Witness for God

Each and every person that becomes saved has a purpose on this earth. Any believer, from the greatest to the least, is required to be a witness for God regardless of any other individual calling.  One Scripture tells us: The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. Acts 4:33 (NLT). The “great” blessing of God will last forever and is something that only a born-again person can understand. The only way to engage with this “great” blessing is to testify powerfully about Jesus. 

Back in the 1950’s a believer was taught to live a good life but to keep quiet about Jesus. Where ever this idea came from it is not biblical. When Jesus arose from the dead he appeared to some people and gave them an important instruction. Peter said: …he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God… Acts 10:42 (NLT). Believers that are not witnessing for God must not be impressed with Jesus. After people really know Jesus they cannot live with the knowledge that they are disobeying his orders. 

There is a long-range reason for the orders we have to testify about Jesus. God wants the general call of repentance from sin to be given in the entire world. Before our Savior left this earth he said: The Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14. On Judgment Day our Lord will remind sinful people that every nation in the world has received the Gospel message from his servants. Of course many people refuse to believe our witness. 

In fact Christians are being intimidated by the world today. People are not only refusing to believe but they want to beat our belief in Jesus out of us. The Bible says we are not to worry about this intimidation: But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me. So don’t worry in advance about how to answer the charges against you, for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you! Luke 21:13-15. Everything in a believer’s life is completed if we simply have faith. 

Being a witness for God about his son Jesus, is not complicated work. It is more about our humble attitude of faith than our wisdom. Paul said: I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. … I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. Acts 20:19-21. The message of repentance and faith are not difficult to proclaim. Of course their reaction to this simple message can be terrible at times.

Applying our faith is what our life is all about. All the issues in life can be resolved by the faith we have in Jesus Christ. Our life finds its real value when we tell others about God with a love that the world does not value. Paul believed this completely: My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. Acts 20:24. There are times when a spiritual desperation comes on a worldly person and they must find a living witness of God.

Enabled to Minister

A grown-up Christian can be enabled by God to minister. Jesus tells us that a seed of the Gospel should develop until a crop is produced. Until the seeds produce they are a failure to the purpose of their life. If a Christian does not minister to others they have failed their purpose in life. Many church people say that they don’t have the ability to spiritually produce a crop. They are totally correct. No person can produce spiritual fruits until they are enabled by the Spirit of God. It seems obvious that we must allow the Spirit to work through us.

Paul was a man that was used to minister in a great way. He stated it this way: I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, 1 Timothy 1:12 (NLT). We should note that God completely trusted Paul to be reliable and honest about the Gospel message that he carried to other people. Immature people cannot be trusted to possess priceless items. People must pass many tests before they can be relied on to minister the Gospel correctly.

To be empowered by God is a great responsibility. The best known example of empowerment was given in the Old Testament. The Bible says: Then Samson prayed to the LORD, Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time… Judges 16:28.  When the Spirit of God came upon Samson he became a superman. Samson did a poor job of being responsible and he ended his own life. Paul and Samson were very different men but when the spirit of God worked through them great things happened.

Believers today have a huge advantage. We have the Spirit of our Savior living inside of us. Our spiritual life is guided by divinity. Paul said: I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT). He was being empowered by what the Savior had done on the cross some years before. We also must find this holy power if we ever want to produce a crop for the Lord.

The idea of continually planting the seed but never seeing a harvest is being accepted as routine today. This is not acceptable to God and we must ask him to change our hearts and our behavior. To remain this way is surrendering to unbelief. We should have the kind of faith that Abraham had: Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. Romans 4:20-21 (NLT).

God is able to fulfill anything easily. But when it comes to dealing with people God’s plan is to engage us in his work through our individual faith. Christians must step forward and say “use me because I have faith in your empowerment”. When the new nation of Israel was told to fight the giants, all but two said we can’t do it. God was so unhappy with them that he sentenced all of them to die in the desert of unbelief. My friends don’t die in the desert of unbelief. Instead, ask for the faith to die doing anything that God has for you.