Jesus said to the Eleven Disciples before His Ascension
“This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in
His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.” Lk 24: 46-48 NIV
What if the Disciples had decided not to obey Him ?
Where would we be today ? Would there be Christianity as we know it ?
We know that they obeyed because of the recorded Word and because we are here today! Because we call ourselves Christians, meaning we follow Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, but we must realize when we don’t obey His commandments, there are consequences.
Jesus came to save all, not just a few “For the son of man came to seek and to save what was lost!” LUKE 19:10 NIV. We are all lost! No thanks to Adam and Eve in the garden, we are all born sinners. This means from the amen corners in church to the crackheads in the ghettos, from working in children’s ministry to drinking in bars, we are all sinners! Not until we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior are we saved from eternal punishment. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” JOHN 14:6 NIV.
Jesus is the number one soulwinner. The main reason He came was to save all. He chose His disciples to be fishers of people’s souls. “Come follow Me” Jesus said, “And I will make you fishers of men.” MAT 4:19 NIV. He told Peter and Andrew to leave their fishing business and follow Him. He wanted to show them how to help others find God. They left their productive jobs to become productive spiritually. They now had new goals, different priorities. They weren’t perfect but Jesus wasn’t looking for perfect people, just ordinary people like you and I. He chose those who could be changed by His love and sent them out to tell others about Him. Peter stumbled many times along the way. He even denied knowing Jesus but he was still choosen, despite his failures. Matthew, a tax collector, was hated by everyone. Jesus said to him “Come and be my disciple.” MAT 9:9 NIV. and he immediately responded to His call. He invited many of his friends to his home to meet and learn about Jesus.
The Pharisees were upset that Jesus was associating with these “evil” people. They were more concerned with their “holiness” than in helping people learn about God. Jesus showed His disciples how to be soulwinners to all people. “He said to them, ‘Go into the world and preach the good news to all creation.” MARK 16:15 NIV. When we witness, we chose to serve Jesus in a special way. He doesn’t make us do it, we chose to do it just as the disciples chose to.
‘Jesus traveled around through all cities and villages of that area, teaching in the Jewish synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom. And wherever He went He healed people of every sort of illness. And what a pity He felt for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know what to do or where to go for help. They were like sheep without a sheperd. “The harvest is so great and the workers are so few,” He told his disciples. “So pray to the One in charge of the harvesting, and ask Him to recruit more workers for His harvest fields.” ‘ MAT 9:35-38 THE LIVING BIBLE. Whenever Jesus healed a person, the word would spread throughout the village and people would come to see this man, to witness a miracle or witness many miracles. He looked at the crowds and saw how ripe they were to learn about the kingdom. He told His disciples to pray to God for more workers. Jesus needs workers to witness, to show the way to Him.
Many people are ready to give their lives to Christ. They just need someone to show them the way. Everyone who calls Jesus Lord and Savior should and is suppose to be a witness to people who are lost. We should all be prepared by studying the Word so we can show others how to come to Jesus. We are also to pray for more workers. There can never be too many workers for the kingdom.
In T.L. Osborn’s book, “Soul Winning”, he states how ninety-four percent of all ministers of the gospel of the world are preaching to only nine percent of the world. “SOUL WINNING, pg 108, co 1994. I found this statement disturbing as in the fact only six percent preach to the remaining ninety-one percent.
We have our comfort zones that we don’t want to upset. We like preaching in our backyards, so to speak, but how many of us is the Lord calling to go out? All of us pat ourselves on the back when we take trips to other countries for short periods of time such as one or two weeks, but could we do it for one, five, ten years or more? It is easy to go for a short period of time especially when you know you’re coming home to your own home with running water, electricity, indoor plumbing. Alot of times I feel some of these trips are for the glory of self instead of the glory of God. The Holy Spirit dealt with me on this problem. I must admit I don’t want to leave my comfort zone. I asked myself, could I do this? If I truly want to call myself a Christian, I have to. Preach the Gospel to all, one of the many commandments from Jesus for all Christians to do.
I ‘patted myself on the back’ working in children’s ministry, planting the seed in their minds, nurturing it, watering and feeding it. I enjoyed doing that but the Holy Spirit told me to move on. I really didn’t want to but I had to obey. He moved me out of my comfort zone and I am really examining myself and learning so much more. I have asked myself could I go if called? Could I be a missionary in an underdeveloped country? Could I be like the three missionaries in Central America(?) that were taken captive 2-3 years ago and haven’t been seen since, or be like the one in prison in the Republic of Georgia in the Soviet Union?
These questions I have asked myself. ‘Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ” And I said, “Here am I. Send me! ” ‘ Isaiah 6:8 NIV. Yes, I would go.
“The number one sin of Christians is silence.”
VICTORY BAPTIST CHURCH, Cullman,AL.
I found this sign particularly interesting since I was taking the Soul Winning class at Agape Bible Institute. It really made me think especially since I would have said the number one sin is unforgiveness. I now believe it is silence.
After World War II, we Christians were called “the silent majority”. The country prospered, and in the 1960’s we accepted a “live and let live” attitude. Along came Madeline Murrey O’Haire, an atheist, who fought to have prayer removed from public schools. The “silent majority” unfortunately ignored her. Now almost thirty years later, look what has happened to our country.
In the late 1960’s a landlord would not rent to a couple who was not married. They sued him and the “silent majority” was silent again. Look what has happened. The United States has come to where it is now because of silence.
Jesus said for us to be a witness for him. Our silence has cost us alot. We disobeyed or were silent and now we are paying for it. All of us know someone who is living with someone without being married. Is this God’s plan? Of course not, we love them and say nothing. This is a sin. There is little real witnessing going on. We have to learn to take a stand for Jesus, to witness about His love for us and why we should love Him. There are many instances with people where we don’t say anything when God wants us to.
I read someplace, I don’t remember where, that silence means consent. To be a witness for Jesus you can not be silent. You have to go out on the highways and byways, schools, churches, jobs, etc… and be a witness for Jesus, always prepared to be obedient and speak when God tells you to.
How do you lead people to the Lord?
First, the most important thing is to be prepared. To be prepared we must study the Word and know what it says. By staying strong in the Word it helps us to know what to say in our witnessing and it also helps us by building up our faith as well.
Second, we must live what we preach and teach. We call ourselves Christians because we follow Jesus. If we say one thing and do another, we are not setting the right example. Jesus is our example, by following His example lost people will see the difference and want to follow to.
Third, we must love people, all people. We must love our neighbor as we love ourselves. If we can’t love all people, despite whatever their problems, how can we become an effective witness? After all God showed us the greatest love through Jesus. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” JOHN 3:16,17 NIV.
Fourth, we must meet the public. We can’t save people by staying home, keeping to ourselves. Jesus said to go out into the world. Lost people are everywhere.
Fifth, we must find their need. People have many needs. The most basic need of all people is to be loved. This is why they need to know about God’s love for them.
Sixth, we must know how to talk to them. We are not to condemn them but to tell them about Jesus. Many times we talk about ourselves (testimony) and say very little about Jesus, but a good witness will talk primarily about our Lord and His purpose for them. We must teach them the difference between knowing about God and knowing God, which is having a personal relationship with Him and how rewarding it is.
The last thing we must do is bring them to a decision! They can accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and have eternal life or not accept Him and have eternal punishment. The choice is their’s but we never give up trying to bring them to the right decision. We are to prepare the soil, plant the seeds, water, nurture, feed the seeds, put in the sickle and reap the harvest.
We are God’s people, chosen to be a part of His plan to reach the world. “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but to come to repentence.” II PETER 3:9 NIV.
God’s concern for everyone is that none should perish.
To spread the good news, Jesus knew no boundaries. He crossed all of them, national, spiritual, racial, and economic. His message is for the whole world. We must be witnesses to fulfill the worldwide vision of Jesus Christ that people everywhere might hear this great and wonderful message and be saved from sin and death for the glory of our Father.
(c) Donna Prine Perry March 6, 2000