Philippians 1:12-14 "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the futherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." One of the most important things that a saved person has is his/her testimony. I've heard of a song years ago entitled, "You're the only Bible that some people read." Our testimony is something that we should guard and protect. Mark 16:15 tells us that we are to go out into all the world to preach the gospel. That is the Great Commission God has given saved people. In order for a saved person to be an effective witness to the lost, it's imperative that Christians walk exemplary lives before the world. We're to watch how we present ourselves before those who don't know the Lord. We live in a society today where you can't hardly distinguish between those who attend church and those who don't attend church. That causes much confusion to the world. Part of the reason why this world is so deceived when it comes to the gospel is because of the shoddy testimonies of those who name the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians can't live shoddy lives before the world and expect the world to accept our Lord for their own lives. There have been statements made numerous times by those who don't know the Lord that "if that's what Christianity is about, I don't want any part of it." They have a right humanly speaking to think that way. There are many people who claim to be saved that quarrel and gossip over particular individuals. They say things that are very uncouth and damaging. There are church people who devote their time doing nothing but sowing discord.
When you read verse 12 in Philippians chapter 1 you read where the Apostle Paul mentioned that the things that happened to him were for the futherance of the gospel. Anybody that reads the New Testament will have to concur there was no greater testimony and voice of the gospel than the Apostle Paul. He at one time was a religious Jew who was a blasphemer and persecuted those that lived for Christ. Then one day while walking down Damascus Road the Lord gloriously saved him. He then became a proclaimer of the gospel and dedicated his life for the cause of Christ. He was persecuted unmercifully. He was jailed and beaten for his faith. He was truly persecuted. He wasn't persecuted because he was full of guile or he did or said something that was unnecessarily offensive. His life revolved around the Lord. His conversation was as it becometh the gospel of Christ. I'm going to make a quick point about being offensive. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is offensive. Jesus said in the Gospels that the world will hate you if you serve the Lord. The world is at enmity with the Christ that we as saved people serve. However, any statement that we make is offensive should be offensive only because that's what God's Word says. If the world is to be offended at us, they should be offended only at the message of the gospel; not because we gave them a legitimate reason to be offensive. If we claim to be saved and we use profanity out of every other breath, we're being offensive. If we claim to be a Christian and we cheat and lie at our place of employment, we're being offensive. That's the kind of offense God's not pleased with. Matthew 18:7 says, "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" The gospel is offensive enough by its own merits. We're not to contribute to the offense. In other words, the messenger is to be perfectly blameless when he proclaims the Word. If the world is going to be offended, it should be because the world doesn't like what the Bible says. We're not to be offensive in our conduct, speech, and actions. We're to live blameless in our Christian lives. I do recognize being mortal, we do sin. However, when we sin before the world, we should apologize to them and tell them what we did was unchristlike and that's not how a Christian is to conduct themselves. We should be Christian enough to apologize when we're wrong. The world is examining us very closely.
This morning in Sunday School, the teacher was mentioning about an incident where he and another man from the church were out on visitation trying to witness to people. He said that there was a couple whose house they visited and they were nice enough to allow them into their homes to share with them the gospel. One of those men spent around 45 minutes or so mentioning the gospel in such a manner as to beat those over the head with it. The man of the house eventually told them to leave or he'll shoot them. To this day the man who was witnessing to that couple claims he was being persecuted. He wasn't being persecuted whatsoever. If you go out on visitation and come inside somebody's home, you don't beat them with the gospel. That won't work. You can't force a sinner to accept Jesus. If you are witnessing to someone about the gospel you mention to them what the Lord has done for you and that you would like for them to experience the goodness of God in their own lives. However, you can't convert them. It takes the Holy Spirit to draw them (John 6:44). We are to preach the gospel to the world. We can't force them to be saved. If God can't persuade them their need of salvation when a Christian presents them with the gospel, then nobody can. God says Christians are to evangelize the world. Christians can't save people. Only God can do that. If they're not interested in hearing the gospel, then there's nothing you can do but pray. Forcing the gospel upon them will drive them further away from God. You have to reach them when there's an opportunity for a teachable moment. Otherwise, you won't proceed very far.
Anytime Christians come in contact with sinners, they need to understand that the sinner is more interested in their actions and conduct than they are what they have to say. The world will pay attention to us when we aren't moving our lips. They want to know do we actually believe what we say or is it just artificial. There's much artificial Christianity in this hour. That's why the world isn't interested in our Christianity. Much of it is counterfeit. The world needs to know that we care about them as an individual. I've heard said they're not so much interested in how much you know as to how much you care. We can quote every verse in the Bible, write a theological exposition on numerous passages of scripture, and we can know the Bible from cover to cover. That doesn't impress the world. There are numerous church people that can quote scripture but their testimony is a joke. How we live, walk, talk, handle stressful situations, etc. says more about who we are than any theological jargon that comes out of our mouths. Talk is cheap. Anybody who studies the Bible can present an exposition on a passage of scripture. However, does our lives indicate we have a relationship with God? Does our lives indicate to the world that we believe what we preach? If we can lose our temper over something so insignificant, for example, how can we expect the world to have any confidence in us? If we allow profanity to come from our mouths, how can we expect the world to have any confidence in us? If we are on the job site and we're loafing and not working an honest day's work, what does that say to those we work with? What does it say those who are over us in a position of authority? Do you think they're interested in hearing about our God if we won't use our bodies to accomplish the daily tasks that's needed? I doubt it. Our actions speak far louder than our words. Before we proceed to tell the world that they need the Lord, we need to take a look at ourselves and ask the question: Does the world see Jesus in me? Does the world see anything different in me that they're missing? What does the world think about me in regards to my testimony? Do they think I'm for real or do they think I'm just counterfeit? Those are questions that we should contemplate. It's imperative that the world sees by our actions that the God we claim to know is real. The world won't know that unless they see us living like Jesus.
We need to stop and remember that the world is blind. They don't know better. Many times we are so upset with the filth that comes from the world. We're so upset with what we see from those that we work with. It's upsetting some of the junk I hear from our elected representatives in Washington, D.C. It would help us if we would recognize that "the world doesn't know better". If we will just recognize that the world doesn't know better, it would change our actions and change how we treat those around us. The world doesn't know better. They're blind and in sin. That's why it's imperative for Christians to portay a Christlike example. There's so much spiritual ignorance in this world today. Unless they see something that's different in us that they don't have, they're not going to accept what we have to offer. Why should they? Our actions have given them a reason to not believe what we have to say. If they can't see a life that's uniquely and distinctly different from the world, then why should they desire to become saved? If our attitude is always sour and we're always mean, grumpy, and are backbiting all the time, what are we telling the world? We're telling them that living for Jesus is no different than what the world's doing. That grieves God. We need some people in this hour that will dedicate themselves to the Lord. We need Christians who will take a stand for God and the life they're living not be an offense to the world. They need to see by our actions that there's no greater life than to live for Christ. Consequently, we can't expect the world to see that our Christ is worth living for if we're living contradictory to the Bible. Our testimony is serious. There are souls that are weighing in the balance. The life that we portray before the world could make a difference whether or not some become saved or some don't. If sinners choose to reject Christ, it shouldn't be because of our slothful testimony. We should live blameless before the world. If we do sin in front of the world, we should make it right and apologize for our non-christian attitude. That's part of being Christlike.
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