Fish For Witnessing Christians PDF

FISH FOR WITNESSING CHRISTIANS  TABLE CF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 The Necessity of Witnessing. 2 Making Contact and Stirring Interest. 15 3 Communication and Conviction.. 23 4 Making the Decision: Sin and Its...

FISH FOR WITNESSING CHRISTIANS  TABLE CF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 The Necessity of Witnessing. 2 Making Contact and Stirring Interest. 15 3 Communication and Conviction.. 23 4 Making the Decision: Sin and Its Penalty. 31 5 Making the Decision: Christ Died for Our Sin......41 6 Making the Decision: Trusting Christ as Savior...47 7 Follow-Up 59 Handling Excuses. 67 Examination Questions. 75 Glossary. 82 A Guideline for Witnessing 88  And He saith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. -Matthew 4:19 It is significant that Christ chose fishermen for Hisdisciples. Their profession portrayed what every true disciple is to be-a fisher for the souls of the lost. Fish are God's parallel to mankind in the New Testament, just as sheep can represent people in the Old Testament. The fishers are Christians, the sea is the world, the fish are the lost, the bait is the Word of God, and it is God who works through it all. John 21 gives us a beautiful picture of the disciples fishing without the Lord. They fished all night and caught nothing. When they followed the Lord's directions the next morning, however, they could hardly pull in the net, the fish were so heavy. Only through the Lord's blessing can we expect a great harvest of fish. Like the disciples that dark night, we have neither the vision nor the wisdom toreach souls on our own. Thepurpose of this book is to present biblical principles for witnessing. Our prayer is that the Lord willwork through your love, faithfulness, and prayer to bring others to Him. As you begin this study, pause and ask the Lord to break and burden your heart for the lost and to use this book to equip you to be an effective and fervent fisher for lost souls. But remember, learning to fish is not enough-to catch fish, you must cast the bait. Happy fishing! 4  1 THENECESSITY OF WITNESSING Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, and He would make them fishers of men (Matt. 4:19). Fishers of men? What does that mean? To whom was Christ talking in Matthew 4:19? What was their occupation? Being fishers, these men knew that Christ was talking about catch ing people instead of fish. Later, they came tofully understand what He meant. Just as the Old Testament speaks of the souls of people as being like lost sheep, the New Testament refers to mankind as being like fish. The responsibility that Christ gives believers is to help lead these lost souls to Christ. Oh, I get it. Youre talking about witnessing. Right.The Biblecompares winning the lost for Christ with fish ing. lt says we must witness. What does it mean to witness? Why did Christ use that term? A witness is one who tells others about something he has experi enced. For example, if you saw a car wreck, you might be called in as a witness to tell what you saw. Likewise, a Christian witness is one who tells others what he has experienced in Christ. But can't I show people what Ive experienced with just. my behavior? Certainly, but showing isn't the same as witnessing. When you see an accident occur and appear before the judge as a witness, you don't just sit in the witness chair and say nothing. Your face and attitude might reveal that you've seen something important, but the court requires details. So a witness speaks up and describes 6 what he saw. We should try to reflect Christ by our behavior, but we must also share Him with our words. C Romans 10:17 says that people must in order to have faith in Christ. Simply living your witness gives a person some thing to see, but nothing to hear. But why do I need to tell others? Isnt Christianity something persona!? I dontbelieve in bugging people about religion. Turn to Acts 1:8. What doesChrist command every dis ciple to do? Then one reason we should witness-or fish for souls-is that Christ commanded us to do so. That ought to be enough. But let's also note a few other reasons for witnessing. OURCONDITION DEMANDS IT Read the following verses and state the awful inner con dition of mankind. 1. Job 25:1-6 2. Isaiah 1:5-6 3. Isaiah 64:6 4. Jeremiah 17:9 5. Ezekiel 18:4 7  6. John 3:18 7. Romans 3:10-12 8. Ephesians 2:12 According to Romans 3:23, how many people are in this condition? Iunderstand that every person is a sinner. What does that haveto do with witnessing? THE GOSPEL'S POWER REQUIRES IT Read Acts 4:10-12. According to these verses, what is the only way a person can be saved? We can see why we must witness. There is no other name under heaven that can save a soul. Read Romans 10:9-17. Before people can trust, or call on, the name of Christ for salvation, what must they do? Before they can believe, however, what must they do? Before they can do that, what must happen? Before a preacher can preach, what must take place? 8  A person's salvation therefore follows an orderly procession of events. State the correct order by placing the following in their logical sequence: Hear-the gospel Senda preacher Trust-in the name of Jesus Preach-the gospel, the Word of salvation Believe-the message 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. According to Romans 10:17, what is required before a person can be saved? God could have reached out to unbelievers any way He wanted, but we can see that He has chosen to use us to share His gospel with the world. THE LOVE OF CHRIST COMPELS IT Read 2 Corinthians 5:14. Why was Paul constrained, or compelled, to witness? This might beone of two loves--our love for Christ, or His love for souls. Either could apply to this verse. As Christ grows His love in us, we cannot help but reflect His love to others. The more you love the Lord, the more you will long to see people saved. 9 THE REALITY OF HELL DEMANDSIT Read Luke 16:19-28. From this passage we understand that people in hell are physically and mentally aware of their pain and anguish. Name the parts of the body-stated or implied--that the rich man had in hell. V. 23 v. 24 v. 24 (he suffered) v. 25 (he remembered) v. 25 (he heard Abraham) But I don'tthink that was a true story. Isnitthat just aparable? Unlike Christ's other stories and illustrations, this was not a fic tional parable. First, it features real, named characters and real, named places--things that Christ did not include in His parables elsewhere. Second, Jesus always clearly introduced parables as parables, but He did not in this case. He presented this story as an account of something that actually happened. The Bible provides us at least seven other facts about hell, any of which should stir our hearts to reach the lost before they go there. 1.The Darkness of Hell How do the following verses describe the darkness in hell? Matthew 8:12 C 2Peter 2:4 Here is a darkness kept from all glimmer or possibility or even hope of light. 10  2. The Fire of Hell What kind of fire does Matthew 3:12 speak of? This verse implies not only that the fire will never be extinguished, but also that those suffering in the flame will not be consumed. The pain simply willnot stop. 3. The Death of Hell Revelation 9:1, 2, and 11 describes hell as being like what? What comes out of it? 4. The Loneliness of Hell Luke 16:24 describes the rich man calling out to whom? There was no one in hell with whom he could talk. Hellis aplace of total isolation--there will be no relationships or community. Most importantly, people in hell will be separated from God forever (2 Thess. 1:9). 5. The Sounds of Hell According to the verses below, what will people hear in hell? 1. Matthew 8:12, 2. Matthew 13:50, 11 6. The Thirst of Hell else Luke l6:24describes the rich man's thirst. As with everything in hell, this thirst is eternal, unending, unquenchable. 7.The Endlessness of Hell C Accordingto 2 Thessalonians 1:9, what kind of punish ment shall be broughtupon the lost? Hell must be terrible. No one in their right mind would want to go there. witness. The And that is one of the greatest reasons we should lost simply don't think about hell. They either don't think its a But hell real place, or they don't want to consider if it could be. exists, and we, like Christ, must confront people with its reality. Therefore, we must get men and women to think about hell. Complete ThisSection Without Looking Back at the Lesson 1. How does the New Testament picture lost souls? 2. What is a witness? 3. Besides the fact that God commands believers to witness, what four reasons compel us to tell others of Christ? 12 4. According to Acts 4, what is the only way a person can be saved? 5. What four things must happen before a person can trust, or callon, Christ for salvation? 6. How do we know that the story of the rich man and Lazarus is not a parable? List two reasons. 7. Name the seven facts about hell that were presented in this chapter. 13 Verses to Memorize Matthew 4:19 Acts 1:8 Romans 10:17 14