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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Model Your Evangelism After the Master, January 26, 2008
This review is from: Jesus the Evangelist (Hardcover)
Jesus the Evangelist had its genesis in a series of expository sermons Richard Phillips preached on the gospel of John. As he studied and explored the book, he immediately saw John's continual emphasis on the theme of gospel witness. As a talented expository preacher, Phillips' sermons took the theme of the passage and he preached sermons on "the privilege and obligation of evangelism." Having preached the sermons, he realized there would be value in compiling into book format what John teaches on the subject of evangelism. Jesus the Evangelist is the result and he hopes it will service to "both motivate and instruct the practice of evangelism among Christians."
The book is written for two audiences. The first is the many committed Christians who do little in the way of evangelism. This book is meant to enhance the zeal of these people by emboldening their witness with biblical wisdom, guidance and instruction. The second audience is those who are zealous in their witness but who would profit from understanding Jesus' approach to evangelism that they may ensure they are evangelizing in a way that is consistent with Scripture. After all, many who seek to witness for Christ in reality do nothing that genuinely approaches biblical evangelism. Phillips hopes to instruct these people so their knowledge may match their zeal.
The book is structured around chapters 1, 3 and 4 of John. In the first part, examining John 1, Phillips focuses on John the Baptist, the man who came to bear witness to the light, and drawing from his ministry biblical principles of evangelism. The second part, examining John 2, looks at Jesus encounter with Nicodemus and teaching from that story the theology of the gospel. The final part observes Jesus practice of evangelism as we see it in John 4 where Jesus interacts with the woman at Jacob's well. An appendix deals with the important matter of the relationship of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, providing a brief look at biblical principles that should embolden our witness.
While it is clear that this book is based upon expository sermons, beyond very consistent chapter lengths, it does not have the "feel" of a sermon and potential readers should not allow that knowledge to turn them away from it. Were they to do so they would be missing out on a real treasure. While I have read widely in this subject matter, rarely have I found myself so convicted as I was while studying Jesus the Evangelist. The reason is clear. Rather than depending on surveys, statistics and guilt to motivate evangelism, Phillips turns instead to Scripture and allows the Holy Spirit to work encouragement through the Word. Inherently centered upon the Bible, the book never veers from the Word, never turns aside from plumbing the depths of the Scriptural witness about evangelism.
As I read the book I found myself feeling optimistic that this book may reach an audience beyond the Reformed churches. Many who profess Christ today desperately desire that the church spend more time studying Jesus and following His example. This book offers just such an opportunity. It teaches how the Lord Himself evangelized and how He drew people to Himself through gospel witness. It relies on Jesus to teach the theology and practice of evangelism.
I hope this book is read widely and read meditatively. Unique in a crowded field, Jesus the Evangelist is biblical exposition at its finest, simply opening Scripture, teaching the reader about the character of God, and allowing the Spirit to bring about conviction and action. I recommend this book to any and all believers.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Better Resources Available, November 22, 2009
This review is from: Jesus the Evangelist (Hardcover)
This is an average book, but there are others that I would recommend before this including: J.I. Packer's, "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God", or Mark Dever's, "The Gospel & Personal Evangelism". The best nugget came when Phillip speaks on Luke's account of the Great Commission and how Jesus death, resurrection, and our proclamation are synonymous.
This book is broken into three sections that cover John 1, 3, and 4. The biggest issue I had with this book is that it really does dive into the subject of evangelism that much but just hovers around the surface some, and within the first chapter it takes concepts that are not speaking directly to us and tries to draw direct correlations. Sometimes this isn't a big deal if we want to apply a principle, but the entire first portion (4 chapters) try to speak on how we should be similar to John the Baptist which is not the purpose of John 1 at all. So occasionally scripture is used out of it's context to try and emphasis a principle for evangelism to the modern day believer.
The second portion covers the gospel. The meat of what the gospel should entail. This I did find to be a helpful section. But this was rehearsed over and over in ever chapter and became almost redundant (not meaning to sound degrading to the gospel). It began to seem as if the book was about "What is the gospel" with snippets of an evangelist response.
The third section was overall probably the best section. It went through Christ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well, and then evangelism and the sovereignty of God as an appendix. This was probably the most useful section of the reading. Gave sound applicable advise, and it did stay true to why it must be re-enforce to the gospel. Phillips developed what evangelism can look like for many of us based on John 4, and then how we can be sure to have faith in that through the gospel that Christ brought to her.
Overall, not the best and I would recommend Dever's book first and then Packer's if you are looking for reading material. Also, I have heard of a book by Horatius Bonar but haven't read it, "Words to Winners of Souls"
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Practical, exegetical evangelism, February 19, 2008
This review is from: Jesus the Evangelist (Hardcover)
Jesus the Evangelist, by Richard Phillips, is a collection of sermons Phillips preached at his Presbyterian church through the Gospel of John. These sermons focus on John 1, 3, and 4, and examine the evangelism of Jesus.
Perhaps the biggest danger in studying historical narratives is confusing description with prescription. Just because Jesus walked on water, for example, does not mean Mark is telling us to walk on water. This danger is the trap that plagues many books on evangelism. Many evangelistic methods take one example of evangelism from a Gospel or Acts, and build a model upon that singular event as if it was prescriptive.
But Phillips threads this needle exceptionally well, by summarizing the text, asking questions of the text, and then showing how those answers can be applied to us today. For example, from Jesus' exchange with Nicodemus, Phillips gives us theology: "The reason we can be born again, receiving eternal life, is that God loves the world." And later: "John 3:16 shows that it is not enough to know what faith is; we must actually have it." Finally, he shows how these truths illuminate why Jesus said what he said: "Sometimes, when doctrinal explanations have failed to move a sinner's heart, a biblical portrait of Jesus' beautiful love will bring him or her to salvation." He does this all while resisting the temptation to reduce evangelism to a singular method, and instead he shows principles from all three of these evangelistic encounters that are useful today.
Jesus the Evangelist moves beyond the normal illustrations and evident principles to the more practical and profound. He peels back the Samaritan's woman's questions to show that people are often seeking the wrong things--things that will not satisfy. In order to get a sinner to realize this, their sin must be confronted, and this is what Jesus did in John 4:16-19. Jesus' confrontation turned into multiplied evangelism, as the woman returned home, testifying that Jesus is "the Savior of the World" (John 4:42).
Phillips brings an exegete's keen eye to these texts, and he matches that with a God-centered theological precision. He shows how Jesus proclaimed his sovereignty over salvation in John 3, while also claiming that whoever believes in Him will be saved. He does this in a way that is faithful to the text, and more importantly, in a way that makes the reader want to go outside and witness.
His section on how the Gospel shows the love of God was remarkable for precisely this reason: he let the text speak, instead getting bogged down theological arguments foreign to the passage. I finished that section not with questions about free will and predestination, but with a sense of being overwhelmed at the love which God has shown not just me, but the world.
This book is as precise as it is practical. It would be helpful for pastors preaching through John, and it would be helpful for Christians who want to study the way Jesus practiced evangelism. I'm glad Phillips put this out as a book on evangelism, rather than as a commentary, because if an author were to write a faithful commentary on these three passages, it would end up being a book on evangelism. Each section also ends with discussion questions where are helpful for small groups.
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