In a U.S. News & World Report survey:
People say they believe in 'god' but
they stay away from the church. The 'god' people profess to believe in
is one they determine for themselves. Some go so far as to say god is whatever
they perceive him or her to be.
We are living in an age of spiritual
anarchy!
If we are going to reach people
with the truth and introduce them to Jesus Christ before it’s too late,
WE are going to have to get out from behind the walls of the church and
go where they are. That will mean leaving our “comfort zones” and developing
meaningful relationships with the non- Christians we know and telling them
about Jesus.
Building An Army of Personal
Witnesses!
1 Chronicles 12:22
“Day after day men came to help
David, until he had a great army, like the ARMY OF GOD.”
This lesson discusses the establishment
of an army of personal witnesses for Jesus Christ. Using David's establishment
of the army of God in the book of Chronicles, in the Bible, as a framework
for this discussion, significant parallels are drawn and principles developed
which can be applied in our lives as Christian witnesses.
1. David’s men were warriors
prepared
for battle!
David's men were armed and skilled
in the use of their weapons.
 I
Chronicles 12:2
“These were the men who came to
David...they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling
stones right-handed or left-handed...”
God has provided us with weapons to be effective
soul winners too!
-
re you armed with the weapons
God has provided?
-
Are you skillful in the use
of those weapons as you witness to people?
David's men were brave, ready, and swift.
I
Chronicles 12:8
“They were brave warriors, ready
for battle...and they were as swift as gazelles in the mountains.”
As witnesses for Jesus Christ we
also need to be brave, ready and quick!
-
As a personal witness are you a brave
warrior ready for battle?
-
Are you swift to take the opportunities
that God presents to share Jesus' message of salvation with the people
around you?
Some of David's men were experienced leaders
who became commanders in his army!
I
Chronicles 12:14 & 21
“These Gadites were army commanders;
the least was a match for a hundred, and the  greatest
for a thousand..."
The church needs leaders among those
winning souls to Christ too!
-
Are those of you who have been Christians
for a long time, commanders and leaders among the personal
witnesses in your church?
The men who came to help David: understood
the times, knew what was expected of Israel, were experienced, loyal, and
volunteered to serve.
I
Chronicles 12:32-33, 38
“men...who understood the times
and knew what Israel should do... experienced soldiers prepared for battle...to
help David with undivided loyalty...All these were fighting men who volunteered
to serve in the ranks.”
-
Do you understand the times we live
in and what the church is to do?
-
Are you willing to volunteer to serve
in the Army of God?
The first thing we have to do is PRAY!
Matthew
9:37-38
“Then he said to his disciples,
‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the
harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”
We need to pray that God would send
workers into His harvest field!
2. Believers must be warriors
prepared for battle too!
 Ephesians
4:11-12
“It was he who gave some to be apostles,
some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and
teachers,to prepare God's people for works
of service..."
Training is essential if believers are to be
prepared for battle!
Many Christians remain spiritual
infants and never mature in their relationship with Christ.
Hebrews
5:11-14
"In fact, though by this time you
ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths
of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who
lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching
about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant
use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
Often, when a believer should be
teaching others, they need to have someone teach them the basics of the
faith, all over again.
-
Sharing your faith with someone else
makes YOU stronger!
-
Teaching a new believer the basics
of the faith also makes YOU stronger!
 Maturity
comes only through constant practice. That practice includes sharing your
faith with others!
I
Corinthians 9:24-25
"Do you not know that in a race
all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as
to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.
They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown
that will last forever."
Matthew
25:21
“His lord said unto him, Well done,
thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things,
I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy
lord.”
We have a choice to make: Will we share our faith
with others or not? The choice can be illustrated in two types of attitudes.
The “Me First” Attitudes:
Luke
14:15-24
"...one of those at the table
with him...said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast
in the kingdom of God." Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great
banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his
servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now
ready.' "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have
just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please
excuse me.' "Another said, 'I have just bought
five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please
excuse me.' "Still another said, 'I just got
married, so I can't come.' "The servant came back and reported this to
his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant,
'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the
poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' "'Sir,' the servant said,
'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room."Then the master
told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them
come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men
who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"
All the people who were invited to the banquet made excuses
why they "couldn’t" come
We never find out what their names were or anything else
about them
We never hear from them again!
Luke
9:57-62
"As they were walking along
the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus
replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son
of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me
go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own
dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said,
"I will follow you, Lord; but first let me
go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts
his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of
God."
The men in this story said “Me first, Lord.” (A contradiction
of terms!) They said they would follow the Lord but each had other things
that wre more important at that moment.
We never find out what these three individuals' names
were either
We also never hear from these three men again.
The “You First, Lord” Attitudes:
Matthew
4:18-22
 "As
Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon
called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake,
for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make
you fishers of men." At once
they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two
other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in
a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
and immediately
they left the boat and their father and followed him."
By contrast to the individuals mentioned before, each of
these men responded
immediately when Jesus
called them!
We know each of their names!
We hear about them regularly! (Several were the writers
of books of the Bible!)
What will your attitude be about sharing your faith with others?
Will you prepare yourself for the battle?
ARE YOU PREPARED FOR BATTLE?
The Battle
Ephesians
6:10-12
"Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you
can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against
the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
The Type of Battle
We are engaged in a spiritual battle
NOT a human, fleshly battle.
The Enemy
We are fighting against a spiritual
enemy - the devil; the rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark
world; the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms.
The Equipment
Ephesians
6:13-20
"Therefore
put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the
belt
of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate
of righteousness in place, and with your feet
fitted with the readiness that comes from
the gospel of peace. In addition to all this,
take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take
the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God. And pray
in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds
of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying
for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words
may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the
gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare
it fearlessly, as I should."
The Armor (Defensive)
Enables us to remain standing after the battle
The Weapons (Offensive)
Enable us to fight the war against the enemy
The Battleground
2 Corinthians 4:4
"The god of this age has blinded
the minds of unbelievers,
so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God."
Satan, or the devil, blinds people's
minds to keep them from believing.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
"For though we live in the
world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with
are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power
to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments
and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge
of God, and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ."
The minds
of the people you know and love is the battleground of this war! |
