It is Only faithful witnessing through the power of the Holy Spirit is gonna bring about permanent change in our country and in the world. How? By bringing changed people into the kingdom of God. Thank you for taking time for this episode of Leading the Way Audio. Life-impacting content featuring Atlanta pastor, author, and international Bible teacher.
Dr. Michael Youssef. Standing for truth has become progressively more difficult and increasingly divisive, as people are often unfairly labeled intolerant or judgmental when the hard objective is to point to the grace of Jesus. Today, Dr. Youssef uncovers God's power for daily living.
Biblical words to help you lean in and trust the Holy Spirit in deeper ways as you live out your faith at home. in the workplace and in your neighborhood. Here now is Dr. Michael Youssef with tools to become a powerful witness. Listen with me to Leading the Way.
When you get subpoenaed to testify in the court of law. as a witness. you are not expected to present A legal argument. You are not expected. to expound on some finer points of the law.
You're not even expected to know anything about the theory of jurisprudence. When you are subpoenaed to the court as a witness. You are only required To do three things. You're required to say what you saw. What do you have heard?
What you have experienced. That's all is required of you as a witness. Jesus knowing The importance Of the eyewitness. Testimony. The last thing that he said to his disciples The last words that he left with them before he was ascended to heaven.
Be my witnesses. Be my witnesses. If there's a theme that runs straight through the book of Acts is a theme of witnessing. In fact, Dr. Luke tells us all that we need to know about.
witnessing and about our message. Very simply. Very clearly, turn please in your Bible. to the book of Acts, the first eleven verses of chapter one. There's one thing I want to tell you about these 11 verses.
You must know.
something of vital importance about those first eleven verses. In the book of Acts. They are a historic Documentation of the period of time between Jesus' resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven. Forty days. Condensed In eleven verses.
Look. Tells us six things. In these 11 verses, number one, He is still a gus that our message Is his person. Verses one and two. of chapter one of the book of Acts.
Our message is his person. I want you to listen very carefully. The Christian faith is your only faith. where the message Is the messenger. It's the only faith.
Take Buddha out of Buddhism, you still have the Buddhist teachings. Take Krishna out of Hinduism, you still have the Hindu Teachings. But not so with the Christian faith. Why? Because these religions And most of the religions, not all the religions of the world, are basically made of set of principles and teachings.
Not so in the Christian faith. If you take Jesus Christ out of Christianity, you'd end up with a dead corpse in your hand. It's not Faith at all.
So our message is His person. And without Jesus Christ, we have no message. Jesus did not merely teach us about God, He is God. Jesus did not merely tell us about salvation. He is our salvation.
Jesus did not merely tell us about the wages of our sins. No, he bore the wages of our sins on his body on the cross. Jesus did not merely point us to God. He was the only way to God, and He is the only way to God. Jesus was not just a good man.
He was A perfect man. Sinless man. And therefore, he's the only God-man who can stand between God and man. Our faith Is not based merely on some dead words that are recorded in a dead book, no. Our faith is based on historically proven living resurrected Jesus Christ.
Our faith is not merely a set of moral and ethical Rules, no. Our faith is set in a personal God who empowers us to live up to His moral and ethical standards. Our message, therefore. is his person. Period.
We have no other message. Secondly, His manifestation is our proof. Look at verse 3. You know, I am absolutely Flabbergasted. I'm amazed.
Yeah. I shouldn't be surprised, but I do get surprised every now and again. about the intellectual dishonesty. Of some so-called theologians and historians. I am.
aghast at times at their intellectual dishonesty. They would easily accept the account Of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius back in 1879. That was recorded by a boy who was 17 years old. They will take that and they will accept it as a historical fact. And they would never question it.
And yet, they have the audacity to question the testimony of more than 500 eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is a fact. of history. And if you subject the resurrection to all the historical testings. It will pass with a flying colour.
And therefore, there's no honest historian, honest theologian would doubt the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, verse 3. Of chapter one of the book of Acts. Tells us. He says so.
He said, after his suffering, He showed himself to these men. And gave, listen carefully, underline it in your Bible, many convincing proofs. that he was alive. Many of these eyewitnesses stood there before the cross. They saw the nails piercing into his flesh.
In his hands and his feet. They watched it with their own eyes. Many of them saw him pull down from the cross. Many of them saw him died. Many of them saw his body being buried.
And then they saw him again, very alive. Uh And many of them couldn't even believe it. They couldn't believe their own eyes, they couldn't believe their own ears. But as for 40 days, as he talked to them, as he walked with them, as he ate with them, as he told them some very important things about the kingdom of God. They not only were convinced of his resurrection, they were ready to die for the sake of Christ.
And for the sake of that conviction, of what they saw with their own eyes. And that is why, as a scientist, Dr. Luke. uses words such as convincing proofs, You see, he knew. There's some smart aleck at some university somewhere.
Going to say, well, they must have imagined the resurrection. They were so Preoccupied with grief. That when they saw an angel, they thought he was Jesus for 40 days. Talking to them about all kinds of things that only they and he could know, because after three years with them, he was telling them things that only they can understand, they would know.
So what does this leave us?
Well, there are four steps here. of vital importance. If you're writing, take them down. Here's what Luke is trying to tell us. Number one, He is saying The resurrection of Jesus Christ is A fact of history.
It is undeniable. And therefore, the next step has to be that he must be God of very God. And if he is God of very God, then therefore the third step is that everything that he says must be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And if his resurrection is a fact of history, and if he Is God of very God, and because He speaks the truth and nothing but the truth, therefore, the last step of vital importance is this. Every human being on the face of the earth is going to be judged based on how whether they have accepted him or rejected him.
Period. That's what Dr. Luke is trying to tell us. About the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our message is his person.
His manifestation is our proof. Thirdly, His might is our promise. Look at verses four and five. of Acts chapter 1. His might is our promise.
You know, if there's one thing that modern Christians do, That runs contrary to the teaching of the scripture. It is their Overemphasis on programs. Look, I understand. how human nature loves to focus on a program. I understand this.
This program or that program. I understand human nature would like to go around and look and find a program that has worked somewhere and let's implant it and let's just import it and use it because it's going to be used.
Now, let me tell you something. When the program works, who gets the glory? The program. Who gets to glory? The methodology.
Who gets to glory? The clever people who devised the program? And that is why Jesus wanted his disciples not to depend on a program, not to depend on their ingenuity, not to depend on their abilities, not to depend on their native talents for being witnesses for Jesus Christ. No, he so commanded them to wait for the Holy Spirit to come because when the might and the power of the Holy Spirit come upon them, there will be fruitful witnesses. You know in the Old Testament The Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity, and he's a person, don't ever refer to him as it.
He is equal with the Father and the Son. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was sent from heaven to accomplish a task. The Holy Spirit will send upon a person to do a job and then returns back to heaven. And that is why there are a number of prophecies in the Old Testament that tell us that the Holy Spirit one day is coming to dwell on the earth permanently. Prophecy after prophecy in the Old Testament.
That says, one day, one day, the Holy Spirit is going to come, and when He comes, He's going to be poured out, and He's going to dwell on the earth permanently. And so in Acts chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, Jesus is telling the disciples to wait for the fulfillment of all these prophecies, for the fulfillment of all these promises of the Holy Spirit coming. And when he comes permanently to dwell on the earth, He's going to give them power to be effective witnesses for him. And that is why Jesus told them to wait. until they received the Holy Spirit.
Here we are 2,000 years later. The Holy Spirit is here. Because the moment the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost, he remained on the earth. What is he doing? He's going around.
He's opening blind eyes. Lightning dark hearts like yours and mine. And showing us what sinful people we are, how desperate we need the salvation of the Lord. And then our eyes become open and repent and turn from our sins and receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. That's what the Holy Spirit does, first and foremost.
That's his power. Nobody can do that. No church can do that. No denomination can do that. Not the whole Christian community can do that.
Nobody can do that. All of our money in the world, we cannot do that. Only the Holy Spirit does. And that is why our witnessing without the power of the Holy Spirit will produce no results. No results.
Our message is a very important thing. is his person. His manifestation is our proof. His might is our promise. Fourthly, The master's plan our priority.
The Masters Plan is our priority. You know, every church, every denomination, every Christian institution I hope that every home. they have the list of priorities. That's good. I tell you what, I lived long enough to see some very sorry priorities on the agenda of some denominations.
and some churches. I want to tell you, there are some Christians who would die for some ritual. or some finer dogma somewhere that has nothing maybe to do with the gospel. You'll die for it. I mean, it's how committed they are.
to whatever it is. I'll give you an example. There are some people, there are some Christians. who are so convinced of how and when the end of time is going to be. That if you ever question them, they will question your salvation.
I mean, they were just convinced. They just know it.
Well, there are some disciples who are like that. They really All they were hung up on when is Jesus coming back, when is he going to establish his kingdom, when we're going to be. In the kingdom of God, when all is going to be great in power and might. And they asked Jesus. The question.
See, some of them were convinced. That is soon.
Now he died, he rose again.
Now, now it's going to be soon, must be somehow coming up now, any moment. James and John, they're going to be on the right and the left, and one is going to be the Secretary of the Exchequer, and one is going to be the Vice President, one is going to be the. Jesus, when is it? Come on, tell us now. They were so convinced about His ultimate rule.
But I hate to tell you Jesus' response was so disappointing. Look at verse 7. of Acts one. But you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna give you a useful translation of this.
Here's what Jesus is saying. It's none of your business. this when I'm coming back. It is none of your business when I'm going to establish my ultimate kingdom. Your job is to be my witnesses.
Your job is to testify of what I've done for you. Your job is to tell about the resurrection. Your job is to tell about my salvation. That's your job. Don't waste your time worrying about dates.
That's foolishness. If you want another priority of Jesus, look at verse 7. It's right here, verse 7 of Acts 1: It is not for you to know the times and the dates. You be my witnesses. And that is why Jesus goes on to verse 8, which is my fifth point.
And he says to them, Your mission shall be My programme, not yours. We all love programmes. We all love to have our programs. And Jesus says now. If you really want to do my mission, You have to have my program.
And my program is for you to be my witnesses. But you can only do that through the power of my Holy Spirit. Therefore, you have to be walking with me in the Spirit day after day, moment after moment. Otherwise you will lose the power of the Holy Spirit. To have the power of the Holy Spirit in your witnessing and your effective witnessing for Christ, you have.
to have. A daily Moment by moment walk. in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, please, I want you to listen carefully. See, this is our only hope in this nation. This is our only hope in this country. This is our only hope in the world. I believe with all my heart that there is a place for political involvement, there is a place for moral reformation, there is a place for Christian education, there is a place for taking a public stand, there is a place for expressing your world view as a Christian.
But if everything I understand from the Word of God, it is this. It is Only faithful witnessing through the power of the Holy Spirit is going to bring about permanent change in our country and in the world. How? By bringing changed people into the kingdom of God. Only through the faithful witnessing of God's people by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.
Will there be true and lasting impact upon our society? How? By changing One heart at a time. One life at a time. Only through the dunamos, that's the Greek word in that verse, by the way, verse 8.
Duna Mos I read recently That town. The scientists when they discovered the power of dynamite They went to a Greek scholar and he said, We don't know what to call this power. He said, Well, you know, in Greek the word power is dunomos, so they called it dynamite. That's where dynamite came from. And the Lord uses the word dunamos here.
He says, only through this Dynamite power, the spiritual dynamite power working in the church of Jesus Christ, will the world be changed? Our message is this person. His manifestation is our proof. His might is our promise. The Master's plan is our priority.
His mission is our program. Finally. Our motivation. is a prospect. of his return.
Verses 9. Ten and eleven. Have you ever watched A Man in Love? I mean He cannot wait to see his beloved. He always thinks about how he's going to tell her about his accomplishments.
Now, of course, some guys overdo it. Yeah. I mean, he can't wait to tell her about his thoughts of her and plan for the future and Even the most dense man. When he's in love, he kinda becomes creative and thoughtful. But if you would ask him why.
Why are you doing this? To please his beloved, of course. To honour her. to gain her favor, to gain her approval. What motivates you?
What motivates me? to get up in the morning. What motivates us? In our Christian walk. What motivates us to walk with Christ?
Is that we can get whatever we can get out of Him? Then you don't know Jesus. And you need to know him today. Is you're trying to manipulate him and get him to do what you want him to do? You don't know Jesus, you need to know him today.
What motivates us? Well, some would say, in all honesty, this an overwhelming sense of gratitude. That would be right. Another person would say, well, you know, I'm just so thankful that my spiritual eyes got opened and that I'm heading from hell to heaven and I'm just so grateful that I'm motivated to tell others about him. That's great.
Is it because I don't want my friends and loved ones to end up in eternal Torment. The thought just so grieving to me, and I'm motivated by that. That's right, that's good motivation. It really is. But above all, we are motivated because we know That the one who loved us so is coming back one day.
He's coming back one day. The overwhelming motivation of the fact that my beloved Lord Jesus is coming back one day. And I know that he's going to look me in the face and he's going to ask me, Michael, how did you use the opportunities I gave you to witness for me? Were you silent witness for me, or did you testify to what I have done for you? Michael, did you keep quiet about me with your business associates, with your neighbors, and with your friends?
Or did you tell them about my salvation for you? This same Jesus. said the angel. It's coming back. is going back.
And our motivation is a prospect. of his return. A life-impacting message from Dr. Youssef. offering you tools to be a powerful witness for God and His kingdom.
Thank you for taking time in your busy day for leading the way. In recent years, Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way renewed and expanded efforts to strategically share the gospel worldwide. One key initiative in these efforts is reaching and ministering to Muslims through several ministry outreaches. including the kingdom sat.
The following are reports from Leading the Way's field team. Life in Israel has changed. Fear fills the air. Pray that the Lord would open hearts to see the Messiah. The people of Iran want freedom.
May God grant them mercy. There is no hope in the country, the regime, or the economy. People in the Middle East are seeking. Islam offers no hope. When I talk about the Middle East, I know you understand and I know you trust me that we are seeing things that we have never dreamt of in the last 1400 years of missions going into that part of the world.
I was a fanatic Muslim who used to attack Christianity. After watching your channel, my eyes were open to see the beauty of Christ. Though I feared the consequences of leaving Islam, I prayed to accept Christ. And I'm a new person. They're searching for hope in the shadows, behind closed doors, in regimes that silence truth.
But God is opening a door. Less than 3% of missionary work takes place among unreached people. 68% of those unreached people live in the Middle East and North Africa. Through the Open Door campaign, that's exactly where leading the way is seeing unprecedented impact. 24-7 gospel broadcast through our Kingdom Sat channel.
unparalleled access to restricted areas. Effective ministry on the front lines of crisis. And now a new door could unlock massive expansion. We have been able to place navigator devices into Muslim-dominated countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and others, where access to the gospel is unprecedented. The door is open, and only God in heaven knows when will it be closed.
Will you commit to joining me to boldly walk through these open doors together? Learn more at ltw.org. Ltw.org and the ministry call center number to offer a generous gift. Is 866? 626.
Four three five six. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youseth. Mm-hmm.
