Editor's Note: The Following Bible Study is about the fundamentals of the Christian faith; habits that we as Christians should put into practice in order to develop and grow in our relationship with Jesus
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Think about this for a moment! If you were CEO of a company and were interviewing people to fill a vital role in the company and you (in your sinner life) came in for an interview, would you hire you? Would you trust you to be faithful to fulfill your duties?
I think it’s
amazing that Jesus would make us His plan to grow His church. We are Plan A – There is no Plan B. “He has
chosen us to tell of the good news of restored relationship with our creator!”
Text: John 1:35-51
John 1:35-51 (NKJV)
1:35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone). 43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46 And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" 48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." 51 And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
1.
The Basics of Witnessing
When you’re a pastor and you talk to people about witnessing
you get two responses consistently: 1) I
don’t know enough about the Bible and 2) I’m not outgoing (I don’t know how to
approach people).
But really, it’s not about Biblical knowledge. Witnessing isn’t just about reciting a bunch
of scriptures. It’s not about leading
people down the “Roman Road.” Don’t get me wrong
memorizing scripture will help you, but it’s not about what you know about the
Bible.
And it’s not about your personality, either. Some people are naturally extroverted. They can talk to anyone about anything. Personally, I’m not like that. I had to teach myself to reach out to
people. You can’t pioneer a church
without talking to people, right?
Our text has a method of witnessing that it shows us:
Verse 38, “Behold the Lamb of God” – Show them Jesus
Verse 39, “Come and see” – Look at what God is
doing!
Verse 45, “We have found Him…Jesus” – I made Him a
part of my life
And Verse 46, “Come and see” – Find out what he has
done in other lives (an invitation)
The Woman at the Well:
John 4:28-30 (NKJV)
4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
Simply sharing your testimony is probably the most effective
way:
I preached on my testimony in a church service once and a woman
turned to the person next to her and asked, “can this be true?” Our testimony
can have a powerful effect on people.
The woman at the well simply shared her testimony”
John 4:39 (NKJV)
4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."
Our job is to sow the seed of God’s word and share the good
news with others, believing God to bring the Harvest!
Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 (NKJV)
11:4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.
Mark 16:15, 20 (NKJV)
16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature....16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)
3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (NKJV)
3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
Isaiah 55:10-11 (NKJV)
55:10 "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
2.
The Urgency of Witnessing
David Jeremiah
“If we understand what lies ahead for those who do not know Christ, there will
be a sense of urgency in our witness.”
Luke 14:23 (NKJV)
14:23 Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Compel is a pretty strong word. “Compel” (Grk) “to necessitate, compel,
drive to, constrain, by force, threats, entreaties or by other means.”
We are to be the watchman for our generation:
Ezekiel 33:2-6 (NKJV)
33:2 "Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.'
2 Corinthians 5:11, 18-20 (NKJV)
5:11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences...5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
Did you know that ion the Greek the word for witness is the
same as the word for martyr? There is a
price to pay for being a witness. What
is the Price?
Rev 1:5 “Jesus Christ the faithful witness”…”martyr”.
Breaking Intimidation
There is a spiritual resistance to witnessing. The Devil hates it when he loses his grasp on
people’s eternity, doesn’t he?
Acts 3:6-7 (NKJV)
3:6 Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
Acts 3:18-21 (NKJV)
3:18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
This is a pretty powerful witness of Jesus, isn’t it? First he demonstrates God’s power before
everyone, then he tells them that God can forgive their sins and they could be
restored into a right relationship with God.
But what happens next?
Acts 4:1-4 (NKJV)
4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
They were seized and held overnight. Then the Pharisees and Saducees threatened
them not to preach Jesus anymore in the city.
Probably they were threatened with prison and beatings. The people got
together and prayed for boldness…look at what happened.
Acts 4:29-31 (NKJV)
4:29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
The intimidation was broken through prayer.
Evangelism must remain “The Tip of The Spear” of a thriving church. “Tip of The Spear” definition-“a person or group of people that is the first to do something considered difficult or dangerous, especially a group of soldiers, etc. who are the first to enter a battle area: Also-the leading position that someone or a group of people is in when there is a possibility of something difficult or dangerous happening.”
3.
Rewards of Witnessing
There are rewards to being obedient and witnessing. One of the greatest rewards of witnessing is
the Joy of seeing someone saved because YOU spoke up! When you are hesitant to reach out, you’re
struggling and then you make up your mind and do it…then that person gets
saved. How does that feel? Pretty awesome!
Look at this:
2 Kings 5:1-4 (NKJV)
5:1 Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman's wife. 3 Then she said to her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy." 4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel."
Naaman was cleansed of leprosy because this slave girl spoke
up. How do you think she felt? How would you have felt?
Acts 13:47-49, 52 (NKJV)
13:47 For so the Lord has commanded us: 'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.' " 48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Finally, there is this:
We will receive a reward for being a witness:
Daniel 12:1-3 (NKJV)
12:1 "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.
An Eternal Reward!
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