Sermon Notes for October 12, 2008

A “How To” Sermon Series

“How To Share Your Faith”

Colossians 4:2-6

Introduction

We Conclude Our Sermon Series Today On “HOW TO’S.”
I have attempted to speak practically to our church during this sermon series.
Very often, sermons can be “so theological” that the person does not know how to “use” Biblical truth in their lives.
During this series, we have looked at how to:
“Be A Boss”
“Be An Employer”
“Be A Spouse”
“Be A Servant”
Today, We Will Look At How To Share YOur Faith.
If national statistics represent this church, then only two percent of those in our church, or in any church, have ever led another person to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.
In 1989, it took 41.2% of Baptists to evangelize one saved person; in 1990, it “only” took 38.9% Baptists to lead one person to Christ.
In fact, I would sadly say that many, if not most, Pastors do not actively share their faith.
it is my opinion that it is rare to hear of Pastors leading people to salvation
if you doubt me, then ask a Pastor
Today, we will look at a classic text on “how to” share your faith with an unbeliever.
it is Biblical
and . . . it is balanced
let us notice a Biblically, balanced way to share our faith

I. We Must Learn To Speak First To God About People.

We Must Develop A Life Of Prayer For Self.
We must be PRAYERFUL.

Vs. 2 – “Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

most of us don’t realize that the FIRST place that we must start, in sharing our faith with non-believers, is prayer

1. we MUST REALIZE that ONLY God can change a
person’s life

2. I have been guilty all of my life of speaking FIRST to non-
believers about Jesus, and THEN speaking to God about
blessing what I said to the non-believer

3. my experience in training Travis M. in Evangelism Explosion

Paul says that we must “devote” ourselves to prayer about the lost:

1. a continual, persistent, determined attitude of prayer for lost
people – THAT GOD WOULD CHANGE THEIR LIVES

2. MY FRIEND, Randy Pope, once told me about having a
“target group” to pray for

a. these would be particular group of non-believers that
you had a burden for

b. to PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR THEM . . . BY
NAME!

c. I have told you before of a Godly man named George
Mueller who lived in the 1800’s. He had a wonderful
ministry to orphans in England. After Mueller became a
Christian, he began to pray for a “target group” of five
of his unbelieving friends:

1. it was 5 years before the first friend was
converted

2. 10 years before the second friend was converted

3. 25 years before the third friend

4. 50 years before the fourth friend

5. Mueller’s fifth and last friend was converted 2
years after Mueller’s funeral!

d. S.D. Gordon - “The greatest thing anyone can do for
God and man is pray. It is not the only thing, but it is
the chief thing. The greatest people of this earth are
the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk
about prayer; nor those who say they believe in prayer;
nor yet those who can explain about prayer; but I mean
those people who take time to pray.”

e. A woman came to a missionary at Bengalore, India,
asking him to interfere and prevent a certain native
Christian from praying for her any more. When
asked how she knew that the Christian was praying for
her, she replied, "I used to perform my worship to the
idols quite comfortably, but for some time I have not
been able to do so. Besides, this man told me at the time
that he was praying for my family, and now my son and
two daughters have become Christians. If he goes on
praying, he may make me, too, become a Christian. He
is always bringing things to pass with his prayers.
Somebody must make him stop."

We must be WATCHFUL.

Vs. 2 – “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful.”

the meaning of this Greek word is to be awake; to remain alert
it also means to rise; to arouse from sleep
the Greek tense is a Present Active Participle
THUS . . . the overall meaning of this Greek word is to:

1. LOOK UP AND WATCH FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO
SHARE YOUR FAITH!

2. as believers, we are to be watchful ALL OF THE TIME

a. I am convinced that there are two reasons why
Christians don’t share their faith

1. one, most Christians are NOT TRAINED in
sharing their faith

2. and two . . . most Christians are not
looking for evangelistic opportunities
RIGHT BEFORE THEIR EYES

b. my training with EE; before I was trained in evangelism,
I wasn’t as “watchful;” now, I LOOK FOR
opportunities to share my faith

3. why are some people “great evangelists”? (M.R. . . . Dallas;
because he is looking)

We must be THANKFUL.

Vs. 2 – “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

why would Paul encourage us to be thankful when we share our faith?
Paul KNEW that only God could change a person’s heart

1. so when Paul saw someone come to faith in Christ, God had
opened their hearts

2. look at what happened to Paul when he shared his faith in Acts
16:13-14 – “On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the
river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down
and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One
of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple
cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God.
The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.”

some of you may not ever share your faith BECAUSE you think that you have to do it perfectly –

1. YOU DON’T SAVE PEOPLE – GOD DOES

2. illustration of baby being born –

a. you did not create the child

b. BUT YOU MAY DELIVER IT!

3. a recent lunch with a seeker

a. he asked me questions

b. Praise God for His previous work in that man’s heart
before I ever got with him!

We Must Develop A Life Of Prayer For Others.

Vs. 3 – “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we
may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.”

Paul not only tells believers to pray that God would give fellow believers an opportunity to share Christ with others.
Paul encourages the church at Colossae to PRAY FOR HIM AS WELL – that HE would be given an opportunity to share Christ.
Paul uses the term “and pray for us, too, that God would open a door for our message.”

1. the Greek means “a door of utterance”

2. “a door of words”

what Paul is asking the church at Colossae to do for him is to pray that GOD OPENS A DOOR so that Paul could “go through it”

1. Paul knew, once again, that only God could open the door of a
person’s soul

2. BECAUSE the doors of the unsaved are closed! God must
OPEN THEM!

3. I like what John Piper said, “Pray the locks off of people’s
hearts.”

Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China and creator of China Inland Mission. Taylor was looking at the statistics for the various ministry teams throughout China. Most of the teams had the same number of conversions to report, except for one particular evangelistic team. Taylor wondered why this particular mission team had more conversions than the others. While traveling to speak in England one time, Taylor ran into a man who had been a college roommate of the missionary who was serving at that successful mission team. The man told Taylor that he had been praying for that particular missionary since their days as roommates in college. Taylor then knew how to explain it.

The Engel’s Scale – What’s Gone Wrong With The Harvest?
Do you pray for our staff that God would “open doors” for the gospel?

II. We Must Learn To Speak SECONDLY To People About God.

We Must Speak CLEARLY To Unbelievers.

Vs. 3-4 - And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

We must speak clearly about Christ because of the CONFUSION of the unbeliever.
notice that Paul calls the gospel “a mystery”

1. look at how Paul describes this mystery elsewhere in
Colossians 1:25-27 – “I have become its servant by the
commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in
its fullness--the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages
and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them
God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the
glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the
hope of glory.”

a. a hidden thing; a secret

b. something that has been kept from others

c. something that has to be “revealed” to be understood

2. obviously, a mystery is something that you cannot understand
on your own; someone must “reveal” it to you

a. so, Paul is calling the gospel “a mystery” to unbelievers

b. THEY CANNOT UNDERSTAND IT ON THEIR
OWN!

my own experience

1. as a non-believer myself

a. I HAD NO CLUE WHAT THE GOSPEL WAS
BEFORE I WAS SAVED.

b. even AFTER people attempted to explain the gospel to
me, I did not understand it

1. church camp counselor

2. at church during a Wednesday night meal –
“that’s crazy”

2. as I have attempted to share the gospel with others, they too
have been confused about what they heard

a. Richard W.

b. T.B. – “I believe in Jesus!”

c. a man I am meeting with now

Scripture CLEARLY teaches that the non-believer will not understand the gospel on his own

I Corinthians 2:14 – “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

1. THAT IS WHY WE MUST TELL OTHERS OF JESUS

2. and . . . even after telling them, they will be confused

3. so, DO NOT THINK THAT “LIVING YOUR LIFE” is
enough

a. unbelievers can’t “read your mind” about your spiritual
life

b. the unbeliever would have to look at your life and
“figure out the gospel” on his own

We must speak clearly because of the CONFLICT of the unbeliever.
notice Paul’s comments about unbelievers elsewhere in Romans 8:7 – “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”

1. not only is the non-believer confused about the gospel, HE IS
HOSTILE TO IT AS WELL

2. as Christians, we cannot simply begin to talk to unbelievers
about the gospel without THOSE TWO BELIEFS IN THE
BACK OF OUR MINDS

a. when you speak to the non-believer about Christ, they
will first think that you are crazy

b. but also, when you speak to the non-believer about
Christ, they will want to argue with you

3. so, how would you approach a hostile animal?

a. shouting with a closed fist?

b. or walking carefully with an open hand?

so . . . notice what Paul says to us next about dealing with non-believers

We Must Speak WISELY To Unbelievers.

Vs. 5 – “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.”

NOTICE the next step in Paul’s instructions in sharing our faith with unbelievers – BE WISE!
we are to be wise with unbelievers BECAUSE THE UNBELIEVER WILL NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE SAYING ABOUT JESUS!

1. the word wise in the Greek refers to one’s skill in managing
one’s affairs; forming the best plan for a situation

2. if we as believers are going to be successful in sharing Christ
with unbelievers: they MUST BE WISE IN EVERY
SITUATION WITH UNBELIEVERS

a. What should I say?

b. When should I say something?

c. How should I say something?

3. suggestions in being wise with unbelievers:

DON’T USE CHRISTIAN JARGON

1. “I would like to tell you how Jesus can save
you”

2. “I want to tell you how you can be born again”

3. “I want you to know how you can be justified . .
and sanctified!”

4. “Do you want to hear? Do you? Do you?”

use “THIRD PERSON MINISTRY”

c. Becky Pippert – “To evangelize, it seemed, required
insensitivity and an inclination to blurt out a
memorized gospel outline, without inhaling, to every
stranger you met. It never occurred to me that my
pre-Christian, unredeemed, almost common sense
understanding about how to relate warmly to
people might be valid. For instance, I knew how
offended I had been as an agnostic when someone tried
to push religion on me without even bothering to
discover who I was or what I believed. That was a
proper response, I see now, for I should be offended
when I’m being treated as someone’s evangelistic
project instead of as a person.”

b. we are to be wise with unbelievers because the unbeliever
will be hostile

1. if you know that the unbeliever will be hostile to the gospel,
THEN DON’T GET INTO AN ARGUMENT!

a. I do not believe that anyone has ever been “argued” into
the Kingdom

b. don’t “create” more of a problem by telling them of
your vast knowledge of Scripture

2. INSTEAD, diffuse their hostility BY ALLOWING THE
UNBELIEVER TO SPEAK OF THEIR SPIRITUAL VIEWS
FIRST!

a. let them talk; let them “get it off their chest” about
Christianity

b. and don’t be shocked by what they say!

Notice that there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING “SMART” AND BEING “WISE.”
being “smart” says that I know more than the non-believer knows and I will prove it to him – being “wise” says now is not the time to share all of my knowledge
being “smart” says that what the non-believer just said was totally wrong; being “wise” says that I will speak to him about that later
being “smart” is knowing that the non-believer should not take God’s name in vain, being “wise” says that Jesus changes a person from the inside out and that their language will change once Jesus touches their life

We Must Speak OFTEN To Unbelievers.
This is a very interesting term in the Greek.
FIRST, this text suggests that these “witnessing opportunities” may not actually involve verbal witnessing

Vs. 5 – “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.”

1. the word here is not talk but “act”

a. the word means to walk

b. as you are living your life

c. as you are living in relationships with unbelievers

2. we are called to use any opportunity to reveal Christ to
unbelievers

a. going to a ballgame

b. going to a movie

c. going out to a meal

d. helping them with yard work

e. Jim Rayburn – the founder of Young Life – “Earning
the right to be heard.”

3. I don’t believe that Paul meant that in EVERY situation we
should “launch” into a gospel presentation

a. I Peter 2:12 – “Live such good lives among the
pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong,
they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the
day he visits us.”

b. Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine
before men, that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven. “

c. my mistake in college

1. Freshman year

2. Sophomore year

4. Are you willing to spend so much time with
a non-believer so that you could “EARN”
the right to speak into their life?

SECOND, “to make the most” - means “to buy up”

Vs. 5 – “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.”

1. just as a merchant looks for and “seizes” a bargain, so should
the believer look for opportunities to share their faith

2. the problem is most Christians do not have a sense of “urgency”
in witnessing to others -
“A U.S. Army officer told of the contrast in his pupils during
two different eras of teaching at the artillery training school at
Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In 1958; the attitude was so lax that the
instructors had a problem getting men to stay awake to
listen. During the 1965 classes, however, the men, hearing the
same basic lectures, were alert and took copious notes. The
reason: these men know that in less than six weeks they
would be facing the enemy in Vietnam. One reason that
Bible study seems to be irrelevant to many Christians is that
they have no interaction with non-Christians, no vital ministry
to growing believers, and no personal and internal struggle for
godliness, all of which are factors that bring the truths of the
Bible to apply to life.”

However, despite the fact that we are called to “live our lives” before unbelievers, we must realize that there is still the need to eventually verbalize the gospel to a non-believer.
NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW CHRIST BECAUSE YOU LIVED A GODLY LIFE IN FRONT OF THEM

1. if the gospel is a “mystery,” WE WILL HAVE TO EXPLAIN
THE GOSPEL TO THEM . . . AUDIBLY

2. my brother – M.R.

earn the right to be heard and then TELL THEM WHAT THEY NEED TO HEAR!

We Must Speak GRACIOUSLY To Unbelievers.

Vs. 6 – “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”