TODAY IN THE WORD

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Romans 3:24-26
We have now been justified by his blood. - Romans 5:9
TODAY IN THE WORD
Andrew Johnson, who became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, clashed with radical Republicans who favored a harsher policy of reconstruction for the South. When Johnson removed his secretary of war, who was working closely with the radicals, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him. After a two-month trial in the Senate, Johnson escaped impeachment by one vote. The president's bodyguard ran from the Capitol to the White House to announce the news to Johnson. Mr. President, he cried, you are acquitted!utter. What Andrew Johnson won by a one-vote margin, we have been freely given by decision of the only judge whose verdict matters in eternity, God Himself.hope or pardon to offer guilty sinners. What good news we have to bring to the condemned!judgment against sin. Therefore, those who have faith in Jesus (v. 26) are in a position to hear God's verdict: Acquitted!just as if Id never sinned. But thatnot really the idea behind the term. It means to declare one to be righteous. Justification is a judicial act of God by which He declares the guilty acquitted. It's not that God overlooks our sin or brushes it off as if it were inconsequential or had never happened.But when His blood is applied to our sin, God is able to acquit us who would otherwise have to bear the punishment for our own sin.people. His penalty against sin has never been overturned. He exacted full punishment for sin from His sinless Son, who freely offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice for our sin. Nobody in town has better news than that to deliver. Let's deliver that good news!Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, we want to suggest a way you can communicate Godlove to friends and family members who need Christ.gospel at this time of the year. Your local Christian bookstore should have a supply. Include one in a Valentine note to a lost person, or deliver your card in person this weekend as you seek to express your own love (see tomorrow's study). Ask God to use your efforts to open hearts to His love and the exciting news that in Christ the guilty can be acquitted.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Romans 5:6-8
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for - Romans 5:8
TODAY IN THE WORD
In 1873, Belgian missionary Joseph Damien arrived on Molokai, Hawaii, to work with lepers. He tried to build friendships with the residents of the leper colony, but hardly anyone responded to his ministry. So after twelve years, Damien decided to give up. But as he started to board a ship back to Belgium, Damien noticed white spots on his hands. He had contracted leprosy! So he returned to the leper colony. This time the lepers flocked to his side, and he began a long and fruitful ministry among them.colony, he came as one of the people he was trying to serve. It took a tremendous outpouring of love for Joseph Damien to expose himself to a dreaded disease in order to reach those already afflicted.who was enthroned in heaven and receiving the worship of angels, to leave heaven and identify with sinners on earth.sinners. He felt the temptations we are subject to (Heb. 4:15) and took on a human nature in order to suffer the humiliation of death on a cross (Phil. 2:7-8).ungodly in nature and power-less to change their condition (Rom. 5:6). Today's verse sums it up best. Jesus died for sinners, the least deserving of God's grace.someone who would dare to die for a good person who had earned that sacrifice. But only divine love could see something worth loving in a lost race. love is eternal, saving love. The fact that God loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us makes all other loves fade into the background. Jesus died at just the right time (v. 6), and today is just the right time for us to tell others about what He has done for us!ve been talking about the need to communicate the gospel clearly to those who need Christ.personal concern for the people we want to win to Christ. This weekend, look for an opportunity to be a neighbor to an unsaved person on your prayer list. Do your service as an act of love, and be alert for an opportunity to speak a word for Christ.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Ephesians 2:8-9
God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ... it is by grace you have been saved. - Ephesians 2:4-5
TODAY IN THE WORD
Author Philip Yancey tells of a British conference on comparative religions in which experts began discussing whether any one belief was unique to the Christian faith. The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis entered the room. When Lewis inquired what all the fuss was about, he was told that the topic was Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis is said to have responded, Oh, that's easy. Itgrace. After more discussion, the others present had to agree.great place to start. Even if you have been a believer for many years, try to read Paulmagnificent declaration in Ephesians 2 with new eyes and hear it with new ears today. Then you will be ready to share it with your unsaved friends with new passion.hard doctrine for unbelievers to accept. One reason is that there is nothing else like it, as Lewis understood well. Grace is often defined as Godunmerited favor. Grace is totally undeserved by its recipients. It's the undeserved part that some non-Christians stumble over. We Americans are taught to do our fair share, to pull our own weight. The idea that we are completely helpless to aid in our own salvation can be hard for us to take.basis on which to plead for God's mercy. That's what makes grace so wonderful. God reached out to us when we were going in the opposite direction, when we were at odds with Him.and that's what God gives to those who put their faith in Christ. The Judge becomes the great Giver, dispensing the gift of salvation freely.expect nothing from Him. And it is good news especially to people who are working themselves weary trying to make God happy with them. Do you know anyone in either category?It is not only lost people who have a foggy view of grace. Sometimes God's children as well can get hung up on a work ethic.you working for Christ to make Him more pleased with you, or do you serve Him because you have been accepted by grace and want to express your love? Second, are you holding another believer to some standard that you yourself have set up? If either answer is yes, set yourself or someone else free today.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 14:1-6
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6
TODAY IN THE WORD
You may have seen one of those quizzes that are often used as party games. The quiz may have any number of easy questions. At the top of the page, the participant usually finds a simple set of directions that reads something like this: Read all of the questions before beginning the quiz. The trick is that the last question instructs the reader not to answer any of the previous questions, but to take some action that dem-onstrates he or she has followed directions. It's fun to watch the quiz-takers. Some ignore the directions and plunge into the quiz, eager to finish first and claim the prize. Others start working, then look around and realize that something is wrong. They eventually discover the trick.learning the truth when it's too late. Only a few follow directions and wind up doing it right the first time.God. They ignore the instructions, the Word of God, and set out in their own waymaking up their own rules as they go. Or they simply mimic the actions of others around them.and they reach the end only to find nothing waiting for them but the fool's prize.claimed in John 10 that anyone else who tries to lead the sheep is a false shepherd. He is the One who spoke the unmistakable words of John 14:6.from Jesus mouth, it is truth. And because He is the only way to God, Jesus has the right to set the rules.connect to God. The truth has never been more neededand we have it in God's Word. Let's share it.Here's a tip that can help you avoid rabbit trails as you are witnessing. Often, unsaved friends will raise questions that are either impertinent or difficult to answer. answer, admit itand then offer to find the answer and bring it back later. Another way to deal with distractions is to ask your friend to hold the observation until you have presented the gospel. Then, if the problem has not been answered, agree that you will discuss it.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 15:1-7
The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. - Luke 19:10
TODAY IN THE WORD
The story is told of an African school girl who gave her teacher a beautiful sea shell as a gift. When the teacher asked the girl where she got the shell, the student replied that shells like this were found only on a certain beach. The teacher, deeply touched, realized the girl had walked many miles to find the gift. You shouldn't have traveled so far! she exclaimed. But the girl smiled and said, The long walk is part of the gift. beautiful story of the searching shepherd who walks as far as necessary to find His sheep tells us that it is God who takes the initiative in salvation, not the lost sheep.understand why lost people are not flocking to our churches and Bible studies looking for Christ. No one seeks God, Paul said (Rom. 3:11). Jesus said that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws the person (John 6:44).evangelism. Sometimes we feel that we have to do it all ourselves: seek out and chase down reluctant unbelievers, tackle them, and hold them still while we share a gospel they are not necessarily interested in hearing.passionate in sharing the gospel. And we believe that biblical evangelism includes the call for a decision. This is not a recommendation for a ho-hum attitude in presenting the good news.and for that, we can be very grateful! It is only because God the Holy Spirit is at work in human hearts that we have any hope of seeing people respond to the gospel and put their trust in Christ.Remember, whatever you can talk a person into believing, someone else can talk him or her out of believing. But when the Holy Spirit has drawn a person to Himself and chooses to use you as a vehicle to share the gospel, it is for eternity. Salvation is a supernatural work that only God can do. What He asks of us is faithfulness in carrying out His work (1 Cor. 4:2).discouraged when we don't see much response to our witnessing. If this describes you today, you can take heart from today's lesson. God will draw people to Himself in His perfect time. Renew your determination to be faithful in sharing the gospel, and ask Him for patience to await His timing.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 13:1-5
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation. - 2 Corinthians 7:10
TODAY IN THE WORD
Harry A. Ironside, a great Bible teacher from the first half of this century, once made this observation concerning people who refuse to repent of their sins: If the grace of the Lamb of God is rejected, His indignation and wrath must be faced. It cannot be otherwise. But now grace is still reigning through righteousness, and a just God waits in lovingkindness to be the Justifier of everyone who believes in Jesus.will find His boundless grace. But those who refuse to repent reject their only hope of forgiveness and will face God's judgment for their sins.truth for evangelism: the response that people must make to the gospel in order to experience salvation and eternal life. Basic to this response is an attitude of repentance, what Paul calls godly sorrow over sin in today's key verse. day held to the idea that evil things happen to evil people, while good things happen to good people. A version of that idea is still around today. Many people out there believe they don't really deserve punishment because they havendone anything all that bad. And just to cover all their bases, they throw in enough good deeds to keep the scales balanced in their favor.not say that the people who came to Jesus were trying to argue that Pilate's victims must have been terrible sinners who deserved their fate.opportunity to impress on His hearers a basic truth. Neither those Galileans, nor the victims of the tower that collapsed in Siloam, were any different in God's sight than the people standing around Jesus.pray that God will grant unbelievers His godly sorrow for their sins.Paul's statement in Acts 17:30 comes from his experience in Athens, where he used the natural religious curiosity of the Athenians as a springboard for presenting the gospel: God...commands all people everywhere to repent.the beliefs and attitudes of the people he was addressing. We need this same sensitivity to the lost people around us, which means taking time to get to know them. How well do you know the unbelievers at work, or in your neighborhood? Well enough to use their interests and concerns as an opening for the gospel?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 16:19-31
Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. - Hebrews 9:27
TODAY IN THE WORD
An old legend recounts the day Satan called together three aides to formulate a plan that would halt the advance of the gospel. The first demon suggested trying to convince people that there is no God, but Satan knew that would not work. The second demon suggested convincing people that God does not care about right and wrong. Again, Satan knew that plan would not be effective. But the third demon proposed, Let people go on thinking there is a God, and that He cares about right and wrong. But we will keep whispering in their ears, There is no hurry. There is no hurry. Satan was delighted, and the plan was adopted...issues of sin, judgment, and eternity, there are probably ten people who simply havengotten around to dealing with these issues yet.ll deal with the matter of their souls some day, when the right time comes along. They say for now, there's no hurry, because theyll always have time for stuff like religion later on.second chance teachings which suggest that death is not the deciding point for eternity. Others are heartened by accounts of so-called near-death experiences, in which people of all religious stripes report finding nothing but goodness and light waiting for them at the end of the trail.truth declared in today's verse. In a vivid and disturbing story, Jesus peeled back the corners of heaven and hell to reveal the truth about eternity: no second chance for salvation, only paradise for the saved and suffering for the lost.in hell, he became fervently evangelistic, begging Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers (v. 27-28). This man finally got his salvation theology straight, although it was eternally too late for him. This is why we must urge people to come to Christ today.We want to give you some ideas you can use in your witnessing when you run into a procrastinator.Verses such as Proverbs 27:1 and James 4:14 make the point that none of us knows what tomorrow will bring.seriousness with which God views it. Verses such as Ezekiel 18:4 and Romans 6:23 show the deadly nature of sin. Why not add these notes to your witnessing notebook today?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 1:43-46
If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God. - John 7:17
TODAY IN THE WORD
Imagine this conversation as you run to the office down the hall to warn a friend and co-worker that the building is on fire.Come on, let's get out of here. The building is on fire!Really?Yes, come on!Yeah right. I think youre just playing a joke on me. Ill leave when I see flames or the fire department comes.way many people treat their eternal destiny. They seem to figure that as long as they donsee flames or hear the sirens, there's no reason to check to see whether or not there really is a fire. that Nathanael's heart was already tender toward the things of God. Jesus called him true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false (John 1:47).claim of Jesus to be Israel's long-awaited Messiah, he didn't let his doubts about Nazareth keep him from pursuing the truth. day illustrate a very different reaction when confronted with the truth. The blind man of John 9 tried his best to convince them that Jesus was neither a sinner nor a phony. Finally, in exasperation, he challenged the Pharisees to check Jesus out for themselves. But they flew into a rage and excommunicated the man from synagogue worship.re talking about the response that God calls for when it comes to the gospel. One of the most basic responses unbelievers need to make is to at least investigate Jesusclaims with an open heart.evidence warrants belief. Let's urge our skeptical friends not to be content with their doubt, but to seek the truth.One reason people don't pursue eternal matters is that they are clinging to their own standards of goodness. they always live up to their own standards. Few will be brave enough to say yes. Then, ask them if they think God should simply look the other way when they fall short. Most people's sense of fairness will lead them to admit that God can't do that. Others may admit they have never thought about it before. Either way, they may be open to your further witness. Add this idea to your witnessing notes today.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Galatians 2:15-16
The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. - John 6:29
TODAY IN THE WORD
Several years ago, a motion picture appeared with a plot addressing remorse and forgiveness for sin. In the film, set in South America several centuries ago, the main character killed his brother in a moment of rage and was then inconsolable. No one could reach him until a priest outlined the penance the man needed to perform to atone for his crime. The penance included a backbreaking climb up a steep mountain to a remote village. The man had to make the climb with heavy weights tied to his body, and the film followed his painful climb as he punished himself in hopes of removing his guilt.salvation harder to attain. Historically, people have gone to incredible lengths of self-denial and -punishment in an attempt to win God's favor. Others, such as the Jews Paul refers to in Galatians 2, hope to attain salvation by obedience to God's law.emphasizes once again that when it comes to our need for salvation, the only response God honors is that of faith. Paul was addressing Peter when he uttered this ringing affirmation of the need for faith.abandoned his fellow Gentile believers after strict Jews from Jerusalem came on the scene. In other words, Peter hid his ham sandwich when he saw his Jewish brethren coming. Even Barnabas got in on the act.Peter's hypocrisy, Paul reminded him that his actions sent a confusing signal to Gentile believers, who had been told that they were accepted in Christ on the basis of faith alone. The fact is, Paul said, that faith is the only way anyone can come to Christ. It's hard for self-reliant people to accept the fact that they cannot do anything to save themselves. Their attitude is, Give me a challenge, and Ill meet it. Tell me something hard I have to do to gain salvation, and Ill do it. Our challenge is to help these people see the simplicity of the gospel.People who insist on trying to earn their way to heaven can be harder to reach than the out-and-out sinners.it a point to pray for them today; ask God to remove the barrier of their pride or self-sufficiency and allow them to see themselves as He sees them.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 19:1-10
Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. - 2 Corinthians 6:2
TODAY IN THE WORD
Have you ever gone shopping with a picture in your mind of exactly what you want to buy? You go to the mall, from store to store, in search of this one special item.I bet I could get it cheaper somewhere else. So you go to a few stores...never finding anything even similar to what you wanted.re out of it and won't be getting any more in stock. Why do we wait in these cases? Given the uncertainty of life, delaying life's most important decision is a risk that doesnmake any sense.went to Jericho and found this short tax collector whose dealings often left other people short in the pocketbook. Zacchaeus didn't know it, but the day of Jesus visit was the day of his opportunity for salvation. To his credit, Zacchaeus did not miss the offer of forgiveness Jesus made him.today twice in this brief account (vv. 5, 9). He wanted to go to Zacchaeus house that very day because He had something Zacchaeus needed: salvation. When the tax man expressed the sincerity of his repentance, Jesus emphasized that the greatest transaction Zacchaeus would ever make had been completed that day.he let none of them stand in his way. We aren't told all that was discussed at that dinner, but the response of Zacchaeus tells us all we need to know.obeyed. And when he saw his sin for what it was, Zacchaeus did not delay his repentance.The urgency applies to us as believers too. Is there a particular person you have been putting off witnessing to for whatever reason?of today's lesson, we can't afford to delay in telling those around us about Christ. Today, ask God to remove whatever barrier is keeping you from offering that difficult witnessand pray that His Holy Spirit will prepare the heart of your unsaved friend for the gospel.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Luke 15:11-24
Whoever comes to me I will never drive away. - John 6:37
TODAY IN THE WORD
While missionary Irene Webster-Smith was serving in Japan before World War II, one person who was reached for Christ through her ministry was the teenage daughter of the president of the Osaka Stock Exchange. One by one, the girl led her household to Christexcept her father. So one evening, Irene invited the girl's father to dinner. He named all the things that were keeping him from Christ, yet he could not get over the joy he had seen in his family. That night he too put his faith in the Lord.and over again: God receives sinners! Today's verse is a promise from Jesus that He will not turn away anyone who comes to Him in repentance and faith. parable had quite a list of things that were keeping him from returning to his father. He had squandered his inheritance, he had lived a shameful life, and he smelled like a pigpen!home, even as a servant, he left his list of excuses in the pigpen in hopes that he could find forgiveness at his father's feet.Bible than the picture of the prodigal's watching father. We have emphasized the seriousness of sin this month and the fact that God cannot and will not tolerate sin in His presence.of our great God. Once an unsaved person lays aside sin and pride and runs to God, His arms reach out to forgive. And God not only forgives sinners, but He also does so richly. God does not withhold any of the blessings of heaven.Father's house and knows His heart perfectly.What a great invitation to offer people! On the authority of God's Word, we can tell them that God will receive them, if only they will come to Him.Sometimes we get the idea that evangelism is so difficult because it's all about sin and judgment and telling people what's wrong. But remember: the bad news of sin opens the way for the good news of salvation. Take heart today in the reminder that we have the privilege of telling lost people the best news they will ever hear: God receives sinners.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Colossians 2:13-15
He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code... nailing it to the cross. - Colossians 2:13-14
TODAY IN THE WORD
April, 1826, Secretary of State Henry Clay challenged Virginia Congressman John Randolph to a duel over a political insult. The men met on the banks of the Potomac River. Each missed his first shot but insisted on a second. Clay's shot pierced the dressing gown Randolph was wearing but did not wound him. Randolph fired into the air, then said, You owe me a new coat, Mr. Clay.I am glad the debt is not greater, Clay replied. Then the two men shook hands and the feud was over.circumstance, because he did not want Clay's death on his hands. Thankfully, the imagined debt was settled with little cost.sin, Jesus Christ had to be nailed to the Cross. According to Paul, something else was figuratively nailed there with Him: the bill of debt we owed to God because of our failure to keep His perfect law.build up charges that are hard to pay. The worst part is that the evidence is lying right there before us: a pile of charge slips signed in our handwriting.of indebtedness drawn up against him, which he would have to sign as admission that he owed the money.parable (Matt. 18:21-35), God has canceled our debt by exacting payment from His beloved Son. As the hymn says, Jesus paid it all.to Him when unbelievers reject His gracious offer of salvation? But those who respond to Christ will find the biggest debt they ever had freely and fully forgiven!Here's an illustration that may help you in explaining the gospel to an unsaved friend.program in which all mortgagees who brought their papers into the bank would have the mortgage paid off and burned on the spot, with no cost to them. Would your friend respond to an offer like that or simply ignore it and go on paying his house payment every month?mortgage in Christ. Today's text would make a great addition to your witnessing handbook.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 3:1-8
No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. - John 3:3
TODAY IN THE WORD
According to their own testimonies, both John and Charles Wesley were unsaved men when they left England in 1735 for a missionary trip to share the gospel with Indians in the American colony of Georgia. The trip was a fiasco, and both of the would-be missionaries returned to England in spiritual distress and confusion. Amazingly, they experienced salvation just three days apart in 1738. Charles was first, and in his joy he composed a hymn to celebrate his new birth. John was saved after attending the famous meeting on Aldersgate Street.fervently for God? It shouldn't, because their numbers are legion. It's part of the human compulsion we talked about earlier to earn our own way to heaven. Religious zeal and the new birth Jesus taught do not necessarily go together.Israel's teacher (see v. 10) and a member of the Sanhedrin, the nation's ruling council. Nicodemus was at the pinnacle of religious respectability and achievement. But he was, to use a modern term, clueless about the new birth.Nicodemus came to Jesus. Judging by his opening statement, Nicodemus had been wrestling with the issue of Jesus identity, and his heart was leaning toward belief.translated born from above. In many cases, salvation requires a new birthwhat Paul later calls the rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). The radical nature of this transformation startled and puzzled Nicodemus, but Jesus did not pull back. No one can enter God's kingdom without a new birth.must be born of the Spirit (John 3:. Here is more evidence that salvation is a supernatural work of God, not a self-improvement program.The term born again has fallen on hard times today. It has been applied to any and every kind of change or new beginning.Christian. But John 3 is still remarkably clear on the issue. This is why there is no substitute for the use of Scripture in evangelism. We can use its many helpful tools. In the end, God has promised to bless the activity of His Word (Isa. 55:11). When you go to tell someone about Christ, don't leave home without your Bible!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Romans 10:13-15
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! - Romans 10:15
TODAY IN THE WORD
You may remember the recent incident in which an Ethiopian Airlines flight was hijacked and crashed into the ocean off the Comoro Islands after running out of fuel. The dramatic moment of impact was caught on home video and broadcast around the world. Only later did we learn of something even more dramatic happening in the cabin as the plane headed for disaster.his faith in Christ and presenting the gospel. Just moments before the plane hit the water, some twenty people responded to his invitation to receive Christ. A surviving flight attendant had to tell the story, because Andrew Meekens died in the crash.evangelistic moment few if any people would pray for, but it illustrates the world's need for evangelists. As Dr. Charles Ryrie observes, even though salvation is based on Godfree choice and not on human merit, the elect are not saved without believing the message that is preached by those who are sent.want to spend these last three days of February discussing one more key truth for evangelism: the privilege and responsibility we have to be messengers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this age, we are the ones God has chosen to announce salvation to the world.about sitting at home while expecting God to save whomever He wanted without any human messengers. Today's Scripture passage drives home the point that people will not hear unless someone tells them. ll see tomorrow, Paul never got over the fact that God had saved him and had given him a ministry to fulfill. Paul was the most grateful evangelist in the world.When it comes to sharing the gospel, gratitude is a great motivator. Today, let's check our gratitude quotienthow long has it been since you last thanked God for saving you?happen. Your debt of sin is paid (Col. 2:13-15), you were transferred to a new kingdom (Col. 1:13), you crossed over from death to life (John 5:24), and God has replaced your eternal death with eternal life (Rom. 6:23). And that's just part of the story!with someone else. What better way to evangelize than to share how God saved you with someone who doesn't know Him?

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. - 1 Timothy 1:15
TODAY IN THE WORD
Missionary Irene Webster-Smith, whom we met earlier this week (see February 23), returned to Japan after World War II to continue her work. On one occasion, she met the wife of a Japanese military leader who had been condemned to death for war crimes. This woman was a Christian who was deeply burdened for her husband. She asked Irene to visit him in prison. Irene did, and the man accepted Christ. Soon a call came to Irene that other war crimes prisoners wanted to visit with her. Eventually, fourteen of the twenty-five convicted men put their faith in Christ.worst of sinners. But no matter how awful the sin, we have a Savior whose love and grace can reach far beyond the worst transgression (Rom. 5:20).claimed the title above for himself. Was the apostle just being overly modest, or was he using a little hyperbole to make his point? It doesn't sound like it. Paul sincerely agonized over his former role as a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man (1 Tim. 1:13).patiencetwo attributes of His character that a sinner desperately needs. The great apostle made the most of God's grace in his life by traveling the world to preach the gospel to anyone who would listen.messenger of the gospel? Because he considered himself to be the worst of sinners (v. 16), he marveled at the grace of God in saving him.evangelists should grow as we consider how great our forgiveness is. True, not all of us have arrested Christians or committed war crimes, but our sin still cost Christ His life. There are no big and little sinners in God's sight.to find bread. Do you know any hungry people out there?Paul's ministry is a healthy reminder that evangelism is not simply a solo act by isolated believers.but that's not because it is secondary. The most effective evangelism is that which grows from the context of a body of believers being motivated and trained for God's work (see Eph. 4:7-16). If you are not part of your church's evangelism training program, consider joining it. And if none exists, ask about the possibility of beginning one.