The Confident Witness (9)
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Acts 17.32-34
Uncertainty
No one likes uncertainty. And for many believers, uncertainty about what might happen if they try to share the Gospel in their Personal Mission Field is a witness-stopper. That only makes sense, since we naturally try to avoid uncertainty just because, well, it’s uncertain. Anything could happen, and it might—probably—will be bad.
Of course, we can’t know how any person will react when we are doing the work of evangelism. But we can know generally how people respond to the Gospel, so that, whenever we share the Good News, while we can’t be certain about the response, we can know in general what to expect.
Our confidence as a witness for the Lord will increase by looking at the responses Paul realized when he shared the Good News of Jesus and His Kingdom. All three of them are evident in our text: some mocked, some wanted to talk again, and some believed. We can’t know which of these will occur whenever we share the Good News, but we can expect that the response to our witness will be one of these three. Thus, we can prepare ourselves accordingly.
Let’s take a closer look.
Some will believe
Clearly, wherever Paul went as a witness for the Lord, some of the people who heard his witness believed. Some of them. Whenever someone believes, it is the work of God, as we have seen. He opens the soul of a lost person to receive the Good News and believe in Jesus Christ. It is a gracious work; that is, only by the grace of God, operating in an extraordinary way, does anyone ever come to faith in Jesus.
Paul explained the process whereby a person believes in Jesus in Galatians 4.4-6: “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” As the Gospel is taught, God sends His Spirit to accompany the witness of His Word. He works on all who hear, but to those who believe, because they have already been marked out for adoption into the household of God, the Spirit comes with heart-changing power.
The heart is the seat of the affections in the soul. It governs what we desire and what we love. When the Gospel is proclaimed to one marked out for adoption, the Spirit comes with power to bring a new heart—new affections, desires, and loves (Ezek. 36.26, 27). This leads the person to respond by recognizing God no longer as a distant possibility to keep at bay but now, through faith in Jesus, as “Abba, Father”. The Spirit opens the mouth of those who are being saved and moves them to cry out to God the Father as the new object of their love. And this is because they have, by the grace of God, understood and believed the Good News of what Jesus has done to cancel their debt of sin.
As you do the work of evangelism, the time will come for you to share the Good News. And when you do, if the person who hears you is ready, God will send His Spirit into their heart, and they will believe. It happened with Paul, and it will happen with you and me. Some of the time.
Some will mock
Second, some of the people to whom you bear witness for Jesus will mock you. That is, the pressure of God’s Spirit on their soul, under the weight of the Gospel, is so great, and they are so determined to resist it and to keep God at arm’s length or more, that they will seek to push you away, whether by words or force.
Usually it’s by words. They’ll laugh at you. Tell you to keep your religion to yourself. Act like you’re the stupidest person they’ve ever known, or at least the most naïve. They may launch into some tirade or rant about this or that—some expert who has completely debunked your faith or some mean pastor who yelled at them when they were a kid or some guy they knew who said he was a Christian and ripped them off or even the Spanish Inquisition.
Meanwhile, you’ll be thinking, “What the…?” Well, let me tell you.
As you are ministering the Word of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit is at work, squeezing some spiritual problem in this guy’s soul, which erupts with all that nastiness and vile. It’s not a curative, mind you, but it gives your friend an opportunity to see what’s lurking in his soul. Might even embarrass him a bit.
Mostly, the “mocking” will be of the nature, “No thanks, I’m not interested.” Fine. Move on. But keep praying for these people, especially if they’re in your Personal Mission Field.
Some will want to hear more
And some will want to talk again. They’re not ready to believe, but it’s clear God is at work in them, and the Spirit is ushering them along a path that, at some point, may lead to their being saved. Rejoice to see the process of evangelism at work right before your eyes and keep on praying for your friend.
Whichever of these responses you receive when you’re telling someone the Good News, it’s the work of God. It’s what He did with Paul, and it’s what He will do with you. And as you see these, any one of these, your confidence as a witness for Jesus will soar.
I once taught evangelism to a pastor who told me that, in fourteen years of ministry, he’d never shared the Gospel with anyone. I showed him a simple way to engage people and we did some evangelism on a street corner for an afternoon. It took him a while to get into it, but after the first conversation, he was off and running. Three years later I was sitting in my study and this pastor called me. He had a problem. He had shared the Gospel with every person in his Ohio village. What should he do now?
A confident witness was born. I was there to see it, so I know that it can happen with any follower of Jesus, for we are all appointed to be His witnesses.
For reflection
1. When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone? What was the response? How did you respond to that?
2. Suppose someone did say they’d like to talk about it more. What would you do?
3. Suppose someone you shared with believed and was saved. What should you do next?
Next steps—Conversation: Strike up a conversation with someone in your Personal Mission Field. Do they go to church? Believe in God? Would they be interested in hearing about your faith? See where it goes.
T. M. Moore
Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Knowing Jesus
Being confident witnesses begins in our relationship with Jesus, in knowing Him. Two books can help you grow in Jesus. To Know Him is a brief and lively exposition of Philippians 3.7-11 and explains what Paul means by this. You can order your copy by clicking here. Be Thou My Vision offers 28 daily meditations on Jesus, drawing on Scripture and writings from the period of the Celtic Revival. Order your copy by clicking here.
Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
