Witnessing Christ | Exodus 18

INTRODUCTION:

God has forgiven our sins and saved us from eternal condemnation. Some of us are first-generation Christians who have come from different backgrounds whereas others have come into faith because our parents were touched by God. Whatever the means we were attracted by God’s love, we must understand that God has used many people over the years to pray for us, love us, show us a Biblical lifestyle, and share the gospel with us. Now it is up to us to take the gospel further into the world. God needs you and me and we are the hands and mouth of God.

Today we are going to see how we can reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

BRIEF BACKGROUND:

Moses as a teenager had to leave Egypt and go to Midian. In Midian, Moses married a Midianite woman, Jethro’s daughter. After 40 years Moses had the burning bush experience and in response to his call Moses came back to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Moses, his wife, and 2 children went back to Egypt but apparently Moses sent his family back to Midian at some time in Egypt, perhaps during the plagues of Egypt.

Now quite a few months have passed by and Moses and the Israelites are traveling in the wilderness to the Promised Land and it was time to be reunited with his family.

Exodus 18:1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her and her two sons.

5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.” 7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them. 9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 He said, “Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

The last time Jethro had been with Moses was at Midian. As Moses was planning to get married to Jethro’s daughter, he would have witnessed to Jethro about God but Jethro would not have listened to Moses then. Listen, Jethro had already heard about the Almighty God because the Midianites were the descendants of Abraham’s second wife Keturah, but Jethro would not believe in God. Moses in the 40 years of his life in Midian would have witnessed many times to Jethro and prayed for his salvation but it would have been of no use. Finally, after the burning bush experience when God commissioned Moses to go to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of Egypt, can you imagine what thoughts would have gone through Jethro then?

Here is a father-in-law who has helped Moses from scratch to build up a good business. As business was soaring and Moses became well settled in his life, he had the burning bush experience. Moses walked straight to his father-in-law and said, “I am giving up this business to go back to my people.”

Exodus 4:18 Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.” Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”

Moses never took God’s name now because Jethro did not believe in God and would not have allowed him to go back. When Moses talked about his relatives many questions would have gone through Jethro’s mind. Where were they all those days? Who helped you in your trouble? Who will support you? Don’t fathers-in-law ask these questions? Jethro would have thought Moses as really crazy, anyhow he let him go.

Now 40 years later he is meeting his father-in-law and by now Jethro understood the call of Moses and the greatness of his God. Now Jethro is convinced about Moses and his God. Moses witnesses to his father-in-law and finally he accepts God.

Now think about our lost family members. Are they not the hardest in the world to witness to? It is so difficult to witness to the family. They may belittle us, they may mock us, or they may not even hear what we have to say.

HOW TO WITNESS?

How to witness your immediate family? How to witness to people around us?

1. Speak to them about God.

We need to speak to our people and let them hear about our God.

Now Moses spoke about God to Jethro back in Midian. Whenever he got an opportunity, he spoke about God. Moses did not act as a secret believer, he openly talked about his obedience to God to Jethro. Even when Jethro came to meet Moses 40 years later Moses spoke about God.

Exodus 18:1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

Exodus 18:8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them.

Speak about our God. Speak of his goodness. Speak about what he had done to you because when you speak, they are hearing. Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

2. Do not alienate nonbelievers.

When you speak to them do not alienate them.

When I speak of alienation it means don’t pick at their sins. Don’t focus on their drinking, smoking, lust, etc. When we speak of their sins, we will only alienate them. They already have a deep-down guilt and emptiness about those things. We need to go deeper. What we need to work on is their sin, the sin of unbelief. They aren’t going to hell for their sins, but for their sin of unbelief. It’s the root cause and the rest are just the fruit of that root.

Illustration: Picture with me a child who has a boil in his leg. It’s an outward thing. If the child keeps picking on the boil, and picking on it, it will never heal. Picking at it makes it worse, more painful, and there are chances of spreading. Only blood tests can figure out what is in the bloodstream that is causing this, and once we’ve gotten down to the heart of the matter, the problem is often solved.

Now, I am not saying we should support their sin, but do not pick at their sins. Our picking at their sins will only alienate them from us.

3. Use our testimony.

Exodus 18:8-9 8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them. 9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians.

When we relate with a nonbeliever, the most powerful tool is our testimony. Relate your story. It’s powerful, no matter how it goes. The way you got saved is your unique experience. Many people do not tell their testimony because they feel they do not have a powerful testimony like recovery from alcohol or drug addiction. Your simple testimony being saved in a Sunday School or saved in a church is powerful enough.

Apostle Paul used his testimony to witness over and over again in Acts.

Paul in Acts 21 was arrested in Jerusalem for his faith in Jesus Christ. The Jews seized Paul and dragged him from the temple and wanted to kill him. The Roman commander arrested Paul. As Paul was taken into the barracks, he requested to speak to the Jews who were trying to kill him. See what he said – his testimony.

Acts 22:2-13 3 Then Paul said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. 6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ 8 “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. 10 “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. 12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

Paul testifying in front of King Agrippa.

Acts 26:12-15 12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

Every time Paul wants to reach out, he is using his testimony, his very same testimony how God saved him. Our testimony is very powerful, speak to the people about how God saved you.

It is always good to tell God’s plan for salvation. But before everything it is very powerful to actually tell our testimony first. No one can challenge our personal experience.

4. Leave it in God’s hands.

The ball is in your court until you open your mouth. But once you do, the ball is in their court. Leave it to God. Bring it back to Him often in prayer. Pray for them every day. Come to the altar for them. Show God how much they mean to you and how much you believe in the power of prayer.

Illustration: George Mueller, a Christian evangelist and an associate administrator of NASA prayed for several friends’ salvation for decades, and some of them only trusted Christ after his death, but all of them got saved in the end!

I believe Moses did pray for his father-in-law and after 40 years he was saved.

Once Moses’ father-in-law got saved and understood the mission of Moses, he in fact started supporting and guiding and giving counsel to Moses.

Exodus 18
13And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. 14And when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, what is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? 15And Moses said unto his father-in-law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: 16When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. 17And Moses’ father-in-law said unto him, the thing that thou doest is not good. 18Thou will surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. 19Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: 20And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

23If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. 24So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.

Child of God, maybe people are against your faith and you are struggling all alone. If you can deal with these challenges in God’s ways, showing love to them and trying to win them for Christ, they are going to be your source of support and encouragement in the future.

CONCLUSION:

God wants to save your family but you are the hands and mouth of Jesus Christ. Always talk to them about God, do not alienate them, tell your testimony, and pray for your loved ones. God bless you.