You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney…
I think everyone in American over the age of five can recite those familiar dictates of “Miranda.” And anyone over forty-years old can’t help but remember Jack Webb’s dry recitation of Miranda rights or remember that Mirandizing starts right after “Book ‘em Danno.”
Of course, the Miranda ruling was designed to protect the rights of the criminal defendant. But, we thank God that we have spiritual Miranda Rights. We have the right to remain silent. We have the right to an attorney. In fact, we have the finest Advocate. (1 John 2:1) And He’s working pro bono because he paid our price over two thousand years ago. On judgment day, we can sit silently while our Advocate argues the case before His Father.
Talk about slam-dunk cases! By the Blood of Christ, we already know the verdict. The defendant is Not Guilty.
“… You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth…” Acts 1:8 NKJV
Today is not judgment day. You are not the defendant. You are a witness- a witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Waynesville, and Chicago, and all ends of the earth. And in the spiritual world- just like the natural world, witnesses do not have the right to remain silent. A witness is subject to subpoena power. A subpoena is a legal order to testify. In the natural world, the judge can demand you appear in court as a witness. If you still choose to remain silent- if you refuse to be a witness, you are guilty of the crime of contempt.
The Word of God exhorts Christians to be witnesses and evangelist in all four Gospels and Acts. We are people under subpoena. The Bible is very clear; we are ordered to testify. If you choose to remain silent, you are guilty of contempt.
“… You confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. “(Romans 10:9 NKJV)
Answering the summons to court is easy. Be who you confess. Be Christ-like when you think no one is watching. The jury is not out yet. They are still in the jury box, watching. And there is no greater evidence for the cause of Christ than this- be who you confess to be.
The jury is waiting. Don’t be silent. Confess Jesus Christ.
Be Blessed and Fruitful,
Yvonne Reeves-Chong is speaker, writer, evangelist and witness for “The Defense.” As a divorced, single parent, she spent most of her early adult life fully focused on earning enough money to support and raise her son. She spent twenty-five years as a salesperson, administrator, and finance manager. Yvonne understood harvest principles and had one measure of success. The bottom-line. She understood profit- “get it; then get more.”
But, the Holy Spirit kept prompting her with this question, “What is My bottom-line?” In study, it was clear. God’s bottom-line is Salvation. He expects us to “get saved and then go get more saved. “ Yvonne discovered the profitability of sowing. “The Seed is the Word of God.”
She re-focused her life from the financial bottom-line to God’s evangelistic bottom-line. Now her sole determination is to sow God’s Word- until she leaves the earth by translation, rapture, or at 120 years of age with her eyes not dimmed and her natural force not abated.
Tags: christian evangelism, internet evangelism