This series was a mini series on Witnessing. In this first part, we looked at God’s Word as the basis for this practice, beginning with the Lord Jesus’ very own words on the matter.<\/p>\n
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The following notes are as usual, broad-brush. It is a fairly extensive topic \u2013 verbal and non-verbal witness, different forms of evangelism and so on so we\u2019ll just lift out from scripture some of the key elements on this key subject.<\/p>\n
Outline:<\/p>\n
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- First we\u2019ll ask- Who can be a witness?<\/li>\n
- The motive for witness<\/li>\n
- The mechanics of witness<\/li>\n
- The Material for witness<\/li>\n
- The Method of witness<\/li>\n
- The Manner of Witness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Who can be a witness?<\/h2>\n
Two years ago today I was driving home from a young peoples meeting in Stowmarket and as I pulled away from some roadworks that had reduced us down to one lane the driver behind me sunk his 1 series BMW into the back of me. We both pulled over and exchanged details as you do and there were some workmen close by so I approached one of them and took down their details as well. That way we had a third party who could help establish the truth between potentially different versions of the accident. And if it did get legal, he would have been called as a witness \u2013 someone who could state what he had seen and\/or what he knew. That is what a witness is \u2013 someone who will state the truth, what they have seen and\/or what they know. That\u2019s how we understand it in the present day but those ideas are also consistent with the use in scripture, as we shall see.<\/p>\n
Think about this \u2013 Ever since Satan\u2019s misrepresentation of the character and will of God in the garden of Eden God has been looking for those who by contrast, will bear witness to the truth. Those who are willing to truthfully represent Him \u2013 His character, will, purposes, plans and mind. He chose a nation and to some extent they were effective in their witness. The tabernacle was in part just that, a testimony, a witness \u2013 it\u2019s called as much. You think of people like Rahab \u2013 the witness of the nation reached her somehow. And the witness was a story of the truth of God\u2019s power and redeeming love. Naaman \u2013 the nation now broadly ineffective in its witness, but still, there were individuals like the young maid who were prepared to state the truth about the God of Israel.<\/p>\n
And now, Christians are called to be witnesses. In a world where Satan continues to misrepresent God, spread his lies and keep men in darkness, we are called to shine as lights, share the truth and represent God as no less than his very own ambassadors.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, this requires at very least that we know God personally. Thinking back to the road accident that I mentioned \u2013 it would have been plain foolish for me to have driven to a nearby town and just selected someone from random to be a witness on my behalf, because they had know knowledge of the accident and know knowledge of me as a person. They wouldn\u2019t be able to properly represent the events surrounding the accident. And so with our subject here, God isn\u2019t calling every man and women to witness.<\/p>\n
So who can be a witness? A Christian \u2013 someone who knows their sins forgiven and is following Christ. And as we follow him we convey the truth about him to others. In the New Testament, the witness is presented as someone who values the truth more than he values his life. Witness in scripture is inextricably linked with the idea of truth. Establishing truth, maintaining truth, proclaiming truth and so on. So just very simply, let\u2019s ask ourselves a question: as Christians are we fulfilling our responsibility to witness? As those that are saved by grace and following Christ, are we telling others about what we know about him? For all the thousands of lost people in your locality, the jury is still out and if there is no one willing to tell them the truth about Christ they will remain in the kingdom of darkness. Worse still they may remain in the darkness because we misrepresented God.<\/p>\n
The motive \u2013 why we witness<\/h2>\n
\n
- Obeying Christ<\/strong>: the primary motive for witness is perhaps this \u2013 that Christ expects it. In the events leading up to his ascension, The Lord Jesus made clear the responsibility of those who loved him to tell others the truth concerning himself.
\nIn Acts 1 it is clear from Luke\u2019s record that Christ viewed his disciples in particular as witnesses and tasked them with that responsibility. Bear in mind that those who he was referring to had been with him from the beginning, (John 15:27) \u201cyou have been with me from the beginning\u201d. Their knowledge was particularly intimate. Peter says in Acts 10:39 that they were \u201cwitnesses chosen before God\u201d. So these were if you like expert witnesses and in fact when the idea of witness is referred to so far as the New Testament believers are concerned it firstly refers to this group. By extension we can apply it to ourselves but if we are to be honest in our exposition we should point this out.
\nAnd then we have the record of the ascension events in the gospels and we can see that Luke places an emphasis on preaching the gospel whilst Matthew emphasises making disciples. All the gospels make clear the scope of the mandate, it is to all nations. So here is our first motive \u2013 Christ instructed us and because we love him we should obey him. But let me suggest a few other driving elements here.
\nFollowing Christ<\/strong> \u2013 the Lord Jesus himself was a witness \u2013 John 5:36, \u201cI have greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me\u201d
\nHonouring Christ<\/strong>: Proverbs 14:25 \u2013 \u2018A true witness delivers souls: but a deceitful witness speaks lies.\u2019 You will remember that when Christ was on this earth, men sought false witness against Him. And so today, there are many who still bear false witness about the person of Christ. Paul said \u201cwoe is me if I preach not the gospel\u201d and we can apply this to that ourselves individually and collectively. Whether Christ has instructed us or not we should want to share and live gospel truth. Matthew wrote, \u201cLet your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSo the motive then, obeying, following and honouring Christ.<\/p>\n
The mechanics \u2013 how witnessing works<\/h2>\n
We won\u2019t need to spend a great deal of time on this but it will help steer our thinking in the right paths if we briefly remind ourselves of the doctrine related to witnessing is concerned.<\/p>\n
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- The subject of our witness is Christ.<\/li>\n
- The power of our witness is conveyed through the Holy Spirit based on the Word of God. This is pivotal truth that you can see brought out in the upper room ministry (so-called) of the Lord Jesus and then played out throughout the book of the Acts<\/li>\n
- The truth we convey for our witness is from the Word of God<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Now what are the implications of these points? Firstly, if the subject of our witness is Christ then subjects like apologetics or perhaps the story of our own personal conversion \u2013 these things take second place so far as our focus in witness is concerned. Furthermore, it will necessary to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. A witness that expresses the truth concerning Christ will need to be backed up by a life that is modelled on Him also. A jury wouldn\u2019t think too highly of the testimony of a witness in court no matter how compelling it might be if they know that person to be a liability in the community.<\/p>\n
Second if the power of our witness is conveyed through the Holy Spirit, it follows then that to be effective in our witness we must be living set apart lives, not having fellowship with the works of darkness, not grieving him.<\/p>\n
Third, if the truth we convey for our witness is from the Word of God then we must be acquainting ourselves with it daily.<\/p>\n
Fourthly, if the subject is Christ, the power is conveyed through the Holy Spirit and the truth is from the Word of God we are reminded of this that, \u201cSalvation is of the Lord\u201d<\/p>\n
Now finally on how witnessing works, we should remember that a significant component of our witness is conveyed non-verbally. In other words, your attitudes, behaviour, temperament, character should all demonstrate that you have been with Jesus. And by so doing you will silently albeit powerfully convey the truth of Christ. We have already quoted Matthew 5:16 \u2013 \u201clet your light so shine\u201d, the other references there to being the salt of the earth all indicate the expectation of Christ for us to be influencing the world around whether we speak or not. This is an important aspect on its own but all the more so when we realise that our verbal witness will be unconvincing if our non-verbal witness is out of step. Paul wrote to the Philippians, \u201cPhilippians 1:27, \u201clet your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.\u201d And Paul speaks in Galatians 2:14, of those whose \u201cconduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel.\u2019\u201d We should ask ourselves whether our life is coherent, it makes sense. I have kids and they are quick to notice when my life doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
So then the mechanics as I\u2019ve called them, they\u2019re important to ensure we come at this subject of witness from the right angle. Doctrine is important. You can\u2019t behave correctly unless you know what you believe. You can\u2019t undertake witnessing effectively unless you understand witnessing.<\/p>\n
The motive, the mechanics and now the material.<\/p>\n
The material \u2013 what is our witness.<\/h2>\n
Now we\u2019ve already mentioned Luke\u2019s record so let\u2019s go back there and refresh. Luke records Christ\u2019s own words and to paraphrase \u2013 \u201cChrist had died and risen again the third day in order that men and women might be forgiven of their sins through repentance\u201d. So our material for witness starts here:<\/p>\n
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- Christ<\/strong>: a declaration of the person of Christ. Paul said, \u201cwe preach Christ crucified\u201d and I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified\u201d (1 Cor 2:2). The early church knew little else \u2013 they presented Christ, this one who they had witnessed, live, die and become alive again. And as men and women recognised the truth about Christ they realised they were sinners and turned from sin to serve the living God. So in our witness before the jury of this world, we declare the truth concerning Christ and him crucified. I think we\u2019ve lost confidence in the power of that simple message. We\u2019ll go on now to think some other scripturally based elements that make up the material of our witness. But we need I think to renew our confidence in the power of a clear and spirit-filled declaration of the person of Christ. And we can try and analyse how this has become the case but ultimately, if I look to my own heart it\u2019s probably just a question of the fact that he\u2019s not front and centre. However, from experience, when you walk up to someone on the street and start \u2018witnessing\u2019 you have very little time on your hands and so you\u2019d better get to Christ pretty quick. I\u2019ve had the thrill of witnessing on the streets \u2013 not the soapbox approach, more getting in the middle of a small stationary group of people and sharing Christ. There is nothing like it. And my opening line would often be, \u201cdo you have a moment for me to speak to you about the Lord Jesus\u201d. Now you might think that\u2019s a little in-your-face, almost too simplistic. But if they reject you there and then, you can be sure because you started with Christ that you presented them with a genuine opportunity to consider him. If you start with the weather, you may never get to Christ. If you\u2019re one of these people that has the gift-of-the-gab and you can bend the conversation around from the weather then fine. But don\u2019t think starting with Christ is a naive approach. If you don\u2019t have the gift-of-the-gab you\u2019ll find it very difficult to transition to talking about Christ and it\u2019ll come across just as awkward as if you\u2019d started with him in the first place. So just start with him. Tell them what a perfect man he was, that he came to die for sinners and he came because God so loved the world that he gave\u2026I don\u2019t think that\u2019s naive, I think that\u2019s scriptural (cf. 1 Cor 15:1-4). Talk about the life of Christ, that\u2019s scriptural. And talk about his death, burial and resurrection.<\/li>\n
- Judgement<\/strong>: when you present Christ, we are presenting truth. And the truth hurts \u2013 Peter elaborates on the words of the Lord Jesus in Acts 10:42, he says that the Lord Jesus \u201ccommanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.\u201d So we must graciously present Christ as Saviour but also Judge. We must convey the need for repentance as well as the promise of forgiveness of sins. We must honestly explain the holiness of God as well as the offer of grace through faith.<\/li>\n
- Cultural awareness<\/strong>: when you present Christ, if we look at the pattern of the New Testament \u2013 there is clear evidence that are grasp of relevant culture and topical issues is helpful. In the early part of Acts, you think of Stephens witness for example, it\u2019s heavily weighted with Jewish references. Whereas Paul\u2019s sermon in Athens is weighted quite differently, for his Gentile audience and more than that, a Greek, largely religious, intellectual audience. So we are permitted to include in our witness, relevant mentions of cultural and topical significance. Emphasis on relevant. Don\u2019t abuse this liberty and bring too many gimmicks into your material. These references that we make should be carefully selected based on our sensitivity to our audience and with God\u2019s help merely a brief stepping stone into which we can then present Christ. So visual aids for example, make sure they are visual aids and not visual handicaps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
We have also seen in our study in apologetics that if there is a specific barrier to presenting truth it may be necessary to adopt an apologetic position for a while before going on to present Christ. This would often be relevant in a work environment where failure to actually deal with the issues would undermine our effectiveness. Now this leads us very smoothly into method. If material is about what our witness consists of, method is about how we go about it.<\/p>\n
Method \u2013 how we witness<\/h2>\n
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- Prayerfully<\/strong>: Before we get into the methods described in the NT in relation to active witness, evidently we must approach this task in a prayerful manner. Praying for opportunities, for courage, for blessing, for God\u2019s glory.<\/li>\n
- Openly<\/strong>: for this we go back to Luke again as our starting point. Luke records Christ as saying that these things should be \u201cpreached\u201d. The original word is kerysso (ka-ru\u2019s-so), and means to herald \u2013 open proclamation of the gospel \u2013 it has behind it the sense of something done with formality, gravity and authority. So the expectation of Christ and therefore the divinely appointed methodology so far as gospel witness is concerned is heralding the gospel \u2013 publicly, proclaiming Christ. Romans 10:15 \u2013 \u201chow shall they hear (what\u2019s the method) without a preacher\u201d \u2013 same word, herald. And this is important \u2013 this is the overwhelming emphasis in relation to the spread of the gospel in the NT<\/em>. That\u2019s very important. Witness in this way seems also, the responsibility of men only in the New Testament and also is never done independent of a church and not alone. So when we go out in this way with the gospel it should be done cooperatively.<\/li>\n
- Evangelically<\/strong>: in Acts 8 where you have preaching mentioned several times, you have the two main words for preaching used closely together, ka-ru\u2019s-so that we\u2019ve just mentioned in v6 and euanggelizo (yu-an-ge-le-zo), in v4. Euanggelizo means to bring good news, and the word is used very broadly in a wide range of different contexts including more private witness and informal witness. So what we learn from this is that as well as the formal proclamation of the gospel, our witness should be second nature as part of our every day outlook and the sharing of the gospel should be spontaneous.<\/li>\n
- Strategically<\/strong>: we can lack a certain amount of vision and wisdom in our witnes. Individually, we wonder why we don\u2019t have opportunities, but then we\u2019re not really making ourselves available, praying about it, seeking out opportunities and with God\u2019s help even creating those opportunities. And then collectively, the pattern of the New Testament is very much a pioneering approach to witness. Not planting churches, we can leave that to God as we can the saving of souls. But definitely seeking the Lords mind and will as to where he wants us to take the message. This kind of early church mentality is exactly what we need in our country today because with the passage of the last 50 years and all the fallow ground that\u2019s opened up with Christian testimony, in decline there\u2019s a desperate need and a wonderful opportunity in the locality where God has placed us. Here\u2019s an interesting point \u2013 the word preaching meaning proclaim or herald isn\u2019t used in Acts until chapter 8 when Philip takes the gospel to Samaria. Why weren\u2019t the evangelists proclaiming and heralding the message to the Jews in Jerusalem? The point the inspired Word of God is making is that you don\u2019t proclaim gospel truth to people who already know it. They \u2018taught\u2019 in the synagogues and they shared the good news, but the first time it was heralded was in fallow ground. Interesting. Ever tried to stand in a meeting where there are only saints present and herald the gospel? It\u2019s not scriptural to do so. Teaching the gospel perhaps, but not heralding. A strategic approach to witnessing would save us from such misplaced effort.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
So much then for the method.<\/p>\n
Lets bring our thoughts to a close by thinking about the manner of our witness.<\/p>\n
Manner of our witness<\/h2>\n
\n
- Gentle<\/strong>: Peter says this in his first epistle (1 Peter 3:15), \u201cbe ready always to given an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. So the manner of our witness should be in meekness, in other words gentle. Never patronise the lost. Don\u2019t be unnecessarily confrontational either. One of the things you learn with street evangelism is to be bold without being cold. You have real people, who are lost and they\u2019re all around you. You make a mistake with your attitude and you might find yourself provoking abuse unnecessarily. You must speak the truth in meekness and in fear. Your witness will be far more convincing this way than if you come across as someone who is a little too sure of himself, possibly a little snobbish, pious. God forbid. Particularly in apologetics, may God help us to be winsome by avoiding the shallow tactics of our opponents. I remember to my shame, coming away from a door some years ago having conveyed the truth to a so called Jehovah\u2019s Witness and saying something to the effect of \u201cthat gave them something to think about.\u201d Almost as if this was a competition or a challenge. That was not the right attitude. Those people are in darkness. And if proclaiming the gospel with gentleness seems to be a contradiction then how much we need God\u2019s help in this business of witnessing.<\/li>\n
- Reverent<\/strong> \u2013 meekness and fear. As we articulate the truth of God may we do so reverently. It\u2019s a pretty regulating principle that you can extend across everything we\u2019ve said thus far.<\/li>\n
- Sacrificial<\/strong> \u2013 witnessing is not about us. The extraordinary story captured by Luke in the book of Acts shows us those who witnessed for Christ were willing to lay their very lives down. And the word for witness in the Greek is actually Martyr so when the Lord Jesus mentioned that as recorded in John 15:27 \u2013 he was letting them know what it meant to be a true witness. In Bury St Edmunds, King Edmund is said to have died for the truth \u2013 that\u2019s a legend mind-you. But near to his memorial, there is a larger memorial in memory of the 17 Christians who burnt at the stake in the 16th<\/sup>\u00a0century. What will be the memorial of our generation? How will we be remembered? \u201cFaithful witness\u201d or \u201cself-preservation\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lloyd Stock, May 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This series was a mini series on Witnessing. In this first part, we looked at God’s Word as the basis for this practice, beginning with the Lord Jesus’ very own words on the matter. Acts 1: 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-class"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":826,"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823\/revisions\/826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lloydstock.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}