Scripture Readings: Acts 22:15, 1 John 4:14, John 4, Mark 5:1-20, Acts 9:19b-21, John 1:40-45
The Testimony of the Church A candle that stands alone can easily be blown out by the wind. Even if it is not extinguished by the wind, its light will eventually burn out. If we want to increase and prolong the light, we need to kindle more candles and to continue to do so. Suppose we kindle ten candles, one hundred candles, or even one thousand candles; then the light will continue on. And this is the way it is with the testimony of the church. It is pitiful that light and testimony cease with some individuals. May it not be that the testimony of Jesus terminates in some new believers. A candle should burn until it is all burned; likewise, a man’s testimony should continue until his death. By kindling candle after candle, the light will shine on and on until it covers the whole world. Such is the testimony of the church. New believers must learn to witness for the Lord; otherwise the gospel will terminate with them. You are already saved; you have life and your light is kindled. But if you do not ignite others before you are all burned up, then you are really finished. You should bring many to the Lord lest you see Him empty-handed. If a believer does not open his mouth and confess the Lord within the first year of his salvation, he probably will never open his mouth all through his life. Unless the Lord grants him great grace or gives him a mighty revival, he most likely will never bear witness for the Lord and bring souls to Christ. What hope is there with young believers if they cannot witness for the Lord and ignite other people when for the first time they receive so great a love, so great a Lord, so great a salvation, and so great an emancipation. We expect all new believers to fulfill their duty of saving souls. Go and witness for the Lord. Bring souls to Christ. Let the testimony shine on the earth unceasingly. The Meaning of Witnessing “For thou shalt be a witness for Him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard?(Acts 22:15). The Lord spoke these words to Paul through Ananias. Whatever you have seen and heard, you shall witness to all men. So the first foundation of witnessing is seeing and hearing. You cannot testify what you have not seen or heard. The advantage Paul had was that unlike other people he personally had heard and seen the Lord. He witnessed to that which he had seen and heard. “And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.?(1 John 4:14). This tells us what witnessing is. We witness to what we have seen. Thank God, you have recently believed in the Lord. You have met Him, believed in Him, and received Him. You are now redeemed. Having been set free from sin and having received forgiveness, you have peace in you. You know how happy you are after you have believed - a happiness which you never knew before. Formerly the load of sin weighed heavily upon you, but today, thank God, this load has rolled away. So you are a person who has seen and heard. What should you do now? You should send forth your testimony. This does not mean you are to be a preacher or to leave your job and be a full-time worker. It only means you are to witness to your friends and relatives and acquaintances of that which you have seen or heard. You should try to bring souls to the Lord. How to Witness 1. Speak In The City - The Samaritan Woman In John 4 the Samaritan woman met the Lord who then asked her for water. But after asking, the Lord turned around and offered her the living water without which no one could really live and be satisfied. He who drinks of the water of the well will thirst again. What the world can offer may satisfy for a time but sooner or later thirstiness will return. Only the fountain that springs up from within can satisfy forever. This inward satisfaction alone can deliver people from the demand of the world. After the Lord Jesus showed the Samaritan woman who He was, the woman left her waterpot - until then something most important to her - and went into the city and said, “Come, see a man, who told me all things that ever I did; can this be the Christ??(v. 29). Here we have a real example of witnessing. This woman had been married five times, but she was still unsatisfied. It was like drinking water; she has to drink again and again. But on that day the Lord told her that He had living water which really satisfied. No wonder after she came to know such a great Saviour, she threw away her waterpot and testified in the city. Her first act was to witness for Christ. What did she testify? She said, “Here is a man who told me everything that I ever did?(see v. 39). She had done lots of things; some known to the public but some unknown. She was afraid to tell people all that she had done; yet now the Lord had done just that. The Bible says, “And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on Him because of the word of the woman, who testified.?(v. 39) From this we may see one thing: everyone has the need to testify, to tell his own story. Since the Lord has saved such a big sinner as you, can you shut your mouth and not testify? The Savior has saved me; I cannot but open my mouth and confess Him. I am a sinner saved by grace. All that is required of me is to express my feeling. What I did not regard as sin, the Lord has pointed out to me to be sinful. Now I know what sort of a person I am. I did many things in the past without anyone’s knowledge, sometimes even I myself was not aware of what I did. I sinned greatly bit I was not conscious of being sinful. Yet here came a Man who told me all things that I ever did. He told me that which I did not know as well as that which I did know. I have to confess that I have touched the Savior. This One must be Christ who alone can save. Whoever has seen himself a sinner surely has a testimony to give. There is no need to give a long discourse; just telling what you know is quite sufficient. One person might say, “Before I believed in the Lord I used to be depressed, but now I feel good no matter what happens to me.?All you need to do is tell the fact. You need not talk about what you do not know. Brothers and sisters should learn not to say too much. Do not talk beyond your comprehension, lest you stir up arguments. Set yourselves as living witnesses among men of what you have experienced; against this no one can argue. 2. Witness at Home - The Demoniac In Mark 5:1-20, we find a man who was terribly possessed by an unclean spirit. He cut himself with stones, and no man had strength to tame him. He rent the chains that bound him, and broke the fetters in pieces. He dwelt in the tombs, and people dared not pass that place. But the Lord cast the unclean spirit out of that man. He wanted to follow the Lord, but the Lord bade him, “Go to thy house unto thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and how he had mercy on thee (v. 19). To tell what great things the Lord has done for you is witnessing for the Lord. When you receive grace, you ought to let your family, your neighbors, and your relatives know that you are now a saved person. Tell them what great things the Lord has done for you as well as how you have believed in Him. Tell them the fact and truthfully witness to them. Thus you will ignite other people and let the salvation of the Lord continue on. 3. Proclaim in the Synagogues - Saul “And he was certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus. And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that He is the Son of God. And all that heard him were amazed, and said, Is not this he that in Jerusalem made havoc of them that called on this name? and he had come hither for this intent, that he might bring them bound before the chief priests?(Acts 9:19b-21). So the first thing a person should do after receiving the Lord is to witness for the Lord. As soon as Saul’s eyes were healed, he seized the first opportunity to testify that Jesus is the Son of God. Let me tell you: unless Paul had been out of his mind, he must have seen a vision. He must have received a revelation. New believers also should be like Paul and go out and proclaim that they have met God’s Son. Can a person get saved and sit quietly as if nothing has happened? Can he believe on the Lord Jesus and not feel amazingly surprised? I doubt that anyone can do that, for he has made a tremendous discovery, the most special of all: Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God! 4. Personal Witnessing In John 1:40-45, we find how Andrew sought out Simon, and Philip sought out Nathaniel. From this we learn that after we believe in the Lord we should not only witness in the city, at home, and in synagogues but also should witness person to person. As soon as Andrew believed in the Lord, he led his brother Peter to Christ. Later on it turned out that Peter possessed more gifts and probably was a greater apostle. Yet it was Andrew who led Peter to the Lord. First he was saved and then he brought in his brother. The relationship between Philip and Nathaniel was not that of brothers but of friends. Philip sought out his friend and brought the latter to the Lord. Both these examples illustrate the principle of personal witnessing. A new believer may feel that he is not much gifted, but like Andrew and Philip he should at once witness to his family or to his friends. If his strength is limited, he can at least focus on one person at a time. Thus shall he bring souls to the Lord. The Believer’s Secret of Happiness In every believer’s life there are two big days, two days of special rejoicing. The first happy day is the day when he believes in the Lord. The second happy day is the day when he for the first time leads someone to Christ. To many, the joy of leading a person to the Lord for the very first time even exceeds the joy of their own salvation. But many believers are not happy, for they have never uttered a word for the Lord nor ever led a soul to Christ. Do not let this be your condition; do not degenerate to the point of having no joy. It is absolutely impossible for a person to have light and not to shine. Is there any light without a ray or a fountain without water? The channel of life has two ends: one end is opened towards the Holy Spirit, towards the Lord, towards life; but the other end is opened towards men. If the end towards men is shut, living water will never be able to flow out. The reason why many do not have power before God is due to their either being closed on the end towards the Lord on on the end towards sinners. Today I would like to make some calculations, even as others before me have done. Should there be ten thousand believers who hereafter faithfully bear witness everywhere with one accord, they should be able to save the whole world population within ten years if each of them leads three persons to the Lord yearly. This is not something that willbe done from the pulpit, but rather through personal witnessing. From this computation, we may realize how very lazy we are in saving souls. How great is the loss! The Duty of Witnessing Because you are not witnessing, many have not heard the gospel. They will be eternally separated, not just temporarily separated, from God. What a consequence! New believers must not be lax in this matter. We must learn to bring people to the Lord. We need to have a determination within us to win souls. Let us at least let them hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is best that you keep a record of how many souls you have won to Christ. You should set a goal for the year: ten, twenty, or thirty. You should pray: “Lord, I ask You for thirty souls.?Record in your book the name of each who is saved. At the close of the year, check your book and if it does not balance with your prayer ask the Lord for the deficit. Pray daily before the Lord and seize every opportunity to witness for Christ. D.L. Moody was a great soul-winner. He had a rule: whether in the pulpit or not, we must preach the gospel to at least one person each day. If the whole church is preaching the gospel, who can stand against it? May we lift up our torches and ignite others. May the testimony of the gospel be continued in us until the Lord shall come. May this candle of ours kindle another candle and still another candle. It is not too much to ask for thirty people a year from the Lord. Yearly let us bring souls to Christ. Thus shall the church be prosperous. There is much work before us. Let us all rise up and finish the task. |
