Witnessing Was Never Reserved for People Who Speak Well

Sermon outline

Every believer is a witness and a soul winner, empowered by the commission of power that shows up at the point of obedience, so stop waiting for the right time and start now.

1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: put your name in it

   After the testing, the first thing Jesus did was go to the synagogue, as His custom was, and do the work of the Lord. The people marvelled and then asked whether He was not Joseph's son. There will never be a time when everyone is happy with you serving the Lord, and that is no reason to stay quiet. We are in the world but not of it, here for a reason. Read Isaiah's words with your own name in them.

   “Put your name in that scripture's place.”

   • Luke 4:13-22
   • John 17:16

2. Every Gospel ends with go

   Matthew, Mark and Luke all end with the same instruction: go, teach, baptise, preach repentance and remission of sins to all nations, and be witnesses. The signs that follow believers include taking up serpents and drinking any deadly thing without harm, so why fear witchcraft, hexes and curses? All of these scriptures are about evangelism and soul winning, which is the lifeblood of the church.

   “Evangelism and soul winning is the lifeblood of the church.”

   • Matthew 28:18-20
   • Mark 16:14-20
   • Luke 24:44-49

3. Evangelism and prayer are not departments

   The church cannot compartmentalise soul winning into a department for someone else; every member is the outreach team, witnessing to those who do not know Christ rather than to other Christians. Witnessing is not reserved for the articulate, the educated or the unembarrassable; if you can speak to one, you can speak to a thousand. Prayer is not a committee either: every believer is the prayer group, and the Holy Spirit helps when we do not know what to pray.

   Illustration: We say we are quiet introverts until the soccer starts. People open every new conversation by asking which team you support, looking for common ground; for a witness, the soccer is the introduction and the goal is, do you know Jesus? He admits he hates public speaking and would rather sit with a book or a computer, but he has had to adjust his mind and heart to the calling.

   “Witnessing is not kept aside for those that are able to speak well. It's not kept aside for those that are educated.”

   • Revelation 12:11
   • Romans 8:26

4. Our greatest enemies: ignorance and indifference

   The devil is a defeated foe. The church's real enemies are indifference, playing Christian and speaking Christianese while there is no difference between us and the world, and ignorance. In Hosea, God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, and because they forgot His laws He would forget their children. Many critics of churches and ministries are shallow, do not read the Bible and pick up opinions from social media; take on their offences and you cannot receive your miracle. Establish the truth from the word.

   Illustration: Anyone can be taught heart surgery, because every surgeon learned it from someone; a skill can be learned, but the truth of the word comes by revelation.

   “Our greatest enemy in the body of Christ is two things. Number one, our ignorance, and number two, our indifference.”

   • Hosea 4:1-7
   • John 8:32

5. Component one of the Great Commission: the commission of power

   There are seven components to the Great Commission, and today he deals with the first. All power is given to Jesus, so all pastors, elders, deacons, leaders and members are to be miracle workers. If that is not happening in your life, pray and study it; the church's Bible school and the daily Faith Chronicles are there for it. Power is not a feeling; it manifests at the point of obedience, of service and of need. Counterfeit prophets exist only because the real power is real.

   Illustration: On a long drive home, with no wish to pray for anyone, he stopped and prayed for a woman by the roadside whose leg was healed, and was given a word that her son would come home. Weeks later she phoned him in tears to say her son had returned. He does not introduce himself as a pastor; he lets the signs open the door first.

   “Power is not a feeling. This power manifests itself at the point of obedience, at the point of service and at the point of need.”

   • Matthew 28:18

6. That day will never come: start now

   Waiting until after the wedding, the baby, the studies or retirement means the day will never come, and the enemy will make sure of it. Do not despise small beginnings; if you are faithful with one you will be faithful with many. Do not wait for Gabriel to slap you with his wings; God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you ask or think.

   Illustration: A year earlier he took up cycling after twenty years. It was hard, his legs burned and he could not find the flow, until the day his tyres hit a dirt trail and he knew this was what he loved. If you do not know your calling, get on the bicycle: get involved in church, let your legs burn, and you will find the dirt.

   “Don't wait for Gabriel to come down and slap you with his wings.”

   • Zechariah 4:10
   • Luke 16:10
   • John 20:29
   • Ephesians 3:20

7. Like wine settled on its dregs

   Moab had been at ease from its youth, never poured from vessel to vessel, so its taste and aroma never changed. That is the comfortable, indifferent believer with money in the bank and a decent car, who takes things for granted and grows complacent. When we accept the call our scent changes, and people can tell the difference when we walk into a room. If the salvation is great, the calling is great.

   “If the salvation is great, the calling is also great.”

   • Jeremiah 48:11
   • Colossians 1:27
   • Hebrews 2:3

In this message