Gtcotr/ws021214
Luke 10:2 The harvest is truly plentiful but the laborers are few.
Pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into the harvest.
John 14:6 …(Jesus said) No man comes to the Father but by Me.
John 6:44 No man can come to Me unless the Spirit of My Father draws
him …
Acts 17:30 … God has commanded all men everywhere to repent.
There
is a God thing going on all around us all the time. God is preparing hearts to
hear a witness. The potential is greater than anyone imagines.
It
is my responsibility to equip the saints to work the ministry. Therefore, in
order for me to please God on my job, I must give you tools to win souls.
There
are two critical things I am going to ask you to do right now:
1.
Disregard
any thoughts that come to you telling you that the people around you don’t want
to get right with God and be saved.
2.
Put
yourself in the mind to participate
Tonight
I will continue teaching how to:
1.
Identify those who are ripe and ready to be harvested.
2.
Awaken the command of God in their heart.
3.
Close the deal.
There
is one basic overriding reason why Christians do not witness to others – they
don’t know how. Tonight I will teach you how – how to begin and what to say. Each
one of us needs to be a confident witness. Confidence comes from knowing what
to do. Listen closely and I will teach you 3 easy-to-remember steps and then
how set the hook and catch the fish. Remember – we are only looking for ripe
fruit. OK – let’s begin …
Imagine
you hear a big crash behind you and all of the sudden a purple casket crashes
through that wall and into the sanctuary knocking chairs over as sheetrock and
metal studs go flying through the air. As the casket speeds by you dodge to
keep it from hitting you and you see something is written on the side. The
casket hits this platform, almost flips and slides to a stop. When the dust
settles you can read what is written on the side. Written in big black letters
you read the words, “R U 100% SURE???”
You
think you would remember something like that? Sure you would. You would be 105
years old and telling your great great grandchildren, “One time I was sitting
in Church at COTR, Pastor Ron was preaching and all of the sudden a purple
casket crashed through the back wall. It made a terrible noise, it almost ran
me over. That casket smashed straight into the platform and slid to a stop
right behind Pastor Ron. When the dust settled we could all see there was
something written on the side of the casket in big black letters. It said, “R U
100% SURE???” with three big question marks … nearly scared us all to death. If
that happened right now you think you would remember it? Yep – you’d remember
that one for life.
OK,
imagine that purple casket sitting right there and on the side of the casket
the words, “R U 100% SURE???” While you watch the casket lid opens and man gets
out wondering where he is. When the man looks around he sees someone dressed like a
soldier standing right over there beside a big beautiful gate. The casket guy
starts walking towards the soldier and notices he is wearing one of those big
sandwich board signs. You know the kind – one of those that hang on the
shoulders and cover the front and back –they’re used to advertise things.
Written all over this sandwich board sign on the front and back is one word: “Why” Why – Why – Why – Why – Why – everywhere …
Just
as he reaches the soldier, the soldier takes the sandwich board off and sits it
down beside him and rushes straight over to a big tall “Can”
, like a coke can or a monster drink can … It’s sitting just on the other side
of the casket. The can is about 10 foot tall. Over half way up in middle of
this tall can is a giant “eye” and it’s looking
around watching everything that’s happening. On the very top of this tall can
is a red “telephone” – one of those big old
square telephones. The phone begins to ring and so the soldier takes out his
sword, reaches high, jumps a little, swings his sword and hits the top of the
can and knocks it over. The can falls and the phone hits the floor and breaks
open. When the phone breaks open hundreds
of “Bibles” come spilling out all over the
stage.
Now
do you remember what’s happened? Let me go over the high points one more time.
1.
The
purple casket crashes through the wall, hits the platform and stops right
behind me in a cloud of sheetrock dust. On the side of the casket written the
words: “R U 100% SURE???”.
2.
A
man gets out of the casket sees someone dressed like a soldier standing beside
a big beautiful gate. The soldier is wearing a sandwich board with one word
written all over it on the front and the back sides: “Why”
Why- Why- Why- Why- Why- Why … everywhere.
3.
The
soldier takes the sandwich board off and sits it down and rushes straight over
to a big 10’ tall “Can” sitting on the other
side of the casket. On the side of the can there is a big “Eye”. On top of the can is an old red “Telephone”. The phone begins to ring and the soldier
takes out his sword, reaches high and knocks the can over, it falls and when
the telephone hits the floor it breaks open and “Bibles”
spill out all over the stage.
Ok
– if you can remember that simple story, you have just learned a well proven
and successful way to be an effective witness for Christ.
Here
are 3 steps to awaken the command of God in a person’s life. This will work in
any setting. You can inject this into any conversation. Be sincere and really
care. You simply have to ask the first question and you will remember the rest.
What is the first question? Remember the casket? What was written on the side?
This is how you ask the 1st question:
1. Are you 100 percent sure if you died today you
would go to heaven?
Then
you wait and listen and let them answer. If they say yes or if they say no or
if they say I don’t know or if they are silent for a long time … that’s ok. You
see, it really does not matter what they say to this first question – you have
a plan … you know where you are going … you are on a fishing trip, you have the
best bait and you already know your next cast.
So,
listen – be attentive – and be ready to ask question #2 when it’s your turn to
talk. Remember the soldier and the sign he was carrying? This will remind you
and keep you on track with the next question. Question 2:
2. If you were standing before Jesus and He said,
“Why should I let you into My heaven?”, what would you say?
Again
– be attentive, give them time to respond and listen to their answer. Remember
however, it does not matter what they say, you have a plan and you know the
next question. You are not here to prove, to lecture, to argue or get
sidetracked by anything else. You are simply a laborer in the fields of this
world harvesting the ripened and ready fruit for Christ.
Some
people will respond to this question by saying that they have been good or that
they attend Church or perhaps even say they don’t know or that they don’t
expect to go to heaven or whatever. But keep in mind that it does not matter
what they say. You should respond in a generally supportive way in
understanding why some people may think or feel that and yet remember – you
have another question to ask as soon as this person feels they have been heard.
Remember, you are the fisherman, they are the fish – don’t let the fish dictate
when they will be caught. You have the best bait in the universe and it’s free
… you are doing the fishing!
If
you maintain your kind and caring approach and remain non-threatening and
sincerely attentive, you will lose very few during this adventure. After their
response, make a light comment to show you are listening and then move on to
the third question. You can remember the next question because you can remember
the story and what the soldier did next: He set the sandwich board down and rushed
over to a tall can with an eye and a telephone filled with Bibles. So, here
goes Question #3:
3. Can I tell you what the Bible says?
Out
of all of the numbers of people I have witnessed to, I don’t remember ever
being turned down or stopped at this point. A kind, caring, sincere approach to
winning souls is very effective. And remember – we are dealing with people God
has been preparing. If you care they will respond.
From
this point it is simple – all you have to know comes straight from the Bible and
a well proven approach to soul winning called the “Romans Road to Salvation”. I
first learned in a Southern Baptist Evangelism Training Course in the 70’s. I have
re-written these basic Bible truths into 3 simple, easy-to-remember phrases which
get right to the heart of God’s Word. Here is what you say after you ask
question #3 – and by the way, you don’t have to wait for them to respond even
though most will.
·
The Bible says that we have all done wrong. (Romans 3:23)
·
The payment for doing wrong is hell … (Romans 6:23)
·
But we get to go to heaven if we just ask! (Romans 10:13)
Now
here, right away you ask one final closing question in a very sincere, straight
forward and caring voice:
Is there any reason in your wildest imagination why you would want
to spend an eternity in hell?
Of
course that answer is “No!”. At that point you awaken and release the command
of God in that person’s life and say in a strong and directive manner. Say - “Then pray with me
now.”
This
is not a suggestion or a question – we don’t ask, “Would you like to pray now?”
– rather this is the point where God awakens His command in their heart and the
far majority of people sense true faith and respond.
You
immediately bow your head and say, “God …” – If you don’t hear them praying
with you, raise you head, look at them and say, “Pray, pray with me now.” then
bow your head and begin to pray again. The vast majority will sincerely and
openly voice their sincere prayer and receive Jesus Christ as the Lord and
Savior of their life. Keep the prayer focused and brief.
Now
I have some other things to teach you and ways to identify the ripe fruit
verses the green fruit, how to answer every objection to the witness and what
to do when a person does not want to hear anything about Jesus or wants to
argue or has sincere questions about whatever … But for now – let’s practice
these simple steps and become fruitful fishers of men.
