This week we come to a wonderful topic, being Witnesses of the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ, and we want to see that we as believers in Christ are witnesses of Christ.
Whatever we do and speak of, even concerning the wonderful and all-inclusive Christ we need to bear in mind that we are witnesses of Christ. “Witness” in Greek has the same root word as martyr.
There’s the implication here that a witness is one who bears the Lord’s testimony until death, or even by death. The first such one was our brother Stephen, but whether we would experience physical death through persecution for the Lord’s name, the principle is the same.
A witness is one who dies to live and he lives to testify, to witness, to declare what he has seen, who he has seen, and who has appeared to him.
Many times when we speak of a witness we say, eyewitness, someone who sees something and then speaks about it. A witness is not a teacher, one who learns, studies, and then presents it. We may have a good and content full presentation but this will not qualify us to witness.
A witness is not someone who studied or learns something but someone who by direct and personal knowledge, by the genuine appearance of something, he testifies. John said in 1 John 1 concerning the word of life which he has seen, heard, and their hands handled, and now they testify.
There’s an absolute necessity for us to have the Lord’s appearing so that we may be witnesses of Christ. The resurrected Lord appeared to Peter, to the disciples, and to many others, and last of all he appeared to Paul, and he saw the Lord with his own eyes.
What qualifies us to be a witness of Christ is to have a personal appearing of the Lord, to see Him personally and have His appearing and commission.
The first classic witness, the most up to standard Witness, is the Lord Jesus, who in the book of Revelation is called, The Amen, and the Faithful and True Witness.
What did the Lord witness? He was and is God’s Witness, a witness of God, and He saw God, He even was God, and He declared God and expressed God. He’s the faithful and true Witness of God, God’s very testimony, and through His death and resurrection He was reproduced to become the church, the Body of Christ, which is His corporate testimony.
The church today is the testimony and expression of Christ, the extension of Christ the reproduction of the true and faithful Witness of God. And we all as members of the Body of Christ are small witnesses of Christ, and in combination together we are the church, His Body, to be His corporate witness on earth and in this whole universe.
Having the Lord’s Appearing to be the Witnesses of Christ as the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive One
Since the church is the testimony of Christ on earth, the very expression of God and of His Christ, we all as the believers in Christ should be witnesses of Christ, testifying Him and expressing Him on earth today.
Especially as we speak concerning propagating Christ, this propagation is done only by witnesses, not by learners, students, or followers; only witnesses of Christ can testify concerning the One whom they have seen.
Have we seen the Lord? How much have we seen Him? The more we see the Lord, the more of a witness we are, but the less we see Him, the less of a witness we are.
There are many Christians on earth, and there is a testimony of the Lord, but what kind of testimony we all bear depends on how much we see.
If all we see is the incarnated Christ, we will be witnesses of the incarnated One; this is wonderful, but it is partial and limited. If all we see is the crucified Christ, this is what we testify; this is where most of the testimony of many Christians today stops.
But if we see Christ as the resurrected One, the One who was begotten by God to be the firstborn Son of God, who became a life-giving Spirit, and who regenerated the believers to be the members of His Body, we will witness Him even further.
We are not here just to testify of the One who became flesh, who died on the cross, but of the One who was resurrected and ascended!
If we see Christ in ascension, if we realize what He has accomplished in His ascension, we will be the witnesses of Christ in an uplifted way. In His ascension Christ didn’t merely overcome gravity and slowly lifted off toward the heavens until the clouds hid him from the disciples view.
The intrinsic significance of the Lord’s ascension is that Christ was exalted by God, He was enthrone by God, He was officially inaugurated by God to be the Christ of God to carry out God’s economy.
Christ in ascension is on the throne being the Administrator of the entire universe, He administrates God’s economy, He is the Heavenly Minister, the Heavenly Intercessor, the Chief Shepherd, and He poured Himself out upon us to baptize us and make us His One Body!
Christ became the Leader, the Savior, the Lord, and so many things! And He continues to be active in His heavenly ministry, and today we as the church are part of this ministry; we are here to correspond to the heavenly ministry of Christ on earth, to execute and carry out God’s economy!
But if we don’t know these things, if Christ doesn’t appear to us in these things, we can’t witness them! We need to see the all-inclusive Christ, realizing that every book of the Bible shows us aspect after aspect of Christ’s all-inclusiveness, and when we see such a Christ, we will witness Him!
This is our commission; this is our job in the Lord’s recovery; this is our responsibility in all the local churches – we are here to testify of such a One! This is what the disciples did in the book of Acts, and we in the continuation of the book of Acts continue to do this!
Lord Jesus, appear to us as the resurrected, ascended, and all-inclusive One, and make us Your witnesses! Cause us to see You as the resurrected Christ who became the life-giving Spirit, was begotten as the firstborn Son of God, and regenerated the believers for His Body! Amen, Lord, grant us to see You in Your ascension with all Your accomplishments and attainments so that we may cooperate with Your heavenly ministry and be the witnesses of such a Christ on the earth! Lord, grant us to see You and enjoy You as the all-inclusive One so that we may bear witness of such a Christ!
Being Witnesses of Christ who Bear a Living Testimony of the Christ we see and Enjoy
In the book of Acts the apostles and the disciples were witnesses of Christ (see Acts 1:8; 4:33). The Lord told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and they will be His witnesses.
We are not just witnesses but His witnesses, the witnesses of Christ. God raised up Jesus from the dead, and we all are His witnesses. What we preach is not just some doctrines or good teachings but what we see and witness with our eyes, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord appears to us again and again so that we may witness Him; he appears us in our reading of the Bible, in meeting with the saints, in prayer, and in so many things, and we are witnesses of Christ.
Without the Lord’s personal appearance, without the Lord’s person Himself, all things in the Bible can be just doctrines and teachings; we must see the Lord in all things.
According to the revelation in the book of Acts, everyone who is raised up and sent out by the Lord is a witness of the Lord (Acts 26:16).
We all have been raised up and sent out by the Lord to be the witnesses of Christ. In the New Testament the meaning of witness is primarily to bear a living testimony of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension (see Acts 1:22; 2:32; 5:32; 10:39-40; 17:3, 18; 23:11; 24:14-15).
For us to bear a living testimony of Jesus Christ as the witnesses of Christ means that we need to live Christ, magnify Christ, express Christ, be one with Christ, and live as He lives.
When we live Christ, when we walk as He did, when we become His reproduction, then we are His testimony, and no matter what we say or not say, our living bears witness of the Lord Jesus Christ in all His aspects.
When we live under the cross, denying ourselves, and bearing the cross to follow Him, our living will be a witness, a testimony, of Jesus Christ.
When we live in the resurrection life by the Spirit, when we walk by the Spirit and are filled with the Spirit, our life bears the testimony of the resurrected Christ.
Real witnessing is not an activity; being witnesses of Christ is living Christ and expressing Christ. If we merely do an activity to express Christ, we will testify of certain religious convictions and bear testimony of our Christian faith; these are not wrong, but Christ wants us to be His witnesses bearing a living testimony of Christ.
Being witnesses of Christ is living Christ, demonstrating Christ, and magnifying Christ in his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, in an all-inclusive manner. If all the saints in all the local churches live in this way and bear this kind of testimony, what a corporate witness of Christ that would be!
This is what the Lord needs for His propagation on earth today! Testifying requires experiences of seeing and enjoyment concerning the Lord or spiritual things; this is different from merely teaching (Acts 2:42).
We need to have more daily experiences of seeing the Lord and seeing spiritual things, so that we may bubble over, express, and overflow, and our tongue would be the pen of a ready writer! We need to experience Christ and enjoy Him!
The Lord appointed Paul as a minister and a witness (Acts 26:16); a minister is for the ministry, for working for God; a witness is for a testimony.
On one hand we have a function, which is in our work for God, but on the other, our work needs to be supported by our living. If we are not witnesses of Christ, our ministry will fall short.
Paul was a witness of the things in which he had seen the Lord and of the things in which the Lord appeared to him. The more we see the Lord, the more we testify of Him.
When was the last time the Lord appeared to you? Was it a few years ago, a few months ago, last Sunday, or was it this morning – or even now? We need to look forward for more seeing of Christ so that we may be a greater witness of Christ.
In His ascension the Lord carries out His ministry in the heavens through witnesses, those who testify of Him in His resurrection life and with His resurrection power and authority.
Christ is carrying out His all-inclusive ministry in the heavens not by Himself alone but with and through the witnesses of Christ, those who cooperate with Him to witness Him on earth. Christ needs witnesses through whom He could channel His ministry.
Lord Jesus, thank You for appearing to us and calling us to be Your witnesses, those who bear a living testimony of the Christ we see and enjoy! We treasure Your appearing, Lord, and we love to be in Your presence contacting You and receiving Your speaking. Amen, Lord, grant us more experiences of the resurrected, ascended, and all-inclusive Christ in our daily life, so that we may be witnesses of Christ – witnesses of the Christ whom we have experienced and enjoyed! Lord, may all the saints in all the local churches live Christ, demonstrate Christ, and bear witness of the Christ they have enjoyed and seen so that God would obtain a corporate testimony on earth, a corporate reproduction of the faithful and true Witness of God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Acts, msg. 5 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Propagating the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ as the Development of the Kingdom of God (2018 fall ITERO), week 3, Being Witnesses of the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# “With one accord,” until the mighty gift / Of pentecostal power was outpoured; / Then forth as witnesses possessed of God, / To preach the resurrection of the Lord! (Hymns #258)
# Outreach of the glorious gospel / Is the flow of life within; / It is by our testimony / That lost sinners we may win. (Hymns #925)
# O God of glory, / You have attracted me! / My heart responds to Thee / And turns spontaneously. / O God of glory, / You have appeared to me. / Dear Lord, Your beauty, / My God, has captured me! (Song on, O God of glory)
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