Witnesses Acts 1: 8 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

According to Acts 1:8, even the disciples, after all of their training and time spent with Jesus, needed the power of the Holy Ghost to witness.  Witnessing is just one part of the Holy Spirit’s work in getting the gospel to the lost and saving them.  Nevertheless, it is a work of the Spirit of God directing us and speaking through us.  To facilitate his work in us, here are some things we can do:

Know what to say – the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus is found in 1 Cor 15:1-4.  When the Holy Spirit directs you to preach the gospel to someone, you ought to at least have some verses ready and have an idea what you would say.  The person to whom you are witnessing should know: 

• he/she is a sinner, short of the glory of God [Rom 3:23], 
• his/her sins must be paid for [Rom 6:23; Rev 21:8], 
• he/she will be judged against the righteousness of Jesus Christ [Heb 9:27], 
• he/she has a substitute who has already been made sin for him/her, died in his/her place and been through hell so he/she won’t have to go there [2 Cor 5:21]  
• he/she can receive Jesus Christ by faith, trusting Christ’s completed work on Calvary, and be saved today [Jn 1:21; Jn 16:23-24; Rom 10:9-10, 13; Eph 2:8-9].

It really helps to have a personal New Testament that you can use for witnessing and you should mark principal verses that you might use when showing another person about Jesus Christ.  It also helps to memorize verses, in case you can’t open a New Testament at the time you are speaking to someone.

Deal with your fear – 2 Tim 1:7; Eph 6:18-19 – most of us are afraid to talk to someone about the Lord.  We may be comfortable talking to some folks, but not to others.  Then remember the truth of 2 Tim 1:7.  That spirit of fear doesn’t come from the Lord.  What he gives us is power, love and a sound mind, all of which are very beneficial when you are witnessing.  Paul even asked the Ephesians to pray for him so that he would be bold when he preached.

Pray for an opportunity – Col 4:3-4 – it helps to pray for the Lord to open a door of utterance for you.  This is the perfect time to witness because you will be ready and so will the person with whom you are going to speak.  Dr. Walter Wilson was one of the best at this.  He traveled frequently and, after praying, was presented with open doors of opportunity nearly every day.  When you pray for the Lord to open doors for you, you will see the Spirit of God giving you regular opportunities to witness.

Be friendly to the lost – Gal 6:10 – we are certainly to be good to God’s own children, but we are also supposed to be good to all men.  It is through acts of service and favor that we are often presented with opportunities to witness.  It is good to invite your neighbors for a meal and to do something nice for them.  They will appreciate it and you will be able, at some point, to witness to them.  It may take a long time to build the rapport.  So, don’t be impatient.

Yield to the Spirit – Rom 6:13 – this is the Spirit’s work, after all, and we are just vessels through whom he can get his work done.  We must yield to the Spirit so the he can:

• Fill us – Eph 5:18 – when you are filled with the Spirit, it is obvious to those whom you witness that God is with you.
• Lead us – Rom 8:14 – since this is God’s work, we need him to lead us.  That way we’ll be witnessing when he wants us to witness, to whom he wants us to witness and we’ll be saying those things that he wants us to say.
• Schedule us – Acts 8:26 – one preacher said, “Scheduled things get done.”  We have a very successful Port ministry, in part, because the men who go have scheduled a time to go each week.  Likewise, when you know that the Lord is leading you to visit with a person, make an appointment to go see him/her.

Conclusion: in 1994, the Holy Spirit burdened Bro Dickman about my father’s soul.  Following the things we have discussed tonight, he prepared what he would tell my father, overcame his fear of speaking with him by God’s grace, prayed for the right opportunity, made an appointment to see him and was friendly and courteous to him when they met.  The Spirit of God filled and led Bro. Dickman.  I believe my father is in heaven today, in part, because Bro. Dickman did what the Spirit of God wanted him to do that day.