Sunday Re-cap (6th Nov 2005)

Seen and Heard: Building a Credible Witness
by Sam Hari

Acts 22:14-16
14 “Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. 15 You are to take his message everywhere, telling the whole world what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, why delay? Get up and be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on the name of the Lord.’

1. Seeing and Hearing is such a significant part of our witness.
2. We can only witness as much as we have seen and heard ourselves. (Matt 11:4).
3. We build a credible witness by seeing and hearing. However,
4. A credible witness can either be for good or evil.
5. It’s important that we see and hear the right things; the things that the LORD wants us to see and hear. This is where choice comes in; what are we allowing ourselves to see and hear?
   

Acts 9:1-19 The Call Of Saul

1. Saul could hear (the voice) but could not see (the light). His witness was no yet credible.
2. The LORD wanted Saul to be blind to the things of the world; the things of his past; the things that was his passion (persecuting the believers). The LORD wanted to give Saul (and us!) a whole new vision.
3. In the same manner, the LORD wants to blind us so that we get new vision. (Matt 7:5)
4. Until he got that new vision, he had to wait.
5. It was significant that Ananias was sent to restore Saul’s sight.
   We need other mature Christians to help us build a credible sight!
   When we fellowship with them, we see things the way they see it and eventually it becomes our perception as well!
6. Who will see the LORD? The pure in heart (Matt 5:8).
   
   

Matt 13:15-17 Describes People who can see yet cannot see and hear yet cannot hear. Why?

15 For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’
16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

How does this build a credible witness in our lives? We need to undertsand that:

1. People are seeing (and hearing) us (Matt 5:16). Christians Read The Bible But The World Reads The Christian
2. The Father is seeing (and hearing) us (Matt 6:4,6,18). What is He seeing?

Let's build a credible witness in our lives for the LORD. Let 2006 be a year of hearing and responding to the call of God. We must begin by Seeing the Righteous One and Hearing the voice of God and testifying to what we have seen and heard. (Acts 22:14-16 see above)