What Is Your Testimony of Jesus?

Podcast: Light on Life Season 6 Episode 38

What Is Your Testimony of Jesus?

What does your testimony of Jesus look like? Is it clothed in the latest the world has to offer? Some people’s testimony is under-dressed. A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked. After a moment’s pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.”1 I guess he said ouch instead of Amen. What would others say your testimony of Jesus is? That’s an excellent question to ask and respond to, and that’s our focus on this week’s Light On Life.

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#S4-036: Want Victory Look At Jesus Shocking Geographic Throwdown [Encore Podcast]

[Tweet “If you have any doubts about what the gospel is, look at 1 Corinthians fifteen.”]

Read the Notes

You can view a primary transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This weeks call is:

  • What does your testimony of Jesus look like? Is it clothed in the latest the world has to offer? It’s time to put on the new man because the new man has a new testimony.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

What is your valuable personal testimony of how Jesus changed your life? Share your story of commitment in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

You can find additional information on the subject of John’s Gospel in the resources listed below.

    1. #S6-015: The Value of Knowing the Gift of God [Podcast]
    2. #S6-014: How to Conquer Prejudice the Jesus Way [Podcast]
    3. #S6-013: What Does It Mean to Be Born Again from God? [Podcast]
    4. #S6-012: Nicodemus: Is His Life a Positive Example to Follow? [Podcast]
    5.  #S-018: How Not to Be A Minister of Condemnation [Podcast]
    6.  #S6-019: Worshipping God: Why the Hour Is Here [Podcast]
    7. #S6-020: More on Praising God: Why the Hour Is Here [Podcast]
    8. #S6-021: The Big Scoop on Magnifying God [Podcast]
    9. #S6-023: Amazing Pointers on the Road to Lifting God Higher [Podcast]
    10. #S6-027: Why Jesus Shocking Bread of Life Statement is the Only Way to Heaven [Podcast]
    11. #S6-029: Why Mixing Holy and Unholy Is Not a Good God Thing [Podcast]
    12. #S6-032: Why It’s Never Wise to Not Obey God’s Will for Your Life [Podcast]
    13. #S6-033: Killing Jesus: How to Walk the Talk in the Face of The Rising Tide of Opposition [Podcast]
    14. #S6-034: Continual Rejoicing: The Lesson of the Feast of Tabernacles [Podcast]
    15. #S6-036: What Happens When An Adulteress Meets the Light of the World? [Podcast] 

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com


The Testimony of Jesus in John Eight

John 8:13–18 (ESV) — 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

  • In this passage, the words ‘bear witness’ appears four times and the word ‘testimony’ appears three times and with that thought here’s the definition of the day.
  • The word ‘testimony’ occurs thirty-seven times in scripture, thirty of which are in the writings of John.
  • So, John likes this word ‘testimony’; it’s a word you are more likely to hear him use if you were in conversation with him.`
  • What John means when he uses this word is the verbal evidence of a witness by which something is affirmed to be true.
  • The word also translates as ‘reputation’ in 1 Timothy 3:7.
  • So, having a good testimony means having a good reputation.
  • With that thought here’s the illustration of the day.

A Powerful Testimony of ‘Jesus’: Nabeel Qureshi – ‘Seeking Allah Finding Jesus’

Allahu Akbar. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” These are the first words of the Muslim call to prayer. They were also the first words ever spoken to me. Moments after I was born, I have been told, my father softly recited them in my ear, as his father had done for him, and as all my forefathers had done for their sons since the time of Muhammad. We are Qureshis, descendants of the Quresh tribe—Muhammad’s tribe. Our family stood sentinel over Islamic tradition.

The words my ancestors passed down to me were more than ritual: they came to define my life as a Muslim in the West. Every day I sat next to my mother as she taught me to recite the Qur’an in Arabic. Five times a day, I stood behind my father as he led our family in congregational prayer. By age 5, I had recited the entire Qur’an in Arabic and memorized the last seven chapters. By age 15, I had committed the last 15 chapters of the Qur’an to memory in both English and Arabic. Every day I recited countless prayers in Arabic, thanking Allah for another day upon waking, invoking his name before falling asleep.

But it is one thing to be steeped in remembrance, and it is quite another to bear witness. My grandfather and great-grandfather were Muslim missionaries, spending their lives preaching Islam to unbelievers in Indonesia and Uganda. My genes carried their zeal. By middle school, I had learned how to challenge Christians, whose theology I could break down just by asking questions. Focusing on the identity of Jesus, I would ask, “Jesus worshiped God, so why do you worship Jesus?” or, “Jesus said, ‘the Father is greater than I.’ How could he be God?”

Answers in the Spirit of Apologetics

  • Let’s just stop here and answer these questions.
  • Let’s start with the first one: “Jesus worshiped God, so why do you worship Jesus?”
  • Well, in the beginning, was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
  • Jesus is God.
  • That’s what your testimony of Jesus must be.
  • Another answer to that Jesus is anointed as King.
  • That’s also what your testimony of Jesus must be.
  • And, you always bow down and pay homage to a king and Jesus is the King of the whole earth.
  • He is the king of kings the Bible says and Lord of lords in Revelation 1:5 and 17:14.
  • Let’s go to the next question: “Jesus said, ‘the Father is greater than I.’ How could he be God?”
  • One answer to this is that there is a difference between identity and function.
  • Think of family for a moment: here’s a father and a son.
  • Dad is the head of the family; that’s His function, that’s his role.
  • Dad’s role is not the same as the son’s but both father and son are the same family.
  • They are the same blood.
  • So the Father is greater than Jesus in function, someone has to be the head of the family.
  • But, in identity, they are both God.
  • Getting back to Nabeel Qureshi testimony of Jesus, he goes on to say:

“If I really wanted to throw Christians for a loop, I would ask them to explain the Trinity. They usually responded, “It’s a mystery.” In my heart, I mocked their ignorance, saying, “The only mystery here is how you could believe in something as ridiculous as Christianity.”

Ways to Understand the Trinity

  • Let’s break off again here.
  • The Trinity is difficult.
  • Do you think all things God is easy for your finite mind to grasp?
  • Why you can’t understand the complexities of the known universe let alone the Creator of the universe.
  • You can build a little bit on the function and identity of the family idea above.
  • God is one; that’s a Bible fact.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (ESV) — 4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

  • The Godhead is one in function; they are unified.
  • In identity, they are separate.

Luke 3:21–22 (ESV) — 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

  • In this passage, you have three members active and engaged.
  • The Father can’t be the Son; if He is, He’s talking to Himself.
  • The Son can’t be the Spirit because if He is, He is falling on top of Himself.
  • How do you do that?
  • That’s silliness.
  • This is one way to look at the Trinity.
  • Granted, it may not be the best way but it’s at least one way.
  • Another way to look at the Trinity is by looking at a geometric cube.
  • This next ‘Trinity’ statement comes from Josh McDowell, who says that the Trinity is like the three dimensions that comprise a cube: length, width, and depth.
  • Each dimension is unique and can stand on its own, but it takes all three together to become one cube.
  • So, that’s another way of looking at the Trinity.
  • Let’s get back to the testimony.

Jesus Calls

Bolstered by every conversation I had with Christians (Nabeel Qureshi goes on to say), I felt confident in the truth of Islam. It gave me discipline, purpose, morals, family values, and clear direction for worship. Islam was the lifeblood that coursed through my veins. Islam was my identity, and I loved it. I boldly issued the call of Islam to anyone and everyone who would listen, proclaiming that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger. And it was there, atop the minaret of Islamic life, that Jesus called to me.

Not The Man I Thought

As a freshman at Old Dominion University in Virginia, I was befriended by a sophomore, David Wood. Soon after he extended a helping hand, I found him reading a Bible. Incredulous that someone as clearly intelligent as he would actually read Christians’ sacred text, I launched a barrage of apologetic attacks, from questioning the reliability of Scripture to denying Jesus’ crucifixion to, of course, challenging the Trinity and the deity of Christ. David didn’t react like other Christians I had challenged. He did not waver in his witness, nor did he waver in his friendship with me. Far from it—he became even more engaged, answering the questions he could respond to, investigating the questions he couldn’t respond to, and spending time with me through it all.

Even though he was a Christian, his zeal for God was something I understood and respected. We quickly became best friends, signing up for events together, going to classes together, and studying for exams together. All the while, we argued about the historical foundations of Christianity. Some classes we signed up for just to argue some more. After three years of investigating the origins of Christianity, I concluded that the case for Christianity was strong—that the Bible could be trusted and that Jesus died on the cross, rose from the dead, and claimed to be God.

What Is Our Gospel Testimony?

  • Now, that’s the gospel.
  • If you have any doubts about what the gospel is, look at 1 Corinthians fifteen.

1 Corinthians 15:1–6 (ESV) — 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Components of the Gospel

  • Number one: Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
  • What scriptures is Paul referring to here?
  • He is not talking about the New Testament because it was in process.
  • Paul was still writing letters to the churches.
  • The gospel writers were putting pen to scroll.
  • John’s vision on the island of Patmos hadn’t happened yet.
  • The New Testament was breaking ground like a sunflower punching up through the dirt of a flower bed.
  • It had not come together yet.
  • So, the scriptures Paul means in the phrase, ‘Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures’ are the Old Testament scriptures, the prophetic scriptures which point toward the Messiah.
  • You have to remember that the word ‘Messiah’ is the Hebrew word for ‘Christ.’
  • So, it’s Christ in the New testament – same word.
  • It means the same thing in Hebrew as it does in Greek, anointed one.
  • Specifically, one anointed and thereby set apart and equipped to perform a special task for God.2
  • So, we can interchange the Hebrew for the Greek and read this passage like this: “Messiah died for our sins according to the scriptures.”

The Messiah Message: Jesus Is King

  • One descriptive component of the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament is that when He comes, He will come as a king.

Jeremiah 23:5 (ESV) — 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Isaiah 9:6 (ESV) — 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Zechariah 9:9–10 (ESV) — 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

  • Jesus fulfilled that.

John 12:12–15 (ESV) — 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

The Testimony of Jesus As Messiah: He is King

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (ESV) — 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ (the King) died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

  • Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah is the head of the Kingdom of God.
  • He must reign until He puts all enemies under His feet, and then He will turn the Kingdom back to His Father.

1 Corinthians 15:24–27 (ESV) — 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

The Testimony of Jesus as King: Putting All Together

  • Now, put it all together.
  • Jesus comes riding in on a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah 9, the people declare Him as king.
  • He is arrested.
  • Jesus stands before Pilate.
  • Pilate asks him, are you the king of the Jews?

Matthew 27:11 (ESV) — 11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.”

  • Just a short time later, Jesus is crucified, and the Roman soldiers nail a sign on the cross at Pilate’s direction.

Matthew 27:37 (ESV) — 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

  • Jesus dies, pays the penalty for sin in two parts, physically and spiritually.
  • God the Father raises Him from the dead.
  • Jesus ascends, He goes back to the Father, and church begins to preach the gospel about Jesus.
  • What do they say about Him?

The Testimony of Jesus Includes Jesus as King

Acts 17:1–7 (ESV) — 1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

  • As part of the gospel, they told people that Jesus was King.

King Jesus in the Epistles

  • Here it is in Paul’s letter to Timothy.

1 Timothy 6:13–15 (ESV) — 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

  • The early preached Jesus as king.

The Early Church’s Testimony of Jesus

  • The early church did not just tell people that they were sinners, that Jesus died for their sins, that if you pray the sinner’s prayer and make a decision for Jesus, then you’ll go to heaven.
  • That’s not what all they told Him.
  • They told them that but they told them more than that.
  • We shortened the gospel down to man sinned, Jesus died for your sins, say the sinners pray and go to heaven.
  • That’s not what they told them.
  • They told the people, that Jesus was the Messiah, that He was the fulfillment of all the Old Testament scriptures, that, of course, includes man’s fall – it includes what happened at Calvary, – it includes how God raised Him from the dead as triumphant over the forces of darkness, over death, hell and sin, but they also told them that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed King.
  • And why not.

Tell People the ‘Lord’ Part of the Gospel

Romans 10:9–10 (ESV) — 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

  • We haven’t told people the ‘Lord’ part.
  • The early church did.

Acts 2:36 (ESV) — 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

  • Lord is where the ‘King’ part comes in.
  • How do you behave in the presence of a King?
  • You bow your knee, and you say Yes Lord, your will is my desire.
  • The church has not preached Jesus as King as part of the gospel.
  • And with that thought here is the quote of the day.

The church has constantly been tempted to interpret the New Testament from the perspective of it’s own level of conduct. The church has often toned down the obvious meaning of primitive Christianity because it could no longer imagine it possible to take the gospel with such seriousness.3

Receiving Salvation Is Not Just Saying the Sinners Prayer

  • Here’s what we did.
  • We tried to get people to say the sinner’s prayer so we can check the box off and say look the angels are rejoicing in heaven, let’s have a party.
  • Do you know what the conversion stats are?
  • Only 25% of the people are going to church after saying the sinner’s prayer.
  • Why? We haven’t told them the ‘king’ part!
  • We’ve tried to get people to say the sinner’s prayer, and then AFTER they have prayed the prayer, attempted to convince them, to disciple them into Lordship.
  • We wonder why people are not all in.
  • Pastors are trying every kind of motivational thing to try and get people to commit.
  • It’s the cart after the horse.
  • No, being willing to die for Jesus comes first.
  • Being willing to do whatever the King says to do, go where the King tells you to go comes first.
  • You don’t have to listen to me, listen to Jesus.

Luke 14:26–27 (ESV) — 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

  • So now look at Matthew 28:18–19.

Matthew 28:18–19 (ESV) — 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

  • Now, back to the testimony.

The Challenge

Then David challenged me to study Islam as critically as I had studied Christianity. I had learned about Muhammad from imams and my parents, not from the historical sources themselves. When I finally read the sources, I found that Muhammad was not the man I had thought. Violence and sensuality dripped from the pages of his earliest biographies, the life stories of the man I revered as the holiest in history. Shocked by what I learned, I began to lean on the Qur’an as my defense. But when I turned an eye there, that foundation crumbled just as quickly.

I relied on its miraculous knowledge and perfect preservation as a sign that it was inspired by God, but both beliefs faltered. Overwhelmed and confused by the weakness of the Islamic case, I began seeking Allah for help. Or was he Jesus? I didn’t know any longer. I needed to hear from God himself who he was. Thankfully, growing up in a Muslim community, I had seen others implore Allah for guidance. The way that Muslims expect to hear from God is through dreams and visions.

Vision and Dreams

In the summer after graduating from Old Dominion, I began imploring God daily. “Tell me who you are! If you are Allah, show me how to believe in you. If you are Jesus, tell me! Whoever you are, I will follow you, no matter the cost.”

Understanding Jesus as Lord

  • Nabeel Qureshi understood the ‘Lord’ part, the king part.

By the end of my first year in medical school, God had given me a vision and three dreams, the second of which was the most powerful. In it I was standing at the threshold of a strikingly narrow door, watching people take their seats at a wedding feast. I desperately wanted to get in, but I was not able to enter, because I had yet to accept my friend David’s invitation to the wedding. When I awoke, I knew what God was telling me, but I sought further verification.

It was then that I found the parable of the narrow door, in Luke 13:22–30. God was showing me where I stood. But I still couldn’t walk through the door. How could I betray my family after all they had done for me? By becoming a Christian, not only would I lose all connection with the Muslim community around me, my family would lose their honor as well. My decision would not only destroy me, it would also destroy my family, the ones who loved me most and sacrificed so much for me.

The Testimony of Jesus: A Call to Die

I began mourning the impact of the decision I knew I had to make. On the first day of my second year of medical school, it became too much to bear. Yearning for comfort, I decided to skip school. Returning to my apartment, I placed the Qur’an and the Bible in front of me. I turned to the Qur’an, but there was no comfort there. For the first time, the book seemed utterly irrelevant to my suffering. Irrelevant to my life. It felt like a dead book. With nowhere left to go, I opened up the New Testament and started reading.

Very quickly, I came to the passage that said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Electric, the words leaped off the page and jump-started my heart. I could not put the Bible down. I began reading fervently, reaching Matthew 10:37, which taught me that I must love God more than my mother and father. “But Jesus,” I said, “accepting you would be like dying. I will have to give up everything.” The next verse spoke to me, saying, “He who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me” (NASB). Jesus was being very blunt: For Muslims, following the gospel is more than a call to prayer. It is a call to die.

Betrayed for the Testimony of Jesus

I knelt at the foot of my bed and gave up my life. A few days later, the two people I loved most in this world were shattered by my betrayal. To this day my family is broken by the decision I made, and it is excruciating every time I see the cost I had to pay. But Jesus is the God of reversal and redemption. He redeemed sinners to life by his death, and he redeemed a symbol of execution by re-purposing it for salvation. He redeemed my suffering by making me rely upon him for my every moment, bending my heart toward him. It was there in my pain that I knew him intimately.

He reached me through investigations, dreams, and visions, and called me to prayer in my suffering. It was there that I found Jesus. To follow him is worth giving up everything. — Nabeel Qureshi is an itinerant speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and author of ‘Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim’s Journey to Christ’ (Zondervan).4

Are You A Christian in Hiding?


References:

  1. Source unknown – Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).
  2. Noam Hendren, “God’s Messiah in the Tanakh,” in The Death of Messiah, ed. Kai Kjær-Hansen (Baltimore, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 1994), 19.
  3. Brenda Colijn, Images of Salvation in the New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010).
  4. “Called off the Minaret: Would Jesus,” Christianity Today (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today International, 2014), 95–96.