Everybody is a Witness – What Kind Are You?

• A False Witness shall NOT be UNpunished - Every human being is a witness, and their lives are a testimony, or the evidence, of what kind of witness they really are. We find this statement in Exo 20:16: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour…”. Exo 23:1 is associated with those who are wicked and unrighteous, which is referring to all who are unsaved. Consequently, the sin of bearing false witness must be punished, as we see in Pro 19:9. We must bear in mind, however, that all sin must be punished by God’s infinite and righteous justice; and the type of punishment that God has in view is eternal damnation. Those who make idols are also spoken of as witnesses and are associated with spiritual blindness or deadness. However, we are equally guilty as they are because we have fashioned similar idols in the darkest regions of our own depraved hearts, as Eze 14:4 declares. What is even more alarming about this reference is that it is not portraying the “heathen”, but rather those of “the house of Israel”. In other words, “the house of Israel” typifies those who are members of the earthly, institutional church who claim to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. False Gospels and doctrines, not under authority of the Bible, are idols, because they have formed a God, other than God of the Bible. People who bring them are False Witnesses.

Exo 23:1 “Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.”

Mat 15:19 “For out of the heart [unsaved] proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies…”

Pro 19:9 “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.”

Isa 44:9-10 “They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?”

Eze 14:4 “Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel [typifying denominations and congregations] that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.”

• A True Witness Speaks according to the Word of God - The Bible has also much to say about a true witness. We also read in Pro 15:4 that truth is also associated with spiritual life. Truth, associated with the Bible, as typified by a “wholesome tongue”, or “pleasant words”, leads to spiritual “health”, or salvation, as Pro 16:24 maintains. May all of us examine ourselves in the light of the Bible to see what kind of witness we are today.

Acts 4:20 “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Isa 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

Pro 12:17 “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.”

Pro 15:4 “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.”

Pro 16:24 “Pleasant words [the Word of God] are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”

• In the Mouth of Two or Three Witnesses shall Every Word be Established - In Deu 19:15 we read, “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” We can see the practicality of this type of law, but there is also a reference here to the nature of the Triune God, as 1 John 5:7 underscores. Thus we see that the Godhead affirms Its witness in every God-breathed word and letter of the Bible, God’s Holy Word, which Matt 4:4 affirms.

1 John 5:7 “For there are three that bear record [witness] in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

2 Cor 13:1 “This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”

Matt 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

• The Witness of God the Father about God the Son, Jesus Christ - Psa 110:1-4 is a beautiful illustration of God the Father acknowledging God the Son’s deity and mission. Psa 110:4 is also quoted in Heb 7:17. In John 5:9-11, Six times in these three verses the same Greek word for “witness” or “record” is repeated thus emphasizing the fact that the Gospel about the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is for all peoples of the world.

Deu 32:4 “He is the Rock [that Rock is Christ], his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”

Psa 110:1-4 “The LORD [God the Father] said unto my Lord [God the Son], Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Heb 7:17 “For he [God the Father] testifieth, Thou [God the Son] art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

1 John 5:9-11 “If we receive the witness [G:3141] of men, the witness [G:3141] of God is greater: for this is the witness [G:3141] of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness [G:3141] in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record [G:3141] that God gave of his Son. And this is the record [G:3141], that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

• The Witness of God the Son - In John 18:37 we learn of the dialogue between the Lord Jesus and the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, “I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice”. In John 5:31-32, 34, and 36-39 Jesus also affirms that His claims to deity were rooted in the Father, in the works He did, and in the Scriptures themselves.

John 18:37 “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

John 5:31-32, 34, 36-39 “If I bear witness[G:3140] of myself, my witness [G:3141] is not true. There is another that beareth witness [G:3140] of me; and I know that the witness [G:3141] which he [God] witnesseth [G:3140] of me is true… But I receive not testimony [G:3141] from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved… But I have greater witness [G:3141] than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness [G:3140] of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness [G:3140] of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify[G:3140] of me.”

• The Witness of God the Holy Spirit about God the Son, Jesus Christ - John 15:26 describes the work of the Holy Spirit: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me”. We also read in 1 John 5:6b: “... And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth”.

John 16:13-15 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

• The Witness of God's Word, the Bible - In Acts 14:17 we find a statement that illustrates God’s universal care for His creation in general and mankind in particular. Such a witness does indeed give evidence that God exists, as Rom 1: 20 indicates. However, God has not only revealed Himself in creation, and He has given us a Book – the Bible – which He has written, that lays out His will for mankind, as we see from 2 Pet 1:21. May God cause us to recognize that His witness – the Bible – is the Law book that He has graciously bestowed upon the human race to learn the truth about who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.

Acts 14:17 “Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”

Rom 1: 20 “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”

2 Pet 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

Deu 31: 26 “Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”

2 Pet 1:19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”

John 5:39 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify [G:3140] of me [Lord Jesus Christ].”