Appealing for a Verdict

1. This presentation will probably involve audience discussion, which will create action items. Use PowerPoint to keep track of these action items during your presentation • In Slide Show, click on the right mouse button • Select “Meeting Minder” • Select the “Action Items” tab • Type in action items as they come up • Click OK to dismiss this box • This will automatically create an Action Item slide at the end of your presentation with your points entered. Appealing for a Verdict

2. 25 Appealing for a Verdict • Popilius, by order of the Roman Senate, demanded Autiochus to withdraw his army from the King of Egypt. Antiochus pled for time to deliberate. Popilus drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus and insisted, in hoc stans delibera “In this standing place, deliberate” that is answer before you move

3. 24 Appealing for verdict • Just so, the evangelist must press the people…whether an audience of one or 100,000 to immediately surrender to the demands of Almighty God. • No work in the ministry of the Kingdom poses greater difficulty and takes a greater personal toll on the evangelist than bringing the lost to a decision for Christ. Positively no work is more important. To fail here spells defeat in toto.

4. 23 Appealing for a verdict • Dr. Sam Shoemaker, the Episcopalian • Dr. J.C. Massey, the Baptist • Evangelist D.L. Moody, the congregationalist • Dr. John Sund, the methodist • Sadhu Sundar Singh, the converted Indian Sikh • Dr. Walter A Maier, the Lutheran • Dr. Emil Ealliet, of the assemblies of God • Bishop Athanasius, the Mar Thoma cleric • Francis Xavier, the Roman Catholic World Evangelist • Charles G. Finney, the Presbytarian

5. 22 Apealing for a verdict • The list goes on • Mennonites, • Syrian Orthodox • Copts • Seventh Day adventists • Greek orthodox • Armenian Evangelicals • Plymouth bretheren • Church of Christ

6. 21 Appealing for a verdict • Like sermon construction, apologetics, New Testament Greek, appealing for a verdict is equally important. • Princeton trained William Edward Biederwolf said, “It is souls, not sermons that count” • The very uniqueness of evangelism demands an appeal for a decision of some kind. It is a favorable verdict, however expressed, that every evangelist is seeking by his message. Indeed, it’s with this in view that he as prepared the whole of his message

7. 20 Appealing for a verdict • Not to appeal for a verdict may mean for some delay of decision that could spell their eternal doom And for others, it could rob them of precious time during which they could be enjoying the richness of life to be found only in Christ Jesus. • A person owes it not only to Christ, his family and his neighbors, but to himself to make a public decision for Christ and confession of Christ. Christ hung on the cross for him. He can well afford to take a public stand for Christ. Christ suffered shame in public.

8. 19 Appealing for a verdict • Tom Phillips, the former head of raytheon who influenced Churck Colson for God • Maria Mills, the servant girl who won Lord Shaftsbury (Father of Industrial revolution) to faith in Christ. • Mr. Kimball, the Sunday School teacher, who influenced Dwight L Moody for Christ • Ignatius Loyola, who won francis Xavier to faith in Christ

9. 18 Appealing for a verdict • John Wesley, who won William Wilberforce to faith in Christ • Irwin H. Linton, the celebrated jurist, who through his book, influenced Ted for Christ • Mrs. Carrie Hagan, the Greenwood, South Carolina housewife, who influenced for Christ, a young prison inmate, Eddie Lieberman, who matured in to one of the most powerful jewish evangelists and Bible teachers of this century.

10. 17 Appealing for a verdict • Scripture records appeals, entreaties, pleadings, invitations from Genesis to Revelation. Repeatedly, men, women and young people are commanded to hear and to heed the challenge of God. • From the Lord’s entreating query to Adam in Gen 3.9 Adam, where art thou? To the final appeal of the Spirit and the Bride in Rev 22.17 The Spirit and the Bride say, Come and let him who hears say, come, whoever is thirsty let him come and whoever wishes let him take the free gift of the water of life.

11. 16 Appealing for a verdict • Scriptures reverberates with invitations to the lost and to turn to Christ, who came to seek and to save that which was lost. • You may not find in the Scriptures an exact example of a modern invitation extended in an evangelistic meeting. This does not condemn the evangelistic appeal as unscriptural

12. 15 Appealing for a verdict • Before 17th century extending modern invitation was hardly practiced, so also Sunday Schools, Young people’s organizations, Women’s missionary societies, church bulletins, Television ministries, Christian radio broadcasts and Christian Publication houses….

13. 14 Appealing for a verdict • The New Testament makes clear that bringing people to Christ openly and publicly is the main business of the Christians. • You may find close parallels to modern evangelistic invitations in may Biblical passages. Moses in Ex 32.26. after the golden calf incident, stood at the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me. All of the sons of Levi responded. The people of the other tribes resisted the appeal and refused to stand with the Lord’s people

14. 13 Appealing for a verdict • An evangelist appeal for a verdict calls men to take the Lord’s side and forsake the world’s side. • Joshua appealed to Israel to make a definite decision and commitment. Towards the close of his life he gathered all the tribe of Shechem and appealed for a verdict…choose you this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. And the people answered, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord and serve other gods. (Josh 24.15)

15. 12 Appealing for a verdict • 2 Chr 34. 30-32 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord to keep His commandments, regulations and decrees with all his heart and with all his soul and to obey the words …..

16. 11 Appealing for a verdict • Ezra appealed for a verdict when he asked the people to swear publicly to carry out the reformation (Ezre 10.5) So I stood up and demanded that the leaders of the priests and the Levites and all the people of Israel swear that they would do as Shecaniah said, and they all agreed.

17. 10 Appealing for a verdict • Nehemiah made an appeal for a verdict, where Jewish leaders and the rest of the people made a covenant of loyalty to the Lord and His law. (Neh 10.29) All these now join their brothers the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our God

18. 9 Appealing for a verdict • Jesus was constantly appealing for a verdict. (Mat 4.19) He said to Peter and Andrew, Follow me I will make you fishers of men • Jesus invited Zaccaeus to make haste and come down; for today I must abide at thy house (Luke 19.5) • No work in the world is quite so hard as evangelistic work. It is exhausting. • Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a study that concluded that it takes out of a person physically and emotionally to speak for one hour than to work with pick and shovel 13-1/2 hours.

19. 8 Appealing for a verdict • Wrestling with souls is infinitely the hardest work out of all the works. Half an hour of it means more exhaustion, nervously, than half a week of sermon study. • Making an appeal for a verdict at the end of the conclusion of a message is immeausurably more exhausting than even the delivery of the message

20. 7 Appealing for a verdict • One can preach every night for a week with a concluding benediction at the end of message than preach one message and give ourselves conscientiously to the appeal for a verdict . • Sometimes, out of physical fatigue, we may not give out the invitation. An aged man may have the same heart, the same understanding, the same mental capacity but he may not have physical stamina.

21. 6 Applealing for a verdict • Different communities approach an apeal for a verdict in different ways. Some ask people to stand, others may ask people to sign a card; others may call upon unsaved friends to come to front or even to attend a series of classes. • If you say God will bring to Himself those who He wills to save, but since we are commanded to turn many to riteousness, we must work as though everything depends on us while realising that it is God who is working through us to accomplishes His own purposes

22. 5 Appealing for a verdict • Impression without expression leads to depression. When God uses you to show your audience their need of Christ, and you don’t give them some public opportunity to respond, consistent with the worship style of your church, you create frustration and depression.

23. 4 Appealing for a verdict • Just as thorough sermon preparation creates the best possible opportunity for the Holy Spirit to speak through the messenger, so the best possible preparation for the appeal for a verdict creates a God honouring opportunity for the Spirit of God to do His work. • We need to take time as to how you would conclude the message than preparing the message itself.

24. 3 Appealing for a verdict • What is the purpose of a sales man? What is the purpose of a lawyer? What is the purpose of a treaty? Therefore, a minister must give as much attention to prepare his invitation as for the sermon itself. • You may not perspire while preaching, but may sweat when you are just about to make an appeal.

25. 2 Appealing for a verdict • We need a lot of strength to endure perplexity of facing the possibility that after the appeal is made no one will respond thinking it will discredit one’s own ministry specially when you find many coming forward while others preach in different places. Therefore fear should not dissuade people from doing it.

26. 0 Appealing for a verdict • When we read Charles Finney’s autobiography, you will find that this lawyer who came to Christ in his early thirties served as an evangelist for ten years. On one occasion, he saw 30,000 people come to Christ every week for period of six weeks, which was before the day of radio, television, news paper advertising or even public address systems! May God give us wisdom how to win souls for Christ!