December 2, 2024
THE STAND
Subject: THE TESTIMONY – CHRISTIAN WITNESS
Christians believe they should share biblical solutions to America’s cultural issues.
Rightly so, for our Lord told us as true believers to go into all the world and preach the gospel, PREACH IT! Jesus of Nazareth went even further. He said when you do so:
I WILL GIVE YOU THE WORDS!
When, He said, there is that God-given opportunity to profess your faith, don’t be afraid, don’t be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for that saving gospel is the power of God unto salvation, available to all who call upon the name of the Lord. Be bold, be strong, do not be afraid.
But many of us are afraid.
We are easily intimidated, especially when confronted by strong, secular, even anti-Christian personalities. Radical secularists know just what questions to ask, what issues to pose, what statements to make, for in so many ways, they are the same over and again. No matter, when so many of us are confronted, we become insecure, defensive, even ashamed to admit the greatest fact in life, that we have been saved by grace and born again. In those ultimate confrontational moments, we soon forget the promise of the master:
I WILL GIVE YOU THE WORDS!
That is, of course, if you are a believer, a true believer and you have in fact been saved by grace.
So, the question then becomes:
WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU BELIEVE?
Are you a real Christian? A true Christian?
A bible-Jesus Christ-believing Christian with a belief from all of your heart, are you?
Or are you an intellectual Christian? You know all about Christianity, and Jesus, and you have wrestled intellectually, mentally, with the propositions. You are therefore a Christian who can talk the talk whether or not you walk the walk. Intellectual, philosophic Christianity goes nowhere spiritually, no where at all. Therefore, the words that our Lord would give to that person mean nothing and in fact are not even heard. The intellectual Christian is only concerned with using his own words.
There are those who are social Christians. They go to church, attend Christian functions, socialize with Christian people, and purport to live a Christian life, but with little or nothing inside. They can be called cultural Christians but not born-again Christians. In fact, they really don’t want to be called born-again, saved by grace Christians. They are proud to be called denominational Christians (I am a Baptist).
They have Christian trappings, like the Pharisees of old, but inside they are as Jesus said, like whited sepulchers, empty and devoid of the truth. They argue well, but they ignore the words of the Lord. It is really easy to identify those who talk the Christian talk but do not have within them the heart of love which salvation brings.
When it comes to Christian witness, many of us hold back because of the:
FEAR OF REJECTION.
Avowed secularists think nothing of ridiculing us, our testimony, and our faith. When that happens, we withdraw, not wishing to be emotionally hurt and no witness, no stand for the Lord occurs. Far too many of WE THE CHRISTIANS cannot endure ridicule, ridicule of ourselves or our faith.
Nor can we abide rejection. We wish to be accepted, well thought of, a good person, and to keep that image, we cannot be offensive. But that ignores the firm Christian-biblical statement that:
THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS IS AN OFFENSE TO THE NATURAL MAN!
To be a Christian, to witness, in any way by word or deed is to produce word or action which is an OFFENSE to the natural man, the man ready for verbal battle. It seems this poll says that only one out of four of true believers can withstand the verbal assault of the secularist. But, true believers, remember these words. Our Lord Jesus Christ told us the following:
MAN OR WOMAN WHO WILL CONFESS ME BEFORE MEN, HIM OR HER WILL I ALSO CONFESS AS MY FOLLOWER, MY TRUE BELIEVER BEFORE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.
BUT HE OR SHE DENIES ME BEFORE MEN, HIM OR HER WILL I ALSO DENY BEFORE MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN.
So that, the ultimate testimony is that of our Lord before the Father IN OUR BEHALF.
That will only happen if we confess our faith, stand for our Lord, and refuse to be intimidated, ridiculed, or rejected by the aggressive anti-Christian.
But it should not be that difficult to confess our faith. What is difficult, in fact virtually impossible, is when we try to be something we are not, communicate what we really do not understand, or think that we have a burden, a duty, to hit the spiritual verbal home run every time we speak about our Lord.
Go back, fellow Christian, to that time of conversion, to that time when you really met Jesus Christ. Go back to your commitment, whatever it was, however it occurred, YOUR COMMITMENT, not somebody else’s. That life-changing event which meant so much to you. NO ONE UNDERSTOOD THAT MORE THAN YOU, NO ONE!
You had that one and only conversion moment, individual, unique, one of a kind, your very own saving, forgiving, encounter with Jesus Christ, YOURS AND YOURS ALONE! If you really believe, if it was really worthwhile to you, life-changing, an event, occurrence and encounter which had then and still does now life-changing value, that should be easy, EASY to explain in a grateful loving way. There is nothing better than the unique, one and only conversion moment of any one individual. And that, my fellow Christian, is the most powerful Christian witness you could possibly offer. That is the testimony which our Lord will honor. That is real, loving, lasting, and there is no anti-Christian, nonbeliever anywhere in the world who can offer an argument against that.
And that is all you need to say, nothing more. You can witness to your faith, as it has grown, as it occurs in your everyday life, as it grows in meaning, as it produces the total love of your heart. It is that faith which produces the works, the deeds (by their fruits ye shall know them) which clearly display the love of Jesus Christ which lives within your heart.
YOU DON’T NEED TO DO OR SAY ANYTHING ELSE!
In fact, you really shouldn’t because then you are discussing something about which you know little or nothing, someone else’s ideas, perhaps trying to be more intelligent about your faith than you really are, and it waters down your testimony. There is, for example, no greater testimony against abortion than a father or mother in love with Jesus Christ, testifying of their love for their child which God has given them.
The world hungers for real Christianity, REAL! There is so much hypocrisy, irrelevancy, in the church and Christianity today. Far better, far more meaningful, more real than anything are the real words, deeds, experiences of a Christian man or woman in love with Jesus Christ. The Apostle John tells us that we will be known, that is, our testimony will be sure by the love we have for one another. Not only for our family and friends, but all humankind, in all of our life’s experiences, and associations. There is no greater testimony than that of a life of a loving believer who knows that even well beyond faith itself, or the hope which Christianity brings, is the love, the love of God in Jesus Christ. THAT SHOULD BE YOUR TESTIMONY! You do not need to do or say anything more, nothing more. If you never graduated high school, that testimony would be more powerful than any theological treatise.
The only real witness you would ever have, lasting, meaningful, and again, REAL, would be the love and gratitude you profess for Jesus Christ WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY ARISES! You don’t need to stand on a street corner and pass out tracts. Our Lord will lead you when it is time to witness. HE will reveal the opportunity, and when He sends you into battle to represent him:
