“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that as we are filled with Your Holy Spirit, You make us bold and wise in being Your witnesses. We are able to witness to any audience, before whom You send us, and we are able to present to them, Jesus as the King, who is reconciling man and creation to His kingdom. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus had commanded the disciples to wait, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, for them to be His witnesses. We are to be witnesses to Jesus in all contexts, for which we need boldness. We also need wisdom, to present Christ, to the understanding of that particular audience. As we look at the disciples, they were not prepared to be His witnesses. They were very clearly disciples of Christ, but they were nowhere close to being His witnesses. They had acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah. John 6:68-69 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (69) Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
We too can pray to the Lord saying that we love Him, adore Him and are ready to serve Him. Friends, we are here on earth to be witnesses to Jesus, in our places, where God has placed each of us. Not only did the disciples acknowledge their commitment to Christ but others too identified them as disciples of Jesus.
Mark 14:66-67 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. (67) And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth”. When Jesus was arrested, this is what we read about all His disciples. Mark 14:50 Then they all forsook Him and fled. We read, particularly, about Peter, how he denied the Lord and was not able to be His witness. Matthew 26:69-72 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” (70) But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” (71) And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” (72) But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”
After the crucifixion and the resurrection, they were gathered together as disciples of Christ, but they were full of fear. John 20:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you”. After the Lord’s resurrection, they were full of disbelief and hardness of heart, though the Lord has told them specifically, that He would rise again on the third day. Mark 16:14-15 He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. (15) And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. They were commissioned to be His witnesses, even at the time, but it was only after the baptism of the Holy Spirit that they were able to fulfil the commission. After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, these same timid and disbelieving disciples gave witness to Jesus, and more specifically, gave witness to His resurrection.
Many of us are like these disciples. We acknowledge that we are disciples of Christ. Others too identify us as disciples of Christ, but we are afraid to be witnesses to Jesus, in the particular context in which the Lord has placed us. There is something that restricts us. The release and freedom have not taken place and we live a curbed existence. The breakthrough happens, when we are baptised in the Holy Spirit. We must plead with the Lord to pour out His Spirit on us so that we will be His witnesses in all situations.
Look at how these disciples became after they were baptised with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. We see the grand message that Peter and the elven gave to this audience of Jews from all over the world. The Lord was taking the Gospel to different places, geographically, which was what the Lord said would happen, after they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
These were the same disciples, who were so full of fear and disbelief. Now they were so powerfully transformed, that it seems unreal, but this is the reality of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is what must happen to each of us. ‘Are you thirsting to be a witness to Jesus? Ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit.”
(At around seven minute and twenty seconds of the audio message, I made a blunder by reading ‘twelve’, when I should have read, ‘eleven’. My apologies.)