No Matter What

Acts 28:17-24 

17Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. 18They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 19The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. 20For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

21They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. 22But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.” 23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. 24Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

Opportunity to Witness

Pastors are blessed when church members pray for opportunities to witness. Who are the people we wish to hear our testimony? Are we testifying to fellow Christians or non-believers? Witnessing to fellow Christians could encourage them for deeper relationship with the Lord, whereas, witnessing to non-believers is leading them to trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

What’s the difference between witnessing and evangelism?

To witness is to tell about personal testimony or experience [saw, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted] of what has been personally encountered after believing in Christ.

To evangelize is to tell, expound or explain the good news or gospel of Christ. And when we explain why Jesus was crucified and the process needed to be done to be saved, it is called evangelism or sharing the gospel. We may or may not share our personal testimony or experience when sharing the gospel. Witnessing enhances evangelism.

God has already arranged opportunities to witness. People around us, believers or not, they are opportunities to witness by words or action. We are to pray for prompting of the Holy Spirit when it’s time to initiate in sharing the gospel. We can learn from Paul.

1.  Initiate

17Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. 18They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 19The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. 20For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

Paul initiated a possible opportunity to witness. He told the people about his experiences. He testified on why he arrived in Rome. He narrated his arrest and legal proceedings. And he did not forget but focused on his mission to tell about Israel’s hope.

Paul did not talk about Christ right away. He transitioned or started where he deemed his listeners were in their spiritual condition. To know the spiritual temperament of our listener is significant before sharing the gospel. This is why in Evangelism Explosion training, asking the 2 Diagnostic Question is very essential.

Diagnosing the health condition of a patient is very necessary for medical doctors. Auto mechanics need to diagnose what happened to the car before initiating any repair. Carpenters ask question of what happened before making any house repairs. Professional services should know the problem before making any adjustment, repair or treatment.

Building maintenance need to know the dirt they need to clean. Removing grease has different approach from removing spaghetti sauce stain. Disinfectant for shoes is different from disinfectant from toilet bowl yet both are termed disinfectants.

Similar to other professions, continuous training and practice is essential in evangelism. God knows best on how to deal with us. We need regular training in evangelism and in witnessing, not one time know-it-all kind of training, why?

Do you want God to show His love and care for us every now and then?

Witnessing is actually the most practical manifestation that we recently experience the Lord’s love and care. When Christ’s Spirit does something in our life, He expects us to tell others about it or to witness of what He has done in our life, practical or spiritual.

This is why we need to be filled by the Holy Spirit all the time. What are the benefits of being filled with the Holy Spirit? There’s joy and peace. It is not only about the feeling of joy and peace but there are practical things that we are joyful about. God’s blessing is experienced and assured the results to peace, even during evangelism training.

Anytime, anywhere, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, God blesses us. We need the Holy Spirit initiates and we get involved in testifying about the Lord Jesus.

2.  Involve

21They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. 22But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.” 23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. 24Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

The people were not very much enthusiastic about what happened to Paul. They were more interested about the growing numbers of believers. That implies that the Holy Spirit has initiated and got them involved in the discussion about Christ. They arranged another time and brought others to hear and ask about Paul’s views.

That kind of listeners’ involvement is God’s “go signal” to evangelize. Witnessing or testifying about what God did in our life is a great starting point. Paul testified about what happened to him before explaining the gospel. The Lord command in Acts 1:8, 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses.

It is much more effective to experience personally the Holy Spirit’s power in our life because witnessing is a manifestation of Christ’s performance in our life. The command to preach the gospel has been given to the disciples and not just any ordinary believer, why disciples? A Christian can be spiritually infant while a disciple is considered spiritually mature. And Christians who are scare to evangelize are still spiritually infants.

By the way, the Lord commanded not just to witness but also to go and evangelize. In Mark 16:15, 15He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Obedience to the mandate of evangelism or sharing the gospel is another sign of spiritual growth as a disciple of Christ. Although not everyone can be fulltime evangelist, every disciple has to learn how to explain about their salvation.

Defend Our Faith

It is very interesting that discussion about spiritual truth between believers and non-believers has become more intense. Are we supposed to defend our faith?

In 1 Peter 3:15-17, 15But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

How do we prepare? How do we know that our answers are appropriate? What should the right attitude? What is the right approach to argument? Here comes our need to check our life before answering or getting into argumentation about our faith.

Are we filled with the Holy Spirit?

Do we sense the fruit of the Holy Sprit in our life?

Why do we need the fruit of the Holy Spirit during arguments?

The Lord commanded us to receive the power of the Holy Spirit first and foremost before we witness. To argue or defend our faith is an opportunity to witness. Witnessing by the power of the Holy Spirit is very effective.

We may be lost in the eyes of the enemy, there’s still joy and peace. If we think we win but there’s no joy and peace, we lost.

Have you ever had an argument and you felt so bad after? You are not alone!

Try it next time to fervently ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit. And after the argument and sense joy and peace, you had a great witnessing opportunity. Even when we initiate or get involved in evangelism or sharing the gospel, we always need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Anytime, anywhere, no matter what the occasion is, no matter what we are doing, no matter who we are dealing with, when people are around us, God has design that opportunity to witness.

Pray that the Holy Spirit prompts us to initiate witnessing or get involved in evangelism when it is God’s right timing to tell about our testimony or the gospel.

Joy in witnessing is a practical proof that Christ is actively at work in our life.

Sharing the gospel is a practical proof that we understand what we believe in Christ and that we believe in Him intellectually not blindly.

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