Acts 2:22-28

²² “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. ²⁵ David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. ²⁶ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, ²⁷ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. ²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

Courtship

Courtship is a challenging experience of lovers that makes them feel nervous. A young man who is infatuated or feels in love with a young lady would find ways to tell her of his feeling–that’s what courting is all about. There are those who would send flowers or gifts or letters to inform the prospect girl of their feeling.

In some countries, serenading or singing a love song is one of the more obvious ways of trying to win a woman’s heart. While not so many men have good singing voice, they carry on serenading by the help of good singer friends to sing for them. Others are just innovative by bringing with them a karaoke or CD player. Still more than few men would rely upon friends who would act as their ambassador. The ambassador would be “the bridge” to connect the man and the woman.

The point of courtship is to inform the girl his desire to win her heart.

In principle, witnessing is something like courting the heart of others to fall in love with Christ. Believers are like ambassador telling other people about the love of Christ for them. Believers are privileged to be ambassador of the king of Kings. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul reminds us…
²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

It is very helpful that we have different kinds of evangelism training these days. In the first century, the disciples were very dependent upon the Holy Spirit.

Some believers would have been asking, “What would I say when I go witnessing?” Let’s try to learn from the first witnessing experience of the disciples after the Holy Spirit fill them during the Pentecost.

1. Experience

²² “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

Peter did not have any systematic strategy or plan of what to say at that time. Peter’s personality was candid, outspoken or expressing whatever comes to his mind. Peter did not try to think reasonably by asking question like, “What will I say?” He has no outline like, “Grace, Man, God, Christ, Faith,” Evangelism Explosion style. Peter did not prepare any manuscript of what to preach or tell the people, like your pastor. He just stood up and tried to defend the disciple from the assumption that they were drunk.

The experience of Peter was a validation of what Jesus said in Mark 13:11…
¹¹…do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

The courage Peter had experienced at that time comes from the Holy Spirit. The word that Peters said when he stood up was given by the Holy Spirit. Peter talked about personal experiences of the people when Christ was still on earth. Peter explained that everything was according to the design of God.

²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

When we are to witness about Christ, be sure to touch the contact’s personal experience or understanding about Christ as transition or connection to the good news. That is where the diagnostic questions come in if you have nothing in mind. It is a very good start of a conversation leading to the gospel presentation proper.

Most of you want to share the gospel but you worry because you do not know where to start without trying to push the gospel hardly. If you intend to witness, pray and ask God to give you a topic He wants you to talk about that would lead you to the gospel presentation proper.

Winter Accidents

Winter accident should not be ignored by any driver, old-timers or novice drivers. Each time I go witnessing with Kuya Nito, I would casually ask the contact, “Do you have any experience driving during snow time?” Whatever answer I get “Yes or No” my next statement is, “You know what? Kuya Nito has horrible experiences while driving during snow time!” And Kuya Nito, would instantly continue the conversation telling his snow-related accident experiences.

See, Peter may not have explained the step-by-step things he needed to do in witnessing but the Holy Spirit provided the necessary information that Peter had said. He connected to his listeners by reminding them about their personal experiences and then he mentioned a vital part in gospel presentation, Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. And to have authentic support to his claim, Peter utilized the Scripture.

We do not have any record that Peter prepared or memorized passages from the Scripture. The Holy Spirit just reminded him what Christ taught them while He was still with them.

2. Scripture

²⁵ David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. ²⁶ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, ²⁷ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. ²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

Christ did not teach that we need to have seminary training before going to witness for Him. Christ said to wait for the Holy Spirit’s empowerment and He will be the one to remind us what we need to say to testify.

There are some who are not used to memorizing the Scriptures and they have reservation of not being able to say the right thing at the right time while witnessing. That reservation or nervousness should be experienced normally when witnessing if you are not relying upon the Spirit.

If you rely on your trainings, then you sure will fail to have results acceptable to God. But if you totally depend upon the Holy Spirit, with or without training He sure will fill your mouth with words you are to say at the proper time. This was what the Lord Jesus said in John 16:13…
¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth…

Our privilege in witnessing is to speak and it is not our job to convince people to agree. We can tell others what they need to know, some will believe while other get angry with us.

That is the authenticity that Christ is at work through us just as He said in John 15:18-21…
¹⁸ “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.

Christians are not exempted in hating you when they are living in worldly lifestyle. They will be very quick to hate you because they think you are judgmental. Actually, it is the Holy Spirit convicting them through you. Even your friends, relatives, love ones or family members will hate you when the Holy Spirit is actively at work through you.

Experientially, love ones or family members are the hardest group of people to convince.

I hear You!

There was a church leader who gave an instruction to a toddler in their family.  He told the child, “Okay! It is time for you to go to bed.”
The child did not move but keep on playing her toys.
Then he asked, “Did you hear what say?”
“Yes, I heard you!” the little girl answered, “You told me to go to bed.”
“Well, why are you not going to bed if you have heard me?” he was surprised.
“Yes, I heard you but I do not want to go to bed yet!” was her reason.

Many Christian hear what they need to do but they stop there—at just hearing. They just do not want to respond or not want to do something about they heard. But when the Holy Spirit comes and empowers the disciple, he can’t help but to speak out.

Peter experienced boldness in witnessing not because he had 3 years training with the Master Teacher Jesus but because he was empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Ask yourself, “Do I feel like I want to witness for Christ?” If your answer is “No,” ask God to fill you, empower you with the Holy Spirit. Do not stop asking God to fill you with the Holy Spirit until you are actually telling things about Christ to other people. Don’t be like the little kid who heard the instruction but do not want to do anything about it. Ask God to put you in a situation where He can use you to witness for Christ.

Keep asking for opportunities to share the gospel. While waiting for opportunities, pray that God help you to be trained in evangelism but remember not to rely upon your training but rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit.

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