The Discipline of Witnessing.
The disciplines of a disciple • Sermon • Submitted
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· 49 viewsDisciples must do evangelism if they want to make other disciples.
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Read Mark 16:14-15
Evangelism was Jesus’ heartbeat. He came to this world to reach the lost with the good news, the news of salvation, and He was willing to sacrifice himself and to die for their salvation.
During His earthly ministry, spreading the good news occupied most of His time . He often the disciples:
He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”
Y El les dijo*: Vamos a otro lugar, a los pueblos vecinos, para que predique también allí, porque para eso he salido.
Pay close attention to those words: “that is what I came for.”
The word “κηρύσσω”, translated as preach in that verse refers to a public proclamation of news, as when a king sent his heralds to announce the news to the people.
The state of the Church, as a whole, and the statistics indicate that a great majority of believers are not practicing the discipline of evangelism or witnessing for Christ:
95% of them have never won a soul for Christ;
80% of church attendees believe it is their responsibility to proclaim the gospel, but 61% of them have not done it in the last six months; and
48% of the interviewed have not invited someone to attend a church service.
Evangelism is not the privilege of a few, but the obligation of all. The marching orders, the Great Commission, were given to all his disciples, not just to Peter, Jacob, and John.
Maturity in Christ and sharing the gospel are related.
The maturity of a disciple can be measured, to a certain extent, by his passion to proclaim the gospel, to tell people about Christ and his work of salvation.
The
We must practice the discipline of witnessing or evangelism because:
Jesus wants us to be fishers of men.
Jesus wants us to be fishers of men.
Jesus wants us to be fishers of men.
Jesus wants us to be fishers of men.
He has extended a clear invitation.
He has extended a clear invitation.
As soon as He called those who would be His disciples, He made it very clear to them: He was not calling them to be synagogue or church attendees, but fisher of men.
As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
Mar 1:16-18
They accepted Jesus’ invitation and left everything they had for something better.
A few minutes later, Jesus made the same call to Jacob and John. They did the same as Peter and Simon.
All of them understood the calling and obeyed it. During their training, Jesus sent them in pairs to preach the gospel. They came back rejoicing of the results.
A very rewarding job.
A very rewarding job.
Fishing is fun, but fishing for men is more rewarding.
Commercial fishing is an arduous job. Fishermen have to face the cold temperatures of the ocean, they take the risk of being swept by a wave and lose their lives, but they still do it. Why? Because of the reward! They know that they have to work hard three or four months, but they will earn enough for the entire year.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.
I like this rendering of the text: “he who is wise wins souls”. Are you wise or fool?
Last Sunday, I was preaching at the first meeting of a group that are starting a church in Santander, Spain. There were some guests who are not believers, among them a lady who, after a comment I made, asked “How can we know God”. At the end of the sermon, I added a presentation of the gospel to answer her question. She prayed to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Do you make an effort to earn money? Are you making an effort to fish for lost souls? Which one is more rewarding? The first one is a temporary reward; the second one is an eternal reward.
Jesus wants us to be His witnesses.
Jesus wants us to be His witnesses.
but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Act
What is a witness’ job?
What is a witness’ job?
As fishers of men, our job is catch men for Christ, but as witnesses our job is simply declare what we know about Jesus. John, the apostle and one of those called to be fishers of man, wrote:
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:
A witness job is not to convince the jury, only to communicate what he/she has heard, seen, or experience and let the jury to arrive at their own conclusion.
We must witness wherever we go.
We must witness wherever we go.
The “you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the remotest part of the earth” is equivalent to those words given in the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”. There is no way you can comply with the Great Commission unless you evangelize.
And a better translation would be “While you go (or wherever you) witness for Christ.
During these past two weeks, I sought the opportunity to witness for Jesus and four people heard the testimony: a Colombian doctoral student and his mother, a Spaniard host, and a German surfer. I sow the seed, I witnessed to them. They must arrive to their own conclusion about God.
Jesus wants us to be His ambassadors.
Jesus wants us to be His ambassadors.
Jesus wants us to be His ambassadors.
Jesus wants us to be His ambassadors.
2 Cor
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
An ambassador represent his king.
An ambassador represent his king.
The word translated as ambassador literally means “representative”.
We are God’s representatives before this world and, as such, we must communicate the King’s messages to them.
As His representatives, we are expected to live in a way that does not bring shame to Him. The message must be communicated in words and deeds.
Illust. Alexander the Great and bad-behaved soldier.
If we call ourselves Christians, our behavior must be worthy of Him so this world may hear the message and see it in us.
An ambassador seeks reconciliation between two parties.
An ambassador seeks reconciliation between two parties.
“He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 19
The world, unbelievers are in enmity with God. He has send us to bring the gospel, a message of reconciliation, to the world.
We are emissaries of peace, we seek to reconcile the sinners with the Holy God. We are God’s spiritual diplomats sent to a rebellious people to convince them that peace with God is available if they submit to God’s terms and better than suffering the King’s wrath.
We are God’s spiritual diplomats sent to a rebellious people to
Doing that is practicing the discipline of evangelism or witnessing.
What is hindering you from sharing the gospel? Shame? Indifference to people’s suffering and eternal destiny? Not knowing how? Or Have you forgotten your first love?
When someone is crazily in love, he/she does not stop talking about his loved one. Are you crazily in love with Christ? Tell the world about Him!