July 25, 2020 • Angus Buchan

I want to speak to you today about the power of personal testimony.

In other words, what does Jesus Christ mean to you?

Probably one of the greatest testimonies in the Bible is the testimony of Stephen, who was the first martyr in the New Testament.

He died for his faith by merely telling people what Jesus meant to him.

If we go to the Book of Acts, Chapter 6 and verse 10, this is what the Word says:

“And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.”

And then down to verse 15:

“And all  who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, and they saw his face as the face of an angel.” 

The power of personal testimony!

The dictionary tells us that testimony means evidence or proof of something.

My dear friend, do you have a testimony?

What does Jesus mean to you?

You can’t tell us that in 1965, I had an encounter with The Lord.

Young people want to know, what does Jesus mean to you today?

I remember listening to and reading a wonderful story of a Romany Gypsy who lived in England, many, many years ago.

He lived in one of those painted wagons that was drawn by horses, and he would park his wagon in a country area and he would get on the back of his wagon and he would start preaching to the people.

And he would preach to crowds of up to 10,000 people at a time.

His name was Rodney Smith and his nickname was Gypsy Smith.

And when he met Jesus Christ, he was totally illiterate.

He bought a Bible and he bought a dictionary to teach himself how to read and write.

He had a very, very powerful testimony – just like Stephen did.

And one day a lay preacher, who had been preaching for years and years was standing in the crowd, listening to this man, full of grace and power.

Yes, he probably had a face like an angel, just like Stephen did – and at the end of the meeting, he came up to Gypsy Smith and he said,

“You know, I have preached everything from Genesis, right through to Revelation.”  He said, “I am worn out.  I have nothing else to say.  How do you do it?”

And Gypsy Smith said to him, “Just keep telling people what Jesus means to you.”

And that is the power of personal testimony.

That is how I was converted – not by a fancy sermon but by people getting into the pulpit, one after the other and just telling us what Jesus meant to them – farmers, housewives, building contractors, accountants, lawyers, tears streaming down their faces, just giving their story. 

And that is what caused Jill and I and our children, to give our lives to Christ.

Keep telling people what Jesus means to you.