Prayer:
Father God, we honor and praise You and we desire to be a faithful witness for Your glory. In the name of Jesus, we pray that You grant to us the boldness to speak forth Your Word, and be a positive witness to whoever we meet. Father, we believe we receive that boldness now in the name of Jesus. Therefore, we have boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus. So that we can be witnesses for Your glory, we will be bold toward Satan, demons, evil spirits, sickness, disease, and poverty, for Jesus is the Head of all rule and authority of every angelic principality and power. We will disarm anything that gets in our way of witnessing in the Spirit through the Holy Spirit of God. We take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, "The Lord is our Helper; we will not be seized with alarm, we will not fear or dread or be terrified. What can man do to us?" We declare and proclaim the Word toward heaven, toward hell, and toward earth. We are bold as a lion, for we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are complete in You, Lord. We praise the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! AMEN.
Study 5 Witnessing in the Spirit:
Let's Walk:
Scripture Reading: (Isaiah 43:10) (John 15:27)
The Holy Spirit is first a witness for Christ, and then He is a witness to the people of Christ's infinite love and the sufficiency of His finished work. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceed from the Father, He shall testify (bear witness) of me" (John 15:26). The Spirit bears His testimony for Christ in the Scriptures; He bears His testimony to us in our renewed minds. He is a Witness for the Lord Jesus by all that is revealed in the Word of God concerning Him. The sufficiency of the Spirit to be Witness for Christ unto His people appears first, from His being a Divine Person; second, from His being present when the Everlasting Covenant was drawn up; third, from His perfect knowledge of the identity of each member of the election of grace. When the ordained hour strikes for each one to be quickened by Him, He capacitates the soul to receive a spiritual knowledge of Christ. He shines upon the Scriptures of Truth and into the renewed mind. He enables the one born again to receive into his heart the Father's record concerning His beloved Son, and to give full credit to it. He enables him to realize that the Father is everlastingly well pleased with everyone who is satisfied with the Person, righteousness, and atonement of His co-equal Son, and who rests his entire hope and salvation thereon. Thereby He assures us of the Father's acceptance of him in the Beloved. We are witnesses!
"The Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the Word" (Acts 10:44)-not while they were walking in the paths of unrighteousness. His witness is a holy one: He will not put a jewel in a swine's snout (Proverbs 11:22). Keep yourselves in the love of God (Jude 21) and the Spirit's witness will be yours. We must walk and work in the Spirit at all time. Witnessing in the-Spirit is walking in the Fruit of the Spirit, but we must remember not by works are we saved, but by the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-10). We also read in (Hebrews 6:1, 9:14) we have been delivered from dead works; and in (Revelation 2:2; 3:2; 14:13; 20:12, 13), as we just studied that God see our works, and He desire that it be good works to the saving of others' soul, which is our witness and walk in the Spirit. Amen.
Bill Bright said, "Successful witnessing is simply sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God." That is a good way to put it! Jesus promised all His disciples the presence of the Holy Spirit to be effective witnesses. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses . . ." (Acts 1:8). And "when the day of Pentecost has come" they were all witnesses. Before the day was over "there was added that day about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41). That is what happens when a preacher is preaching from the overflow.
There is a sweet fragrance about the name of Jesus and those who emit the distinctive qualities that name signifies. He "manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved . . ." (2 Cor. 2:14-15).
That is what should happen in the daily lives of the followers of Jesus Christ. The impact of the lives of persecuted believers who fled Jerusalem and went to Antioch was "the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord" (Acts 11:21). We do not know who the first evangelist was who preached in Antioch, the greatest city in the world next to Rome and Alexander. However, we do know when the church at Jerusalem heard about what God was doing in Antioch they sent Barnabas who "began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; for he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers (lit. multitudes) were brought to the Lord" (vv. 23-24).
Everywhere the believers went they talked about Jesus Christ. They carried about them the sweet fragrance of Christ—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, etc. The name of Jesus Christ was continually being glorified, and the result was "the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (v. 26). Our job is not finished until we have gone to every tribe and village preaching the good news in Christ. God the Holy Spirit has equipped us to be those witnesses just as He did the early church in Acts. Their life, their passion was Christ and so likewise must be ours. C. T. Studd said with passion, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice that I can make for Him is too great." Have you found the "Pearl of Great Price"? Then give it away to the poor, hungry, thirsty who long to know our Lord and Savior. The missionary heart is part of the fruit of the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of missions. He is the one who calls and sends forth men and women who will be faithful witnesses of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. He finds people with a missionary heart and says, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul." Separate me Will and Ann. They fasted and prayed and asked the Spirit to give them guidance and so He did. The will of God is always His very best. Do you tremble before God because of the millions who have never heard the name of Jesus? Is there the clarion call of God to preach the gospel and make it plain to those who have never understood that Jesus paid it all on Calvary? Is Jesus the master passion of your life? Are you ablaze with Him? Do you have the fire of God in your soul?
Guard the holy fire. "You shall be My witnesses." You are His chosen vessel and He has a chosen place for you to labor. The Spirit of missions will make it very clear where He wants you to serve and what He wants you to do in the kingdom of God. God had only one Son and He sent Him as His missionary to a lost world (John 20:21). He says to you and me, "So send I you!"
Questions:
1). What is effective witnessing in the Spirit?
2). How does the Holy Spirit bears witness to us?
3). How does the Holy Spirit quicken us to witness?
4). Give a Scripture concerning a witnessing spirit, explain it.
5). Explain the Holy Spirit's office of witness in us
6). What have we been delivered from?
7). What is happening when the preacher is preaching from the overflow?
8). In order to be a successful witness for Christ, we must be a______.
9). When you walk in the Fruit of the Spirit, are you witnessing to others?
10). What is the "Pearl of Great Price"?
11). Have you found the "Pearl of Great Price"?
12). What is the heart of the missionary faithful witness?
13). Do you tremble before God because of the millions who have never heard the name of Jesus, Explain.
14). Do you have the fire of God in your soul?
15). We are His chosen ____ and He has a chosen ___ for us to labor as witnesses.
16). Have the Holy Spirit prompt you to become a missionary witness to this lost world?
17). What have you learn from reading Ephesians 1-Philippians 1?
Exercise: Week # 5 Walking in the Spirit today:
What did you do to know you were walking in the Spirit today?
Extra: Gentleness
I choose gentleness. . .Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only to praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
Personal Prayer:
Father God, Help me to cultivate gentleness in my life. Help me to let go of anger and learn to forgive others when I am wronged. Help me to show mercy and not judge. Teach me to love like You love. Convict me when I am acting in a manner that displease You. I want to live a life shines for You and shows the world Your loving kindness, mercy and compassion. I do not want to misrepresent You by acting out in my flesh and letting offense and unforgiveness rule me. I love You Lord. You are Worthy of all glory, honor and praise. You are an awesome God, Mighty and filled with compassion. Thank You for loving me. In Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen.
Weekly Reading: Week # 5 (Philippians 2- Colossians 2) Monday through Sunday.
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