Friday: Further Thought ~ Winsome Witnesses: The Power of Personal Testimony
Further Thought:
Read Ellen G. White, “Almost Thou Persuadest Me”, pages 433-438, in The Acts of the Apostles.
The essence of the Christian life is a relationship with Jesus that is so rich and full that we long to share it. As important as correct doctrine is, it cannot substitute for a life transformed by grace and changed by love.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
Ellen G. White makes it plain when she states: “The Saviour knew that no argument, however logical, would melt hard hearts or break through the crust of worldliness and selfishness. He knew that His disciples must receive the heavenly endowment; that the gospel would be effective only as it was proclaimed by hearts made warm and lips made eloquent by a living knowledge of Him who is the way, the truth, and the life”. — The Acts of the Apostles, p. 31. In the book The Desire of Ages, she adds this powerful thought: “The wonderful love of Christ will melt and subdue hearts, when the mere reiteration of doctrines would accomplish nothing”. — Page 826.
There are those who have the idea that giving their personal testimony is about trying to convince others of the truths they have discovered in the Word of God. Although it is important at the appropriate time to share the truths of God’s word, our personal testimony has much more to do with the freedom from guilt, the peace, the mercy, the forgiveness, the strength, hope, and joy we have found in the gift of eternal life Jesus so freely offers.
Discussion Questions:
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When Jesus was ministering here on earth, his invitation was to "Follow me!". Most of his interactions with people were essentially about how to live in a lifestyle that impacted on others.
Ye are the salt of the earth.
A light set on a hill.
Go the second mile.
Love your enemies.
Feed my sheep.
Turn the other cheek.
and so on.
A careful rereading of the gospels will show that Jesus was more interested in the way we interact with other people than in carefully defined doctrines. He wanted us to "follow him".
When I think of those people who were most influential in my life, it is the people who lived their "Jesus experience" rather than talking about it that encouraged my spiritual journey the most. The pastor who taught me to love photography, the elder who listen to my doubts without condemnation, the educator who painted walls in schools, the parents who loved me when I was a rebellious teenager, the theologian who would take precious time listening to my darkest moments. In each of these person's lives there was the open invitation to "follow him".
We often think of Christian witnessing as a sales pitch. You put up your arguments, then try and get the other person(s) to agree to them. And while I am not entirely dismissive of the sales approach, we need also to understand that Christianity is always an invitation, not a commodity.
My life will impact others lives when I will 1)return right for wrong. 2)have a spirit of forgiveness. 3)have genuine empathy. 4)lift up the down trodden 5)cater for other's needs...not by MY but the power of the Lord .
Thanks bro
I was shocked when this phrase from Paul's testimony jumped out at me
Jesus was not mincing words, I have often pondered about the meaning of being "saved", here Jesus makes it clear to us, He wants to save us from the power of Satan. Acts 26:16-18
Should we tell people that if they don't serve the LORD they are in fact serving Satan? Rom 6:16
Right from the Garden of Eden that has been Satan's deception, he said don't obey God do what you think is best Gen 3:5-6.
This is the choice all have - either you decide for yourself what is 'the right thing to do' or you accept what God says is right or wrong.
We have seen the result in the USA and in my country (for example) when one group's "right thing" is different to another's "right thing" we have riots and murders.
Satan loves chaos, the LORD loves peace and harmony, which do you choose?
In Acts 26:16-18 Jesus declared His purpose through Paul's witness was changing lives to be conformed into His image and we see it in many places in Paul's writings, 2Cor 3:18, Rom 8:29, Rom 12:1-2 and this is why a personal witness of a life in Jesus' likeness through His power and grace is so powerful.
Beautifully articulated Shirley, Thank You.
For me, the bottom line is this, if the love of God does not change our lives, what good is it? The whole point of this controversy is did Satan lie about God and His law or did he tell the truth? If you take a look at the world right now, at this very moment, what do you see? Everything about how Jesus lived His life, was to bring peace and healing to this world. If our life does not reflect that, then why are we claiming to follow Him? Along with Jesus death, the chaos in the world today, shows Satans true colors.
In reading the chapter in Acts of the Apostles as suggested in today’s lesson, in my mind, I can see Agrippa, leaning forward in his chair, to catch every word Paul had to say. Paul’s life gave him a glimpse of a much more peaceful and satisfying life, than the corrupt life he was currently living. “Almost thou persuadest me”, makes a pretty powerful statement as to how Paul lived his life, and the words the Holy Spirit led him to share. The good news is, we have that same ability today, to live that kind of life, and speak those kind of words, with the same Spirit leading us.
A personal testimony can have a great effect, but only if it isn't about "me". The only way our testimony can lead others to Christ and to glorify God, is if they are the focus of our testimony, thanksgiving and praise.
In the words of one of the more well-known hymns: "Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow"!
My personal testimony has always centered around the work of the Holy Spirit. In Tuesdays's reply to James's and Maurice's posts, I wrote a lengthy exposition about the dangers of the 'Social Gospel'. God has placed this focus on my heart a long time ago. Now, seeing that the times are ripe for it to spring into full bloom, I can not help but speak to the dangers of this 'great deception'.
'Good' is a spiritual quality, God's Goodness defines the spiritual nature of the 'Seal of God'. The Spirit of God - God's Goodness - inhabits the effect of the truly 'good' act - it is His self-reflection.
Each 'good' gift/service of any type - God's goodness being the spiritual content of anything that is 'good' - is derived from the spirit realm of heaven not from this earth. There is nothing inherently good in this earth. Presently, all of earth's life exists under the curse and cannot of itself produce anything 'good'.
Eph.2:1,2 'And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins'; (2)Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience'.
Cunningly, the 'prince of the power of the air' offers a 'good-works' counterfeit - the 'Social Gospel'. This is an act of deception, demonstrating his disobedience.
Many still do not understand that without/outside of God, man's works can do nothing to improve spiritual life. He rises and falls through faith in the One that created him, and even this faith is a gift from God. Man does not cause his Faith by his own will - it is gifted to him so to carry the spiritual quality of his life.
John 15:1-27
(4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
(5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING.
(8) HEREIN IS MY FATHER GLORIFIED, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
(16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
(19) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
All our living is now to be seen in a spiritual light - unifying man with God. Separating our new, spiritually centered life from the life to be lived in the new world of the future, results in a gross misrepresentation of the ongoing, transformational work being done on behalf of our Salvation/Reunification. We call this work 'sanctification'. The future life begins in this life.
Grace is offered to become part of the family of God until the time comes when there is no more time left to accept His Grace.
Throughout Scripture - the Word of God - you find the all-permeating, underlying, spiritual current identifying Him as its source and purpose through admonitions, directives, advise, warnings, teachings, wisdom sayings, including the 10 commandments and the Beatitudes; when lived, they express the spiritually surrendered 'godly Life'.
You will find that all 'living' condenses into the spiritually discerned understanding that the life lived now is directly linked to and lived unto the life to come.
1Cor.13:1-13 speaks clearly to this topic. It separates the works inspired by man from the works inspired by God. v.13- speaks to the importance of God's Love needing to reside in us and expressing itself in all its forms through us.
If 'loving your neighbor as yourself' becomes distorted, if we are not careful, even this act can become self-serving.
James 1:15-17 - v.17: Every *good* gift and every *perfect* gift is from ABOVE, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow when turning.
These gifts contain God's spiritually released intentions and motives, they reveal God's love being released through us.
Eph.2:10 - We need to be careful never to separate the 'good works' from the source which gave birth to them - imparting spiritual identiy - God's Goodness! His Mercy and Grace established these works as vessels to carry His spiritual message - to point to Himself and to establish evidence of His Holy Presence to a fallen world.
If we, the confessors of Jesus the Christ, still think that there is a shoddy record-keeping/an unaccountability/a separation from God on any level, we would do well to correct our understanding.
We have become one with God through Jesus, as Jesus is one with the Father. Now, we are adopted children to be instated to become full heirs to inherit citizenship in the heavenly Kingdom. We made our choice to accept the start of a new life whiles living.
Other choices still remain ours to make in the course of every-day living. Who do we chose to answer to - God or man.