Every reason to believe
"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect..." (1 Peter 3:15)
November 9, 2025 (the Lord's Day)
Dear friends,
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD..." (Isaiah 1:8)
Yesterday, I had the privilege of speaking to fifty young men at a BCM breakfast meeting. BCM is the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at Virginia Tech. These students were sharp, engaging, and attentive.
The main idea of my message was that we are not alone in our witness for Christ. We may feel outnumbered and intimidated by our increasingly hostile culture. Yet the promise Jesus gave to his disciples applies to us, as well:
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning." (John 15:26-27)
Our testimonies, that is, sharing what we have experienced of the gospel and what we know to be true about God, does not stand by itself, alone and unsupported. The Holy Spirit adds his influence and power to our words and works.
I briefly outlined the various ways God bears witness to us of his own reality and truth, and to the gospel of his Son, our Lord Jesus, crucified and risen. God in his grace testifies to us through creation, through our conscience, through Scripture, through intuition, through conviction of sin, through historical evidence, through sound reasoning, and through the many testimonies of Christians down through history. And over all of these witnesses is the Holy Spirit acting to advance the work of God in human hearts.
When we speak to another person about Christ, we may not be aware of this work going on, or of the particular influences God is pressing upon the heart of the person to whom we are speaking. We may not see this, but we can surely know that we are not alone in our witness.
I was reminded during this year's World Series that American League pitchers usually have access to a designated hitter (DH) to take their place at bat. Some years ago, an AL baseball pitcher was in a game playing by National League rules, where pitchers were required to bat. When this pitcher (now at bat) faced a fast ball from the mound he jumped back, and asked the catcher (whom he had played with on a previous team), “Is that what my fast balls look like?” The catcher said, “You bet!” This man said his confidence level in his own pitching ability jumped 100% at that point. We need to realize how powerfully our words of witness or of shared Scripture can come across to others. We may not feel it or see it, but others surely will, as God directs.
The point is, we can be confident that the Lord has our back when we speak of him to others. God is so kind and generous to give so many supporting witnesses to his glory and grace. God has given people every reason to believe in him. And we have every reason to speak up for the Lord.
IN OTHER READING.
-- Here's the list of "supporting witnesses" I used in the BCM meeting.
-- Here's my own list of the ten best books on apologetics.
-- "Pascal's Wager" is summarized by Carl Henry, as applied to himself: "If I go ahead, and there's nothing to it, I have nothing to lose. If I don't go ahead, and there is something to it, I have everything to lose." (Carl F. H. Henry, Confessions of a Theologian) Here's a few excerpts from Blaise Pascal.
-- Watch this dramatized vignette of an encounter with Francis Schaeffer.
-- I’m really enjoying this song, which we sang in church this morning: Christus Victor (Amen).
FINAL QUOTE.
"All that Christianity asks of men on this subject is that they would be consistent with themselves; that they would treat its evidences as they treat the evidence of other things; and that they would try and judge its actors and witnesses as they deal with their fellow men, when testifying to human affairs and actions..." (John Warwick Montgomery)
That’s all for this week!
Sandy
Afterwords is an occasional newsletter on topics of interest to me (Sandy Young) since my retirement from full-time pastoral ministry. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.