Be Witnesses

The church has a simple but comprehensive task. It was personally given by Jesus to us, and for those who truly know Him, it is the only logical next step.

A Proven Identity, A Sure Foundation

Jesus has proven His identity and kept His promises. We know who He is. We have experienced His life-giving salvation. And it only makes sense that those who know Him would tell others, would spread the word, would love others enough and be thankful enough and energized enough to speak up.

This witness-bearing will happen. It must happen. Much of the early church’s Great Commission activity is recorded in the book of Acts, and the opening verses of chapter one set the stage: Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles He had chosen. To those same apostles, He showed Himself alive after His passion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

We can be certain that Jesus rose from the dead because of these eyewitness accounts, recorded faithfully in Scripture. Paul rehearses them in 1 Corinthians 15: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day. He was seen by Peter, then by the Twelve, then by more than five hundred brethren at once, many of whom were still living when Paul wrote those words. He was seen by James, by all the apostles, and finally by Paul himself.

For those who had seen Him on that day, or who were acquainted with any who had met the resurrected Christ, this was a simple, proven fact, confirmed many times over. They were confident in their service to a victorious Savior. We can have just as much confidence today, because their words, His words, and His deeds are preserved for us in Scripture.

The Promise of the Spirit

Before His ascension, Jesus told His disciples to wait for the promise of the Father. John had baptized with water, but they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence. The presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit is an important part of this story.

Jesus had already promised another Comforter in John 14, one who would abide with believers forever and be in them. Because of Him, the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to ask and to receive. We have the ability to carry out His commandments and to live as He would have us live.

Power to Witness

When the disciples asked the risen Jesus whether He would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel, His answer reoriented their attention. It was not for them to know the times or the seasons the Father had placed in His own power. What they needed to know was this: they would receive power after the Holy Ghost had come upon them, and they would be witnesses unto Him, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

We are not only empowered to be part of His family. We are empowered to do His work on His behalf. That work would begin in their own local area, then expand, reaching out further until it eventually touched the far corners of the earth. The word goes forth because it is true, and therefore worth believing. Those who know it cannot help but tell, for they have been so radically changed by it. It is the next logical step.

What It Means to Be a Witness

The word witness is an important concept in the Great Commission and one worth pausing over. We take eyewitness testimony very seriously. A witness is one who observes, one who sees. Three times in the New Testament, this same word is translated as martyr.

The word carries three dimensions of meaning. In a legal sense, a witness gives testimony about what is true. In a historical sense, a witness reports what actually occurred. And in an ethical sense, a witness is one who, following Christ’s own example, proves the strength and genuineness of faith by enduring hardship, even violence and death.

Being who we are in the world, having experienced what we have experienced, we are going to tell what we know, and we are going to live it out. This may mean many things to us. Persecution is certainly among them. Martyrdom is definitely possible. To be a witness is not merely to speak. It is to embody what we believe.

Ambassadors in His Stead

After Jesus had spoken these things, He was taken up while the disciples watched, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. As they stood looking steadfastly toward heaven, two men in white apparel appeared and asked why they stood gazing upward. This same Jesus who had been taken up into heaven would come again in like manner as they had seen Him go.

The resurrection and ascension, as events, were finished. Now the plan God had set in place for the world was to be carried out. Paul describes this plainly in 2 Corinthians 5: if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and all things are become new. God has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. He has committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Now we are ambassadors for Christ. Our Great Commission ministry is carried out in Christ’s stead. It is the next logical step for the dead man who has been made alive, for the new creature. We must point to Him with our actions and with our words.

We must be witnesses.

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This article is produced from a transcript of Take Note, a podcast and radio program from Harvest Family Radio on Guam. The author and host is Chris Harper, the Station Manager of KHMG, local Christian radio for Guam. We encourage you to check out KHMG and subscribe to its podcasts.

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