Introduction: If you were called as a witness in a case tried before a judge and juror to answer questions asked of you by a prosecuting attorney and defendant, what would you be giving? You’d be giving your testimony. From that testimony, the jury is called upon to determine the truth about what is on trial.
So today we step into the Courtroom of Heaven to hear the testimony of the accused. But before we can do that, we need to determine what is on trial, who is the jury of our peers, who is the accuser, who is the one who defends us, and who is the judge.
The judge ought to be obvious; there is only one judge and that is God. He is the one we answer to for our crimes; He is one who will determine our eternal sentence. James 4:12 says that there is only one Lawgiver and Judge.
What about the jury? Hebrews 12:1 says that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. We might be tempted to say that this is the jury, but it’s not. These are the ones who testify to the truth, the heroes of the faith like those mentioned in chapter 11.
No, our jury… if it is truly a jury of our peers, is the others just like us… those who hear our testimony and the evidence against us. There’s that old question that asks, “If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Boy, that’s a convicting question. No pun intended.
Who is the accuser? The Bible says in Revelation 12:9-10 that the devil, who deceives the whole world, is the accuser who accuses us before God day and night. Satan is our accuser.
What about the one who defends us? One of the names given to the Holy Spirit is “Counselor” or “Advocate” [“Helper/Intercessor”]. In Romans 8:26 the Bible says that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groans words cannot express. He goes before the Father for us and He is the Spirit of Truth.
And so we enter the witness stand and take a vow on the Holy Bible, to tell the truth, the whole, and nothing but the truth… so help me God.
This is our testimony. How do you plead?
Would you please turn in your Bibles now to John chapter one?
Body:
John 1:6-8 NASB20
6 A man came, [one] sent from God, [and] his name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but [he came] to testify about the Light.
Context of Scripture-
First of all this is of course written by the Apostle John, one of Jesus’ main disciples, and before he became a disciple of Jesus, he followed John the Baptist.
So John, the Apostle, begins his account of the story of Jesus by telling us about the testimony of His cousin, John the Baptist. Now why was this important?
Well who was John the Baptist? That’s exactly what the Jews wanted to know.
In John 1:19-28 NASB it says…
19 This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “I am not the Christ.” 21 And so they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24 And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 It is He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the strap of His sandal.” 28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.
So the first thing we can notice, looking at the example of John’s testimony, is… #1 – Your testimony is your confession of who you are and who Christ is. Who you are and who Christ is. I think it’s very important when we witness to others that we be who we are. That we are honest about our weaknesses, our failures, and our sins. What was it that Paul said? He said that he no longer boasts about his strengths, but about his weaknesses so that Christ’s power might dwell in him. He wanted people to see Christ’s power.
Our testimony shows others that we are just like them in our weaknesses and our failings, in our struggles and our sins. But we have forgiveness, hope, and victory in Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is what we witness to others.
John 1:29-34 NASB says…
29 The next day he [John] *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘After me is coming a Man who has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’ 31 And I did not recognize Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” 32 And John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
#2 – Your testimony is your story of how you came to Christ… or came to know Him. If the jury of our peers are those who hear our testimony, then we want them to hear the truth about Christ and recognize who He is to us. If we want them to come to know Him too, then we need to tell our salvation story of God revealing Himself to us. You might be surprised just how inspiring your story can be for someone that relates to your experience.
And finally in Verses 7 & 8 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but [he came] to testify about the Light.
#3 – The purpose of your testimony is to exalt Christ (meaning- put the focus on him, not you), and invite others to know Him too. The purpose of sharing your story is to give glory the God, to give Him praise, and to help others see the goodness of the Lord.
“The Light” in this scripture is Christ, the light of the world who entered our world of darkness and sin. Verse 5 says- “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In John 8:12 NASB Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” In John 3:19-21 NIV Jesus said: 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
When we testify, we witness to those living in darkness, some that live by the truth and follow Jesus, walking the light, and some who walk in darkness because their deeds are evil. When we testify, we cannot be afraid to say, “I’m guilty. I know I’m guilty. The light exposes me, but it’s only by the grace of God that I stand here today.” And the reason we do this is so that all might believe in Him.
I’ve shared this before that I grew up going to a church where testimony time was a weekly part of our Sunday service. Every week we would be given the opportunity to share what God has done for us lately. And I think that can be a wonderful thing to encourage those in the faith that they are not alone, that there are others who struggle and that there is a God who is always faithful. But I think it’s also important for us to remember that our testimony is not just something we share in church, but it finds its true purpose in sharing the truth with the world… so that others might also believe in Him.
Conclusion: Now as you go out these doors today, there will be times when you are called on to take the witness stand and testify to the truth. Your peers will be listening. What will your testimony be? Please stand
