Good evening, all. Tonight we'll be looking at witnessing, sharing our faith with others. More specifically, we will focus on what it means to BE a witness, how one becomes one, by what authority, and what happens as a result. During a prayer a short time ago, I referred to Christians as "The Eyes of The Bride," and at the time I wasn't fully sure what all the implications of that were. As it is, I've named this study after the phrase that was given to me then, and it's what we will be examining tonight.

Recently, CompNut gave a study on witnessing for his Tuesday night meeting, and I think he still has the notes available for distribution. It was a very useful talk, and he described the various ways for "breaking the ice," when talking about Christ to unbelievers. Methods like the "Romans Road," and the series of questions one can ask people; these are great for getting the information out, but as CompNut already did this, and quite well, we can look at another aspect of it. We need not lay the foundations again :)

If you've been to a few of my studies, you know that this chat meeting isn't called "Traces of Creation" for nothing. I always look for a way to show that there's "nothing new under the sun," (Ecc 1:9), because from the very beginning, all things have been following a pretty specific pattern. New things are just reapplications of the old, and those things which were to come have been pointed forward to since the original creation.

It's that way with witnessing too. The "pattern" has always been in this manner: for some reason, the majority always messes up. There are, however, in every generation a "faithful few" who are sent to warn the others and to get them to repent. Let's look at one of the first clear examples of this.

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at his heart. And the LORD said, 'I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.' But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Gen 6:5-8)

Now, I want us to look at something that many people miss. In chapter 6 we find this: "And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth." (Gen 6:10) Just before Noah started building the ark after receiving the message about the coming flood, his sons are mentioned. Now going back to chapter five: "And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth." (Gen 5:32) Noah was 500 when he had these sons. Whether it's the first or the last, we're not really told. We also find this in chapter 7: "And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth." (Gen 7:6)

That puts the amount of time Noah knew about this at around a hundred years! Some have even figured it to be 120 (assuming that Noah had the youngest of his three sons at 500), and they say they can back it up using other Scriptures were the "generations" are mentioned. I'm not sure about the exact numbers, and I've never checked; but in any case, that's no small time. People had plenty of opportunities to learn what Noah was doing building a large, wooden vessel on dry land.

That large structure was sure to invite questions from onlookers, and undoubtedly righteous Noah sounded words of grave warning to those around him. Perhaps they were judged already, God's voice seemed pretty final on the matter even before He commanded Noah to build, but at the same time, every opportunity would be given for repentance. That's just the way He does things :) And, of course there was still time for any interested parties to get into the ark when they saw streams of animals coming together from all parts and calmly, peacefully entering the safety of the structure.

Noah could build the ark, and when he did all that was in his power to do, God added His own touch - even the supernatural testified that this was a strange work going on. Animals gathering together from all quarters was sure to raise a few eyebrows. Still the people would stubbornly refuse to humble themselves. Just as in Christ's day, visible signs won't impress anyone if their heart is already set against the truth. "But He answered and said unto them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.'" (Mat 12:39)

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we see a hard truth. The story is given of a man who had wealth as the world counts it, and another named "Lazarus," which means, "Helped by God," in Greek, who was a beggar. In life, one had all the advantages, and the other had nothing. The story goes on: "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." (Luke 16:22-23)

A great difference. The one who had nothing, yet did not allow himself to become bitter against his Father, was comforted. The other, who had the means to help his fellow man, but neglected it, showed that his faith (if he had any) was false, and so salvation was not his.

Seeing his hopeless state, the tormentee makes what at first seems to be a reasonable request. Speaking of Lazarus, the rich man says to "Abraham:" "Then he said, 'I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'" (Luke 16:27-28)

That sounds like he's actually looking out for his fellow man, doesn't it? Yet Abraham's reply seems at first quite cold! "Abraham saith unto him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'" (Luke 16:29)

The man tries again to convince Abraham to send Lazarus: "And he said, 'Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.'" (Luke 16:30) But again the response: "And he said unto him, 'If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.'" (Luke 16:31)

In this, the Messiah pointed to both his last miracle (the raising of his friend Lazarus - not the Lazarus in the story, for his friend was not a beggar), and His own death and Resurrection. Even with all of that, there were some who didn't believe. The point of all this is that miracles are the rewards of faith, not the cause of it.

We can make fire come down from heaven, but we could just as easily be working for darkness as light: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men." (Rev 11:11-13)

The real way to share our faith with others isn't by signs or impressive display. Those have their time and place (I'm not saying that they don't still happen), but that's not the way the Gospel was meant to be spread. Not with sensationalism and outward "flash," but with earnest love and sincere words. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom 10:17)

So it was with Noah, who wrought no miracles. So it was with John the Baptist, who had a fierce message, but no fireworks or raisings from the dead. And so it will be with us also, in general, as we go around laboring for the souls of those still lost.

Witnessing is how we save lives, how we save souls. That is the basic idea I'm trying to establish, the extreme importance of witnessing for Christ - this does more for establishing the Kingdom than any miracle ever did. Well, unless you count the Resurrection.

So we may know, from CompNut's study and our own experiences about the ways in which we can witness. But what is it that actually MAKES you a witness? What is it that gives you the right to call yourself a worker for Christ? "'I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses,' saith the LORD, 'that I am God.'" (Isa 43:12)

To be His witnesses, we have to have heard His declaration in our lives, and to have been saved by Him. In plain language, we have to KNOW Him. Even today in court, a "witness" can only testify as to what he has personally seen or heard. If we testify to what another has seen or heard, that is called "heresay," and is not admissible in a court of law. So it is with spiritual witnessing also. If we go around saying "Some believe this," or "Some believe that," or "Well, in my church we do things this way..." That's going to get your testimony thrown out of court.

To be a true witness you have to be able to say: "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)

This, naturally, is in perfect harmony with the concept of witnesses as shown forth in the Old Testament: "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." (Deu 19:15) "'Ye are my witnesses,' saith the LORD, 'and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.'" (Isa 43:10)

And it is reflected in several places in the New: "Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses." (1 Tim 5:19) "This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." (2 Cor 13:1)

And so now we know what a witness will be able to say, that they have personally experienced the things of Christ. That is the only valid testimony, that we have SEEN and HEARD His goodness for ourselves. There is something else about those verses, but let's see something else first.

I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine about the disciples, and we were talking about being witnesses (not coincidentally enough). I told her that I wished we had more personal information about the apostles and disciples. She said something to the effect that they must have been wonderful workers for Christ, since they had been with Him and seen Him in the flesh.

I thought about that for a while, and I considered whether or not God would give to some people an easier test than others. That is to say, did the apostles and first-generation disciples have any advantage over us today? Looking at the state of modern churches, one might be tempted to say yes... but to excuse lukewarmness in faith, to try and justify it is a really bad idea.

"For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." (Rom 1:20) The invisible things are clearly seen?! How is that? When Christ WAS on earth in the flesh, He said to His followers: "But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." (John 16:6-7)

He said it was to our advantage that He not remain here in the flesh! And why? Because while He was in the flesh, He could only be in one place. But now that He has gone, and His Spirit has been sent, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12)

See, again, because Christ has departed to the Father, we are able to do these greater works. By this "invisible thing" the Spirit, we are able to yet "see" with our spiritual eyes the truth about God, and so we can speak of it will authority. We have no disadvantage over Peter, or Paul or John or any of those from the early church. In fact, the human-looking nature of Christ actually became a stumbling block for those whose hearts were not right. Do you think Judas could have betrayed Christ if he really had a true and heartfelt concept that this was God in the flesh, who would never make a mistake?

So many look back to the days of the Apostolic church and say, "Oh, if only we had that strength and unity today..." As if God has slacked off! That is an insult as surely as what the rich man in that parable said to Abraham. You remember I said that the man in torments asking for another warning to his brethren seemed reasonable? It did, but it was actually a statement of ingratitude and faithlessness. The implication is, "You need to warn people more. My brothers need more chances than you are giving them. Maybe if you'd given ME more evidence, I would also have been saved!"

The rich man had every opportunity to learn in life. If he had walked after what little light he knew; to do right where he could (perhaps by the very act of showing compassion for the beggar), greater and greater evidence would have been shown to him. Remember, miracles are the results of faith, not the cause of it. Let us never insult our loving Father by saying He needs to do this or that so that we (or others) might believe. We know He does all He can: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet 3:9)

Notice that His utmost is done, not to dazzle us with a supernatural work every five minutes, but to lead us to repentance. That is the only thing that will matter in eternity. If you do not believe the simple testimony of the witnesses (and become a witness yourself), you will neither believe the truth even if one was raised from the dead right before your eyes. Oh, you might have an _emotional_ reaction, but that won't keep you faithful any more than the fiery summit and very voice of the Father on Mount Sinai kept the Israelites from worshipping a golden calf a mere 40 days into their stay at its base!

So it was that Christ said He should go away so that we should have the _advantage_ of the Holy Spirit. That is no small statement, for now we see what it is that gives us the authority to BE witnesses: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

And as the name "witness" implies, and as stated before, we must know Christ before we can testify about Him. This is when we can receive this Holy Spirit - the driving force behind witnessing. Just as important as knowing how to do it is knowing WHO is the Enabler behind it. When we have the Holy Spirit in our words... we'll be as Peter who spoke to those many Jews on the day of Pentecost: "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41)

To do this, we need to have that personal relationship with our Redeemer. We need to be even closer than if He WAS with us in physical Person. "Then Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink Hs blood, ye have no life in you.'" (John 6:53) We need to be THAT close to Him, and that transcends just having known Him in physical form. We have NO disadvantage compared to even the very first Christians. To think we do will surely weaken our power as laborers in the field.

The other thing about those verses... well, let's look at one of them again: "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." (Deu 19:15)

There seems to be quite an emphasis placed on the concept of having more than one witness to something. There is great benefit in having a "second witness." "And He called unto Him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits." (Mark 6:7) "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour." (Ecc 4:9)

But of course: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3) We need that unity of Spirit. We all need to know the One in whom we believe. Then we'll have the power that Peter's words had. There's no reason why we shouldn't or couldn't.

If you look at the pattern, God has often had His servants work in twos: Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb, Elijah and Elisha, Ezra and Nehemiah, the "two witnesses" of Revelation 11, even the Old and New Testaments.... They all came in pairs.

There are three witnesses to salvation: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (1 John 5:7)

There were four witnesses to the life of Christ: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. How important was that? :)

A case of "the more the merrier?" Perhaps so. The more often and from diverse sources that someone hears the same report, the more convincing it is. And this is what we want, to get people to come and see the goodness of Christ for themselves. Then they'll stay with Him, not because of us and what we said to them, but because our witness has called them to come and "witness" His glory for themselves.

"Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men." (Psa 66:5) "And Nathanael said unto him, 'Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?' Philip saith unto him, 'Come and see.'" (John 1:46)

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, 'Come and see.'" (Rev 6:1)

This is our message, not only that others may believe because we've told them, but it's an invitation. A witness does not go around pointing out the mistakes of others. That is sometimes necessary: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." (Isa 58:1)

However, the REAL message is an invitation. We say to those in the world, "There is a meal prepared. Come, sit down and eat your fill." We may say to our Christian brothers and sisters that are struggling with some sin, often attempting to overcome it using their own willpower, rather than giving it completely to Christ, "I can sympathize with your sufferings, but come, our Father is inviting you to rest, is showing you a better way."

Oh, yes. We are not only witnesses to the world, but each other as well. This is exactly why the witnesses are sent in twos and threes. "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." (Pro 27:17) "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." (Mat 18:15-16)

We see the principle here again, that the testimony of one witness may not be enough, especially if the hearer's heart is hard. This is not a statement against our own abilities, though, not a rebuke as if to say we are doing it wrong, or aren't good enough. To use my first analogy, that witnesses are the "Eyes of the Bride," we know that two eyes together work better than one, else we won't easily be able to judge distance and perspective - both important things to keep always in mind. Sometimes more than one witness is called for even if one of the witnesses is divine!

"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is Another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which He witnesseth of me is true." (John 5:30-32)

By this, Christ meant that if He alone bore witness to Himself, without the added witness of the Father and Spirit; if there was no agreement between the "two or three," His words would be meaningless. Even God has not left us to rely on a "single witness" to our salvation. Even He doesn't want us to take His word for it only. We also have history, philosophy and science on our side - if they are interpreted accurately.

But what about Noah? The past little while we've been talking about how good it is for witnesses to work together, for their own benefit and for the good of the hearers. If two witnesses are in agreement, our evangelism will be much more powerful.

At the same time, Noah was alone, and so was this character: "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth." (Gen 14:18-19)

For a large part of Elijah's mission he was alone also. In a certain sense, Moses was also alone. He had Aaron and later Joshua as his servants, but he alone spoke to God in a personal way, he alone had certain distinctions.

The point is this, sometimes we are called to be alone for a time. Sometimes we are just sent, to go and speak to someone, or to do a specific work. But we are not to shrink back from such things either, for if we are faithful witnesses, though we are alone, we are not truly alone!

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." (Rom 8:16)

See that? Even a man standing alone, like Noah calling his onlookers to repentance, like Abraham interceding on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah... he also has the Spirit of God as a "second witness." Even alone, he is a "type of Christ," for he or she will stand between God and man to deliver some message, to perform some action for the salvation of souls.

But to do this... to be an effective witness either with someone else or alone, we must know whom we serve: "This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth." (1 John 5:6)

For this is what the Spirit bears witness TO, that our Savior came and His mission went from water to blood - birth (and rebirth) to death, and all for our sakes, so that we can call others to the eternal life prepared for us. Together or alone, we are to call others to the feast. We are not to try to convince others to believe us. We are not working for Christ in order to CONVINCE, but to REVEAL. We are to say, "Come and see," ending our testimony with an invitation, not a condemnation. That is the whole work of the true witness.

"And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:6) "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." (Acts 2:32-33)

"Come, see a Man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John 4:29)

David.