A TRUE WITNESS
ACTS 26:22-23
If you take a Bible Concordance and look up the word, witness, or witnessing or witnessed, you will find they are mentioned 33 times in the book of Acts.
The word witness is found first in Acts 1:8 and the last time in Acts 26:22. In Acts 1:8, you find the power of a witness, and in Acts 26:22, you find the performance of a witness.
The early Church had no Church building, no Sunday school literature, no radio or TV, no vans or buses, yet had a powerful Church. The reason being, 33 times in the 28 chapters of Acts, we are told that they were a witnessing Church. Scholars tell us for the first 12 months, they added to the Church over 30,000.
In our modern churches, we have many people who are workers, but few are witnesses. We have many people who are leaders, but few who are witnesses. Many people are Christians but few are real or true witnesses for Jesus.
A poll was conducted by a church directory service a few yrs. ago. Asked: "Why did you choose to come to this church?" Results: 18%--Prior denominational ties; 9%--Pretty bldg.; 3% because minister came to visit; Well over half came for one simple reason--somebody invited them!
Let us look at the Apostle Paul today and see what a true witness look like.
I-A TRUE WITNESS IS ONE WHO ENGAGES IN WITNESSING:
v-22-"Witnessing"
You cannot be a witness without witnessing. You can say all day long, I am a witness, but if your are not engaged in witnessing, you are not a true witness.
A person can go off to school and study how to be a doctor and get all the knowledge that is available but he is not really a doctor until he put what he knows into practice.
In this chapter, Paul is before the King, he is not begging to be set free, but is a witness to Him.
In 1992 on a vote of 43% newly elected President, Bill Clinton declared that he had a "Mandate from the people to change how government does business" Our mandate has a higher authority and God gives it 100%
ILLUSTRATION-One night during a campaign, Alexander couldn’t sleep and left his tent to walk around the camp.He came across a soldier asleep on guard duty—a very serious offense. In fact, the penalty for falling asleep on guard duty was, in some cases, instant death; the commanding officer sometimes poured kerosene on the sleeping soldier and lit it. Well, this particular soldier began to wake up as Alexander the Great approached him. Recognizing who was standing in front of him, the young man feared for his life. "Do you know what the penalty is for falling asleep on guard duty?" Alexander asked. "Yes sir," the soldier responded in a quivering voice. "Soldier, what is your name?" demanded Alexander. "It’s Alexander, sir." Alexander the Great repeated his question, "What did you say was your name?" "My name is Alexander sir," the soldier repeated. A third time and more loudly, Alexander the Great asked, "WHAT is your name?!" And a third time the soldier meekly said, "My name is Alexander sir." Alexander the Great then looked the young solider straight in the eye and said, "Soldier, either change your name or change your conduct."
Well, I don’t think we should change our name. "Christian" which means "little Christ" is a very appropriate name for followers of Jesus Christ like you and me. But I do think that if we are to REACH in the NAME of Christ we need to change our conduct.
ILLUSTRATION: I heard about a preacher who got embarrassed at café because the preacher he was with witnessed to the waitress at their table. He said, if we don’t witness to her, who will?
II-A TRUE WITNESS IS ONE WHO IS EVERYWHERE WITNESSING:
Vance Hancer said, today’s Christians are "Churchified Christians", that is, as long as they are in God’s house, they act one way, but outside of His house, they act another way.
Notice where they witnessed outside the Church in the book of Acts, Synagogues, river-side, jail, market place, house to house, on the roadside, and In palaces.
Paul never shut up talking about Jesus until they took his head off and he did it everywhere he went.
ILLUSTRATION: It was the seventh game of the 1962 World Series. The San Francisco Giants had a man on second base, which put him near New York Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson. When the Yanks decided to change pitchers, Richardson, who was a Christian, saw a unique opportunity. While the new pitcher was warming up, Bobby asked the runner on second if he knew Jesus as his Savior.
ILLUSTRATION-Tom Malone: I was preaching in Springfield, Tennessee. A lot of people got saved. One lady came forward often, bringing people down the aisle. I asked who she was. They told me she was Mrs. Abi Burr, cashier for the First National Bank in Springfield. Every service she won people to Christ.
I went back home and didn’t hear from that church nor Mrs. Abi Burr for a long time. Then one day the phone rang. "I’m calling you from Springfield, Tennessee. Mrs. Abi Burr just died. She left word that she wanted you to have a part in the funeral service."
"I’ll be there," I said.
I went to the First Baptist Church in Springfield and sat on the platform with the pastor, Dr. Pettigrew. They had the songs. A big crowd was there. I had my word to say and sat down. Then the pastor stood and said, "Before I bring the message, I’d like for you ladies to stand here at the front, if you will." A group of ladies stood. He said, "These ladies were led to Christ individually, one by one, by Mrs. Abi Burr." I counted them. Fifty-two women were standing at the casket of Mrs. Abi Burr.
She worked at the First National Bank, went to a little mission church, knocked on doors and told people about Christ, including these fifty-two ladies.
God will use anyone yielded to Him. Let Him use you. And don’t be afraid. Rejoice and praise God. You can be a soul winner.
ILLUSTRATION: One day C. H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: GOD IS LOVE. Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. "Weather vanes are changeable," he said, "but God’s love is constant."
"I don’t agree with you about those words, Charles," replied his friend. "You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love."
III-A TRUE WITNESS IS ONE WHO ENDURES IN WITNESSING:
There is an expression in this verse that stirs my heart, "I continue". If you study this out, you will find out this means, I stand firm, I will never quit or give up from being a witness for the Lord.
One would think, Paul won everyone to the Lord he met, but he didn’t. The fact is he failed to win those involved in the Mars Hill experience. But, even though he was mocked, he continued and some were saved. (Acts 17:32-34)
ILLUSTRATION- I’m amused by the story of the boy who was fishing on a stream when a group of teenagers arrived on the scene with their rods and reels and fancy flies. They thrashed the water as they joked and laughed casting and reeling in repeatedly but catching nothing. The boy sat intently watching the tip of his tree-branch pole. Every so often he pulled up a fish. Finally one of the fellows shouted, "How do you do it? We’ve got special flies but we’re not catching anything!" The boy looked up long enough to reply, "I’m fishing for fish. You’re fishing for fun." Maybe we need to become a little more focused in our attempts to reach people with the gospel.
IV-A TRUE WITNESS IS ONE WHO IS EQUIPIED WITH THE WORD OF GOD:
Paul says in verse 22, "saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say". This was his Bible of his times.
D.L. Moody said, the Bible is an inspired book, but also it is a book that inspires him. He conintued to say, it inspired him to witness of its truth.
We give all kinds of excuses not to become a witness. By the way, many make excuses today, not willing to take the blame.
ILLUSTATION:We’re all guilty of using excuses. When we do, we place ourselves in the company of great sports heroes. Take Rafael Septien, for example. Rafael Septien has no peers -- when it comes to making up lamebrained excuses for missed field goals. Later, when he blew a field goal in a game at Texas Stadium, Septien had a ready explanation: "The grass was too tall." So was his tale of woe. Texas Stadium doesn’t even have grass; its surface is artificial turf.
Once when he shanked a chip shot, he said it was because "the 30- second clock distracted me." Another time, he booted a wounded duck that fell far short of the uprights. His excuse? "My helmet was too tight and it was squeezing my brain. I couldn’t think." Septien has seldom blamed anyone else for his messed-up kicks. But once, when yet another field goal attempt went wide, he turned to his holder, quarterback Danny White, and said, "No wonder. You placed the ball upside down."
But we as Christians should have no excuse when it comes to witnessing, for we have God’s Word to use, and it is powerful in it impact. It is not our Words but God’s Words that make the difference.
ILLUSTRATION: The story is told about an old American Indian who attended a church service one Sunday morning. The preacher’s message lacked real spiritual food, so he did a lot of shouting and pulpit pounding to cover up his lack of preparation. In fact, as it is sometimes said, he "preached up quite a storm." After the service, someone asked the Indian, who was a Christian, what he thought of the minister’s message. Thinking for a moment, he summed up his opinion in six words: "High wind. Big thunder. No rain."
Yes, when the Scriptures are neglected, there is "no rain." Only when preaching and witnessing are based on God’s Word and centered on Christ are His people blessed and refreshed. Otherwise, we are only some more noise in an already noisy world.
V-A TRUE WITNESS IS ONE WHO EXHALTS JESUS CHRIST:
V-23-:That Christ"
Paul was not saying how good he was, or what he had done, but how good Jesus and what he had done. (John 1:6-7-John the Baptist)
A true witness is one who truly loves the Lord Jesus, and loves Him with a continual love.
ILLUSTRATION-A college man walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. This involved removing it from the frame. In doing this, the studio owner noticed the inscription on the back of the photograph: "My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity." It was signed "Diane," and it contained a P.S.: "If we ever break up, I want this picture back." (Our love for Jesus is forever)
We are to exalt Him every day, because there is urgency about people being brought to this exalted Christ.
ILLUSTRATION-Evangelist D. L. Moody told a story about a minister who was preparing a sermon on the urgency of receiving Christ without delay. After studying for some time, the preacher fell asleep in his chair and had a strange dream in which he overheard a conversation among several demons. They were huddled together, trying to devise a scheme for leading people on earth into hell.
One of the evil spirits said, "Let’s tell people that the Bible is not the Word of God and that it can’t be trusted." The others responded, "That isn’t enough."
Another spoke up, "Let’s tell them that God doesn’t exist, that Jesus was only a good man, and that there really is no heaven or hell."
Again the others responded negatively. Finally, a third demon said, "Let’s tell people there is a God, a Savior, and a heaven, and a hell. But let’s assure them that they’ve got all the time in the world to be saved, and encourage them to put off the decision." "That’s it!" the others shouted gleefully.
Many people will spend eternity in hell because they procrastinate, thinking they can receive Christ "tomorrow." But for them tomorrow never comes. There is the urgency about people being saved and the urgency about people sharing Jesus.
VI-A TRUE WITNESS IS ONE WHO IS ENERGIZED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT:
v-22, "Having therefore obtained help of God. "
What is that help? According to Acts 1:8, it the power of the Holy Spirit.
ILLUSTRATION-One New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas. Often, Christians neglect their spiritual maintenance, and though they are "clothed with power" (Luke 24:49) find themselves out of gas.
The human body is a most remarkable machine. It can maintain a constant temperature of 98.6 degrees no matter what the weather is outside. Whether a man is at the Arctic Circle or the equator, his body temperature is about the same. There is an inner mechanism that makes the difference. The Holy Spirit dwells within the Christian to achieve this kind of stabilization in terms of spiritual health. Whether we face good times or bad, whether we are tempted or receiving spiritual nourishment, the Holy Spirit keeps us stable within.
VII-A TRUE WITNESS IS ONE WHO ENCOUNTERS EVERBODY:
v-22, "witnessing both to small and great"
Example of Bill Bright–He was never with a person more than 5 minutes before he had turned the conversation to their relationship with Christ
In verse 23, it says that Jesus "should shew lignt unto the people and to the gentiles."
At the airport, when the flight takes off, and a person who had a ticket didn’t come, they call that person, a no show.
I am glad Jesus wasn’t a no-show, but He showed up to provide salvation to all those who will call upon His name. But what about you and I, are we no-shows when it comes to being a witness for the Lord? If we are, let us change today, and becomes "true witness for Jesus."
CONCLUSION: Paul could never get over, what Jesus had done for him on the cross, and therefore, he would become a powerful witness for Him
During World War I the Prince of Wales visited 36 severely wounded men in a hospital in the outskirts of London.
The Prince and his escorts went through the main ward and shook hands with most of them. As preparations were made to leave, the Prince indicated that he had only seen 30 men. "Where are the other six?" Although he was informed that the six others were extremely severe cases and in a different section of the ward, the special visitor demanded to see the others.
Five other maimed and bruised men were viewed. "But where’s the last one?" again the Prince inquired. Although the Prince was told that the grotesqueries of the man’s appearance would be unbearable, the Prince insisted on seeing him.
The Prince stood silent for a moment, and then moved toward the man and stooping down, kissed him! With a breaking voice the Prince of Wales was heard to say, "Wounded for me."
"But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed" (Is. 53:5).
(Sermon Idea-Dr.Tom Malone)
