Turning Point

Dr. David Jeremiah: For many believers, the idea of witnessing is intimidating, even frightening. If that's how you feel, take heart. Witnessing is easier than you think.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah wraps up his series, The Holy Spirit You May Not Know, with proven strategies for effective witnessing. Ready to overcome your fears? Listen as David concludes, when the Holy Spirit controls your life.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And thank you so much for listening. We're thankful to have you here on this last day of the month of June and the last program in the series on the Holy Spirit. Today we're going to finish up what happens when the Holy Spirit controls your life.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And as we end up the month, let me just remind you again that this is a very important time of the year for us at Turning Point. We talk very little about finances during the year, except in June and in December. So I want to thank you for prayerfully supporting Turning Point.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Today marks an important deadline for our ministry, the end of our fiscal year. So if Turning Point has been a blessing to you, consider making a special gift in support of this program. Any donation that is received before midnight will be matched dollar for dollar, thanks to some generous friends of the ministry. This unique opportunity ends tonight, and I encourage you to give as the Lord leads.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Together, we will continue delivering the unchanging word of God to an ever-changing world. Today, we are concluding a series that we began at the outset of this month on the Holy Spirit. And I want to tell you once more about the book, but I will do that when we're finished with the message. This is part two of when the Holy Spirit controls your life.

Dr. David Jeremiah: We have some teachers here, I see some of you. I know that you pray for opportunities, but do you ever pray for clarity? That God will give you clarity when you speak. If you've ever done any teaching, you understand very well what Paul was praying for.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Sometimes you see something so clear in your studies and you're so excited about it and you can't wait to share it when you have your opportunity. And then you present it to a group of people and you watch a glaze form over their eyes. With a sinking feeling you realize, they don't have a clue what you've been talking about.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Paul was saying, this is too important for me to muddle or obscure. I pray that I will be able to lay it out in a way that people can really and readily pick it up. I pray that a lot for what I do here. I don't want to just get up here and talk. Someone once told me a long time ago, if they haven't learned, you haven't taught.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And that's a really interesting thing, is it not? If you teach and they haven't learned, you haven't taught.

Dr. David Jeremiah: The Holy Spirit helps our worship. He helps us in these ways when we pray. Notice, secondly, the Holy Spirit will help us in our walk. Verse five, walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.

Dr. David Jeremiah: When you walk, you just put one step in front of the other, you just take one step at a time. How many of you know the Christian life is just one step at a time? When you get ahead of that, you get in trouble, don't you? I was thinking about the verse that says, according to your days, so shall your strength be.

Dr. David Jeremiah: How many of you are along with me when you say, Lord, this is Monday, I'd like strength for the whole week? No, you don't get strength for the whole week, you get strength for Monday. And when will you get Tuesday's strength? On Tuesday.

Dr. David Jeremiah: The Bible says, we walk by faith. And then he says in this passage, something very interesting, he says, we walk toward those who are without. What a wonderful picture that is. There are many Christians who think that once you become a Christian, you shut off all relationships with the people in the world and you stay a little bit each day in your holy huddle and you live there for the rest of your time.

Dr. David Jeremiah: I don't see that in the Bible. The Lord Jesus associated with sinners, with prostitutes, societal rejects. How are we supposed to win anyone in the world if we don't know anybody in the world? How are we going to touch people who don't know Christ if we're never with them? As someone has said, there's no impact without contact.

Dr. David Jeremiah: So the Bible doesn't teach that you as a Christian should get over in your little group of other Christians and never talk to anybody who doesn't believe what you believe or live like you live. The Bible says, however, we're to live our lives toward them. In other words, live our lives in such a way that they will see the difference we make.

Dr. David Jeremiah: If you're a Christian and you're working in a company where you're the only Christian, I promise you they know it. If you're living at all the Christian life, they watch you. You're to live your life with a difference. And the Bible goes on to tell us a little bit more about how to do that as we move forward.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Paul says in this passage that when you walk with wisdom, you do it openly toward those who are outside of the faith. You do your best to be an example for what Christ means to you as you live your life. I can promise you this, the people you work with are watching you every move.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Once it becomes apparent you are a Christian, you are on display, an object of curiosity and they will monitor everything you say and everything you do. And you say, pastor, I don't like that, it doesn't seem fair. That sounds like living in a fishbowl, I don't want that. Well, that's your problem, it's tough, that's the way it is. When you're a Christian, that's just the way it is.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And if you try to live consistently in your own strength, you'll fall flat on your face. But the Holy Spirit is here to empower you to live in such a way that the environment around you, which is not Christian, causes a contrast to be seen in your life that is amazing.

Dr. David Jeremiah: I remember one time, when I was a student in Dallas Seminary, I was working for the Illinois California Express. That's a freight company. I don't know if it's still in existence or not, but it was back then. I did a lot of things during the time I was working there. I was a billing clerk for a while. That's where you can make the most money, so I tried to learn how to do that. But I worked a lot on the docks.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And you know, the docks of a freight company, that's a good place to find out what the world is all about. I want you to know. I didn't know any Christians there. I knew a lot of union members who were upset with me, if they thought I was working too hard, they'd let me know. If I wasn't taking enough time off for my lunch break, they'd let me know.

Dr. David Jeremiah: I'll never forget, one day I was in the truck and a guy came up and he walked in the truck and he looked at me and he said, Jeremiah, why are you the way you are? Oh, what a question that is. Why are you the way you are? What an opportunity to say, well, because I live for somebody else beside myself, I live for Jesus.

Dr. David Jeremiah: The Bible says, be ready with an answer for everyone who asks you concerning your faith. You don't have to open that door to do that, God will open it. And then Paul says, redeem your time. Seize every opportunity, like merchants who are buying up a commodity in the market.

Dr. David Jeremiah: This whole business of our walk before the world is so critical. And you say, it isn't fair that my faith should be a determinant in the life of somebody else. It isn't fair, it's just the way it is. That's why our responsibility is so great.

Dr. David Jeremiah: I remember reading a story about the Russian writer, Maxim Gorky. Gorky was a child when his father died. And he and his mother went to live with his grandparents. His granddad, Gorky recalled, was a religious man, but stern, irritable, and sometimes very cruel. His mother was very religious, but kind and gentle and understanding.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Gorky wrote that when he saw his mother and his grandfather kneeling side by side in church, he could not believe that they were praying to the same God. He said, there had to be two gods, one cruel and vindictive and the other loving and forgiving. I think sometimes when people see us, they must wonder about our God.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Because you see, the way we interact with those outside the faith paints a picture of the God we worship. The Christ they see in you and in me is the only Christ they have and they will evaluate.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Robert Ingersoll, the famous infidel, had a godly aunt to whom he sent a copy of one of his books that were filled with attacking the Bible. He was a terrible man who wrote terrible things about the faith. On the flyleaf of this book, he wrote these words. He said, if all Christians live like you, this book would never have been written.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Ladies and gentlemen, whether we like it or not, we walk our faith toward the world. We're not going to be perfect, we're going to fall down sometimes, we're going to have to back up and retool, start over in some areas. But what Paul wants us to understand is that we're the Christians in this world, Christ has given us eternal life and hope and we're to be the ambassadors of that to the whole world.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And never has that been more important than it is now because the world seems to be getting darker and darker and the world gets darker, the light gets brighter. And we have the opportunity to represent our dear Savior here in a world that rejects him. Oh, what a privilege that is, and how bold and strategic we should be in doing it.

Dr. David Jeremiah: So then, Paul writes about the Spirit's help in our worship and in our walk, in verse six of Colossians four, he helps us with our witness. He says, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Dr. David Jeremiah: The Bible says that one of the hardest things you and I will ever have to deal with is the control of our tongue. Do you know the book of James tells us that it's more difficult to bridle your tongue than it is to bridle a wild horse? You can let those words out, but you can't stuff them back in.

Dr. David Jeremiah: You can send them forth, but you can't call them back. You can say them, but you can't unsay them, and we all know that. The tongue gets a lot of people in trouble. What we say, how we say it, when we say it. So it's not surprising that Paul would in his final verse of this paragraph talk about our Christian witness.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Three ways the Spirit should influence our speech as we seek to live as witnesses toward the world. Very practical stuff here, you guys. Number one, our witness should be courteous. He said, let your speech always be with grace. I don't know about you, but I like gracious people. I pray to God that I will not be a grumpy old man, but a gracious old man.

Dr. David Jeremiah: That's the way we should be, we should be gracious people. Many Christians turn away from Christ by the very way they present the truth of the gospel. I mean, you don't usually persuade people to know and love the Lord when you begin your conversation by telling them to go to hell. That usually doesn't win you an open door.

Dr. David Jeremiah: We read of our Lord Jesus that he was full of grace and truth. Truth packaged in grace. That's the way Christ related to men and women in his earthly walk, and so we should too. I read about four rights that I hope will help you remember what it means to speak with grace.

Dr. David Jeremiah: The right words, say what is true, but choose words that are helpful and not hurtful. There are a number of ways to say the same thing. You can say it in a hurtful way, or you can say it in a helpful way, always be edifying, which means build up, don't tear down.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Number two, not just the right words, but the right way. The same words can sound gentle or harsh depending on how you say them. Grace has a special tone. It's not just what you say, but it's how you say it.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Number three, not just the right words and the right way, but the right time. Timing is everything. Good words spoken at the wrong time can get you nowhere. And sometimes silence speaks louder than words. Ecclesiastes says there is a time to keep silent and a time to speak. So make sure you're doing this at the right time.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And then there are right reasons. Don't just talk to hear yourself talk, speak because you want to help and bless the person with whom you are talking. Ephesians 4:29 says, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers. What a great verse that is.

Dr. David Jeremiah: JC Ryle said, speak the truth in love. Because truth without love is barbarity and love without truth is cruelty. To speak the right words in the right way at the right time for the right reasons is a challenge. And it can only happen when you let the Holy Spirit direct your life when you speak to those without the faith.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Our witness must be courteous, it must be compelling. Notice Paul says next, let your speech always be seasoned with salt. What does that mean? It means don't let your words become flat and tasteless. Salt had two particularly important purposes in the New Testament. It was a preservative to keep things from spoiling.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And it was used to create thirst in animals. I used to spend my summers with my uncle who had a farm in Pennsylvania, and I remembered while being there, we used to put salt licks in the field. Those are big blocks of salt for the animals and when they would lick those blocks of salt, they would be thirsty and then drink enough water.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And by the way, that's the reason why they sell popcorn, potato chips, and nuts at your ball game. You eat a bag of potato chips at a ball game and then you want to get a soft drink and you get the biggest one they sell and you make them happy and you quench your thirst.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Paul is saying, let there be something in what you say in your witness that compels people to know God. Get creative in how you communicate Christ. Talk in such a way that when people are around you, they sense, this is not something you've put on, it is something in you that comes out effervescently with the power of the Holy Spirit. Let it be really you.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Yes, let your speech always be gracious, but don't let it be flat. Don't load it up with canned phrases and Christian clichés. We all know what that sounds like. You ever ask somebody a question about the faith and they say something that you've already heard a million times in your life and it doesn't mean a thing to you because you know they're just telling you what they heard and it doesn't mean anything to them at all.

Dr. David Jeremiah: We're to be filled with the wonderful truth of who Christ is. Let me just pause here to say this, when it comes to witnessing, don't make it harder than it is. You don't have to go to class to learn how to witness, you don't have to have a ten week course at your church or at some Bible college. I'm not saying those things will help you to be better at it, but witnessing is just telling people what Jesus Christ has done for you. That's all it is.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And everyone in this room who's a Christian can do that. If Christ hasn't done anything for you, then I would suggest you not talk too much to people outside the faith. But you all know he's done so much. And when he does something for you, make a note of it and just put it in your little file up here, someday what he did for me is going to help me tell somebody else about my Jesus.

Dr. David Jeremiah: I like to brag on Jesus. Do you? I think we should be bold about that, so that people know, this is not about us, this is about the one who loved us and gave himself for us.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Paul says, our witness must be courteous and compelling and compassionate. He says, verse six, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. You talk to people differently, not because your message is different, but because people are different. You suit your witness to the one with whom you are speaking.

Dr. David Jeremiah: I talk to someone who has just lost a family member about Jesus in a much different way than I might talk to them if I were sitting with them at a ball game or something. You have to figure out the situation, you have to be compassionate about where those people are in their life, and then talk to them in that mode. You don't just use the same four spiritual laws, no matter where you go and what you do.

Dr. David Jeremiah: If you do that, you're going to have a lot of awkward, discouraging experiences. Where are they? How can you relate to them? How can you love them in their situation and how can you share the Lord Jesus with them?

Dr. David Jeremiah: I think one of the most difficult things as a Christian is to witness to people who are in your own family. I've heard that from so many people over the years. Someone once told me something like this, when a wife talks to her husband about the Lord, she might be conveying to him, whether she wants to or not, that he hasn't been a good husband or one that he should have been, and so the spiritual thing is a way that she's just telling him he's not measuring up.

Dr. David Jeremiah: What a difference when a woman comes to her husband, she says this, Honey, you've been everything I could ever have asked for in a husband. I love you so much. You're a great provider and I know you love me, and I'm so grateful for that. I just wish there was one thing we could share together that is so very special to me. How different that is from an accusatory comment or you need to get saved or whatever you say when you have those conversations.

Dr. David Jeremiah: The same thing is true with our parents. Over the years, I've had many people say, my parents don't know the Lord, and whenever I try to talk to them, they get mad. Or they say, I don't want any of that stuff talked about in my house, you may not talk about that when you come here.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And of course, they have the right to say that, and you should obey that. But a lot of times that happens because of the crazy way we go about trying to win our parents. Because the same rule is true. If you go back and try to witness to your father who's not a Christian, do you know what you might convey to him? You might convey that you think he was a bad father.

Dr. David Jeremiah: After all, what kind of father would let his kids grow up without religion? So you need to season your witness and say to him, you've been a great dad, I couldn't have asked for a better one. But you know what, Dad, God has given me something so great, and I love you so much, I can't help but share with you what he's done for me. I wish you knew my God like I do.

Dr. David Jeremiah: When you affirm a person's worth without blasting him or her with the gospel right up front, you win an opportunity. The Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom and the grace to do that. He empowers you and me to look at every situation and to discern how God wants us to tailor make our witness to each individual.

Dr. David Jeremiah: When Jesus met the woman at the well in the hot noonday sun, he didn't say to her, you must be born again. No, that's what he said to Nicodemus. He spoke to her about thirst and the deeper thirst for God that we all feel within us. He spoke about water and the water of life that can become an unfailing source of refreshment through the years of our lives.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Jesus was a master at taking the situation and speaking the truth to a person in the situation in which he found them. In the book of Acts, there was this man named Philip, who met a government official from Africa, who was traveling through the desert in his chariot. The man was reading from this old scroll, but he didn't understand what it meant.

Dr. David Jeremiah: So Philip didn't give him a lecture, Philip jumped up in the chariot and he said, what are you reading? Does it make sense to you? And that African official said, no, it doesn't make sense. And after Philip explained the message about Jesus, we're told the African official got saved and he was baptized.

Dr. David Jeremiah: But you see, that was a chariot. That was a different place. That was a different moment. The chariot experience wasn't the same as the well experience. There were two different experiences, two different places. Sheldon Van Auken was an American writer best known for his memoir. He wrote a book called A Severe Mercy, which is worthy of reading. It was published back in 1977.

Dr. David Jeremiah: In his college, he was a convinced atheist. He thought religion was simply unnecessary. But he had some wonderful Christian friends who really cared about him and often talked to him about Jesus. They didn't argue with him, they just genuinely shared with him about what Jesus had done to change their lives.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And it eventually started to bother him in a good way. He couldn't stop thinking about it. So he wrote a letter to C.S. Lewis and he said, something's happening to me and I don't even know what to do. Lewis wrote back and he said, I think the Holy Spirit is after you, and I don't think you're going to get away.

Dr. David Jeremiah: And he didn't, he didn't get away. After lots of questions and honest conversations, Sheldon Van Auken put his trust in Jesus. And later said, he felt like he just jumped toward Christ and found that Christ was just holding him and waiting for him.

Dr. David Jeremiah: We don't have to get everything done today. Your witness today might not get you to the place where you want it to go. Here's what I suggest, don't witness to someone in such a way that if they reject the witness, they reject you. Witness to someone in such a way that if it doesn't materialize the first time, the door is still open to continue to talk about it.

Dr. David Jeremiah: How many of you didn't come to Christ the first time you heard about him, you came to Christ four, five or six times later, after someone had loved you and told you how much they loved you and told you about how much Jesus had changed their life. We can be more effective if we just follow the scripture. We can be better in worshipping, better in walking, better in witnessing, if we let the Holy Spirit control us from the inside, which is what we've been learning about.

Dr. David Jeremiah: That should be our goal in that threefold thing that we've talked about that God would do that in our lives. If he's not done it before, he can begin to do it now if we just give him control through his Spirit. I hope you will consider that. And if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, this reminder at the end of this month that God loves you, and Christ died for you, and he's made a place for you. If you will receive him, he wants to know you personally, he wants you to know him personally, and he wants you to come to him for salvation.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Will you do that today? Will you open your heart and receive him as your savior? He's waiting for you, and he will accept you, I promise.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, we will say goodbye today for this particular broadcast, and tomorrow we begin a brand new series. Don't forget to join us. Don't forget also this is the last day you can get your copy of the book, The Holy Spirit You May Not Know. Ask for your copy of the book, and it will be sent to you right away. Get your order in right now, and your year-end gift is important too. So thankful for your presence. God bless you. We'll see you next time.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Today's message originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor, Dr. David Jeremiah. Drop us a note to let us know how God is using this ministry in your life. Write to Turning Point, P.O. Box 3838, San Diego, California 92163. Visit our website at davidjeremiah.org/radio or call 800-947-1993.

Dr. David Jeremiah: Ask for your copy of David's new book, The Holy Spirit You May Not Know, a valuable resource that's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also stream more than 1200 of Dr. Jeremiah's messages on demand on any screen. On our streaming service, Turning Point Plus, for a monthly gift of any amount, visit turningpointplus.org for details.

Dr. David Jeremiah: This is David Michael Jeremiah, join us tomorrow as we begin the series, Making Sense of it All, on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.