The Other Witness

April 23, 1995
John 20: 19 - 31
Acts 5: 27 - 32

Text: Mark 5:32 "We are witnesses .. and so is the Holy Spirit"

In these scriptures read in our hearing this morning is a clear message about the church that Jesus founded, loves, and continues to build by his Spirit. On this Annual Meeting Sunday we bring this, our local church fellowship alongside the words of Jesus, and ask Him to show us how we can better know and do His will. Jesus is Lord of the Church!

In these passages we see first:

I. THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

John 20:21 As the Father has sent me, so I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

  1. Our mission is, first, TO CARRY OUT THE WORK OF JESUS IN WORSHIP, EDUCATION, FELLOWSHIP, SERVICE, AND EVANGELISM
  2. But, clearly, our mission also includes, (IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS WORK) the fact that WE, THE CHURCH, MUST RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN FULLNESS AND POWER

Jesus through the Scripture, by the Spirit is:

II. THE AUTHORITY OVER THE CHURCH

Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than any human authority.

  1. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT HUMAN LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION IS NECESSARY; DEACONS, [EPHESIANS 4], PAUL'S CONSULTATION WITH THE LEADERS AT JERUSALEM
  2. BUT THERE ALSO IS NO QUESTION THAT ABOVE ALL HUMAN AUTHORITY IS THE WILL OF GOD AS REVEALED BY HIS SPIRIT, THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD, THROUGH THE MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD, THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD, AND THROUGH GOD-GIVEN INTELLIGENCE AND REASON

But being commanded to do something is one thing. To find the strength and power is another. We see here also the secret of:

III. THE POWER OF THE CHURCH

Acts 5:32 We are witnesses ... and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him,

  1. We have the POWER of knowing we have met the Risen Lord. WE ARE WITNESSES. A witness can tell what he/she knows. Anything less than first-hand is not witnessing, it is hearsay.

    What do YOU know for yourself ?

    1. about what the Bible says;
    2. about what God has done in saving grace in your own heart;
    3. about how to lead another spiritually hungry person into the Presence of God in Christ?
  2. We ALSO have ANOTHER WITNESS! "SO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT"!

    There has to be another witness! (1) In one sense the Holy Spirit may well be at work long before you say anything. (2) But we need the right spirit in order to give our testimony life and authority. Both Spirit and spirit count!

    Unless we have "the other witness" we will not be effective!

[What we have done this year in some ways seems remarkable; in other ways we wonder why didn't we do more. I need to be a specialist in appreciation— the work of the kingdom is always a team effort when it is what God intends for it to be. I am grateful for every dollar given, for every ounce of effort expended, for every prayer prayed, for every kindness and word of love expressed within this body. But rather than speak of specific areas of victory or need I want to close this gospel message with a challenge for the new church year:]

IV. THE CHALLENGE TO OUR CHURCH

Hebrews 11:14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

  1. We have the same mission that Jesus gave the first generation of believers. We have the same authority over us: Jesus is still the head of the church and commands us to obey him instead of any human authority. We have met Jesus, and we need to tell others what we know about Him. The Holy Spirit can and will come alongside us as we witness.
  2. These two important facts are self-evident: (1)WE MUST HAVE FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS TO WITNESS. Hear-say evidence is not admissible, even though it is used over and over again. If Jesus has changed your life, if Jesus is real to you, then you have something to witness about. But also (2) WE MUST HAVE THE RIGHT SPIRIT IN OUR WITNESSING. You can use a capital "S" and a lower case "s" here! The Holy Spirit needs to work on our spirit until we tell the truth in LOVE. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus!
  3. A CHALLENGE FOR THE COMING YEAR (Four-fold:)
    1. COMMIT TO JESUS THROUGH THE BODY

      We come to Jesus one-by-one. Jesus calls us by name. He speaks to us, personally. But sooner or later we discover that we may not be God's favorite child— but that God has a whole lot of other "favorite children" as well. In fact God loves YOU as much as He loves ME. That is the normal pattern of growing up and maturing.

    2. FOCUS ON JESUS IN ALL THAT YOU DO

      "Holiness" is not a "higher standard" of rules and regulations; there is no double standard in the kingdom— we cannot be partially alive. Holiness is God-given grace to be in God's Presence in fullness of fellowship through the deliberate surrender of our rights. It is Christ-likeness, Christ-centered living, Christ wholly owning, possessing us, filling us with the Spirit of Christ. PRACTICE THE PRESENCE!

    3. TITHE!

      How can I say this after an impassioned plea to be holy? Talk about money? I challenge you to put God absolutely first in financial matters. Some of you are on tight budgets. If you tithe you will go under— or so it seems. Listen— I've been there— it doesn't work that way. I have no axe to grind, no possible way to profit from your tithing or not tithing. I simply say that when we are Christ's then all we are is his as well— and when we give him our assets he also takes on our liabilities.

    4. (A HANDLE FOR ALL THIS: ) LIVE IN HEBREWS 11:14

      "Follow peace with all persons everywhere, and (follow) the holiness without which no one can see the Lord."

I challenge you to live in this verse. Super-impose it on whatever passage you are studying. Read it along with the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes.

  1. 1. Get rid of whatever might cause the least cloud between you and any other human being on the face of this earth. If it is their fault, you cannot afford to have a bad spirit about it. I'm talking serious stuff here; I'm talking the difference between kidding ourselves and real, genuine spiritual break-through.

    If that makes you uncomfortable— if you would rather simply draw back into your hurts and your self-righteousness— I ask you to read this verse on your knees— because holiness is linked with a willingness to be clean. And until we have forgiven as we have been forgiven we are not yet clean.

  2. 2. Make certain that you have the sanctifying fullness of the Holy Spirit. This is not a "doctrinal" thing, now. Holiness is belonging to God without reservation. And when that is fact— we will never have to do the work of the church in our own puny human strength. We will have THE OTHER WITNESS!

THE OTHER WITNESS IS READY TO WORK WITH US THIS YEAR TO CARRY FORWARD THE GREAT MISSION OF CHRIST THAT HE HAS GIVEN US. PRAY WITH ME THAT WE WILL MEET THE CHALLENGE!