Witness In Testimony

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!