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About Jesus Steve Sweetman A
Time To Testify My
heart began to race. Each
beat thumped wildly within my chest.
Heart failure seemed inevitable.
Why was I such a chicken? It
was probably my dreaded fear of hell fire, and these long moments of
silence didn't help matters. I
was ready to jump to my feet, but I didn't.
I couldn't. I was
paralyzed with fear. "I'll
try the next time", I thought.
What if there was no next time?
What if I was killed in a car accident on the way home?
We were all told that was a real possibility. I
would have no chance then. Others
could do it, why couldn't I? How
could they honestly expect an 11 year old to be so bold?
There
was another pause in the action, another moment of silence.
This was my chance. If
I hesitated, that would be it. Someone
else would beat me to the punch. I
was determined to do it this time, and to my surprise, I did.
With stammering lips that quivered as fast as my heart was
pounding, my confession flew from my mouth like a bat out of hell.
"I'm glad Jesus saved me and I'm glad I'm going to heaven
when I die". That was
it. As fast as I stood to my
feet, I was back in the pew, blanketed with embarrassment.
There, I said it. It's
all over for another week. I
had survived another Sunday evening Evangelical ritual called
"testimony time". I
didn't deny my Saviour and hell's fire was no longer nibbling at my
feet. I
certainly didn't want to deny Jesus.
Even if my understanding of Matthew 10:33 was faulty, and it was,
the verse scared me. "If
you deny me before men, I'll deny you before my Father in heaven". Of
course, failing to say a few words about Jesus to a bunch of long time
Christians in that which is commonly called church isn't denying Jesus. The
concept of testifying or being a witness to the gospel of Christ is
found throughout the New Testament.
In Evangelical circles, witnessing is usually associated with
preaching the gospel to the lost, but I believe it's more than that.
Jesus
told us that in the last days the gospel of the In
Mark 13:9 Jesus also told us that His disciples would be brought before
national leaders as a "witness to them", (NIV) or, as a
"testimony against them". (KJV) I
like the KJV version because it better reflects what I believe Jesus was
saying. In my opinion,
testifying to the gospel of the kingdom can be compared to a witness
testifying in a court of law. While
on the witness stand, the witness testifies to the truth.
His truthful testimony helps the judge or jury determine guilt or
innocence. If the alleged is
found guilty based on all the witnesses' testimonies, he is sentenced.
Thus, a witness "testifies against the alleged", just
as Mark 13:9 states. Throughout
the centuries God has spoken through His people to the nations.
Now, in these last days, the disciples of Jesus will stand before
the nations and testify to the soon coming There
are two aspects to witnessing and testifying to the gospel.
One is to bring lost souls to Jesus.
The other is a proclamation of God's standards of righteousness
to the nations by which they will be judged.
As representatives of Jesus in these matters, we have a serious
responsibility on our shoulders.
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