May 23, 2021
Theme: “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Family Affair.”
Today’s message serves as an addendum to Lesson 2: How to Effectively and Efficiently Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Give Personal Testimony of Christ to the Lost dated, May 16-23, 2021
Please grab hold of your Bibles and turn to John 15:1-17. Sometimes I think that many of our churches have forgotten, or have chosen to ignore, these vitally important words of Jesus Christ concerning the “Oneness” we have in God in Christ Jesus, and what God expects to result from our union with Him, as born-again Christians. Let’s start with reading verses 1-8.
Jesus Christ makes it clear that every born-again Christian is expected to abide in Jesus (The Vine), and Jesus in them, and bring forth much fruit. The fruit Jesus Christ is talking about is winning the lost to Christ and bringing them into discipleship; through the preaching of the gospel, our personal witness of the Lord, followed by the tutoring Christian converts to observe the teachings of Jesus Christ.
However, survey data spanning many decades has shown that about 95 percent of Christians have never preached the gospel to a single person and won them to Christ. Data also show that 85 percent of Christians have never invited anyone to attend a church service. Thus, most Christians have little or no fruit that they are bearing to God, and are falling far short of God’s expectation for them.
The reason why Christians are not bearing an abundance of fruit (souls) as commanded by Jesus, is because most Christians are not abiding in Christ, and Christ in them. Wow, that is a very strong statement for sure. However, I would venture to say that the majority of Christians, if asked, could not even tell you, what it means to “abide in Jesus.” Even though, most Christians would quickly tell you that they are abiding in Jesus.
Jesus tells us exactly what abiding in Him means at John 15:9-10. The person who abides in Jesus, is the one who possesses and carries out the commandments of God and Jesus. God’s commandments are that we are to love Him with our “entire being” (spirit, soul, mind, and body), and also love our neighbors as ourselves. (Matt. 23:37-40) Jesus’ commandment is that we love one another as He has loved us. (John 15:12)
Jesus wants us to understand His commandment this way. He gave His life so that the whole world might be saved. Therefore, our love for others must focus on preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and witnessing Christ to unbelievers, so that they may be saved. There is no greater expression of love that we can give than to tell somebody about Jesus Christ who does not know Him.
As such, in John 15:12-17, every Christian is commanded to take the gospel to the lost and win souls. It’s not our choice to go and win souls, rather we have all been called, anointed, and sent out by Jesus Christ to bring forth much fruit. Jesus said those that obey His commands are His friends. Also, very important, we can see directly through verse 16, that when Christians obey the command to preach the gospel and give personal witness of Christ to the lost, that we can release spiritual authority over the world, such that anything we ask of God we receive.
The key reason why many Christians and churches are powerless to perform miracles and great manifestations of the Spirit of God, is because they have abandoned going out from the four-walls of the Church, and into the streets to preach the gospel and win the lost to Christ. Our words of prayer and confession of the promises of God go largely unanswered because churches refuse to go out and evangelize.
Given the commandment of Jesus Christ that every Christian is to bring forth much fruit, it is imperative that church leaders equip and train every member of the church to do the work of the ministry. (Eph. 4:10-12). Now for the sake of balance, I must acknowledge that many of our church leaders, at least make mention in some of their sermons of the need for Christians to share the gospel with unbelievers. However, few church leaders ensure that all of their members receive instruction and training on how to go about sharing the gospel with unbelievers.
Conversely, Christians almost never ask their church leaders for guidance on how to win the lost either. In 21-years of ministry, I have never had a single member come to me and ask, how should they go about winning the lost to Jesus Christ? One thing is for certain, it is very difficult to do anything efficiently and effectively in life without first being taught and trained how to do it!
Research data show that the body of Christ has done a very poor job of training Christians to do the work of the ministry. For example, a published study by Barna showed, that 51 percent of adult Christians had no familiarity with the extra-biblical term “The Great Commission.” Moreover, only 17 percent of Christians who knew the term Great Commission, could also identify Matthew 28:18-20 as a scriptural reference. Sadly, the majority of survey respondents were comprised of pastors and lay Christians—the people who logically should be most familiar with the Great Commission, and actively working to fulfill it.
Bill Bright, an expert on evangelism and author of the book entitled, “Witnessing Without Fear,” noted in his observations of Christian witnessing behaviors that, “Christians are beginning to witness more,” but he added that “his studies show that perhaps as many as “98 percent” of Christians, “lack confidence and effectiveness in witnessing.” A key reason for their ineffectiveness in witnessing, was a “lack of know how,” according to Bright. The author is absolutely correct. Christians simply have not been taught how to witness their faith in Jesus Christ with the lost.
The lack of training on how to preach the gospel and witness Christ to the lost, allows Satan to attack Christians with the spirit of fear. Satan torments the thoughts of Christians with foolish fear-based questions about witnessing. Moreover, Bright noted that as Christians contemplate witnessing, Satan bombards them with questions in an effort to block and stop them from witnessing Christ to the lost.
Bright identified three fear-based questions Christians are confronted with in witnessing, shown below, and I will address each one of them. Perhaps Satan has attempted to attack you with these questions too.
(1) How do I start a conversation about Jesus with a person?
My comment is: Are you kidding me? No one struggles to start a conversation with friend or stranger, if they have good news about something that has happened to them. For example, if a person hits the lottery, their favorite team wins the championship game, their wife has a baby, or they purchase a new home or car—they cannot wait to spread the good news. So, why do Christians get tongue tied when talking about Jesus Christ, who is the greatest and best news of all?
How to start a conversation about Jesus is shown in our sample presentation on preaching the gospel and witnessing to the lost, sermon dated May 16-23.
2. How to respond to questions and arguments?
Christians respond to questions asked of them by the Word of God, with respect and courtesy for the person asking the question. (I Peter 3:15) Thus, careful study of the Bible is necessary to avoid being ashamed. (II Timothy 2:15) But please relax, it is not the end of the world if you cannot immediately answer every question a person might ask. If you don’t know the answer to a question, tell the person you will research the question and get back to them with an answer. Also, seek answers to questions from church leaders and other mature Christians.
Regarding arguments, Christians are never-ever to argue or debate with a person over the Word of God. If you engage in foolish arguments and debates, you are operating outside of Vine (Jesus and the love of God). When Christians start arguing and debating, it is due to pride and vanity. It only sparks contentions. (Prov. 13:10)
You will find that most people who desire to debate the Word with you are just having a quarrel with themselves, and are entrapped in the web of Satan. (II Tim. 2:23-26) At times you will have people who will insist loudly to you that there is no God. They will say things like, “there are many gods and many ways to god.” Or, say things as silly as “God is a man just like me, or I am god!” Always focus on being gentle and patient when sharing your faith in Jesus Christ with the lost. You are to be a patient teacher, not a boxer in 12-round fight!
(3) How do I encourage a decision by the unbeliever?
You don’t have to encourage anything. Just preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, share your personal testimony with the unbeliever, and extend an invitation to the person to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Let God do the rest please!
An example of how to extend the invitation to Christ is shown in the sample presentation of how to preach the gospel and give your personal testimony of Christ to the lost in the sermon notes, May 16-23, 2021.
In closing, Satan wants to use the spirit of fear to discourage Christians from preaching the gospel and witnessing Christ to the lost. The absolute last thing he wants is for a sinner to hear and respond affirmatively to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved. When Christians fail to reap the lost, it usurps their spiritual authority to lay hold on the precious promises of God.
The ability to ask anything of God and have it done for them is how God is glorified in us, and the world we live in changed to mirror the peace and prosperity that exists in heaven. Therefore, church leaders must gird up their loins; and teach, train, and lead their entire congregations into the streets to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. In doing so, all families of the earth will be blessed and our churches will become powerful packed houses of prayer.
Remember, as Christians we are known only by the fruit we bear. (Matt. 7:16-20)