Why we Testify

I compiled this list of verses from a sermon by Skip Ast, Pastor at West Valley Bible Church of Surprise, AZ. Take special note of Proverbs 24:11-12 - Cliff

 

New American Standard Bible – why we testify

 

Psalm 35:28 
And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness
         And Your praise all day long.

Psalm 51:14

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
         Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.  

Psalm 71:15

My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
         And of  Your salvation all day long;
         For I do not know the sum of them.

Psalm 96:2 

Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
         Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

Proverbs 24:11-12

11 Deliver those who are being taken away to death,
         And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.
12 If you say, “See, we did not know this,”
         Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts?
         And does He not know it who keeps your soul?
         And will He not render to man according to his work?

Isaiah 42:12 
Let them give glory to the LORD
         And declare His praise in the coastlands.

Isaiah 43:21 
The people whom I formed for Myself
         Will declare My praise.

Matthew 5:13 

 You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

Luke 24:44-48

44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,

 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

 48″You are witnesses of these things.

Acts 1:8

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

1 Peter 2:9

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

1 John 1:2

 And the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us–

 

 

Today, all over again

I am lying in bed, reading. A helicopter flies overhead.  It circles and comes back over.  Before long I realize it must be a police helicopter looking for someone.  “Are all the doors locked?” I ask Gina.

 

They are.  I decide not to get up and close the windows.  I’ve waited too long for these cool nights.  This is the kind of weather I fondly refer to as “sleeping weather”.

 

I’m exhausted. It’s around 9:30. It will take more than helicopters to keep me up tonight. I fall asleep. 

 

The phone is ringing.  Who is calling in the middle of the night? It must be 2:00!  I answer the phone.

 

“This is the Avondale Police Department.  There is a 4 year old Hispanic boy missing in your area. He is wearing a blue and white striped shirt”.  It is a recorded message. I hang up when the recording is complete. I look at the clock. It’s only 11:00, not 2:00 as I had assumed. Should I get up and go outside and look for a 4 year old boy?

 

The phone is ringing. Again. I guess I fell back asleep rather quickly.

 

“This is the Avondale Police Department.  We are calling to let you know that the missing boy has been found.  Thank you for your assistance.” Praise God!

 

Music. Lifehouse. It’s the CD Alarm clock.  I can’t believe it’s already time to get up. I swing out and sit on the edge of the bed for a moment.  Memories of last night start coming back to me.  I pick up the phone and look at the call log.  First call from Avondale Police, 11:00pm.  Second call, 12:28am.

 

I shave and shower.  I’m making my coffee now.  It’s 5:00.  I start thinking about my day.  It’s going to be very busy.  I am already frustrated. Our sales secretary (I’ll call her Sally) has been sick. I hope she’s back today. I grab my coffee, my computer, my lunch. I listen to Chuck Colsen on the way in. He has a 5 minute spot at 5:25 every weekday.  He’s telling about a 10 year old kid in India, sold into debt bondage by his mother to buy medicine for his brother.  His brother died, but the debt didn’t.  The kid sews soccer balls to try and repay the debt.  He even sews in the panel that says proudly “Made With Child Free Labor”. The interest is so high, he will have no opportunity to ever pay it back. I guess that panel should say “Made With Free Child Labor”.

 

I get to work.  Sally will not be in again today.  She calls me at 3:00.  Her doctor says she may have congestive heart failure and has ordered an EKG.  She starts to cry.  She is very scared.

 

I don’t know what to do.  People are losing their jobs.  People are losing their pensions. I’m actually okay, today I am leaving this all up to Jesus, today.  Some days I’m not so strong. The events of last night and today have shown me how small my problems are.

 

Today I determine I am going to have a conversation with Sally about Jesus. It’s against the rules, but I’m going to do it anyway. I couldn’t help the little lost boy.  I can’t help the little slave laborer in India.  But I can talk to Sally. I can tell her there is a God in heaven who loves her, and who wants to make a place for her in His Father’s house.  I can tell her about a God who loved her so much that He came down from heaven and died for sins she wasn’t even born yet to commit. I can tell her that He is the only Trustworthy One. I can do that much.

Find me in Church on Sunday morning

Hebrews 10:24 (New International Version)

24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

This is a powerful passage of scripture.  This is one of the scriptures that we should consider when we speak to someone who professes to be a Christian but does not go to church because they do not like “organized religion”.

I heard a great sermon on Sunday on this very topic.  In fact, I had never considered this particular verse before. It makes sense to me, though. 

Can you be a part of the church without going to church?  If you don’t go to church, at a very minimum you are robbing the Body of Christ of your talents, your energies, your exhortation.  In my humble opinion, I doubt you can rob God.  He will simply raise someone else up to complete His will. The victim of the robbery is the person who will not answer the call.  If one is not in church, one might not even hear the call.

I struggle daily with my weaknesses.  I long for the time I spend with my brothers and sisters in Christ, that I may draw encouragement from them for the battle.  If I had my way, I would spend a lot more time than I do in the protective arms of the Body of Christ, the church.  However, also in my humble opinion, that is every bit as bad as not going to church at all.

Church, then, is a part of the Christian life for me.  It plays a vital role, but it is not the end game.  I love it, I crave it, but my will needs to be to do the Lord’s will.  As with a child, I can stay close for a time, then I must venture out, and Speak the Name of Jesus Boldly.  And I thank God for Church, for fellowship with the Body of Christ, and for the re-charge my batteries get on a weekly basis.

Cliff