Testimony

In this chapter I wish to give a few hints on testimony. I will first mention a few things which are NOT testimony.

1. It is not to be a sermon. Many a testimony meeting is spoiled by people getting up and giving a great, long talk about this, that, and the other, advancing their views on various subjects. The testimony meeting is no place for such things.

2. It is not an exhortation. People can exhort and tell others how to live and what to do, when they themselves are backslidden in heart. I am led to think strangely of an individual's religious experience, who always exhorts others instead of giving a personal testimony. Exhorting others every time one gets up to testify, is one of the earmarks of a backslidden life.

3. The last thing that testimony is not, is standing up and quoting a lot of scripture, or quoting Wesley, Shakespeare, or Milton. There are hundreds of folks, who use this method of testifying, who never were converted.

WHAT IT IS: To tell, in a plain, simple, truthful way, just what the Lord has done and is doing for you. If he has saved you, say so. If he has sanctified you, say so in clear, emphatic terms. The devil does not like people to say they are sanctified, so tries to make them use milder terms, such as the following: "more grace," "old-time religion," "a deeper work of grace," etc. He is aware of the fact that these terms will not cause any one to seek a definite experience.

Notice some BENEFITS derived from personal testimonies: They help us to keep saved. John Fletcher lost the experience of holiness five times, through neglecting to testify to it. They help us to keep free, and also to keep victory over the people. It is astonishing how backwardness and timidity get hold of us when we neglect testifying a few times. They also help us to grow in grace. Water without an outlet becomes stagnant; so does grace. The old proverb, "What we do not use, we lose," is very true in this case. If we neglect testifying a few times, we will awake to the sad fact that we haven't anything left to testify about.