Pricille Akissi Metonou

The story is told of a business woman who lives on one of the islands of Africa. She grew up participating in the life of the nearby Seventh-day Adventist church. When she became a young adult, she began to live a double life. She participated in the activities of the church while at the same time going to night clubs, smoking and dancing, and moving with the boys; one of whom she later moved in with. From this sinful relationship, a baby girl was born. A few years later the young man died, and not very long after she had the horrible experience of burying her eight year old daughter.

The woman was devastated. Her imperfect knowledge of God permitted her to accuse God of being the cause of her misfortunes.

But God, our merciful God, condescended to her level and gave her the strong impression through a series of dreams that she needed to have a closer relationship with Him. This closer relationship would be achieved through three days of prayer and fasting. So with encouragement, and support from her mother, she did.

At the end of the fasting she had a strong feeling that she should confess and repent of her sins. She experienced godly sorrow; she started regretting her double life, she wanted to change completely. Finally, she went to her Pastor, told him the story of her life and asked for baptism. A few weeks after, she was baptized.

Now she is totally committed to the Lord. She has been transformed. Today you can see her sharing her faith, preaching the gospel, planting churches, giving money to build churches, and giving salaries to gospel workers in her area. What a transformation! She was transformed by Christ to witness for him. And that's exactly what God wants all of us to be and to do for Him.

In reality, it has always been the will of God that each believer be His witness. He said it to the children of Israel in Isaiah 43:10 "you shall be my witnesses." Christ repeated the call to witnessing in the New Testament after His sacrifice on Calvary for the fallen race and just before he returned to heaven, Matt 28:19-20

We are all called to be Christ's witnesses, no matter our position, gender, age, or how much time we have spent in the church. All believers in Christ, are called to be His witnesses. And this call is also a command.

Three questions force themselves upon our minds: Who is a witness of Christ? What does a witness have to do? Is there a reward for witnessing?

1. WHO IS A WITNESS OF CHRIST?

According to one Bible dictionary, a witness is someone who gives testimony of what he or she knows about someone he or she has had an experience with; some scholars add that the witness can give his/her testimony even at the cost of his/her life, as a martyr. In fact the English word witness came out of the word martyrdom.

From the bible, one of Christ's disciples clarifies and illustrates who a witness is, as we see in John 1:1-3.

In other words a witness gives a testimony of an intimate relationship or experience which was perceived by his senses; what he has heard, seen, experienced and handled. Therefore a witness for Christ will testify of the intimate relationship and or experience he has with Christ.

The implications are unavoidable. We, human beings, born in sin and conceived in iniquity, accustomed to doing evil, seem to be more experienced in the things of darkness, therefore witnessing for Satan rather than witnessing for Christ.

Whenever one has an encounter with Christ, that one is never the same again. It is usually a life changing event. To the one who is willing it will be a life changing event for the better. God will give that one the power to become a son or daughter. John 1:12

Ezekiel 36:26, 27 states that God is able to remove idols, stony hearts, selfishness, pride; he can purify us, he can cleanse us no matter the color of your sins.

In the process of transformation, Jesus may use disciplines or tests that we always call trials, difficulties. We should look upon them as we look at a graduation class test, yes through this process, we can graduate from one grade to a higher grade. We should be able to say as is stated in 2 Cor 5:17 KJV

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. I am new, transformed in Jesus.

That transformation is a continuous process, growing from strength to strength till we become like him and be his witnesses.

• Jesus did it for the Apostle Paul, who was putting Christians in prison until he met Christ, and was changed into a great evangelist.
• He did it for Mary Magdalene who had seven demons. Since she was transformed, she served Jesus even in his death; she was the last to leave the cross and the first to come to the tomb. She was the first to announce to the whole world a risen Savior. Jesus can do the same thing for us, he can transform us.

When we experience the transforming power of Jesus, we want to witness to that fact.

Witnessing becomes a natural outgrowth.

Witnessing also becomes a Necessary Obligation. Both Jeremiah and Paul illustrate this point for us in Jer.20:9 & in 1 Cor 9:16

There is that overwhelming compulsion to witness. Not only is it a natural outgrowth and a necessary obligation, it is also a never-ending obsession.

Peter and the disciples strictly forbidden to preach under punishment of imprisonment exclaimed: "we ought to obey God rather than man". The young church smarting under the persecution of Saul reacts with the never ending witnessing syndrome. Acts 8:4 KJV

"Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

What obsession with witnessing!"

Similarly, today any one who has had an experiential knowledge of Christ will find it impossible not to witness for Christ or talking about Him.

Coupled with the Christian desire to witness, is the world's need of the Savior. This, creates the finest hour for the Seventh-day Adventist church. How can we stay idle without telling this dying world that there is salvation in Jesus? Today, our environment is over polluted, we are scandalized by the immorality of our times, families are broken, people are dying from AIDS; optimism has given way to despair; and men's hearts are failing them for fear. These and many more symptoms are the cries of a world looking and longing for something better. Our witnessing for Christ is the only means of bringing hope and healing.

In the Tsunami tragedy of December 26, 2004, a powerful lesson was given to us. A tourist who spent four days looking for her cousin was asked how she was coping with the loss and she said: "I cannot go home without him" Oh that the church will come to the same conclusion; we cannot go home, the eternal home without our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, relatives and our fellow human beings.

2.      WHAT DOES A WITNESS HAVE TO DO?

Most people if they had to answer this question would give answers like these:

We can witness for Jesus by preaching the Word in all circumstances, in season and out of season; by distributing tracts; by giving bible studies; by praying for people, visiting the sick and the prisoners; and by singing and praising God.

However, an answer worthy of our contemplation would be what Jesus told the man out of whom he had cast some demons. "Go and tell your friends what the Lord has done for you". We can witness just by telling others what Christ has done for us.

Ellen G. White puts it very powerfully:

"Our confession of His faithfulness is Heaven's chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world. We are to acknowledge His grace as made known through the holy men of old; but that which will be most effectual is the testimony of our own experience. We are witnesses for God as we reveal in ourselves the working of a power that is divine. Every individual has a life distinct from all others, and an experience differing essentially from theirs. God desires that our praise shall ascend to Him, marked by our own individuality. These precious acknowledgments to the praise of the glory of His grace, when supported by a Christ-like life, have an irresistible power that works for the salvation of souls.--The Desire of Ages, p. 347.

Yes the most powerful testimony is our behavior; our way of living, this influence on others is irresistible. Someone has said that the words of men are weighed in grams but their deeds are weighed in Kilos.

We are to be living epistles everywhere and at any time, in our private and public life, with family members and with strangers. 2 Cor. 3:2

The story is told of this lad who was attacked by a gang of armed robbers. They searched the bag he was carrying for money, but found none. One of his attackers then decided to ask him: "do you have money"? He said: "yes, my mother put it here". The thieves, instead of taking the money stood still. Truth, the "naked truth" from the mouth this young disciple of Christ neutralized all their evil intents. These giant thieves were astonished. The leader of the gang then asked the boy: "why didn't you hide your money"? The boy responded, "My mother is a Christian, and she told me to always tell the truth no matter the situation".

Oh! What an answer! The answer mended a broken chord in the thief's heart. Tears fell from his cheeks, when he remembered what his Christian mother had taught him, and saw how far he had drifted. There and then he decided not to steal any more; neither would he lie, nor kill anymore. He left the gang and returned to the Christian life which he once knew. This was all possible because a young man was a witness in truth and in deed.

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Another powerful way to witness for Christ is by our influence. Do we forgive as Christ forgives when we have the opportunity to deal with our enemies?

Stephen's willingness to forgive his captors led to the conversion of Saul.

Paul's forgiveness and respectful response to his captors had a profound effect upon the prison authorities thereby leading to the winning of the jailor. People using their influence in such powerful ways are still with us.

A story was told about a woman in Rwanda who had survived the horrific killing of her family by a friend of the family. She was able to see his face when he was carrying out the horrible crime. As the wheels of justice began to turn, this woman while working at the prison discovered her family's killer in the jail. What would she do? What should she do? Insult, or try to poison him? Instead of revenge, she treated him well; she visited the enemy with encouraging words, and forgave him. When the Pastor came to preach in the prison, he regretted, repented, and asked the woman for forgiveness, and was baptized. That woman witnessed for Christ and the man was saved.

Friends, maybe you are just going to church as a habit; or you may even be involved in church activities while living a double life. If so it is time to come to Christ for a thorough transformation.

Maybe you are witnessing for Christ already; well it is time to do more. The harvest is ripe already to harvest!

3        THE REWARD OF WITNESSING

The reward for time

For time: first of all, the one witnessing has the joy and satisfaction of seeing people transformed.

What joy is ours to see the prostitute changed to be the Sabbath School Superintendent?

The murderer changed to become the Music director.

The drunkard transformed to be the deacon, the preacher or the elder? Sinners now saints in the house of God.

The one witnessing will have the holy Pride of belonging to a progressive and growing church.

The one witnessing will be ennobled by the fact that he/she is hastening the coming of Jesus.

The one witnessing can live a more fulfilled life knowing that his living is not in vain.

The reward for eternity.

The witness will shine. White puts it succintly: "the crown of the saints were of the most pure Gold, decked with stars...". Besides that, the witness will have eternal satisfaction from meeting with those who are there because of his witness.

No more stress, no more sorrow, no more temptation, no more death; but the best in health and wealth; fellowship, and sublime Worship. What more could one ask for?

I am sure we all would like these benefits; and they are well within our reach. All we have to do is to be transformed by an encounter with Jesus and live to witness to it.