#2144 0617 15W

            We witness for Truth when we follow the words of the Lord—who told us what we needed to know to live an overcoming life of faith in Him.  We witness for Truth when we live by the Word—a Word that promises an eternal reward that no one should miss, and no one would miss, if they will choose to accept, believe, and live by the full Truth teaching of the New Testament Bible.

            Jesus said if we follow Him, we will live much differently than the world—it was His prayer John 17:16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”  He said John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments,”—and He told us to show divine love to everyone; Mark 11:25 “When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

            Our first thought when hearing the word witness, would mean to do open-air preaching or street evangelism, but everyone is a witness—of some thing, some doctrine, or some attitude simply by the way they conduct their life.  We know that a shown lesson is much more powerful than a told lesson; therefore, our very life is to be a witness for the Lord by the way we speak; dress; act; treat others, and do our work.

            We can always keep a Brochure of God’s Truth in our pocket to share with those who happen to express an interest in our way of life or our trust in God.  We are told to 1 Peter 3:15 “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.”

            We should always ask for divine wisdom on the matter of witnessing.  When God opens the heart of someone to accept His full Truth, the Holy Spirit will lead us to that individual—we can then speak with them and offer literature.  We should not hand out tracts to people on the street if they have not asked for, nor shown any interest in, knowing more about trust on God or faith in Christ.

            The apostle Paul said 2 Corinthians 2:12 “I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord.”  He prayed Colossians 4:3 “that God may open for us a door for preaching, for us to tell the truth concerning Christ.”  That is our position in regard to witnessing by sharing a message of Truth with someone.

            Jesus would want us to witness for His Truth, but He said not to give the pearls of His Truth to someone who is not ready to receive it.  He was referring to those who mocked the Truth He gave—and who would, actually, attack the person trying to help them.  He said Matthew 7:6 “lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”  It is trying to do a right thing, but in a wrong way. 

            Anyone who would ridicule God’s Truth of the Bible, would not accept the gospel of Christ—at least not until they had a true conversion of heart.  There are millions in Arab countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and many other Islamic nations that do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Savior—therefore, they would not accept His Truth, and would even harm those who follow Christianity.

            We cannot change their attitude, because only the Holy Spirit can do that spiritual work in a person’s heart.  Only God can give someone a willingness to accept the true Gospel message from the Bible.  Proverbs 9:7 “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. 8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.”

            It is a good thing to have a Brochure or two in our pocket, so if someone would happen to ask us about our faith or belief in God, we would be ready to give them some literature of God’s Truth that we hear in the services—literature that has the church postal and email address on the back.

            We should not offer the Truth to a person until the Holy Spirit gives them a desire for it.  John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”  We should not offer God’s plan of salvation to someone, until they are ready to accept it.

            There is much political and religious oppression in many countries, but a true believer in Christ—wanting to live God’s Truth in their own life, should first of all concentrate on their own personal life of faith, and that of their family, before attempting to bring change to other religious groups around the globe who need to hear the Truth of Scripture.

            The right and scriptural plan to follow in this matter is, to pray for those in authority—1 Timothy 2:1 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

            We will be very fortunate if we are truly prepared for Eternal Life.  Therefore, we should make every effort to learn spiritual truth from the Bible, and concentrating on our own personal life of faith and trust on God.  We are free to choose our way of life, but not free to choose the consequences that come with our choices. 

            There are millions of people who are not prepared for Christ’s return, but we certainly cannot save them by human efforts, or by our own means and methods.  God controls all aspects of life, and if He sees any possibility of a person repenting, and coming to know Christ as their personal Savior, He will give them the opportunity to learn about His full Truth of the Bible.

            The scriptural plan concerning witnessing, is to pray for those who do not know God’s way of life—asking Him to bring them in touch with His Truth.  Only God, through His Spirit, can convert the heart.  John 3:27 “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.”  Any other way or method would not bring positive or lasting results—human efforts must not be used.

            Millions of people believe that if they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, attend some church, become a member of it, and live a moral life, they will be ready for Heaven.  But just doing this is just scratching the surface—because for a person to be ready for Eternal Life, they need to be taught and trained by God on how to trust Him for everything in life.  1 Peter 4:18 “If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

            The position that the First-Century Gospel Church of Philadelphia has taken in regard to sharing the Gospel to those outside our membership is, to make full Truth literature available on our Web page, and to send gospel literature to anyone requesting or showing an interest in it—however that would be.  We do not want to force our literature on anyone.

            We believe that anyone who is really sincere in wanting to know the Truth of the Bible, as God has graciously given to us, that He will see that they get in touch with that Truth—in His way and time.  To follow any other course of action, in regard to being a witness for Truth, would not bring any positive or lasting results.

            If a person is not brought to repentance through the Lord's convicting work and prompting, they will not progress properly in the true Christian life—they would be accepting Jesus as their Savior in words and on the surface—just because someone is telling them to, and not because of a genuine conviction in heart that only the Holy Spirit can give. 

            Using human efforts in Christian work is a serious sin, because the destiny of precious souls is directly involved.

            The Bible tells us that only a few—taking the world population as a whole—will be serving and trusting God in the true Bible way, and in real faith, when Jesus returns.  When someone asked Jesus about salvation Luke 13:23 “He said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

            It takes real faith; the full Truth; and an uncompromising trust on the Blood of Christ to enter God’s Kingdom.  Accepting Jesus as our personal Savior, is only the beginning of much spiritual work that has to be done on our heart.  The Christian life is not learned in a day, but is a life-long process of faith lessons—given by God, who loves us as He loves His only begotten Son.  It can take years of training from God, through His Spirit within our heart, before we are ready for eternity.

            A true believer must meet the circumstances that arise in their life as the Scriptures direct—our entire life and our attitudes must be converted, because when we first come to God, we are opposite to what we should be.  We are to become Christ-like in every part of our life—how we act; the way we talk; our selection of apparel; what we seek for entertainment; our treatment of, and our attitude toward, fellow Christians and everyone else we have contact with each day.

            Only God knows the heart, and He alone is able to bring a person to desire, accept, and live His Truth of the Bible.  Many are using human efforts in getting people to accept Christ as their Savior, but not being a true witness for Truth in their own life.  Any methods by man will fail, if the Holy Spirit has not prepared the individual to accept God’s Truth first.

            Since 1 Peter 4:18 “the righteous scarcely be saved,” then our focus every day, and our faith every minute, must be firmly concentrated on the Blood of Christ—being sure that we are trusting God in the first-century way; being a witness for Truth every day, by our attitude toward everyone; by our treatment of those around us; and by our life in general.

            1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”