Power Evangelism, according to Jesus

[Esaias]

Feel free to critique both the style and content of this short informational tract I have written on the subject of witnessing.

[Esaias]

Seven Principles of Power Evangelism

as demonstrated by the

Lord JESUS CHRIST

When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria.

(John 4:1-4 KJV)


Whoever desires to witness successfully should study the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Master of supernatural evangelism. In the fourth chapter of John's gospel, we read of the time when Jesus went through Samaria and ministered to a woman at a well. This affords us an excellent opportunity to see the Lord engaging in Holy Ghost empowered witnessing, and to learn from His example certain principles that we can apply in our own endeavors. Take the time to read the chapter from verse 1 to verse 43, and once that is done, be prepared for a crash course in “Biblical Power Evangelism.”


I. The first thing we notice is that Jesus was divinely guided to this encounter. He determined to go to Galilee, because of the situation that had developed with the Pharisees. His time had not yet come for confrontation with the religious authorities. Providence, by the hand of God, had dictated the circumstances that required Him to travel a certain direction. 'He must needs go through Samaria'. God knew that there was a woman in Samaria, who would respond positively to the Gospel. He comes to a well. He is wearied from traveling, and lo and behold, an opportunity for refreshment is there, as if by divine appointment! But, he has no bucket. He has no way to draw water from this well. Jesus, however, is not a pessimist. He does not see this as a sore trial, as if God led Him to a place to taunt Him with impossibilities. He had sent His disciples away into the city to buy food. It is as if He knew that He was there to meet someone, someone whom the disciples would have interfered with. He knew that the only ones likely to show up at the well would be women, and His disciples would likely try to keep Samaritan women away from their Lord lest He be 'defiled' by contact with such outcasts. For, 'Jews have no dealings with Samaritans', least of all Samaritan women. But this encounter is no ordinary encounter. It is a God directed encounter between the Saviour and a sinner woman who is about to encounter divine grace for the first time. Everything about this meeting is arranged by God. Jesus was given opportunity to witness, and to witness in the power of the Spirit, by the supernatural direction of God. How did He do this? How could Jesus rely on such Providential arrangements? As He would later explain to his disciples, His 'food' was to 'do the will of Him that sent Me.' In other words, He was wholly consecrated to doing the will of God. Food is what you require to live, it is your nourishment, it is what sustains you and gives you strength. What sustained the Lord Jesus was doing the will of the Father. That was His food, His nourishment, the very thing He lived by. And it was not just the general will of God that He was committed to doing. Oh no, much more than that. It was 'the will of Him that sent Me.' He knew He was on a mission from God, and His purpose, his food as it were, was to accomplish that mission. He was focused on doing His divinely appointed job, which was to seek and to save that which was lost. Because of His total consecration to fulfilling the Father's specific will for His life, He was blessed with divine guidance to be at the right place, at the right time, to meet the right persons, with the right message, and see the right results. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Total consecration to the will of God, acknowledging the Lord in everything one does, results in divine guidance and direction. So the first principle is total consecration to the specific will of God, which will bring about divine direction, being led by the Spirit of God.

II. The next thing we notice is that the Lord spoke to the woman first. He engaged her. He did not wait for her to engage Him. He took her arrival as being a sign that the Father wanted Him to minister to her, so there was no need for Him to 'wait and see if she will give a sign she is the one God wants me to witness to, by speaking first' or any similar thing. Rather, having been consecrated to the Divine Mission, and trusting completely in God, He took the encounter for what it was – God-directed and God-appointed. This was it. So He begins a conversation with her. He engages her. But notice, he did not engage her by blurting out 'Are you searching for the kingdom of God and total fulfillment in life?' Rather, He began by speaking with her on a common ground. He found common ground. He was thirsty, here was a well, they were both there, she had a bucket, so He asks her to get Him some water. He treats her as if she were one of His own people. He was not afraid to break cultural taboos created by the traditions of men. He showed her that He was not like everyone else she had known, He was not going to judge her as less honourable or not worthy of speaking to just because of some cultural issues between Jews and Samaritans. This of course took her off guard, it surprised her. But what He asked of her was perfectly normal, not out of the ordinary. He was not being 'weird'. What was strange was WHO was asking her. Just as if a well-dressed respectable looking man were to engage a homeless person in conversation about the weather, or to ask him for directions. It would not be what was said that would be considered out of the ordinary, but who was saying it. Folks are attracted to people who are willing to find common ground with them, especially when it is 'just something not usually done. When they see that you are willing to cross the tracks to meet them where they are, without judging them or condemning them or looking down on them in condescension, they are far more likely to hear what you have to say. So the second principle is be proactive and engage who you meet on common ground regardless of who they are or their station in life.

III. The third thing we see in our Lord's example is that in the course of His conversation with her He hints at spiritual matters. She had asked Him why He was asking her for some water, since Jews had no dealings with Samaritans, and He redirects the conversation onto more spiritual matters. And He does this in particular way. First, He uses the current situation – wanting some water, and asking for it – as a springboard to mentioning 'living water'. She had asked Him how it is that He was asking her for water, because of who she thought He was, but He hints that He was someone more than she suspected. He mentions 'the gift of God', and suggests that if she had known these things she would ask for living water from Him. In other words, He took the existing circumstances and found a spiritual parallel, and hinted at these spiritual realities to gauge her reaction. Her curiosity is piqued, she wants to know just who He thinks He is. He then becomes more bold, and says whoever drinks of the water He offers will never thirst again but will have eternal life. He knew He could press the conversation deeper into more spiritual matters because she was willing to talk to Him about these things. She did not just say 'Oh, you must be a crazy man, I need to be on my way.' She did not respond with an attitude of 'This is too strange, I don't have time for this, I have more important things to do.' No, she was interested. There was something inside of her, that had caused her to be prepared to hear the Gospel, though she herself was unaware of what was happening. And because she expressed a willingness to continue the conversation, and was genuinely interested in what she was hearing, Jesus pressed on. So the third principle is determine spiritual interest by directing the conversation to spiritual matters.

IV. Next we discover that, having found her to be receptive to spiritual things, and expressing a desire for spiritual blessings - namely eternal life through the 'living water' of the Holy Ghost - Jesus then calls for a commitment. He tells her 'Go and bring your husband.' He calls for some action, asking her to 'put her money where her mouth is' so to say. He tests just how serious she was when she said 'give me this living water'. She has had a remarkable conversation with a man, and would now have to go back into town and get her husband, convince him to come see this strange man, and walk back to the well. The strange man might be gone, and she might be a laughing stock. But Jesus wants to see if she is serious about this. He tests just how serious she is when she says 'give me this living water'. If she leaves to get her 'husband', will Jesus even be there when she returns? Will her 'husband' not then say she was crazy? Would she even be able to convince him to come see this guy in the first place? Many people like to talk about eternal life, spiritual matters, God, the Bible, and so forth. But how many are serious enough about the subject to put forth some effort, to go ahead and DO what Jesus said to do? How serious are they? So the fourth principle is challenge to a commitment.

[Esaias]

V. But that is not all. She expresses a desire to have eternal life, but the Lord does not immediately give it to her. There was some unfinished business that needed to be addressed - the business of sin. So the commitment that Jesus asks of her, asking her to do something, reveals the sin in her life. She has had multiple husbands, and is currently shacked up with someone to whom she is not married. And this is revealed to Jesus by the Spirit of God. The woman is amazed, and confesses 'thou art a prophet'. Jesus had access to supernaturally provided information, and His words were supernaturally directed to have an impact. He was relying on the power of the Holy Ghost to not only lead Him to this encounter, but to give Him the right words to say at the right time, to do whatever was necessary to demonstrate to this woman that this was no ordinary conversation, but an encounter with the power of the living God. Isaiah 50:4-5 says “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.” Jesus knew that the anointing of the Holy Ghost enabled Him to speak words of life, exactly what the woman needed to hear at that moment. The Lord's encounter with the woman led to the whole town hearing about Him. Many people came to see Him, and concluded that He was indeed the Messiah. His being led by the Spirit to minister to this one woman led to many others having an encounter with Him. If we are led by the Spirit, one encounter can produce a cascading effect whereby many others experience and believe in the Lord. The impact on that one person's life is often enough to impact others. She became a witness, because she was telling everyone about her encounter with the Messiah, which drew them to investigate and ultimately to believe. He was operating in the power of the Spirit, and this promise is available to believers as well. The Lord promised His disciples that they would receive power after that the Holy Ghost was come upon them, and they would be clothed with power from on high, and be His witnesses. So the fifth principle is expect the power of God to empower you to witness.

VI. But He did not leave the sin issue unaddressed. He did not merely bask in the knowledge that the Spirit had exposed her sinful condition. Rather, He confronted her sin with grace. He had spoken to her about living water and eternal life, and had made it clear that He could give it to her, and He also made it clear that He knew her moral and spiritual condition. Yet He continued talking to her. He did not allow her sin to stand between Him and her. Sin must be confronted, but it must be confronted with grace, in a loving way. Sinners are not to be looked down upon as though we must avoid them. After all, we were sinners, too. But the grace of God came into our lives, so that we could not only be saved from our sin but also take that grace and salvation to others who need it as much as we do. The sixth principle is confront sin with grace.

VII. During the conversation, she attempted to avoid the sin issue by redirecting the talk to matters of general religion. She has a religious question concerning a point of doctrinal dispute between the Jews and Samaritans. Many will do this when things are getting a little too close to home. They ask, “What about infant baptism?” Or, “Will there be a pre-tribulation rapture?” Or some other point of religious controversy. Anything BUT “What do I do about my sin?” The flesh, the carnal nature, loves to talk religion as long as one's personal sin and responsibility to God is not the immediate subject matter. Jesus does not fall into the trap. He answers her question but points out the immediate issue, namely that she is not in fact worshipping God as God desires. He brings the conversation back to what's important – her personal relation to the Father. She says she believes that Messiah is to come. She was getting closer to the main thing – who is Christ? And Jesus points out to her that He is indeed Christ. So the seventh principle is stay focused on the important issue of 'Who is Christ to YOU?'

Conclusion:
When the disciples returned from town and found Him talking to this Samaritan woman, they wanted to know why He was bothering with this woman, though they were afraid to ask. When she left to go tell everyone what had happened to her, they offered Him some food but He said 'I have meat to eat that you don't know about.' So they wondered if someone had brought Him food while they were gone. And the Lord then explained to them that His food was 'to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish the work.' He then told them to look out on the fields, and see that they were ready for harvest. And finally, He tells them that He had sent them into a work that had begun before they arrived. He was on a mission, and they were, too. In fact, they were on the same mission - to proclaim the Gospel and gather 'fruit unto eternal life', which is to say, gather people into the Kingdom of God. So just as He was entirely consecrated to fulfilling His mission, they should be also. Just as His evangelistic mission of spreading grace and truth to all was His very food, it should be ours as well. We should have that same consecration to the great and glorious work of God. And we should have that same power of the Holy Ghost to enable us to do our part. We should be led just as He was led to supernatural encounters with those whom God has appointed to hear the Glad Tidings. And we should expect the same Spirit that was operating in His life to operate in ours. The Scripture says, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.” (Psalms 37:3-6) Notice, it says if we trust in the Lord, and do good – that is, we do the will of God – then truly we 'shall be fed'. What is our food? To do the will of God and finish His work. IF we trust in the Lord and commit ourselves to His will and His work, we 'shall be fed', we shall indeed be put to work, sent forth by the Lord of the harvest into the fields. We must be sent in order to expect the Power and Providence of God to work with us. And in order to be sent, we must be consecrated to that work, it must be our 'food'. And if we are totally consecrated to it, we will be fed. We will be put forth into the work, and we will be led, and empowered by the Spirit of God.

Pray for success: For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; (Colossians 1

[Esaias]

This was written based off my notes for a teaching message on John chapter four. There was a lot of material in the teaching that is not here - this is essentially a first draft of a short info-tract. Some things I suspect that might need to be included or fleshed out a bit more:

The power of God for witnessing goes beyond just being in the right spot meeting the right person, saying the right words. It includes WHATEVER needs to be dealt with by the Spirit, whether revelation knowledge, healing, miracle, or whatever it may be.

The fact that we ought to walk as He also walked, which applies not just to our morals and ethics but also our witnessing. If He walked in the power of God, we ought to as well. If He was daily guided by supernatural guidance we ought to be as well.

Him being guided does not seem to be so much a matter of Him hearing a voice in His head saying 'go here, meet this person, say this to them,' etc. But a lot of it seemed to be simply His ability to recognise providence and God's manipulation of events and circumstances towards certain ends. In fact, not so much His ability to 'recognise' things but maybe more His faith and trust that God was indeed directing things. After all, without faith it is impossible to please God...

[Jermyn Davidson]

Paragraph I. Who guided Jesus? Who was His "divine guide"?

Paragraph V. describes Jesus in terms that emphasizes His distinction from the Father and Holy Spirit that does not sound like Oneness Godhead doctrine.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson

Paragraph I. Who guided Jesus? Who was His "divine guide"?

Seriously? I cannot think of a single professing Christian, from ANY denominational or non denominational background, with the exception of spiritists and new-agers, who would wonder 'who guided Jesus, who was his divine guide'. Besides which, the section makes clear - 'divine guide' by definition means GOD IS GUIDING. It also says this: " Providence, by the hand of God, had dictated the circumstances that required Him to travel a certain direction." And, "It is a God directed encounter between the Saviour and a sinner woman who is about to encounter divine grace for the first time. Everything about this meeting is arranged by God. Jesus was given opportunity to witness, and to witness in the power of the Spirit, by the supernatural direction of God." And, "How could Jesus rely on such Providential arrangements?" Not sure how you missed that...

Paragraph V. describes Jesus in terms that emphasizes His distinction from the Father and Holy Spirit that does not sound like Oneness Godhead doctrine.

Here it is in full:

Originally Posted by Esaias

V. But that is not all. She expresses a desire to have eternal life, but the Lord does not immediately give it to her. There was some unfinished business that needed to be addressed - the business of sin. So the commitment that Jesus asks of her, asking her to do something, reveals the sin in her life. She has had multiple husbands, and is currently shacked up with someone to whom she is not married. And this is revealed to Jesus by the Spirit of God. The woman is amazed, and confesses 'thou art a prophet'. Jesus had access to supernaturally provided information, and His words were supernaturally directed to have an impact. He was relying on the power of the Holy Ghost to not only lead Him to this encounter, but to give Him the right words to say at the right time, to do whatever was necessary to demonstrate to this woman that this was no ordinary conversation, but an encounter with the power of the living God. Isaiah 50:4-5 says “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.” Jesus knew that the anointing of the Holy Ghost enabled Him to speak words of life, exactly what the woman needed to hear at that moment. The Lord's encounter with the woman led to the whole town hearing about Him. Many people came to see Him, and concluded that He was indeed the Messiah. His being led by the Spirit to minister to this one woman led to many others having an encounter with Him. If we are led by the Spirit, one encounter can produce a cascading effect whereby many others experience and believe in the Lord. The impact on that one person's life is often enough to impact others. She became a witness, because she was telling everyone about her encounter with the Messiah, which drew them to investigate and ultimately to believe. He was operating in the power of the Spirit, and this promise is available to believers as well. The Lord promised His disciples that they would receive power after that the Holy Ghost was come upon them, and they would be clothed with power from on high, and be His witnesses. So the fifth principle is expect the power of God to empower you to witness.

Maybe you do not understand Oneness doctrine as well as you thought you did?

[Pilgrum]

Seven Principles of Power Evangelism
This is an awesome teaching bringing forth some powerful principles! Thank you for sharing this! We need this to clarify the direction our Christian walk should be going. Total consecration! Yes, that is were it all starts and hinges upon!

[Esaias]

Thank you for the kind words. Glad it was a blessing to you.

[Jermyn Davidson]

Thanks for sharing.

[Armapeet.Singh]

Is this a study or a tract?

Just curious, if a study it is great. Will plagarize it if given a permission! LOL

If a tract then it is too heavy. People today will drop it just seeing the context. Just saying.