Acts 1:8
VBC
October 21, 01
Five unmistakable witnesses for Christ
One of the most significant names given to Christians is that of “witnesses.” It is a word that appears many times in the Bible. How is the world to be evangleslized? The answer is given here in our text. God’s plan is simply that His own people should be effective witnesses to His saving grace wherever they are and whenever they go. Witness is the key word in the book of Acts, and we have only to read a few chapters in this inspired record of early church history to see how readily and rapidly the first Christians got on with the job of witnessing.
In order to grasp the full significance of the privilege and responsibility of witnessing, let me begin by mentioning five thoughts of truth from Acts 1:8.
I. The people God elects – “ye......you.....ye” - ordinary people ....God expects every Christian to be a witness.
II. The plan God embraces - “unto me” – plan centers upon the Person of Christ. It is a testimony that includes what Christ is and what he has done.
III. The places God encompasses “both in Jersualem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part fo the earth”
a In Jerusalem – evangelize their own community
b. In Judea - evangelize their own country
c. In Samaria - evangelize their own continent
d. Uttermost part of the earth - evangelize all creation
Note the word “both” – means at one and the same time.
IV. The power God equipss “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you”
An effective witnesses must have a personal Pentecost!
V. The period God extends
Until The Lord Jesus comes back again!
Now in the early chapters of Acts we can observe five unmistakable ways in which we should and can witness for the Lord.
I. You can and should witness unto the Lord the with your lips (Acts 2:4, 22-32)
May I submit to you that it is the lack of power of the Holy Spirit that causes the present-day church to be limping when our Lord would have us to be leaping to the task of witnessing to our world with our lips.
We are to confront people with the message of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a divine task. It is a demanding task. It calls for our best.
A.. Our lips should be filled with His praise - Psalm 71:8
“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth” - Psalm 150:6
B. Our lips should be filled with His pardon - Ephesians 4:32
C. Our lips should be filled with His precepts
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord,” (Colossians 3:16).
Psalm 19:14 The words of my mouth that are acceptable in the Lord’s sight are His praises, his pardon, and his precepts.
II. You can and should witness unto the Lord with your life (Acts 3:1-10)
A. The tragedy in his life (1-3)
1. Serious defect
2. Sad dependence
B. The transformation in his life (4-8)
1. Leaping
2. Laughing
C. The testimony by his life
The crowd is astounded at the evidence of the change in his life. There is nothing like a changed life to draw a crowd. His life was a witness to the power of God to change a life.
II Corinthians 5:17 “Either the world is altered or else I am,” said a young Christian.
III. You can and should witness unto the Lord with your love (Acts 4:14)
Here is the lame man- healed. He is still with Peter and John, identifying himself with those who had led him to the Lord. He had done that in praise in the temple, and he would do it now in prison, too.
His love was a witness. What you love and what you hate reveal what you are.
John 13:35
I John 3:14
A. Love Christians
B. Love commandments
I John 5:3
C. Love church
If we truly love Christ, then we are going to love what He loves.
IV. You can and should witness unto the Lord with your loyalty ( 4:15-20
5:28,29
5:40-42)
The early church was not serving two masters, and they declared boldly on whose side they were on. They were not diplomats but ambassadors for Christ.
A. Loyal to their master
Recognized that Jesus was the only:
1. Answer for hell
2. Anchor that holds
3. Advocate in heaven
4. Assurance of hope
B. Loyal to the message
The threats nor the beatings stopped them from witnessing for Jesus. They were loyal to Christ and his commission for them.
V. You can and should witness with your labour (Acts 20:31)
“Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” The cause was worth all the labor.
Paul labors testified to the urgency of the cause.
Both with his own hands to provide for himself the necessaries of life that he might not be chargeable to others and in labors to spread the Gospel of God through all countries where God’s providence opened the way, Paul witnessed through his labor.
A. Laboured because of the Person
II Corinthians 5:14,15
B. Labored because of the prospect
Hell to shun and a heaven to gain for all humanity. The extent to which you will labour is an indicator of the importance of the cause.
“Dedication of the life to anything or anyone short of God himself, is a prostitution of noble powers and must bring a harvest of grief and disappointment at last” -A.W. Tozer.
Conclusion:
All the saints are called to be witnesses for Christ. Does your life, lips, love, loyalty, and labor give an unmistakable witness for Christ?
