AND YE SHALL BE MY WITNESSES: OPEN HEAVENS 12TH APRIL 2018

THEME: AND YE SHALL BE MY WITNESSES

Memorise: 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 Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

Read: Jonah 3:1-10 (KJV)
3 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.

4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

MESSAGE:
The Lord’s decision to make us His witnesses is a divine set up for blessings, just like when He asks us to give to Him, in spite of the fact that He owns everything (Psalm 50:9-11). In the same vain, the Lord does not need our publicity, just as the sun does not need to be announced. 

When the sun rises in the east, it is seen as far away as the west, and we know Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2). It is an honour to be a witness of the Sun of Righteousness, because by virtue of this status, the world will see the grace of God upon our lives. 

When Elisha agreed to abandon his farming business to become Yehweh’s prophet, little did he know that the king would later refer to him as “my father” (1st Kings 19:19-21, 2nd Kings 13:14).

What are the characteristics and responsibilities of Christ’s witnesses? The Lord hints us on some of these in Mark 16:15-18:

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and of they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

The primary character of the Lord’s witnesses is that they follow Him sincerely, and their primary responsibility is preaching the gospel. 

This responsibility is even more serious that what was committed to Jonah, because a very high price has now been paid for the redemption of mankind, which must not be allowed to go to waste. 

Another responsibility is to cast out devils. If we will take territories for the kingdom of our God, we must be ready to cast out the demons that currently reign over such territories. 

Speaking in tongues enables every witness of Jesus Christ to be an effective mouthpiece of God with man and mouthpiece of man with God in the place of intercessory prayer. 

Taking up serpents as referenced in Mark 16:18 could mean dealing with serpents that come in human clothing, deceiving people just like the old serpent did. 

The Lord’s witnesses must challenge such lies with the Master’s true message. When we do all these as witnesses of Jesus, souls shall be rescued from eternal damnation. This is our joy and goal. Are you an effective witness of Jesus.

Prayer point:
Father, please make me an effective witness of Your Son from now onward in Jesus’ Name.

Bible in one year: Joshua 20-21, 2nd Thessalonians 3