Young People Meeting: Witnessing

Last Lord's day we had a new beginning for the Young People meeting here in the local church. The Lord has led us as to how the young people should function. We have tried a couple of ways to make the meeting living, fruitful, and that all the young ones function. Finally, we decided to assign responsibility to all the young people in truth pursuit, in presenting the truth, and also in sharing the gospel. Our first topic was "Witnessing." This message was also the need of the time as we have been trumpeting gospel preaching by every saint at least two hours a week. This time too, the young people from the church in Shillong joined and some new ones in Gurugram also joined. The Lord is gaining the young people for His move.

Excerpt from the message by Brother Watchman Nee from Messages for Building Up the New Believers, Vol. 2, Lesson 18.

Every Christian must try his best to bring salvation to others. He must do his best to testify to others and lead others to the Lord so that the testimony may continue on this earth from generation to generation. We suffer no loss when we witness. But by witnessing, the testimony goes on.

What is witnessing? In Acts 22:15 the Lord sent Ananias to speak to Paul: “For you will be a witness to Him unto all men of the things which you have seen and heard.” From this, we see that the basis of witnessing is what we have seen and heard. First John 4:14 tells us what witnessing is: “We have beheld and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.” A person is a witness to what he has seen. It means that you should witness to your friends, relatives, and acquaintances of what you have seen and heard, and bring them to the Lord.

The Samaritan Woman, John 4 (Witnessing by going to the city): Every Christian has an obligation to be a witness and to introduce the Lord to others. All those who have seen that they are sinners surely have a testimony to give. Those who have seen the Savior also have a testimony to give. This woman gave her testimony within a few hours after she had met the Lord.

The Demon Possessed, Mark 5:1-20 (Going home to the family): After the demon possessed man was saved, the Lord said to him, “Go to your house, to your own people, and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you” (v. 19). In order to witness to our family, we must show them the great change in our conduct. We must show our family what a wonderful change has been wrought in our lives since we believed in the Lord. Only then will they listen to us. 

Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:19-21 (Proclaiming in the synagogue): After Paul received his sight, he went at the first opportunity to testify that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. Every believer of the Lord should do the same thing.

Andrew, John 1:40-45 (One on one): Conversation between Todd and Mr. Dickens: “In the past I have only heard the gospel. Today I have seen the gospel.” The next Lord’s Day, Mr. Dickens went to church, and later he led dozens of people to salvation.

THE IMPORTANCE OF WITNESSING

Being a Great Joy: The two happiest days in every believer’s life are the day he believes in the Lord and the day when, for the first time, he leads another person to Christ.

Learning to Be Wise: Proverbs 11:30 says, “He that winneth souls is wise.” From the very beginning of our Christian life, we should learn to win souls by various means. We should learn to be wise. This will make us useful persons in the church.

Begetting Life: New believers need to learn to witness to others from the very beginning. This is something we have to do for the rest of our lives. The living water does not flow through those who are opened just to the Lord. One end must be opened to the Lord, and the other end must be opened to man. The living water will flow out only when both ends are opened. Many people are powerless before God because the end toward the Lord is not open. But many more people are powerless because the end for witnessing and leading others to Christ is closed.

Experiencing the Misery of Eternal Separation: As soon as a person believes in the Lord, he should make a resolution before the Lord to lead men to the Lord. Everyone should have a record of how many souls he will save in a year. He may resolve to save ten or twenty a year. He should then begin to pray for them. General prayers are useless prayers. We must ask the Lord for a specific number in our prayer. The Lord wants to hear our specific prayers. We should pray to the Lord every day and should testify whenever there is opportunity. If all of us preach the gospel and lead people to the Lord this way, our spiritual life will advance quickly in a few years. The testimony of the gospel needs to go out from us until the Lord’s return.

May the Lord bless all the young people to be His witnesses!