Why We Witness | Acts 1:6-8
Introduction
I invite you to turn to Acts 1. Today we’ll wrap up this brief sermon series on what we term, “habits of grace.” Our goal at the outset of this new year, has been to call attention to the main things we do as a church, as Emmaus Road Church, why we do them, and why we do them the way we do.
Different churches highlight different practices. And they highlight them, or emphasize them, for different reasons. At Emmaus Road Church, we emphasize preaching God’s Word, typically book by book, in an expository manner. And there are reasons we preach God’s Word the way we do. At Emmaus Road Church, we emphasize corporate worship. And there are reasons we express our worship together the way we do. At Emmaus Road Church we emphasize gospel community. And there are reasons we are devoted to building and nourishing spiritual community with one another the way we do.
And ultimately, the aim in everything we do, is for the sake of the joy of your faith. That’s because when we live by faith, when live in intentional reliance on all that God has promised to be for us, then, not only do we find satisfaction for our souls, but God gets all the glory. And so when we preach, we preach with the goal that you will live in joyful reliance on all God has promised to be for you in Christ Jesus. When we sing, we sing with the goal of expressing and seeking our joy in all God has promised to be for us in Christ Jesus. When gather in missional communities, and in discipleship huddles, our aim is to serve one another in fighting the fight for joyful faith in all God has promised to be for us in Christ Jesus. It’s all for the joy of your faith—so that God gets all the glory.
Today, I want to highlight one more of our corporate “habits of grace.” And to be transparent, this is the habit we need to develop the most. This is the habit that can use the most work. So, my purpose today is to explain why we witness. And to be clear, my aim is not to merely pile up a heap of motives in order to compel us to witness. If it was, I expect I would see the vast majority of you bracing yourselves for a “shame-fest.” “Oh no. Here it comes. We already know we should witness. We already know there are lost people bound for eternal punishment if we don’t witness. We already know that, for the most part, we fail to witness. Go ahead. Lay it on us.” But shaming and scolding is not gospel motivation.
Loved ones, I have news for you. I pray it will be liberating news. My aim here is to show you that the ultimate cause of our witness, the ultimate explanation for our witness is not us. So, why then do we witness? And there may be no better explanation than Jesus’ words in Acts 1:6-8.
Acts 1:6–8
“So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” — Acts 1:6-8
My unashamed and unapologetic goal in this sermon is to persuade you to eagerly and earnestly and expectantly pursue the fulness of the Holy Spirit. I appeal to you to obey the apostle Paul’s command in Eph. 5:18. Loved ones, “Be filled with the Spirit.”
All of you, be continually being filled with the Holy Spirit. Make it your daily request of your heavenly Father to be filled again, and again, and again with the Holy Spirit. You and I are evil. We are sinful to bone. And still we know very well how to give good gifts to those we love. So how much more will our heavenly Father, who is holy and righteous and sinless, give generously the fulness of the Spirit to those who ask Him.
My dear Emmaus Road Church, it is being continually being filled with the Spirit that changes everything. It changes preaching God’s Word. It changes hearing God’s Word. It changes singing. It changes us. It changes relationships. And, O, how it changes our witness! And that, I believe, is the main point Jesus is making in Acts 1:8:
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Do you see the connection between the working of the Spirit and our witness? Do you see the connection between when the Spirit comes upon us, and then we receive power. When the Holy Spirit comes and fills us, then we will be witnesses. The disciples whom Jesus is addressing in Acts 1 have already received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They have experienced new birth. They are already Christians. And the “pilot light” is already lit. The Holy Spirit is already in them. But they had yet to experience that “whoosh.” Because when they experienced the filling of the Spirit, the “coming upon” of the Spirit, then they would receive power, and they would become witnesses.
Witnessing is an Expression of the Fulness of the Holy Spirit
Powerful and fruitful preaching is an expression of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Singing is an expression of the fulness of the Holy Spirit, lay-down-your-life love for one another is an expression of the fulness of the Holy Spirit. Witnessing is an expression of the fulness of the Holy Spirit. And therefore, loved ones, listen (and here’s the main point of this text): the ultimate explanation for faithful and fruitful witness is the empowering presence and person of the Holy Spirit.
Now, is it vital and necessary that we understand that the ultimate purpose of our heavenly Father is to be treasured and worshipped by people from every tribe, and nation, and language, and people group? Of course it is! That is a reason why we witness. We witness because our heavenly Father’s purpose is to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory as revealed in Christ Jesus. And if we lack a keen interest in the driving passion of our heavenly Father, if we are not stirred by the goal that lies most heavy on the heart of our heavenly Father, we are the most arrogant and ungrateful children.
And is it vital and necessary that we understand that we, God’s people, are God’s ordained means of fulfilling His purpose? Of course. God has plan for winning the nations and making them worshippers of His Christ. And that plan is us. “But you will receive power . . . and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
The apostle Paul puts it this way in Rom. 10: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? … Faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:14-15a, 17).
“The ultimate explanation for faithful and fruitful witness is the empowering presence and person of the Holy Spirit.”
So loved ones, God’s purpose is to be treasured and glorified among all the nations, as He is seen in Christ. That’s why we witness. And God’s people are God’s chosen plan for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. That’s why we witness. We need to get that right. Nevertheless, and I say it again, the ultimate explanation for faithful and fruitful witness is the empowering presence and person of the Holy Spirit.
Now when I say, “witness”, I am referring to the testimony of men and women, boys and girls, to their experience of redemption – the redemption of a full, soul-satisfying relationship with God through the substitutionary and sacrificial death of Jesus, the Christ. That’s why Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses.” Or more literally, “You will be witnesses of me.”
Jesus fills this out a bit more in Luke 24:46-48: “He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.’” You saw the Christ suffer and die. You have seen the Christ risen from the dead. Now go and testify to what you have seen and heard.
So, when we speak of witnessing, we’re talking about recounting personally how God has restored us through Jesus to a relationship with himself in which we enjoy His lavish love, His astonishing forgiveness, His faithful care, His abounding mercy, His perfect wisdom, and His heart-satisfying nearness.
Testifying is what “witnesses” do. They tell what they have seen, have heard, and have experienced. And when Jesus says, in Acts 1:8, “you will be my witnesses”, he means “You will be witnesses to your own personal experience of me, and of what I have done to restore you to full, soul-satisfying communion with God.” That is what Acts 1:8 witnesses do.
But how do explain why? How do we account for their courage? How do we explain their faithfulness and the supernatural impact? Let me say it again. The ultimate explanation for faithful and fruitful witness is the empowering presence and person of the Holy Spirit.
How Does the Spirit Make Witnesses?
Now, look at Acts 1:8 again. What is simply astonishing about this verse is that the cause of faithful and fruitful witness is not ultimately our disciplined resolve, or winsome personalities, or our creative tactics, or persuasive arguments. Rather, the cause of our faithful and fruitful witness—ultimately—is the fulfillment of the promises God has made. Jesus says, “But you will receive power [that is a promise] when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). That’s not a threat. It’s a promise.
So the way the Spirit makes us witnesses is through the fulfillment of God’s promise to empower us and to make us witnesses. So how does that work? How does God fulfill His promises of power and witness? Or to say it another way, what does the Spirit do that causes faithful and fruitful witness?
The Holy Spirit Causes Us to See the the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus
First, in order for a witness to provide a valid testimony, they have to see something. In 2 Corinthians 4:6, Paul writes, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
So the starting point of witnessing, is seeing the light of the glory of God in the person of Jesus. And how is it that this light comes on, and shines in our hearts so that we see God as glorious in the person of Jesus? 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed ]when you see it, it changes you] … [How is it that we see this glory?] This comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
So the Holy Spirit makes us witnesses by causing us to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus.
Perhaps you can still remember when you would read or hear the truth about God as seen in Jesus, and it had no effect. There was nothing glorious about it. There was no “woah.” Just words. Just a name. Just blah. But then, one day, God, the Holy Spirit said, “Let light shine.” And whoosh. You saw God, as glorious in the person and work of Jesus. And once you saw, you became a witness to someone awesome. It was the Holy Spirit working in, revealing glory to you, that made a witness of you.
The Holy Spirit Inspires Our Speech
Second, the Spirit makes us to be faithful and fruitful witnesses by inspiring our speech. Certainly, one of the most significant obstacles for me personally, in being a faithful and fruitful witness is my terribly slow mind. Words do not come easily for me. Preparing to speak in a formal setting is typically a long and laborious task. How often will someone ask me a question, and I’m just stuck. But then the next day, a clear response comes to mind. But then, there are times I feel like I’m being carried along. Whether our minds work fast or slow, inspiring our speech is how the Spirit makes us fruitful in our witness. Acts 2:4: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak . . . as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
“Then Peter, filled with the Spirit said to them …. When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” — Acts 4:8, 31
Faithful and fruitful Christian witness is ultimately a result of being filled with the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit Positions People Where They Need To Be
Third, the Holy Spirit makes us witnesses by positioning people precisely where they need to be. Sometimes we are positioned by God where we need to be voluntarily. He says, “Go,” and we go. Acts 8:26–35 says, “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian …. And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’ … Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture (Isaiah 53) he told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:26–27, 29, 35).
Sometimes God says, “Go and witness to the Ethiopians,” and we go. Sometimes God says, “Go,” and we don’t go. And so sometimes he moves us into witnessing position involuntarily. In Acts 8:1, Luke recounts the great persecution that came against the disciples in Jerusalem. And as a result, Christians were running for their lives. And Acts 8 says, “They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria …. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:1, 4). Jesus said, “You’ll be my witness in all Judea and Samaria.” But the disciples didn’t move—until the Lord moved them.
There are other times, when God seems to say, “Come.” And those who need to hear the good news come voluntarily. In Acts 14:1, Paul and Barnabas visit a synagogue in the Galatian city of Iconium. It says, “At Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks [who had come voluntarily] believed.”
And then there are times when people have no interest or intention of coming to hear the word of Christ. But the Spirit brings them into contact with our witness anyway. How else do we account for the reality that one of the most unreached people groups on the planet, where Christian witness is illegal, have come to our fair city. As a persecuted minority, more than 3000 Nepali/Bhutanese refugees have been relocated to Sioux Falls, SD, where they have been brought—in accordance with God’s providence and the fulfillment of His promise in Acts 1:8—into proximity with the testimony of Jesus, to the praise of His sovereign and glorious grace.
My friends, the ultimate explanation for faithful and fruitful witness is the empowering presence and person of the Holy Spirit.
Now one more question.
When Does The Spirit Come Upon Us?
When is the whoosh? When is it we are filled in such a way that the Spirit makes us faithful and fruitful witnesses? Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). When is “when”? How do we know when “when” is?
According to Acts 1:4, the “when” happens while we are waiting. “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.”
Crucial to experiencing the filling of the Spirit, necessary to experiencing that “whoosh” is waiting. But what does “waiting” mean? As we look at the “waiting” disciples in the book of Acts, and elsewhere in the NT, “waiting” is not the same thing as sitting in the waiting area of the Dr’s office. Waiting, as Jesus intends, is not the same as twiddling or web surfing. Waiting is not idling. Waiting for the Spirit to come upon us is not a passive thing.
We Wait Actively
The command to “be continually being filled with the Holy Spirit” is a present, ongoing activity. Jesus says that our heavenly Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. So waiting, at least, means actively, persistently, asking.
Wait Objectively
In Galatians 3:5, Paul raises the question, “Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or be hearing with faith?”
And the answer he expects is “hearing with faith.” How do we “hear with faith?” We read and rely on the promises God has made in His Word. This is “waiting.” This is where we return to that helpful acronym APTAT. While we wait, we admit our need to God. Once we’ve admitted our need, we pick a promise – something objective God has said he will do, like fill us with the Spirit, or empower us, or make us to be witnesses. And then we trust the promise. And as an expression of our trust, we, then, act. We witness. And it’s then, that the Spirit moves - whoosh. And when the Spirit moves, we give thanks.
We Wait Spiritually
That is, we ask the Lord to show us what to do. In Acts 13, “There were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers …. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them.’ … And being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia” (Acts 13:1-2, 4).
I’ve made it a habit, during my time alone with Jesus, to ask the Lord, “Is there anything/anyone else you want me to pray for? Is there anything else you want me to give attention to? Is there anything you’re doing today, anywhere you’re at work today, where you would have me be involved?” And loved ones, I’ve always had something or someone come to mind. Our heavenly Father will not give us scorpions and snakes when we ask Him for the working/moving of the Spirit.
We Wait Corporately
That is, we wait together. Just before the Spirit’s empowering presence came upon the disciples the first time, Acts 1:14 says, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together ….”
“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31).
The ultimate explanation for faithful and fruitful witness is the empowering presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s entrust ourselves to God for the fulfillment of His promise together.