Will You Be His Witness?

Introduction:

What’s next? Have you ever had an experience that was so awesome and draining that you thought that question? Maybe your team won a championship, maybe you finally sealed a deal at work that you had been working on, maybe you graduated from high school or college. We all experience emotionally draining experiences that leave us asking the question, “What’s next?” and the disciples were no different.

After the resurrection of Jesus, He appeared to His disciples over the course of 40 days, appearing and reappearing. Can you imagine what that must have been like? You are completely caught off guard the first time it happens. You heart swells up within you as you experience the joy and relief of seeing Jesus and knowing that He isn’t dead. But, you also have the moments following where you wonder if your mind is playing tricks on you. Did you really see that? Then when you least expect it again, you see Jesus appear to you as you are just going about your life. You live in a state of confusion and are constantly wondering when you will see Jesus again and hoping that He can just stay with you. Things always seem easier when Jesus is around to make the decisions for us, even if the decisions aren’t easy decisions.

This was the environment the disciples lived in for 40 days after the resurrection as Jesus appeared to them and taught them about the Kingdom of God. It wasn’t a new teaching, because Jesus had done this prior to his death. He was always talking about the kingdom of God. Before, you thought He was talking about a real, physical kingdom. Now, you weren’t sure. The prophets spoke of a physical kingdom and you know that Jesus is the Messiah they promised, but He seems to be waiting on something.

Finally, someone pops the question! “Jesus, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?” That’s were we will pick up in our passage this morning. Let’s see what Jesus said!

Read Text. Pray.

After Jesus taught them the 40 days, He took them eventually from Galilee in the north to the Mount of Olives in the south. Remember that the disciples were called to follow Jesus along the shores of the sea of Galilee and spent most of their ministry with Jesus in the north. Now they are back outside of the city where Jesus was just crucified. Was this the triumphant march to retake the city with some kind of supernatural army of angels or even with the word of His mouth?

That’s when one of them spoke up. Jesus’ response was that they were not to know when God would accomplish this. Notice that He did not get on to them for asking the question. It isn’t wrong for us to want Jesus to return. It isn’t wrong for us to want Jesus to be in charge of things. We certainly know that our leaders have done a poor enough job of ruling things!

What Jesus says is that it is not for them to know the times or seasons fixed by the Father for this to come about. It will come about for sure. They weren’t wrong for expecting a real physical kingdom. This response even teaches us that the kingdom of God is not just a spiritual kingdom like some amillenials believe, but that it is a real earthly kingdom as well as a spiritual kingdom. We also notice that God has fixed these things. God knows the exact date of Jesus return. No other preacher or teacher can say that, no matter how fancy their charts may be.

So what does Jesus say? He tells them to focus on the task at hand. They were called to be His witnesses. So are we. But, to do that we have to have His empowering presence in the person of the Holy Spirit. So the question for you is....

1. Have You Received the Empowering Presence of the Holy Spirit?

Jesus tells them to wait. Sometimes waiting is the hardest part! It’s like waiting for a birthday gift. My daughter, Bethany, just had a birthday and her sister Hannah’s birthday is 8 days later. After Bethany had opened presents and had her cake, Hannah came up to me and whispered, “Dad, 8 days is a long time to wait!” Imagine how long it would feel if you didn’t know how long you had to wait!

We see in the later part of this chapter that they didn’t have to wait long, but Jesus is very clear that they cannot do this mission without Him. They would need the person of the Holy Spirit to work through them to accomplish the mission. Before we go to far into this, let me ask you a couple of quick questions.

Has there ever been a time in your life when you fully trusted in Christ as your Savior? Describe your experience to a friend or consider writing it down?

Do you try to live the Christian life in you own strength or in the power of the Holy Spirit?

Why do you think Jesus told the disciples to go and wait for the Holy Spirit?

The gift of the Holy Spirit is a promise that we receive when we become followers of Christ.

These questions are personal questions, but what about for the church? Do you think sometimes that we are quick to try to accomplish the mission without God? Do we often try to use our marketing or programs or music to draw people in without a dependence on the Holy Spirit to convict people and move them to action? I know I can be guilty of thinking this way sometimes!

The call to wait is a temporary call. The only parallel that it has for us today is that we must first have a personal relationship with Jesus before we can really follow Him on His mission. Before we call Him Lord, we are the mission!

However, once we have accepted Him as Savior, we then are expected to go and share what we know with others. We are called to testify, or be witnesses, for Jesus.

The second question for you this morning is...

2. Are You an Obedient Witness for Jesus?

When you speak to people there are a lot of ways that you can phrase something. For example, how many of you grew up sitting around a dinner table and being taught manners? I’m afraid that is becoming a lost art to some families, because the parents don’t have good manners and we have let life dictate what we will spend our time on rather than telling our time what we will value in our homes. For our family, we make it a priority to eat together at the table. We want to spend time listening to each other talk about our day and sharing stories with each other, but to do this requires manners.

Some of you remember being told that you were to ask for things by saying, “May I please have...” When someone gave it to you, you were told to say, “Thank you!” The way that we say something is very important! Now, as children there is a different tone that you take with those in authority than they take with you. For example, adults may chose to use the phrasing, “Will you please pick up your room or will you please clean off the table.” However, if the child says, “No!” the adult will quickly respond, “I wasn’t asking, I was telling!”

Notice the phrasing Jesus used. He says, “You will be my witnesses!” Jesus isn’t being rude to the disciples, nor are they arguing with Him. He is, instead, giving them an imperative. It is a command that is expected of every follower of Jesus. Go! It is also a prophetic statement of what would happen to the disciples. By the end of the Book of Acts, we see that the disciples had accomplished this mission. The mission is ongoing, so we are not off the hook, but they were obedient and so should we be.

So here are a few questions we should ask from the text.

4. Jesus used an imperative, “you will be my witnesses.” Are you obedient to Jesus’ commands or have you resisted sharing the good news?

What would make us not want to share such good news. It’s like if we knew we could tell someone who is terminally ill that they’re is now a cure for their disease that is immediately available and it is 100% effective, who would rush to their bedside to share the news with them? It begs the question...

5. Why would you hold back the good news that you have from other people? How can you be more aware of the need to share your faith with people you come into contact with every day?

But many don’t share because they are afraid of what they perceive as failure.

6. How does God measure success in your witness of the gospel? (Hint: It isn’t in the results)

Notice that Jesus only said they were to be His witnesses. He never said they were responsible for the response. In fact, most of the disciples died as martyrs and were killed by the people they sought to reach!

That brings us to the final question of where we are to go with the news.

3. Are You Going with the Gospel to the Nations?

As we conclude, let’s look at four locations that Jesus told the disciples that they were to take the gospel to.

7. Jesus described four locations that the disciples would take the gospel to. What locations did He instruct them to take the gospel to?

8. Where is your Samaria? Who do you have a hard time sharing the gospel with?

9. Have you ever considered whether God might be calling you to the mission field? Why do we think it is unusual for God to call people to the mission field? Should we assume that God calls more people than respond?

Conclusion:

Since Jesus has not come back for His church, it is safe to conclude that not every person who will respond to the message of the gospel has heard the good news. That means that our mission is not finished. It is not an easy mission to carry out. It will be a struggle at times. But the question is, will you be obedient? Are you willing to carry out what the person you call, “Lord” and “King” has called you to? Will you deny him before men by remaining quiet?

There are no safe places in this world for Christians. No matter what country we live in, this world is enemy territory. We are not permanent residents of this world. We are called to go in obedience. For some, that may mean going into the uttermost parts of the world. For others, it means looking up from your phone and speaking to the people around you.

I want to conclude by asking you the question that we started with. “Will you be His witness?” If you say yes, you will hear Him say to you, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” If you say no, you may want to ask if you really understand the gravity of what is at stake with your silence!