Pray for one: Testimony (3)

When we think of the word testimony we might think of Matlock or a court room setting. My mom loves those kind of shows. She still watches Judge Judy. Today we are looking at this concept of one’s testimony as it pertains to the Christian faith. One’s Testimony of Christ, I believe, can be summarized in the very dating methods we use today… well not today but when I was in school: BC and AD, before Christ and after death. Our Testimony is the story of our conversion and ongoing sanctification. We tell people of our life Before Christ. Who we were, what we pursued, our struggles, our trauma leading up to our collision with Christ. We then explain what has happened after death. Paul in Romans 6:4 “4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” We were buried in Christ and resurrected a new creation. So now in Christ we testify how He is working in our lives. You know something, this was the bedrock of the early church. In our society here in the United States, we invite both believers and non-believers to come to church with us. This was not so in the first century. Only Christians went to church. Only Christians invited Christians. Not because it was a country club. But to invite a non-believer to the gathering was dangerous. Why? To bring the wrong person would mean now they know where you meet and all in the town who are Christians as well. They can now go to the authorities and the entire church might be arrested or executed. This is the same protocol for Christians in China, the middle east, and North Korea. So, how did the church fulfill the Great Commission? Through their personal relationships and their testimonies. Today I want us to look at a few of these cases and then I want to help equip you to begin preparing your testimony.

First, your testimony is essential to the spreading of the Gospel, not your education. So many people feel disqualified from the service of the Church before they ever start because, “I do not know enough.” Listen, I have been a Christian for more than 20 years, went to Bible college, served in Ministry for the last 14 years. I do not know enough! The same argument can be made if we dare to say, “I do not know as much as so and so.” Well then that person who you are measuring yourself up to does not know as much as this person. On and on it goes, bearing only fruit of complacency.

It is not your education which moves the Gospel but the testimony of those who have been saved by Christ. So can we talk about this for a moment? The 12 Apostles give us a pretty good variety of conversion experiences. First off Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, you know the guy who paved the way, the voice crying in the wilderness, making way for the Messiah. Yea, Andrew followed him anticipating the Messiah and when Andrew met Jesus he left John, who was not offended in the least, and became a follower of Jesus. One could say he is like the Christian who was raised in a Christian home and became one himself. I have met these people before and its interesting, they feel like they have missed something. They hear about people who had drug addiction, abuse, tragedy strike their life and then they came to Christ and now they no longer do meth. They have forgiven people who wronged them. These, Andrew’s of the church feel like they are missing something because their Testimony is not like Paul’s. If this is you, listen to me very carefully. You have not missed anything, you have gained everything. Let me tell you why, you had Jesus in your life before so many others. I went 14 years without Him and now that I know Him I see it was me who was missing out, not you. Praise God you have a mother and father who knew Jesus, who taught you of Him and His salvation, who prayed with you. I was missing out, not you! You had Jesus from day one! Praise God for that. Peter became a follower of Christ because of Andrew’s testimony. Peter had his own experience with Jesus and that was built upon Andrew’s Testimony. We will all have our own personal experiences with Christ, and the testimony of another with reinforce it. At the same time Peter, James and John hauled in a big miraculous catch, pulled the boats into shore, left everything and followed Jesus. Philip, became a follower of Jesus, though we do not have a detailed story of his conversion. What we do know is his testimony of Jesus to his brother Nathanael provoked Nathanael to follow Jesus as well. Matthew was a tax collector. He was hated on both sides: the religious and non-religious alike could at least be joined in their views of the tax collector. Matthew must have felt trapped. Everyone avoids him, there is no fellowship in his life, he yearned for a fresh start. Maybe a second chance. This is the only reason I can imagine because the record of His conversion was simply that Jesus, who Matthew was probably familiar with due to the Testimonies of others, Jesus said, “Follow me.” That is all Matthew needed to hear to leave everything behind and have a new life in Christ. To move a little quicker through the list we have the Apostle Paul. Prior to his conversion his name was Saul and he persecuted the church. Paul is a remarkable case which tells every single person loud and clear, “You are not too far gone.” Let me put this into perspective. Paul, had a supernatural experience when Jesus met Him on the road to Damascus. Jesus had already resurrected and ascended, so Jesus spoke to Him from the heaven’s. Jesus questioned Paul as to why he was persecuting the church. Paul was struck blind, don’t worry God gave him back his sight. In Paul’s later writings he communicates God’s love for His church as a groom for His bride. So, some perspective, God sees the church as His bride, His beloved. Paul hated her, and killed her. He drug Christians out of their homes and killed them. So Jesus took a man, who hated His bride, harmed his bride, murdered His bride and made him a son. Let me tell you something, you harm my wife, we are not going to be friends. Ill have to work through forgiveness, but we are no longer on speaking terms. Thankfully, God is not petty like me. He made Paul, who was an enemy, a son. There is no cut off for who is redeemable. Paul’s Testimony speaks of God’s mercy, grace, and redemption. You might be saying, “You have no idea what I have done. You have no idea if my past.” Can I tell you something? You are right, I don’t know. In fact I will only know if you tell me. But God knows. God saw every bad choice, every mistake, and every sin including the ones which harmed another. Why is that beautiful? Because of the cross of Jesus. The cross testifies, that your sins were not too much. That your redemption was always in reach. The fact your sins did not break the cross tells you that you are not too far gone. That you can be saved. That you can be redeemed. I know that because Jesus uttered 3 words from the cross right before He died, “It is finished.” You sins, in Him, finished. You brokenness, in Him, finished. Your past, in Him, finished. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” There are some of you in this room who have been wanting a new life. You get that in Christ.

The church began, built upon the testimony of Christ to His disciples, and from His disciples to the world. Your Testimony plays a key role in the growing of God’s Church. Anyone can do it, you are talking about yourself. You know your story better than anyone. Our testimony is our story of redemption in Christ. We have talked about the disciples. Even their following after Jesus was built upon the testimony of other’s of Christ or from Christ Himself. But what about the average bear? In John 4 Jesus meets interacts with a woman. She is Samaritan, and there was a cultural prejudice against such people. She went to get water at the hottest time of day because there was less of a chance she would interact with anyone. Not only because of her ethnicity but also because of her past. As she speaks to Jesus, Jesus reveals He is fully aware of her past and her current situation. How could He know anything about this woman? In fact Jesus knows everything about this woman, and He is talking with her, not avoiding her. In fact the text communicates that Jesus was passing through her town because He wanted to speak with her. As you read through John 4:7-30 you see a few things develop. First, verse 26, she is one of the first people to hear Jesus outright say, I am the Messiah. Let that sink in. Regardless of this woman’s past. Regardless of the culture prejudice of who she is, Christ does not care. We see Christ living out the Gospel in His interaction with this woman. Christ is saying, your past will not define you when I define your eternity. Your sin will not weigh upon you because your sins, I bear on my shoulders. The second thing we see develop is her conversion. She, first in verse 19 perceived Jesus to be a prophet. Well she is moving in the right direction. When the disciples show up she leaves her water pot and goes into the village to tell them about Jesus. verse 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is He?” Two points I want to make here as well. She is now no longer perceiving Jesus to be a prophet but Jesus may very well be the Messiah. The second point, how interesting it is that this woman lived her life separated and shunned by the very people she cannot help but speak to now. When you meet Jesus, you cannot help but tell the very people who have hurt you. You cannot help but pray for those who have wronged you. This woman went boldly to the very people who saw her as less than, because she met Jesus. She testified of her interaction with Jesus. I want us to read a passage together but allow me to interject as we go. John 4:39-42 “39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” This woman, who was an outcast, according to her short interaction with Jesus went and testified as to who Jesus is, to the very people who made her an outcast. Because of her testimony they came to believe. You want to know something, this woman had no new testament Scripture, she did not go to these people explaining substitutionary atonement. What did she bring? She brought her story, her testimony of Jesus. But here is what makes our testimony so beautiful, her testimony was not theirs. It was hers. Your testimony is yours. Ill show you. 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.” Her Testimony drew them in and when they met jesus they had their own. Her faith was never their faith. Her story was never their story. NO they got their own faith and their story in Christ. If I may, as a side note I want you to see what Jesus did to this village. Beginning of verse 42 “And they were saying to the woman.” Wait a minute. This woman was an outcast. She was viewed as unclean even among the unclean. She had to go to the well at a time when no one else would be there. But now, they are freely approaching her, to speak with her about their own testimony. Christ in 3 days created a community that did not shun people but drew them in with one defining purpose, Him. Christ only needed 3 days to change this village, and some years later He only needed 3 days to change the world.

This brings me to you. Your testimony is essential to the church but many of us have not even considered how to compile it. Often times we have 2 minutes to talk to someone about Jesus and nothing holds someones attention like a story. Your testimony is the story of your salvation and redemption. For us to not tell others of what Jesus has done in our lives, is robbing God of Glory. We addressed this last week. God is glorified in your Testimony. So what is it? What is your story? How can we begin to organize our Testimony to be told to someone in two minutes? I hope to help you here and then give you mine. Begin by thinking of your past, your life BC, before Christ. As I look back on mine I can see 3 defining story-lines: my father, my relationships, and my fear of death. Let me speak to you about two of these for a moment. My relationships: I found my meaning and value in dating relationships. I began “dating” in middle school. If a girl liked me then I must be attractive. I must be funny. I must be valuable. But what happens when, you get dumped, again, again, and again. I counted once, in 7-8th grade I had 22 girlfriends and I was dumped by all of them. So what does that tell me, as someone who has wrapped his value in their affections? It told me, people get tired of you. You might be o.k. for a while but you are unbearable in the long-term. I still have this struggle serving in the church. That fear still comes up sometimes. Of all these girls and some of them I dated twice, even the second go round, they gave me another chance, and I am still unworthy. I also had a fear of death. I had panic attacks, out of nowhere as I was lying down to sleep because the thought of the finality of death scared me. I believed there was a god but I had more of a deistic view. He created me but he has nothing to do with me now and eternal life was a gamble. I also believed I was an accident of the universe, after all that's all evolution tells us. The thought of having no consciousness, eternal blackness, how that is coming for me and I do not know when, terrified me. Looking back on my own life I can isolate one of those. You can do the same. You can take a defining story-line and make that the focal point of the BC part of my testimony. So what events do you see in your story that weighed significant. It could be that you were raised in a Christian home but your parents faith could not be yours. I have spoken to people who have used tragedy. Molestation, abortion, homelessness, isolation, or abandonment. What does your story BC tell you? How did these events define you, affect you, and shape you? Then Christ enters. He collides with your life. How has Christ interacted with your life before Him. Now in our own spiritual death and resurrection in Christ we are a new creation. But you and I both know that does not change your past. Oh its game changer for your future and your eternity, but there are wounds from the past that have not healed. What did Jesus do with them? Did He help you forgive the person who assaulted you? Did He bring restoration to your marriage? Did He give your life the meaning and purpose you were searching for? I can tell you, Christ took over my identity. Understand it took time. I did not come up out of the water and now my self worth was made right. It took about 5 years for that to be handed over, even still, like I said there are still moments it creeps in. Its as though Christ would speak to me saying, “You are valuable to me” but then I would still point out, “But I wasn’t to them. Lord will you get tired of me like them? What about my sin and when I fall short?” For years I thought I was one sin away from Christ leaving me, because that’s what they did, so why not Him. One of the ways He proved it, He went nowhere. It did not matter if tried to white fang Him. “Go! Leave me!” He went nowhere. Ill tell you why that changed, in short, *HOLD UP THE BIBLE* this right here. Or what of my fear of death? That did not go away. But I noticed the more I investigated others testimonies of God’s miracles and God showing up. The more I studied evolution and realized the science falls towards creationism. The more I grew in my faith the more I began to notice these attacks only happened when I was at my most vulnerable. When I was just about to fall asleep, in that hazy state of mind. A few more years of this I began to realize, in the same way the devil only tempted Jesus at the end of His 40 day fast, this attack was only at my weakest. Well that’s a strike against it. Because when I wake up the next morning, I think, “Gun to my head would I profess Jesus as LORD?” Without a doubt. The more I experienced Christ, the more that this eternal non-existence which haunted me became more and more silly. It gradually lost its power the more I knew Him. Now at 34, with a wonderful wife, two amazing kids, a church I love, I would rather be with Jesus. I am excited for that day. I feel the same thin RC Sproul felt, he said, “I am afraid of dying but not of death. I am afraid of how I will die, but not what comes after.”

As we close, Let me tell you my Testimony. I have found when I talk to people I pull from my first defining storyline, my father. Growing up I had a great father. He was active in my life. He coached me in on several sports teams. But he did not show me any bias. He was harder on me than anyone else. He wanted to make certain everyone knew I was not get preferential treatment. I am thankful for that. My dad lost his father at a young age. This is why he made the commitment to be present in the lives of his kids, and he was. What he struggled in, was affection towards me. His father passed away and so he had a hard time with being affectionate with us as we got older. It was difficult for him to express his affections to me. Though he was a great father, and still is, I longed to hear what I knew in my heart. I wanted to hear him say I love you. When I heard the gospel I heard Jesus speak of God calling Him Father. I heard that God loved me. I saw it in the cross. He showed me, but I also heard His affection. He saw the void in my heart, though I have an outstanding father there was a void in my heart of that affection from a father, He stepped into that void. I wanted that. I remember being woken up from a dead sleep with this overwhelming urge to read the Bible and I knew specifically what I needed to read. I looked to the concordance in my Bible and I read every single verse in the Bible which said “Love” until I came to Romans 5:7-8 “7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” I found everything colliding in my heart in mind. I saw my sin, my failures, my falling short time and time again colliding with 3 words, “I love you.” I cried, I mean ugly cried. This will still happen when I hear God say, “I love you.” Because every single time He says it, I know He is saying it to collide with what is not true. The truth of His affection for me as My Savior, that is the truth and what defined me before I knew Him are lies. His Word is always saying, “I love you.” God became who I needed at that time and since then He has become every I need. He has made my affections not only livable but expressible.

So what is your story? How has Christ interacted with your life? Your testimony, your story is so important because God has stepped into a void in all of our lives. God has healed something in all of our lives. God has restored something in all our lives. GO and tell everyone you can what He has done! Pray and search for your defining story-lines. You can call me up and Ill help you organize your testimony. There are 3 story-lines I can pick from depending on who I am speaking to but the story remains the same, BC I was lost, then Christ found me and changed me. Maybe, as you sit here today you realize you are still living in BC. You realize your life is still before Christ. Well today, right now, can begin your story of AD.