“Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan.
“Joseph and His Brothers
“This is the story of Jacob. The story continues with Joseph, seventeen years old at the time, helping out his brothers in herding the flocks. These were his half brothers actually, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought his father bad reports on them.
“Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn't even speak to him.
“Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said, ‘Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine.’
“His brothers said, ‘So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around?’ And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.
“He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: ‘I dreamed another dream—the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to me!’
“When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him: ‘What's with all this dreaming? Am I and your mother and your brothers all supposed to bow down to you?’ Now his brothers were really jealous; but his father brooded over the whole business.
“His brothers had gone off to Shechem where they were pasturing their father's flocks. Israel said to Joseph, ‘Your brothers are with flocks in Shechem. Come, I want to send you to them.’
“Joseph said, ‘I'm ready.’
“He said, ‘Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report.’ He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem.
A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, ‘What are you looking for?’
“’I'm trying to find my brothers. Do you have any idea where they are grazing their flocks?’
“The man said, ‘They've left here, but I overheard them say, “Let's go to Dothan.”’ So Joseph took off, tracked his brothers down, and found them in Dothan.
“They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him. The brothers were saying, ‘Here comes that dreamer. Let's kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We'll see what his dreams amount to.’
“Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, ‘We're not going to kill him. No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don't hurt him.’ Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father.
“When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn't any water in it.
“Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt. Judah said, ‘Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence? Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let's not kill him—he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood.’ His brothers agreed.
“By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt.
“Later Reuben came back and went to the cistern—no Joseph! He ripped his clothes in despair. Beside himself, he went to his brothers. ‘The boy's gone! What am I going to do!’
“They took Joseph's coat, butchered a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. They took the fancy coat back to their father and said, ‘We found this. Look it over—do you think this is your son's coat?’
“He recognized it at once. ‘My son's coat—a wild animal has eaten him. Joseph torn limb from limb!’
(This is only an illustration)
In 1996, a teenager named Grace was reading her English assignment at the window of her apartment. Suddenly, shouting from the street caught her attention and drew her eyes to the scene below her. In frightening detail, Grace witnessed a brutal murder in the back streets of a big city school yard, something she will never forget.
The police began their investigation by interviewing countless citizens in the area. Unfortunately, they quickly discovered that no one was willing to testify against a well-known drug dealer who was responsible for the murder.
Grace couldn’t sleep at night because the event was graphically etched into her memory. She felt so afraid; she didn’t want to tell anyone that she had seen the whole violent act clearly through her window.
The case was in all the local newspapers. Several pleas for witnesses went out from the police department, but no one responded because they didn’t want to get involved, fearing possible retaliation from the criminal.
Grace couldn’t go on without talking to someone. She finally spoke to a teacher and then mustered enough courage to go to the police. After speaking with a detective, she decided to testify about what she had seen. However, she was still afraid. When she identified the perpetrator in a lineup, she was afraid. When she wrote out her statement of what she had seen, she was afraid. But as each stage of the process continued, her courage grew, and she became more committed to seeing the criminal get punished.
One day Grace received a letter from the mother of the boy who had been killed, thanking her for being willing to testify. “I don’t know how I could live another day knowing that the man who killed my son was out on the street selling drugs and hurting others. Although I can’t get my boy back, at least I can sleep, knowing his murderer can’t hurt anyone else.” Despite all the anxiety and fear, Grace slept better knowing that she had done something worthwhile.
Highlight the sentence that states, “Salt is valued for its preservative properties;”
“Salt and Light
“’Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
“’Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.’”
“How much need there is that the youth who are to be witnesses for Christ, learn how to labor for those who know not Jesus. How necessary it is that they should understand how to make the lessons of Christ clear and conclusive. The use of long words and soaring eloquence is not essential to success. What you need is a living experience in the things of God and simplicity in presenting the love of Christ to the lost. Many of the souls out of Christ are in deplorable ignorance of even the simplest facts concerning the plan of salvation. When the heart is aglow with the love of Jesus, you will express it to others, and become witnesses for Christ” (Ellen G. White, Youth Instructor, May 4, 1893).
Your school hires a new teacher right out of college. She has very little experience in teaching English to teenagers. She continually strikes out with the students. They are not being helpful. The teacher is losing her grip on the class and ultimately her patience. On your way home from school, you see her driving out of the parking lot with tears in her eyes.
Read Matthew 5:13-16 and then describe what a salty, light-bearing agent in God’s kingdom would look like to her.
Log on to www.guidemagazine.org/rtf to post your responses. Be up-front and honest. Say what you think. The lines below are provided as an alternative to posting. You may wish to record your thoughts to share them with your class later
Another Word for Witness
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If we truly belong to Christ, we will have opportunities for witnessing for Him. We may be invited to attend places of amusement, and then we will have an opportunity to testify to our Lord. Being true to Christ, we will not try to form excuses for our non-attendance, but will plainly and modestly declare that we are a child of God, and our principles would not allow us to be in a place—even for one occasion—where we could not invite the presence of the Lord.
Our daily influence must be like that of Christ. We must practice self-denial, overcome temptation, and daily grow in grace. We cannot be witnesses for Christ without His Holy Spirit to work upon our hearts; but He has said that our heavenly Father is more willing to give us the Holy Spirit, than parents are to give good gifts to their children. We are to receive the Holy Spirit, and through its agency the sinner will be impressed with the fact that in Jesus there are to be found joys superior to those of earth.
Some people think when the big question comes to them about their allegiance to God, they will be able to stand and say, “I believe in Christ, and I will not deny Him!” When you look at the stories of Scripture, it’s not those life-or-death ultimatums that make the great witness for God, but the little moments along the way. Frankly, if we can’t stand up for God in the daily events of life, why do we think it will be any easier when our life is on the line?
Jesus told the disciples to be witnesses first in Jerusalem, starting close to home before working their way out to the ends of the earth. In reality, Jerusalem was the hardest place in which to be a light because it was so close to home. The disciples had to be salt and light all day, every day, because so many people were watching them very closely. Some of the disciples never left Jerusalem, while others traveled to faraway countries; however, all of them let their light shine through the darkness and their salty presence made the news of the gospel taste good.
1. What will make being a witness for Jesus easier? (Refer to “Today’s Reading.”)
2. Have you ever been invited to go someplace or do something that you knew was not what a Christian should be doing? What was your response? How did you feel?
3. Is it easier to be a Christian at home or away from home? Explain.
Match the text with the phrase. All texts except one are taken from the NIV Bible. The one exception is marked for you.
“It is not merely the duty of the minister, but of every member of the church, to represent Christ to the world. They are to catch the rays of light from Jesus, and reflect them upon souls blinded by error and infatuated with false doctrines. They are to hold up the only true standard of righteousness, which is God's holy law, while the world is holding up a false standard. Satan is seeking to present light for darkness, and darkness for light, the truth for error, and error for the truth. He would extinguish every ray of light shining from the throne of God, and in its place put his darkness. But the sons of God are here, every one of them, for the purpose of irradiating the world. The more light is despised, opposed, and condemned, the greater evidence they have in regard to their work to let their light shine forth to others. They receive their orders from God to guide souls to righteousness, truth, and heaven. The torch of truth must shine to willing as well as unwilling eyes. When Christ ascended on high, the church was to be the agent, or medium, through which light was to be communicated to the world. ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ Every individual Christian is required of God to be a living, shining light in the world. He must wrestle with God in secret prayer; then he will go forth in the spirit of Christ to hold converse with men. Anointed for the mission, he bears with him the atmosphere of paradise. His words will be well-chosen, and his face will reflect the image of his Master. He will be the light of the world, a living epistle known and read by all men” (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, March 8, 1887).
Have you ever thought, if I don’t say anything someone else will? Some feel as if their witness either isn’t that exciting or isn’t that useful. Wearing the name of “Christian” becomes hard when you don’t feel very useful in the cause of Christianity.
You may remember a letter written to a guy named Philemon in the New Testament. The whole drama is about a slave named Onesimus who was owned by Philemon but ran away and ended up running into Paul on the way. Onesimus actually means “useful.” Paul makes a point to play on this. Saying, “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me” (Philemon 10, 11, NIV).
The same grace is extended to us, even thought we may or may not feel useful to God at this moment. You may feel as if what you say or do doesn’t matter. However, when we receive God’s grace in our hearts, we have something to do and say on behalf of the One who saved us. It’s safe to say that Onesimus wasn’t perfect, but he gave Paul all he could, and it turned out to be a bigger help than he thought. Onesimus was immortalized in the words of Scripture because he did his best to be salt and light for some old guy in prison. Who would have thought that in the end Paul would say about him, “I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you” (Philemon 12). The important thing to remember from this story is that you may not know the value of your witness until later on.
Poor Onesimus. He has a name that means “useful,” but apparently he turns out to be “useless”, until he meets up with Paul and becomes a giant help to the apostle who is stuck in prison. Paul pleads for grace for this man, and we assume he received it from Philemon.
1. Do you REALLY have to say anything to “let your light shine”? Couldn’t you just show you love Jesus by the way you live?
2. Why is it so important to say something?
3. We each have a personal witness or testimony. We are told that we are to let our light shine and to be the salt of the earth. Why can’t we just wait for the next person to speak up? Why should you or I need to share Jesus with others? Won’t someone else more qualified do it?
"’’Without me,’ Christ says, ‘ye can do nothing.’ Then be sure to open the heart to Jesus. Let simple prayer go up from your heart to God, pleading that you may not fail to appreciate his promises, and to understand the conditions upon which salvation is given. Plead this, not only for your own satisfaction, but that you may make the way of salvation plain to those that are in darkness. We must approach unto God with the simplicity of a little child, and present to him his pledged word. Educating the soul to the simplicity of faith, will be the very discipline best suited to the work we shall be called upon to do for those who are in the world, without God or hope. The minds of the worldly are dull of comprehension regarding spiritual things, and it will call for simplicity to deal with them, and teach them of the blessings that those may have who daily follow the Lamb of God whithersoever he goeth. The truth will need to be presented and made as simple as the A-B-C of the alphabet is made to the primary pupil. Take the simplest truth, bringing Christ before the mind, and angels will cooperate with you in making the impression upon the honest inquirer. You are to be the agent through whom God will speak to the soul. Precious things will be brought to your remembrance, and with a heart overflowing with the love of Jesus, you will speak words of vital interest and import. Your simplicity and sincerity will be the highest eloquence, and your words will be registered in the books of heaven as fit words, which are like apples of gold in pictures of silver. God will make them a healing flood of heavenly influence, awakening conviction and desire, and Jesus will add his intercession to your prayers, and claim for the sinner the gift of the Holy Spirit, and pour it upon his soul. And there will be joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Ellen G. White, Youth Instructor, May 4, 1893).
1. What will help you witness? (Refer to “Today’s Reading”)
2. When we “let our light shine” or witness, are we alone? Explain.
3. Why is it important for us to witness?
As you think about how you can be a witness, use the following illustrations to help you plan how you can apply this lesson to your life. Be specific!
Magnet—how can I attract someone to God this week?
Salt—how can I bring zest and flavor to someone’s life this week?
Light—how can I make the darkness in someone’s life go away?
Witness—how can I take the witness stand for God this week? How can I stand up for Him?