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.
Submitted by Mark Cowperthwaite
