Becoming Effective Witness for Christ part 3 (The Power of witnessing) by Promise Monday

“But ye shall receive power, after that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8 KJV

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Acts 10:38

The POWER of our witness is the Holy Spirit.  What made Christ anointed was the Holy Ghost, it was the power behind the success of his ministry on earth. The Acts of the Apostles as written by Dr Luke of the events and activities of the early disciples was a catalogue of the activities of the Holy Ghost in witnessing through the life of the disciples in bringing many to Christ and bringing them up in Christ. It is the Holy Ghost that works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure; He was working through the disciples confirming God’s word with signs and wonders. There will not be productive witnessing without the changing power of the Holy Ghost in the life of the believer. The Holy Spirit in the life of a witness will do so many things. For the sake of this series, we will highlight few;

-It is Spirit that transforms life into a witness, and a transformed life is evident to all: … “This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” Titus 3:5.

As we witness, we should spend more time in prayer, appropriating the Spirit’s power so that we are enabled to let our light shine in such a way that others will recognize the power of God in us. Matthew 5:16 says… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Jesus went about doing good because He was anointed of the Holy Ghost.

-The Holy Spirit will grant us boldness in witnessing to the unsaved. It is what made the difference between the Apostles before and after the day of Pentecost.

“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31 The power of the Holy Ghost at work in us is activated in the place of prayer and study of the word.

-The Holy Ghost produces signs and wonders. We have been equipped through the power of the Holy Ghost to do signs, deliver the oppress and heal the sick as part of our mandate of witnessing, this we cannot do if we neglect the activities of the Holy Ghost in our witnessing. Jesus healed those that were oppressed through the power of the Holy Ghost, Apostle healed the layman at the gate through the power of the Holy Ghost and the book of acts was not about the Apostles but the acts of the Holy Ghost through the lives of the Apostles in the early Church. God has been doing great things all over the world, bringing many to salvation through the convincing power of the Holy Ghost. Jesus told the official, “If people don’t see miracles and amazing things, they won’t believe.” John 4:48 GW.

Paul said I came to you in demonstration of power. You may need to raise the dead to prove that Christ was raised from the dead. “And my teaching and message were not delivered with skilful words of human wisdom, but with convincing proof of the power of God's Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 2:4 GNB

-It is the Holy that convicts the heart of men: “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” John 16:7-8 NLT

While it is in our place to witness through the help of the Holy Spirit, it is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit to convict the heart of men against sin. As Peter preached, the Holy Ghost pricked the heart of the people (“Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Acts of the Apostles 2:37 NLT). And the word that Peter spoke was spirit and life (John 6:63).

We will make no impact in witnessing without the active work of the Holy Ghost in our lives. We need to spend more time praying, studying, working in obedience to God’s word and living in the consciousness of the work of the Holy Spirit in our work of witnessing, then we will become effective witnesses for `Christ.

Meditation: “You will also know the unlimited greatness of his power as it works with might and strength for us, the believers.” Ephesians 1:19 GW

Prayer point: Let us pray that we will experience the greatness of His power in us and through us to be effective witnesses for Him in this lost world.

To be continued…