One day as Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee He saw two men, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother.
They were fishermen. “And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4: 19). Soul winners are made not born. Therefore to be an effective witness,
you must be taught, trained, and motivated by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus took three years to teach and train His disciples in the art of soul
winning. After His resurrection He instructed them to stay in Jerusalem and “wait for the promise of the Father”
(Acts 1: 4-8). When the disciples asked Jesus if the time had come for Him to restore the kingdom of Israel,
He answered, “It is not for you to know the time or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me...”
On the day of Pentecost, the hundred and twenty
received power to witness and any believer who will acquire the know-how can be an effective soul winner.
He can know that he and the Holy Spirit are a witnessing
team. Peter said “We are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, WHOM GOD
HATH GIVEN TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM” (Acts 5: 32). Therefore, when you witness remember that “your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is
in you” ( I Cor. 6: 19,20).
When you witness, trust the Holy Spirit to do three things:
(1) Illuminate the mind of the unbeliever.
All lost souls are in spiritual darkness ( II Cor. 4: 3,4).
(2)
Stir the heart of the unbeliever.
As Peter preached Christ, the listeners “were pricked in their heart” (Acts 2: 37).
(3) Move the will of the unbeliever.
The prodigal returned home when he came
to himself and said, “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15: 18).
You may be up to date in all modern techniques
of soul winning, and be able to quote the necessary Scriptures without flaw; but if you do not evangelize in the power of
the Holy Spirit, your soul winning efforts will be ineffective.
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF WITNESSING (Rom.10:13-17)
1(A) “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved”. Do not lift this text out of context. There are three questions in verse 14 that must be considered along with
verse 13, they are:
First question,
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” The answer is the lost cannot call on the Lord to be
saved until they believe--.
(1)
That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
(2) And that He was buried,
(3) And that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Cor.15:1-4)
Second Question, “How shall they believe
in Him of whom they have not heard? The answer is, the lost cannot believe in Him until they hear the good news of salvation.
(1) The Eunuch had to hear to believe (Acts
8:26-39).
(2) Paul had to
hear to believe (Acts 9: 1-18).
(3) Cornelius had to hear to believe (Acts 10: 1-4).
(4) The Philippian jailer had to hear to believe (Acts 16: 25-40).
Third Question, How shall they hear without
a preacher (witness)? “The answer is, they cannot hear the good news of salvation without a witness.
(1) Three thousand were saved at Pentecost because
the 120 witnessed.
(2) The Eunuch
was saved because Philip witnessed.
(3)
Paul was saved because Stephen witnessed (Acts 7:54-60), and Jesus the God-man witnessed, and Ananias witnessed
(Acts 9: 1-18).
(4)
Cornelius and his house were saved because Peter witnessed.
(5) The Philippian jailer and his house were saved because Paul and Silas witnessed.
(6) You were saved because someone witnessed to
you. According to the Word of God the lost cannot be saved without a witness. They must have a witness to hear; they must
hear to believe; they must believe to call; and they must call to be saved. But they cannot call until they believe and they
cannot believe until they hear and they cannot hear without a witness. “So then faith (saving faith) commeth by hearing
the above verse (17). We are not born with saving faith; it comes only when we hear the gospel. Therefore, it is
of utmost importance that every born again child of God obey the great commission to evangelize, to GO WITH THE GOSPEL.
II. THE QUALIFICATION
OF A WITNESS (Col. 2: 6,7)
IIA)A QUALIFIED
WITNESS IS ONE WHO IS :
(1)
Established in the faith. To be established in the faith is to be rooted and grounded in God’s word. Peter said, “Be
ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
(1 Peter 3:15).
(2) Saved and knows
it. I know that I am saved because God tells me so in His word and God cannot lie.
We have the :
(A) Witness of the spirit
(Rom.8:16)
(B) The
witness of the word (1 John 5:13)
(C) The witness of saving faith, “ He that Believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself “
(1 John 5:9,10 ).
(3) Separated. Paul said that he was “ separated unto the gospel of God “ ( Rom. 1: 1-16).
This is a positive separation and Paul analyzed it as:
(a) A holy desire to share spiritual gifts.
(b) A holy purpose to bear fruit.
(c) A holy obligation to pay a spiritual debt.
(d) A holy eagerness to share the gospel.
(e) A holy boldness to exalt the cross.
To be separated unto the gospel is to share the Good News with the lost.
(4) Filled with the Holy Spirit. “ Be filled
with the spirit “ (Eph.5:18). We are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Evidence of
the spirit-filled life as seen in the early Christians:
(a) They spoke the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
(b) They witness with great power (Acts 4:33).
(c) They witness with great grace (Acts
4:33).
(d) They shared their
wealth (Acts 4:34-37).
(e)
They worshipped in unity (Acts 2:42-47).
(f) They suffered persecution (Acts 8:1-4)
(g) They gloried in tribulations (Rom. 5:3).
(h) They sang in prison (Acts 16:25).
(I) They loved and prayed for their executioners
(Acts 7:54-60).
(j)
They rejoiced to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5:41).
They were accused of:
(1) Filling Jerusalem with the gospel (Acts 5:28).
(2) Turning the world upside down (Acts
17:6).
The
120 spirit-filled Christians witnessed on the day of Pentecost and the people were:
(1) Confounded, that is, they were mentally arrested (Acts
2:6).
(2) Amazed, that is,
they were mentally frustrated (Acts 2:7)
(3) Marveling, that is, they stood in mental awe (Acts 2:7)
(4) Mocking, that is, some mentally reacted (Acts
2:13)
(5) Inquiring, that
is, some mentally acted (Acts 2:37)
The gospel proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit will motivate the hearer to act or react. On
the day of Pentecost three thousand acted as evidence by repentance and baptism, while others reacted mocking. No one but
no one, ignored the witness of those Spirit-filled believers.
III: THE APPROACH. (John 1: 40 -42)
III(a) There are two ways to approach the prospect. The first is:
(1)The direct approach. This approach can be used when witnessing to;
(A) A relative. Andrew used the direct approach
to bring his brother Simon Peter to Christ. (Above verses 40-42).
(B) A friend. Philip the apostle used the direct approach to bring Nathaniel to Jesus Verses 45 and
46.
(C) The concerned. Jesus used the
direct approach to win Nicodemus (John 3: 1-21)
(D) The seeker. Paul and Silas used the direct approach to lead the Philippian jailer to Jesus (Acts 16:19-34)
The second is:
(2) The indirect approach. This approach can be used when witnessing to:
(a) A stranger. Jesus used the indirect approach
to witness to the Samaritan woman (John 4: 7-26)
(b) The religious. Philip the evangelist used the indirect approach to lead the Ethiopian eunuch to
Christ (Acts 8: 26-39)
The method in either case will vary according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Whether you use the
direct or the indirect approach, be sure to follow through until you have presented God’s plan of salvation and invited
them to accept Christ as their personal Savior.
IV: THE FOLLOW THROUGH (Matt. 13:3-8;18-23)
IV(A) The parable of the sower illustrates the importance of the follow-through.
Only one fourth of the soil was ready for the seed, so only one fourth of the seed brought forth fruit. Jesus explains the
parable in (Verses 18-23), and we learn that:
(1) The sower is the witness.
(2)
The seed is the word of God.
(3) The
soil is the heart.
We
also learn that there are four types of hearts. They are:
(1) The hard heart; this is the wayside soil, fertile but hard.
(2) The shallow heart; this is the stony soil, fertile but depthless.
(3) The worldly heart; this is the thorny soil,
fertile but possessed.
(4) The understanding
heart; this is good soil, fertile and prepared.
The lesson here is a simple one if we expect the seed, the word of God to bear fruit; the heart must
be made ready. The hard heart must be broken, the shallow heart must be given depth; and the worldly heart must be taught
that the things of this world are temporal (Mark 8:36,37) This requires time, work, and patience.
