Download 4 - Bible Alive Ministries

LBS-010
Witnessing
I. The Great Commission
Jesus last words to His disciples was the Great Commission. Last words are important.
A. Mt 28:19-20. The Holy Spirit through Matthew said:
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world. Amen.
B. Mk 16:15-16. The Holy Spirit through Mark said:
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
C. Luke 24:47-49. The Holy Spirit through Luke said:
47 …And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
D. Luke, like the others said to go forth, but, he added something else: “before you go, wait for the
Promise of the Father to come upon you until you be endued with Power from on high”. In other
words, to have the power to do the preaching I’ve asked you to do, you must wait until you are
Baptized in the Holy Spirit (have received the Promise of the Father – Acts 1:4, 2:33)
E. Telling other about Jesus so they can receive what we have received is one ministry we all
have. Mt 10:8. “Freely ye have received; freely give”.
II. What Do We Say?
Now, if we’re going to go forth, but we need to know what to say.
A. 2Cor 5:18 (Amp): Below tells us what to say as ambassadors of the Ministry of Reconciliation..
18
But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us
into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to
bring others into harmony with Him].
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It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not
counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but canceling them], and committing to us the message of
reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).
B. Notice it’s…the ministry (only one ministry – not a (just any) ministry) of reconciliation.
And, not a ministry of bad news (you’re going to hell!), but of good news (here’s how to get free).
Jesus said to preach the “gospel”. The gospel means “good news” which is reconciliation. Nor bad
news – “you’re lost and going to hell, and here’s what hell is going to be like”. Unsaved people
know that and it’s not “news”. And even if it is news, it’s not “good news”.
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C . Ten Steps On “How to Witness”:
1. Ask God to use you to reach the lost.
2. Tell God you’re available, “I present my body as you for this purpose...” (Rom 12:1).
3. Ask God to bring people across your path that would be receptive to the gospel,
4. Ask God through His Holy Spirit to make you sensitive to opportunities to tell others about
what Jesus has done for them. I’m learning that my job is a means to an end and not an end in
itself. It’s a way to provide the time to do things the Lord wants done.
5. Know what your role is & what God’s role is in witnessing. 1Cor 3:6. There’s no burden on the
one witnessing to do anything but sow the seed. God’s part is to see that the seed sowed, grows.
6. Don’t judge the effectiveness of the witnessing you do by the fruit you think you see sprouting
or not sprouting. If you sowed the seed, you did your job. There is power in the Word seed you
gave them (Rom 1:16) ; now let God give the growth. Be ready to go back and water the seed
after you’ve planted it, if God so directs. But in either case, God will give the actual growth to that
seed. You sow the seed. If they accept Jesus right then, fine. If not, you’ve still done your job,
which is to sow the seed. Someone else may actually do the harvesting of the ‘plant’ that grows
from that seed you sowed. He who sows, he who waters and he who harvests are all equal.
7. Be sensitive to the H.S. Live with an expectant air of potential opportunity to share the gospel
when you are with others who you suspect may not know Jesus. Expect to be used.
8. Know how to start the conversation. First ask the Lord to open the door if this is a person yo
whom He would like you to speak – to create a natural way to start talking that doesn’t seem
contrived. Reading the Bible on an airplane has been a door opener for me. Many times
circumstances where 2 or more people are thrown together with a common objective is a good
door opener. Jesus used this in the classic case of the woman at the well in Jn 4:7-. He started a
conversation about something they had in common – the desire to drink water from the well.
“Give me to drink”. Point: all we have to do is start talking a conversation and trust God meet us
there and help us. Mk 16:20.
In Acts 8:26-39 there is a similar account. Philip is sent to witness to the Ethiopian. Again, Philip
goes right to the thing the man is presently involved in doing and begins the conversation there.
a. He began where the man was. “I don’t understand what I’m reading…”
b. He preached “Jesus” from the scripture he was reading unto him.
9. Know what to say (see 2A above).
a. Preach the Word – that’s where the power is Rom 1:16.
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b. Preach the gospel: 1Cor 1:17. We preach Jesus :
c. Preach Christ crucified. This produces the power of God in the situation – Rom 1:16.
d. Don’t preach your testimony too hard. 2Cor 4:5. “For we preach not ourselves but Christ
Jesus…”
e. Preach the good news of reconciliation. 2Cor 5:18. Not the bad news of what will happen if
they don’t accept Jesus.
10. Jn 7:37. Don’t try to push people onto Jesus. Lead them to the water and let THEM drink.
a. Rom 10:13. “Whosoever shall CALL on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.
b. Jn 1:12: “As many as RECEIVED Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.”
c. Rev 3:20. “behold I stand at the door and knock, if any MAN SHALL OPEN the door…”
d. Jn 7:27. If any man thirst, LET HIM COME TO ME and drink.
e. Acts 8: The eunuch. HE saw the water and HE wanted to be baptized. It wasn’t Philip saying
“look here’s water, let me baptize you”.
f. Jn 4: The woman at the well said, “sir, give me this water” (I want it).
g. Acts 2:37. they said “what must WE do to be saved?” It wasn’t Peter saying, “ come on
everyone, let’s pray the sinner’s prayer”.
D. These accounts are put in the Bible for a reason – so we’ll do things right – to “give us
instruction in (how to obtain) righteousness” 2Tim 3:16.
III. Summing up: What must we do to be saved?
1. Acts 2:38 Repent of past sins.
2. Rom 10:9-10. Believe that Jesus rose from the dead.
3. Rom 10:9-10. Confess Jesus as your Lord.
4. Jn 1:12. Receive Jesus as your savior by faith.
Do these 4 things and you’re now a son or daughter of God the Father.
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HOMEWORK – LBS-010
___. When someone gets ready to go on a long trip, their last words to you may take on added meaning.
Name someone who went on a long trip and left final instructions that were very important. ________.
What were those final instructions called? __________________________________________________.
Name 3 people who recorded these final instructions. _____________, _____________, ____________.
Name 3 things these final instructions told believers to do? ___________, ___________, ____________.
___. Not every believer has a ministry given by God for them to do while on earth.
Jesus said in Mt 10:8, ___________ ye have ______________, ___________ give.
God has given each believer the ministry of _____________________.
___. This is a ministry of good news, not bad news.
___. If God wants to use us to witness, He will. It’s not necessary for us to tell Him were willing to witness.
___. We should pray for God to save people who we believe have not accepted Jesus.
___. After we have witnessed to a person, we have failed if they refuse to accept Jesus as their Savior.
___. If we sowed the seed, we did our job. There is power in the Word seed we gave them. Scripture? ___.
Name 2 Bible instances where God gives us conversational examples of “opening the door” to witnessing.
_____________________________________, ___________________________________________.
___. When we begin to give the gospel message of reconciliation to others, we should realize we on our
own and should expect no help.
___. God has already done the hard part of salvation; witnessing to others is the easy part.
___. My testimony will provide the power to bring conviction to the sinner I witness to.
The Bible says in 2Cor 4:5 that we preach not ______________ but ________ _________ the _________.
___. We are to preach the good news of reconciliation - not the bad news of what will happen to them if
they don’t accept Jesus.
Give 3 scriptures that essentially tell us that we are not to “push” people to Jesus, but to lead them to Jesus.
____________________________, ___________________________, ____________________________.
___. These accounts are put in the Bible for a reason – so we’ll do things right – to give us instruction in
(how to obtain) righteousness” Hint: 2Tim 3:16.