Obedience In Our Witness Series

Sermon Date: January 28, 2007

Sermon Text: Rom 10:14-15 (NASB)

14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!" Romans 10:14-15 (NASB)

INTRODUCTION:

I am sure that all believers sitting in this room today have heard either me or another pastor share from the pulpit that it is YOUR duty to share your faith with the people God places in your path! WELL TODAY, YOU ARE GONNA HEAR IT AGAIN!

Today I want us to look at another aspect of being obedient in our walk with Christ… I want us to look at obedience in our witness of Christ to the world around us…

There are believers who have a deep desire to grow closer to Christ, but they cannot because they are unwilling and unyielding in their spirit to the call of Christ to share their faith with others.

Jesus told His disciples, and ultimately every person who professes Him to be Lord of their life that if they loved Him they would keep His commandments!

If we say we love God, if we profess love for Christ our Savior, the only way that love is reflected in thru our obedience to the commandments of Christ! If we are willfully disobedient as a matter of a lifestyle… then God’s word says that the Truth is NOT in us…

In Matt 28:18-20 we read what Jesus said right before He ascended into Heaven…

18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always , even to the end of the age." Matt 28:18-20 (NASB)

Here we find Jesus commissioned all of his followers to go therefore preaching and teaching and making disciples… that is that all believers are called to go forth into the world sharing our faith and what God’s Word says… We are called by God to do this so that people will accept Christ as Lord and Savior and would become His disciples as well.

And that is what our passage this morning is addressing… it addresses the need for people to share their faith.

How can they call on Jesus until they have heard of Him? How can they hear about Jesus unless someone goes and tells them… God is pleased with those who share His love with others by sharing their faith with others.

However, I want you to notice something quite peculiar about this commandment that Christ gave… Jesus told them WHAT they were to do… and Jesus told them WHERE they were to go, but Jesus never told them HOW they were to do it…

This was because Jesus knew human nature and the fact that different people react to different methods and interaction…

So what we need to know as believers today is that it is NOT the method we use to share Christ that is important, but simply THAT we share Christ! Methods and programs are useless if we do not share the Savior!

I believe that we would all agree that there are MANY methods of sharing our faith, and any of these methods will work if faithfully executed by a believer.

I want us to understand that even though there are MANY methods to sharing Christ, there are some foundational elements to our witness that are NOT open to negotiation… they simply must be there for our witness to be fruitful!

This morning the title of my sermon is Obedience in our witness and this morning I want to share with you 4 progressive building blocks to a faithful and fruit-filled life of sharing your faith!

The first building block to sharing our faith is that we know Christ as Savior ourselves. Without this essential building block our witness is false and not of God! So first and foremost to be obedient in our witness we have to be saved… we have to be ‘in Christ’… we have to accept Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives!

First I don’t believe people without Jesus CAN share Christ, but if they did try… it would be like a 1st year college student who wants to be a doctor giving medical advice! They may know the words, but they don’t know the truth!

Only a soul that has surrendered and submitted in obedience to Christ can share the Good News of the Gospel of Christ Jesus… and the salvation and joy that it brings! So the 1st step to sharing your faith is that you must have faith… you must place your faith and trust in Christ as Savior and Lord of your life…