Christians have a story to tell. Our testimony is evidence of the life change that has taken place now that we have received Jesus as Lord.
We have become witnesses.
A witness is someone who gives evidence. The evidence we have is that, since we received Jesus as Lord, our lives have dramatically changed.
Our testimony is the way in which this change has taken place and the result of that change. We can give evidence by speaking to others about what we were like before we were saved and what we are like now after we have been saved.
Baptised
Jesus told His followers that we would be baptised with the Holy Spirit and become His witnesses all around the world for all time.
“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
He said that we would receive the Promise of God. This Promise is the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He will be in us, with us and upon as Christ in our lives wherever we go, and He will equip us to be witnesses of the living Jesus, who was raised from the dead to give new life to those who receive Him as Lord and Saviour.
“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Acts 1:4-5
When we receive Jesus through faith in Him we are endowed with the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. He enters our lives and we are filled with the Spirit. Unless we have the Spirit of God we do not belong to Him.
Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Romans 8:9b
However, when we do have the Spirit of God in us and with us we will become witnesses of Christ. In other words, we will be able to give evidence by our words and deeds that Jesus is still alive and is in us, with us, and upon us.
Living evidence
We are living evidence of His presence in our lives. We are different people to what we used to be before we knew Him. There has been profound change. It varies with each person.
I was set free from some things that no longer have a hold on my life, and I am a better person for it. This is my story of how He has changed me. This is my evidence.
The Holy Spirit is with us when we are saved and in us after we are saved. He is upon us when we are empowered to be witnesses.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
John 14:15-17
He comes upon us when we are baptised with the Holy Spirit.
The Promise
Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Luke 24:49
This began on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all flesh. It had been prophesied in Joel 2:28, and was begun on Pentecost and attested by Peter, who was one of those who were at first filled with the Spirit as He was poured out upon them.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
Acts 2:17
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
The Holy Spirit is here, now. He is ready to fill anyone and everyone who asks to be filled. The prerequisite is to be born again, to have received Jesus as Lord and Saviour having heard and received the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is when our witness truly begins. That is when we are fully empowered to declare our testimony, to give witness to the fact that Jesus is alive and that salvation is available to all people everywhere.
