Your Witness
You have a story to tell; as you overcome in an area of your life; your ministry
becomes reaching people who need to be delivered from that very thing. When we
go through a test, it becomes our testimony. The Bible tells us that we overcome
the devil by sharing our testimony (Revelation 12:11) “and they overcome him by
the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives to the death”. Let’s not be ashamed to let people know what God has done in
our lives.
Many people have been saved and are waiting for the rapture, to get out of here
and go to heaven. I believe in the rapture, but Jesus told us to occupy until He
returns, and if you are not being a witness to what Jesus’ death, burial and
resurrection has done; you are living in rebellion, because before He left He
commanded us to go out and witness. Jesus expressed for us to be a witness
(Matthew 28:18-20) “and Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all power, is given
to Me in heaven and on earth. Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and, lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the world”.
You are not supposed to be a witness on your own power; He told them in Acts 1:8
“you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall
be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the
uttermost part of the earth”. As they waited the day of Pentecost was fully come,
“and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). As the Spirit fell on them, Peter
explained that God’s plan as was spoken by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:17-18) “and it
shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall
see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on My servants and on My
handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy”.
On that day 3000 were added to the church.
The Bible says that God doesn’t want one to perish (II Peter 3:9) “the Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.
We are told that we are the body of Christ, so let’s do what Jesus did as He was on
earth in the flesh. Jesus came to reconcile us to the Father and we are told that we
are ambassadors for Christ (II Corinthians 5:18-20) “and all things are of God, who
has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of
reconciliation. To say, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not
imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of
reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be you reconciled to God”. An
ambassador is an official representative of kings and rulers. If one treated the
ambassador rudely, it was an insult to the ruler and could lead to war; Saul found
this out as he was on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians (Acts 9:4) “and
he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why persecute you
Me”?
The book of Romans details the importance of each of us allowing the Spirit to use
us in reaching the lost (Romans 10:13-17) “for whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be
sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the fee of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the
gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report. So then faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.
As you take your eyes off yourself and share with others what God has done in
your life, you are actually doing what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-33 “therefore I say
to you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor
yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the
body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his
stature? And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how
they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to you, that even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so
clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven,
shall He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore take no thought
saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be
clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father
knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of
God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you”.
We can’t be afraid to tell people Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection has provided
for their deliverance; and step out in His name (Mark 16:15-18) “and He said to
them, go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that
believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; in My name shall they cast out devils,
they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink
any deadly thing, it shall no hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they
shall recover”.
Let’s study the book of Acts and walk in the power as they did. They prayed when
they were threatened (Acts 4:29-31) “and now Lord, behold their threatenings, and
grant to Your servants, that with all boldness they may speak Your word. By
stretching forth Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the
name of Your holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken
where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and they spoke the word of God with boldness”. The same things that the disciples
accomplished is available for us as well. Jesus gave us the same authority over the
enemy (Luke 10:19) “behold, I give to you power to tread on serpents, and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means
hurt you”. In John 17:20 “neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on Me through their word”. I take this as including me, because I
heard the word through the writings of the Bible.
Our responsibility is to witness, we can’t determine who will respond. If we simply
proclaim what we know about God, we may be surprised at how many people will
listen. We cannot predict who will respond, we should never prevent someone from
having the opportunity. When you consider that everyone that believes not in
Jesus is condemned already (John 3:18), by speaking to them, you can only go up
from there. We are told in Ephesians 5 to redeem the time, because the days are
evil. Therefore we are to go, whether I is next door or to another country, and make
disciples. It is not an option, but a command to all who call Jesus “Lord”.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 8, 2008
You have a story to tell; as you overcome in an area of your life; your ministry
becomes reaching people who need to be delivered from that very thing. When we
go through a test, it becomes our testimony. The Bible tells us that we overcome
the devil by sharing our testimony (Revelation 12:11) “and they overcome him by
the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives to the death”. Let’s not be ashamed to let people know what God has done in
our lives.
Many people have been saved and are waiting for the rapture, to get out of here
and go to heaven. I believe in the rapture, but Jesus told us to occupy until He
returns, and if you are not being a witness to what Jesus’ death, burial and
resurrection has done; you are living in rebellion, because before He left He
commanded us to go out and witness. Jesus expressed for us to be a witness
(Matthew 28:18-20) “and Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all power, is given
to Me in heaven and on earth. Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and, lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the world”.
You are not supposed to be a witness on your own power; He told them in Acts 1:8
“you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall
be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the
uttermost part of the earth”. As they waited the day of Pentecost was fully come,
“and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). As the Spirit fell on them, Peter
explained that God’s plan as was spoken by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:17-18) “and it
shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all
flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall
see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on My servants and on My
handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy”.
On that day 3000 were added to the church.
The Bible says that God doesn’t want one to perish (II Peter 3:9) “the Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.
We are told that we are the body of Christ, so let’s do what Jesus did as He was on
earth in the flesh. Jesus came to reconcile us to the Father and we are told that we
are ambassadors for Christ (II Corinthians 5:18-20) “and all things are of God, who
has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of
reconciliation. To say, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not
imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of
reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be you reconciled to God”. An
ambassador is an official representative of kings and rulers. If one treated the
ambassador rudely, it was an insult to the ruler and could lead to war; Saul found
this out as he was on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians (Acts 9:4) “and
he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why persecute you
Me”?
The book of Romans details the importance of each of us allowing the Spirit to use
us in reaching the lost (Romans 10:13-17) “for whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be
sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the fee of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the
gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report. So then faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.
As you take your eyes off yourself and share with others what God has done in
your life, you are actually doing what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-33 “therefore I say
to you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor
yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the
body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his
stature? And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how
they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to you, that even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so
clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven,
shall He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore take no thought
saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be
clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father
knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of
God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you”.
We can’t be afraid to tell people Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection has provided
for their deliverance; and step out in His name (Mark 16:15-18) “and He said to
them, go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that
believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; in My name shall they cast out devils,
they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink
any deadly thing, it shall no hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they
shall recover”.
Let’s study the book of Acts and walk in the power as they did. They prayed when
they were threatened (Acts 4:29-31) “and now Lord, behold their threatenings, and
grant to Your servants, that with all boldness they may speak Your word. By
stretching forth Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the
name of Your holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken
where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and they spoke the word of God with boldness”. The same things that the disciples
accomplished is available for us as well. Jesus gave us the same authority over the
enemy (Luke 10:19) “behold, I give to you power to tread on serpents, and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means
hurt you”. In John 17:20 “neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on Me through their word”. I take this as including me, because I
heard the word through the writings of the Bible.
Our responsibility is to witness, we can’t determine who will respond. If we simply
proclaim what we know about God, we may be surprised at how many people will
listen. We cannot predict who will respond, we should never prevent someone from
having the opportunity. When you consider that everyone that believes not in
Jesus is condemned already (John 3:18), by speaking to them, you can only go up
from there. We are told in Ephesians 5 to redeem the time, because the days are
evil. Therefore we are to go, whether I is next door or to another country, and make
disciples. It is not an option, but a command to all who call Jesus “Lord”.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 8, 2008
