Unashamed Witnesses
"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who were from the first eyewitnesses and servants of the word." Luke 1:1-2 (NIV) "You shall be my witnesses." Acts 1:8 (NIV)
We're currently in the middle of an exhausting week of witness testimony regarding the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Witnesses have lined up both for and against the nominee with Democrats warning about what Kavanaugh would mean for the country's legal landscape and Republicans describing a competent appeals court judge with the credentials to join the high court. Whose testimony should we believe? Your response to that question probably reflects your political party affiliation.
Last week I began teaching two different Bible studies, one on the Gospel of Luke and one on the Message of Acts. Both of the books' overview lessons zeroed in on the word "witness," a key word that bookends the beginning and ending of both books. In both study groups, I asked an important question: "What does a witness do?" And, thankfully, both groups answered correctly, "A witness testifies."
In fact, any witness called by the prosecution or the defense must attest to the following:
What did the witness hear?
What did the witness see?
What did the witness say?
What does the witness know?
Those questions are also a great outline for the events that happened in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost as the promised Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 believers. The believers:
heard a sound like the blowing of a violent wind Acts 2:2
saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them Acts 2:3
began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them Acts 2:4
knew that a new day had dawned
Luke's Gospel account of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus begins with the witness of Zechariah, an elderly priest, righteous and devout, but without children. One day Zechariah was chosen by lot to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense at the temple altar, offering prayers for the nation of Israel. In doing so, Zechariah:
saw an angel standing at the right side of the altar of incense. Luke 1:11
heard the good news that his barren wife will soon bear him a son who is to be named John ('the Lord is gracious") Luke 1:13
spoke a question of unbelief, "How can I be sure of this?" Luke 1:18 to which the angel Gabriel responds, "Now you will be silent until the day this happens because you did not believe." Luke 1:20
knew that his life changed from the encounter
As I read the Luke 1:11 verse, I cross referenced the term "altar of incense" to Exodus 30:6-7 and read these words, "Put the altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony...where I will meet with you." As I read the words, it hit me that God's Word is His own Testimony to what is true. And just as Luke and the early believers could know the certainty of what they had seen, what they had heard, and what had been said in the death and resurrection of Jesus, so can we. God has not left us without a witness to that which is true. That witness is the witness of His Word both written and Incarnate.
Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that we (Christians) will be his witnesses. The question for each of us is this: What kind of witness will we be? Most of us, if we're honest, are probably reluctant to be "out there" sharing the good news of the Gospel with an increasingly hostile culture. I'm stunned with the witness of the 120 early believers who somehow "turned the world upside down." (Acts 17:6) How did 120 uncommon and uneducated men and women (Acts 4:13) so positively influence the Roman culture of over 50 million people? They did it by sharing the good news of the Gospel and displaying the testimony of a changed life. Whenever you a Message + Model, you will always have Ministry + Multiplication. 120 believers added 3000 at Pentecost and quickly became 5000 believers who preached the gospel wherever they went (Acts 8:4). The good news of the Gospel was shared and lives were changed because the early believers could NOT but speak of what they had seen and heard. (Acts 4:20) But the early believers weren't just willing to live for the Gospel; they were also willing to die for it. The Greek word for "witness" is "martyrs," from which we get our English word martyr.
"The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the church." (Tertullian)
What have we heard? What have we seen? How has our life been changed by the Gospel of Christ? What can we speak in defense of the Gospel and as a witness for Christ? Oh, that we may echo the Apostle Paul's great declaration to the church at Rome, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16)
"The Gospel will always be threatened, but never silenced!" (Kevin DeYoung)