Lon Solomon Ministries
Being a Witness for Christ
On June 11, 1739, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, wrote the following words in his journal, and I quote, "He said, 'I look upon all the world as my parish, by that I mean that in whatever part of the world I am, I judge it neat, right, and my bound duty, to declare to all who are willing to hear the glad tidings of salvation." End of quote. Now in these days in England when Wesley lived, every little pastor had his own little parish, and people didn't take very kindly to other ministers coming into their parish telling their people anything. But Wesley said, "I'm going to rise above all of that, and I'm going to declare the whole world as my parish, and where I need anybody in my parish, anybody in the world that needs to know about Jesus Christ, I am going to tell them." And friends with these very simple words, John Wesley established the Magna Carta of modern evangelical Christianity, namely that as followers of Jesus Christ everywhere we go, we are to be witnesses for Christ, we're to be sharing the good news of Jesus Christ everywhere with everyone that we run into. You say, "Well, Lon, wait a minute. John Wesley's different." I mean, he was in full-time Christian work. God called him to be an evangelist. I'm just a wake-up in the morning, get on the bell way, go to work, ordinary, everyday person. I'm not John Wesley. Well friends, you may not be called into full-time vocational Christian service like John Wesley. But the Bible is clear about the fact that God's will for you, for me, for every follower of Jesus Christ is that we are to be outspoken witnesses for Jesus. For example, Acts chapter 1 verse 8, "Jesus said, 'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 8, Paul writes Timothy and says, "Timothy, do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord." And Jesus, when he met Peter, John chapter 1, Mark, rather, chapter 1 verse 17, said, "Peter, Peter, come and follow me, and I will make you fishers, not a fish like you've been doing, but I will make you fishers of men." Friends, the longer I live, the more I realize how central to this thing we call the Christian experience, how central to that, sharing our faith really is. You can study the Bible all you want, we can read the Bible all we want, we can memorize Scripture all we want, we can pray and fast all day long, but unless all of that issues out into a love for people and a concern for people's eternal destiny and an outspokenness for Jesus Christ, all that learning and all that study and all that religious activity, we have missed the whole point if it doesn't issue out and thus being witnesses for Christ. So we want to talk about that today. Part 9, spiritual boot camp, this is our review of the basics and the Christian experience, we're almost done, we're only going to do 12, so we're coming down the home stretch, but I can't think of a one that's more central than being witnesses for Jesus Christ. So that's what we're going to talk about today. You know, being a good witness for Jesus Christ all begins with a truth, with a theological truth and that truth is that without Jesus Christ every human being alive is spiritually lost. Good witnessing begins with the utter conviction that apart from the redemption that God offers through Jesus Christ, every person alive is alienated from God, separated from God, under the judgment of God, condemned and heading for a horrible eternity. And folks, as followers of Jesus Christ, if you and I don't really believe this, if you and I waffle on this, if you and I begin saying, well, I bet there are other ways for people to get eternal life other than Jesus, there are other ways for people to get into heaven, I'm telling you it will be deadly to your career as a witness. You won't be a witness and the reason is that witnessing carries a price. Witnessing carries a cost, a cost in ridicule, a cost in ostracism, a cost in persecution, a cost in losing promotions, a cost in offending people, there is a cost that goes with standing up for Jesus Christ. And unless you and I are absolutely convinced that every person we meet is headed for a disastrous eternity and that their only hope, their only hope is for us to open our mouths and tell them about Jesus Christ, if we're not convinced of that, airtight, we will never be a good witness for Jesus Christ, we'll keep our mouths shut, we won't be willing to pay the price. So let's take a moment or two and make sure we understand what the Bible is saying, is the Bible really saying this? Well, let's look, John chapter 3 verse 36, Jesus said, "Whoever believes in the Son," meaning Jesus Christ, "has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see eternal life for God's wrath, God's judgment remains, sits, rests on that person." Jesus said, John 3 verse 18, "Whoever does not believe in Jesus Christ stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." Jesus said, John 14 verse 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one," there's the key word, "no one comes to the Father, no one gets eternal life, no one gets into heaven except through me," that's what Jesus said. First John chapter 5 verse 11, "And this is the record that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son," here comes the formula, "He who has the Son has eternal life, and he who does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life." I mean, how could God say it any clearer than that, which is why Acts chapter 4 verse 12 says that there is salvation is found in no other, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we can be delivered. And just in case there's any doubt, look right here in 2 Thessalonians 1 where I ask you to open, look with me if you would at verse 8. Verse 8, "It says, 'For God will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Then it says, 'They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power.' Friends, when it comes to this issue, and I've just given you a smattering of verses, I've been giving you all of them, when it comes to this issue of how does a person get eternal life, how does a person get to heaven, is there another way to do it other than through what Jesus did for us on the cross? The Bible is absolutely airtight. It is through Jesus Christ alone, period, period, period." You say, "Well, long, wait, we'll just have time out." I mean, what if a person is a sincere Buddhist? I mean, what if a person is a real sincere God-fearing Muslim, or a sincere Jehovah's Witness, or a sincere Mormon, or a sincere Jewish person? I mean, they're really trying to seek God through those different avenues. I mean, isn't it true that they all lead to the same point anyway? I mean, won't God just kind of credit those sincere people with the blood of Jesus, even though they're not trusting Jesus specifically? Friends, the answer is no, no a thousand times, no. Didn't you hear what all the verses we just read said? What did they say? "No one comes to the Father unless they come through me." You say, "Yeah, but maybe they come through Jesus. They just don't know that they're coming through Jesus." Well, let's fix that. Turn with me, if you would, to Romans 10. The letter Paul wrote to Church of Rome, he addresses this, Romans 10, page 802, page 802 in our copy of the Bible, and the Bible's going to cover this issue. What if they're coming to God through Jesus, they just don't know about Jesus? Is that possible? The Bible says no. Look at this, Romans 10, look at verse 13, "And everyone, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered." You say, "Well, yeah, they're calling on the name of the Lord. They just don't know his name." All right, watch, verse 14, "How then can they call on the name of the Lord properly? How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they've not heard? And how can they hear about that person without someone telling them, verse 17, rather, consequently, faith, the faith that leads to deliverance comes from hearing the message, what message? And the message is heard through the Word of Christ. And what the Bible is saying is that in order to call on the name of God right, you've got to believe right. And in order to believe right, you've got to hear right. And in order to hear right, you have to have information about Jesus Christ. Let's turn it around and run it backwards. Backwards it says, "Without information about Jesus Christ, people can hear right. And if they can't hear right, they can't believe right. And if they can't believe right, they can't call on the name of the Lord right. And if they can't call on the name of the Lord right, they can't be delivered." The Bible says there has to be a clear, cognitive hearing about Jesus Christ, His dating, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His death on the cross, His payment for our sin, His resurrection before a person can believe right, call on the name of the Lord right and be delivered." Verse 9. Chapter 10, "If we confess with our mouth," the Bible says, "that Jesus is Lord." Not if we confess with our mouth that Buddha is nice, that Muhammad was a prophet, that Joseph's Miss saw an angel or Rabbi Schneerson thought he was the Messiah. If we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and if we believe in our heart, God has raised Jesus from the dead, it's then and only then what does the Bible say that we will be delivered? The most sincere Muslim, the most sincere Jehovah's Witness, the most sincere Buddhist or Jewish person in the world until they hear the truth about Jesus, until they believe it, and until they call upon the Lord through what Jesus did for them on the cross, they are lost, lost, lost. That's what the Bible says and headed for a disaster in eternity. Now, if you're here and you've never trusted Christ as your real and personal Savior, this is really important information for you to have. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I hate it when I don't know where I stand with somebody. You know, you meet them, you talk to them, they play ring around a mulberry bush, give you the old Washington two-step and when you're done, you still don't know what the deal is. I mean, I'd rather have somebody tell me they're mad at me, they're upset with me, they're disappointed in me, tell me whatever, but let me know where I stand and what I'm dealing with. Well, I've got great news for you. If you're here and you've never trusted Jesus Christ, God does not do the Washington two-step. God will tell you right where you stand and God has done that. If you don't know Jesus Christ, if you've never trusted what He did on the cross, where you stand is that you are alienated from God out of relationship with God and headed for a disaster in eternity and all your religious work won't fix it. But I've got good news for you, there is a way to fix it and that's by trusting what Jesus did for you on the cross, shedding His blood to pay for your sin. You can fix this, but you can't fix it your way, you've got to fix it God's way. So you know where you stand? God's been right up front with you and now the question is, are you ready to avail yourself of the remedy? I sure hope so because you know where you stand. Now that's as far as we want to go down that track because we've got a really important question to ask and that really important question, you know what it is. So ready everybody, ready? Deep breath. Ready? 1, 2, 3? You're right. Say long, so what? I hear what you're saying, I see this theological truth, I'm glad you taught it, but what difference Jesus has made for me, oh friends if you're a follower of Jesus Christ makes a huge difference. What this means is that every person on the Metro that you see, every person in the mall that you pass, every person that lives in your neighborhood, every person that goes to your school, every person that works in your office, every person in your family, every one of them is headed for disaster in eternity if they don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And it means friends that you and I are the ones who have the data that they need to change all of this and that we have the responsibility, we have the duty, and we have the wonderful privilege to share with them the data that can change that very unenviable situation that they're in. And you say, well, Lon, that's scary. I mean, you know, I get ready to do something like this, my pulse goes up, my blood pressure goes up, my armpits, I start getting wet under the fifths and everything, friends, everybody does that. We all do that, but aren't you glad somebody pressed through all of that and told you what the truth was? Where would you be today? I'm glad somebody pressed through and told me and our responsibility is to say, God, yes, I'm a little nervous and yes, I'm a little bit scared, but this person needs it enough. I'm willing to press through that and tell them respectfully and gently, but tell them boldly the truth. And friends, you know, we have a mission here at McLean Bible Church that we want to rock this city for Jesus Christ. We want to impact secular Washington, but we will never be able to achieve that mission through church programming. We will never be able to achieve that mission by building a bigger campus. We will never achieve that mission by being on the radio. The only way we will ever get close to achieving that mission is by dispatching an army of witnesses into Washington every single day to go out there in the neighborhoods, into the mall, onto the Metro, into their families and tell people what Jesus Christ did in our lives and what He wants to do in their life. We will never make it unless you become part of this process as a witness in your everyday life. And so I've got some practical suggestions for you as to how you and I can be more effective witnesses. I've got five to give you. Well, hurry. Let's get them done. Number one, you want to be more effective for witness for Jesus Christ? Suggestion number one, prayer. Prayer is the most underrated component in being an effective witness of them all because you see friends, the message of Jesus Christ is a prescription, but nobody's ever willing to take a prescription till they're convinced they're sick, till they're convinced they're something wrong. And so how do we go out and convince successful, powerful, sophisticated, educated, affluent, Washingtonians, how do we convince them they are spiritually sick? Well the answer is we can't. The answer is only the spirit of God can convince somebody that they're sick and that they don't need band-aid treatments, they need radical surgery. Only the spirit of God can do that. But how do we bring the spirit of God to bear on people's lives so he'll accomplish that? We do it through prayer on our knees. For people, prayer is the most underrated witnessing tool ever. We go out and scatter seed on ground. We haven't plowed through prayer. We go out and try to land troops on beaches that we haven't bombarded and softened with prayer and it doesn't work as well. And friends, the most powerful witnessing is witnessing that is done in partnership with prayer for the people we're trying to share with. You know, next month or a couple of months I will have been a follower of Jesus Christ 30 years. And 30 years ago when I came to Christ, the man that led me to Christ used to play songs in his band, you know, like Fanny Crosby, Blessed Assurance, Jesus' mind and all these great songs. And as a brand new Christian, I would hear these songs, 21-year-old college kid and I would go, "Man, I know I've heard that song before. I know I've heard that." And I knew what in the synagogue, you understand what I'm saying. So I'm like, "Where have I heard this song before?" And I began going back to my memory banks and I remembered a lady who had worked with us, an African American lady that had worked for my family as a maid when I was a little guy and she would be ironing or cooking or whatever, humming these tunes. And I didn't know the words, but I knew the melodies. And I said, "Man, I'll bet you her name was Corley Goodman." I said, "I'll bet you Corley Goodman was a Christian." So I hitchhiked up to Portsmouth, Virginia to find her and tell her I'd give them my life to Christ. I've been Christian about two weeks. And I found her, and I remember I had hair out to my shoulders, love beads on motorcycle boots. So when she finally recovered from seeing me and let me in her house, I said, "I came up here to tell you that I gave my life to Jesus Christ." And she said, "You know?" She said, "When I came to work for you, you were two months old." She said, "And I have been praying for you for 21 years." She said, "But honey, I never thought I'd see today. You come to Christ." Well, I was bad. I was bad, bad, bad. I admit it. But you know what? That woman was the only person I know, even to this day, praying for me during those 21 years. And she not only prayed knee into the Kingdom of God, she prayed my mother in, my father in, and my only sibling in my entire nuclear family came to Christ because of the prayer life of this woman. Now let me tell you something about Corley Goodman. Corley Goodman never graduated from elementary school. She couldn't read. Corley Goodman couldn't write. Corley Goodman couldn't drive an automobile. Corley Goodman could not even sign her own name. She made an X, but Corley Goodman could pray. And friends, you don't need to do a whole lot else but pray. And God does stuff in people's lives. I'm here today as a follower of Christ on the human level because of the prayer life of that sweet dear woman who's with the Lord now. And this is one of our problems. That woman didn't talk all that much, but she prayed and God worked. Friends don't ever underestimate the power of prayer in being a good witness. Number two, we need to use scripture if we're going to be a more effective witness. Isaiah 55 verse 10, my word that goes out from my mouth, God says, "It will not return to me empty, but will achieve the purposes for which I send it." Folks, it is not, look what God says here, it is not our philosophy, our cleverness, our strategies, our argumentative ability that God promised won't return to him empty. It's scripture, the word of God. And when people walk away from a conversation with you and me about Jesus Christ, what we want ringing in their ears and what we want reverberating in their soul is not our logic, our wisdom, our persuasiveness. We want the eternal word of God Almighty in their soul because that's what God's going to use to bring people to Christ. If you notice the little one minute ditties we do on the radio, not a sermon, just a thought, every single one of them is built around a verse of scripture. What we're trying to do is get that verse of scripture into people's hearts and into people's minds over the radio, everything else we say is just fluff. Nobody's going to come to Christ because we go on to radio and do something clever. They're going to come to Christ because we go on to radio with a verse from the Word of God and shoot it into their soul before they know what happened to them and the Spirit of God starts to use it in people's lives. And the same is true when you and I share Christ, hey, I mean it's wonderful to have all of these great arguments that you can give people, but give them less of your arguments and more of the Word of God. And you know, well, this was true of me when I came to Christ, the man who led me to Christ, Bob Eckhart, 30 years ago, we had a conversation on the street one day in Chapel Hill for two straight hours. This guy talked to me, he unloaded everything, including the kitchen sink, he could think of it me. And when he was done, he said, okay, now, are you ready to give your life to Jesus? And I said, what are you nuts? I'm not giving my life to Jesus. I'm Jewish. Jewish people don't do this. Are you crazy? I'm not talking to you, but Sayonara, I mean, I'm out of here. I'm not doing this. And he said, wait a minute, just before you go, he said, let me ask you this. He said, if I give you a Bible where you at least promise me, you'll read it. He said, how in the world are you going to make an intelligent decision about Jesus when you don't have any raw material to make that decision on? And I said, okay, that sounds reasonable. He gave me a Bible. I still have it to this day. And I put it by my nightstand and every night I would read 10, 15 minutes out of the Bible. That was it. Three months later, I got all my knees in my room and asked Jesus Christ into my life. And when people say, who led you to Christ, well, the truth of the matter really is it was the spirit of God using the word of God that led me to Christ. I hardly ever saw this man once or twice again in those three months. It was me, the spirit of God and the Bible, and the result was I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Friends, don't overestimate yourself in this whole process. What about you is about the Word of God in people's lives. And if you've got somebody that you can't convince to give their life to Christ, hey, see if you can convince them just to get into the Word of God and read it. And then God doesn't need you from that point on, God bless you. You go about your way, God can handle it right from there with the Word of God. Number three, if you and I are going to be effective witnesses, number three, we need to be safe people. And what I mean by this is we need to be people who can walk along with a friend or a relative or a co-worker through the process of them making a decision for Christ and be safe all the way through that process for them. We don't judge them, we don't condemn them, we don't pressure them, we don't beat them over the head with the Bible, we just walk along with them as safe people because friends of Angelism is a process today. People coming to Christ is a process today. People are ready when you need them to make quick decisions and accept Christ today, they don't have enough information. Then people don't go to church, people don't know Bible stories, people don't learn them in public school like I did when I went to public school and that level of biblical illiteracy that we have in America today is staggering. You ever watched Jay Leno do his man on the street interviews? About a year ago he did one about Noah, you know they were going to show this movie about Noah on television. He went out on the streets of LA and here was this question to people, who built the ark? Did you know Moses built the ark, honestly? Did you know Abraham built the ark, really? Did you know David built the ark, did you know Jesus built the ark, did you know there was even one person who believed that Judas Iscari had built the ark and it was one person who said what ark? Now I mean this is not an obscure Bible story we're talking about here, I mean this is the ark for goodness sake and this guy on the streets of LA never even heard of it. Now that has some enormous implications for us who are trying to be witnesses, what it means is that we can't take a whiz bang boom approach to leading people to Christ out there. People don't have the information where they're ready to close the deal right now. We have to work with them and give people that information and give them time to process that information and be safe people while they're doing it. Sometimes it takes weeks, sometimes it takes months, sometimes it takes years and that's fine and all we have to do is be people who kick the can down road with folks every time we meet them, if we do that long enough they'll come to Christ, we have to be a safe church in that very same way and you know this is the way God tells us to share Christ. You know the old approach where you take the Bible and you know whack people upside to head with it, that's not a biblical approach to leading people to Christ, listen to what the Bible says, 1 Peter 3 15 says be always ready to give an answer about the hope that lies in you, look at it says but do this with gentleness and respect, be a safe person. Principle number 4 is get some basic skill training, friends there are lots of techniques for presenting Jesus Christ to people but every technique no matter which one of them you're using is built around the same basic skills. Number 1 you got to know how to share your personal story in a compelling way. Number 2 the skill of presenting the plan of salvation clearly and simply the skill number 3 of handling objections biblically and respectfully. Number 4 the skill of helping people actually take that decision step and lastly skill number 5 the skill of teaching people about assurance of salvation no matter what method you use these are the skills if you're going to be effective you've got to have and if you're not sure that you've got these skills that's why we offer Christianity 301 as part of McLean University when six weeks will teach you every single one of these skills we'll even give you time to practice in a safe environment on one another we'll go through it all with you we're going to offer a new round of Christianity 301 right after Christmas and you need to get in and if you don't have these skills you need certain skills to be effective and last of all here's our very last principle it's wonderful to pray it is wonderful to you scripture it is wonderful to be a safe person it is wonderful to get some basic skill training but here's the most important suggestion of all just start just start we have this idea friends that our effectiveness as a witness is based upon our proficiency I'm here to tell you it isn't God doesn't need your proficiency all God needs is our faithfulness and our authentic willingness to tell people what Jesus has done in our life and our own words and God takes it from there he doesn't need you to be a pro he doesn't need you to be smooth he just needs you to be willing to open your mouth and tell people what God has done in your life and friends every effective witness or today that you see at one point wasn't all they did is they just jumped in and started and they got better as they did it you can learn learn learn learn learn but sooner or later you just got to jump in and start doing it you know a few years ago we went to visit my good friend Dan McKinnon out in San Diego he lives right on mission right on Mission Bay and I saw people out there water skiing and everybody said long come on you know let's go where you are to water and I've never water skied my life and so Dan said I'll call a boat and we'll go out and we will let you try this and I'm like you know Dan I'm a little nervous you know you I mean do you think I could practice on dry land before I get in the water and he said what do you mean I said well can I put a couple of skis down out there on the beach in the sand and just kind of put my feet in them and get the feel of this thing and he said yeah I guess so I went out on the beach and I put these water skis down I got in them and I'm holding on to this pretend handle and I'm trying to do what he tells me about leaning forward and leaning back and everything like that had some really interesting looks from people walking by looking at me and going I see he still is on drugs see we told you but anyway finally Dan said to me this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my whole life you're never gonna learn a water ski on the beach you gotta get in the water so they hooked me up in a way we went and about it took me about 50 times before I could even stand up I think I drank half a mission bay but but I finally finally got up you said long God bless you for that kind of dog and determination well it wasn't quite that simple once I got in he told me they wouldn't let me get back in the boat till I got up and so was either spend the night mission bay or get up but you know I learned a very important lesson about water skiing you can't learn to water ski until you get in the water friends you can't learn to witness till you get out there and just do it you can practice all you want but you just got to get out there and do it press through the fear and just say God help me I'm going for it you said well on just one thing for you clothes you know I'm one of these people who want to witness with my life I mean I'm just gonna like you know let my little light shine but I don't want to open my mouth and talk to me I'm just gonna let my little light shine well it's wonderful let your little light shine that's wonderful it is and we need people who live authentic Christian lives to back up their witness but friends there is nobody in the world that is ever gonna come to Jesus Christ because you let your little light shine and nothing else sooner or later you and I are gonna have to open our mouth and tell people why our little light is shining or they're never gonna get it I had a friend who had this let your little light shine approach to witnessing and he told me about a lady that came up to him one day and said you know there is really something different about you she said are you a vegetarian and he's like what and friends I'm telling you nobody's gonna get it they're gonna give the credit everywhere but the right place until you open your mouth and tell them why you're different hey just eat Thursday night Chris Carter my Minnesota Vikings became the second man in NFL history to ever catch a thousand passes you know a few years ago Chris Carter's life was a disaster his marriage was a disaster his family was a disaster his career was a disaster and then Chris Carter gave his life to Jesus Christ and it changed everything in his life but you know what I love about Chris Carter is he went public about it he was open about it in fact he's been so open about it that good old Joe Thaisman on ESPN couldn't no matter how hard old Joe weasel couldn't find any other way to give credit to anything else then then Chris Carter's fate eventually Joe had to say well you know what really changes life around is he got serious about Christianity old Joe just couldn't bring himself to say Jesus God bless him but at least he had to say that because Chris Carter gave him no place else to go Chris Carter gave him no other explanation that was allowable other than his faith and friends that's what you got to do where everybody's gonna think you're a vegetarian if you don't tell him that that has nothing to do with this that this has to do with what Jesus Christ has done in your life let your little life shine wonderful and then open your mouth and tell them the difference in your life hey we're gonna close by giving you just one verse from the Apostle Paul's life Acts chapter 26 here's what he said he said to King Agrippa from the time I gave my life to Jesus Christ Paul says with God's help I have continued to this very day King Agrippa witnessing to both small and great people alike hey friends that is the testimonial God wants you to have at the end of your life and that's the testimonial God wants me to have at the end of my life that it doesn't matter what the world thinks whether they're big people medium people or small people we share Jesus with them and you know what if we'll go out as an army and do that in Washington DC every single day we can shake this city for Jesus Christ I hope that you're as excited about it as I am let's pray together Lord thank you so much for talking to us today about real life everyday issues that we need to live issues or that involve us being outspoken about what Jesus has done for us and Lord you know sometimes that's hard it's embarrassing sometimes it's just not convenient sometimes Lord we know we're gonna pay a price if we do that and it's so much easier to duck it but God remind us of what you said to Timothy do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord Jesus and father make us men and women who are willing to push through the fear willing to push through the trepidation and are willing to open our mouth and to the best of our ability tell people what Jesus has done in our life and what he wants to do in your life make us an army of missionaries in this city and help us to rock this city for Jesus Christ Lord change the way we live because we were here today and help us to be witnesses for you we pray in Jesus name God's people said amen. 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