Winter
1997
You
Shall Be Witnesses
By Wade E. Taylor
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and
in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth." Acts 1:8.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit was given that we might receive
the "enabling" to “become” a witness.
This speaks of far more than our receiving power to witness.
The ministry of Jesus did not begin immediately following
His baptism in the Jordan.
"And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water: and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove,
and lighting upon Him."
"And lo a voice from heaven saying, This
is My beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased." Matt 3:16-17.
The approbation, or favor of God, clearly rested upon the
life of Jesus as He had fully pleased His Father. Yet this
alone did not qualify Him for ministry.
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost
returned from Jordan, and was led by
the Spirit into the wilderness." Luke 4:1.
While Jesus was in the wilderness, Satan tempted Him through
a series of testings that lasted for forty days. He overcame
each of these on the principle that He only worshipped and
always obeyed His Father.
In the strength of this overcoming victory, Jesus then went
forth and ministered to all of Galilee.
"And Jesus returned in the power of the
Spirit into Galilee: and there went out
a fame of Him through all the region
round about." Luke 4:14.
Notice that Jesus entered the wilderness in blessing, (the
fullness of the Spirit), but He returned in the "power"
of the Spirit. The result of this experience of testing was
a life and witness, which manifested spiritual power and authority.
"But ye shall receive power after..." Acts 1:8a.
Notice that the power to become a witness was given "after"
- not "when."
Whatever prophetic word we may receive, whatever gift or blessing
we may be given, these must first be translated into our life
experience through a process of testing, before they can effectively
be ministered and imparted to others with results.
The word "witness" in Acts 1:8 can also be translated
"sample." Jesus became a "sample" or a
visible demonstration of His Father, that the world might
see and know Him.
"That which was from the beginning, which
we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled, of the Word of Life:
for the life was manifested and we have
seen it." I John 1:1-2.
The purpose of the life and ministry of our Lord among men
was to bring forth a witness, which would become an extension
of His life and ministry, after He paid the penalty for our
sin upon Calvary's cross.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn
of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit." John 12:24
That which comes forth will be exactly like that which was
planted. He died that we might live in His image and likeness
- a "sample" or extension of His life lived through
us.
"Ye shall be witnesses unto Me."
Notice that this is not our being a witness "of Me,"
or a witness "for Me," but rather, "unto Me."
As we witness unto Him, and so become one with Him, His life
is then reflected through us to the lost, with the same power
and results that He had.
As the blessings of the infilling of the Holy Spirit are
translated into power in our lives through His workings, we
become an effective witness or sample of Him. The world will
treat this "witness" just as they did His witness.
Jesus overcame all that He faced and was victorious, leading
captivity captive. He then said,
"To him that overcometh will I grant to
sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with My Father
in His Throne." Rev 3:21
The gift or blessing is not enough. It must come through a
life experience of being tested before it will be able to
function in power.
The Lord is digging deep within our lives to transform and
change us. He is conforming us to the image of His Son, that
we may be that witness, or sample of Himself, which He desires
in the earth today.
We are made joint heirs with Jesus Christ. The Word tells
us that we are "members of His body, of His flesh and
of His bones" (Eph 5:30). We are not just "like"
Him, but rather we are made, through the miracle of Holy Spirit
regeneration, a "partaker" of the Divine nature;
and then we are fitted into His body as a "lively stone"
(I Peter 2:5).
We are being called today to come beyond the realm of blessing,
into becoming a finished product of His workmanship, that
the Christ within may become manifest and be revealed as His
witness in the earth, with substance and power.
This witness that He desires to bring forth is not the result
of something that we are to do, but rather, it is the revelation
of what we have become in Him. It will emerge from the power
of a tested and proven relationship, that as we become one
with Him, the work that He did, He will continue to do through
us.
The Lord will set us out as a sample in the presence of those
whom He desires to receive to Himself. Then those who are
attracted to the quality of the "sample" will purchase
what they see, and receive the Lord into their lives.
It is not what we can do for Jesus, but rather, how willing
we are to become what He would have us to be a witness.