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This is God's method!
- They know us!
- They know how we behave!
- They know how we talk!
- They know how we react!
- You don't have to take courses.
- You don't have to have a degree.
- They came upon this man who had just been stoned.
- They saw how battered and bloody and beaten he was.
- They said to each other, "Poor fellow, he must be dead!"
- It reaches shut-ins.
- It reaches people who work on Sundays.
- It reaches people who will never enter a church.
Jesus did this everywhere He went.
And so must we!
If we are not witnessing, we are displeasing our God.
The value of a soul makes it imperative that we be personal evangelists.
Mark 8: 36-37: " For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Going out to witness to a person without Christ is like searching for a gold mine.
That person's life is more valuable than anything else in all the world.
The fact of hell should send all of us to our loved ones without Christ.
It would be horrible to think that your mother -- your father -- your children -- your grandparents
your relatives-- your friends -- would die and spend all eternity in hell
separated from God forever and forever -- and you did nothing to warn them
or tell them of the gospel of Jesus.
Hell is something horrible!
Read what the Bible has to say about hell.
In Luke 16: 23:
"And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment..."
The rich man was in torment.
In verse 24: "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus,
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame."
How can we sleep at night knowing that our friends and loved ones without Christ
could die and be in hell forever?
In Mark 9: 43-48, Jesus said,
"And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed,
than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life,
than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God
with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Surely, not one of us would ever want our loved ones to go to a place like hell!
Revelation 20: 15:
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
This is urgent!
We must go quickly to our loved ones and witness to them about Jesus before they die without Him,
and spend all eternity dying forever and forever in hell.
This should cause all of us to be witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ constantly!
There are some advantages of personal evangelism.
It can be done by all.
Anyone can witness, if Jesus lives in your heart.
If you don't have Him in your heart -- you can't tell others how He can live in theirs!
Could it be that you are not sure of your salvation, and that is why you don't witness?
Is it possible that it would be a great surprise to others that you are a Christian?
If you are a Christian, and don't live like one -- that could be a big reason
why you are not a witness of Christ.
When we witness to those close to us -- it must be real.
They know us!
Our life must be lived for Christ before them.
We cannot act -- we cannot put on!
The best actors and actresses are not in the movies or on TV -- they are in our homes.
For instance, look in on this household.
Mother is up early.
She cooks breakfast for the entire family.
She gets her husband up from his sleep, and helps him get ready for work.
She gets her children up, feeds them breakfast, and sends them off to school.
The little ones at home are under her feet all day all day.
Now all she has to do is wash dishes, makeup beds, wash clothes,
clean house, run after the little ones, feed the little ones lunch, clean that up, and a dozen other things.
She is bone-tired!
She would like to take a nap -- to take a break!
But there is no relief for her.
Late afternoon comes too soon!
The children come in from school, and they want to know where their play clothes are,
and where is their snack.
Mother takes care of all these things.
Now she must iron, and then prepare supper.
It won't be long until her husband will be home, and he will expect his dinner to be on the table.
While she is trying to finish ironing, she hears,
"Mother, the pastor is coming up the walk to our door."
An exasperated mother exclaims,
"Why does he have to come at a time like this?
Look at me! I am a mess.!
I haven't even brushed my hair.
I don't have any makeup.
This is so aggravating.
Why couldn't he come some other time?"
Somehow, she gets herself together and answers the door, and with such warmth and sincerity:
"Pastor, it is so good to see you!
We were just talking about you."
Now -- that is acting!
We cannot act in front of those who know us.
because they do not live consistent, Christian lives in front of them.
But anyone who has Christ in his heart can witness.
A farmer, without a high school education, led many his friends to Christ.
A businessman plowed for a farmer, so he could attend a revival meeting.
The farmer found Jesus.
One of the greatest witness for Christ that I knew was a man in my home church.
This man had just a fifth grade education.
Every Tuesday night he would go into the neighborhood and visit people who needed Jesus.
One could look around in our church, and count many people that he had led to Christ!
Every Christian can be a witness for Christ!
I had the opportunity to preach in a revival meeting in East Tennessee.
God was truly blessing that revival.
The church was packed every service.
Decisions were made for Christ in every service.
People all over that little town was talking about what God was doing!
One Saturday night, after the meeting, a man came forward and introduced himself
as the principal of the elementary school.
He belonged to another church in another city, but he said that he had to come
and see what was happening.
He explained that early in the week he saw several girls in a circle on the playground.
He said that when you see children in a circle -- there is usually a problem!
He said that he walked over close to them to where he could hear their conversation.
He was amazed to hear one little girl telling the others how she had trusted Jesus as her Saviour
in a revival meeting at her church.
She wanted every one of those girls to trust Jesus also.
The principal said that he wanted to see what God was doing
that would cause a little girl to witness to her friends about Jesus.
Personal evangelism can be done by all -- even children!
It can be done anywhere.
As a little boy, I remember going with my mother, other church members,
and our pastor to the prison at Petros.
This is the same prison where James Earl Ray was imprisoned for the slaying of Martin Luther King Jr.
I remember my pastor going inside the bars and preaching to the prisoners.
More than 50 prisoners received Christ as their Saviour that afternoon.
Several of our church members witnessed to many of the prisoners that day.
Personal evangelism can be done in prison.
It can be done anywhere.
Look at Paul. He told how he met Jesus everywhere he went!
Watch him in the marketplace!
He walks up to a group of men:
"Did I ever tell you about the day I was on the road to Damascus.
A light came out of heaven and blinded me. I heard a voice saying,
'Saul, Saul, why art thou persecuting me...'"
Everywhere he went, Paul told about his experience on the road to Damascus when he met Jesus.
When Paul was brought before King Agrippa, he said,
"Oh, King, did I ever tell you about the day when I was on the road to Damascus..."
Everywhere Paul went, he told about that day when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
One day certain Jews were traveling from Antioch to Iconium.
They bent to hear what he was saying.
He said, "Fellows, did I ever tell you about the day when I was on the road to Damascus..."
Paul witness everywhere he went!
And we must!
We must go everywhere telling people that Jesus saves.
Have you told anyone your testimony of how Christ save you?
If not, why not?
How can we be quiet about the most important event in our life?
It can be done anytime! (Any reasonable time)
Anytime the Holy Spirit leads us to witness is the right time.
If you visit someone to witness to them about Jesus, and they will not turn away from the television;
then, politely, thank them for allowing you to visit and come back some other time.
Dr. C. A. Autry was my professor of evangelism in seminary.
Dr. Autry stated to our class that he went to bed one night with a man on his heart.
He said that he couldn't sleep.
His statement was, "That lost soul was marching through the corridors of my heart."
After tossing and turning, he got up from his bed and began to dress.
His wife asked him what he was doing.
He told her that he had to go and visit that man.
She said, "It is one a.m. in the morning. Those people are asleep.
You can't go over there in the middle of the night and wake them up."
He said, "I have to go!"
Dr. Autry arrived at the house.
He noticed a light on in one room.
He knocked on the door.
The wife opened the door and said, "Dr. Autry, I am so glad you have come.
My husband is in the floor of the living room crying, and I don't know what is wrong with him!"
Dr. Autry said, "Please, lead me to him. I know what is wrong with him!"
In the middle of the night that husband quit crying, and found Jesus as his Saviour.
Personal evangelism can be done any time.
It reaches all classes of people.
D. L. Moody found time to lead 150,000 souls to Jesus, personally.
This number did not include those who walked the aisles in revival meetings or in churches.
It is a matter of history. With all his activities he made time to witness person to person.
Do you realize that if 25 of your members would consistently witness
and lead one person a month to Christ that your church would baptize 300 souls for Christ?
Any Christian that will witness, day in and day out, can lead one soul a month to Jesus.
The horrible truth is -- most of our church members
will go all year and not witness to one person for Christ!.
Not only is that shameful -- that is sinful!
It hits the mark!
Preaching is general -- personal evangelism is direct -- person to person.
It meets the definite need of the person dealt with.
It avails where other methods fail.
It shows we care!
An evangelist was preaching in a revival in East Texas.
Every afternoon, the pastor would take the evangelist to visit the unsaved and unchurched.
One afternoon, as they walked by a certain house, the pastor said,
"The man who lives there, lives by himself. His wife died some years ago.
They never had children.
It won't do any good to visit that man.
He has run off every pastor and church member who has ever tried to visit him...
I have heard that he has been sick."
As they walked by the house, the evangelist said,
"Since you have heard that he has been sick. Let's try to visit with him."
They went to the door and knocked.
They heard a voice say, "Come in, the door is open."
They went in through the house to the bedroom where the man was.
He was sick.
He had been sick and in bed for over a month.
The pastor and evangelist visited with the man.
After a short visit, they started to leave, and the evangelist said,
"We are sorry that you have been sick, and we hope that you will be feeling better, soon.
We wanted you to know that the people up at the church love you."
As they turned to walk away, the man asked, "What did you say?"
The evangelist said, "I said that we are sorry that you have been sick,
and we hope that you will be feeling better, soon."
The man said, "No, what was the last thing you said?"
The evangelist said, "I said that the people at the church love you."
With tears swelling up in his eyes, the man said, "I wish that I could believe that!"
Do our friends and our loved ones know that we really care?
Do we?
Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White
Email Dr. White at hleewhite@aol.com
