Transforming Witness
October 7, 2012
Acts 4:23-36
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Prayer for Boldness
23 After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, “Master, You are the One who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David Your servant:[a]
Why did the Gentiles rage
and the peoples plot futile things?
26 The kings of the earth took their stand
and the rulers assembled together
against the Lord and against His Messiah.[b]
27 “For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people[c]of Israel, assembled together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that Your slaves may speak Your message with complete boldness,30 while You stretch out Your hand for healing, signs, and wonders to be performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s message with boldness.
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. "Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?" he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions were deeply stirred. "I have no right to keep that to myself," he exclaimed. "It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it."
Our Daily Bread, February 4, 1994.
Evangelism strikes fear in our hearts! When I was growing up our church had Thursday night visitation, and the intended purpose of this “program” was to go out into our community and share the gospel. The reality of this program was that we used it to go and visit with other members of the church that hadn’t been coming, or were hindered by medical conditions. It was a great thing to do, for it is always good to keep in contact with those who are falling aside, but it didn’t exactly fulfill the great commission where Jesus commanded: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Some of that fear and anxiety undoubtedly stems from our expectations of what evangelism is. We have built it up in our minds so that the very mention of the word is terrorizing. Evangelism isn’t something for us to fear, and it’s not some great theological endeavor that we must prepare to embark on.
Evangelism is communication. Communication is something we do every day. We communicate to our children that it is time to get out of bed, we communicate with our wife or our husband, we communicate with our co-workers and supervisors. We use communication every moment of our day.
Sometimes we can communicate with a look. Every one of you who has ever been a child recognizes the mom look. The mom look can stop you dead in your tracks and cause a ball of despair to work its way out of the depths of your soul. Sometimes we communicate with a touch, or with our words.
In today’s world, communication is instant. Gone are the days of waiting for a telegram, or waiting weeks for the mail to come. Today we have instant messages, email, text, facebook, and scores of other electronic methods of communication. Almost everybody carries around a cell phone so they are constantly in contact with everyone else.
Evangelism is communication. It is telling a story. Telling the story of Christ, and what following Him has done for us. In order for evangelism to be effective in transforming our church we must recognize that it is every Christian’s job. It is easy to determine when something is aflame. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out. A church without evangelism is a contradiction in terms, just as a fire that does not burn is a contradiction.
Note the use of the plural pronouns in the text. Verse 31 indicates that the apostles were joined by the rest of the church in speaking the message of the gospel. In an amazing answer to prayer, God empowers ordinary Christians with extraordinary boldness to witness for Christ. God will do the same for you.
So, let’s alleviate some of the fear by looking to God’s word for inspiration.
Spend Time With Christ (V 13, 20)
Before we can ever begin to effectively communicate the gospel we must spend time with Christ. When we get to know Him better it becomes easier for us to demonstrate His love.
Acts 4:13
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:20
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Peter and John had spent time with Christ, and it showed. The people noticed! In verse 20, reinforces that by saying they spoke about what they had seen and heard. It was personal to them, and because it was personal it carried far more weight.
After attending church one Sunday morning, a little boy knelt at his bedside that night and prayed, "Dear God, we had a good time at church today--but I wish you had been there!"
Our walk with the Lord is a crucial point in making evangelism less of a burden and more like something we want to do!
The young salesman was disappointed about losing a big sale, and as he talked with his sales manager he lamented, "I guess it just proves you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink." The manager replied, "Son, take my advice: your job is not to make him drink. Your job is to make him thirsty." So it is with evangelism. Our lives should be so filled with Christ that they create a thirst for the Gospel.
Preaching, November-December 1985.
When we spend time with Christ, it becomes easier to tell others about it.
Seek through Prayer (v 24-30)
In verses 24-30 of our text this morning we see the transcription of a corporate prayer that the believers in Christ were praying. They were unified in their cry to God and it brought them closer together, and closer to Christ, and as we saw just a moment ago the closer you are walking with Christ the easier it is to share your witness.
Prayer is an indispensable element in our evangelism goals. It is through prayer that we unlock the floodgates of God’s blessing on our lives, and ultimately on our witness for Him. Prayer gives us the power to look at God’s creation with compassion and empathy and dilutes our tendency to be judgmental.
The saints in Acts prayed with power, they prayed in unity, and they prayed with authority. If we are going to transform our church through witness we must pray like the early church.
Speak Confidently (v 31)
Acts 4:31
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
31 When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s message with boldness.
John McKay, of the NFL, tells a story illustrating the supreme confidence of University of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant: "We were out shooting ducks, and finally, after about three hours, here comes one lonely duck. The Bear fires. And that duck is still flying today. But Bear watched the duck flap away, looked at me and said, ’John, you are witnessing a genuine miracle. There flies a dead duck!’"
Now I have to tell you, that takes a fair amount of confidence to oppose the very evidence that lies in front of you. It is that sort of confidence that we must have when we tell others the story. After the people had prayed, unified, God shook their world.
They had the courage and confidence to speak boldly, even though it was difficult at times. You see, God didn’t remove their obstacles, He simply equipped them to power through them. God will anoint us with a boldness to do His will, so speak out with the confidence that can only come from an encounter with the Holy Spirit.
Share with Compassion (v 32-36)
Acts 4:32-35
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
32 Now the large group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.33 And the apostles were giving testimony with great power to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed for each person’s basic needs.
In this passage of scripture we come to the meat of evangelism. Evangelism is about caring and sharing. We don’t evangelize because we want to fill our churches, or build great buildings. We evangelize because we are to care for people.
The Order of the Mustard Seed founded by Count Zinzendorf had three guiding principles, namely:
1. Be kind to all people. 2. Seek their welfare. 3. Win them to Christ.
I’ve said before and I will say it again: “People don’t care what you believe until they believe that you care”. Transformational witnessing comes from a caring heart. Until we truly care about the people we share the gospel with we will never reach them.
Love, and actions born out of love, draw people to Christ. That same love, the love that Christ showed for us compels Christians to share in love.
We can have all the programs that we want to have, we can sink millions of dollars into outreach endeavors, but people reach people. One of my favorite choruses goes something like this:
Everyday they pass me by,
I can see it in their eyes.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?
On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear.
Laughter hides their silent cries,
Only Jesus hears.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize, people need the Lord?
Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/steve-green-lyrics-people-need-the-lord-drn6jtr#ixzz28RcEs7RV
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True evangelism is about people. Transforming our church requires us to be evangelistic.
