In the last moments of Jesus'
time on earth, the most powerful statements mark the beginning of the book of
Acts. Jesus said that the Disciples
would be endued with power and become His Witnesses.
To become Jesus' witness we need
to have an ENCOUNTER with Christ, to WITNESS Him. By vision, by contact one
encounters Him not just by seeing but there is an interaction that passes the
physical realm, into the heavenlies where Jesus is. The Spirit takes us near to
Him. Not only we are near to Him, we become a people in Him. And He in us.
But what is more powerful is the
original Greek sense of the verse: v8; the word is MARTUREO. This is the verb.
The sense of the word here is MARTURIA, which is the witness that God gives to
us. We also hear that we need to give witness for God. But this here is far deeper
than that.
Walking With God
When God gives us the WITNESS we
become like ENOCH, we WALK with God. Now when we say we walk WITH God we can
sometimes confuse with walking in God, and at best can become charismatic
jargon that does not relate to a true living experience. But Enoch shows me the
pinnacle of intimacy and the pinnacle of focus in that Enoch did not live for
the pleasures nor the living in the world to give him fulfillment. No, he had
this MARTURIA, that he pleased God. Was not a normal conviction, it was an
encounter with God.
Such it was that Enoch's
encounter that his body was never found, and he was never seen more. He did not
live any more in the world, his witness translated him to heavenly realms.
The disciples were going to
become the marturia of Jesus. This marturia (witness) was to make them be
transformed into the image of Christ in nature and works. The signs and wonders
that the disciples did is as a result of this witness. It is not simply just
gifts, it is a constant lifestyle of being witnesses, not only of Jesus' life
but His Glorification in the giving of the Spirit.
Sometimes we think that salvation
is merely just putting our hand up in an appeal. Or asking for prayer from a
pastor and being led in a sinners prayer. This is not all. The witness comes
when we understand that we were CALLED to Him, by Him, to be UNTO Him, to work
FOR Him. It is deeper, because it radically translates us into the realm of the
Spirit and brings into our lives Jesus' image. From here it should be natural
that miracles should follow us.
The Doorway
The Upper Room is the doorway
into the place of INTIMACY, INSPIRATION, INTERACTION. From here we are prepared
to move into the full move of the witness, the fountain of all signs and
wonders.
If the signs and wonders lack,
maybe we should pray as they did in Acts 4, their prayer being Psalm 2 which
alludes to the operation of the marturia. What was the result? Earthquake and
an infilling where respect, authority and greater signs flowed.
If the signs lack surely we need
to teach and proclaim the witness. The power that comes from on High and makes
us the witness of God.
If the signs lack maybe we have
separated the power from the person, the inspiration from the intimacy.
So from our Upper Room experience
we are GIVEN a witness which causes us to leave a low level of life, and live a
life where miracles are a daily occurence.
Their witness was NOT what they
did, but WHO they were.
This witness was so powerful that
2000 years later the church has existed. The witness is so powerful that every
nation that persecuted the Church fell. The witness is so powerful that
Voltaire declared the Bible would be discredited within 100 years, yet 100
years to his death his house is now a printing press for the Bible.
So when God gives you His Witness
no more strife will you live, because you will walk with Him, work with Him.
Russell Durose
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