Month: August 2011

No Silent Witness

“This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” Acts 2:32

A few months ago I was able to experience jury duty for three days. In the process several “witnesses” were called to give testimony of what they had experienced on a given day. If a person made comment on another person’s experience it was not admissible as evidence.

A witness therefore is a person who has experienced something and thereby has the right to declare their experience. Allowing for the fact that a person may be mistaken or is tampering with the truth to some degree, a first hand witness is given very much greater weight than second-hand information.

A witness is a person who has experienced an event first hand. We all experience many things everyday and routinely bear witness of some of them to our friends. It is a natural thing to do. It is the same with spiritual matters as well.

An error that has overrun the Christian church is “nominalisation”. That is, people who say and believe they are Christians but are not. A person only becomes a Christian in the true and Biblical sense when God creates them new in Jesus Christ (John 1:12, 13). If a Christian has no witness to the new life in Jesus Christ then they may not have experienced the new birth at all (John 3:3).

If we are unable to give personal testimony that we know that Jesus is alive, that “God raised Him up,” it may be because we have not experienced the resurrection life of Jesus and met Him personally. Some years ago a young lady asked to be baptised but on interview could not bear witness of entering into or having a personal relationship with the risen Jesus. One who has experienced first hand the new birth will be able to give witness to it.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus is recorded as saying, “you shall be witnesses to Me.” If we have nothing to say about Jesus Christ and the new life He has given us we must seriously consider whether we have any experience of that life. If we have, then the spiritually natural thing to do is tell others about it and let them see the outworking of the life of Christ in our lives.

As John writes, “And this is the testimony [a witness gives testimony so this is John speaking from personal experience. Cf. 1 John 1:1-3]: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life” (1 John 5:11, 12).

If we have received the Son of God we will bear witness of it and all the New Testament writers affirm that to be true.

Could it possibly be that for some of us our silence is because we have no experience of Jesus Christ to speak of?

The Most Absurd Thing

“Revive me according to Your Word” (Psalm 119:107, 154, 156).

It has been said, perhaps too many times, that a person may be a Christian and not read God’s Word or pray. There may be a small theological window of debate for such a statement but it is contrary to the heart of the Bible. Anyone who thinks that way would do well to reflect on Psalm 119 for a while.

Consider the following in the light of one who claims to be a Christian but has no heart for God’s Word:

“Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law” (v 18)

“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word” (v 9)

“Your Word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you” (v 11)

You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently” (v 4)

“Your word has given me life” (v 50)

“You through Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies” (v 98)

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (v 105)

“The entrance of Your words gives light” (v 130)

The psalmist had nothing in common with a person who did not delight in God’s word. Consider, “My eyes are awake through the night watches that I may meditate on your word” (v 148) “I love Your commandments more than gold” (v 127) and, “Your commandments are my delights” (v 143).

Let no one be deceived. One who is born of God, created new in Jesus Christ, the Living Word, will have a love for the written Word of God and delight in it. It is the most absurd thing for a person to claim to be in right relationship with God through Jesus Christ and not want to be in communion with Him.

In human terms, that would be like a bride and groom going their separate ways after the marriage ceremony and having no further contact. If we observed that happen we would know something was drastically wrong with the relationship.

Beware and be warned, if you believe you are a true child of God but have no desire to commune with God through His Word and in prayer, then the wise thing would be to do both lest you discover your error too late.

A Dam Ready to Burst

“Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked …” (Genesis 18:25)

Resistance to anything that relates to God, the Bible and Jesus Christ is growing more rapidly day by day. At all levels of Government we have men and women who openly oppose anything that reflects the glory of God. Paul admonishes Christians to “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Abraham prayed that God would not pour out His wrath on Sodom for the sake of just ten righteous people. Keeping in mind that there were probably at least ten people in Lot’s immediate family it is sad to discover that there was only one righteous person in all of Sodom. Even so, in mercy God removed Lot from Sodom before He poured out His wrath.

Sodom’s fate came as a result of two key contributing factors: The people loved an ungodly and sinful lifestyle and Lot was an extremely poor witness to the glory of God. These two factors seem prevalent in Australia in our time.

Many people in political power find no resistance to the ungodly minority groups because they are committed to a secular philosophy and reject any notion of a Creator to whom they will be held accountable. This is just like the people of Sodom in the day of their destruction.

Much of the church has turned away from the Bible as the final authority on all matters it addresses and have turned  to the “wisdom of men.” Therefore it has no clear “Thus says the Lord …” voice against the vocal wicked and ungodly men. Lot had lost his godly voice such that people laughed at him and did not take him seriously when he warned of imminent judgment.

Why had he lost his testimony? It was because he chose material comfort and wealth to the exclusion of faithfully revealing the glory of God. In the end it cost him everything; his wife, his children, his grand children, his home and all his material wealth.

It is possible today that many Christians are sacrificing their children and grand children to the god of wealth and comfort.

The outpouring of God’s wrath on our country is a dam ready to burst. All that restrains is the minority that are righteous before God in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Paul writes to warn us: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

Sodom laughed at God before God destroyed them all. Lot cared not to be a faithful witness, even to his own family, and they were destroyed.

Paul warns us that these are days for sober living (1 Thessalonians 5:6, 8) and Peter writes, “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” (1Peter 4:7).

Surprise Appointment

“That they may know that this is your hand – that You, Lord have done it!” (Psalm 109:27)

Having been away from work for nearly four weeks there were the inevitable changes made to bus routes and shifts. I was called in for a shift this morning and given some extra running to fill in for another driver who was doing some extra training. Unknown to me God had arranged an appointment…

In explaining one small error on my part to a passenger I mentioned to her, the only passenger on the bus, that I had been in South Africa. As is usually the case when I mention this to other drivers or passengers they ask if I had a good holiday. “Yes,” I say, “I spent much of it in prison.” As you might imagine that always gets a response.

This opened up further conversation as I explained that I taught the Bible in the prison. The lady told me that she was doing a thesis for her Religious Studies course and wanted to know what “religion” I was. I explained that I was a Christian who believed the Bible and understood it in the usual literary sense.

Through her son, who had spoken with Mormons at the door, she and he were invited to one of their meetings. Being very independent (her word) and not wishing to come under the dictatorial authority of another (the reason for her divorce, she said) she objected to their objection about her manner of dress. She told me that she had no dresses to wear, only slacks but they insisted on a dress.

In the course of our journey (I was in no hurry now) I was able to share with her the difference between religion and a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I shared a testimony of a prisoner in Johannesburg awaiting trial who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and had such a change of heart that he would speak the truth at his trial. He was facing three life sentences: two for murder and one for kidnapping. That is not religion; that is a man forgiven by God and in a relationship with Him.

As she alighted from the bus, very slowly and still in conversation, I was able to briefly explain the meaning of, “The wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). She had no problem with all the essential tenets of the Gospel: she was a sinner and Christ alone through His sacrifice could atone for her sin. May she discover the truth of God’s Word very soon and enter into that relationship.