Jesus commanded everyone, who believes in Him and decided to follow Him, to be His witness. But what does it mean to be a witness of Jesus Christ? When are you a witness of Jesus Christ? How do you become a witness of Christ? And what do you need to be a witness of Jesus Christ in this world?
耶穌, the faithful Witness
看哪, I have given Him for a Witness to the people, a Leader and Commander to the people. 看哪, Thou shalt call a nation that Thou knowest not, and nations that knew not Thee shall run unto Thee because of the Lord Thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He hath glorified Thee (以賽亞 55:4-5)
I can of Mine own self do nothing: 正如我所聽到的, 我評判: and My judgment is just (正義); because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of Me; and I know that the witness which He witnesseth of Me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light (lamp): and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given Me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hat sent Me. And the Father Himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape (form). And ye have not His word abiding in you: for whom He hath sent, Him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life (約翰 5:30-40).
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, and the first Begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth (啟示 1:4-5)
Jesus came to the earth and was a faithful Witness of His Father and His Kingdom. Jesus was able to be a Witness of His Father, because He had laid down His own will and His own life and was fully yielded to the will of His Father.
Jesus loved His Father and spend a lot of time with His Father in prayer and in the Scriptures.
Jesus spoke the truth
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour (Exodus 20:16, 馬修 15:19, 馬克 10:19, 路克 18:20, 羅馬書 13:9)
A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies (箴言 14:5)
Jesus was a faithful Witness, who didn’t speak lies and didn’t compromise in order to be liked and be accepted by the people and gain followers, but Jesus spoke the words of His Father and did what He had seen with His Father (約翰 8:38).
Jesus spoke the truth and didn’t speak lies, which was not always appreciated by the people.
Many people followed Jesus for the signs and wonders and became His disciples. However many didn’t like the words of Jesus. They considered His words hard and were not able to bear His words. The words of Jesus made them uncomfortable and therefore they left Him (約翰 6:60-66).
And so everywhere Jesus came, Jesus caused a commotion. Because everywhere Jesus came, Jesus witnessed of His Father and His Kingdom and the signs and wonders of the authority and the power of God’s Kingdom, followed Him and caused a change in the lives of people and situations.
耶穌, the faithful Witness, and Saviour of souls
A true witness delivers souls: but a deceitful witness speaks lies (箴言 14:25)
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house (希伯來文 3:1-2)
Jesus the faithful Witness was sent by His Father and came to serve people, 但 that didn’t mean that Jesus yielded Himself to them and adjusted Himself and the standards of God’s Kingdom to the generation of fallen man and became a wishy-washy and weathercock, who bowed for the lusts, 慾望, and will of the carnal man and allowed the people in their sins.
Jesus walked after the Spirit in the authority of His Father and was not intimidated by people and didn’t compromise and adjust His words, to what people wanted to hear, but Jesus stayed faithful to His Father.
Jesus kept preaching the truth and testified of the evil works and did all the works in the Name of His Father and delivered many souls, from the power of the devil, which led to persecution and eventually the death (約翰 7:7; 10:25, 使徒行傳 10:38, 希伯來文 5:7-8).
What do you need to be a witness of Jesus Christ?
Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (路克 24:45-49)
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is 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 (使徒行傳 1:8)
Jesus had spent much time with His disciples during His walk on earth and taught them about the things of God and His Kingdom. They knew the Word and they knew about the Kingdom of God. 然而, because they were not born again and therefore unspiritual, they didn’t understand everything Jesus taught them. But that would change when they would receive the Holy Spirit.
After Jesus was raised from the dead and spend 40 days with His disciples, Jesus spoke again about the Kingdom of God and gave them commandments (使徒行傳 1:1-4)
Jesus promised, that He would send the promise of the Father.
After they would receive the Holy Spirit and because of that receive power, they would be able to be witnesses of Jesus Christ, 上帝的兒子. Just like Jesus after His 洗禮 was clothed with power when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and became a Witness of God the Father and began to preach the Kingdom of Heaven to the people and testified of their evil works and call them to repentance and remission of sins.
Although the disciples knew the Word, they couldn’t go out and be a witness of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, until they would receive the Holy Spirit.
Because without the Holy Spirit, they couldn’t walk after the Spirit, reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment and would not be able to represent, preach and bring the Kingdom of God to the people and as witnesses of Jesus Christ they would not be able to persevere and stand when persecution would arise, but they would succumb, fall away or run away.
We saw this behavior when Jesus was arrested and everyone left Jesus. And when Peter denied Jesus, while Peter had said just a few days before, that he wouldn’t deny Jesus Christ and was even prepared to die with Jesus. But when the moment of temptation and testing came Peter didn’t have the power to bear the consequences of His relationship with Jesus Christ and when people confronted Peter with his relationship with Jesus, Peter denied Jesus three times and because of that he broke his relationship with Jesus and was (暫時) not His disciple (馬克 16:7)
不幸, we see the same phenomenon these days and many deny Jesus Christ in order to please and keep their family members, 朋友們, 熟人, colleagues, ETC. satisfied and not lose them. They’d rather break the relationship with Jesus Christ, than breaking their relationship with them (另請閱讀: Do you confess Jesus before man or do you deny Him?).
The birth of the new creation, who together are the Church
The disciples received the Holy Spirit and as a result, they spoke in other tongues and preached the gospel in boldness to the people, and called them to repentance.
They began in Jerusalem and preached to the Jewish people, who were assembled from all over the world to celebrate the feast of the firstlings. And although some of them considered the disciples foolish, about three thousand souls repented and were saved, after hearing the words of Peter and his testimony of Jesus Christ and the conviction of their sins by the Holy Spirit.
They immediately were baptized and received the Holy Spirit, and became also sons of God, who had received power to be able to be a witness of Jesus Christ and preach the gospel.
The persecution of the Church
But while the Church grew and thousands of people, who belonged to the Jewish people, repented and were born again and belonged to the Church, persecution arose and the (religious) leaders of the Jewish people did everything they could to silence the witnesses of Jesus Christ; the Church.
Some of the witnesses of Jesus Christ were taken captive and put in prison, put to silence, and/or found guilty and were killed. 是的, many were killed because of their testimony of Jesus Christ and became a martyr because of Jesus.
But because they loved Jesus and had become a new creation and received power by the Holy Spirit, all the threats, persecution, and deaths of others didn’t intimidate and stop them and they continued and persevered and didn’t deviate from the commandment of Jesus Christ to be His witness and preach the truth and call the people to repentance, so that many souls would be saved.
Everything went according to God’s plan, even the persecution of the Church. This may be hard to believe and understand in today’s world and from a modern gospel view, since the modern gospel teaches that all negative things are from the devil and that he directs all things. But God is greater than the devil, who is created by God, and He allows things to the glory and honor of His Name.
When we read the Book of Revelation, then we don’t read all kinds of positive prophecies about the end times. The vials of the wrath of God and the seals, which were opened by the Lamb are not positive.
And the words, which Jesus spoke to the churches were also hard and confronting words, which called the churches to repentance. This is contrary to what is preached today and the false image that is created of Jesus, who approves and tolerates everything, including sins, which Jesus hates in reality (另請閱讀: ‘What does Jesus hate?', ‘A counterfeit Jesus produces counterfeit Christians’).
Jesus called the churches to repentance and if they would not listen and obey His words but reject His words, then Jesus would a.o. remove the lampstand and the Holy Spirit would no longer be present and the church would be removed from their position in Christ and no longer belong to Jesus Christ, but would be separated from Christ and the Father.
The persecution of the Church was a continuation of the persecution of Jesus Christ, Who was a faithful Witness of His Father and the Kingdom of Heaven.
As a result of the persecution, the witnesses of Jesus Christ were forced to leave Jerusalem and go to the cities around Jerusalem and to the rest of the world, so that the words of Jesus would be fulfilled. They went and witnessed of Jesus Christ and preached the truth and saved many souls.
And so the gospel of Jesus Christ and the call to repentance and remission of sin was preached by the faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ, who had laid down their will and their own life and loved Jesus and kept His commandments until their death.
The commandment of Jesus still applies
The commandment of Jesus Christ has not ceased, but still applies today. 然而, you do need the power of the Holy Spirit to be a witness of Jesus Christ in this world.
Because without the Holy Spirit, you shall not be able to be a witness of Jesus Christ and shall not be able to preach the truth of God and witness of Jesus Christ and call the people to repentance and the remission of sin, so that souls be saved.
Without the Holy Spirit you shall not be able to reprove the people of sin, of righteousness, and judgment and you shall not be able to expose the lies and the works of the devil and bring them into the light and destroy them, and you shall not be able to stand and not give up, despite the resistance and persecution of people.
What does it mean to be a witness of Jesus Christ in this world?
Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it (馬修 16:24-25)
As a witness of Jesus Christ, you have laid down your own life. It’s not about your will anymore and what you think, but it’s all about the will of Jesus Christ and what He thinks. Jesus is not interested in your opinion, but He wants you to become interested in His opinion and yield to it.
As a witness of Jesus Christ, you yield yourself to Jesus Christ and serve Him, just like Jesus laid down His own life and yielded Himself to the Father and didn’t live after His own will, but after the will of the Father.
You are not a witness of yourself, but a witness of Jesus Christ. Therefore you shall not preach yourself, but you shall preach Jesus Christ.
Jesus spoke what He heard and seen of His Father and did His works and so Jesus lived in His Father’s will. The same applies to every witness of Jesus Christ. Every witness of Jesus Christ should speak His words, do His works and abide and live in His will.
You are called and sent by Jesus Christ to be His faithful witness in this world and to preach the truth; the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone, who live in darkness and call them to repentance so that their sins may be forgiven, and by faith they be born again in Christ and be saved and reconciled with God and inherit eternal life.
‘成為地球之鹽’
