Being An Effective Witness - Pastor Ekpenyong

Who is a witness?

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, A witness is a person who sees something happen and is able to describe it to other people.

Every believer is to be an effective witness of the resurrected Christ. A witness simply relates what he has experienced, thereby providing evidence to the truth of something. 

We are to witness in word and deed, to the truth of Jesus being alive in us.

Acts 1:8 WUEST “But you shall receive power of the kind which God has and exerts after the Holy Spirit has come upon you. AND YOU SHALL BE THOSE WHO TESTIFY OF WHAT THEY HAVE SEEN AND EXPERIENCED, MY WITNESSES, both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and in Samaria and to the end of the earth.”

You may be the ONLY witness of Christ that someone lost will ever meet. 

Why won’t you learn to make the most of such opportunities?

An error that has occurred with many believers is that their witness is inconsistent when CONSISTENCY is a major element in being a witness.

Mark 14:56 “For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.”

There is a great need for believers to become effective in their witness because times are changing and the narrative of the resurrected Christ could change except we are effective and consistent in our witness.

Acts 1:21-22GNT “So then, someone must join us as a witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He must be one of the men who were in our group during the whole time that the Lord Jesus traveled about with us, beginning from the time John preached his message of baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us to heaven.”

KEY ELEMENTS IN BEING A WITNESS

1. A witness must have knowledge of an event from PERSONAL OBSERVATION or EXPERIENCE.

Luke 1:1-4

1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, 

2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 

3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 

4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

Don't despise your personal experience of the LORD'S saving power.

Some feel they were not as bad as some others because their story isn't sensational as those who have a string of dirty stories to share.

2. A witness must be able to give account of what he/she has experienced or observed.

1 John 1:1-4 BBE

1 That which was from the first, which has come to our ears, and which we have seen with our eyes, looking on it and touching it with our hands, about the Word of life

2 (And the life was made clear to us, and we have seen it and are witnessing to it and giving you word of that eternal life which was with the Father and was seen by us);

3 We give you word of all we have seen and everything which has come to our ears, so that you may be united with us; and we are united with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ:

4 And we are writing these things to you so that our joy may be made complete.

3. A witness must be convinced about his/her experience.

This is necessary because you must be convinced about what you claim you believe. Have you ever met an unpersuaded sales man?

4. A witness must be persuaded about the testimony of his/her transformation.

2 Peter 1:16-19 

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 

17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 

18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 

19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

It is quite easy to be overwhelmed by the vastness of what you don't know. However, that doesn't matter; what counts is how persuaded you are about what happened to you.

Remember the man born blind in John 9, he said "one thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see."

5. A witness has a determination to declare the gospel.

1 Thessalonians 2:2 BBE "But after we had first undergone much pain and been cruelly attacked as you saw, at Philippi, by the help of God we gave you the good news without fear, though everything was against us."

We are faced with obstacles in declaring the gospel to others; ranging from distractions of the enemy, to our own internal fears about being ridiculed or messing up. 

But the Holy Spirit helps us tell others the good news in spite of all these.

6. A witness has a sense of duty or commissioning.

Matthew 28:19 AMP "Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

It is called THE GREAT COMMISSION which must be treated and responded to as such. We have been entrusted with the gospel. You and I have been commissioned. However, do you live with that sense of commissioning?

The fact that God has entrusted me with the gospel will only motivate me:

i. to the degree that I think highly of God;

ii. and to the degree that I cherish the gospel.

When God is BIG to us, and when the gospel is BEAUTIFUL to us, then we’ll be marked by a deep sense of commissioning.

7. A witness is full of God.

Ephesians 5:18-19 ERV 

18 And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; 

19 speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

A witness that is not full of God will be overwhelmed by the challenges of life. He/she can be easily silenced with money or the faces of men. It is your duty to get yourself constantly full of God so that you will only do as your LORD and master says.

8. A witness maintains a tender and sincere love for others.

1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 

7 But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing [mother] cherishes her own children. 

8 So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

A heart for the people in your sphere of influence is key in reaching them effectively. It will cause you to pray, preach and give to them.

My dear brothers and sisters, if you want to influence others for Jesus, love them. 

Love them sincerely. 

Love them self-sacrificially. 

Love them generously.

Remember, nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

9. A witness understands the message.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 AMP 

18 But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]. 

19 It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor). 

20 So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.

What is our message?

Our message is that God is no longer angry with man; therefore, they should receive His forgiveness and love because Jesus was made sin for us to become the righteousness of God in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21msg "How? you say. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God."

We are simply to testify to what we have seen or to what has happened to us. 

Let God be the One who convicts.

Jesus specified an orderly progression in the way we should witness.

First we start in Jerusalem (i.e. where we are). 

Then we go to those nearby (Judaea). 

Finally, we take the gospel to every people group (Samaria) throughout the whole world.

There are some very practical reasons for becoming witnesses in this way.

Mark 6:4 MSG Jesus told them, "A prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child."

Typically, at home is the hardest place to witness. Starting with those who know us best will cause us to humble ourselves and give God all the glory.

Also, if rejection comes, this tempers us and our witness, so that we will be more effective and more resilient when we go to the outer most parts of the earth.

Endeavor to win your space for the LORD.

Your space will be your family, your colleagues, your friends, your staff, those in your immediate sphere.

Psalm 67:2 TLB "Send us around the world with the news of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind"

Our responsibility, as witnesses of the resurrected Christ is the greatest honor and privilege on the face of the earth. 

We’re bearers of the news of His saving power.

Make your life count with God by making an impact with the Gospel; be committed to soul winning.

One of the saddest statements I ever heard was by Ghandi who said "I would have been a Christian except that I met one".

Brothers and sisters, let many become Christians because they met you.

Let that be your commitment to the LORD.

Matthew 5:16 MSG  Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Let's pray for one another that we'll be effective in our witness wherever we're planted by the LORD.

Whether among great or small, help us Father to maximize occasions for the gospel, in Jesus name. Amen.

©️NewCruseConnect