Section Four: Witnesses who have a Personal Relationship.
Lesson Eight
Lesson Title: Witnesses that 'Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God'.
Text: John
20:30-31 'And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this
book: But these are written, that ye
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye
might have life through his name.'
Introduction:
John's Gospel was written so that we might believe and receive eternal
life. John wrote His first epistle so
that the believers might have fulness of joy.
We are to be witnesses to bring people to Christ and
build up the body of Christ.
A witness is someone who is able to confirm or deny
the word of another. Witnesses of Jesus
testify that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God'.
·
How was John able to show
that Jesus is the Son of the Living God?
·
Knowing Him personally.
·
The miracles He witnessed.
·
The words he heard Him
say.
Introductory
Story: Eyewitnesses
at the scene of an accident.
Police put out an appeal for witnesses. The facts can only be known through the
testimony of those who saw the accident.
·
A witness must have first
hand knowledge.
·
A witness must be able to
recall what happened
·
A witness must be able to
express what he or she saw or heard.
In a courtroom the testimony of the witness will be
challenged.
In some cases the witness is threatened or called a
liar.
The
disciples were witnesses to who Jesus is:
·
First hand witnesses - they saw, heard, and touched Him.
·
Recalled what happened
·
Wrote to express what they had experienced.
·
Empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Exposition
1. Most important question: Who do you say Jesus is?
The disciples knew Jesus from personal
experience. In the place named after
earthly rulers (Philip the tetrarch and Caesar) Jesus asked them if they
recognised who He is.
Personal experience was not enough on its own. They could only know who Jesus is if their
eyes were opened by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew
16:13-18 'When Jesus came into
the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man
am? And they
said, Some say that thou art John the
Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I
am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. And I
say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (petros), and upon this rock (petra) I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'
·
The Foundation of the
Church is 'Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God'.
The foundation is not Peter - 'Peter' (Greek: petros
meaning a stone); the rock (
1
Corinthians
'The Christ' meaning 'the anointed one' - His
ministry, Isaiah 61:1-2
The Son of the Living God - His person.
To be a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ requires
that our lives be built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.
2. The church bears witness to who Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.
·
The baptism with the Holy
Spirit empowers the church to be the witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 1:8
'But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
·
The baptism with the Holy Spirit provides boldness to bear witness to the
Lord Jesus Christ in the face of persecution.
Acts
·
The early church went everywhere speaking about Jesus. They did not go everywhere talking about what
they were doing. Acts
3. We must be like Jesus to be witnesses.
The unsaved need to know Him by experience in order to come a knowledge
of who He is.
·
The officers sent to
arrest Jesus testified that no one else was like this
They
should encounter Jesus through the words that we speak.
·
The Roman centurion and
those with him bore testimony when they saw the earthquake after the
crucifixion of Jesus that 'truly this was the Son of God', Matthew 27:54.
They
should encounter Jesus in the way believers die. John Wesley said 'those who oppose us have to
agree that we Christians die well.'
·
The unsaved will encounter
the person of Jesus through the ministry of the body of Christ. Acts
The unsaved should encounter Jesus through the
ministry of the body recognising that as He is in the world so are we.
Summary:
To be a witness to who Jesus is:
1) We must know Him through a personal relationship.
2) We must be baptised with the Holy Spirit.
3) We must be like Him. The unsaved will recognise that He is the Son of God
when they have a personal encounter with Him.