Sermon for Sunday January 25th, 2009
THE POWER OF AN EYEWITNESS by Bruce Ball
2 Timothy 1:8-1:8
An author by the name of Paul Little says that witnessing for Jesus is a
conviction that the most important thing a person can do in life is introduce
someone else to Christ.
The first Christians all lived to witness. But today’s Christians have all but
ignored the calling to give their testimony. Paul Harvey says we are no longer
fishers of men, but keepers of an empty fish tank.
So there is a wide spectrum between what we are called to do and what we choose
to do; between what the early Christians lived to do and what we try our best to
ignore. But what does the Bible say in regards to giving witness?
In JOHN 19:34-35 it tells us that, as Jesus hung on the cross, a guard pierced
His side. And the one disciple who witnessed it personally tells us what
happened so that we might also believe.
Going over to ISAIAH 43:10, it reads;
‘You are my witnesses, declares the Lord.’
And then, in 2 TIMOTHY 1:8 it says;
‘So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord.’
As Christians, we need to rediscover the need and rekindle our desire to tell
others about Jesus Christ. But we have worked ourselves up to the point where we
don’t know exactly what to do and so we live in fear and end up doing nothing.
I am reminded of a story about a barber who, after many years of being a
Christian, felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit to start telling others about
Jesus. One night in prayer, he vowed that starting the next morning, he would
use his barbershop as a way to start his new ministry.
He was getting himself ready when the first customer walked through the door.
This was not quite what he expected, though. This man was the meanest looking
Hells Angel he had ever seen. Seems he lost a best with his biker-buddies and
they all came in to see him get his long hair shaved off. The barber panicked
and became quiet as a mouse. He couldn’t find any way to bring the subject of
Jesus up to these guys.
And the rest of the day never seemed to improve at all. So by the end of the
day, he was begging God to forgive him for failing to talk about the Lord. And
then, the last customer walked in. He was a pleasant man with a big smile on his
face. The barber renewed his vow that he would tell this man about Jesus.
But he had been in a panic all day and now he couldn’t think of how to bring it
up. He searched his mind just to find it totally empty of all thought. He was
bound and determined to talk about Jesus, but could think of nothing at all to
say.
Not wanting to let God down again, he pulled out his scissors and, out of
desperation and nervousness, he yelled, ’ARE YOU READY TO DIE?’
We need to start doing what God expects us to do, but we must use our good
common sense in doing it. We all have an area of influence in our lives. It
might be your family or friends; it might be co-workers. But we all have
somebody we can influence, and maybe we should just start there.
Have you ever noticed how important personal testimonies are to our daily lives?
Every commercial is made to look like someone is telling you something they have
experienced or know about. And then, what do we do? We listen to this total
stranger tell us how great the product was for them, and we go right out and buy
it. Talk about personal influence over us by somebody who doesn’t even know us!
I would like to ask anyone who has a personal testimony and would like to share
it, please raise your hand. Now, it can be how you came to receive Jesus as your
Savior, or it can be about what Jesus has done for you in a specific
circumstance.
(One person at a time is chosen to give their personal testimony.)
What awesome personal testimonies. Any time we can see the Lord actively working
in our lives, for His glory and our benefits, it becomes a very strong testimony
that needs to be shared with those around us.
Tonight, I want to give you some things that might be able to help you enhance
the effectiveness of your testimony. Start by making it a personal conversation
between you and them; a conversation that you are going to share something very
personal with them.
You might want to start by quickly telling them how you were;
1. BEFORE YOU MET CHRIST
Paul tells us that we have ’all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’
He also tells us ’the wages of sin is death.’
Jesus tells us very clearly in JOHN 3:3, that nobody will enter Heaven unless he
becomes born again through Him. That means every person who has ever lived on
planet Earth was a sinner one point in his life. And nobody who ever lived will
be in Heaven without going through Jesus as their Savior.
So, when we give our testimony, we must start with how we were once of the
world, steeped in sin and reaping the benefits of sin. If we look to the Apostle
Paul as an example, we see that even though he talked of his sinful past, he
never glorified it.
I have heard people give so much detail about their past that I didn’t know if
they were trying to glorify Christ or their own sin. So when you tell others
that you were lost in sin before Christ, do not go into a lot of detail, as that
will be perceived as your trying to glorify your past instead of glorifying
Jesus.
Tell them that, before Christ, you were always searching for ways to be content
and happy, but there was no way. Tell them how your focus was always on you and
what you wanted or expected, never on God, or what He expected from you.
Then, we tell them the circumstances of how you came to;
2. MEET CHRIST
In ACTS 9:1-19, we find out Paul came to know Christ. He was still trying to
search for Christians to persecute when he was on the road walking near
Damascus.
All of a sudden, a great light shone on him that was so bright he fell face down
on the ground to escape it. He heard a great voice ask him why he was
persecuting Jesus. Then, Jesus told him to get up and go into the city where he
would receive further instructions.
The others were speechless. They had heard the sound but didn’t see who was
making it. When Paul got up, he was blind, so they led him to Damascus. For
three days he could not see and didn’t eat or drink anything.
In that city, a Christian by the name of Ananias had a vision go and help Paul.
Ananias knew of Paul’s persecution of Christians but still felt led to help him.
Before Paul was saved, his name was Saul and he persecuted Christians. After his
conversion, he became Paul, one of the most powerful Christians of all time.
So, as Paul began giving his testimony, he would tell of his past, but he would
not glorify it. He would contrast that with the joy of the present – and in
knowing Jesus on a personal level. He presented his testimony as a fact, not a
feeling, for facts can be verified, and feelings can fluctuate wildly from high
to low without warning.
After we tell someone how we met Christ, or how we were finally converted to
Christianity, we then tell them about;
3. THE DIFFERENCE CHRIST HAS MADE IN OUR LIVES
When Jesus healed the mad man at the cemetery, what did he tell him to do? He
said to go home and tell what the Lord had done for Him. Jesus wanted him to go
back and give his personal testimony.
And that is what Jesus wants you to do. He wants you to give your testimony and
let others know you were once where they are, so you understand. He wants you to
tell the facts of how Jesus got your attention, so they will know how it is
done. Then Jesus wants you to tell them about how He changed your life so they
will know their lives can be changed, too.
MATTHEW 7:21-23, He told us,
‘Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of Heaven;
but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.’
Many Christians do not give any testimony because they are afraid of what others
will say or think about them. As Christians, we need to rise above that if we
are to be faithful. God wants us to give our testimonies at every available
opportunity. We have been told to do God’s will or we will not get into Heaven.
Let me give you some staggering statistics. The average church member has heard
over 4,000 sermons, sung over 20,000 songs, and has brought less than 5 people
to church with them in their entire lifetime?
And the most staggering thought of all; did you know that the average American
churchgoer has helped zero people convert to Jesus Christ?
The American Christian has a false sense of what Christianity really is.
Millions believe that as long as you believe in God, you are a Christian. Many
more believe that if you go to church and live a good life, you are a Christian.
Still others don’t know exactly what to believe.
There are even some who openly deny that Jesus even existed; yet they still call
themselves Christians because they go to a church that tells them they are
Christians.
The word “Christian” means, “like Christ.” It doesn’t mean anything else. And
the only people who are really Christians are those who really do try to live
out the principles of what Jesus Christ taught.
Millions sit in churches today, numb to the feeling of the Holy Spirit. They
have rejected the Holy Spirit’s call many times because they do not want to feel
awkward in front of others. So, little by little, their hearts grow cold to the
touch of our Lord, and ends up with our just going through the motions, thinking
we are being good Christians but missing out on everything that Christ offers.
Calling yourself a Christian while having no relationship with the Holy Spirit
does as much for our salvation as showing up on your job but refusing to do any
work for your employer.
I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but the number one reason the Holy
Spirit hasn’t touched more Christians is that most Christians have chosen to
remain in their comfort zones. We would rather be comfortable than obedient. The
problem with that is being comfortable doesn’t get you to Heaven, whereas being
obedient does.
Our usage of computers and cell phones have added to this problem. We spend
hours in chat rooms, talking to people we don’t know about everything but our
shoe size, but we don’t reach out and talk to others face to face anymore about
anything, much less Jesus.
Another problem we encounter today is our skewed perception of what the church
is supposed to be. The early church numbered in the thousands. Their primary
concern was to reach others for Jesus. Our primary concern is to have a church
we enjoy going to. They focused on Jesus, while we focus on ourselves.
We hear people today saying they don’t want a church that has over 50 people
because they won’t know everyone. It isn’t necessary for you to know everyone in
your church. It is only necessary that everyone in your church know Jesus.
One of today’s greatest needs is to have Christians get serious about their
faith and to boldly take the miracle of Jesus to others they encounter.
Let me give you a few more instances of what God expects from you as a
Christian.
ROMANS 13:11-12 – Paul says:
’The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation
is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is
almost here.’
Too many of today’s Christians believe it is okay to have one foot in the world
while they try to have one foot in God’s kingdom. The reality is if they have
one foot in the world, their other foot is in their spiritual grave.
JOHN 2:15 tells us;
’Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the
love of the Father is not in him.’
I heard something very upsetting on the news the other day. President Obama had
to retake his oath of office a second time to make it legal the news said. It
went on to say that at that second oath, no Bible was used, and that was the
first time in American history that no Bible was used in the official oath of
office for Presidency of these United States.
Also, in his inauguration speech, the president said we are a nation of
Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and non-believers. It distresses me greatly to see
how some people are willing to throw out factual history that proves we are a
nation born into the Judeo-Christian belief and replace it with a convenient
conglomeration of everything.
And, I am of the opinion that if we are a nation of convenient conglomeration
now, it is only because the American Church has failed miserably in teaching the
American Christian what God expects of them in the way of evangelism. And the
bottom line is we have not done our jobs, and therefore, few are being told.
I am not trying to sound all-critical about today’s Christians. I am, however,
telling you that very few of us live up to the standard of what a Christian is
called to live to. I believe that if you cannot take the word of God to others,
you need to bring them to the word of God, and that is found in churches more
than any other place they go. How many people have you brought to church in the
last year?
How many of your family or friends have you given your personal testimony to?
Would you like to be able to testify as did the first century Christians? Boldly
and convincingly? The only way you can do that is in the power of the Spirit.
And that leads me to ask you a very hard question.
Have you really opened your heart to the calling of the Lord? Just acknowledging
Him is not the same as receiving Him.
JOSHUA 24:15 says in part;
‘As for me and my household, we shall serve the Lord.’
Will you make that decision tonight?