Download “WE ARE HIS WITNESSES” By Pastor YAU

“WE ARE HIS WITNESSES”
Text: Luke 24:44-49
By Pastor YAU
March 15, 2015.
INTRODUCTION:
1) An unambiguous command: “He told them, This is what is written: The
Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and
forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. You are witnesses of all these things.” (Luke 24:46-48) These are
the words of our Lord Jesus spoken to his disciples in Jerusalem after his
resurrection. The one most important theme in this command is: “Repentance
and forgiveness of sins will be preached.” This is the core of the gospel Jesus
came to this world to deliver. He commands us to be his witnesses because
we all have repented of our sins and have been forgiven, and so we have firsthand experience to share with all nations, the people of all nations.
2) An unreserved commitment: “When I preach the gospel, I cannot boast,
for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I
preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply
discharging the trust (duty) committed to me.” (1 Corinth 9:16-17) One way
or another, Paul pledged to do what God had commanded him to do: Preach
the gospel message of salvation through repentance and forgiveness of sins.
Millions of God's faithful have followed the footsteps of Paul throughout the
2,000 years of Christian history to bring the gospel message to all people of
all nations. There are many good examples in the Bible, all in the New
Testament, to help us understand the importance, the know-how and the
harvest God will reap if we are as committed as Paul in discharging our
duties.
REACHING OUT TO YOUR FAMILY: (John 1:35-43)
1) Setting your own proper credential: “The next day, John was there with
two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said: Look, the Lamb
of God. When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.”
(1:35-37) To be effective witnesses of Jesus, the first thing we must have is
our own first-hand experience with him. Here we see these two men who,
after they heard the word of John, followed Jesus. We can't be his witnesses
by reading a research paper or presenting something you borrow from
someone else. It must be your own experience and your own words. You can't
accurately tell others what durian tastes like unless you yourself have tasted it
with your own mouth. You may have read about it, or heard how others
described it, but you can't really tell others the true taste of it when you have
never had it before. This is very true in being a witness for Christ: You need
to follow Christ yourself, and then you can tell others how it feels to do that.
2) Care for their spiritual needs: “Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of
the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first
thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found
the Messiah (that is, the Christ).” (1:40-41) How many of us saw the need for
spiritual life in a brother when we became Christians? The Bible says the first
thing Andrew did after he had followed Jesus was to find his brother and tell
him what he had found, the Savior. I am sure we all care about the needs of
our family, but how many times do we care about their most pressing need,
their need for spiritual life? This is one thing that separates us from Andrew:
He saw that the most important need of his brother, Peter, was to see Jesus,
the Messiah.
3) He brought Peter to see Jesus: “And he brought him to see Jesus. Jesus
looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called
Cephas (which, when translated, is Peter).” (1:42) We know that Peter later
became a most faithful disciple and such a powerful preacher that at
Pentecost 3,000 souls were saved when he preached the first gospel message.
(Acts 2:41) You may not know how to give an elaborate testimony of your
faith in Jesus, but you can learn from Andrew, and bring your family to see
Jesus. Although Jesus is God and he is everywhere, he is mostly read about
and learned about and preached and honored in his church. Bring your family
to church, to the Bible class, to the worship service where the word of Jesus
is taught, preached and manifested.
Do you have anyone in your family who isn't saved in the grace of God?
Find them out, go to them, share with them what you have found and bring
them to meet Jesus.
REACHING OUT TO YOUR NEIGHBORS: (John 4:44-48)
1) Obtain your spiritual water first: “Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks
this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will
never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of
water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this
water so I don't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
(4:13-15) Pride or other reasons have effectively blocked many from
admitting their need of spiritual life. But that's not the case with this
Samaritan woman. She realized her constant need of water and was ready to
admit her need and ask for the living water Jesus had offered her. If you don't
see your own need of the living water from the Lord, you can't have that
desire to share it with others.
2) Then you have something to tell: “Many of the Samaritans from that town
believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony: He told me everything I
ever did.” (4:39) Christian testimony is never a fiction story, but a personal
experience: telling others what the Lord did in your life. There is no need for
any Bible knowledge, no need of theological training, no need of writing or
speech skills. All you need to do is tell people what the Lord did in your life.
No story, no theory or any human effort is needed to tell a true testimony.
Usually in a few words, you can tell anyone how good it is to be a believer in
Jesus.
3) And the rest is up to them: “So when the Samaritans came to see him, they
urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his
words, many more became believers.” (4:40-41) The most important role we
play in witnessing is to tell others what Jesus has done in our lives, and lead
them to see him for themselves. The rest is between them and Jesus, as in the
case here. The Lord will do the rest and he will bring people to himself. We
are only the messengers; the message is from the Lord. When Jesus is lifted
up, he will draw many to him.
Do you have anyone in your neighborhood who needs Jesus? Go and tell
them your story and bring them to see Jesus
REACHING OUT TO YOUR FRIENDS: (Acts 10:1-48)
1) You can do more than be nice: “Cornelius stared at him in fear. What is it,
Lord? he asked. The angel answered: Your prayers and gifts to the poor have
come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring
back a man named Simon who is called Peter.” (10:4-5) Evidently Cornelius
was a nice guy and the Bible has proven it: “At Caesarea there was a man
named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He
and all his family were devout and God-fearing, and he gave generously to
those in need and prayed to God regularly.” Does anyone need any more
evidence that this was a super-nice guy?
But God wanted more from him than being a nice guy: God wanted him to
save the souls of his relatives, friends and colleagues. If a guy is really nice,
he should care a lot more about the spiritual well-being of his relatives,
friends and colleagues than just being nice, generous and prayerful.
2) You need to do quickly what you are told: “When the angel who spoke to
him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who
was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and
sent them to Joppa...The following day he (Peter) arrived in Caesarea.
Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and
friends.” (10:7-8, 24) If you are talking about taking God's command
seriously, no one can do better than Cornelius. He realized the importance of
God's word and did what he was told, to bring Peter to his home to preach the
gospel message to his relatives, friends and colleagues. Many Christians also
know the importance of doing this, but most of them just don't start doing
anything. Because of the lack of urgency, many precious souls of those who
are dear to us have been lost without eternal life. What a tragic failure on our
part because of our lack of concern for the salvation of their souls. Think of
this: What one thing can you do for these dear people of yours that is for their
eternal benefit? Why are you hesitating or procrastinating? You also can do
this: Invite your relatives and close friends to your home, ask a pastor or
spiritual leader from your church to give his testimony or present the gospel
message to your guests, so they will have a chance to hear God's word of
saving knowledge.
3) You will be surprised at the results: “While Peter was still speaking these
words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message...Then Peter said:
Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? So he ordered
that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” (10:44, 47-48) No one
may predict what God can do if we follow his command in bringing people to
hear the salvation message, be it at your home or in a church. If we can bring
people to meet the Lord, Jesus, God will do his work much more than we
expect. Do you have the faith that God can use you, your home, to save the
souls of those whom you love so dearly? Yes, you can do that. Just do it!
THREE SIMPLE STEPS YOU CAN DO:
1) Get yourself back right with God: We must get back right with God if we
want to be effective witnesses for Jesus to bring souls to him. This means we
need to confess our sins, ask God for forgiveness, and reset our priorities so
they are aligned with God's command. We also need to ask God to rekindle
that spiritual fire in our hearts to love souls, particularly those who are close
to us. A burning desire is a strong driving force to do God's work.
2) Start to pray, look and invite: This is the hard part, the real action plan. It is
more than just having the idea or the urge; it is a plan of action with followthrough in it. Go, call, write, invite, prepare and involve. Either you invite
them to your home gathering or to a revival at your church; just do it. You
may offer a ride, even a lunch before the meeting. Money and time you spend
in doing this is a million times more worthwhile than all the other things you
do in your lifetime. Do not hesitate; do not feel shy. God will be with you.
3) Hope, wait and see God's harvest: The seed you sow this time may or may
not bring fruits as we expect. But the seed is in their hearts and God will see
to it that there is a time for harvest. Time to sow is our duty; time for harvest
is in God's hand. Sometimes we harvest souls that others have planted before.
It is not about immediate fruit-bearing, it is about seed-sowing. What God
wants to see in us is whether we are faithful in witnessing and seed-sowing.
In his time, he will make the seeds grow to 100 times, 60 times or 30 times
what was sowed. (Matthew 13:8)