Education Witness Style 4

Overview

The Word Does the Work

When Paul entered the synagogue at Iconium and later at Thessalonica, he didn't rely on charisma or clever argumentation. Luke tells us in Acts 14:1 that Paul and Barnabas "spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers," and in Acts 17:2 Paul "argued with them from the Scriptures." That little phrase—from the Scriptures—is everything. We never intellectually win anyone into the kingdom. The conversion of a soul is not a debate to be won on points; it is the Word of God going forth, which the Spirit uses to convert the heart. Our authority always lies outside ourselves, in Scripture itself.

God Gets the Credit

Read in isolation, those passages might suggest that persuasive speech produces converts. But Scripture interprets Scripture. In Acts 1:8, Jesus promises that power for witness comes when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. Paul himself confesses in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." We are called to be diligent and clear in proclaiming the law and the gospel—but God alone causes the growth. He is the one who effects the change.

Freedom from the Fear of Failure

Perhaps the single greatest obstacle to witnessing is the fear of failure—the fear that someone will rebuff us, dismiss us, or tell us never to speak of Jesus again. When that happens, we replay the conversation in our minds, second-guessing every word, and either resolve to "do better next time" or quietly resolve never to try again. But Jesus says in John 6:37, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." The disciples knew they could not fail—and neither can we. If God has determined to bring a person to faith, He will do it in His own timing, and we are simply part of a process. We may plant; we may water; we may arrive at the moment the seed sprouts—or we may never see the harvest at all.

Plant the Seed and Leave the Results

Consider the man who walked into a pastor's office one morning saying he wanted to join the church because he had become a Christian the night before. The seed had actually been planted years earlier by a Pentecostal preacher who likely never saw any visible fruit from that conversation. Did that preacher fail? Not at all. If we had the power to make seeds sprout, we could blame ourselves when they don't. But we don't have that power. Our calling is simply to proclaim the gospel faithfully and leave the results to God. Whether you are introverted or extroverted, soft-spoken or bold, focus on the person in front of you, listen well, speak the truth of Scripture, and trust the Spirit to do what only He can do.

Transcript

Well, welcome back from our little break last week. We were studying last time we 0s

got together two weeks ago about how Jesus witnessed to people. We noticed that 7s

sometimes Jesus was the one that initiated the conversation. Other times it was 14s

the other person or party. Sometimes it was in the workplace. Sometimes it was in 20s

the home. Interestingly, in very few situations, in very few situations, was it 25s

was it ever in a religious setting where Jesus was witnessing. So it was it was 32s

witnessing that simply occurred as part of daily life. We looked at how 37s

evangelism is not an event in which we do but it is a process in which we are 43s

all a part of and we are all a part of a team and we all play little parts in 49s

people's lives that we come into contact with. We talked about focusing on the 55s

person in front of you. If you are more of an introverted nature, an 61s

introvert will have more of an inclination than an extrovert to kind of run the 66s

video back in his or her mind in terms of I wonder how I'm coming across. I 71s

wonder how I'm being perceived and all of that. So if you're more introverted of 76s

nature, just focus on the on the person that is in front of you and listen to 81s

them. When we listen to them, we put our focus on the other instead of our 88s

self. It builds trusts. It helps us to learn where God is working in their 94s

lives and we earn the privilege to share with them and we all will witness 99s

differently. So we don't emphasize form. We emphasize the function. So the form of 105s

how we witness is going to constantly be different amongst all of us. The 112s

function of witnessing belongs to each and every one of us. Well the day I want 116s

to continue our little study on this subject and whether you are introvert or 122s

extrovert, God works through all of us, introverted or extroverted. Let's take a 128s

look at Acts the 14th chapter. Please Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and then Acts, 136s

Acts chapter 14, verse 1, Acts chapter 14, verse 1. We read the same thing 142s

occurred in Iconium where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and 166s

spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. 171s

Let's go to Acts 17, Acts 17, verse 2. Acts 17, verse 2 and Paul went in as 181s

was his custom and on three Sabbath days argued with them from the Scriptures. Notice that little phrase 196s

there from the Scriptures, right? We never intellectually win anyone into the kingdom. It's always God's 204s

word that goes forth that the Spirit uses and converts the heart. And so the conversion of 215s

someone is never a debate that you will win, that you can't put up the points and say, 222s

well in the end I've got more points here. You'll see. And if I'm just good at debating them, 229s

I'll debate them into the kingdom. No, it's always the word. And so our argument is always outside 234s

of ourselves and is the authority of the word itself. The three days he argued with them from 241s

the Scriptures explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise 247s

from the dead and saying, this is the Messiah, Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you. Some of them 255s

were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few 263s

of the leading women. There's other verses here that shows how God indeed uses us. And if you just 270s

take these verses in isolation, you might think to yourself, well, they spoke persuasively and then 278s

the person was converted. Well, we have to let Scripture interpret Scripture because while indeed, 287s

we want to be a people that are equipped and to proclaim the gospel clearly, to proclaim the 296s

law clearly, to proclaim the gospel clearly, to proclaim the truths of Scripture clearly. We must 302s

never think that we are the ones that cause the church to grow. We're just simply not. Look at 308s

Acts the first chapter and notice who it is that gets all the credit. Acts chapter 1 verse 8. 316s

Acts 1 verse 8, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be 332s

my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, into the ends of the earth. Let's go to 342s

1 Corinthians the 15th chapter. Matthew Mark, Luke, John, Acts and Romans, then 1 Corinthians chapter 15 351s

verse 10. Verse Corinthians 15 verse 10. Paul writes, some of the inspiration of the Spirit, 361s

but by the grace of God, I am what I am and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, 377s

I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is within me. 386s

And so indeed, as we are a converted people, our wills are converted. God conforms us more and more 397s

each and every day to be like him and God calls us to be diligent and hardworking in proclaiming 405s

the gospel, but the one that gets all the credit for any change in the people that we are proclaiming 413s

to is God Almighty. Why? Because he is the one that affects the change. Whether we are then an 421s

introvert or an extrovert, God gives us the confidence to carry out the great commission. 430s

Let's look at John the sixth chapter. Matthew Mark, Luke, and then John chapter 6 verse 37. 440s

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me and anyone who comes to me, I will never drive away. 463s

Every person whom God the Father gave us on would indeed come to faith. That means that the disciples 473s

knew they could not fail. They couldn't fail. Now think about that in terms of our witnessing. What is, 484s

I think, the number one thing that keeps us from sharing the gospel. It's fear of what? 494s

Failure. It's fear that the person is going to look at you and say, don't you ever talk to me 504s

about Jesus again? And I'm offended that you do. That's the worst case scenario, right? 512s

Worst case scenario. That's worse than kind of the polite, I'm not interested on that, but it's 520s

more of an aggressive assertive action where the person says, don't you ever do that to me again. 529s

Well, that's the worst case scenario. And what would that be? The worst case scenario of 534s

failure, right? We failed. And so what happens if we get that kind of response? Well, we start to think, 542s

what did I, oh, I should have said this differently. I would have said this at this time, 552s

then maybe I would have gotten a different reaction. Or my words got all kind of jumbled up there, 559s

and I got kind of tongue tied on this. You see, we will immediately look at ourselves and say 566s

that we have what? Fail. We failed. And so when we fail, we've got, we've got one of two options, 573s

right? We either say, okay, I failed. And well, I'll try and do better next time. Or we say, 583s

I'm not doing that again. Well, I don't want to fail again. God lifts us away from all of the 594s

language and the understanding of failure when we witness. Lift it. Why? Because we're not responsible 601s

for the growth. We're not responsible for the seed sprouting. All we're responsible for is 610s

planting the seed, period. In other words, when the scripture here tells us, in John 37, 616s

everything that the Father gives me will come to me. And anyone who comes to me, I will never 626s

drive away the disciples knew then they couldn't fail. They couldn't fail. What a glorious, 631s

liberating way to live. If indeed God is going to bring that person to faith, then God will 640s

bring that person to faith on God's own timing. And we're just part of a process. And you might be 648s

at the point where that seed sprouts and you get to hear it or you may never, ever hear it. 657s

They never, ever hear it. I go back to the guy who walked in the office when I was in Cedar Hill, 665s

said, I'd like to join your church. Why? Because I just became a Christian last night. Oh, 672s

that's wonderful. Then he tells me about the Pentecostal preacher years ago who had been 677s

witnessing. And the only reason he walked into my office door was we were the closest church. 681s

We were just the closest ones. So he goes, well, I'll go there. I'll go there. You see, I received 687s

all the work that had been done by the Pentecostal preacher years before. And so that Pentecostal 695s

preacher who saw absolutely no results in this guy's life, if he says, I failed, I failed. 704s

Is that theologically correct? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. If we had the power to make the 715s

seed sprout, if we had the power to make the seed grow, then we could look and we could say, 723s

well, maybe I need to change my communication a little bit more. Or you see, but if not, 730s

since we don't have that power, we just proclaim the gospel. And we leave the results to him. 738s