The Spirit and Our Witness

The following is from Robert C. Frost's book Overflowing Life:

"The primary purpose of our Pentecostal experience is for power to witness to others of Jesus Christ.  The word 'witness' means to testify or furnish evidence of something we have seen, heard, or directly experienced.  The Holy Spirit first makes Jesus Christ real to us in our personal experience.  He then enables us to furnish evidence of our living Lord to others by manifesting His life through us in thought, word, and deed. 

"The fruit and gifts of the Spirit are the means by which others 'see and hear' Christ in us.  From this we can quickly see that the word 'witness' means far more than passing out tracts or inviting someone to church, although on occasion both of these activities may be involved.

"To live is to witness!  It is not a matter of whether we are going to be a witness or not, but rather what we are going to be witnesses of and how effective that witness will be.  The purpose of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that we may be a continual daily witness for Jesus Christ.

"Witnessing for our Lord should be as real and natural as is our life.  However, wherever, or whenever someone comes into our daily lives, he should encounter Jesus Christ.  The rules for witnessing are basically very simple.  Live Christ and love others!  The way that love is expressed may be soft and gentle, or swift and powerful.  Both expressions are found in principle and in practice throughout the Epistles and the Book of Acts. 

"The Holy Spirit sometimes moves powerfully as a mighty rushing wind, and oftentimes gently as a circling dove about to alight.  Such, too, was the life of Christ.  In gentle love He gathered the little children around Him.  In great power He evidenced His authority by setting free those who were possessed by Satan's power.

"There is no greater privilege given to man than that of sharing the Gifts of God's Son and His Spirit with others.  As we give ourselves and each day back to God, may we pray that He will bring someone with a prepared and open heart across our path.  May we be sufficiently sensitive to God and others to recognize the encounter when it comes.  And, come they will, for God will divinely order our lives to reach others if we expectantly ask Him to do so!

"Opportunities will surely come during the routine of our daily responsibilities.  On other occasions we may wish to take the initiative ourselves and in a purposeful way go forth in faith and power to the 'highways and hedges' beyond our usual lines of life.

"Jesus urged us to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send more workers into the fields (Matt. 9:37-38).  It is an honor to participate in such intercessory prayer, but even more wonderful to participate in the answer!  It is as we aggressively go in faith that God will actually work with us and personally confirm His Word with the evidence of His saving and delivering power (Mark 16:15-20).

". . . Ask God to help you become prepared for presenting Jesus to people in an effective and winsome way.  Relate yourself to those in your Christian community who have discovered how to graciously share the Lord with others.  They will be glad to encourage you to utilize the power of God's Spirit in this ministry of life.

"Many times we may be only one link in the chain of love which God is forging to bring some lost sheep back into the fold.  There are many ways of giving a cup of cold water to another in the name of Jesus.  Just to smile at someone as Jesus would smile at them is one of the simplest ways to begin witnessing.  To express a genuine interest in someone as a person will often pave the way by which we can introduce them to the most wonderful Person we have ever known. 

"What a privilege to so share the Love and Life of God!  I believe it was Rufus Moseley who on occasion would greet a stranger with the rather disarming remark, 'God loves you and He told me to tell you so!'

"It is the enemy that would stifle our witness by fear, coupled with a legalistic compulsion to duty.  This is not God's Spirit of power or love and leads only to an awkward, strained situation. 

"I remember going to the barbershop once and trying in a forced way to think of some way to witness to the barber.  I was feeling more and more distressed and condemned by my silence until finally the time was gone.  (In my case, haircuts are never lengthy ordeals anyway.)  As I was going out the door under a dark cloud of depression, the Lord simply said, 'You could have talked to him about the weather in the name of Jesus!'  I realized I had shown no interest in the gentleman, in even a personal, conversational way, so preoccupied had I been with my 'duty.'

"In a subsequent visit, the Lord brought about a rather 'natural' opportunity which allowed me to share rather freely concerning the love of God for people.  It began with my discovery that I had left my sweater the last time I had been in the shop.  The barber then related a story about an unclaimed coat that once had been left behind.

"This reminded me of a friend of ours who had picked up a hitchhiker on a cold, rainy night while on a trip.  The man had no coat and was obviously in financial distress.  The Lord prompted my friend to offer him one of the two coats which he had brought with him in the car.  Furthermore, God told him to give the hitchhiker the better coat.  He finally obeyed and willingly offered the man his coat as an expression of God's love.  With that the hitchhiker broke down and wept, confessing that he had fully intended to rob my friend before the trip was over.  They both rejoiced in the personal way that God had expressed His grace.

"I left the barbershop with the assurance that God had blessed my witness in a rather obvious way.  In addition, the Lord impressed me with the difference between a forced, legal, loveless kind of testimony and the natural, gracious, lovely way in which the power of God's Spirit can go beyond the weaknesses of our own personalities.

"We should continually be alert all through each day, for God may bring opportunities our way when and where we least expect them.  Many times we have found ourselves sharing God's Word in situations we could never have anticipated. 

"There is real adventure in the Christian life.  God works in both marvelous and amazing ways to accomplish His will.  If we ask God to prove Himself in our desire to be a Spirit-filled witness, He will take us at our word.  You may find yourself in strange places sharing with strange people at strange times, but one thing is sure--you will never be bored.  The Holy Spirit is one sure cure for boredom!  Life will never be the same for the Spirit-filled believer.  Every Christian should be motivated by this overwhelming sense of divine destiny.

"When opportunities come to share God's Son and His Spirit with interested inquirers, let us be careful that this is what we share.  We can tell them how God has confirmed His Word to us personally.  We know God's Son!  We know God's Spirit!  It is our desire to introduce them to those whom we know and love.  The best way to do this is to share how real God has made His Word to us in everyday life.  We have to bring heaven to earth, for this is where they are.

"This  may involve time and patience.  We reach over to others by the bridge of love.  Jesus said, 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'  What is our life?  Is it not composed of our time, energy, interests, and desires?  Love will give life, ours for others!  As we so give of ourselves as He gave of Himself, there will come a time when the one whom God has loved through us will desire to enter into God's gifts.  Our part then is to minister the Word of God in great faith and power.  The Holy Spirit will always honor God's Word.  This He will do regardless of time, place, or circumstances!  Real faith will never limit God.

".  . . how marvelously the eternal God can divinely order the events of time to accomplish His purposes.  Furthermore . . . God is not limited by outward appearances or circumstances.  God will meet a searching soul anywhere or anytime his faith reaches out to embrace the promises of His Word.

"It is also comforting to know that God is not honoring us with  all our limitations but the in-living Christ and His out-spoken Word.  How wise it is for us to remember from time to time that we cannot convert anyone to Christ or fill anyone with God's Spirit.  This is the work and responsibility of God alone.  Our part is to show openhearted and ready-minded people how to exercise their faith in God's Word so they may receive God's gifts. 

"The scriptural pattern for active faith is simple and sure.  'Believe in thine heart and confess with thy mouth.'  The greatest problem is convincing people from the Scripture that the pattern is really this simple . . . there is really nothing more to do; God has done everything else!

"Our witness should always be very Christ-centered and firmly grounded in God's Word.  Begin with Jesus and end with Jesus.  Relate every experience to God's Word.  God always confirms His Word in experience; therefore, the two must go hand-in-hand.  Satan can cause us to doubt our experiences if we don't first  find them firmly rooted in God's Word.  Our experience will only be as strong as our faith is firm!

". . . God's Spirit will always honor God's Word to glorify God's Son.  Our experience is real because God's Word is real.  The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to confirm the living Word of God in our lives.  This is our witness!

"To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with power to witness!"