** a witness___martur in greek (martoos)..…..one who speaks what he has seen, heard or knows......(testimony bearer)
___"we have overcome by the testimony of our mouth" (Rev 12:11)
___victory is an award given to those who have conquered
___ your testimony to satan implies that you have conquered
___then you testify about the pain u went through during the battle
__you can loose your victory when you decide to keep quite, when you allow fear to overcome you
** When you receive the Holy Spirit u have received your testimony
** the Holy Spirit helps us to testify about Christ
** our testimony brings heaven into our life, and even Christ is testifying on our behalf in heaven
___( 2 Tim 1:8), (Mark 8:38)
___He does more than testify, He is interceding (Heb 7:25)
** your testimony develops strength in the area that you are weak,
** your testimony can transform other people's lives
**WHY DO WE HAVE TO TESTIFY?
1)because we me Jesus
___(John 15:27)
__the very moment the disciples met with Jesus their lives was never the same
__Jesus approached some of them ( Matthew)
__(Matthew 9:9)
__when Matthew met Jesus he held a party and went about inviting every tax collector and every sinner
__and they sat down had a dinner with Jesus
__when you meet the King of kings your life can never be the same
__ by keeping quiet we r portraying a message that our lives r still the same
__ God wants people like Matthew whom after meeting with Jesus went around inviting his friends and only his testimony could have convinced them
2) because we have heard
__ "you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning"
__ when u have lived with a person for over a ten years they expect you to know everything about them
__you listened to them when they talked
__the disciples walked with Jesus n they listened when He was teaching them, warning them, and also praying
__we r hearing everyday the Prophet of God speaks with our spirit and with our lives
3)because we have seen
__when u lived with a person you saw their works, you can bear witness to the world what type of a person he was
__this applies to Jesus, we have an experience with Him in our lives everyday
__you can only be sure of your testimony because of the results in your hands
___u are only called a witness because u saw something happen, your testimony holds a proof to someone's life that Jesus is still alive
__that Jesus is still speaking everyday
__your testimony validates the fact that Jesus is still working and He is still with us
4)because we have experienced
__when you spend time with someone, you say things to them and they say things to you as well
__you have an experience with them, and you begin to develop feelings with them
__experience can be used in terms of what someone did to you.....what they r capable of, what they like, who they r, n how they do things
5) because we have received the Holy Spirit
__(Acts 1:8)
__we shall receive power and after receiving this power we will be called His witness
__the Holy Spirit gives us power to speak
__the Holy Spirit gives us confidence to testify about Christ
CONCLUSION
__i can promise you today that if we recognize the amount of difference our testimony can make out there, we will testify everywhere we go and everywhere we r
___(John 4)
__"living water" in the text refers to the Holy Spirit
___ and there was a Samaritan woman in the village called sychar and this woman met with Jesus, speaks with Jesus, sees Him, Listens to Jesus and received the Holy Spirit and she became a witness
__ she went about the village giving her testimony
__ our experience with God should affect the community the people we live with
__ for us its even better we have an experience with God' s Word everyday and it should be easy for us to testify, away with fear, away with ignorance, away with stubbornness, away with carelessness
__God wants us to reach the peak in which we would be able to receive the blessings in our lives, and that would happen only when we begin to fully understand the scriptures and walk in the will of God for our lives
