Sharing the Gospel God's Way

BY GABRIEL OTERO

Genesis 24

Just before His Ascension, the Lord Jesus told His disciples to go and disciple all nations. But you know what? Although the Book of Acts has many accounts for people becoming saved after they have been witnessed to, we cannot find in the Bible any step-by-step instruction on how we are to share the gospel.

Nevertheless, Romans 15:4 says, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

In other words, God has hidden in the historical events recorded in the Old Testament His teaching for us relating to the various aspects of God's salvation plan.

And Genesis 24 is one of those places where the Bible gives us a demonstration of evangelism, God's style. On the historical plane, that chapter describes how the servant of Abraham found a wife for Isaac. But God is using that actual event to give us a picture of how we, the servants of God, might bring people to Christ. Remember, believers are the bride of Christ.

So, let's look at Genesis 24 with our spiritual eye and see what God is teaching us there.

Background. In the first nine verses, we learn that Abraham was well stricken in age and he told his eldest servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. He made the servant swear that he would not get any woman for Isaac from among the Canaanites. He also warned the servant, in verses 6 and 8, not to bring his son back to the
land where the bride was to be found.

This passage teaches at least three things. First, the initiative of bringing a person to Christ begins with God the Father. Jesus says in John 6: "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me" (v. 37) and "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (v. 44).

Secondly, Canaanites is a picture of the unsaved of the world. Unbelievers, who are under the wrath of God, cannot be the bride of Christ. We read in John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Thirdly, with Abraham warning the servant twice not to take his son back, God is emphasizing that we are not to share a gospel that speaks of Christ appearing on earth again either as a human king or through visions or other signs. When the Lord returns, He will appear in the sky on the clouds of power and great glory.

We then read in verse 10, "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia..." You see, when we set out to share the gospel with others, we have "all the goods" of our master because God has "blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3).

From verse 12 on, this Biblical example shows that bringing people to Christ involves many stages.

1. Supplication.

Verses 12-14: "And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham...And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac..."

The first thing the servant did is to pray, beseeching God to give him success as he served his master. He further prayed that God would enable him to recognize the one whom God has chosen.

I cannot possibly overemphasize the importance of prayer. Before we begin to witness to others, we need to first pray for them. And we beseech God to give us success.

2. Confirmation.

When you witness, you don't just go on the street and knock everybody off with the gospel. You first throw out an idea or a thought, or you do something good for somebody and then wait for the opportunity. You need a confirmation.

Well, along came Rebekah and the servant ran to meet her and asked for a drink of water. Then, he received the confirmation:

Verse 19: "And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking."

When we share the gospel, the confirmation often comes when people begin to ask us questions. That's why I Peter 3:15 says, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." Of course, we need to know the scripture well enough to give them correct answers.

3. Preparation.

Now, the servant knew that this was the woman. But he didn't talk right there at the well.

Verses 22,23: "And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?"

With great tactfulness, he said to her, "If there is any other opportunity, I would like to visit with you." With meekness and fear, we too should prepare the person first.

That was what Christ did with Zacchaeus. In Luke 19, we find this tax-collector, who was rich but short in stature, climbing up a tree trying to see the Lord Jesus. When Jesus came by, He didn't say, "Oh, you rotten sinner, don't you know that you are going to hell?" Rather, He said: "Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house." That's almost the same as Genesis 24!

Before you tell someone of the beauty of God, the wonders of God, the judgment of God and the blessings of God, prepare that person first. It would be helpful if you can have a place to conduct a quiet conversation.

4. Presentation.

Verses 34-38: "And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son."

And he goes on and on and on through verse 49 telling the entire story of why he has come. This is what we call the whole counsel of God. We let people know exactly why we are sharing the gospel with them.

When you try to lead somebody to the Lord, please do not talk only about the love of God or only about the judgment of God; give them the whole picture. You need to tell them how God created the world and, in His love, made a garden; and how Adam and Eve listened to the devil and rebelled against God. And you need to tell them how sin has condemned mankind to eternal punishment, and how God has provided a way of escape for those who believe in Christ. We need to present the full counsel of God.

5. Invitation.

In verses 50-52, Rebekah's parents were ready to let Rebekah go. But the Genesis 24 story doesn't end here. The servant presented gifts to Rebekah and some other members of the family, and then they discussed when Rebekah should begin to go to marry Isaac. They decided that the girl should have the final word.

You see, salvation is a very personal thing. No other human being can believe in Christ for us; and no matter how strong our faith is, we cannot believe for somebody else.

Verse 58: "And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go."

There, we have the invitation and the acceptance. Please do not ever preach and leave the gospel empty. Sometimes, the people you have witnessed to are really convicted, but they do not know how to go from there. We need to give them a chance to respond.

Paul did that in Acts chapter 26. In verse 27, right after he had shared the gospel to King Agrippa, he said, "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest." In other words, "King Agrippa, what are you going to do about this?"

As you and I share the gospel, we should also close by asking, "Now, what are you going to do with Jesus Christ the Savior?"

6. Consolidation.

Even after the ones we have witnessed to have started to put their trust in the Lord, we still have work to do. We need to place them in the company of believers. Some of them will come into your church, some of them will become members of other churches, but we do not leave them out in the world now that they're Christians.

Some of them will come into your church, some of them will become members of other churches, but we do not leave them out in the world 

Verses 64,65: "And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself."

This thing about the veil is to symbolize the body of Christ today. We cannot see Jesus face to face yet; we now see through a glass darkly, as I Corinthians 13:12 puts it. But one day, our veil will be removed; we will be in the presence of God forevermore.

Verses 66,67: "And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."

What a beautiful ending! We witness to people, we lead them to Christ, we bring them into fellowship with other believers, and we finally see them one in one in communion with God in the kingdom of heaven. Beloved, this is sharing the gospel, God's way. o

Dr. Gabriel Otero is pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church, 810 Tennat Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037, and the dean of Family Radio's School of the Bible.

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