Video Transcript: Joy for Self

We're talking now about the joy of vocal witness. And finally, we reached the joy for ourselves. Remember, we started and we said, the whole idea, maybe it's a new idea that there's a joy in being a vocal witness. Part of it goes back to the book of Acts. Remember they were beaten for talking about Jesus, and they rejoiced that they could suffer for Jesus. And the same for us. We want to get to that point where we testify about him with a smile and not as a burden, where we can't wait to tell somebody about Him. You will, we will reach that as more and more we be that. 

And so we've been talking about, do you hear it, do you believe it, the joy of being a vocal witness, not something that we're afraid of. That's something that we ought to do. Just think for example, when you get a good deal at the store, you want to tell somebody else. When you've had a good meal, if you go to restaurants, you say, Hey, we're at this place last week. When something works for you, as a parent, somebody says, I'm having such trouble in this way. You say, Well, you know, it worked for me. Or maybe it's an addiction. How did you escape your addiction? Somebody wants to hear about it. We'd love to share things like that. And we share it with joy. We share it with a smile, we share it with eagerness. Don't even we say some time or leave a message. Hey, I can't wait to tell you. 

Well, that's the way that we're in the New Testament, they said we can't wait to tell you. People look and say, But wait a minute. They're ordinary, everyday people. And they took notice of him that they had been with Jesus. And they said we can't help but speak of the things that we have seen and heard. 

Here is a great lesson. You heard about Job in the Old Testament. Lot of troubles. God was letting him go through them. God was purifying him as gold. And Job struggled with God for a long time. And then finally Job submitted to God. And he said you know what, at the end of the book, he said, I had heard of you by the hearing of my ear, but now my eye sees you. Isn’t it so beautiful. 

For some Christians, we've heard about him for a long time by the hearing of the ear, but we never saw him with our eye. Those people in the book of Acts, they saw him, they knew him. They touched him. He became part of them. He was real for them. They didn't know about Jesus. They knew Jesus. And then when they were threatened, they said we can't help it. We've got to talk about what we have seen and heard. We who have been with Jesus. And that's the joy. When it's in there you don't have to drag it out. 

I had a grandson who loved Legos. I never had to tell him now go play with your Legos. I have other grandson's grandchildren actually who are in sports. I never have to tell them, go practice. It's something that they love. Well imagine when you've met Jesus more than by the hearing of the ear when your eye has seen him, when you're in love with him. When you just say I love you. You’re great. You're everything to me. Then it comes out not as something you have to do. But as a natural expression. 

One more thing. The early church grew that way. It didn't grow by learned persons. It didn't grow by people who had had all sorts of training. But the ordinary, everyday witness of everyday ordinary people is what grew the church. And that's what still has to be today. And when we share the Jesus who is in our hearts, that's when we become whole persons, because he's part of us. If we neglect a certain part, then we're not a whole person. And because Jesus is part of us, as our whole self that's talking. So we're gonna pray about it. And then talk finally, about how the joy of a vocal witness is for us and that's okay. 

Oh Father in heaven, and Jesus, our Savior. You're everything to us. You have made us and you have remade us. We belong to you. We believe in you. We believe in Your Word. We love the Bible. And when we share the truth about you with others, we do it for you. We want you to be praised. We want you to receive all the glory. And when we share the truth about you with others, we want them changed. We want them to enter into your family to become your children. And now we're going to talk about the joy of vocal witness and what it can mean in our lives. Thank you for that. We love you. Amen. 

Well, one of the joys for ourselves and remember we said it's okay. We can love ourselves. Love your neighbor as yourself you have to love yourself. One of the joys for ourselves in sharing Jesus vocally is that it grows our faith. Listen to this this marvelous verse. Philemon chapter six, I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. We say this happened so that this happened. We say I do this so that I can do that. So that is a result. It rained so that we could not play the ball game. That's the same in this verse here. If you're active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of what it means to be alive in Christ. 

Somebody asked Billy Graham once, what is the fastest way for a new Christian to grow? And what would you expect? Oh, read your Bible. Oh, pray. Oh, go to Bible class. Oh, go to school. You know what he said, teach a class. I've seen that. Every time I teach a class I learned so much. I wonder, did they learn anything? Because I shared it from different insights, from different ways of looking at things and when I share my faith, it's the same thing. 

Just recently, I was sharing my faith with a person and all at once that door opened, and she was telling me about pain and suffering and betrayal in such a way that I had never understood it before. And I went home chastened person and I thought if I ever dare preach about that, again, I'm gonna have to talk to somebody like that, who went through such experiences. And every time you share your faith, it's not just a matter of there that's done. But it's an experience, a meeting. I shared my faith with another person about just two weeks ago. And once again, to hear where that person came from, and what that person needed and how Christ had answered the question in that person's life. I'm just astounded. And I go home and I just say thank you, Jesus, for letting me learn those things. Well, Billy Graham said if you want to teach a class. You want to learn, share your faith. 

There are other ways that we learn about our faith. Here's what I recommend. I don't think any Christian should ever be without it, every day of your life by yourself, to read the Bible and to pray. You don't have to read the whole Bible. You don't have to pray for an hour. Start with five minutes a day if you're not doing it. And just for 30 seconds to five minutes. 30 seconds pray Jesus open my heart by your Holy Spirit. For two and a half minutes. Read the Bible. For one minute write down what you learned. Is it something you have to give up, something you have to do, somebody have to forgive me, and for one minute pray about that? Just pray about what you're going to do from what you read after you had prayed for an open heart. 

Five minutes, couple things will happen. One will begin to transform your life. Number two, pretty soon it'll be seven minutes and 10 and then you're on the way. That's another way to grow in your faith. And others go to Bible class and other to do Bible school, another is read books, all sorts of things. Did you ever think of this one, what it says here? When you share your faith, you can understand your faith. That is just a great thought. You know what's fascinating? He's writing this to them only 35 years after Jesus died, and we started way back there and talked about fear as being one reason why we didn't share. Another lack of of just an enthusiasm or it. Another becoming overly familiar. This is only 35 years after they were saved. 35 years after the whole church was 135 years after they were in it. And he has to say, I pray that you will be active in sharing your faith. I mentioned that so that you don't beat yourself up. That's part of human nature. Part of Satan's working in us to dull our senses that take away our enthusiasm. But here 35 years after Jesus died on the cross, he has to say I pray that you will do a vocal witness and look what happens. When he does a vocal witness, you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Great way to grow. That's for you when you're a vocal witness. 

There's another thing for you when you're a vocal witness, and that is, oh, this is fantastic. You secure a treasure. This is First Thessalonians chapter 2:19 and 20. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes, Jesus is coming back that's for sure. And what are we going to be rejoicing about when he comes? Oh, Jesus, I won this Oscar. Oh, Jesus, our team was the champs. Oh, Jesus, look at this house we built. Oh, Jesus, look at the way we fixed up the bathroom. We painted it and put tile in. Oh, Jesus, I went to school, I got all these degrees. Oh Jesus, I was a religious person. And we built this huge church. When Jesus comes back. What are you going to be rejoicing in? Think about that? What does he say? What is our hope, our joy or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes. What does it have to be Jesus is coming back. He says in that book of Thessalonians someday that trumpet will sound and the Lord will be sent from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and we will see Him face to face and will be caught up together with Him in the air and will be with Him forever. What are you gonna rejoice, what are you gonna be thinking about what he would say? Is it not like the people I led to Christ? He says to those people in that church there the church he started where he went and preached the gospel namely you are our glory and our joy. Do you believe that about yourself. All those things that we think are so important in this life what is it going to matter? 

And when Jesus comes back we're gonna see somebody there, cause he's gonna take people with him, saints with him, that person accepted Jesus when I testify. There's one whole family because the father accepted Jesus and his whole family's there. And Jesus is coming. Jesus, the greatest vocal witness of all time, and he will come for you. What do you think you're gonna be happy about? What about any of this other stuff? 

Here's an interesting story. I have a friend who comes from the southern part of this country, and his aunt died. He went down there to the funeral. He was from there too. And in the coffin, she was lying there. And she had a carton of candles cigarettes in this arm. And she had a great big liter of Diet Pepsi in that arm lying in the coffin, like she was going somewhere with that. What we're going to have in the coffin when we were there. You know, my son in law died a number of years ago, left five small children, lots of nieces and nephews.  At the funeral the little children were bringing gifts and putting them in the coffin there. Little Lego toy, special stuffed animal, a little note, because he loved them so. What are you gonna be carrying when you go to meet Jesus? Paul says, you know, the only thing that is our joy, our crown, or what we will rejoice in when Jesus comes is the people who have been saved. 

The Bible talks about two things that last forever. Only two things. Number one is the human soul. We will never die. We will spend eternity somewhere, will spend eternity with Jesus or we will spend eternity without Jesus, but we will spend eternity and every person who has ever been made will be raised up again in the body, soul and body, soul and body connected together. Some to spend eternity as a whole person in the presence of Jesus some to spend eternity as a whole present person apart from Jesus. And one thing is sure you are going to last forever. And those people you know, who are Christians, and those people you know who have not yet become Christians, they are going to last forever. That's one thing the Bible says lasts forever. 

The other thing is the word of God. The Word of God never changes. God always was, is and ever will be. The word of God last forever. So if you can take the word of God which lasts forever, and get it into the soul, the heart, the mind, whatever you want to call it, of a person who lasts forever, then you're putting those two things together that lasts forever. And the person you know, when you've shared a vocal witness with that person who accepts it says I believe that we we saw that that person has sealed is put in a safe and the name of that safe is Jesus and that person is kept safe. Jesus said, You're in my hands. Nobody's gonna pull you out of my hands. And he said and if that weren't enough, I'll put my hands in my father's hands and no one will ever get you out of there. Right beginning now when that person you know, accepts your vocal testimony, that person is safe in Jesus and will be forever and ever. 

You know, we know better, don't we? We know that the days in winter are shorter, and the days that are shorter than the days in summer. We know that the sun comes up every morning and sets every night. We know we're not going around in a circle. We know we're moving along on a timeline. The last time I checked, the death rate is right around 100%. We all, the Bible says, will stand before the judgment seat of God. The Bible says it is appointed unto every person at one time to die. And after that judgment. We know that and what are we spending our time on? I've never seen in this country when someone dies, we have funerals and we have a big vehicle that carries the coffin to the grave site. I've never seen a trailer behind one of those big cars that carries the coffin carrying suitcases or TV or medals or statues or anything we've earned. It all stays behind. The only thing that lasts is the everlasting Word of God and the everlasting soul heart or mind of a person. You  and I that will be our treasure. When Jesus comes back. We're eager for it. Christians yearn for that. We wait for him to come. When he comes back. All I want to do is kneel at his feet. And if through me, those who have responded to his words in my vocal testimony and believed that's my gift to him. The joy of a vocal testimony.