THE POWER OF WITNESSING

 

One of the most important commandments that Jesus left us with before he was  taken up to heaven is contained in the first chapter of the book of acts. The  book of Acts tells us that, after his resurrection, Jesus spent forty days  teaching them about the Kingdom of God, and just before He left them, He gave  them a last, important commandment. In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells his apostles:
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you  shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the  end of the earth.”
There are two things that we can easily see in this last commandment that  Jesus left his apostles, and by extension, one that He commands all of us.
First, that we are to become witnesses for Jesus, and next, that our ability  to witness shall be powered by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What Does It Really Mean To Be A Witness For Jesus  Christ?

Given the importance of His last commandment, this is an important question  to answer for any Christian.
Let’s start with the dictionary meaning of what a witness is.

A witness is one who sees or observes an event. Typically, this refers to a  crime or accident, but really this can be any event. This implies two things.  First that a witness has personal experience of the event, and next, because of  this personal experience, this witness has knowledge of the  truth.

By applying these two elements to what it means to be a witness for Christ,  we can understand that a Christian must first have a personal experience of  Jesus Christ. In so doing, that Christian has access to the truth, and can thus  be a credible witness for Him.

Just How Important Is This Personal Experience In  Order To Be A Witness?

Let’s say for example that you watched a movie, or television show, and you  wanted to share the experience of watching it with your friend.
Having watched it yourself, you are able to tell your friend all about the  show and what it means to watch it. Now, your friend, having not watched it,  could now tell another person about the show, but because of a lack of personal  experience, he probably wouldn’t be able to do as good a job of it as you  could.
Now let’s apply this to your Christian witness.
If you’ve never experienced Christ yourself, the best you could share with  another person is the story of how someone else experienced Christ.
If you’ve never experienced His power, His love, His mercy, then you would be  unable to fully be able to share about these truths as part of your witness.
So, a powerful Christian witness must first come from a personal  experience with Jesus Christ.

The Next Element Of A Powerful Witness Is The  Presence Of The Holy Spirit

As detailed in the second chapter of Acts, Jesus’ followers obeyed Him and  waited for the Holy Spirit to come to them and fill them.
At this time, this enabled them to go and witness to multitudes in Jerusalem,  each of them miraculously being heard in the language of the listeners.
This in itself is truly miraculous, but another miraculous change happened  that day as well.
Peter, the one who had denied Jesus out of fear, who was a fisherman who was  not used to speaking in public, raised his voice and witnessed to all of  Jerusalem that was present.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter was able to give voice to his  faith, and share his personal experience of Jesus Christ to those he would  otherwise have been too fearful to speak to.
Being a witness for Jesus may well be one of the most challenging parts of  being a Christian.
Like Peter, we are sometimes afraid, we sometimes do not know what to  say.
But through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can become witnesses that bring  Glory to God, and are able to share Jesus’ message of salvation to those who  need it.

It may not be as dramatic as being able to speak in a foreign language, or  being able to stand up before a crowd to preach. It may be as simple as knowing  the kind word to say, the right time to speak, with the simple message of Jesus’  love.

Read more: http://www.bible-knowledge.com/the-power-of-witnessing/#ixzz2cKjfGrqw