Thursday: The Power of a Personal Testimony
Let’s look again at Paul before Agrippa. The apostle Paul stands before this man, the last in the line of Jewish kings, the Maccabees, and of the house of Herod. Agrippa professed to be a Jew, but at heart he was a Roman. (See The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 436). The aged apostle, weary from his missionary journeys and battle — scarred in the conflict between good and evil, stands there, his heart filled with God’s love and his face radiant with God’s goodness. Whatever has happened in his life, whatever persecutions and difficulties he has experienced, he can declare that God is good.
Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com
Agrippa is cynical, skeptical, hardened, and really indifferent to any genuine value system. In contrast, Paul is filled with faith, committed to the truth, and stalwart in defense of righteousness. The contrast between the two men could not be much more evident. At his trial, Paul requests to speak and receives permission from Agrippa.
Read Acts 26:1-32. How did Paul witness to Agrippa? What can we learn from his words?
Kindness opens hearts where abrasiveness closes them. Paul is incredibly gracious to Agrippa here. He calls him an “expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews” (Acts 26:3, NKJV). He then launches into a discussion of his conversion.
Read Paul’s conversion story in Acts 26:12-18 and then carefully notice its effect on Agrippa in Acts 26:26-28. Why do you think Agrippa reacted the way he did? What impressed him about Paul’s testimony?
Paul’s testimony of how Jesus changed his life had a powerful impact on a godless king. There is no witness as effective as a changed life. The witness of a life genuinely converted has an amazing influence on others. Even godless kings are moved by lives transformed by grace. Even if we don’t have as dramatic a story as Paul, we all should be able to tell others about what it means to know Jesus and to be redeemed by His blood.
(32)
I have never had the opportunity to proclaim my beliefs to the captains and kings of this world. The nearest I get to that is the local member of the NSW parliament who is on the same community Facebook page where I post some of my bird photographs in an effort to encourage the local community to enjoy and respect our environment. He often "likes" my pictures. So while I appreciate the story of Paul appearing before Agrippa, it is highly unlikely at my age that I will ever find myself in the same room as the rulers.
My audience throughout my whole life has been the discerning critical gaze of young people. And I did not have the luxury of a once-in-a-lifetime audience. I had to front up with them roughly 200 days a year, often several years in a row. And when you retire you look back on the failures and successes of over 40 years of witnessing. It's a scary thought. Have you handled every situation perfectly? Did I say the right thing when a student asked one of those left-field questions that you should have had a ready answer for? Whenever I feel smug complacency, there is this one student who has my email address and writes me a string of foul-languaged invective, telling me that now that I am retired I can no longer stuff up the lives of the young people I teach. (That's the translation - those of you with experience will know what he really said.)
That is the great leveller. I did not always win - and it helps to know that Paul did not always win either. In the end, people make their own choices, but that should not stop us from trying.
Having pastored for over 20 years I resonate with you, Maurice!
Mr. Ashton, I am just starting to study my lesson, read scriptures etc. I am 51 years of age. Due to my health I can longer work. Some people have told me that if I pray God will take away my pain. He has allowed me to live through so much. I know He loves me. He has taken away my pain of being lost and confused. I was more active with my church choir (even directing through pain) before Covid19. I wouldn’t give up this pain or change a thing when I know He is trying to save me. My testimony is my pain and sharing my love for God through that. I won’t complain. I do wish I hadn’t allowed others to lead me away from church. I feel God would have continued to utilize my gifts of love and music. I love to love others and it shows. Even in pain I enjoy giving hugs and a warm smile.
All in all I just want to tell you that you have really witnessed and encouraged me through your wonderful comments. I, Thank our Father for using you to reach others. Thank you so much. Davetta
Thank you for your testimony Davetta. I have been blessed by your message.
Davetta
Thank you for your testimony. It reinforces the premise that we should rejoice in our trials as we do our blessings because sometimes those trials lead us or others we know back to God our Father.
May God change us as he change paul,and also give us courage to tell the world as poul's did.. Amen.
Similarities between our day and that of Paul - different groups within the believers in God:
A) those who maintained the structure of the church
B) those who maintained the Scriptures
C) scholars and laymen
D) those who followed the Way of the risen Messiah
A) Scriptures the sole source of authority of how to live
C) Scriptures plus using reason to interpret and apply it to changed circumstances and relying on previous teachings
A) only worship in the church
C) also personal prayer and study of scriptures
A) this life is all there is
C) resurrection and a future life in a perfect world
Although groups B&C had the message from God they did not live accordingly, they concentrated on man made rules and outward conformity.
Paul was proud of belonging to group C, but through divine revelation realized that his heart needed to change and that it was neither his birth nor his strict practices that made him a child of God but His acceptance of the sacrifice by the Messiah in his stead.
This was his testimony before Agrippa, not belonging to a group and their belief in the doctrine of the resurrection but the acceptance of the actual death and resurrection of the Son of God in his behalf.
Paul told his story with humility, courtesy, and respect, and the king was impressed enough by the Holy Spirit to feel some personal conviction which he was obviously resisting. Paul was not speaking so much about himself as he was testifying of Jesus. He was stating the facts as they were relevant to his case, but he magnified the Lord and His grace. We must take care to not magnify ourselves. Jesus was "meek, and lowly of heart", as will be every true follower of the Lamb of God.
I think it’s very important to remember that it is not our fight. It is not we who wins or loses. This is a spiritual battle we are embroiled in. When Paul was speaking to Agrippa the Holy Spirit was working. Words alone will not work. Even good behavior will not do it. Jesus was the perfect example and yet there were many who refused to believe. We cannot convert anyone with our words or our deeds.
With that said we need to make sure as much as possible that our words, our beliefs are reflected in our behavior so that we do not become a stumbling block. We’re not perfect. I can look back and see how I have been a stumbling block but I also see how I was used by God to share Jesus.
There was a young woman who look sad. I didn’t know her. I caught her eye and smiled and she smiled back. I didn’t know it at the time but that simple smile changed the direction of her life. I didn’t preach any doctrines to her, I didn’t share my testimonies. I saw someone hurting and I reached out in the only way I felt comfortable doing at the time. Later, after we’d become friends she confided in me that she had been contemplating suicide. She’d been going through some pretty bad things at home but my smile brightened her day enough to drag her out of that darkness. It didn’t change her homelife but God used me to save her life.
Many decades ago I was teaching Bible doctrines at a Adventist school in south America. One day one of my students told me that something I had taught had led him to join the church by baptism. I was having one of those days when you don't see your future clearly, but his testimony brightened my day.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way,....and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:6-7.
We all have different temperaments, therefore we are called to be colaborers with Christ in different fields of work. Can you remember when Paul had needed Mark during hard times in the mission field, but Mark requested to return home in a time of greatest need? Then Barnabas requested that Mark go again to the mission field, but Paul objected.
Paul was being prepared by Jesus for such a time as that. Paul realized he was on the battlefield before Agrippa. To be successful on any spiritual battlefield it requires patience, self-denial, bravery, devotion, faith, and willingness to sacrifice, even the giving of one's life for Jesus.
Are we preparing for the spiritual battlefield?
Some Christians can't even survive the lockdown/stay at home and confined to our homes during this COVID time. Many are now talking about how depressed they are, they are tired of staying home and refusing to obey the rules. If we cant obey rules, does anyone think they can obey laws? Therefore, how on earth can we make it when Christians are being caught and thrown in jail and be lockdown for Christ's sake?
The Lord had chosen Paul specifically to be his rep before the king. The Lord knew Paul will do an excellent job in that position of calling. No one else in the bible that we are told of had such an experience. Agrippa knew Paul before as Saul. There all were 'echelons' and well educated Jews. Many will not be chosen for that position. Many will not do as Paul did, many will 'chick' out, many will do a very bad job of witnessing.
I had some experience with the law on and off. I was called to be a juror twice, also accompanied others to court. Once I had to go to represent a cause. We were the Plaintiff. The defendant was found guilty of a terrible crime but we forgave the person. The Judge said in all of his life doing his job he has not come across anyone who forgave for such a case. The Lord will be the final judge.
Matt 24 tells us about what will happen in the last days before Christ comes. Do Christians think it will be a 'slap on the hand' experience? We must be baptized with the Holy Spirit to make it through those times. Even being baptized with the Holy Spirit will not make things easier.
In Pauls's time as a missionary, Silas, Paul's companion in labor, was a tired worker, gifted with the spirit of prophecy; but the work to be done was so great that there was need of training more laborers for active service. That's when Timothy came upon the scene. ( AA 203.1)
-Must I be carried to the sky in flowery beds of ease, While others fought to win the prize and sail through bloody seas?
-Must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free?
Paul's mission was to preach the good news to the Gentiles but when he visited a new town he first went to the Jewish synagogue to tell them that Jesus was the Messiah for whom they had been waiting. Spiritual gifts are given to spread the gospel and to educate the Church members.
God has a message for the secular people and to His people for those who need to receive a clearer understanding of the true character of the LORD and the operation of His Plan of Salvation so that they are not deceived by the devil's lies.
The last crisis is coming when all will have to chose between the LORD and the Image of the Beast, when the voice from heaven will call "come out of her my people". Rev 18:4
To me, the only thing more compelling than the effect of a personal testimony of a dramatic life change is the indisputable evidence of fulfilled prophecy. This Paul used to full effect in describing Jesus’ life having fulfilled the prophets leaving Agrippa to either accept the foundations of his professed faith or rest on his own prideful and flawed wisdom. My conversion came about while attending a prophecy seminar. It became apparent that, no matter what I thought I knew about history and Jesus, the Bible has set me straight. I thank the Holy Spirit for helping me to understand that the Bible’s time predictions and Jesus fulfillment of the messianic promise in the Bible lead me to reverse my conception of the randomness of the events of past history and to a clear picture of God’s plan of salvation. As It was with me, I see the same spirit of Agrippa among many who rest on their own limited knowledge rather than make the effort to explore or attempt to fully understand the basis of their professed faith. Without prayerful and diligent study, this leads to a self-reliant faulty belief system even the the most dramatic of conversion stories cannot overcome.
Paul is the apostle whose life's story has provided me with many spiritual points to consider, though it was always the encounter on the road to Damascus that held the most fascination.
We accept Jesus' baptism by and into the authority of the Holy Spirit with no questions asked. If we need any evidence that we, His disciples, are also changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, this is the evidence.
This account tells me that there must be a heavenly induced conversion taking place to bring us out of our old life into the new one. The total 'change of heart and mind' Paul experienced is a fascinating testimony that God has the power to change us, even in an instant.
Acts 9:20 - Though only Paul had the personal encounter with Jesus - his companion travelers only heard the voice 'but seeing no man' - I am pretty sure that they as well went on to tell others about this event.
The scales that blinded Paul spiritually and physically where about to be removed:
(17) And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightes receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
(18) And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
This conversion event required the faithful response by everyone called upon. The effect Paul's conversion would have on the world was, at that time, not known. We now know that it strengthened the faith of all who witnessed the event unfold and untold others who were listening to his testimony, including us now.
We can see that all who took part walked by faith, providing their portion toward the effort of Paul's conversion. God could have done it without the 'help' of man, but He chose to exercise the faith of man to accomplish his plan. All were found to be faithful when called upon to engage their free will.
Acts 26:16-18 highlights the specific purpose of Paul's conversion. I believe that we are all converted to fulfill a specific purpose, using our God-given spiritual, mental, and physical gifts to testify to Jesus' commission of 'pointing man to God'.
The believer's first step of faith, accepting the messenger, will place the faithful into the gracious hands of God's Holy Spirit to direct them further - Heb.12:2 - 'Jesus, the beginner and finisher of our faith'.
As the lesson writer says: "Witnessing is never about us. It is always about Him". Acts 26:16-18 - (18) 'To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me'. This is the purpose of our testimony; it is concise, plainly stating to focus our efforts.
It could be usefull to write this out and keep it near to help focus on the purpose for which we engage our testimony.
Verse 18 is our mandate/instruction/directive/decree/command and order.
Definition of 'mandate':
noun - an official order or commission to do something.
verb - give (someone) authority to act in a certain way.
God's Holy Spirit delegates to us 'authority to act in a certain way' - to testify. It is the Holy Spirit's authority which empowers our testimony. Now we are a living testimony, and He prepares us to accomplish this task.
This preparatory(sanctification) work of faith occures by choice - 'how we repond to events encountered throughout our lifes'.
Agrippa pulled back from allowing the Holy Spirit to convict him about the errors of his ways. He yielded to the powers of Satan and resisted the powers of God.
Heb.12:6-15 - The Holy Spirit through Paul admonishes us so that we can: (14) "follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord".
Through tests and trials my testimony is intensified, enriched only by growing trust in my Savior’s redeeming grace.
God’s presence has always been evident in my family’s life. I accepted Him as personal Savior when I was eleven years old. He has worked most powerfully in my life during the past COVID-19 pandemic-driven months, though. Through fear, separation, loneliness …and even death of family members, My Advocate has provided greater opportunity for claiming Bible promises; for lovingly sharing health and safety information; and, for proclaiming to others that, “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” -Rom. 8:37
Today's prayer is that my testimony underscores - for my young adult offspring and for generations to come - the conviction that, “He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater.” God is good.