Faithful witness- spring hill

Witnessing defined - to bear testimony, to testify.
Luke 24:46-48. And He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.You are witnesses of these things”

The disciples and those others that saw Jesus’ risen body certainly had a lot to say. They were joyfully proclaiming that Jesus is risen!!  We have so much to share, so much to say, and there are so many that have never heard of the punishment of Hell, the penalty of sin, or of a Savior’s love that paid the penalty to save sinners such as we are. The grace and mercy shown to us by a Holy God is such that we shouldn’t be able to keep it to ourselves.

2 Cor 5:15-21
He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 16Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Not counting  their trespasses(using them OR numbering them)- don’t only witness to people like ourselves(truckers, prostitutes, homeless, punks and skateboarders) Jesus died for all sins and committed to all of  us the work of ambassadors (says it twice, must be important), making an appeal through US, we BEG you to be reconciled to God. This is not some weak attempt at bringing up spiritual things over the course of a 5 year relationship, but a bold proclamation showing the love of God, not worrying about offending someone.

If you were given $1,000 every time you witnessed to someone, would you be more zealous about evangelism? The truthful answers from many in assemblies would not be pretty. If anyone would do it for money, they are serving money more than God. Matthew 6 tells us that if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, then “all these things” shelter, food, clothing. So many today have never truly lived by faith, serving God rather than lining their pockets, retirement accounts, and investment portfolios. It does not take any great amount of faith to become a full time worker without soliciting funds. If God has called you, He will provide.

We have nothing to fear as long as we are doing the will of God. If God can speak the universe into existence and make complex, intelligent, man out of dust, then can we not trust Him to handle these simple things?  The materialism in society, including the church is one of the largest reasons for disobedience to the Word of God.

Guy Rice Doud hits home with this quote  “Our Lord needs no secret agents. Those who are not willing to confess Christ publicly are not willing to confess Christ at all. Perhaps acceptance of Christ begins as a very personal and private experience, but it can never stay that way.”

If you care about someone, you cannot just sit and watch them go to hell for the sake of your comfort. This is a challenge, and does not come naturally, but only through fervent prayer, desiring that the Lord give us His heart, His desires and not our own. We need to pray that God will give us a passion for lost souls. This isn’t cancer or AIDS, we have the cure, now we just need to give it out. Some will refuse to hear it, but we would be derelict in our duty as followers of Jesus if we don’t even try.




What are we afraid of, persecution? Jeremiah 20:9 Persecution almost persuaded Jeremiah not to speak in God’s name, but God’s Word burned so hot within Jeremiah that he could not keep it to himself. How much more so, as we are not our own, but we are bought with a price. It’s a very high price at that, the sacrifice of God’s perfect and righteous Son on our behalf.

We cannot dwell on past victories- we tend to put up our memories of what we did for Christ years ago like shrines on the wall. The nets used to fish for men have been dry cleaned, pressed, and put up to remind us of what we have done in the past. Some sort of trophy, pictures of our big game. Why do we tend to think that we are done serving God. If you aren’t dead, you aren’t finished. Until all are saved, we have work to do. God left you here to serve Him, every day until He calls us home, we are to be about our Father’s business.  

“We used to... remember when we... “Get out of the past and do something today. I keep hearing “ we used to have Gospel meetings” and “remember when that evangelist came and he went out in the streets and knocked on doors  to talk to people” and “this church has been a rock in our community for decades” Get out of the past and see what God wants you to do today and then DO IT!

The Lord  uses those who know they are weak...  1 Cor 2 tells us about Paul being poor at speaking, fearful, weak and with much trembling yet he was called on by God to spread the Gospel, and so he did. “when I am weak, then I am strong” sounds opposed to human reasoning. It is, we are not talking about human reasoning, but God’s reasoning. He wants us to live for Him, by His strength, and according to His will.

Some will argue that this is not their calling, but we are talking about witnessing. The work of an evangelist outlined in Ephesians 4 is the one who equips his fellow believers to go and fulfill that which Jesus told us all to do. This is not for the full time pastor, the elders only, nor is it a call just to those who feel like it. Obedience is not a calling, but a command. This command is repeated throughout Scripture, and is never directed at any certain group of people.

He is our only strength, our only hope, and the one who deserves our worship, praise, OUR LIVES!  The song says “all to Jesus I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow...”

Will you surrender today? It will cost you, but the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus is worth it. Can we sing the song honestly, and live it out each day? We can through the power of God in Christ Jesus.