The Habit Of Witnessing
Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20, 5:48, Heb 10:14, Romans 3:10, 2 Timothy 2:15, Luke 12:12,
John 16:8, Acts 1:8, 1 Peter 3:15, 1 Samuel 16:7, Acts 1:8, 1 Peter 3:15
January 4, 2004
I. Today I want to look at another habit that all Christians should develop, and that is the habit of witnessing.
A. Witnessing is not something that we choose to do or not do, it is something that we choose to do well or do poorly.
B. Whether or not we are a witness is not an option. We’re just a good one or a bad one. We take the time to learn how to do our job well, or don’t take our responsibility seriously.
C. We are witnesses. The bible doesn’t give us an option to opt out of the witnessing department.
(Acts 1:8 NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
D. When we accept the gift of salvation, and take on the name of Christian we are given the responsibility to be witnesses.
E. There may be a lot of people who don’t put much into being a good witness, and who don’t give of their time in that department, but one way or another when you say I am a Christian, you also say you are a witness.
II. So how do I be a good witness?
A. I AM A GOOD WITNESS BY MAKING A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO DEVOTE MY TIME TO WITNESSING.
(Mat 28:19-20 NIV) 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
1. To be a good witness, one of the things that we have to do is, Go.
2. Now, if there is one thing that people in our society do its go, but for the Christian it means that we are to in our going look for the opportunity to share what it is that we have received from God.
3. We are to go looking for opportunities to tell other people about salvation, and model for them the difference that being a Christian makes.
4. The verse that we just read says that we are to go and make disciples of all nations or all people. That means that we are to teach about Jesus and the difference that He has made in our lives.
5. Being a disciple means that we are to be followers of Jesus, and no one can really follow Him unless they have accepted Jesus as the only way that they could be right with God.
6. We know that what we are to teach is what we have learned about salvation, because the next thing that it says is that we are to baptize those that we teach, and we would only baptize someone if they had accepted Jesus as the only way that they could be right with God.
7. That verse also says that we are to teach these people that we are being a witness to, all the things that Jesus has commanded.
8. But the key to the verse is that we are to go. It doesn’t say that we are to sit in our churches and wait for people who want to know more about God to come to us. It says that we are to go.
B. That means that we should look for opportunities to witness as we go through life, but it also means that we should go with the intent of being a witness.
1. It means that we should visit and talk with those who are sick or having problems.
2. It means that we should intentionally visit people to try to talk with them about being a Christian.
3. It means that we should visit people, to invite them to church, and to encourage people who have come to church to come again.
4. And that leads me to answer the question that has been in the bulletin for the last few weeks. What is bigger than your heart, a special gift to our Lord and a great New’s resolution?
5. We are going to have regularly scheduled visitation times. Beginning this Wednesday, and every second, and fourth Wednesday of the month we are going to have a scheduled time for everyone in the church to visit people who have visited the church.
6. This is something that we have to do to get our church to grow. I hope that all of you will plan on being here. If that day doesn’t work out we may try another one, but going out and visiting people is a part of being a witness and it is something that will allow God to create opportunities for us to be the witness that He wants us to be.
7. A big part of what Matthew 28:19-20 says is GO, so we are creating the opportunity for us to go, with the intent of being a witness, if it is nothing more than saying hey we are glad you came to church and we hope that you will come again.
8. So being a witness means that we are to go, and look for opportunities to tell people about what we have we have been given by God, and the one thing that all people who are Christians have been given is salvation that comes from accepting Jesus as the only way we can be right with God.
C. I AM A GOOD WITNESS BY THE WAY I LIVE AND ACT.
1. The one thing that people will notice more than anything else about us who say we are Christians, is how we live, and how we act.
2. Now let me make sure I don’t confuse things. That does not mean that the only way that we are going to be able to be a good witness is being perfect.
3. If that were the truth none of us would be a good witness, because I don’t care how much you think of yourself, or how much other people think of you, you are not close to being perfect.
4. Being perfect is what we are to aim for. (Mat 5:48 NIV) Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
5. Really, being Holy is what we are to aim for, because even though we do things wrong, God believes that we are perfect. (Heb 10:14 NIV) because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
6. You see that is the great part of all this, even though we mess up, by the sacrifice that Jesus made, we have been made perfect in the eyes of God, and that is what really matters, and that being made perfect in the eyes of God by what Jesus did is the thing that we are to share.
7. We are perfect in the eyes of God, but all our actions aren’t perfect. (Rom 3:10 NIV) As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;
8. The thing is that we are to try to live our lives, as close to perfect as we can, because the difference that people will see in us that will make them want to know more about what we believe, is what they see in the way that we live, and that is a big part of being a witness.
9. Even though we won’t be perfect anywhere but in the eyes of God in this life, we are to do our best to be Holy, because that is the thing that people will see that will make them want to know why we are different.
D. I AM GOOD WITNESS WHEN I MAKE THE TIME TO LEARN HOW TO WITNESS.
1. There are parts of being a witness that we have to learn, but the most important part of being a witness we already know.
2. The most important thing that we need to know is something that we have already experienced, and that is what happened when we became a Christian.
3. There are a lot of people who can argue with you about what the bible says, and there are a lot of people who can argue with you about how you interpret the bible, but only an idiot will argue with you about what happened, between you and God.
4. What happened between you and God is something that only you really know. When you accepted Jesus as your savior, really only you and God know what really happened.
5. Someone who wants to argue with you about what you know happened to you, is probably not worth arguing with, because they are probably too ignorant to understand anything else that you are going to say.
6. But it is important that we learn all that we can about what God says about salvation, so that we can back up what happened to us with truth from God.
7. When God gives us salvation, He intrusts His truth to us, and we are to learn as much as we can so that we can rightly handle the truth that we have been intrusted with.
(2 Tim 2:15 NIV) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
8. So what that means is that to be a good witness we have to learn what it is that God says about salivation, which means that we are to take the time to study the bible, because that is the truth that we have been entrusted with.
9. And we need to take the time to learn from other people who have learned more about being a good witness than we have.
E. I AM A GOOD WITNESS WHEN I SPEND THE TIME WITH GOD THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO BE SENSITIVE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT’S LEADERSHIP.
1. Something that we have to do to be the witness that we’re suppose to be, is spend time with God. There are a lot of times that we are in a situation where we need to be a witness, that we are going to need all the help that we can get from God.
2. The bible says that the Holy Spirit will give us the things that we need to say when we need to say them, and more important than that is that the Holy Spirit will give us the things that we don’t need to say, when we don’t need to say them.
(Luke 12:12 NIV) for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."
3. There have been a lot of well meaning Christians that have done more to hurt God’s cause than help God’s cause by saying something stupid, or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
4. I have found that most of the times that happens is more because of the person’s self righteousness than anything, and that is why we need the Holy Spirit’s help.
5. If we are really trying to give God the room to work in our lives and we are giving the Holy Spirit room to work in us, one of the first things that I think will happen is we will be reminded that we don’t have any room to be self righteous.
6. If you will remember what I said a few weeks ago, one of the things that the Holy Spirit does when we give Him room to work is reveal to us the places that we sin.
(John 16:8 NIV) When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment
7. It is vital to being a good witness to remember that you are not the righteous one who is going to straighten out those low down filthy sinners. You are a sinner who is going to show another sinner where you found grace.
8. I like the way I heard it described once, being a witness is one beggar, telling another beggar where he found bread.
9. If we take the time to spend time with God, not only will He let us know what to say when we are trying to be a good witness, He will let us know what not to say. And, God will give us reminders that will help us to remember that it is the Holy Spirits job to convict people of their sin, not ours.
10. He will remind us that we are in no way superior to the people that we are trying to witness to, but that really we are in the same boat with them, we have just been given a life preserver, and we’re there to show the other people on the boat where they can find a life preserver too.
III. I AM A GOOD WITNESS WHEN I TAKE THE TIME TO SHARE MY FAITH.
A. The bottom line in being a good witness is showing up for court. You see a witness is somebody who tells what it is that they have seen.
1. The word witness comes from a court setting. A witness is someone who sheds light on the truth of a matter, and tells what they have seen so something can be proved.
2. Being a witness for God is the same thing, and the first thing that we have to do is answer the subpoena to go to court.
3. We have to take the time to shed light on the truth that we have learned about God, and tell what it is that we have seen, and experienced.
4. You have received you subpoena, it is found in (Acts 1:8 NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
5. The Holy Spirit comes to live in everyone that accepts Jesus, and the bible says that when that happens you are called on to be a witness, because you have seen that Jesus does make a difference.
6. The difference in the subpoena that we have is that it is something that we are called to do everyday, and we are not told the exact place and time that we are to show up. We are told that we are to be ready at all times and in all places.
(1 Pet 3:15 NIV) But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
B. That also tells us something very important about how we are to go about being a witness, that I touched on a little already. We are to be prepared to tell what it is that we have learn and seen, but we are to do it with gentleness and respect.
1. We have something important to share, but we have to realize that we are to share it with respect for the other person’s feelings.
2. There are some people who might want to talk to you about where they are with God and what they want to know about God, in a group of people, but there are more who don’t, than do.
3. Where you are with God is a private thing for most people. That does not mean that they shouldn’t talk to someone else, about it, and it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t bring it up, but you should respect them enough to do it at time when you don’t put them on the spot in front of other people that they might not want to talk about it in front of.
4. That is why it is important that we spend time with God so that He is close enough to us to tell us when we should be a witness.
C. Also it says that we should witness with gentleness. That goes back to what I said about realizing that we’re not the superior one, that is going to straighten out those who are inferior to us.
1. That is not gentleness. That is arrogance! And, where God is concerned none of us have the right to be arrogant.
2. I have known a few people who have told me that they had the gift of prophecy, and that was why the offended people about their faith. What I wanted to tell them was, the reason that you offend people about your faith is that you are an arrogant sapsucker, but the bible says that I am suppose to be gentle so I didn’t.
3. I have heard so many stories about people with good intentions that have done more to turn people away from God than anything, because they felt that it was their job to try to fix the person when they really should have been trying to share with them about God’s love for them, and what He had done in their lives.
4. There have probably been more people turned off to God by people who told them that they didn’t wear the right clothes to church, or that they had to make up for something that they had done before they could right with God, than anything.
5. And, that is nothing more than arrogance. What that is really saying is that you have to be like I think you have to be before God will love you.
6. As Christians and as witnesses we are to uphold a standard, and we are to live in the ways that God says that we should live, but it is not and never has been our Job to "fix" people.
7. First off if they are broken, we don’t know all the circumstances about how they got that way, and we don’t have any business trying to fix something in someone’s life that we don’t understand.
8. It is our job as a witness to talk about what we do know and that is what God has done in our life.
9. I have heard about Christians some of them pastors that have gone up to people and told them since you have done so and so you have a lot to make up for. Well. I can tell you how I would react to that, I would probably tell it wasn’t any of their business.
10. There are times that I think we are to give people advice, and times that God wants us to, but it is usually after we have earned the person’s trust, and know something about what we are talking about, but it is something that we are to be careful with, because we can’t see all the things that God sees.
(1 Sam 16:7 NIV) But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
11. When we look at someone we can’t see what God sees. God can see what’s on the inside, and we are usually better off to let God work on the things that we can’t see, unless He tells us what it is, and tells us what we should do about it.
12. As a good witness we are to talk about what we know which is what God has done in our heart, not what we think he needs to do in someone else’s heart.
13. We’re not suppose to try to fix anybody, because that means that we have the wrong attitude to begin with.
D. Being a good witness means that we are to go, and it might be that we witness by the way that we live, it might be that we witness by inviting someone to church, or to come back to church, but the one thing that it has to mean is that we have to be prepared to talk someone about what God has done in our lives.
1. That is why we need to study our bible and spend time with God, because as a witness we have to be prepared to tell what it is that we have experienced.
2. Any time we go whether it is to the grocery store or to work, or out to eat, or to visit someone who has visited this church, we have to be prepared to tell people how they can accept Jesus as the only way that they can be right with God.
3. That does not mean that every time we go anywhere, it is mandatory that we tell someone howthey can become a Christian, but it does mean that we are to be prepared to, because God might decide that it is time.
4. That also doesn’t mean that we have to grab someone and try to shove a bible down their throat, because that is not what we have been called to do.
5. It doesn’t mean that we have to try to fix people that we meet, because we are not equipped to, or told to fix anyone.
6. It simply means that we are to be ready at all times to talk to someone about what it is that God did in our life, and explain what it is that we have to do to accept Jesus.
(1 Pet 3:15 NIV) But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
(Acts 1:8 NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
