Title: Evangelize Trusting in God's Word, Not Your Arguments Meta: When sharing the gospel, all we need to do is proclaim what we know from the Word of God. We may feel very inefficient and incompetent, but the power is in God's Word; not in our abilities, persuasive arguments, and debating skills. It's not the vessel proclaiming the Word, but the Scriptures themselves that have power. Tags: evangelism,jews,preaching,Gospel,power,arguments,Michael Rydelnik 1 00:00:00,242 --> 00:00:01,788 But do you ever feel inadequate 2 00:00:01,788 --> 00:00:03,642 sharing the Gospel or trying to explain 3 00:00:03,642 --> 00:00:05,344 some doctrinal truth? 4 00:00:05,344 --> 00:00:07,151 And you talk to somebody - 5 00:00:07,151 --> 00:00:08,552 a Jehovah's Witness, 6 00:00:08,552 --> 00:00:09,962 they don't know the Bible, 7 00:00:09,962 --> 00:00:14,158 but they know their script. 8 00:00:14,158 --> 00:00:16,162 These people are trained to do one thing 9 00:00:16,162 --> 00:00:19,667 and one thing only and that's know their script. 10 00:00:19,667 --> 00:00:22,447 But what we do is we proclaim Christ 11 00:00:22,447 --> 00:00:23,821 from the Scriptures. 12 00:00:23,821 --> 00:00:26,238 We proclaim truth from the Scriptures. 13 00:00:26,238 --> 00:00:27,313 In my exhortation, 14 00:00:27,313 --> 00:00:29,031 I'm going to read quite a bit here. 15 00:00:29,031 --> 00:00:31,893 It's from a book named: "The Messianic Hope: 16 00:00:31,893 --> 00:00:33,948 Is the Old Testament really Messianic?" 17 00:00:33,948 --> 00:00:36,738 It's written by a guy named Michael Rydelnik. 18 00:00:36,738 --> 00:00:38,894 Michael Rydelnik was born Jewish 19 00:00:38,894 --> 00:00:39,976 in New York City, 20 00:00:39,976 --> 00:00:42,737 raised classic Jewish, 21 00:00:42,737 --> 00:00:45,428 was converted while he was in high school. 22 00:00:45,428 --> 00:00:47,432 And he writes about the time 23 00:00:47,432 --> 00:00:49,274 when he was in high school 24 00:00:49,274 --> 00:00:51,119 and he had an opportunity to engage 25 00:00:51,119 --> 00:00:52,688 the local synagogue leader 26 00:00:52,688 --> 00:00:55,415 who was a well-learned Jew. 27 00:00:55,415 --> 00:00:58,404 And I want you to be encouraged 28 00:00:58,404 --> 00:01:01,376 by the time I get done here, 29 00:01:01,376 --> 00:01:03,497 that all you've got to do is proclaim 30 00:01:03,497 --> 00:01:06,031 what you know. 31 00:01:06,031 --> 00:01:08,390 What else can you proclaim? 32 00:01:08,390 --> 00:01:10,735 He wrote this. 33 00:01:10,735 --> 00:01:12,987 They had a question and answer time 34 00:01:12,987 --> 00:01:15,492 at a session where they had about 100 people attend. 35 00:01:15,492 --> 00:01:18,177 It was a session of the local Hebrew club. 36 00:01:18,177 --> 00:01:20,416 And this guy - the leader of the synagogue 37 00:01:20,416 --> 00:01:21,610 came and spoke. 38 00:01:21,610 --> 00:01:23,438 And Rydelnik writes this. He says, 39 00:01:23,438 --> 00:01:25,531 "When the question and answer time arrived, 40 00:01:25,531 --> 00:01:27,621 I stood up and identified myself 41 00:01:27,621 --> 00:01:30,154 as a Jewish follower of Yeshua. 42 00:01:30,154 --> 00:01:32,166 I said that although the church's history 43 00:01:32,166 --> 00:01:34,282 of anti-semitism was indeed horrific, 44 00:01:34,282 --> 00:01:36,033 the issue really was whether or not 45 00:01:36,033 --> 00:01:38,530 Yeshua had fulfilled the Messianic predictions 46 00:01:38,530 --> 00:01:40,287 of the Hebrew Bible. 47 00:01:40,287 --> 00:01:42,528 And that was when it all came apart. 48 00:01:42,528 --> 00:01:44,726 David challenged me to come up with one - 49 00:01:44,726 --> 00:01:46,483 just one Messianic prediction 50 00:01:46,483 --> 00:01:48,937 that Yeshua had indeed fulfilled. 51 00:01:48,937 --> 00:01:50,660 I took out my Bible and began. 52 00:01:50,660 --> 00:01:53,154 I started with Genesis 3:15, 53 00:01:53,154 --> 00:01:54,725 but David adeptly pointed out 54 00:01:54,725 --> 00:01:58,045 that the passage was merely a just so story 55 00:01:58,045 --> 00:01:59,733 about how snakes and humans came 56 00:01:59,733 --> 00:02:00,944 to attack each other, 57 00:02:00,944 --> 00:02:03,182 and had nothing to do with the Messiah. 58 00:02:03,182 --> 00:02:06,230 It went downhill from there. 59 00:02:06,230 --> 00:02:08,099 I brought up passage after passage, 60 00:02:08,099 --> 00:02:09,945 prediction after prediction, 61 00:02:09,945 --> 00:02:11,930 and David would spin each passage 62 00:02:11,930 --> 00:02:13,745 to show that it without doubt 63 00:02:13,745 --> 00:02:15,831 could not be about the Messiah. 64 00:02:15,831 --> 00:02:18,934 He took literal words figuratively, 65 00:02:18,934 --> 00:02:26,248 and he took figurative words literally. 66 00:02:26,248 --> 00:02:29,248 (incomplete thought) 67 00:02:29,248 --> 00:02:32,381 He was fast and he was funny. 68 00:02:32,381 --> 00:02:34,320 I had never before encountered a speaker 69 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:35,897 as capable as David. 70 00:02:35,897 --> 00:02:38,696 And worse, even though I knew I was right, 71 00:02:38,696 --> 00:02:40,352 I could not speak as smoothly 72 00:02:40,352 --> 00:02:43,010 or skillfully as David. 73 00:02:43,010 --> 00:02:45,053 I started to sweat, I became tongue-tied, 74 00:02:45,053 --> 00:02:46,476 my hands turned to ice, 75 00:02:46,476 --> 00:02:47,813 but I did not quit. 76 00:02:47,813 --> 00:02:49,942 Every time he shot me down, 77 00:02:49,942 --> 00:02:51,391 I came up with another passage 78 00:02:51,391 --> 00:02:53,887 only to have him shoot me down again. 79 00:02:53,887 --> 00:02:55,564 It was awful. 80 00:02:55,564 --> 00:02:57,499 Finally, mercifully, the meeting ended, 81 00:02:57,499 --> 00:03:00,287 but only then did my real misery begin. 82 00:03:00,287 --> 00:03:02,700 As I reflected on my interaction with David, 83 00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:04,486 I became angry and disappointed. 84 00:03:04,486 --> 00:03:07,616 Not at him, but at myself. 85 00:03:07,616 --> 00:03:10,437 Here I had been given such an opportunity 86 00:03:10,437 --> 00:03:12,409 to represent my Messiah, Yeshua, 87 00:03:12,409 --> 00:03:13,788 in a very public way, 88 00:03:13,788 --> 00:03:16,010 but because of my lack of preparation, 89 00:03:16,010 --> 00:03:18,577 overconfidence, and poor communication skills, 90 00:03:18,577 --> 00:03:20,302 I had failed Him. 91 00:03:20,302 --> 00:03:21,984 I had let Him down. 92 00:03:21,984 --> 00:03:24,444 My sorrow was indescribable." 93 00:03:24,444 --> 00:03:26,387 Ever been there? 94 00:03:26,387 --> 00:03:28,139 Feelings of inadequacy after you've 95 00:03:28,139 --> 00:03:30,704 tried to communicate truth. 96 00:03:30,704 --> 00:03:33,674 We fast forward 32 years. 97 00:03:33,674 --> 00:03:36,228 Michael Rydalnik is now a professor. 98 00:03:36,228 --> 00:03:38,374 And he says, 'I had just published 99 00:03:38,374 --> 00:03:40,488 a book on the Arab-Israeli conflicts, 100 00:03:40,488 --> 00:03:42,444 so a congregation in Southern California 101 00:03:42,444 --> 00:03:44,626 had asked if I would do an all-day seminar 102 00:03:44,626 --> 00:03:45,716 on that topic. 103 00:03:45,716 --> 00:03:46,977 As I set up my computer 104 00:03:46,977 --> 00:03:48,831 with the data projector that morning, 105 00:03:48,831 --> 00:03:50,889 a Messianic Jewish man about 60 years old 106 00:03:50,889 --> 00:03:52,552 with a thick Brooklyn accent 107 00:03:52,552 --> 00:03:54,684 just kept talking and talking to me. 108 00:03:54,684 --> 00:03:56,295 He seemed familiar and I assumed 109 00:03:56,295 --> 00:03:57,862 I had met him the previous year 110 00:03:57,862 --> 00:03:59,764 when I had spoken at this congregation. 111 00:03:59,764 --> 00:04:01,370 So he kept talking, and frankly, 112 00:04:01,370 --> 00:04:02,551 it was a little annoying 113 00:04:02,551 --> 00:04:04,112 because I was having a hard time 114 00:04:04,112 --> 00:04:05,955 getting the technology to obey me. 115 00:04:05,955 --> 00:04:07,870 Finally, when everything was working 116 00:04:07,870 --> 00:04:09,202 and I was less distracted, 117 00:04:09,202 --> 00:04:11,045 I had a few minutes before teaching, 118 00:04:11,045 --> 00:04:13,657 so we began to chat together in earnest. 119 00:04:13,657 --> 00:04:16,146 I asked him how he got that Brooklyn accent, 120 00:04:16,146 --> 00:04:17,790 and we both laughed when he said 121 00:04:17,790 --> 00:04:20,758 he came by it honestly by living there. 122 00:04:20,758 --> 00:04:22,154 He said he had left Brooklyn 123 00:04:22,154 --> 00:04:24,460 for Southern California 10 years earlier. 124 00:04:24,460 --> 00:04:26,391 Fairly soon, I learned that he had been 125 00:04:26,391 --> 00:04:28,280 a high school teacher in Brooklyn. 126 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:30,951 In fact, he had taught at my high school. 127 00:04:30,951 --> 00:04:32,157 After learning that fact, 128 00:04:32,157 --> 00:04:33,910 it dawned on me he seemed familiar 129 00:04:33,910 --> 00:04:36,466 not because I had met him the previous year, 130 00:04:36,466 --> 00:04:38,162 but because he had been my very own 131 00:04:38,162 --> 00:04:40,337 high school music teacher. 132 00:04:40,337 --> 00:04:42,341 My eyes widened in surprise 133 00:04:42,341 --> 00:04:44,798 and I burst out: 'You're Vince Salzman! 134 00:04:44,798 --> 00:04:46,884 You were my guitar teacher in high school.' 135 00:04:46,884 --> 00:04:48,813 We were both so surprised and happy, 136 00:04:48,813 --> 00:04:50,474 thumping and hugging each other, 137 00:04:50,474 --> 00:04:52,428 even as the rest of the seminar students 138 00:04:52,428 --> 00:04:54,105 began to roll into the classroom. 139 00:04:54,105 --> 00:04:55,486 I just could not believe it. 140 00:04:55,486 --> 00:04:57,501 My Jewish music teacher from high school 141 00:04:57,501 --> 00:04:59,620 had become a follower of Yeshua. 142 00:04:59,620 --> 00:05:02,202 Class started a minute after I made this discovery, 143 00:05:02,202 --> 00:05:03,992 but I could not wait for the break 144 00:05:03,992 --> 00:05:06,298 to hear how Vince had come to faith. 145 00:05:06,298 --> 00:05:09,427 An hour later, I listened to Vince's story. 146 00:05:09,427 --> 00:05:11,957 It seems that more than 30 years before, 147 00:05:11,957 --> 00:05:13,729 one of Vince's Jewish colleagues - 148 00:05:13,729 --> 00:05:16,011 my former history teacher at the high school, 149 00:05:16,011 --> 00:05:18,237 had become a follower of Yeshua 150 00:05:18,237 --> 00:05:20,264 and had spoken to Vince about his faith. 151 00:05:20,264 --> 00:05:22,536 Vince had been intrigued and began to consider 152 00:05:22,536 --> 00:05:24,970 whether Yeshua was indeed the Messiah. 153 00:05:24,970 --> 00:05:26,967 Then, Vince related he heard that someone 154 00:05:26,967 --> 00:05:28,837 was coming to speak at the Hebrew club 155 00:05:28,837 --> 00:05:30,233 about Jews and Jesus. 156 00:05:30,233 --> 00:05:31,985 Thinking this might be interesting, 157 00:05:31,985 --> 00:05:33,716 Vince decided to attend. 158 00:05:33,716 --> 00:05:35,736 At this point, Vince looked at me and said 159 00:05:35,736 --> 00:05:37,985 'you have probably heard of the guy who spoke. 160 00:05:37,985 --> 00:05:40,110 Now he's on the radio all over the country. 161 00:05:40,110 --> 00:05:41,999 And he told me David's name.' 162 00:05:41,999 --> 00:05:43,918 'Yes,' I said. 'I remember when he spoke 163 00:05:43,918 --> 00:05:45,204 at the high school.' 164 00:05:45,204 --> 00:05:47,827 Vince tells the rest of his story this way. 165 00:05:47,827 --> 00:05:49,371 'Well, I really don't remember 166 00:05:49,371 --> 00:05:50,520 what the speaker said, 167 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,056 but I do remember that there was 168 00:05:52,056 --> 00:05:56,207 some kid there with a Bible. 169 00:05:56,207 --> 00:06:00,436 And he stood up and said he was Jewish. 170 00:06:00,436 --> 00:06:01,940 And he believed in Jesus and 171 00:06:01,940 --> 00:06:05,018 began to quote Messianic prophecies. 172 00:06:05,018 --> 00:06:07,080 The funny thing is that this guy, 173 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:08,448 this speaker, had an answer 174 00:06:08,448 --> 00:06:11,131 for every passage the kid cited. 175 00:06:11,131 --> 00:06:13,456 No matter what verse the kid showed, 176 00:06:13,456 --> 00:06:15,342 this smart guy knocked it down 177 00:06:15,342 --> 00:06:17,466 showing why it absolutely couldn't be 178 00:06:17,466 --> 00:06:19,816 speaking of the Messiah. 179 00:06:19,816 --> 00:06:21,728 He had an answer for everything. 180 00:06:21,728 --> 00:06:24,787 But this kid wouldn't stop. 181 00:06:24,787 --> 00:06:26,639 Every time a verse got shot down, 182 00:06:26,639 --> 00:06:28,342 he'd bring up some other verse. 183 00:06:28,342 --> 00:06:30,247 Finally, when the whole thing was over, 184 00:06:30,247 --> 00:06:32,038 I got to thinking that those verses 185 00:06:32,038 --> 00:06:34,920 sounded pretty Messianic to me. 186 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,521 So, I decided to get a Bible and read them for myself. 187 00:06:38,521 --> 00:06:40,711 And as I read the Old Testament, 188 00:06:40,711 --> 00:06:42,362 I began to see that it really was 189 00:06:42,362 --> 00:06:44,426 all about Yeshua. 190 00:06:44,426 --> 00:06:47,074 So it took a couple of years of reading the Bible 191 00:06:47,074 --> 00:06:48,987 and studying the prophecies, 192 00:06:48,987 --> 00:06:51,743 but then I became a believer in Yeshua.' 193 00:06:51,743 --> 00:06:53,112 Having told me his story, 194 00:06:53,112 --> 00:06:54,706 Vince asked simply, 195 00:06:54,706 --> 00:06:57,312 'Hey, do you know who that kid was?' 196 00:06:57,312 --> 00:07:04,342 To which I replied, 'Yes, I do. It was me.' 197 00:07:04,342 --> 00:07:07,662 And I was awed by God's grace. 198 00:07:07,662 --> 00:07:11,027 32 years after my horrible failure, 199 00:07:11,027 --> 00:07:13,069 I learned that God used it to help someone 200 00:07:13,069 --> 00:07:15,622 along the way to faith in Yeshua. 201 00:07:15,622 --> 00:07:19,427 Clearly, it was not my unrealistic self-confidence, 202 00:07:19,427 --> 00:07:20,889 my persuasive arguments, 203 00:07:20,889 --> 00:07:22,898 or my skillful handling of the Scriptures 204 00:07:22,898 --> 00:07:24,577 that helped Vince. 205 00:07:24,577 --> 00:07:27,622 Rather, it was the power of God's Word alone 206 00:07:27,622 --> 00:07:30,097 just as the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah 207 00:07:30,097 --> 00:07:31,651 so long ago. 208 00:07:31,651 --> 00:07:33,720 'My Word that comes from My mouth 209 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:35,726 will not return to Me empty, 210 00:07:35,726 --> 00:07:37,901 but it will accomplish what I please 211 00:07:37,901 --> 00:07:40,689 and will prosper in what I send it to do.' 212 00:07:40,689 --> 00:07:43,949 Isaiah 55:11. 213 00:07:43,949 --> 00:07:46,541 So what does this long convoluted story 214 00:07:46,541 --> 00:07:49,346 have to do with a book about Messianic hope? 215 00:07:49,346 --> 00:07:51,644 First, this story underscores the power 216 00:07:51,644 --> 00:07:54,708 of God's Word in communicating truth. 217 00:07:54,708 --> 00:07:57,233 It is not the vessel proclaiming the Word, 218 00:07:57,233 --> 00:07:58,876 but the Scriptures themselves 219 00:07:58,876 --> 00:08:00,649 that have power. 220 00:08:00,649 --> 00:08:02,575 Moreover, Messianic prophecy 221 00:08:02,575 --> 00:08:04,337 has the power to convince people 222 00:08:04,337 --> 00:08:06,116 that God's Word is true 223 00:08:06,116 --> 00:08:09,635 and that Jesus is indeed the Messiah." 224 00:08:09,635 --> 00:08:11,683 End of quote. 225 00:08:11,683 --> 00:08:14,080 Don't be discouraged. 226 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:16,082 I can vouch for this because this happened 227 00:08:16,082 --> 00:08:21,256 with me with a Jewish prisoner in Michigan. 228 00:08:21,256 --> 00:08:23,351 The guy was as orthodox as they come. 229 00:08:23,351 --> 00:08:25,518 The rabbi's would let him do their meeting 230 00:08:25,518 --> 00:08:28,305 because he knew Hebrew better than the rabbis. 231 00:08:28,305 --> 00:08:30,801 He attended an evangelistic weekend, 232 00:08:30,801 --> 00:08:33,628 and at the end of the evangelistic weekend 233 00:08:33,628 --> 00:08:36,025 he was still a Jew. 234 00:08:36,025 --> 00:08:38,067 But four months later, 235 00:08:38,067 --> 00:08:40,042 after having been told by us, 236 00:08:40,042 --> 00:08:41,951 study your Scriptures 237 00:08:41,951 --> 00:08:44,661 and see if our claims are true. 238 00:08:44,661 --> 00:08:48,037 Four months later, he came to faith in Christ. 239 00:08:48,037 --> 00:08:50,718 That was almost fifteen years ago. 240 00:08:50,718 --> 00:08:54,062 He's still Christian till this day. 241 00:08:54,062 --> 00:08:55,529 Never underestimate the power 242 00:08:55,529 --> 00:08:58,620 of the Word of God in spite of our weaknesses. 243 00:08:58,620 --> 00:09:01,239 Our adequacy is not in our speaking skills. 244 00:09:01,239 --> 00:09:02,914 It's not in our debating skills. 245 00:09:02,914 --> 00:09:05,515 It is in the Word of the living God 246 00:09:05,515 --> 00:09:09,616 and it is there alone. 247 00:09:09,616 --> 00:09:13,109 Jesus Christ is God. 248 00:09:13,109 --> 00:09:17,062 And every knee will bow to Him. 249 00:09:17,062 --> 00:09:19,564 Every knee. 250 00:09:19,564 --> 00:09:21,666 Some are going to bow on the way to glory 251 00:09:21,666 --> 00:09:26,762 and some on the way to hell. 252 00:09:26,762 --> 00:09:29,031 Every man has a decision to make. 253 00:09:29,031 --> 00:09:31,467 Every woman has a decision to make. 254 00:09:31,467 --> 00:09:33,514 The power of this Word - 255 00:09:33,514 --> 00:09:35,972 the Word that can save you, 256 00:09:35,972 --> 00:09:39,945 will also condemn you if you continue in rebellion. 257 00:09:39,945 --> 00:09:41,503 Let's pray.