Be My Witnesses (Part Three)

Paul encouraged the Colossians: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone,” (Colossians 4:5, 6).

This is what sowing seed, as we mentioned in part one of this series, is all about. We must be on the lookout for opportunities. Usually when we do things to benefit ourselves, we make the most of every opportunity, do we not?. The business person will see an opportunity for sales and will do his utmost to make the most of it. A lady will see an opportunity to wear the lovely new outfit she has bought and will make the most of it. A reporter will see the opportunity for a front page story and will make the most of it. If we are at all opportunistic, we will spot opportunities and use them.
In order for such opportunism to be used to fullest extent, we need to be interested in the opportunity. If secular opportunities are of interest to you, you are bound to make the most of them. How about the Kingdom of God? Are you really interested in it? Is it of concern to you that those working with you, those playing sport with you, those shopping with you, and so on, are going to hell, except if someone leads them to Jesus? Unless we are concerned about lost souls, we will never break out of our selfish lifestyles. We need to surrender to the Holy Spirit, so we can devote our time and energy to winning souls.

I have some lovely guidelines on how to lead people to the Lord, which I will make available soon, but a good beginning is to make use of every opportunity to wet someone’s appetite towards Jesus’ love. It does take a measure of courage and boldness though, but once you have started it becomes easier every time and once you have got into the habit of looking for opportunities, the Holy Spirit will put them in your way and give you the words to say. He is constantly looking out for willing servants.

When one of my staff members mentioned to me the hardships she and her family goes through, I said that, if she accepts Jesus as her savior, He can help her carry the burdens and also protect and heal her and her family if she would pray for them. Every so often, when she complained about something else, I reminded her of what I have said. Another staff member asked me how it was that I had become a pharmacist and in my answer it came out that I do not particularly want to be one, but the career does give me much opportunity to pray. Our conversation then turned to believing in Jesus. When I was complimented on the success of the pharmacy since I have started managing it, I was able to tell her that without lots of prayer going into it, I would not have been able to do it. This makes people aware of Jesus and prepares the way to lead them to Him.

All we need to do is to tell a total stranger in the queue at the supermarket that Jesus loves them, to publicly give the Lord the glory for our successes, to offer Jesus as the solution to people’s problems and to tell people at work about the miracles Jesus did for us. When conversations at work go in the direction of the spiritual, make sure that you tell them the Bible version. Just be sure not to become religious, but to stay practical and logical. We need to make the gospel attractive.

Lord, give me the courage to make the most of every opportunity to sow seeds towards salvation.

Be My Witnesses (Part Two)

To be an effective and dedicated witness for Jesus depends on a few things. While the disciples were with Jesus, they enthusiastically did what He had asked them to do in terms of witnessing and miracles. It was as if they tried to please Him like good students at school would please their teacher. The disciples were under Jesus’ supervision and were able to return to Him for feedback on how they fared (e.g. Matthew 17:15-21). We can see a good example in Luke 10:1-20 where He sent out the seventy-two to prepare the way for Him. “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name,’” (V17).

But when Jesus died, the disciples’ anchor was gone. They had nobody to impress anymore, nobody to give feedback to, nobody to ask for feedback – they were powerless. While Jesus was alive and with them, He was their power and they relied on Him, which is why Jesus encouraged them in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Holy Spirit took Jesus’ place for feedback and encouragement.

When we live for ourselves and are subject to embarrassment, fear of opinions and fear of persecution, such as losing our jobs, we have no power to witness. Like the disciples of Jesus, we need to depend on the Holy Spirit for power. When our relationship with the Lord is of such a nature that we do not care what we feel or go through, as long as the Lord is pleased (impressed) by our obedience and faith, witnessing will come easily and we will know the Lord will look after us whilst we witness. If we lose our jobs, if we get thrown into jail and even if we are killed for our faith, we will know the Lord is in control of our lives. That is why that family of missionaries, of some years ago, were able to sing worship songs to the Lord while they were buried alive and the father’s voice was the last one to be heard.

Romans 6:8: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” V11: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” We do not live for ourselves anymore since we have died with Christ. We have died to sin such as self-centeredness, materialism and self-gratification and we live for Jesus. Therefore, if we are filled with the Holy Spirit and totally in love with Jesus in such a way that we would give Him anything He requires, witnessing would come easily. We would love as Jesus loves and see those lost souls that are going to hell as Jesus sees them and it would burden our souls as it does Jesus’ soul. Once we have come to the point of loving like Jesus loves – unselfishly – we will find it impossible not to tell of His love.

Apart from sacrificing His life on the cross, Jesus sacrificed His life for the salvation of others while he was on earth. He did not consider Himself in the least. “Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head,’” (Matthew 8:19, 20). Jesus poured out His everything for others and ever since the book of Acts, many others have done the same.

How about you and I?

Lord, help me to love you so seriously that I would give myself for others.

Be My Witnesses (Part One)

Under the title ‘Fear of Man’ we have started to talk about making a difference and that we may be persecuted as a result. We have concluded that in certain countries, with so-called ‘religious freedom’, we will be persecuted if we do the Lord’s work as he would like it done. Paul told Timothy: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Once again the Lord has shown the way in the Bible for those who are prepared to go beyond religion to be an active soldier for Christ. The Bible is actually cleverly written and if we make it our business to know it, the Holy Spirit will use that knowledge to guide us and keep us safe. The Lord works by means of His Word and responds to His Word when used in prayer and in service.

Jesus told His disciples when He sent them out: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves,” (Matthew 10:16). He tells us, His disciples, here that we must carefully listen to how the Holy Spirit wants to reach a soul, in other words, to walk in the Spirit. Remember we are in a war. Unsaved souls currently belong to the world and the world belongs to the devil that makes every effort to protect his property, which is why Christians get persecuted. Satan continuously puts structures in place that gives him the mandate to persecute Christians. For example, Communism in China prohibits Christianity and so does Islam in the Muslim countries. In the western world political correctness is his latest strategy. Even though religious freedom exists, political correctness demands that human rights be protected. Can you see how clever it is?

But the Lord is the God of the universe. He is almighty, all-knowing and much craftier than the devil could be (except in an honorable way) and He has sent His Holy Spirit to guide us. The devil will never come to a person and say: “Boo, I am the devil and I do not want you to follow God.” He comes in very sly ways. In the same way, the Lord’s disciples must depend on the Holy Spirit to be clever and crafty in the way we witness to people.

We need to keep in mind that it is not our job to convince people to follow the Lord, but that of the Holy Spirit. All we need to do initially is to sow the seed. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” For every soul that gets saved, many seeds have been planted in their hearts. You may witness to someone and then move on, whilst continuing to intercede for him. A little later the Lord sends someone else to witness to the person, who waters the seed and so it continues until the person gets saved. Sometimes it is someone close to you and you do most of the sowing and watering, but it is still the Lord who brings the person to salvation. When the person is ready, the Lord will send someone in for the harvest.

In order to limit persecution we need to obey the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples to witness. Do not preach - tell your story. You can share what you have witnessed in your own salvation and Christian life, about the experience of someone else, or about some miracle you have observed. Whilst doing this you can weave an entire teaching, with scripture quotations galore, into it. Telling it in the first person as a story makes it a testimony and not preaching.

Lord, show me how to be crafty in my witnessing.

Fear of Man (Part Two)

When we reached out to the people of the night in Cape Town some years ago, we had a growing outreach team. After youth club on Friday nights, we would have drinks and snacks in the coffee bar and then I would lead a team of about forty or more young people to witness on the streets, especially in front of the many night clubs in the surrounding areas. We also took teams in buses to other night clubs further on. We had amazing times, seeing mighty works of the Lord, but this landed me in front of the elders of the church.

“How can you take our young people in our buses to the night clubs in the middle of the night..?” Then they listed all the carnal fears and dangers and the potential image damage to the church. By the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, I made them understand that we were doing the Lord’s work and He was looking after us, which He did. “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say,” (Luke 12:11, 12). After they had grilled me, the head pastor came over to encourage me saying: “If you have survived this one, Henry, you will survive anything.”

More recently in another church in England, while I helped out at youth club one night, I happened to get into a conversation with three ten-year-old girls. One girl was opening her heart to me in a code language we both spoke. I realized this was a divine appointment and settled in on their level, sharing the Lord’s wisdom with her as the Holy Spirit led me, to put her troubled heart at ease. Lo and behold, next thing I became aware of the person in charge towering over me with fire in her eyes, trying to hint that I should move away from the girls. Since I was busy with the Lord’s business and had a divine appointment, I ignored her and continued with what the Lord had in mind. She eventually became verbal and I had to end the conversation. Needless to say, I received the usual grilling.

Whose work are we doing, church, when we are so scared of what man can do to us? In the first example, the church leaders were scared of the possibility that somebody may sue the church if something happened to some of the young people, and they were concerned about the image of the church. What would people think of the church, should they find out their young people hang out around night clubs?

In the second example the church was also afraid. What would happen if people found out that a man, who already had grown, married children himself, had a conversation with a ten-year-old in public where everybody could see them? What could happen to the church – maybe a lawsuit?

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe,” (Proverbs 29:25). These were only two examples, but can you see where the church is headed? We are compromising with the world! In Hebrews 11:36-38 we read: “Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated - of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Does it sound as if they were concerned about their image or what men can do to them?

Lord, my rewards are waiting. Help me to obey at all cost!

Fear of Man (Part One)

Once our church had a few short term missionaries from the church testifying about their trip to Romania. They told of the drug problem and of the young people sleeping in the sewers. Mission work generally seems to focus on the poor and the needy in other countries and usually on the material provision for such people, along with the preaching of the gospel. As they were speaking, my thoughts went to the UK and other similar countries in affluent Europe. Because of the wealth of these countries, real poverty is not such a problem and wherever people are poor due to bad administration of their funds, some missions do meet their needs for food.

A question then came up in my heart: ‘What about the souls of the other residents of our own country? How are they hearing of the gospel?’ Most people in this country have a good life due to either the availability of work or the social care structure, so they have no need for physical care and therefore their need for spiritual care seems to be ignored. It seems not to matter that they are headed for hell.

Every so often we get reports of Christians being persecuted in the The UK when they try to testify, to pray for someone or lead somebody to the Lord. My wife worked for care houses run by Christians and supported by a local church, but because they are government funded they are not allowed to share the gospel or pray with the residents. Whenever I shared the gospel at work I can sense that some were sniggering at me. It probably happens to most of us. Maybe this is why we are reluctant to share the gospel – we fear persecution.

On more than one occasion I heard someone during a church service praising the Lord for our religious freedom and lack of persecution, and then I asked myself why we have a lack of persecution. If, in a few isolated cases of doing the Lord’s will people get persecuted, what will happen if we “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29)? Persecution may become rife if we start to obey relentlessly, but souls will be saved and Christianity will grow much more rapidly. The first church was violently persecuted, but it did not stop them from spreading the gospel and they grew rapidly. So it is with the current persecuted church. Some years ago we met some members of the underground church in China. I suggested that they pray for Communism to fall so they could get religious freedom. Their reaction was quite adamant: “No, for it is persecution that keeps the church active and alive.” When people got imprisoned for their faith, they simply saw it as a new opportunity to spread the gospel.

Having religious freedom and external peace is a dangerous sign, since “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Timothy 3:12). If we are not persecuted it means we are not a threat to the devil and his people. Persecution does not necessarily mean the loss of general religious freedom, but it can do. The fact is, people go to hell in their millions and the Lord is concerned about it. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest,’” (Matthew 9:36-38). How are we going to answer before Him one day, since we must obey God more than we do men? We will continue this thought in the next chapter.

Lord, please prepare me to tolerate persecution for the gospel’s sake.