As we continue in our study of the Life of Jesus, we’ve come to a very interesting verse.

Matthew 9:35-37

35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

There were great crowds following Him, and He looked around at them and saw the spiritual state they were in. The religious crowd of the day had made salvation something so complicated, and the law so difficult, that the people were distressed and depressed. They had no shepherd to teach them.

Don’t you look about today and see how many people there are who are without the confidence of eternity in heaven? Aren’t they like wandering lost sheep? There are so many people today without hope! Do you feel compassion for them, as Jesus did?

37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Jesus knew that these distressed people were ripe for the harvest. They simply needed to hear and accept the gospel message.

The Word of God is crystal clear about our responsibilities in this area. We are commanded to share the gospel message with people we come in contact with:

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

God has committed to us this word (LOGOS, meaning doctrine or principle) of reconciliation! We are commanded to share it!

1 Peter 3:15

15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

The question of personal evangelism is certainly a touchy subject. I’m sure everyone has had the same experience I have: Someone tries to communicate the gospel to you, and they are so pushy and obnoxious that you want to run the other way! We all have a reluctance to evangelize people we know because we don’t want to be that annoying person, that fanatic.

But don’t we all know someone that we are not sure is going to spend eternity in heaven with us, but will spend eternity in a place of perpetual, permanent suffering? Do you really want your friend (or family member, or even your enemy) to go through that because you were too embarrassed to give them the good news about how easy salvation is? Do you really want to stand in front of Jesus Christ and tell Him that you were too embarrassed?

I believe Jesus gives us the key to this evangelism in the next verse in Matthew:

Matthew 9:38

38 "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

All evangelism must be preceded by prayer.

We tend to want to share the gospel, and have that person immediately see the light and accept Jesus as their personal savior. When they don’t, we feel like we have failed. But you have to look at the salvation of souls as a PROCESS. Remember, God is the one who must do the work! Look what Jesus says:

John 6:44

44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

The word can is the Greek word DUNAMAI. It means to have power, or to be able to do something. Jesus says that no one has the ability to be saved without the Father doing something – drawing. Drawing is the word HELKUO, and it means to drag, to pull, to tug, or even to attract.

This drawing of God is a process. Remember, time is not an issue with God. (2 Peter 3:8) The drawing process for your friend may take a few seconds, or it may take a few decades! Your responsibility is to allow God to use you in this process.

If you start off this process (and continue in it) with prayer, then God will reveal His will to you, and present you with the right opportunities and methods to communicate the gospel to that person. HE WILL GIVE YOU THE PERFECT CIRCUMSTANCES!

You don’t ever have to push a person or bully them. You have to be dependent on God to accomplish what you cannot – the drawing of that unbeliever to Him. Prayer emphasizes our dependence on Him, and our willingness to be used in the process of evangelism.