Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2: Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5: For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6: When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7: And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8: 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. 9: And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10: And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11: Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Introduction

In the passage we read this morning, we find our Lord is getting ready to leave and return to Heaven, but before He ascended into Heaven, He left them some instructions. He left His church with this reminder, saying, “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).

These are the last words of Jesus Christ before He ascended into Heaven. Here our Lord reveals the great responsibility every believer possesses. If we are to be pleasing to the Lord and effective in service, we must give great attention to His last words. “and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” That’s what I invite you to consider with me this morning. As we prepare for our upcoming Friends & Family Sunday and Family Fun Day, I want us to focus on “the who, what, where, and how of being a witness for Christ.” As we consider this subject, I want to highlight four important truths about these last words of our Lord Jesus Christ, “and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” And the four truths I want to highlight this morning are The People, The Place, The Proclamation, and The Promise.

I – The People God Calls to be His Witnesses

The first thing I want us to consider is the people that God has chosen to be His witnesses. Who are the people that God calls to be witnesses? Who are the “ye” in Acts 1:8? The ‘ye’ are His disciples. This was spoken by our Lord directly and particularly to His disciples. And who are they? Men like Peter, Andrew, James (son of Zebedee), John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddeus, and Simon (the Zealot). Women like Mary Magdalene, Martha, Salome, Elizabeth, Anna, and Lydia. They were fishermen, tax collectors, seller of purple, and housewives. In other words, they were ordinary men and women.

In chapter four of the book of Acts, we find two of them, namely Peter and John, who have just healed a crippled man  and have preached that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead to the crowd. Through their witness and proclamation many of those in the crowd which heard the Word believed, to the dismay of the religious leaders. So, to silence them, they arrested them and put them in jail. Then later they realized that Peter and John were unlearned and ignorant men. In other words, they were just ordinary people. There was nothing really special about them. They had no formal training, no formal education. But then they were not just ordinary men—they were ordinary men who had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). That’s what made the difference. They had been with Jesus Christ their Lord. Their boldness is rooted in their being in the presence of Jesus.

These are the people that God calls to be His witnesses. And by the way, what is a witness? What comes to your mind when you hear the word “witness?” Most people probably think of someone in a courtroom. A witness is someone who has seen and can attest to something. A witness is someone who has seen something take place and who can tell of all that they saw, heard, and experienced. As believers in Christ, our role as witnesses is simply to share all that we have seen, heard, and experienced. Listen to what the apostle John writes in his first letter 1 John 1:1-5, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 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. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Now, understand that this last word of our Lord, “and ye shall be witnesses unto me” is not just for His disciples, it’s a word for the whole church, for the whole age, in the whole world. As believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to serve as “witnesses” to our faith. Now, you might feel insignificant and not qualified and are not able. But remember what the apostle Paul wrote in …

1 Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28: And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29: That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Whom does God choose to be His witnesses? “The foolish things of the world”, that is, foolish in the eyes of the world; “the weak things of the world”, “the base things of the world, and things which are despised.” In other words, the people that God has chosen to be His witnesses are ordinary men and women, boys and girls, like you and me. These are the very people chosen by God to be witnesses for Him. God has made every child of His, a light to shine for Him in a dark place. The apostle Paul puts it this way, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life…” (Phil 2:15-16).

Now, that we know who are the people chosen by God to be His witnesses, let’s look at the place where we are to be witnesses.

II – The Place We are to Be Witnesses

Our text says, “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).

God’s plan to use His people to be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The early Christians started in Jerusalem, then spread the Gospel to Judaea and Samaria, and then began to move out to the ends of the earth. They brought the gospel message not only to Jerusalem, Judaea, and Samaria, but also to other nations around them. As a result of their witness, the gospel reached Middle East, Asia, Africa, America, Australia, and Europe. This is a wise plan—we begin with our family and close friends and neighbors. But the call is not only to witness to our immediate sphere of influence, but also into the world; all the nations around them.

Isn’t that our Lord’s last instruction to the man whom He had delivered from an unclean spirit in Mark 5? The man who had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. But our Lord responded, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee (Mark 5:19).”

But again, the call is not only to witness to our immediate sphere of influence, but also into the world; all the nations around them. Our Lord’s last instruction to His disciple before He returned to His Father, in Mark 16:15 “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” We are to be witnesses to all the world, that is to all seven continents. We are to make disciples not only here in Murrieta, but everywhere, wherever people are. We must go to all nations because God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. You may be thinking, this is impossible! How could those 11 men disciple all nations? How can we at Grace & Truth make disciples of all men? This is where the missionaries come in. Not all of us are called to go to foreign lands but we can support those who are called to go and willing to go. This is why we have “Missions Emphasis” month. This is why we are exhorted to get involve in faith promise. This is why we have faith promise giving on top of our tithes and offerings. Because we are to obey this Great Commission of making disciples of all the world and of every creature.

We have the only hope for sinners, the only message of saving grace. And we must not keep it to ourselves. We must take this message beginning here in Murrieta into all the world and to every creature!

III – The Primary Message We Witness To

What is our message? Our Lord says, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.” We noted the “ye” refers to all believers, now the “me’ refers to Christ. Our primary message is Jesus Christ. It’s not about us. It’s not how great we are. It’s not how great our church is. Because we are not. It’s about our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ! It’s about Jesus Christ. Our witness as believers must be focused on Christ. We are witnesses unto Him.

In Luke 2, there was a certain prophetess named Anna was present when the baby Jesus was dedicated in the temple. In Luke 2:38, it says concerning her, “And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” Anna “spake of Christ”. That was the subject of her witness—Jesus Christ. That was the primary subject of Philip when he spoke to the Ethiopian eunuch. Acts 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. Jesus Christ must be the central theme of our witness.

The apostle Paul when he came to Corinth was determined that his primary message as a witness is Christ and Christ alone. Listen to what he writes in 1 Corinthians 2:1, 2, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

“Jesus Christ and Him crucified” must be the first, the last and the middle of our witness. “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12b).

Our message is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2: By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3: For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4: And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

This is our Lord’s last instruction to His disciples before He ascended into Heaven.

Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48: And ye are witnesses of these things.

We are to declare who Christ is, what He has done and what He able to do. We are to testify that Jesus Christ alone is the divinely appointed Saviour of sinners, that He is the eternal Son of God who became flesh, died for guilty sinners, and rose again to forgive and to save. We are to testify that the sinner’s only hope is in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He lived the perfect life we did not live and died the sinner’s death we should have died.

Now, having considered the people, the place, and the primary message, Let’s now consider …

IV – The Promise to the Witnesses

As we witness and carry out the Great Commission, we need to remember the Lord’s promise to His disciples in …

Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5: For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

You may remember, before Jesus Christ went to the cross, He promised His disciples that He will not leave them orphans. He promised them that He will send the Holy Spirit as their Comforter - the Paraclete walking alongside them. Here we see our Lord repeating and confirming that promise in verses 5-8. 

Acts 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6: When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7: And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8: 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.

This is why the Holy Spirit is called the Holy Spirit of promise.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

The Spirit is called the Spirit of promise because He is the Spirit promised. He is the Spirit whom the Father and Jesus Christ had promised, and who was sent by them. He is the Spirit promised both in the Old and New Testaments.

Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27: And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39: (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

The great promise of the Father was that He would send His Spirit into the hearts of men. This promise is worth waiting for, because the fulfillment of the promise brings power with it.

Acts 1:8 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.

The world is filled with people who are fascinated and obsessed with power. They are so obsessed with power that they will have it at any cost, even if it means controlling, exploring, and manipulating people. There are people who will live and die for monetary power, for political power, and for military power. While many devote their lives to achieving this goal, those types of power can never satisfy the person. The world's power is temporary, leaving a person always wanting for more. 

However, our Lord has promised power to every believer through the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The word “power” in Acts 1:8 is the Greek word dynamis, from which we get the word dynamite. Our Lord told His disciples that before they would be able to witness and evangelize the world, they must receive the dynamis of the Holy Spirit.

This power is not a power that exalts one person above others. It does not control or exploit or manipulate others. No! This power is not to exalt us but to transform us and enable us. This power is available to us believers so that we could live godly lives and become effective and powerful witness for Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit is the only power that is sufficient to win our spiritual battles and to enable and empower to be faithful witnesses for Christ.

You and I may not be the eloquent speakers (2 Cor 10:10; 11:6), or we may not have all the answers to all the questions and arguments of our unbelieving friends have. But, because of the Holy Spirit we can have confidence as we testify of who Christ is and what He has done. And believe that “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Closing Exhortations

Just like any other organization the church can sometimes lose its focus. All of us can at times miss seeing the forest for all the trees. In the midst of many activities, we can miss the overarching purpose. We can get so busy in our own life and in our little area serving faithfully in our ministry and yet fail to see the bigger picture of what we are working toward together as a local church. Oswald J. Smith: “Oh my friends we are loaded down with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost is almost entirely neglected.”

Personal witnessing is not easy work. It is more difficult than singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, attending seminars, revival meetings, conventions, conferences, and youth rallies. But personal witnessing is more important than all these other activities. The devil will deceive you to substitute legitimate activities for witnessing. But our Lord Jesus has given us believers a clear marching order, and that is “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.”

How about it? What are you going to do to reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? You can start by letting your friends and loved ones know that you are a Chirstian and let them know how you got saved and how they too can get saved. You can help us pass out gospel tracts on Saturday soul winning and visitation. You can also help invite people to come with you to our Friends & Family Sunday. There are many different ways you and I can be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. We can either get the gospel to the people or get the people to gospel.

Now, to those who are still lost, the command to you is not be witnesses for Christ., not yet. If you are still lost, the command to you is not, “Go!”, but “Come!”

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.

AMEN!