Testifying I - Spiritual Growth for New Believers

Scripture Readings:

Acts 22:15 (NRSVUE): "For you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard."

1 John 4:14 (NRSVUE): "And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world."

John 4:29 (NRSVUE): "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done. He cannot be the Messiah, can he?"

Mark 5:19 (NRSVUE): "But Jesus refused, saying, 'Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.'"

Acts 9:19-21 (NRSVUE): "After taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus, and at once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All who heard him were astonished and asked, 'Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?'"

John 1:40-45 (NRSVUE): "One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and told him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas' (which is translated Peter). The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow me.' Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and told him, 'We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.'"

1. The Meaning of Testifying

When we light a candle, how long can its light last? Of course, it will last until it burns out. If we take another candle and light it from the first one, there will be twice the light. Will the light of the first candle decrease because it lit the second one? No, it won’t decrease. If we then light a third candle from the second, will the second candle’s light decrease? No, each candle’s light continues until it burns out. When the first candle goes out, the second one is still shining, and when the second goes out, the third one continues. So, if we keep lighting one candle after another, the light will continue indefinitely. This illustrates the witness of the Church. The Son of God came to earth and lit a candle, and then lit others one by one. Over the past 1,900 years, candles have been burning from the beginning to the end, and new candles are being lit, continuing the flame. Some light ten candles, some a hundred, but the light continues on and on.

Brothers and sisters, would you prefer your light to continue without end, or would you prefer it to burn out with you? Today, someone lit you, but they do not expect the light to stop with you. Every Christian should do their best to carry out the work of saving souls, to witness and lead others to Christ, so that this witness continues across generations. Unfortunately, there are people whose light ends with them, and the witness stops with them. This is a great tragedy! The Church is meant to pass from generation to generation. Some people’s testimony continues, but others have no descendants, and their witness stops — how tragic! The light of a candle can only shine until it burns out; similarly, a person's testimony only continues until they die. If we want the light of a candle to continue, we must light another before the first one goes out. Then the second can burn, the third can burn, the hundredth, the thousandth, and so on. One candle after another, continuing the light indefinitely. This is how the light can spread across the world without diminishing. Our testifying costs us nothing, yet allows the witness to continue.

What is Testifying?Acts 22:15 (NRSVUE) says, "For you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard." Therefore, the foundation of witnessing is seeing and hearing. You cannot testify to what you have not seen or heard yourself. Paul’s vision was something he saw with his own eyes, and his hearing was something he heard with his own ears. God wanted him to testify to what he had seen and heard personally. 1 John 4:14 (NRSVUE) explains what this witness is: "And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world." What people have seen, they testify to.

Thanks be to God that you have believed in the Lord, encountered Him, believed Him, accepted Him, and received Him. You are a person who has been saved. You have been freed from sin, forgiven, and filled with peace. After you believed in the Lord, you became a joyful person, a joy you never had before. The heavy burden of sin that once weighed you down is now gone. You are the one who has seen and heard; now what will you do? You must testify about your experience. This does not mean you need to quit your job to become a preacher. It means you should testify to your relatives, friends, and everyone you know, bringing people to the Lord.

If your testimony does not continue, the gospel will stop with you. While you have been saved and have the life of the Lord within you, shining brightly, if you do not let others shine as well, your light will go out when you do. You should not approach the Lord empty-handed; you should bring many people before Him. New believers should learn to lead others to the Lord right from the beginning. This should not be neglected. If you don’t speak up at the beginning, it becomes a habit, and it will be hard to restore the habit later. You have tasted such great love, encountered such a great Savior, experienced such a great salvation, and received such great release. Yet, if you cannot testify for the Lord and let your light shine on others, you are truly neglecting the Lord!