HOW DID YOU MEET THE MASTER?
Thank you for the great response to my testimony about “How I met the Master.” Remember a testimony for the Lord is not about joining a church or joining anything! In fact scripture teaches it is nothing about what you have done, or have not done. It is telling how the Lord in His mercy called you to repent, follow Him, and telling how he saved you, transformed your life, and gave you the gift of eternal life.
It’s not about temporary life!! Who wants to hear about that?? We all get that from our parents! In Acts chapters 9, 22 & 26 we have three accounts of the Apostle Paul’s testimony. These give us a good example of what a true Christian testimony is all about.
2 Tim 1:8 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord,nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,” All true believers have a mandate to testify to the saving power of Jesus as it relates to their new birth. However, if you have never been born again, nor saved, nor have eternal life, then it would be rather difficult to feel inclined to write out a lie.
My testimony is not intended to make you doubt your salvation unnecessarily – not at all. Taking spiritual inventory, however, is a good thing for all of us to do. You might want to ask yourself some of these questions:
Do I have ETERNAL LIFE sin (John 3:16)?
Do I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the ONLY provision for my sin (John 8:24)?
Do I have a LOVE for the Person of Christ which is marked by obedience to His commands (John 14:15; 2 John 1:6)?
Do I have a HATRED of my sin and godly sorrow over it (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)?
Do I have a LOVE and HUNGER for the Word of God (Psalm 119; 1 Peter 2:1-3)?
Do I have a LOVE for the brethren (Hebrews 13:1)?
Is there an increasing pattern of HOLINESS in my life (1 Peter 1:15-17)?
Is my life characterized by UNREPENTANT SIN (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) or am I walking in Christ and in newness of life (Colossians 2:6-7; Romans 6:4-6)?
If you have also met the master, how about sharing it with us. It would be such an encouragement to us.
brianhenryblog 
Dear Anna,
If you, by the way, have a private, personal faith of your own, you’ll take it to hell. True believers do not come together as people who have a personal private faith, we come together as people who have made a public confession of our faith which is not content less, but which is placed directly in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the gospel that is related to Him.
False believers are not worshippers. True believers are worshipers. Our worship is not personal and private, nor merely intuitive. It is not a mystical kind of spirituality that belongs behind closed doors nor in nunneries nor convents. Our worship is of the true God revealed in Scripture.
But we live in a world where everybody thinks they have a right to their own private religion. True believers are not a collection of people with a private faith celebrating the privacy of that faith. We are a collection of people with a public faith who make that confession openly by testimony and life. We testify and confess that Jesus is God the Son, who came into the world and died on a cross and rose again to provide salvation for us.
Since it is truly a biblical activity that glorifies God the sharing of a personal testimony is obviously to be considered a part of the REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE OF WORSHIP. The book of Psalms, the inspired hymn book of Israel frequently mentions the act of thanksgiving in public worship as a form of public testimony. For example:
“I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.“ (Psalm 35:18 ESV)
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the peoples!” (Psalm 105:1 ESV)
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! “ (Psalm 118:1 ESV)
In addition to sharing testimonies true worship may take a lot of other forms. In fact true worship touches every area of our lives. Romans 14:18says, “How you worship affects how you treat fellow Christians.” That’s a matter of acceptable worship. Romans 15:16 tells us that winning the lost is a form of worship. Ephesians 5:10 says walking in the light is acceptable worship. Philippians 1:11, Philippians 4:18 says personal holiness is acceptable worship. First Timothy 2:3, prayer for others is acceptable worship. First Timothy 5:4, gratitude is acceptable worship. First Peter 2:20, righteous suffering is acceptable worship. Everything in our lives done by the power of the Spirit to the glory of God becomes acceptable worship. I hope you found my response helpful.
Brian
Blessings