Trinity Talks #6

GETTING TO KNOW THE HOLY SPIRIT

PART TWO: THE WITNESS

John wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

            These are the words of a witness. He saw, he beheld, he touched – then he testified. John saw Jesus, talked with Him, touched Him.

            In what sense can you or I be a witness of the life of Jesus when we lack those credentials? We are far removed from the historical time period of Jesus and so cannot speak as John did and testify to the genuineness of Jesus’ life. The question I am really asking is this: How can we be witnesses of Jesus Christ whom we have never seen or touched?

            Suppose you were very interested in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. You read every book and watch every documentary on the event and become familiar with every aspect. But if you are like me, you weren’t even born when this tragedy took place. Your testimony is limited to what you have read and, perhaps, experienced in immersing yourself in this American tale. Perhaps you even have a theory about the second shooter and believe that it was an accidental firing from a secret service agent. People may call you a conspiracy theorist, a crackpot, or obsessed. They would not call you a credible witness.

            Then suppose an elderly gentleman enters the conversation. It turns out he is a retired secret service agent and he was there. He comes alongside you and verifies some of the details of your theory. Suddenly your testimony bears some authority and people consider what you have to say.

            This is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer who never saw Jesus but testifies to His truth. The Holy Spirit witnesses the truth of Jesus Christ to a world that needs Him. The Holy Spirit authenticates your witness.

            Continuing on in our series on getting to know the Holy Spirit, we are looking at John 15:18-27 and the Spirit’s role as the primary witness of Jesus. We will also investigate His role in helping us to be witnesses of Jesus Christ in a hostile world.

1. Why the World rejects your Witness

Nestled in the context of hostility is our key passage on the Holy Spirit’s work. Jesus explains to His disciples that the world will not appreciate what they have to say about Him. Then Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. And then in the next chapter, Jesus continues to warn them that people will reject their testimony. This tells us that we need the Holy Spirit to authenticate our witness if we have any hope of sharing Christ.

a) If the World hates you – Jesus makes it sound like a natural thing to be hated by the world. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (18). In fact, Jesus goes on to say that it would be unnatural for the world to accept you and love you, if you are also a follower of Jesus.

            John uses that term “world” to represent a global system of rejection. The “world” is all the people who reject Jesus as the Son of God. We get the word “cosmetics” from John’s word for “world” or “cosmos” (Grk). “Cosmetics” means to put right. So women who use cosmetics are trying to put their faces right.

            A missionary shared about the primitive village he was evangelizing in Africa. An elderly woman came into his hut one day and found his shaving mirror hanging on the wall. Not realizing it was her own reflection, all she saw was a wrinkled old woman. She took the mirror and smashed it on the ground.

            The gospel of Christ is a mirror. Jesus reveals that we are not right and the world does not like that. (See 2 Cor. 2:15-16)

b) They will persecute you – As a result, the world will try to stamp out the message that tells them they are not right. When you face opposition for simply believing in Christ, Jesus says we should not be surprised. “A servant is not greater than his master” (20). Jesus goes on to say in the next chapter that anyone who expels you from a social circle or even kills you because of Christ will think they are doing the world a favor (16:2).

            The anti-Christian rant grows louder everyday in North American society. We are not being killed but we are being silenced. We need only consider the ongoing battle of Trinity Western University against the Supreme Court to merely train Christian lawyers and teachers. Public prayers must use generic terms like “God” so as not to offend other faiths. These are but a few examples of the slow silencing of our faith.

c) Hatred without reason – Don’t try to make sense of it. Jesus came to set the captives free, to forgive sin, and to preach the love of God. Who could be against those things? The freedom of conscience and the liberation of women find their roots in the Christian gospel. The abolition of slavery and the protection of the innocent grew out of the core values of our faith. Even the theology of Creation beckons us to be environmentally conscious because “the earth is the Lord’s.”

            So why does the world hate Christians? Jesus said that the world hates Him because of prophecy, “They hated me without reason” (Pss. 35:19; 69:4). If we truly reflected the love and gentleness of Jesus, if we did not come across as “judgy” or “holier than thou,” the world would still hate us. Think of it, Jesus, the perfect man who came full of grace and truth, was rejected by the world and crucified. If that is the treatment the Lamb got, what of His sheep?

            This is the world we live in. It is in this context that we need the help of the Holy Spirit to testify that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died for sin and was raised to life. Without the Spirit our words are powerless to impact anyone for the faith.

2. How the Spirit Witnesses through you

a) The Witness of the Holy Spirit – The chief purpose of the Holy Spirit is to proclaim the message of Jesus. Whatever else we might think about the Holy Spirit, His primary job is to shine the spotlight on Jesus. As Jesus promised, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me” (26).

            How does the Holy Spirit testify about Jesus? First of all, we understand that God has revealed Himself in Creation. We see the intelligent design of our natural world and declare there must be a god. Second, we know that God has revealed Himself in our consciences. Humankind is naturally inclined to worship someone greater than himself/herself. More specifically, God has revealed Himself in the flesh, in Jesus Christ, the exact representation of His being. But how do we make sense of any of this information?

            The Spirit of Truth inspired the prophets and apostles to write down what they witnessed. We have the OT, the gospels, and the letters to show us the truth of Christ. The Bible is our best tool in sharing the good news of Jesus because the Holy Spirit is the author of its truth. That is why Paul says the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Eph 6:17). The Bible can profoundly change a person. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

            But here’s the thing, no amount of reading the Bible and no amount of preaching will ever bring us to a living knowledge of Christ. It is only when the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and preaching, and interprets it and applies it to our hearts that we really come to see Jesus as He truly is.

            The witness of the Holy Spirit does what no person can do. The Spirit of God opens hearts, removes blindness, opens minds to understanding and bears witness that the Word of God is true. He gives it the ring of authenticity so that the power of preaching, testifying, and even the mere reading of a verse of Scripture rests with the Spirit, not with us.

b) Your witness – The Spirit could, if He wanted to, spread the gospel on His own. Yet He chooses to use us. Jesus wanted it that way. Jesus said, “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (27).

            Obviously Jesus was talking first to the disciples who had literally been with Him in His ministry. But this also applies to us. We are to bear witness for Christ. The Greek word for “witness” is where we get the word “martyr.” Martyrs, in our minds, are people who die for the faith. That is not the original meaning. Martyrs are people who testify.

            Last week I talked about the Holy Spirit as Paraclete, who speaks in our defense as in a court trial. Now imagine that Jesus is in the box, on trial before a hostile world. The world is judging Jesus and Satan accuses Him of being irrelevant. The Holy Spirit is the defense and we, we are the witnesses who testify before the world and tell the truth about Jesus. And we are briefed by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit so well that the case is airtight.

            Jesus said to the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come and help them testify. They were to wait in Jerusalem after Jesus rose from the dead and receive the Spirit. Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8). The witness has been passed on to us down through the centuries by the faithful who stood for Jesus. It is our turn. But what do we say?

            This is where testimonies can go off the rails a bit. Can you imagine Peter standing up on Pentecost to speak and saying, “Hello, I’m Peter, I’m from Galilee. I was born and raised in a Jewish home and knew God all my life but never really made a commitment. Then I met Jesus and …” Maybe he talks about his addiction to fishing and how Jesus rescued him from it…I don’t know.

            No, Peter stands up and does what? He quotes Scripture explaining the strange happenings of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then he talks about Jesus of Nazareth, someone they all knew, and how they put Him to death, but God raised Him from the dead. Peter quotes more scripture and then concludes with “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:37b). And the people were cut to the heart. Unless the Holy Spirit had taken this witness and Scripture and drilled them home to 3000 hearts, this event would have been buried in history. Instead, lives were changed.

            What do you say when you testify for Christ? Jesus said, don’t worry about it. You will be called to account for your faith by people hostile to the gospel. “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matt 10:19-20). When you don’t know what to say, quote Scripture.

            When you don’t know what to say, declare Christ crucified. Jesus’ word about a hostile world came to fruition quickly after Pentecost. The apostles were taken to the Sanhedrin and told by the high priest to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. But Peter and the apostles replied that they could not stop (see Acts 5:29-32).

            We are all to be witnesses of what Jesus has been to us, what we have experienced, what has happened in our lives, what he has done for us. And the Holy Spirit will witness with that, using those words, simple as they may be, to open minds and to break through hard hearts, to pierce and break down barriers, and to open people up to the Word. This is the calling of the church: to witness before a hating world.

Dr. Paul Brand was speaking to a medical college in India on Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” In front of the lectern was an oil lamp, with its cotton wick burning from the shallow dish of oil. As he preached, the lamp ran out of oil, the wick burned dry, and the smoke made him cough. He immediately used the opportunity.

            “Some of us here are like this wick,” he said. “We’re trying to shine for the glory of God, but we stink. That’s what happens when we use ourselves as the fuel of our witness rather than the Holy Spirit. Wicks can last indefinitely, burning brightly and without irritating smoke, if the fuel, the Holy Spirit, is in constant supply.”

            The Holy Spirit gives us the power and the courage to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. Therefore, we need to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. We have made a connection to the Word of God and the Spirit this morning. It is clear that the filling of the Holy Spirit in your life is directly related to the Word of God.

            Ephesians 5:18-21 and Colossians 3:15-17 agree in that being filled with the Spirit and the Word produce the same results in us. To remain filled with the Spirit will mean continuing to be filled with the Word.

            Through your knowledge of God’s Word, the Spirit is able to witness the truth of Christ through you to a world that needs Him.

                                                            AMEN

Our Heavenly Father, we pray this morning that in the midst of an unbelieving world that rejects your Son Jesus, that you will keep us in their midst. Like salt permeating, preserving, and flavoring the meat, make us influential for Jesus. Like light that shines in the darkest places, show us to be clearly Christ’s own. Lord we ask that you will strengthen us and help us to reach out in love to friends and neighbors and coworkers. They may be blind and unaware of the truth. So empower us through your Holy Spirit to bear witness for Jesus, the Savior and the forgiver of our sins, the lover of our souls, the Lord of life, and the King of kings.

                                                            Amen