James Montgomery Boice: Three Points on Personal Evangelism

“In the first chapter of John’s gospel we have an outline of what our witness must be if we are to become ’informal missionaries.’ The outline is given to us in verses 6-9: ‘There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.’ If we outline these verses, we find that they contain three statements about John the Baptist’s testimony: 1) he was not the light, but 2) was sent to bear witness to that light, in order that 3) all men through him might believe.”

“…I believe that if only these three points are followed, the witness of any Christian, no matter how halting or weak it may be, will be effective. First, the believer must recognize in the depths of his being that he is not the answer to men’s problems, that he is not the light. Second, he must know that Jesus is the light and must point men to Him. Third, he must do it all with the express intention of having men and women believe.”

[1] “If we are to witness for Jesus Christ, we must first of all forget ourselves… and we must think first of the other person and of his need for the Savior. What is it that will make a person forget himself in order to point to Jesus? Only an awareness of Jesus’ worth and glory!”

[2] “We must know something about Him. We must have a message. The major parts suggested in our story …are: a) who Jesus Christ is, and b) what He has done. … (a) “I have seen, and I testify that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34) (b) The focus of Christ’s work is to be found in His death on the cross. Hence, we want to share the meaning of His death when we try to tell others about Him.”

[3] “John bore witness to Jesus, not to unload a certain amount of information…but to lead others to believe in Jesus personally. This means that he had their life and destiny in view when he was witnessing.”

“The [three-point] witness-giving of John was immediately picked up by those who believed, so that Andrew and Phillip, an unnamed disciple (probably John the evangelist), Peter and Nathaniel became the next witnesses. [And] they followed the same pattern of witnessing that John the Baptist had followed. That is:

1) They did not attract attention to themselves,

2) They bore a verbal witness to Jesus, and

3) They did so in order that those to whom they were speaking might also believe in Him.”

NEXT:  James M. Boice on: The Secret of All Effectual Witnessing!

 
Excerpts from an article by Dr. Boice titled, "Witnessing: The Progress of Revival" in Reformation and Revival - a Quarterly Journal for Church Leadership. Vol.2, Number 3 - Summer 1993