WITNESSING!      GP 344            Comp. 5/75
--A Basic Lesson on What We're Here For!

         1. "GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD, & PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE" (Mk.16:15) is NOT an option! IT'S A COMMANDMENT! The message is clear! There's no denying it, or excusing ourselves! We must simply have faith to OBEY, even if it means going out like Abraham of old, not knowing whither we go!--Heb.11:8.
         2. JESUS MADE IT QUITE CLEAR THAT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE ORDAINED TO PREACH THE GOSPEL when He said in John 15:16: "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have CHOSEN you, & ORDAINED YOU that ye should GO & bring forth FRUIT."
         3. THEREFORE, WITNESSING & TELLING OTHERS ABOUT JESUS IS NOT JUST A NICE THING TO DO WHEN WE FEEL LIKE IT, OR CAN FIND THE TIME, BUT IT IS THE GOD-GIVEN JOB & RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL HIS TRUE CHILDREN. Paul said, "For though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for NECESSITY is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel!"--1Cor.9:16. (See also Eze.3:17-19)
         4. THIS IS WHY WE HAVE BANDED TOGETHER & SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD IN THE FIRST PLACE: To devote our FULL time & energies to preaching the Gospel to EVERY creature & winning their souls to Jesus Christ & their bodies to His service for others! That's what we're here FOR: To win others for Christ! "Herein is My Father glorified, that ye BEAR MUCH FRUIT; so shall ye be My DISCIPLES!"--John 15:8. PTL!

MAN'S GREATEST NEED: MT.9:36-38

         5. REGARDLESS of nationality, country, colour, or creed, the heart of Man is the SAME the World over, & his heartaches & sorrows & sins & pains & fear of death are the SAME! His longings, loves & hunger for God & His Truth, for joy & happiness & peace of mind, are God-created, & the same in men the World over!
         6. EVEN THOUGH MANY FOLKS ARE REALLY SEEKING GENUINE LOVE, they SELDOM, if ever, find it. For there are so FEW of God's people who are willing to show them His real Love. As Jesus Himself said, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth LABOURERS into His harvest!"--Mt.9:37,38.--Will YOU heed His call to labour in His harvest, winning eternal souls into His Kingdom?

THE POWER TO WITNESS!

         7. ONLY THE SUPERNATURAL, MIRACLE-WORKING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD HIMSELF CAN REALLY DO THE JOB & really WIN their hearts, bring them to a DECISION & cause them to be BORN AGAIN as new creatures! Therefore, God has promised an anointing of this very power to His witnesses to help them lead others to Him. "Ye shall receive POWER after that the HOLY GHOST is come upon you. And ye shall be WITNESSES unto Me!"--Acts 1:8. The PURPOSE OF THE POWER is for WITNESSING!
         8. WE'VE GOT TO SHOW THEM HIS LOVE, HIS POWER, HIS SPIRIT! As Paul said, "My speech & my preaching was NOT with enticing words of MAN'S wisdom, but in DEMONSTRATION of the SPIRIT & OF POWER, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God!"--1Cor.2:4,5.
         9. IT'S THIS FIERY ANOINTING THAT COUNTS! If you haven't got the FIRE, I don't care how "good" a witness you are, it's just cold, dead icicles of facts & figures, & you'll never set anyone else on fire without it! As Jesus said, "Without Me ye can do NOTHING."--John 15:5.
         10. BUT IF YOU DO YOUR PART, & "ABIDE IN THE VINE", TOTALLY YIELDING YOURSELF TO THE LORD in submission & humility, then the Lord will do HIS part, & INSPIRE you, or fill you with His Spirit, so you can "BEAR MUCH FRUIT"--newborn babes into the Kingdom of God! (See Jn.15:1-8)

THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD: 2TIM.2:2

         11. As a young preacher with a real love for the lost & a sincere desire to try to win the poor lost sheep the churches failed to reach, I tried EVERYTHING I could think of, dreamed up every method I could imagine to try to carry the Gospel to them. I preached on the streets & in the parks; I SANG at the top of my voice; I showed PICTURES & MOVIES anywhere I possibly could-to reach the people OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCHES with the message of God's Love! But it was still the MEETING METHOD & the MASS EVANGELISM APPROACH, which only had limited, MODERATE success.
         12. THEN ONE DAY I FOUND OUT THE EXCITING TRUTH & THRILLING FACT THAT YOU COULD WIN MORE SOULS WITNESSING INDIVIDUALLY to INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE wherever you could find them, without a church or a pulpit or a meeting of any kind, anywhere, any time, & all the time, everywhere to everybody! The Lord Himself followed this tactic. Jesus & His handful of disciples kept MOVING & OUT OF SIGHT as much as they could, doing MOST of their witnessing PERSONALLY to INDIVIDUALS! The only large crowds they had were NOT planned meetings!
         13. THEIR METHOD WAS ALMOST ALWAYS INDIVIDUAL, PERSONAL EVANGELISM ON A SMALL SCALE, depending on the effectiveness of a thorough PERSONAL WITNESS & intensive INDIVIDUAL TRAINING to multiply the number of converts by making EVERYONE a soul winner, & not all in the same place!
         14. TRUE, SACRIFICIAL DISCIPLES ARE FEW & FAR BETWEEN & ARE HARD TO FIND! You have to SEARCH THEM OUT individually, personally, with tender loving care & personal attention. Jesus said that the GOOD shepherd "calleth his own sheep BY NAME (personally, individually) & leadeth them out."--Jn.10:3.

WHO ARE WE TRYING TO WIN?--LUKE 5:38

         15. As God's children & witnesses, you should have love & compassion for EVERYONE, not just your own--young or old, rich or poor, strong or weak, radical or systemite, even if you don't LIKE'm!--"EVERY CREATURE"!
         16. HOWEVER, THE LORD WILL LEAD YOU ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO REALLY NEED YOUR LOVING HELP, & who will RESPOND in loving appreciation, just as He will also lead them to you. God goes where there are open & receptive hearts that are hungry: He seeks the low & the humble & the contrite heart, but resists the proud. "He hath filled the HUNGRY with good things; & the rich (or full) He hath sent empty away. For God RESISTETH the PROUD, & giveth GRACE to the HUMBLE."--Luk.1:53; 1Pet.5:5.
         17. SO SEEK OUT THOSE WHO ARE GENUINELY SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO ARE HUNGRY, UNHAPPY & YEARNING FOR THE SPIRITUAL. Jesus said, "New wine must be put into NEW BOTTLES."--Lk.5:38. He had to pour His very new wine into very new bottles who could expand their receptivities sufficiently to take it, accommodate it, & even rejoice in it, for it spoke THEIR language & helped Him to reach the drunks & harlots & the publicans & sinners & the radical young zealots with whom He associated. PTL!

MORE WITNESSING TIPS! RELATING & ADAPTING!

         18. IN WINNING PEOPLE, YOU HAVE TO INSPIRE THEIR FAITH IN YOU BEFORE THEY CAN BELIEVE GOD. You are their LINK with God. You are like a PRIEST to them, their MEDIATOR. Like Jesus said, "He that receiveth WHOMSOEVER I SEND receiveth ME." For "YE ARE A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD."--Jn.13:20; 1Pet.2:9.
         19. YOU MUST ESTABLISH POINTS OF CONTACT WITH THEM. There must be something in COMMON in order for people to COMMUNICATE. So use the kind of LANGUAGE that will WIN them. If it takes STRONG language to get the point across--USE IT! If it takes sweeter language, even church language, use that! But if you use churchy platitudes with the poor, lost, wandering youth, they will puke! Ask God for WISDOM!--Jam.1:5; Prov.11:30b.
         20. ONE OF THE MOST NEEDED ABILITIES IN WITNESSING IS ADAPTABILITY, being able to be ANYTHING to reach ANYBODY & to become ALL things to all men. This tactic of adaptability was largely responsible for much of the Apostle Paul's soul-winning success. He said, "To the Jews, I became as a Jew; that I might gain (win) the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might GAIN them, to the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN, that I might by ALL means SAVE SOME."-1Cor.9:20-22.

LISTENING!

         21. SOMETIMES, ALL SOME PEOPLE NEED IS FOR SOMEBODY TO LISTEN, & that's HALF the job of being a witness! Let's not fail them in showing them we're willing to listen to their troubles. Often they're really hungriest for FELLOWSHIP, COMPANIONSHIP & real LOVE & SYMPATHY, just SOMEBODY TO TALK TO, to relieve their loneliness & to feel like somebody CARES & SHARES their misery & their needs & problems.
         22. (PROPHECY): "CAN YOU NOT HEAR THE HEARTCRY OF THEIR BOSOM?... To love is to weep with them, to cry with them, to suffer with them that suffer, & to feel the agony of heart with them whose hearts are broken!"

STAYING SIMPLE!

         23. I WON A LOT OF PEOPLE TO THE LORD WITH ONLY JN.3:16: "For God so LOVED the World that He GAVE His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting LIFE." THAT'S ALL YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW TO WIN SOULS. You shouldn't try to cram the whole Bible into the guy you're witnessing to anyhow. Just harp on A VERSE OR TWO until he's got them so memorised he can't forget them; otherwise, you'll just confuse him.
         24. BEWARE LEST YE BE LED AWAY FROM THE SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL!--2Cor.11:3. Except ye be as a little CHILD ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven! You gotta be a BABY!--And babies don't waste most of their time arguing over theoretical, theological, doctrinal shibboleths!
         25. REMEMBER, THE WORDS THAT THE PHARISEES SPOKE WERE WELL-EDUCATED, but they were FLESH & they were DEATH! Why? Because they spoke from their HEADS, but JESUS spoke from His HEART--from the SPIRIT. That's the DIFFERENCE!

DESPERATION, THEN SALVATION!

         26. YOU CANNOT GET A GUY SAVED UNTIL HE FINDS OUT HE'S A SINNER, that he needs help, & just CAN'T make it without the Lord. It is not until you recognise that you really need HELP that you're DESPERATE enough to SEEK salvation. And THAT'S when people really find God: When they are REALLY DESPERATE! As He says in His Word, "Ye shall seek Me, & find Me WHEN ye shall search for Me with ALL your heart."--Jer.29:13.
         27. SO YOU FIRST HAVE TO SHOW THEM THAT THEY'RE SINNERS, that they need God's help, before you can convince them that they need a SAVIOUR, & give them the happy answer of Who He is. As Jesus said, "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came NOT to call the RIGHTEOUS, but SINNERS to repentance."--Lk.5:31,32. It's the pitiful, hopeless, lost, humble, loving sinful sinner who knows he NEEDS God that He came to save!

ANSWERING QUESTIONS & FEEDING SHEEP!

         28. Answer sincere questions honestly & show the sincere the Truth, & if they really WANT to know, GOD will show them. "My sheep hear My voice!"--Jn.10:27. You don't necessarily have to always give them the answers they WANT, but the answers they NEED.
         29. BUT BEWARE OF THOSE WHO ASK QUESTIONS, NOT BECAUSE THEY WANT THE ANSWER, BUT BECAUSE THEIR MINDS ARE ALREADY MADE UP & they don't want to be confused with the FACTS, & they're only trying to TRAP you, like the self-righteous Pharisees tried to trap Jesus with His Own Words. "And the Scribes & the Pharisees began to urge Him vehemently, & to provoke Him to speak of many things: LAYING WAIT for Him, & seeking to CATCH something out of His mouth, that they might ACCUSE Him."--Lk.1:53,54.
         30. DON'T TRY TO CRAM THE TRUTH DOWN THE THROATS OF THOSE WHO DON'T WANT IT! Jesus never went a step out of His way to argue with the hypocritical, self-righteous church people. In fact, He advised His followers to "LET THEM ALONE: they be blind leaders of the blind."--Mt.15:14. He only answered their pestering when He HAD to, for the sake of the sheep, or when they actually & SINCERELY came to Him for help.
         31. SEEK OUT THE HUNGRY SHEEP WHO GOBBLE IT UP & BEG FOR MORE. Jesus walked MILES out of His way in the heat of day to LOVE & WIN one wicked woman at a well! "For the Son of man is come to SEEK & to SAVE that which was LOST."--Lk.19:10.

YOUR PERSONAL TESTIMONY!

         32. THAT LOWLY LADY AT THE WELL WAS SO THRILLED about her experience with this stranger named JESUS that she "left her waterpot, & went her way into the city, & saith to the MEN, Come see a Man that told me all things that ever I did: Is not this the Christ?"--Jn.4:28-29. And as a RESULT OF HER PERSONAL TESTIMONY, "MANY of the Samaritans of that city BELIEVED on Him FOR THE SAYING OF THE WOMAN."--Jn.4:39.
         33. SO WHEN WITNESSING, ALWAYS GIVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL TESTIMONY. They can hardly deny that without calling you a liar, & they're not likely to do that if you present it with earnest SINCERITY, LOVE & the power of the Spirit--real CONVICTION!

LIFT UP JESUS!

         34. STAY ON THE MAIN LINE! Try not to get side-tracked! If they don't want to discuss Christ or the Bible or the MAIN issues--that loving God & your neighbour is the solution to everything, then why waste time arguing?
         35. JUST LIFT UP JESUS, Who said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw ALL men unto Me!" Preach Christ! As Paul said, "I DETERMINED not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ."--1Cor.2:2. If they don't want HIM, forget it!

MUSICAL MIRACLES!

         36. REMEMBER ALSO THAT OUR REVOLUTION WAS WAGED & SOULS WON WITH OUR MUSIC! For music is the language of youth today! Our music is the MIRACLE which attracts so many to our message about the Man. So don't neglect it!
         37. IT IS INDEED A MIRACULOUS GIFT FOR THE HEALING OF MANY SOULS, BRINGING LIFE TO MANY LIVES & PEACE TO MANY MINDS & HEARTS. Even DAVID of old knew the POWER of inspired guitar-playing & singing, as he used it to minister to poor Saul, who was troubled by an evil spirit.
         38. "AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN THE EVIL SPIRIT FROM GOD WAS UPON SAUL, THAT DAVID TOOK AN HARP (guitar) & PLAYED with his hand: So Saul was REFRESHED, & was WELL, & the EVIL SPIRIT DEPARTED from him."-1Sam.16:23.
         39. SO IF YOU CAN PLAY & SING, "STIR UP THE GIFT OF GOD WHICH IS IN THEE" (2Tim.1:6) & USE IT! Or play them some of our beautiful & inspired TAPES!--Your inspired songs are like the KEY OF LOVE which UNLOCKS hearts to find a responsive chord that longs to harmonise with you!

DESTROYING DELUSION IN ORDER TO BUILD A FIRM FOUNDATION OF TRUTH!

         40. YOU MUST BEAR IN MIND THAT MOST PEOPLE TODAY HAVE BEEN UNWITTINGLY MENTALLY CONDITIONED BY ALL THE PREACHERS & teachers & FALSE teachers, & their dandy BAD example which is so CONTRARY to the plan of TRUE Christianity. As a result, they cannot help but identify God with the religious system who was supposed to be giving them God. So when they become embittered against the religious SYSTEM, they usually become embittered against GOD. "Because", they say, "if THAT'S what God's like, I don't want anything to do with Him!"
         41. THEREFORE, A MAJOR PART OF YOUR WITNESS IS OFTEN TO DESTROY THE LIES OF THE DEVIL by the Word of God's TRUTH, tearing down such misconceptions & the Enemy's spiritual STRONGHOLDS in the HEARTS of men!-"To ROOT OUT, to BREAK DOWN, & DESTROY" the damnable doctrines & delusions of the Devil, so that you can begin "to BUILD & to PLANT" the beautiful, Christ-loving Kingdom of Peace.--Jer.1:10.
         42. YOU MUST SHOW THEM THAT THE TRUE GOD IS NOT THE TRADITIONALLY MANUFACTURED GOD OF HYPOCRITICAL CHURCHIANITY who's always the System-supporting lover of only the rich & who is seemingly worshipped by most of the rich churches & rich church people!
         43. NOR IS HE A NAMBY-PAMBY SUNDAY SCHOOL POSTER TYPE of kindly old gentleman with bushy grey hair & a long white beard, a Santa Claus who brings everybody presents, especially the church people!
         44. LET THEM KNOW THAT THE TRUE GOD IS A GOOD GOD WHO IS KIND & LOVING & CONCERNED ABOUT HIS CHILDREN, & Who HATES war & its rich perpetrators, & deplores the poverty of the poor & their suffering, & is determined to set things right soon!

YOUR GREATEST WITNESS: LOVE!

         45. YOUR GREATEST WITNESS IS LOVE, FOR THE ONLY LOVE OF GOD THEY CAN SEE IS THE LOVE THEY SEE IN YOU. If you don't show them love they can SEE & FEEL, they're going to have a hard time believing that there IS Someone Up There Whom they don't know & that He REALLY loves them.
         46. SO YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DROP A LITTLE LOVE INTO THE HEARTS OF THOSE YOU PASS BY, even if only with a word, a smile, or a look of sympathy, & they will know that GOD has loved them that day! His Spirit will tell them so!
         47. YOUR EYES ARE THE FIRST TO SHOW LOVE, AS WELL AS THE FIRST TO RECEIVE IT. Therefore, your eyes are your MOST POTENT witnesses of God's Love, as they are the most deeply SINCERE communicator of all your senses. If you don't know their POWER, you'd better start LEARNING how to "USE IT"!
         48. FOR FEW CAN RESIST SUCH LOVING LOOKS WHICH REVEAL THE LOVE OF JESUS! For your loving looks have the loving answer to the needs of EVERY hungry heart--the LOOK OF LOVE which UNLOCKS the doors of many of the hardest & heaviest hearts.
         49. IT NEVER FAILS, BECAUSE "GOD IS LOVE" & IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO FAIL!--1Jn.4:8. And He will help us not to fail if we are willing to woo & win them with the kind of love that led JESUS to the cross to lay down His life for you, to die that you might live.
         50. THAT IS THE ONLY KIND OF LOVE THAT'S GOING TO WIN THE WORLD: THE LOVE OF JESUS! "For God SO loved the world, that He GAVE His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in HIM should not perish, but have everlasting LIFE."--Jn.3:16.
         51. IS THAT THE KIND OF LOVE YOU HAVE FOR HIS LITTLE LOST SHEEP? If so, NOTHING can stop you, not even death, for "The GOOD shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."--Jn.10:11.

PRAYER POWER!

         52. ALWAYS HAVE PRAYER WITH THEM, if the occasion warrants, if they get that interested. Never underestimate the POWER OF PRAYER! There are very few people who don't respect prayer, or at least your right to pray.
         53. SHOW THEM THAT JESUS SAID, "BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR (OF THEIR HEART) & KNOCK: If any man hear My voice & open the door, I WILL come in to him."--Rev.3:20. In other words, they can have Him & all He has to give, which is everything, right that minute if they'll just pray & ask Him to come into their heart with all His Love, life, liberty, Truth, peace, plenty, & happiness-here, now, & forever!
         54. SOMETIMES I HANG ONTO MY SUBJECT'S HAND WITH BOTH OF MINE FOR A WORD OF PRAYER, or to try to get them to make a DECISION, & often they really break & accept the Lord! There's something ELECTRIFYING about prayer! Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them."--Mt.18:20.

THE RESULTS & REWARDS OF SOUL-WOOING!--DAN.12:3

         55. Spiritually, everyone you witness to, you're WOOING them in the Spirit--wooing & loving & sowing the seed of God's Word in the Spirit. You should ENJOY witnessing in the SPIRIT as much as you do WOOING in the PHYSICAL! When a soul is receptive, the seed just pours in, & then you bear a SPIRITUAL BABY!
         56. THIS IS THE END RESULT & GREATEST GOAL OF SOUL-WOOING, A NEWBORN BABE IN THE FAMILY OF GOD, a whole new created soul made by the hands of God for all ETERNITY to enjoy--the ONLY thing we can take with us from THIS World!
         57. AS PAUL WROTE TO ONE OF HIS FLOCKS, "We preached unto you the Gospel, & "ye RECEIVED the Word of God, which ye heard of us." (They got SAVED!) Then referring to Jesus' return, he says, "For what is our CROWN of rejoicing? Are not even YE (the SOULS HE HAD WON!) in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at HIS COMING?"-1Thes.2:9,13,19.
         58. THESE ARE THE GIFTS THE LORD IS MOST PLEASED WITH: THE LIVES & HEARTS OF MEN! There was always a glorious presentation of gifts before the conquering king. WE, God's victorious army, WILL LAY AT HIS FEET--the feet of the conquering King of kings--the SOULS WE HAVE RECAPTURED from the Enemy!

IN CONCLUSION:

         59. So get out & do your best for Jesus & lost souls! And God Himself shall reward you with EVERLASTING SOULS & JOY OF THE LORD for a job well done which has reaped MUCH FRUIT, whose fellowship we shall enjoy in God's Family, both now & forevermore, & for which both you & they will be ETERNALLY thankful & God everlastingly grateful! "Well done," He'll say, "thou good & FAITHFUL servant... Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" Hallelujah! THEY THAT WIN MANY SHALL SHINE!-Mt.25:21; Dan.12:3.
         60. (PROPHECY): "GO NOW, FOR NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION...for behold, we are here, NOW at this very day. We have come to preach the Gospel to the poor, to open the eyes of the blind, & loose them that are bound! To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
         61. "FOR THERE IS YET MUCH PEOPLE IN THESE CITIES THAT I HAVE GIVEN THEE, that I have CALLED by My Name, that I have CALLED; & THEY SHALL FOLLOW ME, IF THOU SHALT CALL THEM in My Name! They shall be thine & Mine, & there shall be one Shepherd & one fold for My sheep!" Hallelujah! PTL!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family