unintentional and sloppy in my evangelism and just kind of give out random Christian fortune cookies wherever I go. No, take somebody through the plan. 45:17 Find somebody who's in your life, who needs you. Lock your sights on them. Petition the Lord for their soul. Lift their name up to heaven. Devil, take your hands off them. I command your eyes to be opened. I feel the anointing right now. Be shaken. In Jesus' name you pray that for them. Hallelujah, I know what I'm talking about. My mother didn't want me getting saved, right? Can you nod so it doesn't feel like I'm threatening you? If you don't, is anybody saying the right thing? I had to sneak to church to get saved because we were orthodox, I would be betraying the family, and then, six months later, she's coming out of the water speaking in tongues, worshiping Jesus. Hallelujah, amen. 46:32 Another just thing where we mess up is that we, in the castrating of Christianity, we say things like just accept Jesus into your heart. That's so wrong that it doesn't even make sense to an unbeliever. That's why nobody's getting saved. You will never find, and it's so often repeated. You look at Christian television. Oh, just won't you just say this, won't you just say this simple prayer and invite Jesus into your heart. Just one problem that's nowhere in the Bible. That's not the gospel. The gospel is repent and trust in Jesus fully. Give your life to him like he gave his life for you. That's the gospel. You say, oh, that's so terrifying to somebody. 47:13 No, I was a staunch sinner, I wanted nothing to do with God. But the word works. When you present somebody with the word, it'll get to work on them On the way to get saved. They were like you know, you tell a 16-year-old unsaved man. They said you know, you can't have sex before marriage. Now I was like what? No, really, I'm not counting the cost. 47:36 Now I, if I was going to give my life to Jesus, I wanted to give my life to Jesus. And they started actually telling me the cost and I was like how, how will I ever I, how will I? Why would I ever want this? Yeah, what else do I need to know before I sign on the dotted line? And how could I ever expect to fulfill these? And this is what they said to me. They said you know, what's impossible with man is not impossible with God. And I said he who loses his life will find it. And that was enough for me. Why? Because the word works. That was enough for me to go. Because when they spoke that and they quoted scripture, I actually felt like life and empowerment come inside of me. I thought, yeah, the word is going to work, hallelujah. 48:26 I think some of the problem is that people aren't using the word enough. They're trying to go about it in emotional ways. I thought I was sophisticated at 16 and an intellectual. I was ready to debate and some people you should see the church I got saved in. It was 1992 in Bed-Stuy, brooklyn. It had the neon sign outside that said Jesus saves. It was from Forest Hills. 48:53 I had no business in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. That's the Bed-Stuy the rappers rap about, not today's Bed-Stuy, where they got the matcha latte and the poodles and they got the yoga. In their artisanal mayonnaise store they had the tattered and, yes, I was the only white person there, the only white person ever there. It was like a grain of salt and a pepper shaker. And they came out with the old tattered Bible and they read John 14 with me and as they read that, something about the word. It was the first time anyone took the time to read the Bible to me and my head is spinning. 49:37 We're in that upper room. I always call it up because we were on the second floor, beulah Church of God, 956 Marcy Avenue. Jesus and Bishop Jones he's 84. He's still preaching now. Amazing man, open up the Bible. And when I saw the word. It changed me, it softened me. The word works, hallelujah, all right. 50:04 So we talked about why we need to evangelize, how we get it wrong. I want to just lead you into how to get it right, a simple method that if you will just apply, you'll get better and better. You know what we all have in common we're all terrible at things we never, ever do. Nobody was ever good at something. They tried only once. But as they do it, they get better and God will put his super over your natural. I'm here because of a bunch of teenagers who witnessed to me. Now in retrospect, they got so many things wrong, but God will use whatever you give him to use. We see that in the multiplication of the fish and the loaves. A little becomes much in the master's hand. So if you want to have this in greater detail in a conversational what I'm about to teach now, email the main church email info at citylightnyccom and we will email that to you. 50:59 But every Christian who considers themselves a Christian needs to know how to lead somebody to Jesus, and the sad reality is most Christians never have For some, it never even crossed their mind that they could. If that's how you're operating, your Christianity is no fun, man. It only gets really good when you're flowing, when you're giving. That's really when all the blessings come too. If you're just a consumer, like a lot of Christians, they're just. Do you remember that old movie Little Shop of Horrors? They had that plan feed me. That's how Christians Feed me. Feed me and they'll eat. Christians feed me. Feed me and they'll eat. And they'll eat and they'll eat. And then they'll go to the pastor I don't get fed here anymore and go to another church and start it all over. Feed me. They don't even know what true Christianity is. But when you're feeding others and, by the way, adults don't get fed, babies get fed, adults feed themselves when there's a flow in your life, then the blessings start coming on. Yeah, because you're actually expanding God's kingdom. Now he's rewarding and giving you the tools in order to do that. Hallelujah, some Christians. They read Paul saying I buffet my body daily and thought it meant I buffet my body daily. So feed me. Romans 3.23. You're going to take them down the Romans road Number one. 52:32 Everybody needs to know why they need a Savior. You need a savior because you have sin and that sin will cause you to go to hell. So that sounds so rough. Their spirit will know it's true. I've seen staunch unbelievers. They may want to kill you, but their spirit knows it's true, just like your spirit knew. It's true, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No one measures up to God's perfect standard. Every human is guilty before a holy God. That's why Paul said the law, God holy standard was our tutor to teach us, to lead us to Christ. So you actually cannot see a real, genuine salvation without somebody understanding that they've sinned. Yet you see preachers close out altar calls and just say just invite Jesus into your heart, say this prayer with me in 10 seconds. The person doesn't even know that they need to repent. Romans 3.23. 53:42 Next one we're going down the Romans road from 3.23, a couple of chapters later you're in Romans 6.23. Now that they understand that they've sinned and look by the way this really works when you're just a well adjusted, normal person Like you can tell someone for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, especially you no, I'm kidding. Or you can say hey, I've sinned, you've sinned. Wouldn't you agree that you've sinned Me too? And so we can agree that we both sin? And now you get what I'm saying. You don't have to have out the evangelistic index finger at someone and now there is a payment for sin. 54:21 The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So two things you let them know. The wages of sin is death, not physical death, spiritual death, eternal separation from God. That's what awaits somebody who dies in their sin. But God loved you so much he doesn't want to be eternally separated from you. He wants you in heaven with him. So the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord, hallelujah. 54:54 Next, you take him to Romans 5.8. You just reverse. You put that thing in reverse, go back one chapter to 5.8. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, christ died for us. And you let them know that Jesus loved you before you were even born, while you were still a sinner. Jesus went to the cross for you. And the punishment for sin which we agreed we've all sinned, the punishment for sin that you deserve, Jesus took that punishment on your behalf. Oh, the word works. You let them know this. Their spirit will start shaking, start coming alive. 55:46 And then Romans 10, 9, you let them know how to activate the solution. You presented the problem. We're sinners. The solution is Jesus on the cross. But in their mind they're. They're still thinking well, that just means I need to work real hard to be a good person, right and undo my sins. No, you have to give your life to Jesus, give him your all, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead and you will be saved. And then Romans 10, 13,. 56:19 Because some people believe they're too far gone. I've noticed, when it comes to people and their own sin, they either believe that their sin is not so bad or and this happens more often than you might think they believe their sin is too bad. Especially, I feel like men. When I minister to men, they feel like their sin is too bad, too great, like as though their sin is so big and bad that it can nullify the cross of Jesus Christ. But in their mind, that's what they're convinced of. Oh, if you knew what I did. Oh, if you knew what I did. So you let them know. Whoever are you, a whoever? Yes, you are Whoever. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's for everyone, including you, and know your sin is not an exception, no matter how heinous it may be. 57:12 And then Romans 5.1, the assurance of peace and justification. Romans 5.1, the assurance of peace and justification. Romans 5.1, therefore, having been justified, explain to them justification is the judge putting the hammer to the gavel and saying not guilty. Through faith, through your belief in what Jesus did for you, you are justified. You are declared by God and all of heaven not guilty. We have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ. 57:38 You know, if you love somebody, you can start this via text. Start it. Listen. You've got to pursue some people in your life, hallelujah. Sometimes you've got to know when to back off. Some, let them cook for a little bit, let them marinate in what you've given them. But there's others then, that the Lord will open up. We have some people in our lives right now, friends of Emily, actually precious people. The Lord has opened them up. They're ready, hallelujah, hallelujah. 58:16 How many of you you learned something today? You feel like you've been strengthened? Hallelujah, how many of you you learned something today? You feel like you've been strengthened to be a better evangelist? How many of you would say I'm gonna consecrate my life to the Lord. I'm gonna yield more. I'm gonna yield and I receive my holy responsibility to share the gospel. Amen, amen. Let's receive communion, and that's exactly what we're going to tell the Lord Worship team. Come on up, we're going to receive communion. Amen, just hang on to the communion elements and we'll all partake of the body and blood of Christ together. Hallelujah, hallelujah. How did you come to City? Light Flo Through you and me. Have I been saying your name wrong this whole time? Okay, that would have been weird. How did you tell her Can I share this? After Guatemala trip, she came over, we worked together and she asked me Can I share this? Can I? Because? Okay, because I'm having a great conversation with Uni here but it's not good for you. 01:00:32 - Speaker 3 So after Guatemala trip we had spoken to each other. So I never took any vacation for five years. So she was like, where were you? So I explained like, oh, oh, we went to mission trip Guatemala and I just it was just, I just told her everything, what happened. It was not like I wasn't forcing her or anything like that, but Holy Spirit was like share and then just obey, and she was like, okay, and then where can I hear yeah, where can I hear more of that? So we're like, okay, let's go to life group, we have services. And she said, yeah, holy Spirit. 01:01:10 - Speaker 1 So no Roman's road. Amazing that the Lord could work outside of the Roman's road. But I gave you a good skeleton to use, something to keep you. People get real funny with events. They want to talk about end times events. Save that for later. When it comes to end times events, that should be the caboose of the train, the front, the engine is the gospel. 01:01:39 Yet in Christianity people want to make that. There's people who grew up in Christianity. Everything revolves around the rapture and end times. God has never intended for you to live that way. That can be a terrible, torturous way to live and a lot of those people that all they did was think about that, talk about that, write about that. They're in their graves. 01:01:57 Amen, amen, hallelujah. Are you ready? Say this with me Lord Jesus, you died on the cross for me and you purchased victory for me with your own blood. I partake of that victory. I am forgiven Jesus because of your broken body and your shed blood. I partake of that victory. I am forgiven Jesus because of your broken body and your shed blood, and by your Holy Spirit I am empowered to win others. To you, I will open my mouth and declare your holy word Help me, Lord. We'll win them together. In Jesus' name, go ahead and partake of the body and the blood of Jesus. Oh hallelujah, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord Church. I love you. I'm so blessed by you. They said a Nor'easter is coming. Look how many of you still came out. Amen, Thank you. Thank you for being you. 01:03:25 It's nice to pastor a church. You like. You know A lot of pastors can't say that. I get to say that Mauricio's laughing because he knows how true that is. Thank you, Lord. Well, shall we worship the Lord with our tithes and offerings? The giving information is on the screens to my side. Give with a glad heart, give in faith, give knowing that you cannot outgive God, that what we sow financially we reap financially and do it with joy. The giving information is there and then our ministry team will be in that blue light section and if you want prayer for anything, want someone to lay hands on you you're going through something you want someone to agree in faith with you, or minister the anointing to you, just go ahead over into that blue section when the worship starts. 01:04:25 If you're wondering, should I? That's definitely a cue that you should. I'll be very nice and gentle with you. Well, most of them. Amen, I was just teasing. Hallelujah, all right, let's all stand. If you need to go, go with blessing. May the same protective anointing that was on Noah be upon you this afternoon Because of the Nor'easter. All right, be blessed everybody. See you next Sunday. 01:05:19 - Speaker 2 This is the CityLight Church Podcast. All right, be blessed everybody. See you next Sunday. This is the CityLight Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and CityLight Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.