| Christians As Living Witnesses By Clint H. Denman |
| The most urgent message Jesus gave His disciples while He was here on earth was to be His witnesses, to reveal His way of life to others, to take His gospel to all the world. In his great missionary journeys, Paul repeated the message of Jesus to all who heard him. The command of Jesus at His ascension has been the command given to all Christians since it became the prime duty of the faithful ones who received it from their Risen Lord. After one of his missionary journeys Paul wrote to some of his converts, congratulating and commending them for their good witnessing. Now what did Paul, or does anyone else, mean by being a good witness or doing good witnessing? One writer on this lesson says that the attributes of a good witness in Paul's day are the same as they are today. He gives two important attributes: 1. To be a good witness, one must have personal knowledge of the facts to which he testifies. No one would be considered a good witness in court today if he did not have personal knowledge of the facts to which he was testifying. Second-hand or hearsay testimony does not go very far in any court. The judge and jury will consider only such testimony as is based on personal knowledge of the facts. Can we expect the great Judge of Heaven and Earth to be less careful, less just, in His court? I think not. When we witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ we must base our testimony on a personal knowledge of that saving power. Do we know that Jesus saves? If we can say with Paul, "I know in whom I have believed," then and not until then can we efficiently tell others that "Jesus saves. . ." 2. The second requisite for a good witness is: one must bear consistent testimony. He must stick to his testimony, bear cross-examination, and at all times make one part correspond with all other parts. Dates, places and other features must agree with the facts. If Jesus can save in one place. He can save in every place; if He could save in the past. He can save now; if He can save one person, He can save all. And something else: no judge or jury will believe any witness whose record and the testimony of others indicate that his word can not be taken seriously. Paul wrote to some of these new Christians of Europe that their lives and actions bore such good- testimony to the redeeming power of the Risen Christ that it was not necessary for them to say anything in support of that power. Paul meant that the redeemed power, of these Christians were doing the testifying. This fact was all the more remarkable because there were so few Christians in Paul's day and those few were recent converts from paganism. How easy it is nowadays to say that Jesus can do this and Jesus can do that. What wonderful proof we have on every hand that Jesus can and does transform sinful, indulgent, careless and indifferent men and women into clean, sacrificing, interested and helpful human beings. THE SIKESTON (MO.) HERALD THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1954 ---------------------------------------------------- Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Further Reading: The Lord Jesus Died For Our Sins Proof That Jesus Is The Jewish Messiah Messiah Jesus - Traced Through The Hebrew Scriptures Evidence Of God's Love In A Blade Of Grass How should one witness at work? Are You Ashamed Of The Lord Jesus? |
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