Prayer Keys - Bearing Fruit
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” John 15:16
One Wednesday, we looked at the second prayer key in this verse, asking in Jesus’ name. “Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” The first prayer key is bearing fruit, “fruit that will last… then…” our prayer will be more effective. I asked Bro. Jim to let me preach on a Sunday night for that first key because there is more that should be said than can be said adequately on Wednesday night and still leave time for prayer. I do not want to take away from prayer time at prayer meetings. I have sometimes been guilty of that, but I have sincerely tried to make prayer a priority. Thank you, Bro. Jim, for this opportunity.
Have any of you seen that list of sales ads that need proofreading? My favorite said: “For sale: parachute. Never opened. Only used once.” Only used once?… Never opened?… I have never been tempted to buy a parachute, and I am not tempted to buy that one.
The ad I want to call attention to says: “For sale: Full, new set of encyclopedias. Recently married. Wife knows everything about everything.”
As most of you know, it is possible to know about something and not be able to do that thing.
Looking at a piece of music, I know which notes are a, b, c, d, e, f, or g. I know which notes are sharp, flat, or natural. I can even find those notes on a piano, given enough time. That doesn’t mean that Sue or Martha need have any fears that I will replace them. It is possible to know about something and not be able to do that thing. It is possible to know about bearing fruit without actually doing it.
Paul may not have known “everything about everything,” but I’m sure we agree that knew about bearing fruit. He also could do ministry in a way that bore fruit.
1 Corinthians 9:19-22
Maybe you’ve had my experience. You’ve heard sermons on witnessing. I’ve heard sermons on witnessing. Maybe you’ve read books about witnessing. I’ve read books about witnessing. Maybe you’ve taken classes on witnessing. I’ve taken classes on witnessing. A few of you have taught classes on witnessing. I have taught classes on witnessing only to see some of my students appear to be obviously better at doing it than I was. Maybe you have been frustrated by knowing the right things to do and the right things to say, but not having the results other people say you should.
I’ve heard people guarantee that if I did things their way, on average, at least one of ten people to whom I witness would accept Christ. I remember someone preaching, “Do this faithfully every day and you will average leading someone to Christ every week.” Over a period of about 30 years, I tried to do things their way. I never had the kind of consistent success they guaranteed faithful people would have. I began to feel guilty about my lack of success. I knew I was doing it right, so the only thing I could conclude was that there was something wrong… with me. Maybe some of you know that feeling.
After years of frustration, I began to understand some common sense lessons about witnessing, including what I consider the most under emphasized fact and the most encouraging fact. I then began to better understand my role in witnessing.
The most under emphasized fact is that God created us as individuals, and He plans to use us as individuals. Somehow I was a Christian for over 30 years without applying that thought to witnessing.
As I said, this is a common sense lesson. Different people can do different things well. What works for one person may not work for another. This applies to witnessing as it applies to the rest of life. Just because some people find one approach to be the best for them does not mean they can guarantee that you or I will get the same results “if we are faithful.”
Even Jesus Himself did not use the same approach with every person. Jesus confronted the woman at the well with her sin. He engaged Nicodemus’ intellect. He was gracious to the woman taken in adultery. Jesus demonstrated that just because some people can be reached with one approach does not mean that all people can be reached with that approach.
Paul says, “I’ve become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” The Bible includes examples of a variety of approaches to witnessing. Different people witness in different ways. I need to witness according to God’s will for me and not God’s will for someone else.
I’ve taught before about using a variety of witnessing approaches, but I must thank Mark Mittelburg for a sermon he preached in the mid 90 s which helped me classify the ways of witnessing more clearly.
Matthew 3:1-2, 7-8
John the Baptist witnessed through confrontation. Except for when he met Jesus, virtually every record indicates he told everyone he met, “Repent!” He told the crowds, “Repent!” He called the Pharisees and Sadducees “snakes” and told them to “repent!” I’ve never been aware of the Holy Spirit leading me to call a prospect a snake, but it worked for John the Baptist.
Do you remember “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” the movie with Charleston Heston playing John the Baptist? Herod sends soldiers to arrest him. He is in the Jordan baptizing. The soldiers go in after him. He grabs one in his right hand, yells, “Repent,” and pushes him under water. He grabs a soldier in his left hand, yells, “Repent,” and pushes him under. Then he reaches for another soldier with his right hand.
Eventually, the water-logged soldiers get him before Herod. He tells Herod, to his face, to repent. A soldier strikes him. He stands strong and stares the soldier down.
The movie was obviously made decades ago, because when it comes time to behead John the Baptist, they do not show the blood and gore. Instead, they show a close up of Herod, listening to John’s last word echoing in the stony hall. “Repe-e-e-e-e-e-e-e…!”
John the Baptist was a confrontational witness. It worked for him. Many repented at the preaching of John the Baptist.
I am not a confrontational witness. I’ve learned confrontational techniques, but when I try them people don’t get saved. They get mad, but they don’t get saved. Several people who tried to teach me how to witness were confrontational. Many of the books I studied were by confrontational witnesses. Confrontation works for them and they can find Biblical models, so they think it should work for everyone. Some of you have learned the hard way, as I have, that it doesn’t work for everyone. Try it. If it works for you, praise God. If not, find God’s way for you to witness.
Some people, like John the Baptist, have a special ability to share the gospel through confrontation. Some people may only be reached through confrontation. But confrontation is not the only way to witness.
Acts 17:22-23
Paul uses an intellectual approach on Mars’ hill. He observes their religious devotions and uses an idol “To an Unknown God” to introduce the gospel. In 17:28 he even quotes their pagan poets. Paul uses his knowledge of their beliefs to share the gospel in a way they understand.
Several months ago, Bro. Jim led a Wednesday night study on responding to atheists and agnostics. I don’t remember how many weeks it lasted. It fit this intellectual appeal: dealing with evolution, the reliability of scripture, questions about the nature of God and human suffering. Even if you are not the intellectual type, 1 Peter 3:5 says we should still be ready to give a reason for the hope in us.
Some who heard Paul on Mars’ hill believed. Some people, like Paul, have a special ability to share the gospel through an intellectual appeal. Some people may only be reached through intellectual appeals. But confrontation and intellectual appeal are not the only ways to witness.
Ruth 1:3-4, 14-16
The only indication we have for why Ruth chose to follow Naomi’s God is because of their 10 year relationship.
While Mom is in hospice, I am not leading the Wednesday services. Last Wednesday, Tim and Sonia Plue taught a lesson on loving Muslims. Part of that lesson included a video of a young woman who had been a Muslim but accepted Christ because of a relationship with a Christian woman.
By the way, this message was ready before Mom went into the hospital, or I would not be up here now.
Some people have a special ability to share the gospel through relationships, possibly long term relationships. Some people may only be reached through relationships.
That Ruth accepted Naomi’s God while Orpah did not shows that some people can be reached one way while others must be reached in other ways.
John 9:8-11 gives us one of those other ways.
The man born blind immediately begins to witness by sharing his testimony. He tells the people how he received his sight. He tells the Pharisees how he received his sight. As John 9 continues, the Pharisees ask him a second, third, and fourth time. They cannot refute his simple testimony. In 1875, Phillip Bliss took his testimony and put it to music. “Once I was blind, but now I can see.”
Sharing a testimony may be the most common way of witnessing in the Bible. Peter can be confrontational, but he also shares his testimony. When he and John are arrested and commanded to preach no more in the name of Jesus, he says, “…we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” We cannot help but give our testimony. Paul is intellectual, but he repeatedly shares his testimony about the Damascus Road. 1 John is a New Testament letter, but it is also a personal testimony.
1 John 1:1-4
What we have seen, what we have heard, what we have touched, this is our testimony.
Some people have a special ability to share the gospel through a testimony. Some people may only be reached through a testimony. But we still have not exhausted the possibilities.
John 4:28-30
Many Samaritans believed after hearing the testimony of the woman at the well, but she also invited others to come see Jesus.
Sometimes churches promote events by having a “pack the pew” service. There are two ways it is generally done. The most common is to assign specific people (each Sunday School teacher, for example) to pack a pew. They then enlist people, usually their class members, to sit with them. I prefer the second way, encouraging people to volunteer. It may be more work, and it’s no surprise when there are not enough volunteers for all the pews or when the attendance is not as high as when all the Sunday School teachers enlist their members. Two things may be a surprise: who volunteers and who they pack into the pew. Some people who think they can’t do other things in the church think, “I can do that,” and volunteer to pack a pew or half a pew. They may bring friends and family no one else in the church has ever met, people no one else in the church could reach.
Some people have a special ability to invite others to a place where they can meet Jesus. Some people may only be reached through an invitation. Many Samaritans who accepted the invitation of the woman at the well said in John 4:42, “Now we believe, not because of your saying [not because of your testimony], but because we have heard him for ourselves.”
That some believed after her testimony and others believed after her invitation again shows that some people can be reached one way while other people can be, must be, reached a different way.
John 8:3-11 again gives us another way.
Jesus was gracious to the woman taken in adultery. Sometimes, that is what reaches people. Sometimes, Christians are like the scribes and Pharisees, choosing to be judgmental instead of gracious.
In the 1820 s, a young woman named Emma gave birth to her first child. The child was born deformed and died in a matter of hours. For two weeks it was uncertain if Emma would live or die.
During that time, her husband tried to join a local church. Local people, knowing his reputation, did not want him. Some demanded that he specifically repent for his corrupt dealings and occult practices, and it was proper for him to do that, but I am aware of no indication that anyone tried to minister to him or his family.
If someone had shared God’s grace with him when he was a broken man, history might have been different. He might have become a great revival preacher or missionary. Instead, Joseph Smith went on to found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons. He went on to spread a false gospel which has reached around the world, to engage in bloody conflicts, and to wreck lives by claiming women as polygamous wives (including women who already had husbands). He went from being a local scoundrel to a world class deceiver.
If someone had shared God’s grace with Joseph Smith when he was a broken man, history might have been different.
Some people have a special ability to witness by sharing God’s grace. Some may only be won by gracious outreach.
Maybe you are still frustrated. Maybe you think, “I can’t witness confrontationally or with an intellectual appeal. My testimony has never reached anyone and people I invite never come. People I have known for years are not closer to being saved and no one I have ministered to has changed.” I have good news for you. God also uses acts of obedience as witnessing tools. All of us can and should be obedient to the Lord’s commands and promptings.
Acts 8:26-30
Phillip is experiencing a revival in Samaria when the Holy Spirit tells him to get up and go. He gets up and goes. He eventually sees the Ethiopian’s chariot going south from Jerusalem. The Spirit says, “Go to that chariot.” He runs to the chariot. You know the rest. You know that Phillip leads the Ethiopian to Christ. But think for a moment how that happens.
I don’t know where the road from Samaria meets the desert road from Jeruslem to Gaza. In my mind, I see the roads forming a “Y.” Phillip is coming down one branch while the Ethiopian is at or past the intersection. The Spirit says, “Go to that chariot.” He has to run to catch the chariot.
Think about the timing. If, during the revival in Samaria, Phillip hesitates to leave, if he says, “Lord, are you sure? There is a revival going on here. These people need me. I can’t leave now,” if Phillip hesitates to obey he misses the chariot. Instant obedience sometimes leads to a witnessing opportunity.
Maybe you are still frustrated. Maybe you’re thinking, “Nothing like that has ever happens to me. I’m a failure at witnessing.” You need to hear the most encouraging lesson about witnessing: only God knows all the results of all of our efforts.
Charles Smith was a Jehovah’s Witness, working his way up in the organization for 37 years. Outside one of their meetings, he noticed someone with a sign that simply said, “1 John 5:13″. He decided to read that later when he thought about it. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”
The verse shocked him. He tried reading it again to be sure he had not misread it the first time. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know… that ye may know that ye have eternal life… that ye may know…”
After 37 years of working his way up in the organization, Charles did not know that he had eternal life. Jehovah’s Witness theology does not allow them to believe that they already have eternal life. He took the rather unusual step (unusual for Jehovah’s Witnesses) of reading the verse in context. Much of 1 John 5 was contrary to his Jehovah’s Witness teachings. When he asked questions, his superiors told him, “Don’t worry about it.”
Charles could not stop worrying about it. He struggled with the chapter for a year before deciding he had to know… or go mad. He finally knew he had to accept the real Jesus, not the Jesus of the Watchtower, as his savior.
Do you remember how all this started? Charles saw a person outside their meeting holding a sign that just said, “1 John 5:16. The person holding the sign may not know what happened to Charles a year later. Only God knows all the results of all our efforts.
When Mike Reynolds was the director of Utah Missions, Inc, he led one Mormon to Christ the first time he witnessed to him. It was such an unusual experience that Mike began asking questions about others who had witnessed to the man. He said, “Something like 19 other people had witnessed to that guy before I did.”
“Something like 19 other people” who had witnessed to him may not know that he has professed faith in the Jesus of the Bible. “Something like 19 other people” may be frustrated because they have not seen the results of their efforts. But only God knows all the results of all our efforts.
A sermon by Dixon Olu mentioned a man who used to hand out gospel tracts on a street corner. Not seeing anyone accept Jesus as Savior, he quit. Two years later, he happened to pass that same corner and saw someone else handing out tracts. He decided to talk to the man.
Two years earlier, this second man had become a Christian after reading a gospel tract someone gave him at that corner. He said, “Many a time I’ve come back here to find the man to thank him, but he never came back. So I decided he must have died and gone to his reward. That’s why I’ve taken his place!”
The first man now knows about one [but only one] person who became a Christian because of his efforts. If he had not gone by that corner, he would not know the most encouraging fact about witnessing: only God knows all the results of all our efforts.
1 Corinthians 3:6
Paul’s analogy of planting, watering, and growth shows that some prospects require cultivation. Have you witnessed to someone only to see them led to Christ by someone else? I used to think that was frustrating. Now I have peace about having done what God called me to do. Another way to express this common sense lesson about witnessing is: No one reaps until someone plants and someone waters.
Witnessing can be frustrating when we find ourselves watering and planting more than reaping. There is more glory in being the one to reap a soul than in being the one to plant a seed. There is more glory in walking down the aisle with a new Christian than in spending months or years watering the seed of faith. We are not witnessing for our glory.
God calls us to be faithful. I suspect it takes more faith to keep watering when there is no visible effect than most “reapers” have ever thought about.
Most of the lessons on witnessing taught to me suggest everyone should be a reaper. You may never lead a Mormon to Christ, but there are Mormons who may never be won if you are not one of some 19 other people to plant a seed or water a seed someone else has planted. You may never lead a Jehovah’s Witness to Christ, but there are Jehovah’s Witnesses who may never be won if you do not share 1 John 5:13 or some other anonymous proclamation. Only God knows all the results of all of our efforts.
“I’ve become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”
All possible means includes a variety of witnessing approaches. God created us as individuals. The best witnessing approach for one person may not be the best witnessing approach for you or me. That some people can be reached one way does not mean everyone can be reached that way. God uses confrontation, intellectual appeals, relationships, testimonies, and invitations to win people. Even if you can’t do any of those things, you can and should obey God’s commands and promptings in you own life.
For me, the most encouraging common sense lesson about witnessing is that only God knows all the results of all of our efforts.
You may not lead a person to Christ sharing your testimony, but there are people who may never be won without hearing your testimony. You may not lead an atheist to Christ with an intellectual appeal, but there are atheists who may never be won without hearing your defense of the faith. You may not lead a daughter in law to faith through a 10 year relationship, but you may have family or friends who will never be reached by anyone without your relationship. You may not lead a person to Christ while serving meals on wheels, but there are people receiving meals, or their neighbors, who may never accept Christ if they don’t see your obedience in caring ministry. You may never lead a person to Christ knocking on doors, but there are people who may never be reached if you do not knock on their door when God sends you. God uses acts of obedience as witnessing tools. Being obedient to whatever God calls us to do can reap a harvest we won’t know about this side of glory. Only God knows all the results of all of our efforts.
We have been appointed to bear fruit. As a prayer key, bearing fruit is a specific case of being obedient. As we learned with that key, obedience strengthens faith. Faith leads to obedience. Obedience strengthens faith. It is a blessed cycle that we too easily allow to break down.
If you are never the reaper, if you never personally lead a soul to Christ, will you keep planting and watering? Will you continue to be obedient? Being obedient to whatever God calls you to do can lead to a harvest you won’t know about this side of glory. Only God knows all the results of all of our efforts.
