Tuesday, May 9, 2017

IF YOU ARE SAVED, YOU CANNOT HELP BUT WITNESS TO OTHERS!

There are several verses in the Bible that speak of believers in Christ being witnesses to unbelievers.  Here are a few:
*  Witnesses testify in Church discipline - Matthew 18:16.
*  The behavior of religious hypocrite witnesses against them - Matthew 23:31.
*  False witnesses conspire against Jesus - Matthew 26:59-62.
*  Two discouraged disciples became witnesses of Christ's Resurrection - Luke 24:45-48.
*  The Holy Spirit would lead the disciples to witnesses for Christ world-wide - Acts 1:8.
*  The disciples proclaimed that they were witnesses of the risen Lord - Acts 2:32.
*  Again, they witnessed to Jews of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection - Acts 3:15.
*  When told not to witness, they said they would obey the Lord and not men - Acts 5:28-32.
*  The disciples witnessed to Gentiles the same message - Acts 10:39-42.
*  They witnessed Jesus teaching for forty days before His Ascension - Acts 13:28-35.
*  The Lord raised up two witnesses to proclaim the Gospel during the first half of the seven-year tribulation - Revelation 11:3-12.


Notice that the repeated theme of these testimonies of eye-witnesses, was that Jesus was Crucified unjustly, and that He was seen alive for several days following His Resurrection.  That is because the disciples were commanded to preach the Gospel to the Jews and the Gentiles; in other words, to all of humanity.  The Gospel is stated in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6:
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand....For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures:  and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:  after that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep."


With all that is written in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), why do you think the disciples focused upon His death for mankind's sins, the proof of His death in His burial, and that He is no longer in the grave, because God raised Him from the dead?  Well, I can think of two very good reasons; as Paul so eloquently argued, had not Christ risen from the dead, we would remain destined for hell because our sin-debt would not have been satisfied.  He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14-17:
"And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.  Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ:  Whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:  and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins."


The second reason is that it is the Gospel message which has the power to bring us to faith in Christ, with the result that in believing, we become the forgiven children of God (John 1:12; Romans 1:16)!


BY FAITH IN JESUS, WE INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE!

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