Testify What the Lord Has Done for You

Last Sunday morning, we collectively read Psalm 40:1–5 as our responsive call to worship. Recall v. 5:

You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

David announces that he will proclaim all the wondrous deeds and thoughts or intentions that YHWH has multiplied to the people of God’s kingdom. We applied that this past Sunday to our call in Colossians 4:2–6 to be witnesses to those outside the kingdom—to walk in wisdom toward outsiders and to let [our] speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. This is vital. We as disciples of Jesus must be his witnesses and ambassadors of the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:13–16; 2 Corinthians 5:20–21). However, we should also take a cue from our king and tell of God’s kindness toward us to our brothers and sisters in Christ, the church, as well. David, writing prophetically in the voice of Jesus in Psalm 22, pens:

I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! (Psalm 22:22–23).

Our call as disciples is also to tell of Jesus to our brothers and to praise him in the congregation. God calls us to share Jesus with one another by telling of the wondrous deeds and thoughts he has multiplied toward us. Testimonies of what the Lord has done for us encourage our hearts in Christ and build up the church.

We see this exemplified by Paul and his partner in ministry, Tychicus.

Tychicus shows up a few times in Scripture. And, from the evidence available, he seems to be a very trusted co-laborer of Paul’s. When the church in Crete needs to be covered in Titus’ absence, one of Paul’s go to candidates is Tychicus (Titus 3:12). When Paul requires Timothy, he sends Tychicus to Ephesus to cover for Timothy while he’s gone (2 Timothy 4:11–12). Tychicus, Paul tells us, is a beloved brother and faithful minister of the gospel (Colossians 4:7; Ephesians 6:21). And, one of his most important jobs, it seems, was to to testify to other churches—to tell everything that was happening in Paul’s ministry:

Tychicus will tell you all about my activities… They (Tychicus and Onesimus) will tell you of everything that has taken place here (Colossians 4:7, 9).

 So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything (Ephesians 6:21).

Why did Paul send Tychicus to tell about his ministry? He had this purpose in mind: to encourage the hearts of those who listened.

Paul writes to the Colossians and the Ephesians using identical language, “I have sent him (Tychicus) to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts” (Colossians 4:8; Ephesians 6:22). Paul wants other saints to know what God is doing through his ministry in order to encourage or exhort them.

Some of the sweetest moments in our corporate worship are our “Mission Moments” when a missionary we support visits and shares with us how the gospel has been increasing and bearing fruit in their ministries. In what manner does this encourage or exhort our hearts so much? I think it does so in at least three ways.

First, hearing the testimonies of what God has done for and through his people in the gospel magnifies Jesus in our midst. And, when we magnify Jesus in our midst, this stokes our affections for and worship of him as we behold his glory.

Second, hearing the testimonies of what God has done for and through his people in the gospel strengthens our unity and solidarity with Christ as the church.

Third, hearing the testimonies of what God has done for and through his people in their gospel ministry emboldens gospel action—we effectively spur one another on to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).

There is one scene from Acts that captures this quite poignantly. In Acts 4:23–31, Peter and John return to their friends to report their recent gospel activities (healing of the lame beggar [Acts 3:1–10], Peter preaching in the temple [Acts 3:11–26], and the persecution they endured at the hands of the chief priests and elders [Acts 4:1–22]). They specifically report “what the chief priests and the elders had said to them” (Acts 4:23). After hearing their testimony three things result: (1) Worship—They begin to worship the Lord (Acts 4:24–30), (2) Strengthened unity—They prayerfully worship together (Acts 4:24), and (3) Emboldened gospel action—The Holy Spirit fills them and they continued to speak the gospel with boldness (4:31).

The lesson for us is, let’s be like Paul, Tychicus, Peter, and John. Let’s make a habit of sharing with our fellow brothers and sister what Jesus is doing in our lives and ministries. Because, our testimonies (1) magnify Jesus, leading to worship, (2) galvanize our collective solidarity with and our unity in Jesus, (3) and embolden gospel action. In short, when we share our testimonies of Jesus, we encourage one another in Christ and build up the church.

In that spirit, I leave you with these words of instruction from our King from Mark 5:19:

“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Sovereignty, Responsibility, and Boldness

(This sermon on Acts 4:23-31was preached 11/9/08. The audio is available here.)

Imagine that you are engaged in a personal ministry. You are confident that you are following God, and it seems that you are having some success. Then, suddenly, there’s a huge obstacle in your path,

  • It might be a failure on your part,
  • It might be a rejection or betrayal by former colleagues,
  • It might be a financial barrier,
  • It might be opposition, or threats from others.

How do you respond?

In Acts 4, that’s the situation Peter and John and all the apostles find themselves in.

Jesus was killed just a few months ago. That itself had seemed to be the end of their hopes. But God raised Him from dead. Jesus opened their eyes to Scripture and to His own prophecies to see that the crucifixion had to happen, to see the role of Christ’s suffering in God’s plan. The apostles now know that Jesus is living, active, still at work.

He then sent the Holy Spirit on them with power at Pentecost, baptizing them and filling them for their special task. These apostles saw three thousand saved that day – and they themselves baptized every one. They’ve seen more come to faith day by day.

Then God worked through Peter and John to heal a man who was lame from birth. A crowd gathered, and Peter preached; once again, thousands more were saved.

It would be understandable if, at this point, the apostles thought, “Wow! Look at God work! What success! Everything is just going to get better and better!”

But things didn’t get better and better.

As we saw last week, the Jewish authorities arrest Peter and John. They threaten them, warning them not to speak any more in the name of Jesus. Peter speaks boldly in their presence, saying there is no other name by which men must be saved, saying that they cannot but speak about what they have seen and heard, saying they must obey God rather than men. But the Jewish authorities just threaten all the more. They release Peter and John, but make their point absolutely clear: “If you continue to speak in the name of Jesus, watch out. We’re here. You know what happened to Jesus. If you love your families, if you want to see your children grow up, you had better keep quiet.”

This is the first serious challenge to the young church.

Put yourself in their shoes: These are not supermen. They have families, worries, and cares. If they are put to death, there are no food stamps, there is no welfare, there is no social security for their children. They must be facing a strong temptation to be quiet. Satan undoubtedly tempted them in these terms: “Think about how many are already saved! Let’s just teach them. Let’s just live together and enjoy each other, be family to each other. We can stop this proselytizing. For it’s this speaking in public that will get us in trouble. Indeed, maybe this is a sign from God –we’ve been spreading the Gospel, and we’ve had our success. Now maybe we’re supposed to stop and focus on deepening our joy in Christ.”

Imagine what would have happened if apostles had done that. That would have been the end of the church. Or, possibly, the church would have been a tiny enclave, a minor sect within Judaism. In other words, that would have been disastrous.

So how do the apostles fight this temptation? How can we, facing our own obstacles, fight the temptation to quit, to change, to adapt in ways that destroy our ministry?

Peter and John fight in four ways that are applicable to us:

  • Acknowledge your weakness
  • Know the truth
  • Trust the truth
  • Ask for God’s enabling (more…)