“Clarity” 10-13-10 “Are You Prepped?”

Outline:

·         We need to tell others what God is doing (Acts 4:23-28)

·         We need to pray for boldness (Acts 4:29-30)

·         We need to give testimonies to what God has done through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:33)

·         Are you prepped?

Peter and John go back to their companions, their church, and give a report of what happened.
Act 4:23 When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
Act 4:24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,
Act 4:25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, 'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS?
Act 4:26 'THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.'
Act 4:27 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
Act 4:28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.

They do not shrink away and back down from what God had told them to do. But they take their requests to God. They lean on God for confidence that He would empower them to continue preaching boldly.
Act 4:29 "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,
Act 4:30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus."

The spirit of God fell in power and it shook the building! But that wasn’t the best part. They began to speak the word of God with boldness. (Think about this for a minute. Why would you need boldness to speak about the power of God among your closest Christian friends? You wouldn’t. They received encouragement from their brothers and sisters and were filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they went OUT and began to speak the word of God with boldness! After having been threatened!)
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
Act 4:32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.
Act 4:33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

·         We need to tell others what God is doing (Acts 4:23-28)

            When we meet together on Sundays or Wednesdays, we should be talking about what God is doing and encourage one another in that way. That is what we come together for. You are not just in this place to hear me ramble on about stuff for a half hour. You are here to encourage one another in what God is doing in your life or through your life. What fruit have you had in your life this week? What awesome thing did you see God do over the past few days? That is exciting stuff!

We don’t feel comfortable talking about God to others because we don’t even talk about Him with each other! At church! Can you believe that? How can I expect you to go out and being comfortable and confident talking with non-Christians when you do not even share with your brothers and sisters in Christ? We should be so comfortable talking about what God has done in our lives that when we encounter our friends needs we already know how God can intervene for them.

·         We need to pray for boldness (Acts 4:29-30)

Arguing our Faith vs. Letting God Work?

I like to prove a point just as much as anyone else, but it is not our job to argue someone to Christ. I have talked with a person at my last job for an hour, trying to show him that what he believed did not make sense. John could not see it. He thought that people could just live how they wanted to and if they believed it enough, they would get to heaven or nirvana or whatever. I tried to pick apart every part of his worldview and show him that it led to nonsense, but he didn’t see it. I had to pray for boldness and then told him that without the Bible, everything he was talking about makes sense. But the Truth of the matter was that we have the Bible and it tells us the opposite of what He was saying. That all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. No matter how much we believe in ourselves, we cannot be just before him. We talked for a while about the justice of God and why we need Jesus, but he didn’t make any change in his belief system that night.

I had to leave him with Scripture and just pray that God would use it to convict him. The Bible is our most effective tool for winning people to Christ because it is His Word. He will use it to tear down barriers in someone’s heart. It is not our job to convince/argue people to Jesus. If we could convince someone to come to Christ, then someone can just as easily convince them out of it.

I worked right next to John for the next couple of months. You know what? He didn’t disrespect me for what we had talked about. He didn’t shun me or treat me differently. He actually started respecting me more after that conversation than he did beforehand.

·         We need to give testimonies to what God has done through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:33)

If you think about it, evangelism is really just telling other people about what God has done in your life. Evangelism is an overflow of what God is doing personally in you. It is an integral part of our spiritual disciplines. We study God’s Word in which He speaks to us. We pray to God in an attitude of thankfulness and praise, committing ourselves to Him. We Worship God out of a thankful and praise filled heart because of what He is doing in our lives. The last thing is simply telling other people about Him and what He has done. Bring God up and talk about what He has been doing in your life. It is amazing the response that you get.

However, we want to wait for opportunities instead of creating them. We want a sign! We want to lay out our fleece and find out for sure that we are supposed to talk to that person! We do not have to ask God, “If it is your will for me to witness to that person on the bench over there, make a squirrel do a double back flip off that ledge and start singing about walnuts.” We already know that it is God’s will for us to witness to every person we come into contact with. The question is how do we get this conversation steered in the correct direction to bring God into it? I suppose the other question could be, how often is our mind thinking about God that we naturally bring Him up in conversation?

The Man Born Blind

Do you mind if I tell you what God has done in my life? John 9 – The man born blind is healed and he begins to witness to the Pharisees immediately after words! Not after any specific training. Not because he finally felt comfortable with it. He just told them what Jesus had done for him and praised God.

We already talked about this last week, but I want you to hear it again. People avoid sharing their faith because they feel like when they share it, they failed at communicating properly. Or some other failure about the experience comes to mind. We don’t need to be afraid of what we may do incorrectly, but we need to understand that God takes our words and makes them effective. Without the drawing of the Holy Spirit, no one comes to Christ. That kind of takes the edge off a little bit doesn’t it? Now knowing that the actual salvation of this person is in God’s hands and not ours? It takes the pressure off of us performing well and puts it on God drawing that person to Him.

Direct quote, “We need to learn that sharing the gospel is successful evangelism.” “In the truest sense, all biblical evangelism is successful evangelism, regardless of the results.”

– Donald Whitney

·         Conclusion: “Are you Prepped?”

What are you doing right now to be prepared? The Bible talks about being prepared all over the place:

2Ti 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

1Pe 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1Pe 3:15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

How do we get ready? How are we to be prepared for what to tell others? The most effective tool for evangelism is Scripture. The more we know, the more God can bring it to mind at the right time. Even if you do not know a lot of Scripture, God can still bring the correct words to your mouth. However, we do need to do our best to be ready for anything that comes our way.