Why does God allow suffering and evil

Biblically Correct Evangelism Starts With...

Quoting Martyn Lloyd-Jones . . .

All you do in evangelism, some say, is to call people to 'come to Christ', and you offer forgiveness. You call upon them to 'decide for Christ'. They generally go on to say that if you afterwards go to the other meetings you will learn a deeper doctrine, a profound truth; but in an evangelistic meeting there is only a simple message - it is "Come to Jesus; come to Christ, decide for Him. If you want forgiveness, here it is". Now as I understand [Romans 6:17], such teaching is not only dangerous, but utterly un-scriptural. That is why this matter is of such tremendous importance. That is not the message the Roman Christians had believed, otherwise Paul could not have drawn these great deductions from it. What then is it? 'The form of doctrine delivered them' was the full doctrine that Paul had been elaborating on throughout this Epistle to the Romans - nothing less. The message of evangelism is a message that starts with . . . - - - . . .


man in sin under the wrath of a holy God.

Paul starts with that way back in chapter 1, in verses 16, 17, and 18.
"I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith. For (because) the wrath of God is (already) revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold (down) the truth in unrighteousness." That is an essential part of the message.

You can not skate lightly over and around sin in evangelism, and say to people "do not bother about repentance now. Come to Christ first, you can repent afterwards." No! The doctrine of sin is a vital part of this 'form of doctrine' [mentioned in Romans 6:17] that produces the amazing result. We all have to see ourselves under condemnation, bound for hell, hopeless and helpless in sin and under the wrath of god. We have to see the foul, terrible nature of such a condition, its slavery to sin and Satan, and the terrible end to which it inevitably leads. That is part of the message.

Then comes the utter hopeless of all human striving and effort to achieve salvation. It took Paul most of chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Romans to unfold this aspect of the doctrine. The Gentiles with their philosophy cannot deliver themselves, neither can the Jew, the man who boasted that because he had the Law a happy future was assured to him. 'No', says Paul, "you are no better than the Gentile. Knowledge of the law does not save; you have to keep the Law." So he concludes "that there is no difference; all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". The whole human race has failed. You cannot save yourself. It matters not at all how good and moral and excellent and religious you may be. This counts for nothing. Whether you are circumcised or not does not matter; and all mortality is useless in and of itself. Man by his own effort cannot save himself. Paul elaborates the teaching to remind them of it, and to confirm them in it.

This is all a part of evangelism. Evangelism does not consist in telling stories and playing on people's emotions, and then pressing them to a decision at the end without any true knowledge on their part of what they are doing. No, but it is the outlining of this 'form of doctrine', this message, this truth. Then you go on to tell them that from this complete hopelessness and helplessness and despair God has provided a way of escape: "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood". That is the message, that is the "form of doctrine that has been delivered". That is the immediate agency that produces this great change.

From: Commentary to Romans 6

Walter Chantry Quote

"How many souls have been led to vain confidence by a man-made, evangelistic formula? How many are sent home from evangelistic services with calm, who should have gone away grieved and disturbed as the rich young ruler who approached Jesus? How many unsaved children have been given assurance by the teachers of Bible classes, so that they have ceased to seek God for salvation?" --Walter Chantry

One Day During 'The Great Awakening' . . .

Quoting George Whitefield . . . Journal entry from Sunday, March 4, 1739 - - Arose much refreshed in spirit and gave my early attendants a warm exhortation as usual. Went to Newgate and preached with power to an exceedingly thronged congregation. Then hastened to Hanham Mount, three miles from the city, where the miners live altogether. God favoured us in the weather. Over four thousand were ready to hear me, and God enabled me to preach with the demonstration of the Spirit. The ground not being high enough, I stood upon a table and the sight of the people covering the green fields, and their deep attention, pleased me much. I hope that same Lord, who fed so many thousands with bodily bread, will feed all their souls with the Bread which cometh down from Heaven, for many came from far. At four in the afternoon, I went to the mount on Rose Green and preached to over fourteen thousand souls. God was so good to allow all to be able to hear me. I think it was worth while to come many miles to see such a sight. I spoke with great freedom, but thought all the while, as I do continually, when I ascend the mount, that hereafter I shall suffer, as well as speak, for my Master's sake. Lord, strengthen me for that hour. Lord, I believe (O help my unbelief!) that Thy grace will be more sufficient for me. In the evening I expounded [theQuoting George Whitefield . . . Journal entry from Sunday, March 4, 1739 - - Arose much refreshed in spirit and gave my early attendants a warm exhortation as usual. Went to Newgate and preached with power to an exceedingly thronged congregation. Then hastened to Hanham Mount, three miles from the city, where the miners live altogether. God favoured us in the weather. Over four thousand were ready to hear me, and God enabled me to preach with the demonstration of the Spirit. The ground not being high enough, I stood upon a table and the sight of the people covering the green fields, and their deep attention, pleased me much. I hope that same Lord, who fed so many thousands with bodily bread, will feed all their souls with the Bread which cometh down from Heaven, for many came from far. At four in the afternoon, I went to the mount on Rose Green and preached to over fourteen thousand souls. God was so good to allow all to be able to hear me. I think it was worth while to come many miles to see such a sight. I spoke with great freedom, but thought all the while, as I do continually, when I ascend the mount, that hereafter I shall suffer, as well as speak, for my Master's sake. Lord, strengthen me for that hour. Lord, I believe (O help my unbelief!) that Thy grace will be more sufficient for me. In the evening I expounded [the Word of God] at Baldwin Street Society, but could not get up to the room without the utmost difficulty, as the entry and court were much filled with people. Blessed be God, the number of hearers much Word of God] at Baldwin Street Society, but could not get up to the room without the utmost difficulty, as the entry and court were much filled with people. Blessed be God, the number of hearers much increases and as my day is, so is my strength. Tonight I returned home much more refreshed in joy and longed to be dissolved and to be with Jesus Christ. This has been a sabbath indeed to my soul!
 
RT:Oldtruth.com

Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Quotes

“Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come.”

"Jonathan Edwards"

“There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one mo­ment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God…”

“God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen.”

“Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure to­wards hell; and if God should let you go, you would imme­diately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bot­tomless gulf…”

“The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hang­ing over a great part of this congregation: Let every one fly out of Sodom: ‘Hasten and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest ye be con­sumed.’”

True Christianity

“If you are going to walk with Jesus Christ, you are going to be opposed ... "In our days, to be a true Christian is really to become a scandal.”
― George Whitefield

Witnessing

“If the devil never roars, the Church will never sing! God is not doing much if the devil is not awake and busy. Depend upon it,
that a working Christ makes a raging devil! When you hear ill reports, cruel speeches, threats, taunts and the like, believe that the
Lord is among His people and is working gloriously." Charles Spurgeon"

UNA Campus Outreach

Went to the UNA Campus on Sep. 4, 2012 to share the Gospel with the students. Pastor Josh Miller from Tharptown Baptist Church joined me. I was loaded up with tracts and hit the campus at our spot we set up at right across from the student union. We handed out hundreds of tracts and had a few interesting conversations also. I had a conversation with a student named Ethan. I handed him a tract he walked away and a few minutes later he returned to ask me what this was about. I told Ethan that it was a Gospel tract and asked if he knew what the Gospel was. Ethan said he was a Christian and went to a Baptist Church not to far from my own Church in our small town of Muscle Shoals Alabama. He said what do you mean by the Gospel. You mean the New Testament, the Bible, the gospel of John ect. I said Ethan let me give you this scenario I have a knife in my back and have 2 minutes to live how do I inherit eternal life help me please. He really didn't know what to say. He could not articulate the Gospel to me at all. I asked him because he has gone to his church for awhile do they even share the Gospel with you at your church? He insisted ya but couldn't share it with me.( Are our churches even equipping its people on how to present the biblical gospel.).I said Ethan if you say you are a Christian you should know what the Gospel is and if your Church is not preaching the Gospel you need to get out of that Church. He just looked at me and I said let me tell you what the Gospel is and proceeded to take him through the Law of God and the Grace of God, pleading with him to Repent and Believe and put his trust in Jesus Christ Alone. We were able to speak for about twenty minutes and I just pray the LORD will open up Ethan's eyes to the Glorious Gospel.

Josh handed a tract to a young man from Turkey named John. He was not a practicing Muslim and said he was interested in religion and the things of God and was open to talk about these things. Josh spoke with him for a few minutes as John was off to class and in a bit of a hurry. We told John to read the tract and open up his Bible (he said he had one we asked him) and to search these things out to see if they are true. We also told him if he has any questions for us that we are on the campus alot and to stop by and talk to us. He said he would do that. The UNA Campus is filled with many foreign students from China, the Middle Eastern country's and is a wide open mission field and we don't see many people out here sharing the Gospel with these students. The guy who is in charge of the Baptist campus ministry passed us by and Josh tried to give him a tract not knowing that he was the Baptist campus ministry guy. He didn't take our tract,never does and just ignores us out there and has not said anything to us for at least the time I have been going out to the campus which is about 31/2 years now. Its a tragedy indeed. We have never seen him passing out tracts or even questioning us on what we are handing out to see if we were peddling a false Gospel. But in closing friends this is a mission field right in our own back yards. There are many public college campuses around that have no Gospel witness. Please get out of your comfort zones and be bold for Christ. For any one who wants to do ministry without spending thousands of dollars to go out of country there is a mission field right here through out America called the college campus. The harvest is white and the laborers are few. Go share your faith.

No King but Christ