I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him. Therefore I have brought him out before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place I may have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him.” — Acts 25:26-27
Testimony. When Jesus encountered Saul (later to be named Paul) on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), from that point on in his life he never kept silent about who Jesus was (Acts 9:20-22), and that salvation and forgiveness of sins was through the Lord Jesus Christ. He preached His resurrection from the dead everywhere he went and to everyone he encountered, regardless of who they were, or how high up the ladder they perched. He was fearless!
He took the gospel message throughout Asia until finally, in the last part of his life, after being arrested on trumped up charges in Jerusalem by the Jews, he was turned over to the Roman authorities. You would think, facing imprisonment, it was all over. Not so. First he again spoke to the Jews, who wanted to kill him (Acts 23). Then it was to Felix, the governor of Judea, who sought bribes from Paul (Acts 24). That was followed by Festus who replaced Felix (Acts 25) who treated him like a “hot potato” and finally the Jewish King Agrippa, who would recommend and consent to Paul being sent to Rome (Acts 26). And guess what?—on the long voyage including a shipwreck, he would continue to preach the gospel, winning souls along the way (Acts 27-28).
The Bible tells us that when he finally reached Rome, “he lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered” (Acts 28:30-31). All of this while his writing of 14 letters (including Hebrews) to the churches—again preaching the gospel, which have been read by millions upon millions!
We Christians in general, especially within the Evangelical tradition, use the term “to testify” or “to give one’s testimony or witness” to mean to tell the story of how we became a Christian. Mostly it refers to a specific event in our lives when God did something deemed particularly worth sharing and we were changed—forever. We all have a testimony—perhaps not as dramatic as the Apostle Paul’s, who was also blinded for three days—but just as saving and we can share it with others.
The great commission(s), all five of them (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:44-47; John 20:20-23; Acts 1:8), instruct us to follow their inspired words (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and save people from going to hell. So we have no excuse when we don’t do it. Dear saints, I ask myself along with you, how are we doing? When’s the last time we shared our testimony with someone and told them of the goodness of the Lord? There’s never been a greater need than today. Wouldn’t you agree? — Maranatha!
“God is good all the time. All the time God is good!”
