YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES

You shall receive Power—ability, efficiency and might--

When the Holy Spirit has come Upon you;

AND YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES

In Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria

AND TO THE ENDS—The very Bounds—of the Earth.

(Acts 1:8, AMP)

Christ Jesus told this to His Disciple before Pentecost;

They were to Wait until Pentecost

When they would be Filled with the Spirit

Who would Enable them to be Witnesses for Him.

And what happened after Pentecost?

They were Enabled by the Spirit

To do what Christ Jesus had been doing;

In other words, TO BE HIS WITNESSES.

The Most Powerful Witness there could be

IS TO PERFORM THE SAME MINISTRY AS THAT OF CHRIST;

To Do All the things that the Father Sent Christ To Do.

Christ Jesus defined his Ministry or His Witness of His Father:

'The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me,

Because He has Anointed Me to Preach Good News to the Poor.

He has SENT Me to Proclaim Freedom for the Prisoners

And Recovery of Sight for the Blind,

To Release the Oppressed,

To Proclaim the Year of the Lord's Favor.'

(Luke 4:18, 19)

First, He, like ourselves, could do Nothing without the Indwelling Spirit;

And the Indwelling Spirit is the Anointing.

What is the Good News?

It is that those who were Dead in their Sins—Prisoners to their Sin,

Which is Everyone on Earth,

Could be made Alive by the Spirit of God, in the here and now,

And have Eternal LIFE upon Departure from this Earth.

That those who were Blind to the Truth,

Could be Achieve Sight of the Truth by the Power of the Spirit;

The Oppression of the Evil One could be lifted from them

By the Power of the Spirit;

They could Understand

That they were living in the Year of the Lord's Favor,

Where these Wonderful things were possible

By the Power of the Spirit.

ALL that Christ Jesus came to do

Was made possible by the Power of the Spirit.

That is why Pentecost was Critical;

THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY

For Anyone to be a Witness for Christ Jesus

And we are brought into His Kingdom for that Single Purpose:

TO BE HIS WITNESSES.

In John 17 Christ Jesus speaks of this in a different way:

'Father, Protect them by the Power of Your Name--

The Name you have given Me--

SO THAT THEY MAY BE ONE AS WE ARE ONE.'

(John 17:11)

'My Prayer is not for them alone.

I Pray also for those who will believe in Me through their Message,

THAT ALL OF THEM MAY BE ONE,

Father just as You are In Me and I AM In You.

May they also be In Us

SO THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE SENT ME.

I HAVE GIVEN THEM THE GLORY THAT YOU GAVE ME,

THAT THEY MAY BE ONE AS WE ARE ONE:

I In them and You In Me.

MAY THEY BE BROUGHT TO COMPLETE UNITY

TO LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT YOU SENT ME

And have loved them even as You have loved Me.'

(John 17:20-23)

We are Called to be Witnesses for Christ

SO THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE GOD THE FATHER

SENT CHRIST JESUS

And the only way this is Possible

IS THAT WE ARE ONE WITH CHRIST—IDENTICAL TO CHRIST,

By the Power of the Spirit;

Doing the Same Things He Did;

Revealing the Glory of the Father--

THEN WE ARE HIS WITNESSES!

I tell you the Truth,

ANYONE WHO HAS FAITH IN ME

Will do what I have been doing.

He will do even Greater Things than these,

Because I AM going to the Father.

And I will do Whatever you ask In My Name,

So that the Son may bring Glory to the Father.

You may ask Me for Anything In My Name,

And I will do it.

(John 14:12-14)

So, Faith, is THE KEY that allows us to do what Christ Jesus did

And Faith is THE KEY to being a Witness for Him.

Is not a Manifestation of God's Glory,

The Only Thing that differentiates a Church of Christ,

From any other Organization on Earth?

Christ Jesus said this:

'If I had not Done among them what No One Else Did,

They would Not be Guilty of Sin.

But Now they have Seen these Miracles,

And yet they have HATED both Me and My Father.

But This is Fulfill what is Written in their Law:

THEY HATED ME WITHOUT REASON.'

(John 15:24, 25)

In Other Words, without a Witness of God's Glory,

People are not Guilty of their Sin.

AND THESE SIGNS WILL ACCOMPANY THOSE WHO BELIEVE:

In My Name they will Drive Out Demons;

They will Speak in New Tongues;

They will pick up snakes with their hands;

And when they drink deadly poison,

It will not hurt them at all;

They will Place their Hands on Sick people ,

And they will get Well.

(Mark 16:17, 18)