You Shall Be Witnesses to Me
You Shall Be Witnesses to Me
One of the most important matters that the Lord asks of us is that we be witnesses to Him, as He said to His disciples:
“You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). So what is witnessing to the Lord? And what are its conditions and its effectiveness?
(You shall be witnesses to Me…)
God works in the world through people whom the Apostle called “vessels” that bear His name and convey Him to people.
Therefore, Saint Ignatius of Antioch was rightly called (Theophoros), that is, the bearer of God. And every believer is a bearer of God; according to his faith, he does not bear God only for himself, but also for others among people.
These the Lord called “witnesses” to Him. They witness to Him and to His Kingdom. And in every age there are such people; therefore Scripture said: “He did not leave Himself without witness” (Acts 14:17).
When corruption filled the world before the Flood, righteous Noah was a witness to God and a witness to righteousness, setting himself apart from the corrupt world and admonishing it.
He witnessed to the Lord, whether his testimony was accepted or not.
He is supposed to be a witness to the truth. As for the result, he is not responsible for it. An example of this is John the Baptist: he saw King Herod heading toward a certain sin, and no one dared to witness to the truth, so he rose and said to him with all boldness: “It is not lawful for you” (Matt. 14:4). Indeed, Herod did not listen to him, but imprisoned him and then cut off his head. Yet the truth found a witness to proclaim it—let whatever happens happen.
Our father Abraham was a witness to the life of faith at a time when idolatry had spread. He was a witness to the life of sojourning represented in the tent, and to the life of worship represented in the altar, and he was a witness to the life of obedience and the possibility of carrying it out even if it meant taking his son to offer him as a sacrifice.
And just as Abraham was a witness to the life of faith, obedience, sojourning, and worship, so Joseph the Righteous was a witness to the life of purity, whatever the temptations.
Moses the Prophet also was a witness to the Lord, taking the word from the mouth of God and conveying it to the people. And Elijah the Prophet was a witness to the Lord when the weight of idol worship intensified, to the point that he thought he alone remained. Yet he witnessed to God and to the truth, rebuked King Ahab, and killed the prophets of Baal and the prophets of the Asherah.
These witnesses God called “His own,” so that each of them was called a man of God, as Elijah and Elisha and many of the prophets were called.
They represent God on earth. They are His agents and ambassadors, His servants and slaves, the proclaimers of His will, and the conveyers of His commandments. They do this regardless of obstacles and hindrances, regardless of tribulations, and regardless of temptations. They witness to God, and that is enough.
It is truly sad that error spreads, or corruption spreads, and there is no person on earth who witnesses to God and witnesses to the truth.
Therefore God said to these witnesses: “You are the light of the world… You are the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:14, 13). And He said that they “shine… like the stars forever and ever” (Dan. 12:3).
The Apostles of Christ were of this kind. He said to them: “And you shall be witnesses to Me,” and they truly were witnesses to Him, and the Kingdom spread through their hands.
“Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 19:4). Yet the Apostles did not carry out witnessing to the Lord except after they had received power from His Holy Spirit, as He commanded them:
“Remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
If you witness to the Lord and there is no power in your witness, then know the reason:
Perhaps you have no power within. Perhaps you have not received power from the Holy Spirit. Perhaps your deeds contradict your words. Perhaps you previously compromised with evil and thus lost your authority with it, as Lot did.
Righteous Lot dwelt among the wicked in Sodom and compromised; he did not rebuke them, and he compromised by marrying his daughters to them, and his words no longer had power. Therefore, when the dangerous time came and he warned them, Scripture says of him: “He seemed to be joking in the eyes of his sons-in-law” (Gen. 19:14).
That holy man lost his authority in counsel because he had not previously witnessed to the truth in his relationship with them, having compromised with them… unlike Abraham, who had not previously entered places of sin… although when Abraham went down to Egypt and left the mountain, he did not witness to the Lord there.
There is another type of people who witness to the Lord at first, but they do not continue; rather, they weaken and lose the power of witness.
An example of this is the Apostle Peter. He was a witness to the truth—albeit in an incorrect way—when he became zealous at the arrest of his Master, drew the sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. But he soon weakened afterward and lost his witness before a maidservant; he cursed and swore, saying, “I do not know the Man!” Yet he soon returned to the power of witness after the coming of the Holy Spirit upon him.
Eve also witnessed to the truth when she declared the divine commandment completely before the serpent: “You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die” (Gen. 3:3). But she soon weakened, broke the commandment, and gave to her husband, and he ate.
As for the strong—such as the Apostles after they were clothed with power from on high—they spoke the word of the Lord with all boldness and without hindrance. Neither prisons nor persecutions nor all kinds of torture hindered them. Rather, they turned prisons into churches, filling them with prayers and hymns. The Apostle Paul wrote some of his epistles in prison, and he was a witness to God in his imprisonment, saying to the Ephesians: “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord” (Eph. 4:1).
They seized every possible opportunity to witness to the Lord.
Indeed, the Apostle Paul said to his disciple Timothy: “Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). Philip, while traveling on the road, met an Ethiopian eunuch and found him reading the Book of Isaiah. He seized the opportunity and evangelized him, witnessing to the redemptive work of the Lord, and he did not leave the eunuch until he baptized him.
And the Apostle Mark went to mend his sandal at the cobbler Anianus. He heard a word and soon took advantage of it and evangelized him, went to his house, preached, and baptized the entire household, and thus was a witness to the Lord.
And the Apostle Paul says: “To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win the Jews… to those without law, as without law… that I might win those without law… I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:20). That is, he witnesses to all in every manner.
Those who do not witness to the Lord are exposed to His saying: “Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” and before His angels (Matt. 10:33).
There are people who fear witnessing to the Lord, and may even fear mere affiliation with Him, while the name of the Lord is sweet and blessed: “My soul shall boast in the Lord” (Ps. 34:2), as David said, rebuking them by his words: “I spoke of Your testimonies before kings, and was not ashamed” (Ps. 119:46).
Some witness to the Lord through preaching and service, and some witness to Him by their life and confession. Others witness to Him by their manner—for “your speech betrays you.” Does your speech indicate your faith? Does your way of life show that you are a Christian?
Even your name may indicate who you are. Is your name clearly Christian?
Or have names become mixed now, so that from your name one cannot know to whom you belong? And is there a cross tattooed on your hand, and a cross tattooed on the hands of your children, so that they may witness to the Lord?
And do you witness to God and His work in you by your life and your virtues?
Does your lifestyle show that you are a believer?
Are you a living Gospel, lived out and moving among people, in whom all the commandments of the Gospel have been transformed into life? Does everyone who sees you say: truly this is one of the children of God, as the Apostle Paul said: “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest” (1 John 3:10)?
Do people love Christ and Christianity because of you?
Trust that you witness to Christ if you preserve the image of Christ in your life—more than witnessing to the Lord by words and service. You also witness to the Lord if you are convincing in your faith, as the Apostle says:
“Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15).
The children of God who witness to Him are strong. Power precedes witness, and the cause of power is the Spirit of God within them.
Therefore He said: “You shall receive power… and then you shall be witnesses to Me.”
Power was sometimes the ability to persuade, sometimes the power of signs and wonders, and sometimes the power of love that never fails. All of this springs from the power of the Holy Spirit working in them.
And the monastic fathers, by their asceticism and abandonment of everything, presented a testimony of the worthlessness of the world and that it is “vanity and grasping for the wind” (Eccl. 1:14).
Ask yourself then:
Do you witness to the Lord? And does your witness have power? And have you known the Lord so that you may witness to Him?
For better translation support, please contact the center.
