A Silent Witness?

The courtroom can be an interesting place. You have a prosecutor and a defense attorney, whose jobs are to either prove guilt or innocence. They do this by calling witnesses, and then asking questions to obtain testimony from said witness. Sometimes a witness uses what is called their, ?fifth amendment right?, which gives them the right not to say anything at all.

I realize that this may be redundant for some of you legal scholars, but stay with me a minute. It’s important to realize that, the way the court system is set up, you can be a witness and never testify!

There is a distinct difference between a Witness and their Testimony. Okay, hold on… here comes the great Biblical truth. Acts 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

If I read this right, when we receive the Holy Ghost, we are called to be witnesses! No “if’s”, “and’s” or “But’s” about it. We do not have a choice in this matter, as it comes with the territory. God gives us his Spirit to empower us to be witnesses. The question then becomes ?What kind of witness am I??

We know that we are witnesses, but what are we doing with the privilege? Are we boldly proclaiming our testimony, or are we ?Pleading the fifth?? Not only are we automatically witnesses we are also compelled to testify. Notice what Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” Sounds like he is telling us to be ready to testify!

One more verse if you are struggling to be an overcomer. Ready? Quote it with me… Rev 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

Our overcoming is directly linked to the word of our testimony! If we are not overcoming, maybe we are not testifying enough. Maybe we should change our terminology and instead of saying ?I?m going to witness? say ?I?m going to testify!? You say, “This is great, how do I do it?” Here is a simple guideline called the “before, how, and now” model. Tell them how it was before you came to Christ. Tell them how you came to Christ, and tell them what it is like now. No great scripture knowledge necessary here, just your experience! My dad says that a man with an experience is no match for a man with an argument! And he is right!

David McCool is the Pastor of Apostolic Faith Tabernacle in Ferndale, MI and of Life Church in Roseville, MI. David is actively involved in District Sunday School work.

Author: Jay Jones

Jay is an author, veteran church planter, speaker, and the pastor of the Pentecostals of Kentwood. He's a passionate worshipper of Jesus Christ, a husband, daddy, pastor, and a ‘pretty good guy’. Jay is also an ordained minister of the United Pentecostal Church, where he currently serves as a Presbyter in West Michigan.

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