Giving Your Testimony

A minister is baptizing people in the river. A drunk man stumbles by, and the pastor asks, “Do you want to find Jesus?”

The man says, “Sure.”

The pastor dunks him in the water and asks, “Did you find Jesus?”

“Nope,” the man says. So he dunks him again. “Now?”

“No.”

He dunks him a third time, longer this time. “Now did you find Jesus?”

The man gasps, “Are you sure this is where He fell in?”

Historical/Cultural Context -

Luke was a physician and a travel companion of the apostle Paul. He wrote the book of Acts. The earliest possible date of Acts is immediately after the events that Luke recorded in, which would have been c. A.D. 62. Acts is addressed to “Theophilus,” about whom nothing more is known. Luke’s broader audience consisted primarily of Gentile Christians like Theophilus who had already “been taught” about Jesus.

Biblical Text -

Acts 21:37–22:21 NKJV

Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?” He replied, “Can you speak Greek? Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?” But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.” So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying, “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said: “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ “Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - To Tell Your Testimony You Need To Answer 3 Questions. How Were You Before Jesus? What Happened When You Met Jesus? How Are You Now?

Life Point- How Were You Before?

Exegetical -

Acts 22:2–5 NKJV

And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said: “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.

Homiletical -

So here Paul has returned to Jerusalem and is coming to the end of the week and is worshipping at the temple.

Well, some Jews from Asia were there and of course they told lies and half truths and stirred up the crowd against him. So now Paul, in order to preserve his life, has been taken by roman soldiers to the barracks because the crowd wanted him dead.

He pleads with them to let him speak.

He knows this is probably not going to calm down the crowd, and it doesn’t. But he chooses to share the Gospel, which would stir up the crowd more.

Why would Paul do this?

1 Corinthians 9:16–18 NKJV

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

Paul says woe is me if I do not share the Gospel. He takes the great commission with great seriousness.

Matthew 28:16–20 NKJV

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

What did Paul say? What is the content of the first part of his message?

He tells them what he used to be. He goes over how he was without Christ.

He says that he was zealous toward God and persecuted the Way, which is what Christianity was called then. He says that he even went to Damascus to bring back people in chains who were part of the Way, to punish them for their beliefs about Jesus.

Illustration -

John Newton, before he was saved, was a ship captain and slave trader. One night he was caught in a storm and he cried out to God and said if you will save me then I will serve you with my life. At that moment he was saved and become a man of God thereafter. John Newton is the man that penned the famous hymn Amazing Grace.

In his hymn you will find his story. “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found.”

What an amazing example of what God’s grace can do to change the trajectory of people’s lives.

Life Point - What Happened?

Exegetical -

Acts 22:6–16 NKJV

“Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

Homiletical -

What happened is that Saul, who became Paul, had a miraculous encounter with Christ.

Those that are saved have an encounter with Christ. Oh, it may not be as dramatic as Paul’s encounter but there is an encounter with the Word of God that brings salvation. Have you had an encounter with Christ? Have you come to the end of yourself and realized there is nothing good in you?

Romans 3:23 NKJV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 NKJV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:13 NKJV

For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

This is the basic Gospel. We are put right with God through our Lord and Savior Jesus. You must believe that Jesus exists, that He came to the earth and took upon Himself flesh and dwelt among us. That he died on a Roman cross for your sins and rose from the grave the third day.

We respond to this divine truth by calling upon his name and being saved.

Some people never will, but some people will. It isn’t our job to save anyone but to give the message of the cross.

1 Corinthians 2:2 NKJV

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Illustration -

I remember growing up and a pastor was teaching about having a testimony and the church secretary said to him afterward that she had never had an encounter with Jesus. She just grew up in the church, but never prayed a prayer of surrender to Him. That moment in her late 70s she gave her life to Christ and was saved. Why? Because she wanted to learn how to share a testimony to reach people for Jesus and realized she didn’t have a testimony, but she got one by the end of that service.

Life Point - What Do You Do Now?

Exegetical -

Acts 22:17–21 NKJV

“Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

Homiletical -

So Paul recounted what had happened

He recounted his salvation experience and he wanted to tell people. First he went to Jerusalem and starting praying and fell into a vision of Jesus. Who warned him not to stay but told him to go to the Gentiles to preach his message.

You see Paul was telling people how he was changed by the miraculous event and he got some marching orders after the event.

He was told to go and tell the Gentiles, which was unheard of so far because salvation came through the Jews. It cam through Jesus, but God in His infinite wisdom used the worst of the worst, a murderer and co-conspirator to spread the Gospel to a people group who had no hope of salvation. God opened up salvation to everyone and used Paul to do it.

He went from zealously persecuting Christians to Zealously being a Christian, but not only that he zealously spread the Gospel of Christ to everyone.

That is our call today. We don’t need more programs, we need to spread the Gospel to those who have no hope of salvation.

America has quickly become a mission field and we need to start treating it as such. We need people to preach Jesus to the lost. As the lost become saved then we can bring them to church.

If we want a Christ centered church then we need to be used by Holy Spirit to preach Christ and Him crucified. It is Jesus who adds to the church, not programs or music but Jesus.

Illustration -

There is a church in South Korea that is very large and it started very small and a pastor from the United States asked him how he grew the church and he didn’t say programs, and he didn’t say music and entertainment. In his broken English he told the man if you want more power, you need more prayer. He called the people to prayer. Heartfelt broken prayer for reaching the lost and that will grow the church.

Folks you want to grow spiritually and physically then you need to bring yourself to heartfelt broken prayer before The Holy One and let God use you. More Holy Spirit power, means more Holy Spirit prayer.

Will you do that today??

Life Principle– To Tell Your Testimony You Need To Answer 3 Questions. How Were You Before Jesus? What Happened When You Met Jesus? How Are You Now?

Call to Action – altar call….