Tips from the Truth for Testimony [Part I]
Although your personal testimony is most
effective with those who knew you before you were saved, you can and should use
your testimony to tell others ‘how great
things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee’
regardless of whether they knew you before or not. God has performed a mighty
miracle in your life and you are the expert eye-witness of these events, and
you should be prepared to tell others of His mighty work that He has performed
within your soul! (I Peter 3:15)
The
Scripture gives plenty of guidelines for the effective use of your testimony
beginning with the Jews in the Old Testament. In Exodus 13:3-10 Moses gave
important instructions just after God had delivered them from Egypt during and
through the first Passover. ‘And Moses
said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out
of the house of bondage’ Here is the first of these powerful testimony
principles that we can use in presenting our personal testimony to others.
We must
first of all ‘Remember the day’(v.3a).
Now, it is not important to know the precise day, month and year you were
saved, but you should remember the event and the approximate time it occurred!
Anyone that has been turned from darkness to light, has been delivered from the
power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ must
surely recall the day or approximate time. From the bondage of Satan to liberty
in Christ must be the focus!
My wife
was saved in 1969 while pregnant with our only son. She remembers the
approximate time that her sister led her to the Lord after she asked her questions
about salvation on the telephone, but she does not remember the specific day or
month and that is not what Moses was calling for here. But, to remember the
great deliverance of God, recalling the power of His great strength to save
from the bondage of sin. That is what must be recalled and emphasized!
Secondly,
remembering the extent of deliverance from the bondage: ’Remember…ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage’ (v.3b). The
Israelites were in excruciating bondage to the Egyptians, working as slaves
under forced labor conditions and so were you. Satan was and is a vicious
taskmaster by his sinful schemes of bondage.
But God,
number three: “By strength of hand the
Lord brought you out from this place”(v.3c)brought you out from Satan’s
control. He completely and miraculously delivered you from the bondage of sin. Yes,
He brought you up also from an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set your
feet upon a Rock…the Rock Christ Jesus (Psalm 40:1-3)! So, remember also the
Lord’s great strength and power that delivered you.
Then,
number four, Moses told them of the great blessings provided by their deliverance/salvation.
Even though this generation did not enjoy the blessings of their salvation
because of their unbelief, ‘the land
flowing with milk and honey(v.5)’ was in fact just one of the blessings God
promised to those whom He had delivered!
The saint
can and should enjoy the ‘spiritual
blessings’ in Christ as unfolded in Ephesians 1-3. There are at least two
dozen eternal unchanging blessings that God gives his children as soon as they
receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour! Look them up and savor the blessings
of your so great salvation for this is how victory over the world is given!
Next in
line was the seven days of unleavened bread and then a ‘feast to the Lord’. This was and is the way the Israelites celebrate
their deliverance from the bondage in Egypt. This time of remembrance and
celebration continues to this day in the orthodox Jewish worship of God (v.6,
7).
And so,
we too should celebrate our spiritual birthday with a great time of rejoicing
for the great deliverance from the penalty and power of sin that the Lord Jesus
Christ has performed in our lives. This will aid in giving to the Lord a life
that should be filled with praise for His working and will for us that He has
carefully laid out for our future.
Then
Moses instructed them to share their testimony with the next generation (v.8) .
Here is the key to bringing others to the knowledge of salvation through
Christ, especially our sons and daughters! Tell them what God has done, how he
brought you out of bondage with a strong
hand, emphasizing the power of the Word of God and it’s ability to save them
too!
And
finally, Moses emphasized the necessity of keeping these instructions and
celebrating their salvation from year to year. This final emphasis of the
yearly observance of their deliverance encourages us as Christians to let
others know of when and how God saved us, gave us new life, transformed our
families and promises us an eternity with him in Heaven!
But, in
(v.9) Moses gave one of the most important practices and principles in the Word
of God: “That the Lord’s Law may be in
thy mouth” underlining the need for memorizing and meditating upon the
precious Word. This can never be over-emphasized for it was and still is the
key to walking with the Lord, hearing His voice, moment by moment, abiding in
Him while His Word abides in us (John 15:7). This is the simplicity that is in
Christ Jesus…no rocket science here!
If we
analyze this section of Scripture and determine to us the teaching in order to give our personal testimony the first thing
that comes to mind is Moses command to look back and remember where we came
from, in fact the past, present and future are all included in this brief
instruction concerning testimony.
And, that
is exactly what we must emphasize when giving our testimony! Where we were and
how we were in bondage before being saved, the way God delivered us as we put
our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repented of our sin, and then the present blessings of being
saved, the eternal spiritual blessings and the promise of eternal life, and
finally the future knowledge that we too will go to the ‘Promised Land’ called
Heaven for eternity.
Now,
that’s it in a nutshell, but you must personalize the details using these three
foundations, the Past, the Present, and the Future when you share your
testimony with others. Show them what the Lord has done, is doing and promises
to do in the future which gives you the joy and peace of Jesus as you go on
winning and strengthening “Souls for Jesus” which is our continuing battle cry!
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