Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (New King James Version)

By the way, we seldom use the word "testimony" other than in court or church. It may sound unfamiliar to you. We use this word when we witness Jesus Christ; or show that Jesus Christ is alive, and He is my God and the Savior of the world through our own experiences.

In First Corinthians chapter 15 Paul theologically discussed the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In writing this chapter, he reported his own experience of meeting the resurrected Jesus, saying "I met resurrected Jesus." Jesus' resurrection is a historical fact. But at the same time it is also a personal experience. In fact, we need reasons to believe. We cannot believe anything which we cannot understand. But the reasons are not enough to make us believe in Christ. It is not true faith that we just recognize the fact of resurrection. True faith means that we meet and trust personally in Christ who was is alive.

Paul witnesses that he met living Christ. That experience changed his life. Paul had been persecuting churches believing Jesus is not Christ nor Savior. He met Jesus when he tried to persecute the churches in Damascus far from Jerusalem.

He cannot testify Jesus without mentioning that he was a persecutor. Therefore, he called himself "the least of the apostles" even "less than the least of all the saints." (Eph 3:8) He had to touch on his own shameful sins and failings every time he testified about the glory of the resurrection.

It was the same with the other apostles. They abandoned Jesus when He was arrested. Peter denied Jesus three times. If people asked them, "What did you do when you met Jesus?" they had to answer, "We were hiding ourselves because of fear."

We also share how we were weak and powerless every time we testify God's grace. We have to confess that we need His grace by present ourselves enough humbly before God and men. We say, "I'm not good enough for witnessing Christ." But does the witnessing Christ mean to share our success story? We share how Christ is good for us. We can witness Christ through our weaknesses or shortcomings.

We are told from others saying, "You are not suitable for witnessing Christ because you are not strong Christian." And we say in our mind, "That's right. I'm not good enough and wise enough for witnessing Christ. I'm not qualified for sharing gospel. All right, I'll quit speaking about Christ." How much knowledge do we need to witness Christ? How pure should we be in moral life for sharing gospel. If we need to become perfect, who can share gospel.

It's true that we need to seek to grow up in Christ. We should seek holiness. But we can witness Christ on the way of growth or holiness, if you are sure in believing Christ as your personal Savior. We can witness Christ even through our weaknesses. Paul and other apostles were open enough to share their past fails, weaknesses, and sinfulness. And, they showed how big and deep His grace was for them. While they were witnessing the grace, they became strong by the grace. They could do a big job for God.

I pray that all of you become His witnesses as well as two sisters who were baptized today. Prayer

Our Father, we thank you that you saved these sisters for making them your witnesses. They confessed that their old persons were dead on the cross with Christ. They also confessed that they have resurrected form the dead with Christ through the power of His resurrection. We live because He lives. Help us to share this fact with other people even though we go through difficulties or painful lives. Use us as your tools to bring your grace and glory with these newly baptized persons. We pray these things in the name of Christ.

(April 12, 1998)