BEING “HIS” WITNESSES

In Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, just before Jesus ascended into Heaven, he said to His disciples, His followers, His closest allies, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.“

In Acts chapter 4, Peter and John are being commanded by the religious “right” not to ever speak again in the name of Jesus.  I love their simple, yet profound, answer, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”  As a direct result of their boldness and faithfulness, a multitude believed.  Then in Acts 5, after a great multitude believed and after miracles were performed, the Bible says that the high priest and Sadducees rose up with indignation, laid hands on them and had Peter and John thrown in Prison.  However, God wasn’t having any of that and immediately sent His angel to open the prison cell and set them free. 

If you thought the religious crowd was mad before, they are fuming now.  I believe if they themselves were not in fear of their own lives, they would have immediately put Peter and John to death.  But, they brought them in for questioning, saying, “Didn’t we tell you not to speak in the name of Jesus ever again?”  I love Peter’s answer beginning in verse 29, “We ought to obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. ³¹ Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”

Now stay with me as I promise we are going somewhere!

At the end of Acts chapter 21, the crowd Paul was speaking to tried to kill him, but he was saved by the Roman Centurion and his soldiers.  Then in Acts 22, Paul begins giving his personal testimony.  As part of that testimony, he tells the story of how he had lost his sight on the road to Damascus.  He tells of how Ananias came to him and said in verse 13, “Brother Saul , receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. ¹⁴ And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. ¹⁵ For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.”

As I read this passage, these words just kept jumping off the pages at me – “WITNESSES UNTO ME” (in the case of all those who witnessed His resurrection), “HIS WITNESSES” (in the case of Peter and John) or “HIS WITNESS” (in the case of Paul).  What do they all have in common?  They were all chosen by Christ Himself.  Jesus did not choose Peter and John to save them from a life of fishing, he chose them to be HIS WITNESSES.  Paul was not chosen on the Damascus Road to become the great High Priest – he was chosen  to be HIS WITNESS.  And what a witness he was.  But that witness was not to end with them, but is to live on in the hearts of every believer.  You and I have not been chosen to sit around on our religious laurels, we have not been chosen to be judgmental, we have not been chosen to be self-righteous – we have simply been chosen one reason and one reason only – to be HIS WITNESSES.

But, we have to realize that if we are going to be HIS WITNESSES, we first have to “see and hear” ourselves.  We can’t be a witness to something we are clueless about.  In order to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ, you have to have a personal relationship.  You have to understand where He has brought you from, and what He has brought you out of.  It has to be personal.  I can’t be a witness of what Christ has done in the heart of Peter, or John or Paul – I can only be a witness of what He has done in my heart.  I can “only speak the things which I have seen and heard.”

To be HIS WITNESS means exactly that.  We are not chosen to be witnesses of how great we are, or what great things we’ve done, or how robust our programs are, or how talented our singers are, or even how great our preaching is (in the case of us preachers), we are called to be HIS WITNESSES – Period!

If we are going to be HIS WITNESSES, who are we to witness to?  Our witness can’t be to a select few that fit the bill of what “we” are looking for in our churches.  It is not simply for those we perceive have a lot of money (though they are certainly included).  It is for both the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, the sick and the healthy, married, single and the divorced.  We are to be HIS WITNESSES to WHOSOEVER WILL. The same calling that Peter, and John and Paul had over 2000 years ago is the same calling that you and I have today.  Isaiah 43:10 says, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”