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Acts : Chapter 24
10) When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. 11) You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12) My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. 13) And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. 14) However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, 15) and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. 16) So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. 17) “After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. 18) I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance. 19) But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me. 20) Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin— 21) unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’” 22) Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.” 23) He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.
Book of the Month
Sammy Tippit told his fiancée, “I can’t promise we’ll be rich, but life won’t be boring.”
Sammy had no idea what an understatement that would become. Beginning in the bars of Baton Rouge and the nightclubs of Chicago, Tippit has shared the news of life-changing faith in Christ all over the world – including in the middle of a revolution in Romania, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and war in Burundi and the Congo.
Sammy’s lifelong adventure has come at a great price. He’s been cursed, threatened, arrested, deported, and blacklisted. He’s also been personally broken, ravaged with illness, and devastated by grief.
Yet he continues to preach to in stadiums, in open fields, and via satellite technology to hundreds of thousands around the globe. For all other books…
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.
About Sammy Tippit Ministries
STM has been providing inspiration and help around the world for nearly 50 years. Sammy Tippit, founder and president, is a world renowned counselor, teacher and evangelist with experience serving and helping people in over 80 countries. Sammy provides materials that help people tackle a broad array of social, societal, psychological and spiritual issues. He is particularly passionate about making materials accessible to other countries around the world. Sammy is married to Debara “Tex” Tippit, and they have two children and five grandchildren.
Sammy Tippit Ministries is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization.
Contact: info@sammytippit.org
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