“Witnessing to Win the Lost”

Acts 4:1-40

SUBJECT: EVANGELISM

THEME: Practice the essentials to win the lost and overcome the distractions, and discouragements involved with evangelism.

INTRODUCTION:

The source that the soul-winners must look to for power and to be equipped is the Word of God.  To get the job of evangelism done and to overcome the attack of Satan, the Bible must be consulted for inspiration, instruction, and reassurance.

·       The Christian servant should never rely on self or mere human strength and effort.  The power of God is available to ensure effectiveness in the Christian experience; there is no need to rely on self.  Working in the energy of the flesh is the formula for discouragement and disappointment.  But, when a believer is filled with the power of God, they can be transformed into a great soul-winner for Christ.

·       Satan can hinder the work of evangelism by applying discouraging pressure to the preacher, teacher, missionary, evangelist, and Christian worker.  Therefore, we must beware of his designs to frustrate the evangelism efforts.

There are three practices Christian witness can adopt to ensure effectiveness.

MESSAGE:

I.           We Must Witness with Courage (Acts 4:16-21; 5:27-33).

A.   Courageous People Are Bold In Representing Christ. (Acts 4:31)

                                             i.     Courage is the strength of purpose that enables us to withstand fear or difficulty; the resolve to meet danger with strength, daring, and confidence.

A.    It is a reliance on the presence and power of God and a commitment to His commandments (Josh. 1:6–7, 9, 18; 23:6; 2 Chr. 19:11).

B.    We must place ourselves in the almighty hands of God and depend on the constant presence of Christ.

C.    We have been called to courage on the basis of Christ’s victory over death and worldly powers (John 16:33; Acts 23:11; 2 Cor. 5:6, 8).

D.    Our courage will show itself in patient endurance, moral steadfastness and spiritual fidelity. We will see an occasion for victory in every opposition (1 Cor. 16:9). 

                                           ii.     Courage is not reckless impulsiveness.

A.    Courage requires boldness to press through our fears and do what we know is right.

B.    How can we be more courageous? 

                                         iii.     Like the disciples, we need to pray with other believers for that courage (Acts 4:23-31). To gain boldness, you can

A.    Pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to give you courage,

B.    Look for opportunities in your family and neighborhood to talk about Christ,

C.    Realize that rejection, social discomfort, and embarrassment are not persecution,

D.    Start where you are by being bolder in small ways.

B.   This Is Not A Day For The Faint-Hearted.

                                             i.     This is the day for the three hundred who will go all the way with Gideon. This is no day for the cowardly.

                                           ii.     This is the day for John the Baptist who preached the truth and let the chips fall where they would.

                                         iii.     This is the day when men must be willing to lose their heads, if need be, for the sake of the Gospel.

                                          iv.    Beloved, have the courage to stand like a Daniel, to suffer like a Joseph, and God will stand by you. God help us Christians to have such convictions today that we can say to God and to men until the mountains crumble to dust, “I will never lower the blood-stained flag of the cross.” (From Dr. C. Malone)

II.        We Need to Witness with Compassion (Matt. 9:35-38).

A.   The Lord Jesus Had Compassion On The Lost.

                                             i.     This was because he noticed that they were fainting and scattered everywhere without the care, provisions, and protection of a shepherd. 

A.    The Savior was certainly moved by their great numbers, sin, and weaknesses. 

B.    He was concerned that these precious souls would be gathered like a giant harvest.  This would require laborers, therefore, he instructed his disciples to pray for laborers. 

                                           ii.    Beloved, if you can witness and witness and witness and witness and never shed a tear, never have your heart broken, never know what it means to travail and agonize with an agony akin to that which Jesus had in Gethsemane, if you can witness without tears and compassion, you are going to do a lot of witnessing without the conversion of souls.

                                         iii.     Oh I see Jesus coming yonder on the Mount of Olives and looking down on the city of Jerusalem and from a broken heart He cries, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34). The Bible says He beheld the city and wept over it. And if we are to move people toward God, we have to have some tears.

B.   People Need Someone With Warmth And Compassion. 

                                             i.     Someone with tears and genuine concern is what people need.  Certainly we must emphasize sound Bible teaching, but we should never sacrifice warmth and heartfelt Christianity.  To be over concerned with hairsplitting technicalities would be a mistake if we sacrifice compassion.

                                           ii.     We should have compassion in our hearts this will bring tears to our eyes when we consider that men and women are lost around the world.  Perhaps we all should pray that the Lord will open our eyes to see the pain, agony, the remorse, the affliction, and troubled souls of men.  Clearly the remedy is the pure dynamic Gospel preached from a broken heart for sinners.

                                         iii.     I wish God would give us what Mr. George Whitefield had. It is said that he preached two hours on the morning of his death. As he climbed the stairs one night with a little candle in his hand and started into his bedroom, out of the window he saw the multitudes and heard them cry, “Come out, Mr. Whitefield, and preach to us some more.” It is said that he walked out on the little balcony, held the candle for two hours, poured out his soul and preached with tears the Gospel to the multitudes.  With the candle burning low, he closed the door, walked off the balcony back into his bedroom. That night the candle of his life burned out to shine no more on this earth.

O God, help us to burn for Jesus with a broken heart! God, give us tears and help us see men and women lost around the world. God, help us to see today the agony, the sin, the remorse, the affliction, the trouble that can be remedied by a warm and stirring message of the dynamic Gospel of the Son of God. We need to witness with some tears. God, give us a broken heart! God, give us tears!

                                          iv.     I heard one preacher say that he used to be ashamed to weep as he preached, so he prayed, “O God, help me not to embarrass myself and others by weeping over sinners; help me to preach without tears.” He said for a long time his eyes were dry. Then one day he went back on his knees to God and prayed, “Give me back my tears.” God did and he never again wanted to preach without them. (From Dr. C. Malone)

 

                                            v.     If we can see the horrors of Hell, the miseries of sin, the awful depths of God's infinite wrath and judgment and not have a broken heart, then we are following Jesus afar off. God gives us tears. My friend, if God gives us the vision that we ought to have, if God helps us to see things as they are, and we do not weep, God have mercy on us!

 

                                          vi.     J. Wilbur Chapman told of visiting Sam Hadley in his great work in the slums of New York. He said one day, “Sam, I want you to show me tonight the slums of this city and these human derelicts without God. I want to see these sinners in the rough.” It is said that that night J. Wilbur Chapman and Sam Hadley walked together down in the slums. Mr. Chapman wrote that he had never seen such awful conditions. He saw men lying prostrate on the sidewalks and in gutters. He heard curses of lost men and women; he heard shrieks and groans and all that goes with drunkenness, debauchery, lust and sin. He heard it all.

As they walked along, Mr. Chapman said they came under a streetlight and suddenly, he heard Sam Hadley cry, “Oh! Oh! Oh!”

He asked, “Sam, have you had a seizure? Have you had an attack?” He said in that streetlight he saw Sam Hadley's face lifted toward Heaven and heard him cry, “O God, give me these souls!”

                                  J. Wilbur Chapman said, “My heart broke.”

 

                                        vii.     May God give us a taste of what John Knox had when he cried, “O God, give me Scotland or I die!” Certainly, these words revealed his great heart for the lost of Scotland.

 

                                      viii.     God's Holy Book says, “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” (Ps.126:6)

 

Let me tell you, you take your intellect, give me the tears; you take your theology, give me the tears; you take your hair-splitting, give me the tears; you take your technicalities, give me the tears. O God, give us church members who can weep over souls lost and without God. (From Dr. C. Malone)

III.    We Must Witness in the Power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8, 13, 29-33).

A.   Christ Made the Difference in Them (Acts 4:13).

                                             i.     Knowing that Peter and John were unschooled, the Council was amazed at what being with Jesus had done for them. Only weeks before, they had been timid, wishy-washy bumblers.

                                           ii.     Now they were fearless, confident, articulate, and passionate spokesmen. A changed life convinces people of Christ's power. One of your greatest testimonies is the difference others see in your life and attitudes since you have believed in Christ.

                                         iii.     What are the most obvious changes Christ has brought about in your witnessing life?

B.   The Spirit Gave Them Great Power (Acts 4:31-33).

                                             i.     The apostles’ boldness was possible only because they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8; 4:29,31; 9:27-28; 13:46; 14:3; 18:26; 19:8; 26:26; 28:31).

                                           ii.     This gave them the boldness that they needed to continue to serve God in spite of official opposition. This was a new filling of the Spirit to equip the believers to serve the Lord and witness to the people.

C.   The Spirit’s Power Can Be Ours Through Yielded-ness and Prayer (Acts 4:31).

                                             i.     God’s answer was to shake the place where they were meeting and to fill the people once again with the Spirit of God (Acts 4:31).

A.    When they had prayed, the place was shaken—a physical expression of the spiritual power that was present.

B.    They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, indicating

a.      Their obedience to the Lord, their walking in the light, their yielded-ness to Him.

b.     They continued to speak the word of God with boldness, a clear answer to their prayer in verse 29. 

                                           ii.     We can obtain the power of the Holy Spirit by asking in prayer. 

A.    The soul-winners should stay before the Lord in prayer until he or she is saturated and empowered with the Holy Spirit’s presence and power.

B.    Again the key is prayer, but one should remain before the Lord in utter humility and silence until every fiber of one’s being vibrates with the power of God.

CONCLUSION:

After John Knox had preached in the power of God, someone came down the aisle to meet him and said, “Mr. Knox, you preached today as if you came right out of the throne room.

Mr. Knox bowed his head in humility and said, “Perhaps I did.”

God help us to live as if we have come right out of the throne room of the very presence of God.  If we are to change the discords of sin into heavenly melodies of love, if we are to touch the souls of men, our own souls must be in tune with the Infinite. God help us to witness with reality, with courage, with compassion, and with the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit.