RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

The Message of the Evangelist: The Power of the Testimony
I want to welcome you back to our study on revival and evangelism in this day 5 of week 2. We’re going to be talking about the message of the gospel and how important the message is in revival and evangelism.
Now, the scripture talks about a great spiritual battle that will take place and when you begin to do the will of God, there’s going to be a battle. But I tell you, God has given us every resource that we need to fight this battle. And there will be a spiritual battle.
In Revelation chapter 12, in verse 11, the Bible speaks of a great future battle between Satan and the people of God. And it tells how the people of God overcome Satan and it’s a great teaching for us. And it says that they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, the word of their testimony and that they loved not their lives even onto death.
Now, we saw last week in the message that the blood of the lamb – that is the message of the cross – is powerful. And the scripture says that there’s the very power of God in the message of the cross. And so when we preach that simple message of what Jesus did on the cross for us, there’s great power in it.
But there’s a second thing – a weapon that God has given us. That is the word of our testimony. Now, this is a very simple thing but very powerful thing. And I’ve discovered everywhere I go, if you listen to me preach evangelistically, I might preach for a full week every day an evangelistic message but every day I’ll have my testimony in it. Because there’s something powerful about the message of the cross that’s applied to your life and what Christ has done in your life.
So your testimony becomes very important and it’s a part of the message. Not just a historical message although it’s a very historical message what Christ did on the cross. But how it is applied to us today.
Now, there are some things that will help you to give your testimony and share your testimony so I want to share with you four things that you need to have in your testimony .. every one of us. I know some people say – I don’t have a good testimony. Hey – if Jesus forgave your sins, you’ve got a good testimony. It’s not how bad you were .. it’s how good God is. So here are the four elements that are in a testimony that will be effective for Christ. You need to be very clear and concise in sharing these things.
First of all, a little about your life before you came to Christ.
Let me give you my example .. Before I came to Christ, I didn’t grow up in a Christian home .. my whole goal was to be popular. I played football, basketball and then I achieved in school. But it left me empty. That’s all – that’s a little of my life – that gives you a little perspective where I’m coming from.
Secondly, the events that led you to Christ.
When I went to LSU, I was dating a girl and her father really strongly encouraged me to go to church if I wanted to see his daughter. So I went to church that night and there was a young man that was speaking about Jesus Christ. Okay, there it is .. just a few things that led me to my faith in Christ.
The third thing was the actual salvation experience – when you came to know Christ.
All right – let me share with you what happened with me. That night when I heard that young man, I realized he had something I didn’t have. He had Christ in his life and that night I prayed for the first time .. Now, I had prayed before “Oh Lord help me with this or that,” But for the first time, I wanted to know God. Really know Him. And I put my faith in Jesus .. I invited Him to take control of my life .. to change me .. and that night, Jesus Christ came into my heart. He forgave my sins .. I knew I was forgiven. Okay, that’s the actual salvation experience.
Now, fourth .. the change that Christ has made.
After that, I was differen. I’m not trying to say to you that I was perfect or that I’ve never failed God .. I’ve failed God a lot of times. But I know this, I was not the same person. You say, how was I different? First of all, I had purpose .. I mean for the first time I had purpose .. you would’ve thought that I had purpose having a great educational opportunity and all of those things.
But I found the true purpose of life .. and I found meaning, I found joy – God changed my attitudes toward people. People that I was prejudiced toward I was no longer .. I saw people the way God sees people and my whole life was transformed. And He set me down a path that I’d been on for over 40 years now. And I’ve never regretted a day of it.
Now, there it is – simple as that.
So, what I want you to do is write out your testimony. By the way, in these four things, the emphasis should be on points 3 and 4 .. the actual salvation experience and the change that Christ has made in your life. Someone may say, well I was only seven years old when I came to Christ .. I wasn’t some drug addict or something.
Well, hey .. it took as much to forgive your sin as it did a drug addict. You see, all of us have sinned .. so you tell your story – be real – be authentic. Then share what Christ has done in you and the change that He’s made and that He’s continuing to make. There is power in your testimony .. Your testimony is important and God wants to use your testimony.
Write down those four things .. a little about your life before you came to Christ, number one .. number two, the events that led you to Christ .. number three, your actual salvation experience .. and number four, the change that Christ has made.
God will use it and you’ll see people touched by your testimony.