Can I Get A Witness ??
( before i get started i want to read a passage out of 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 ever since i surrendered to the call to preach this has been my motto, my guideline " And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." )
Text Acts 1 : 1-11
Lets Pray….
intro : We see here in Acts that after Jesus had rose from the dead, proven Himself to His apostles and prepares for His "departure " into Heaven. That Jesus gives His’ apostles one simple direction. Not just to heal the world, or help the needy but to preach that Jesus is LORD of all Heaven and of all Earth!! I want to talk for a little while on this direction, on how it wasn’t just for the Apostles of then but that it is for the entire Christian people.
I. What is a successful witness called to do?
- a successful witness is a Christian who is in reverent prayer to the Lord! Look at the Apostles in Acts 1:14 it says that they joined hands together and they constantly prayed…..
- if you truly want to be used by God in a mighty way then you have to get on your knees, I know that first hand the minute that TJ starts trying to do something or TJ is going to do this , then I soon realize that TJ can’t do anything and TJ is back on his knees before the Lord.
- You see a successful witness doesn’t really on his own wisdom but entirely on the Will of God.
*Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent , and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
- a successful witness humbles themselves and repents of all their sins, God wants to use all of us in a big way, He has a plan for each and every one of us. And he wants us to do His will but the only way to successfully do His will is to humble ourselves and fully rely on Him.
*Romans 15:13 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit"
- a successful witness believes that the Lord will follow through. Tell me something what good is prayer if you don’t really think that it is going to happen. If you do not earnestly believe that God will answer your prayer that why pray it , save your self the time and effort! Let me tell you that I still believe that my God answers prays, Amen! Nothing is too big for my God!!
** I don’t care what scientist say … I don’t care what philosophers say I don’t care what the most “intelligent people in the world say.
My God still answers prayer my God still works through me and I believe that we can do anything through Christ.
*a successful witness needs to have faith beyond all understanding , extreme faith! We need to get on our knees and pray to God that He will open the doors for us to witness and then we need to believe that He will do it .
*Matthew 28:19 “ Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”
-As successful witnesses we need to go out there in the world and teach them about Jesus , but let me tell you something ….. it starts here. It starts in our neighborhoods, in our families , in our schools.
A SUCCESSFUL WITNESS IS CALLED TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!!!
II. What does a successful witness need?
*Just think for a moment your standing in front of Jesus , He has just told you that in a few minutes He will ascend into Heaven , and He says “Before I go, I have one last thing to say to you …” you listen intently, the whole world stops as you patiently stare at your Master, Nothing else matters at this moment and then Jesus tells you that you will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do anything that He wants you to do.
-*-- let me tell you something today as Christians we too have that same power that they did…. Through Jesus anything is possible … anything!
(popcorn story)
God still does miracles today!!!
Just as the Apostles had the power in Jesus to heal , so do we today. If you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior ; the Holy Spirit lives in you!
-in order to be a successful witness for Christ we need the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit gives us strength and boldness to spread the good news of Jesus!
*I know it gets weird sometimes and I know how we can get nervous and scared ….. but let me tell you what I believe….. I believe that He is the power over shaky voices, he has the power to overcome your weak knees, He has the power to take away those butterflies in your stomach.
He is the giver of life, the supplier of words, the revealer of truth and the protector of the righteous heart.
John 14:16-17 “ And I will pray the Father , and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever. 17 Even the Spirit of Truth , whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him for He dwelleth in you and shall be in you.”
- you see the world cannot believe in what they can’t see if they don’t have tangible evidence it doesn’t exist but it says right here in my Bible that we know the Holy Spirit exist because He lives in us.!!
III. Overcoming the Barriers
- John 1:1-5 tells us “ In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him nothing was made. 4 In Him was and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
- when we are faced with difficulties we need to get closer to God, because when FAITH INCREASES FEAR DECREASES!!!! It says in John 1 that Jesus who is the WORD is a light unto men and He delivers us from the darkness.
- By faith we can overcome the barriers , Hebrews 11:30-40 describes just some of the things down with faith.,
1. the walls of Jericho fell
2. david gained his kingdom
3. Lazararous revived
4. Samson’s great strength
- by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we break down the barriers that we face when trying to witness to people !
- Our God promises that if we have faith in Him He will never leave us or forsake us in Hebrews 13:5
The answer for your barriers in life is to focus on Jesus, you’ve gotta replace the negative thoughts with joy and peace that The Lord will take care of you. And when other things in life try to distract you push your thoughts back to Him Think about the way He lived
-His gentleness
-His joy
-His mercy
-His patience
think about the way He died; that incredible sacrifice that he made for you! When we concentrate on the virtues of Christ its hard to stay discouraged.
Closing :
-We need to pop out of our little comfort zone and start seeking and doing God’s will for our lives!
-you need to reach your friends for Christ, because if you don’t they may never have the opportunity to accept Jesus
we need to walk them down the Roman’s Road teach them about Jesus , answer their questions and invite them to church Amen!!!
we need to reach the lost for Christ!!!..
this is our time ,this is our domain, God wants us to be different from the world separated and swimming against the current. We need to allow ourselves to be used by God in a Mighty Way.! He has a call for you all you have to do is pick up the phone.
there isn’t much time left God doesn’t promise us tomorrow ,
if you don’t know Jesus please don’t wait for another day to make your decision accept Him tonight before it is too late.
* are you 100% certain that if something were to happen to you tonight that you would go to Heaven.
-Let me tell you something if you ask Jesus into your hearts today and you really mean it with all your heart body and soul, if you ask Him into your hearts today I guarantee you will be a new creature for Christ. Jesus will cleanse you of all your sins and faults and you will be as white as snow.
**Friends, if you are not saved, please turn loose of whatever it is that holds you back and come to Jesus.
invitation -
