Witness in Testimony
Called to be the Lord’s Witnesses
Matt 28:18-20, And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
When someone is dying or leaving us, his or her last word are very important! Jesus left these final words with his disciples. You must understand that these were his last words. That they were to make more disciples! They were to teach these new disciples to obey Christ and baptize them! Christ said that he would be with them always.
Understand that in the past, Jesus had always sent them out to the Jews, now this was going to be a worldwide mission! Not just in their area anymore! All 0ver the world! Jesus died for the sins of all in the world, not just the Jews.
He says that we are to go, next door, the next city over, the next county over the next state over, the next country, continent. We are to fill the world with the Gospel.
When it comes to community ministry, we should put our witness program where our mouth is. Instead of expecting the community to come to church, we need to take the church to the community.
To testify what we know
Acts 26:16, “But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,”
Here it is, years have come and went since Jesus was crucified and was raised from the dead! Saul, a Pharisee, was just walking down the dirt road to Damascus when boom! The Christ appeared to him! He told Him that he was appointing him as a servant and a witness that he has seen Jesus! He told him that he was sending him there to open the eyes of the Gentiles and the Jews! To turn them from darkness to light! Jesus is telling this to a man who has openly persecuted his followers for sometime. He has even killed some! Sometimes the Lord works in very mysterious ways!
In fact, Norman Cates shared the story of a guy who prayed this prayer every morning: "Lord, if you want me to witness to someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is." One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him. The bus was nearly empty but this guy sat next to our praying friend. The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. But before he could get very nervous about the man next to him, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep. He then cried out with a loud voice, "I need to be saved. I’m a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?" He turned to the Christian and pleaded, "Can you show me how to be saved?" The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?" Are you looking for a "sign" to start witnessing?
Empowered to Bear True Witness
Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."
Power from the Holy Spirit goes beyond the extraordinary strength. The power also involves courage, boldness, confidence, ability and authority. He knew the disciples would need all of those in their lives to effectively witness. And If you know Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior you can have this power as well. There is an order for this to happen, First you receive the Holy Spirit, then he gives you the power, and then you will witness with very powerful results! Witnessing is by no means showing what we can do for our Lord, rather what he has done for us, as Christians!
People make the mistake of running out to witness without asking first for the Holy Spirit! In Luke 24:49 we read, “And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high." You see, we must first pray for the Holy Spirit, then let him take over and Supercharge us! We are just pieces of Graphite! He does the work! If it were us, it would never work!
This scripture shows us that the Gospel was to spread geographically, from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria. Then finally the entire world! If even one person in the world has not heard about Jesus the Savior, then we are not finished witnessing! Do you know for a fact that everyone that you come into contact with has heard the plan of salvation? If not, we’re not done! Sometimes, there are people in our lives that we thought had heard the Gospel, but they haven’t!
Assumptions can be quite dangerous. For example, the photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane. Arrangements were made and he was told to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let’s go! Let’s go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they soon were in the air. "Fly over the north side of the fire," yelled the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes." "Why?" asked the pilot. "Because I’m going to take pictures," cried the photographer. "I’m a photographer and photographers take pictures!" After a pause the pilot said, "You mean you’re not the instructor?"
The Spirit a Co-witness to Christ
John 15:26,27, “But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me;
and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
Again, We are offered hope from Jesus! The Holy Spirit strengthens us so that we may endure the hatred and evil in this world and all the hostility that so many have toward Jesus! Jesus actually call the Spirit two different names. Comforter, and Spirit of Truth! Counselor because it conveys encouragement, helping, and strengthening work of the Spirit.
Spirit of Truth points to the teaching, illuminating, and reminding work of the Spirit. You see, the Holy Spirit ministers to both the head and the heart! Both of these dimensions are very important!
We must remember that for the Holy Spirit to come into our lives, there can be no sin. Nothing but purity. We must ask for forgiveness of our sins before he can enter.
D. L. Moody said, “I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled.”
A True Witness delivereth Souls
Prov. 14:25, “A truthful witness saves lives, but one who utters lies is a betrayer.”
So many times in an effort to make Christianity sound sweet, Some will actually fabricate stories. They will tell someone that if you accept Christ, you will not have any problems!
Sure wish that was true, huh! In sales, they call this oversell! It actually becomes too unrealistic to believe. Please do not take me wrong, Christianity is the most beautiful thing ever in my life, but if I had been told a pack of lies about how easy it was to live as a Christian, I would have been pretty upset!
This may turn them away from the gospel. Even if it does not, it will after they come to Christ. They will have false expectations. Then it is even more difficult to teach them how to instill true happiness in to their lives. They no longer trust you or God. You are his representative.
Psalms 5:6 says, “ You will destroy them for their lies; how you abhor all murder and deception.” God hates deception. Period. To make matters even worse, you have caused another to fall from their faith, and you know what it says about that!
The sad part about that is you have no need to lie! The Holy Spirit is going to do the work for you! If you would just let him. If you take the 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, “However, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the world.’’ and in Acts 26:22, you find the performance of a witness, “But God helped me, and He is still helping me today. With God’s help I am standing here today and telling, whether `important’ or `unimportant,’ the things I have seen. I am saying nothing new; I am only saying the same things which Moses and the prophets said would take place.”
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! 30,000 more souls for Christ! Can you imagine if that were to happen here in Tucson! I bet there is not even 30,000 people attending church on Sunday Mornings now in Tucson.
I believe part of the problem is that many do not understand that people are not coming to church because of either a bad experience or a lack of understanding as to what the Church can do for them. By accepting Christ, they can truly fill in that void that they have.
I heard a story some time ago of a missionary in Africa who gave a Bible to one of the African men. When it was given to him, the man hugged it close & expressed great appreciation for the precious gift of God’s Word that the missionary had given him.
But when the missionary saw him a few days later he noticed, much to his dismay, that the Bible looked like it was already falling apart, & that many of its pages were missing. The missionary asked him, "What happened? What did you do to your Bible? When I gave it to you I thought you considered it to be a treasured possession."
The man replied. "Indeed, it is a very precious possession. It is the finest gift I have ever received. It is so precious that when I returned to my village I very carefully chose a page & tore it out & gave it to my mother. Then I tore out another page & gave it to my father. And I tore out another page & gave it to my wife. Finally, I gave a page of God’s Word to everybody who lives in my village."
We may smile at that, but what a testimony! The message of God’s Word was so wonderful to him that he wanted to share it with everyone he knew!
“No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a basket or hides it underneath a bed. Instead, he puts the lamp on a lamp table, so that the people who come in will have enough light to see by.” Luke 8:16. This is very clear. And it make s perfect sense to me!
The Chevy Nova was a relatively successful American car for many years. Encouraged by U.S. sales, Chevrolet began to market the American Nova throughout the world. Unfortunately, the Nova did not sell well in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Additional ads were ordered, marketing efforts were stepped up, but sales remained stagnant. Sales directors were baffled. The car had sold well in the American market; why wasn’t it selling now? When they discovered the answer, it was rather embarrassing: In Spanish, Nova means “no go” (James Emery White, Rethinking The Church, Baker, 1998, p. 38.). No one had bothered to ask questions or do research.
You see we need to ask the questions of the unsaved. We need to ask those that are hurting. We need to ask those at the store. We need to ask our neighbors. We need to ask everyone that we come into contact with. We need to offer that cold cup of water.
But as we do, we need to learn the word, and pray that the Holy Spirit would come into our lives and give us strength, courage, boldness, confidence, ability and authority. Then, we will be prepared to share the plan of salvation with others.
Study, pray, and spread the Good News! May the Lord bless and keep each and everyone of you!
