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hapter #8 – The Work Of The Apostles, Witnessing,
2Cor 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from ‘The Simplicity That Is in Christ’”
John 15:26 ¶ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
While Jesus was alive in the flesh he had "all authority" (Matt. 28:19). He led and commanded the apostles in their work of preparation during the 3 ½ years of His earthly ministry. After his resurrection he "showed himself alive by many infallible proofs" and instructed them "of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).
Shortly before his ascension he commanded them: (1) to "not depart from Jerusalem, but, (2) "wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me" (v.4).
What was this "promise of the Father?" It was not to be a baptism with water, as John's baptism was, but they were to be "baptized with the Holy Spirit, "not many days hence. It was not to be concerned with a physical, material, fleshly, "kingdom of Israel" (v.6), "but," he says, "ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (v.8).
To understand what they were to witness to, Luke in his account of the Gospel, which contained this same incident, says:
"Thus it is written, and thus it behooved 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" (Luke 24:46- 49).
In the selection of one to replace Judas, Peter reveals more about the Apostles" work as "witnesses." He says:
"Which of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, until that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection" (1:21,22).
The Work Of "Witnessing" -- What Is It?
What is the work of "witnessing" that the Apostles were to do? Was this work an exclusive work given only to them? Or, is "witnessing," as is taught generally across the religious world today, for everyone. Which? There is hardly a false teacher around that does not camp on this doctrine of "witnessing" to justify special revelation, "revelation knowledge," testifying of "salvation experiences,"Has this work of "witnessing" been delegated to anyone -- preacher, priest, bishop, pope, etc. -- today? Let us study and see.
A good starting place, if we would explore this subject honestly, is John 15:26,27.
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."
Jesus announces here a work to be accomplished by the apostles; it is necessary to launching the Gospel. This work is the work of witnessing. It is absolutely necessary to getting the Gospel of Jesus off the ground in the first century. Let's find out what it is; what is meant by it.
Note first of all to whom Jesus is speaking. It is to the apostles. Note that Jesus says that He, the Holy Spirit, "will testify of me." Who will testify? The Holy Spirit. He will come from the Father; he had been with the Father; he knew the Son of God and he could testify of him, Jesus.
Note furthermore, that Jesus says, "Ye (the apostles) shall also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." Note that he tells them (the apostles) that they are going to be witnesses -- and he tells them why.
To understand this doctrine more perfectly, let's now look at two other passages. After Thomas had seen the Lord he no longer doubted that this was Jesus because he had seen the print of the nails, and felt the print of the nails, and thrust his hand into his side. Upon this experience Thomas said, "My Lord and my God." This statement would have been blasphemy had it not been true. But it was true! Now watch what Jesus answers to this.
"Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
Two Indispensable Propositions
There are two propositions in Scripture, as they relate to Christ, that without which Christianity is powerless, fruitless and futile. These are that (1) Jesus is the Christ and (2) The Son of God. When you say that "Jesus is the Christ," this simply means that he is the fulfiller of Old Testament prophesy, he being the one God predicted would be anointed to do his work. When he says that he is the Son of God, that carries the idea that he is divine. He is deity. Only if he is divine CAN HE BE SAVIOUR!
Jesus says here: "Blessed are they that have not seen, and YET believe." Believe what? That Jesus is Lord and God! And then he concludes by saying,
"These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (v.31).
There is no question that John is referring to all men (even us today) who will come to believe in Jesus through the Gospel. Now if Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, then, and only then, Christianity is established. Jesus' statement that He is the "way, truth and life" (John 14:6) is sustained. One can be sure when he accepts Jesus. As teachers of God's word we must understand this. We must know it, and teach it, and be able to defend it. Otherwise, as a Gospel teacher we will fail miserably and deserve it.
Paul told the Corinthians,
"When I came to you, I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:1,2).
Surely Paul knew more than just that there was a man who was crucified on a cross. What does this embrace? What does all this mean? What is the implication of this? Romans 1:1-4 gives us this implication:
". . . the Gospel of God, . . . concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, . . . declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead."
Note that he was declared to be the Son of God with power. What was this power in this declaration? It was "by the resurrection from the dead."
This is one argument that teachers of the Word of God must take to the world. This is one miracle that we must believe. What is this? The resurrection of Jesus from the dead. If we can prove this, teaching the rest should be easy. This doctrine of the resurrection is the supreme sign of His divinity. If Jesus is divine, and what He said is true; if he can do what He claimed He could do, then Christianity is genuine! It is true. It is essential then that we convert the honest seeker of truth to the resurrection of Jesus.
But on the other hand, if Jesus is to be regarded only in the modernistic light of being a teacher of beautiful, idealistic lessons for the good of mankind, perhaps being the world's finest teacher with only a somewhat greater concept and understanding of God and the Holy Spirit than any other man before or since, but not being the virgin born, bodily raised with power Son of God, then Christianity is a failure. It is false, a deception, and powerless to save anybody.
Note: This is the idea of Hugh J. Schonfield, author of the bestseller The Passover Plot. This writer claims and attempts to prove that Jesus really did not die, therefore did not have to be resurrected; that his disciples came and stole his body from the tomb and within a matter of a very few days he had recovered sufficiently to resume his life with his disciples. He ignores the fact that his disciples could not have stolen the body from the Roman guards, and furthermore, that the enemies of Jesus would not have taken the body even if they could!
Note again: It is the idea of Thomas J. J. Altizer (of the "God is dead" infamy) and of William Hamilton and others that Jesus was just a great philosopher, a great man, a great spiritualist, but he is not what he claimed to be. He did not come forth from the grave.
Jesus says, "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet in spite of not having seen, have believed." Believed what? Believed that Jesus is the Christ and Son of God, and as such, He is Lord and God! Do you understand? He is the Lord of your life and He is the All-powerful God.
Now what has this to do with the Biblical idea of witnessing in the Book of Acts? Everything! This is the heart and soul; the central idea of the Book. This is what the Apostles preached.
Let's consider an important question. Why do you believe in Jesus? There is no one among us -- including you -- who has actually seen the Lord. No one among us -- including you -- has actually seen the print of the nail and put his hand in the print of the spear. Now, why do you believe? Here's why. Isn't it your confidence in the testimony of the Apostles? What else could it be?
The Apostles' Word
In John 17:20, after Jesus in verses 16 through 19 prayed for the Apostles, then said, "Father, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." Through whose word? The Apostle's Word! Why do we believe today? Is it not because of the Apostles' Word? Is there any exception to this? In spite of the false teachings of the present-day "revelation knowledge" Pentecostals (whether they be deluded, or are insincere, it is the same), there is NO exception to this!
Jesus said, "Blessed are they that believe who have not seen." These that did not see like Thomas -- and this included you and me -- believe because of the Apostles' word. Now what does witnessing have to do with the believing of the Apostles' word? The point is that Biblical witnessing is done only by the Apostles, who heard, and who saw, and who wrote their testimony - this is what witnessing is -- for you and me in order that we might believe and be saved.
"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20;30,31).
When Paul was called to be an Apostle, what was he told that his work would be?
"And I (Paul) said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee" (Acts 26:15,16).
The Biblical idea of witnessing -- not that of the world -- is confined to a select group of men, and when we see the purpose of it we will understand why.
This principle is one of the basic truths of true Christianity, and a vital subject for restoration of 1st century Christianity today. How do you know what Christianity -- true Christianity -- should be today? How do we come to know the purpose and mode of baptism? How do we know that we should eat the Lord's supper on the first day of every week? How do we know that accapella singing is desired of God in our expression of worship; that instruments of music are not mentioned? How do we come to such conclusions as these, and with such certainty? How? Because of the Word of the Apostle!
Irrefutable Evidences
Coming over to Acts 10;39-41, watch Peter, an Apostle, speak to Cornelius:
"We are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after He rose from the dead."
Now note what Peter said. He said, "We are witnesses. Who are witnesses? We are witnesses. Now who are the witnesses? Have you seen anything that would certify the divinity of Jesus? Have you -- or any other person alive today -- ever seen anything that Jesus did? The Apostles were eye witnesses of just about everything that Jesus did for 3 ½ years. They were with him. They were in his company. They ate with him, and slept with him. They saw him taken, and tried, and slain upon the cross. Now don't forget that without the proof of the resurrection Christianity is nothing. All their "witnessing" backs the claims of Jesus. To prove the resurrection will prove Christianity. Now Peter says we -- the Apostles -- were witnesses of everything that he did. We saw him slain. We saw him dead. He was as dead as he could be. But we insist that we saw him raised from the dead. Now if a man can be raised from the dead -- he must be deity! Did not Paul tell the Romans that "Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead?" Therefore -- Jesus is God!
Friends and brethren, do you not understand that we stake our eternity on this fact? We repent of our sins because of it? We give up one way of life and take on another way of life because of it? Because of belief in a man? A man who claimed to be the Son of God who could forgive our sins and give us everlasting life?
Remember the argument that seems to surface every decade or two about "the man and the plan?" We have a man and the man has a plan. There is no controversy between "the man and the plan." This is absurd. Neither can exist without the other. Neither does exist without the other.
So Jesus was slain. The Apostles saw it. He was raised. The Apostles saw it. It was not manifest to all people, says Peter (Acts 10:41), so "witnesses" are not any or all people, not those who claim be "witnessing" today. Not you, not me. Bible witnesses were "chosen before of God." You haven't been chosen by God to be a witness.
Peter continues and says, "even us, who did eat and drink with him after he arose from the dead." Now then, you did not see him after He arose from the dead. He was not manifested to you after the resurrection. You believe, but you have not seen. These who saw were chosen before. Jesus as a live person resurrected from the dead, proving himself to be the divine Son of God was manifested not to all the people, but to certain pre-selected witnesses. Jesus ate and drank with them after He arose from the dead, thus proving that He really was alive. There is no doubt about it. He is using the term "witness" here in a very exclusive, specific, sense, isn't he. The term "witness" as it is used in the Scriptures is as limited as it can possibly be to men who for 3 ½ years ate and slept with the Lord. They saw him slain upon the cross. They saw with their own eyes the resurrected body of Jesus. These men were chosen by God beforehand to do this very thing - to testify (exact same word as witness) as to what they had seen and heard. These men were the Apostles.
All this is furthermore confirmed by Paul. In Chapter 13:30,31, Paul says:
"But God raised him from the dead; And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people."
Who are now his witnesses to the people? Them that saw him many days, which came up with him from Galilee. Do you recall what the crowd said when Peter and the others began to speak on the morning of the Pentecost? Did they not say, "Are not all these which speak Galileans?" These were the Apostles. Paul insists that those who are now witnesses to the people agree with Peter when he says we are the witnesses, not all the people. All of the people are not witnesses. He says these were chosen before of God. Peter and Paul agree that those who are his witnesses lived with him in his lifetime, saw him dead, saw him after he was raised, were with him for many days eating and drinking with him before his ascension. What was the purpose of it? Let's look at Acts 1:1-3.
"The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the Apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God":
What is the grand proof of Christianity? Is it not the resurrection? Even though one has not seen, he will believe. But, in order for me to believe that Jesus was raised I must have a word that I can trust. Is this not true? But why would I believe something as difficult to believe as resurrection from the dead? Because they were men who were with Jesus during his entire ministry. They ate and slept with him. Is it possible that after they were with him for so long, and understood his ways, his strength of character, his personality, and saw that he was crucified, do you suppose that after a scant three days of not seeing him, do you suppose that if Jesus had not been raised, that even a twin could have stepped in and duped them into thinking that this was a resurrected person? Do you suppose? Impossible! You could not have duped these men. Not even if Jesus had had an identical twin could these men have been deceived into thinking that he was Jesus. They knew Jesus intimately. The purpose of the witness of the apostles is to testify to the people that they had been with this person, saw him in what he did, saw him work miracles, heard his claims, and backed up that claim not only with miracles, but his sinless life, and finally saw the supreme sign of his deity, the resurrection. These men now stand as proof to us because they saw it: they witnessed it. This literally fills the Book of Acts; illustration after illustration is shown where the Apostles shout, and we are witnesses!
The Three-Fold Qualifications Of A Witness
When we see the qualifications of a Biblical witness we are further impressed with the exclusiveness of this office, this vital work. These qualifications are three-fold.
1. You will recall in John 15:26,27 that Jesus said to his Apostles, "Ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." From the beginning of what? Acts 1:21,22 will tell us. Here we find that the Apostles are going to choose a man to take the place of Judas. What must be the qualifications?
"Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection."
The first qualification is that one must have been with Jesus "from the beginning."
2. They must have seen him after the resurrection in order to bear witness of the resurrection. What is the purpose of an apostolic witness? To testify that you had seen the resurrected Lord. Who saw the resurrection? No man! But - the Apostles had seen him dead; they now see him alive; they must conclude that he had been resurrected.
The doubter will ask, "But what about Saul of Tarsus? He had not been with them at the beginning. Was he qualified to be a witness?" The answer is "Yes." How can this be? Well, Saul was an exceptional case. In this case Jesus came to him personally! At the question,"Who art thou," he was told by the Lord that he was Jesus. Saul saw him in all of his glory, above the brightness of the sun so bright his eyes were blinded until miraculously his eyes were made to see. Two miracles occurred here. There was the miracle that blinded him and the miracle that gave him back his sight. Both of these were necessary to convince Saul that this one whom he had spoken against was now the one whom he would now speak for. He could tell what he had seen and heard. (Acts 22;26.) Paul then reaches the qualifications in a moment that it took 3 ½ years for the others to reach.
3. The third qualification relates to a promise of Jesus to someone, and the Apostles were the only ones who ever received it! (Jimmy Swaggart and hundreds of his stripe can not, or will not, understand this, but it is true nevertheless.) In John 16:13 Jesus says,
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."
Let's take an example of an auto wreck. Several people see it. It is a long-time oddity that their testimony will usually be contradictory. They will see things differently. There may be no intent to defraud, but something is wrong in their human testimony of what they saw and heard. How can this be prevented? The Lord gave promised these a helper, a fellow witness. Who would this be? The Holy Spirit! To preserve what these men saw and heard they were given the gift of the Holy Spirit himself. For what purpose? To miraculously preserve in minute and accurate detail all that they had seen and heard, and to help them record it for all ages!
After the Apostles had seen and heard, and had been with the Lord for 40 days, were they now ready to go forth and testify? Are they now ready to be Biblical witnesses? It would seem so, but as yet they were not. Why? Because the Lord commanded them to wait.
"Ye (the Apostles) shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye (then, afterwards) shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
When were they to become witnesses? When they received power in the form of the Holy Spirit. When they would receive the miraculous power to cause their testimony of what they had seen and heard to be infallibly, unerringly, absolutely, free of error.
What About "Our" Witness For Christ
Today the popular thing is to "witness for Christ." The intent is noble, but what would one say in his witness? One might say that "Christ has been good to me all my life." But what does one mean by "good." People who are not even Christians say that God has answered their prayers, and that God "has been good to them." These are witnessing for God, so they say. And yet, they have not been given salvation because they have not obeyed the Gospel. They are not at this point even Christians, and yet they are "witnessing" for God.
For years various religious groups have urged their members to witness for Christ. This is effective in winning converts to their denomination. There is a sense, it is true, that one could witness for Christ. One might bear witness as to what he feels has come about since becoming a Christian. But we can't convert men to Christ by our testimony! Our testimony is based upon our human judgment. We convert men to Christ by giving the testimony of the Apostles. We teach the Biblical examples of conversion. Far too many teachers have given their own testimony and upon that subjective testimony expected men to be converted to Christ. They should have said that Jesus died for our sins and here is proof of it! Instead, they tell how they had become a Christian (can you believe the multitude of different ways?) and urged others to follow their example. This is not Bible preaching, and it is false to the core!
What is wrong with telling people what Jesus has done for us? Nothing is wrong with it as far as it goes. It is inspiring. It is edifying. But, our testimony has never converted anyone to Christ. Don't you see the difference between the testimony of qualified witnesses confirming that Jesus of Nazareth is Saviour and Lord, and the testimony of fallible human beings relating their personal, subjective, and often inconsistent experience? We mortals can leave ourselves wide open to all kinds of error. We may be sincere, but we may be mistaken. The Apostles were never mistaken; their testimony as to the authority and divinity will save sinners.
What has Christ done for us? Much, to be sure. But, how do we know that any one particular incident was His doing; any one particular blessing or suffering was caused by Him? And for what purpose? We could not prove that any one thing, good or bad, was by the intervention of the Lord if our lives depended upon it! Fortunately, our lives do not depend upon it.
But do we not believe that God blesses the lives of His children? We most assuredly do! No doubt about it. Absolutely none. How do we know that He blesses His children, and we have been blessed? Because the Word of God says so! The Apostles wrote about these promises of blessings, and we have their word. We believe the Word, and we trust in His providence. Rather than "witness" to the world let us teach men to believe the Word and then they can trust in its promises.
But someone might say, "Is not this what Paul did? Did he not testify of his salvation?" Yes, it is true that Paul told of his conversion, but Paul had an extraordinary experience in his conversion. he was permitted to see the Lord (Acts 9:4). Have you seen the Lord? If so, testify to that fact! But none of us have seen the Lord. We were converted by the power of the Gospel. And this is what we should tell to sinners. Paul points this out to the Galatians in this manner:
"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" (Gal. 3:1).
What did Paul preach? Paul had evidently (giving evidence) showing Christ crucified. And this is what we have to preach today, the "Word of the Apostles" that proves the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
If we appeal to our experiences, so can every conceivable stripe of so-called Christian today. And they do it! And they do it with great skill. They have testimony to tell and they do it much more dramatically and colorfully than we can possibly do. Some of us who for so long have appealed to the Scriptures alone are new at this game of telling of our own experiences, but they have been at it for a long time. But none of it amounts to anything when it comes to the power that can save a man's soul. That power is reserved for the Gospel of Christ, which Paul says is the power of God unto salvation. (Rom. 1:16.)
-- HT
(I am indebted to Ed Wharton for the outline, and much of the actual wording, of the above lesson)
Something To Think About . . .
It seems that on every side we turn now-a-days, we find a nation that is increasingly hostile toward Christianity. From Rosie O'Donnell's comments that fundamentalists Christians are worse than radical Islamists to Bill Maher’s mocking the Lord’s supper by comparing it to a homosexual affair, we find in popular culture that hostile and offensive comments toward Christians are becoming the norm. Moreover, the ACLU continues to hammer away at Christian liberties: denying prayer, refusing some the right to publicly demonstrate, removing “In God We Trust” from public view and countless other injustices that are too numerous to include here. So what is a Christian to do in such a society?
The most frequent response from well meaning and loyal to America saints, is to success that we begin a program of prayer. Certain it is that what we pray for we usually work for. And while God doesn’t work miraculously today, he can work in ways that are beyond our comprehension to answer the saint’s supplication (Eph 3:20). Second, we can begin to teach the integrity of the Scriptures, the absolute and ultimate authority of the Lord God Almighty, and the Gospel given to us in Jesus Christ. The inimitable David Lipscomb often spoke of those calling themselves Christians who appeared to be “playing with their religion” as if it were only a minor part of their life. It was probably this casual attitude that helped make the present day rejection of Christ possible.
Some attribute Abraham Lincoln to saying that he sought to destroy his enemies by making them his friends. Paul told the Philippians to “preach the Truth in love.” Is this not the only way the Truth can be preached? This does not mean that we “give in” to every kind of evil to defeat evil. This will not work. It does mean that we be reminded that as we represent the disciples of Christ we remember his charge to his disciples, “If you are ashamed of me I will be ashamed of you,” and “he that confesses me before men I will confess before the Father in Heaven.
Evil men have shown time after time that weakness is not respected, and real Christians are not weaklings. Christians need to be strong, and bold. Paul stood before proconsuls, kings, and emperors to defend his faith often times, waiting in prison for months, years on end to get his opportunity to speak. Do we have such examples today? Let us – you and me – begin to be such! (HT)
Soldiers of Christ arise and put your armor on;
Strong in the strength which God supplies, Through His beloved Son.
Strong in the Lord of hosts, And in his mighty pow’r;
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts; Is more than conqueror.
Stand then in his great might; With all His strength endued;
But take to arm you for the fight, The panoply of God.
Leave no unguarded place, No weakness of the soul;
Take every virtue, every grace, And fortify the whole.
That having all things done, And all your conflicts past,
You may o’ercome thru Christ alone, And stand entire at last.
(Charles Wesley)