2002-10-09
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
As I wind up this segment on witnessing, it occurred to me that something needed to be said about learning to feel comfortable witnessing. The practical question is: How do we do that? With all that God teaches us in the Bible, our first response needs to be: 1) Go to God for help in prayer. When we have emptied our spiritual vessels of human agendas and carried out the changes already discussed about getting rid of anger, bitterness, and other blocks to producing spiritual fruit in our lives, the next logical step is: 2) Ask the Holy Spirit to fill our vessels. Only after that happens do we gain the spirit of boldness that will allow us to overcome whatever has been keeping us from witnessing. AC 4: 31 tells us what happened to the believers of the early church when they took this approach. "When they finished praying, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim God's message with boldness." Now, I'm not saying that if each of prays, the places where we are doing this will shake, but I am saying that if we genuinely confess our sins and ask in prayer to have our spirits filled with the Holy Spirit, that we will be able to overcome what has stopped us in the past from sharing God's word.
What attitude should we have? That's another pressing question that begs to be answered. As far as I can see, we need to understand our position with God, just as we are trying to do with Christ. He is, by faith in the truth of His word, our Supreme and Sovereign God. PS 99: 1-5, "The Lord is King, and the people tremble. He sits on his throne above the winged creatures and the earth shakes. The Lord is mighty in Zion; He is supreme over all the nations. Everyone will praise his great and majestic name. Holy is He!." We need to submit to God and accept what God allows to happen in our lives. We may not understand it at the time, but the truth about the One and Only God is that He is always righteous. That means that there is some eternal truth that guides Him into allowing things to happen at times in our lives that we simply don't have the equipment to understand. Remember IS 55: 8-9? It's no lie. "'My thoughts,' says the Lord, 'are not like yours, and My ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways and thoughts above yours.'" God has indicated that we will get many answers to questions that we have now when we join Him in heaven, but He and He alone knows the right time for us to have them. It's the basis for the gradual revelation of His truths throughout mankind's history. God deserves our submission to Him, and when we give it, He is pleased and only too willing to help us with what we need to join Him in His work of witnessing to the truth of the Gospel message of salvation and peace.
If my personal experience is any teacher, I see that God provides us with openings to witness that arise out of the circumstances of our own lives. Our job is to watch for them, and they are sometimes subtle. Our witnessing can be in speaking publicly, but it certainly is most often in more private situations. I have never forgotten the story of Phillip's opportunity to witness to the Ethoipian eunuch in AC 8: 26-39. This story is so significant to me personally, because when the two carriages passed on the highway, the eunuch, who was a high official in the Ethiopian court, was reading IS 53: 7-8 at the time he stopped Phillip's conveyance and asked the latter to explain it to him. IS 53 is the chapter about the suffering Servant, and we all know Who that is. Had Phillip allowed natural shyness or racial prejudice to stop him, this eunuch would have never ended up being baptized or knowing the joy of faith that he did. Phillip wouldn't have had the joy that God gives us when we speak of the Good News about Christ either.
Our best hope of being effective when witnessing to another person is to try to get to know that person first, if possible, so that our witnessing can be done without insensitivity to his background or his needs. The other guide is listening for God's direction, which I can attest He will give us, when we are alert to it and ready to act on His timetable. God may direct us to witness at times when it seems inconvenient or even on the spot, if the opening for this is short. In my case, I've experienced witnessing through my teaching, because we are not only trying to reach weakly faithful and new believers, but we are also trying to reach those who have the potential of coming to faith but haven't done that yet. I have a dear friend who witnesses through the aerobics classes she teaches and another who witnesses through selling flowers. That may seem hard to believe, but both these people are very effective in what they are doing. I've even met someone who has the boldness of profound faith to witness at times at his workplace. Several co-workers have had their lives changed for the better by coming to faith. We shouldn't forget the former Watergate perpetrator, Chuck Coleson, who spent time as prison in-mate, came to Christ, and began one of the most effective prison ministries this country has ever seen. Helping the Holy Spirit to reclaim lives for Christ is one of life's greatest joys, which anyone who witnesses effectively can report. RO 16: 20, "And God, our Source of peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." Those words written by Paul 56 AD contain the same encouragement, comfort, urgency to get this important job done, and wishes that I would have for each of you today.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have set us apart from non-believers as we learn from EX 33: 15-17 when You answered Moses' question. "Moses replied, 'If You do not go with us [the Jews wandering in the wilderness], do not make us leave this place. How will anyone know that You are pleased with Your people and with me if You do not go with us? Your presence with us will distinguish us from any other people on earth.' The Lord said to Moses, 'I will do just as you have asked, because I know you very well and I am pleased with you.'" We stand before You today so grateful for Your continual presence and guidance in our lives. You have called us to witness by example and by sharing Your word with others. Long ago, You prompted Moses to say to the Jews in DT 4: 6, "Obey [God's laws] faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, 'What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!'" While these words were spoken to the Jews, they have a larger application to all believers. We know from PS 40: 9 that You inspired Your servant, David, to tell the assembly that he will always witness to Your truths. PS 96: 2-3, "Sing to the Lord, and praise Him! Proclaim every day the Good News that He has saved us. Proclaim His glory to the nations, His mighty acts to all peoples." You have told us, Dearest Abba, how pleased You are when we join You in this crucial work of witnessing in IS 52: 7 [KJV], "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion that God reigneth!" When we place our trust in You and listen for Your direction, You bless us by providing openings to share our faith with others and the boldness to do so, knowing we are telling Your life-giving truth. We humbly offer You our adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and praise for eternity. In Christ's name, amen.
I am led in tomorrow's message to begin a new segment of this Spiritual Warfare series about faith, based on what we can learn from EPH 6: 16. It is the shield that we carry against Satan's fiery arrows. After all that the Holy Spirit has given me so far to say in this series, it is my hope that you are becoming as convinced as I am that God adores His children and gives them the equipment they need to effectively fight Satan and his followers to victory in the Son's name. I know in my heart the God loves each and every one of us, no matter how important we think we might be. To Him, we are the ones who have shown our love through obedience to His commands [JN 14: 21], and we are the ones whom He has forgiven and even forgotten our past sins [PS 32: 5; HE 8: 12]. Our God is loving and compassionate, which is why we need to recognize that He is counting on us to join Him in His work. Bringing others to faith and strengthening the faith of others is the most important thing we can do for Him. To do this effectively, we must be willing to submit to His authority and obey His teaching. Out of the profound love in His heart, He is eager to carry our burdens and bless us abundantly with all that we need. That, Dear Ones, is my idea of love! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn