In Revelation 11:3 we learn that there will be two men who will come by the authority and power of Jesus to bear witness about Jesus, proclaim the gospel, and prophesy about God’s coming wrath in the last half of the tribulation. In the same way, the church is called to do that now. Every follower of Jesus has been called, commissioned, and commanded by Jesus to bear witness about Christ, to proclaim the gospel, and to warn people of what is to come before the rapture of the church.
On that note, I want to ask you all: how zealous are you to bear witness about Christ to the lost? How zealous are you to tell your lost friends and family about Christ? How zealous are you to see people saved? In Romans 10:1 Paul wrote, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” The “they” that Paul is referring to is own countrymen, the Israelites. Again, just like these two witnesses will come to witness post-rapture, we are called to witness now, until Jesus comes to rapture his church. Until Jesus does that, church, we have work to do. We are not called to just attend Sunday morning service or attend Wednesday night Bible study, we are called to take what we’ve learned and share it with the lost. It’s not even about wanting or not wanting to bear witness about Christ, it’s about doing what we have been commanded to do by Jesus.
As a believer you have a purpose. You have a part in God’s salvation plan. You’re not living now by mistake or by chance. You’re living in such a time as this, according to the will of God, to bring glory to God, to make him known to the nations, to reach the lost, to bear witness about Jesus, and to speak of things to come. The world, church, is your mission field.
So, let me ask you: is your heart’s desire and prayer for your fellow man to be saved? Charles Spurgeon once said, “You have never truly found Jesus if you do not tell others about him.” He is saying that if you have never told anybody about Jesus then you clearly do not know Jesus. You don’t know his goodness. You’ve not experienced his mercy or grace or love or his compassion. You don’t know the joy that knowing Jesus brings. You don’t know how satisfying he is or what kind of peace he can give. If you had, you’d tell others about him. That’s what Spurgeon is saying: if you knew Christ and how good he really is, you could not help but tell others about him. Saved people tell lost people about Jesus.
Again, let me ask you: is your heart’s desire and prayer for your fellow man to be saved? According to the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, 65 million people die around the world each year. That’s 178,000 people dying each day. That’s 7,425 people dying each hour. That’s 120 people dying each minute. Many of them are dying without Christ. Someone once said: “If you had a cure for cancer wouldn’t you share it? You have the cure to death, get out there and share it.” The cure to death is Christ! Jesus is who dying people need! Which means we all need Jesus, because we are all dying, and he is the only one who can grant eternal life.
My question is: Do you care? Do you care that many are dying and going to hell? Some of them are your loved ones, your friends, your neighbors, your acquaintances, and people you pass at the grocery store. And as a Christian, you are called, commissioned, and commanded to testify to them about Jesus. My question is: are you? You may also ask, how do I? How do I witness? You have your testimony – embrace it and tell it. You have the Spirit of Jesus living inside you – trust him and lean on him. You have the Word of God – read it, use it, stand on it, and speak it. And if you are afraid to speak, let your actions do the speaking; your actions, as a professing Christian, represents Jesus. So, go out and tell the world about Christ!