Effective Personal Testimonies

.... In our previous posting, we saw that personal testimonies should only be reserved for a secondary role, when the evangelist finds themself in a defensive position:

.... "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."

(1 Peter 3:15)

.... The gospel itself should always be our true proclamation, and personal testimonies should be reserved for a defensive purposes. For example, Paul intentionally focused his message on the gospel alone, and he would consciously avoid other subjects if possible (1 Corinthians 2:2), Yet when placed on the defensive, even Paul found it appropriate to share his personal testimony. On those occasions, his 'calling' in the Lord was being questioned so he was ready to give an answer to those who interrogated him.

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.... In a similar way, if you’re sharing the gospel and someone says to you, "Oh yeah? Then what good has the Lord ever done for you?" -- your relationship with Him has been called in question, so you must give a defense for the hope that dwells within you. The time for sharing your personal testimony has properly come, but even so you should allow your story to form the background for a true gospel presentation (see Acts 26:1-23).

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.... For example, after giving a brief sketch of your story, you might spend additional time on your moment of truth:

.... ". . . and then I finally heard the message I needed to hear: that Jesus is the Son of God, and He died for our sins as the prophets foretold of Him; that He rose from the dead on the third day, and that this, too, was foretold by the prophets. And after His resurrection He was seen by many witnesses. And that gave me a lot to think and pray about, as I tried to apply it to myself . . ."

.... When presented in this way, a personal testimony can be very powerful and it is always irrefutable; and by this sort of approach, you’ll offer the gospel in the form of an example. This way, your listener can use it as a model if they, too, should respond to the Lord:

.... "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."

(Revelation 12:11)

.... According to this passage, we overcome the accuser (the devil,) through the word of our testimony. But in this particular sense, it is not talking about the story behind our conversion! But rather, it is the profession of our faith in the Lord, which is the effective point of our conversion: "I have believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and by believing I have life in His name." In fact we may see this testimony, and an example of how it overcomes the wicked one, in the passage below:

.... 'He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

(Matthew 16:15-18)

..... . . by confessing Jesus as our Lord we are joining ourselves with Him, and the gates of hell will not prevail against us (Matthew 16:17-18). This is the information that offers hope to our listener as well, so it should always be the heart of our presentation, even when we find ourselves in a position for sharing our personal testimonies.

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Daily Bible Reading: Luke 14