Lesson 17: Personal Witnessing - How Jesus Did It

QUESTIONS
1. What are the four principles of evangelism that Jesus demonstrated with the woman at the well?
Relate, Create, Convict, Reveal

2. List some different ways to relate in the natural realm to sinners.
Most of us can strike up a conversation with a stranger in the natural realm. It may be a friendly “How are you doing?” or a sincere “Good morning!” If the person responds with a sense of warmth, we may then ask, “Do you live around here?” and from there develop a conversation.

3. Why can you ask if someone has kept the Ten Commandments without it seeming confrontational?
“Do you think you have kept the Ten Commandments?” Most people think they have, so quickly follow with, “Have you ever told a lie?” This is confrontational, but if it’s asked in a spirit of love and gentleness, there won’t be any offense. This is because the “work of the Law [is] written in their hearts” and their conscience will also bear “witness” (Romans 2:15).

4. Why doesn’t our unbelief negate reality?
“I don’t believe in hell.” Gently respond, “That doesn’t matter. You still have to face God on Judgment Day whether you believe in it or not. If I step onto the freeway when a massive truck is heading for me and I say, ‘I don’t believe in trucks,’ my lack of belief isn’t going to change reality.” Then tenderly tell him he has already admitted to you that he has lied, stolen, and committed adultery in his heart, and that God gave him a conscience so he would know right from wrong. His conscience and the conviction of the Holy Spirit will do the rest. That’s why it is essential to draw out an admission of guilt before you mention Judgment Day or the existence of hell.

5. Why can the sinner not rely on God’s “goodness” to save him?
He thinks that God is “good,” and that He will, therefore, overlook sin in his case. Point out that if a judge in a criminal case has a guilty murderer standing before him, the judge, if he is a good man, can’t just let him go. He must ensure that the guilty man is punished. If God is good, He must (by nature) punish murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, adulterers, fornicators, and those who have lived in rebellion to the inner light that God has given to every man.

6. At what point in the evangelism process should you talk about the Savior? Why?
Once the Law has humbled the person, he is ready for grace. The Bible says that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). The gospel is for the humble. Only the sick need a physician, and only those who will admit that they have the disease of sin will truly embrace the cure of the gospel. Learn how to present the work of the cross—that God sent His Son to suffer and die in our place, and that Jesus rose from the dead and defeated death. Take the person back to civil law and say, “It’s as simple as this: We broke God’s Law, and Jesus paid our fine. If you will repent and trust in the Savior, God will forgive your sins and dismiss your case.”

Memory Verse
“Jesus answered and said to her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
JOHN 4:13,14