Be My Witnesses (Part Two)

To be an effective and dedicated witness for Jesus depends on a few things. While the disciples were with Jesus, they enthusiastically did what He had asked them to do in terms of witnessing and miracles. It was as if they tried to please Him like good students at school would please their teacher. The disciples were under Jesus’ supervision and were able to return to Him for feedback on how they fared (e.g. Matthew 17:15-21). We can see a good example in Luke 10:1-20 where He sent out the seventy-two to prepare the way for Him. “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name,’” (V17).

But when Jesus died, the disciples’ anchor was gone. They had nobody to impress anymore, nobody to give feedback to, nobody to ask for feedback – they were powerless. While Jesus was alive and with them, He was their power and they relied on Him, which is why Jesus encouraged them in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Holy Spirit took Jesus’ place for feedback and encouragement.

When we live for ourselves and are subject to embarrassment, fear of opinions and fear of persecution, such as losing our jobs, we have no power to witness. Like the disciples of Jesus, we need to depend on the Holy Spirit for power. When our relationship with the Lord is of such a nature that we do not care what we feel or go through, as long as the Lord is pleased (impressed) by our obedience and faith, witnessing will come easily and we will know the Lord will look after us whilst we witness. If we lose our jobs, if we get thrown into jail and even if we are killed for our faith, we will know the Lord is in control of our lives. That is why that family of missionaries, of some years ago, were able to sing worship songs to the Lord while they were buried alive and the father’s voice was the last one to be heard.

Romans 6:8: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” V11: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” We do not live for ourselves anymore since we have died with Christ. We have died to sin such as self-centeredness, materialism and self-gratification and we live for Jesus. Therefore, if we are filled with the Holy Spirit and totally in love with Jesus in such a way that we would give Him anything He requires, witnessing would come easily. We would love as Jesus loves and see those lost souls that are going to hell as Jesus sees them and it would burden our souls as it does Jesus’ soul. Once we have come to the point of loving like Jesus loves – unselfishly – we will find it impossible not to tell of His love.

Apart from sacrificing His life on the cross, Jesus sacrificed His life for the salvation of others while he was on earth. He did not consider Himself in the least. “Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head,’” (Matthew 8:19, 20). Jesus poured out His everything for others and ever since the book of Acts, many others have done the same.

How about you and I?

Lord, help me to love you so seriously that I would give myself for others.