What Is It To Be a Witness? "Ye Shall Be Witnesses"

In the first eleven verses of Acts, the Lord Jesus Christ appears for the last time on earth until He reappears in the book of Revelation.  That section is a transition between the gospels and the rest of Acts.  Acts goes along with Luke like one big book of the Bible with two huge halves.  They make a case for Christianity.  It grew to the entire world because Jesus was the Messiah for everyone, not some regional figure accepted among just an insignificant and small population in a meaningless backwater territory.

The beginning of Acts 1 reads like a final checklist from Jesus for His followers with the keys to success.  The talking points were the first two verses, what Jesus did and taught.  Luke referred to his own gospel, which was the record by which Theophilus, a Gentile removed from the events, would be persuaded of the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Acts would continue the attestation, explaining the worldwide spread. 

The first circulation came by mouth from the ones who were with Jesus and then those they told about Him.  There were many who saw the events of the gospels and could tell about them, but their writing and further explication of them came through inspiration from the Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit through God-ordained men.  This brings the second part of this checklist from Jesus, the revelation of a resurrected Jesus Christ to those men with "many infallible proofs" (verse 3).  The centerpiece, the resurrection, shows Christianity, setting it apart from every and any thing else, to be divine.  God came to earth, intervened in human history.  These men all saw that to tell about it and then write about it.

John the Baptist gave a prophecy before Jesus' baptism that is recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then here in Acts 1 (verses 4-5).  The baptism of the Holy Spirit was an event that would confirm a new age, one by which the kingdom would be postponed (verses 6-7).   It would be clear from this baptism with what and whom God would work through His Spirit on earth, manifested by signs and wonders.  The baptism was on the checklist as was the delay of the kingdom.

If last on the checklist was the promise of the second coming as an incentive for the work (verses 9-11), next to last was the mission, be witnesses.  The way the testimony of Jesus Christ would spread out from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth was through witnesses.  Witnesses are those who can provide eyewitness testimony or the corroborated record of eyewitness testimony.

The apostles were uniquely qualified.  They were there to see all this happen, so they were the ones who would ensure that Christianity kept going after Jesus ascended into heaven.  The plan or the means by which God would have it spread all over the world was through witnesses.  Jesus Himself would not bring the message personally, but witnesses would.  From Jesus' perspective though, He was bringing the message by witnesses bringing the message, just like the Father was bringing the message by His Son bringing it.

Would the means or plan of witnesses work?  Yes, it would, and Acts is testimony to that.  Luke writes it.  Where does that leave us?

We're still witnesses.  The record of the apostles written in the gospels, Acts, and then the epistles is credible and authoritative.  Some might say, "No, you had to be there, you had to experience it personally, that's what would work."  But that wasn't God's plan.  We have scripture given by inspiration of God that is a more sure word than even the experience of an eyewitness (2 Peter 1:16-21).

When we report documentary evidence as written under inspiration, we are witnessing, bringing it to people who were not there.  At some point, no one would have seen it or have been there.  Everyone would be giving it based on what was written.  What is written stands.  It is the means by which someone believes in Jesus Christ.  There is more though.

A witness must believe the evidence, the testimony, himself.  The witness isn't credible if he himself doesn't believe it.  Not many, who call themselves Christians, seem like they do believe it.  They rarely to never tell the message, a lifechanging message that has all of eternity wrapped up in it.

The witness must also act like he believes it.  If someone believes the New Testament, the writings, are true, then he will live them.  His life itself is an epistle, a witness, that shouldn't contradict the written testimony.

Most people that say they're Christians don't treat the New Testament, the message of the gospel, like it's real.  Living by faith means living like you believe what God said through the human authors of scripture.  You take it seriously, you learn it, and then you talk to everyone about it.  That's how others are going to get it -- through witnessing.

Jesus said the apostles shall be witnesses, shall be.  It was a foregone conclusion, like an axiom. Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, really believes in Him, shall be witnesses.  Are you a witness?  When's the last time you even witnessed?  If you are a Christian, what have you been waiting for?

Jesus is coming back.  That was last on the checklist.  Believing in Jesus Christ means believing that He's coming back and that the postponed kingdom is coming too.  Witnesses want to tell others about that kingdom and its King, Jesus Christ.  He's coming back some day.  People everywhere need to be ready to meet Him.  He's the King of the whole world and everyone needs to know about that.

For people to know the message of Christianity, the true story of their salvation, they need to hear it from someone else.  They need a witness, someone who will pass it along to them.  If you believe the message itself, you will be a witness.  Be one.