A Winning Witness

Introduction

-Well, to try and get past the awkwardness of this morning, I am going to attempt to fulfill what I said I would fulfill, and that is to prepare Boulevard Baptist Church for the future, and do this part through the Word of God.

-Tonight I want to talk a little bit about communication of the church.

If you would ask Trish, she would find it ironic that I would have anything to say about communication because other than preaching God’s Word, I don’t do a whole lot of communicating according to her. I jokingly try to tell her that women speak so many words per week and men speak even less words per week, and I use all my words up behind the pulpit, so I don’t have any words left to communicate with anybody else. That doesn’t seem to fly very good with her.

-All joking aside, I specifically want to talk tonight about how members of the church can effectively communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ. Evangelism, witnessing, and soul-winning is all about communicating the great work of grace that God has accomplished through Jesus Christ so that people have a chance to hear what God has done for them.

-However, words like evangelism, witnessing, and soul-winning often create fear, anxiety, or guilt in believers. But understanding that our commission is simply to communicate, I think, helps relieve some of those negative emotions associated with evangelism.

-God calls every follower of Christ to witness regularly by using every means of communicating the gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world. This call is not limited to certain groups or leaders within the church. Most certainly does God have a vocational call on evangelists, but all Christians are called to evangelism==that is, all Christians are called to communicate the good news.

-Here in the Book of Acts, although the main characters are the apostles, we find that they are joined by the rest of the church in speaking the message of the gospel. And we find that, in an amazing answer to prayer, God empowers ordinary Christians with extraordinary boldness to witness for Christ. That is you and me.

-To get the full picture, we are looking at a long passage:

Acts 4:13–36 ESV

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old. 23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. 32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus,

-I guess we can say that we are answering the question tonight about how we as members of the church can better equip ourselves to be better communicators of the gospel.

I) Spend time with Christ

-The only way you are going to know what to communicate about Christ is to spend time with Christ, for through that time with Christ not only will you know the words to say that will convey the gospel message, but having spent time with Christ your life is going to be a reflection of that same gospel----in essence, your whole life will become a communication of God’s saving grace.

-In verse 13 it says that the Sanhedrin, the religious leaders of the day, perceived that the apostles were uneducated, common men. This does not necessarily mean that they thought the apostles were complete idiots (although that may have been the case). What it means, though, is that they recognized that the apostles did not have any formal religious training (at least according to their standards).

-For these religious leaders, the apostles did not attend the right seminaries and did not have mentorships with the right people. They knew that the apostles did not go through the normal procedures for taking on such bold actions such as preaching in the temple. As far as they were concerned, these apostles were nothing but fishermen, not theologians.

-But they also noted something else. They could tell by they walked and carried themselves and the message they communicated that these apostles had been with Jesus.----OH, THAT THIS COULD BE SAID OF US. That just by looking at us and listening to us people know we’ve been with Jesus.

-But notice, these simple fishermen had been with Jesus, and that was all they needed to be communicators of the greatest news on earth.

-Then in v. 20, Peter informs the religious leaders that he is simply speaking about thing he had seen and heard. Peter was not pontificating about the finer points of theological doctrine (although, we know by his epistles that he is capable of that). What the Sanhedrin caught them doing was just telling people what they saw with Jesus and heard from Jesus. That’s communication.

-Our witnessing and evangelism is no different. We spend time with Jesus; we hear from Jesus in His Word and from preaching; and then we just turn around and tell other people what we ourselves have seen and heard and experienced.

-If Jesus changed your life and you spend time with Him, you have something to tell. People spend all sorts of time talking about what interests them. Grandparents talk about grandkids. Some people talk about politics. Others talk about sports. When we spend time with Jesus and get excited about Jesus, we just talk about what interests us: JESUS.

II) Seek Christ with Conviction

-After the apostles were released from custody by the Sanhedrin, they immediately went to the church and told them everything that happened to them. At what was the first thing that the church as a body did together. They went to the Lord in prayer.

-They went to the Lord to praise Him, and they went to the Lord for strength and guidance for communicating the gospel from then on out. In a sense this is connected to my first point, because part of spending time with Christ is to seek Him constantly through prayer. This is seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

-Through prayer, we identify with Christ’s love for people. Through prayer, we destroy strongholds of the enemy. Through prayer, we receive the power to boldly share the gospel. Through prayer we ask and receive the right words to communicate at the right time such that the seeds are planted that will grow into a plentiful harvest.

-The church came together and prayed with unity. They had a common goal and a common heart. It says in v. 24 that they lifted their voices together to God. One person was not praying for one thing, and another person praying for another thing. Together, they were united in praying that they as a church would communicate truth to the world.

-They also prayed with authority in that their prayer includes portions of Psalm 2, and so they were claiming the promises of God. Scripture is not only our authority in the practice of faith, but it is a guide to help us in prayer, and it is full of promises that we can claim (as long as we keep those promises within their historical, literary, and biblical contexts).

-The church also prayed with intensity in that they prayed for boldness. How many church members pray for boldness to communicate what they’ve seen and heard from Jesus? Or, instead of praying for boldness, we pray that some person close to us does not start talking to us because we do not want to feel uncomfortable in trying to share the faith?

-Their prayer for boldness shows that they understood the battle for souls is not for timid or lukewarm Christians. Engaging in the fight for the eternal destiny of souls requires an intense effort or courageous saints.

-And when you look at their prayer you can see that they prayed expectantly. These first-century Christians believed that God had miraculously worked in the past, and they asked God to do it again. What God has done in the past as recorded in Scripture are actions that He can do in the here and now.

-The place where they had gathered as a body of believers was shaken with God’s power. If we seek Christ with the same conviction that they had, we can see Boulevard Baptist Church shaken in the same way.

III) Speak the truth with confidence

-They had spent time with Jesus and they sought Him in prayer with everything that they had, but it didn’t end there. Because in v. 31 it says that the place was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, but then it says that they continued to communicate the Word of God with boldness.

-We could say that they responded to the work of God in their midst with obedience in stepping out and doing that which they had prayed for. And the thing is, is that their surrounding circumstances did not change. Nothing changed outside of them, but the change came from inside of them.

-So many people wait to obey God for more favorable circumstances to come around. The problem is that more favorable circumstances will never come.

-When you look at what was happening to the apostles, their circumstances did not change. God did no remove the obstacles to the gospel. The church was criticized and some were persecuted for their witness. But they stepped out in obedience anyway.

-I’ll tell this little story: When we were in Colorado, there was this one stop we made and it had very friendly chipmunks. If you put a sunflower seed in your hand, they would literally crawl up your lap, climb into your hand, get the nut, go scurrying off, and store the nut. They would come back for another one.

-Boldness is not like storing up nuts for the winter. You cannot store boldness for some sort of future encounter. God provides the boldness to communicate the gospel when you are ready to obey the call to witness for Christ.

IV) Share the gospel with compassion for others

-vv. 32-36 demonstrate the heart of love that they had for one another, but that love flowed to those outside the fellowship as well. It was that love that compelled them to communicate.

-Witnessing for Christ is not merely a military assignment that we execute as an obedient soldier. Christ-honoring witnessing flow from a compassionate heart. The fact that it ought to bother us deeply that people are going to hell ought to move us to communicate the truth with others, no matter how uncomfortable we may feel or how ill-equipped we may seem.

-The Bible says that Jesus had compassion when He saw the multitudes. Love draws lost souls to Christ, and love drives Christians to lost souls.

Conclusion

-Churches can have programs and resources and social media and websites and all sort of stuff, and these have their place, but they don’t communicate the gospel. People communicate the gospel to other people.

-Church, if you want to be a people who communicates the great news, spend time with Christ, seek Him through prayer, speak the truth boldly, and cultivate a compassionate heart, and then witness.

-Christian, seek Christ now in prayer at the altar…

-But if you have never accepted the gospel, let me quickly communicate it to you…