Proclaiming the Kingdom
Notes
Transcript
The Requirements for being a good witness for the Kingdom of God
The Requirements for being a good witness for the Kingdom of God
A Good witness will have the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4,8)
A Good witness will have the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4,8)
Explanation: This sounds like a “no-brainer;” of course you must be saved to be a good witness. The requirement of actually being a Christian in order to tell others about Jesus just makes sense. Unfortunately, there are many who profess the Name of Jesus while they do not possess the Indwelling of the Spirit of Christ. When this is the case, the witness will not be good.
Illustrate: Consider the effectiveness of a sales person who is tasked with selling Coke products while he or she doesn’t drink Coke. Instead this person drinks Dr. Pepper. Open the refrigerator and nothing but Dr. Pepper. He wears T-shirts with the Dr. Pepper logo, he has a huge Dr. Pepper flag in the front yard and his car has Dr. Pepper bumper stickers.
Argument: No thinking person would believe this guy has any relation at all with Coke. Yet we foolishly believe that those who have nothing to do with the things of Christ have a relationship with Him. Christianity is not about a feeling, or being baptized, or even a recited prayer. It is receiving the grace of God through a real faith that trusts in the finished work of Christ. We would do well to heed the warning Paul gave to the Philippians when he told them to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12)
Application: The foundational issue is to be in Christ. The historical reality of the Resurrection of Jesus is Truth. Jesus was really dead, and He really rose from the grave and is alive forever more. The Resurrection is real, but apart from a personal faith, the Resurrection has no impact on people in the general sense.
Please don’t make the mistake of having head knowledge without heart knowledge. Those who don’t know Christ are not likely to be proclaiming Christ to others. What they are actually doing is confusing lost people who are seeing a life that doesn’t match the message
A Good Witness will know the biblical content concerning the Kingdom (Acts 1:1, 3b)
A Good Witness will know the biblical content concerning the Kingdom (Acts 1:1, 3b)
Explanation: Luke begins the Book of Acts with a statement about the content of Jesus’ teaching during His three year ministry. The Apostles had spent three years being instructed by Jesus. They literally followed Him in His travels, and were constantly being exposed to His insights concerning the Scriptures and His teachings about the Kingdom of God. In short, they had knowledge about what they were commanded to go and tell others about
Illustration: On Wednesday nights I am going through the Book of Jonah, and I am teaching a method for being more effective as a student of the Bible. I am NOT giving TED talks on which interface system allows for better livestreaming.
I am NOT discussing business strategy or giving investment tips for our current economic situations, and I am NOT giving medical advice.
Argument: You do not need to be able to sit in front of a camera and explain the Bible to others.
However, all believers should have a basic understanding of the Gospel. Every believer is to be able to share (proclaim, explain) the Gospel with a lost person. Since the Good News is propositional truth, we are to know it. This simply means there is an objective content that must be delivered and comprehended by the other person.
Christianity is NOT a blind leap in the dark in spite of evidence. Christianity is a response to the reality that God has directly intervened in Creation through the Incarnation. Jesus came to earth on a rescue mission to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10) and when He got ready to go back to heaven, He left His followers the responsibility to continue the mission.
Let’s look at passage that will help
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
These verses explain what a lost person needs to do to be saved. Our role as a witness is to explain the WHY. No one is going to confess (agree with) the fact that he is a sinner unless he has been told. No one is going to confess Jesus as Lord unless he understands who Jesus is and why Jesus is the only Savior. No one is going to simply believe a dead man came back to life without some background.
NOTE: It is not necessary to be a Bible expert in order to share the Gospel. No one has all the answers. Our job is to tell others about Jesus and leave the results to God. Sharing your personal testimony is great when it is backed up by a life that honors God.
A Good Witness will be full convinced of the Reality of the Resurrection (Acts 1:3a)
A Good Witness will be full convinced of the Reality of the Resurrection (Acts 1:3a)
Explanation: Jesus showed the Apostles and other believers that He was alive after His Crucifixion. Last week we looked at how Jesus appeared to the disciples late on that first Easter Sunday (Luke 24:36). He proved to them that He was alive by His physical appearance.
In his introduction to the Book of Acts, Luke emphasizes that Jesus gave proofs of His resurrection over a 40 day period. The apostle John gives further information on how Jesus made sure Thomas had proof. As most of us know by his nickname “doubting Thomas,” he was absent at that first meeting. Eight days later Jesus appears when Thomas is present and this disciple responds with belief (John 20:24-28).
Argument: There is ample evidence for the Resurrection in the books of the New Testament. Evidence from Roman historical sources also mention Christianity as the group who believed that a dead man had come back to life. The transformation of eleven men who had been hiding in a room to a group who to the man was willing to give his life to the spread of the Gospel is another line of evidence.
As believers, this is the bedrock of our faith. In order to be saved, one must believe in and cannot deny the Resurrection of Jesus.
But the question for us today is how strongly do we believe it? Are we confident enough in the Resurrection to tell others? We believe that He died and rose and we have accepted that in faith, but is our confidence high enough to publically share this reality with others? It CAN be.
“though you have not seen Him you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8)
Application: Most Christians never share the Gospel with anybody else. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is lack of confidence in the correct place. We put too much focus on ourselves. We think we will say the wrong thing, we won’t be able to answer the question, we worry about rejection, etc.
That is not the correct approach. We are to put the focus on God and what He has done. The Incarnation and the Resurrection are what separate Christianity from all the other false religions. Put the focus on Christ and trust His promise. As He told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 21:29)
A Good Witness will be surrendered to the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8)
A Good Witness will be surrendered to the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8)
Explanation: The idea of Jesus leaving them was troubling. They did not want Jesus to go away, and they did not want to be left on their own. They expressed this with a desire for Jesus to set up His final Kingdom right then (Acts 1:6). They saw His power and knew He could do it.
Jesus puts the focus back on the mission He was giving them. He told them the time of His Return was not something they were to concern themselves over. Instead, their focus was to be on the spread of the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit (1:8)
Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until God had fulfilled His promise (Acts 1:4), and in Acts 2 we read about that fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came and took up residence within them, and the remainder of the book of Acts displays the spread of the Gospel in accordance with verse 8.
Argument: The mission for us is the same, and we have the necessary resources. We have the empowering of the Spirit, we have the Word of God, and we have the witness of the Church through 2,000 years of changed lives.
As I mentioned in the first point, the foundational issue is being saved and actually having the Spirit of Christ present within us. As believers we have the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:16), but we are to remain surrendered to the Spirit. It is possible for us as believers to grieve the Spirit (Eph 4:30) and we can also quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19).
For us to be effective and bold in our witness, we must be surrendered to the Holy Spirit. We can be filled with His presence repeatedly when we die to self and ask for His help in lifting up the Name of Jesus. We are called to personal holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16), but if we are careless we will soon be walking in the flesh. A believer who desires to be a good witness will be sensitive to the Spirit by mortifying the desires of the flesh
Close: Jesus told His Apostles not to concern themselves with the timing of His Return, but He did not correct them about their concern for the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God does have a present reality now through the Spirit of Christ and His Church, but there will be a future time when the Kingdom will be present on Earth with Jesus exercising full and complete dominion.
At the Ascension the disciples were transfixed by His disappearance and were caught staring into the heavens. Two angels appeared and refocused them on the task at hand. They also told the men that Jesus would in fact return the same way in which He had left. The Return of Jesus has not yet happened in history, but it is as sure as any and all of the promises of God.
Like the disciples we don’t know the time, but we do know it will happen. So until He comes or calls us Home, let us be about the Master’s business.