Who is Your Witness?

Romans 1: 9 : For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, (NKJV).

A witness is someone who will give a testimony regarding our actions. In other words it is someone who can affirm or confirm whether what we are saying about ourselves or others is true or a lie. There can be so many other ways of defining a witness but this is the most basic one and forms the foundation of the message when taking the above verse into context.

Paul had a desire to visit Rome and he tells the church there that even though he has not yet been able to visit them, God is his witness that he keeps them in his prayers always. In other words, based with our definition of a witness, he is telling them that God can confirm to them whether his claim is true or not. He had people around him, people who had been with him in ministry, but yet he never depended on these as his witnesses. He rather depended on God as his witness.

Who is your witness, that what you are doing is being done out of a pure heart?

What does it take for God to be our witness? First of all God never lies, therefore if He has to be our witness then automatically what we are saying has to be true. As the children of God, God should be our witness. For us to have God as our witness for all we do, there has to be integrity and inside truth to all we do. Our hearts should be right, and in truth, as God is looking for such to worship Him, who'll do so in spirit and in truth.

Therefore, from Paul’s statement, let us ask ourselves, who is our witness today. We should check our motives for doing all we do. Why do we come to church? Do we do so because it is on a Sunday, and maybe the pastor will be disappointed if we do not show up, or because we will be bored at home? Why are we nice to people? Why do we do good to people? Is it so that they may like us? What things do we do that we might be afraid of calling on to God to be our witness? As believers, there should be nothing we do that we might be afraid of calling on God to be our witness. We are not waiting on God for Him to be our witness; God is waiting on us to call upon Him to be our witness. He is always there for us and with us and more than willing to be our witness, but are we ready to call to Him to be our witness?

God sees our hearts and He knows our innermost thoughts, the unuttered words; nothing is hidden from Him:

Hebrews 4:13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Therefore, God will not just be our witness to whether we did what we say we did but He will be our witness to our motives as well. For example, looking at Paul’s statement again, do you think He would call God to be his witness regarding his prayers for the Roman Church if his motive was wrong? I believe No, God only becomes our witness to truth.

From this scripture we can learn a lot of things but today God wants us to learn to be sincere with Him. Our message is sincerity and truth with our Father and other people:

Hebrews 10:22

...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 

God is asking us to approach Him with a sincere heart. When we have a sincere heart in what we are doing, and doing all God tells us to do, we will not even have to explain to people what we are doing. With God as our witness, we do not have to seek to be understood by men. What you are doing, if it is good in the eyes of God, will surely appear as foolishness to some, or many, as the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. If you start explaining to people what you're doing in obedience to God, you be hindered in doing what God has called you to do, in the end not doing what God wants you to do. Depending on men as witnesses will hinder you to do what God wants you to do, and you will end up disappointing God, our Father who sent us.

Is God for what you are doing? If He is, your conscious should be clear, and you should have confidence to pursue what He wants you to pursue. The biggest hindrance to us doing what He wants us to do is the people around us, just as they can also be the biggest help in us doing what He wants us to do. The devil is cunning, and will use the people around you to stop you from doing what God wants you to do; he will use the same people that God intended to use in your life. The devil does not fight God directly; he tries to do so through God's children. As a family, as individuals, we should watch out not to be distracted from walking in obedience to God's voice. The devil uses the fear of pleasing people around us, to distract us. Who should we desire to please? God, or these people around us?

Even your parents will disappoint you, but only God will never disappoint. If God be your witness, God will direct you to the right people who will not even expect you to please them. As long as God is the center and your approval, you will be okay with your friends.

 

The ultimate question to ourselves is, "what would God say about what we are about to do?" Does God approve what I am about to do or what I have started to do? If the whole world were to question us about what we are doing, would God stand by us and say that He will be our witness?

One of the most dangerous obstacles to believers doing what God wants us to do is the desire to please people around us or the fear of offending them. However, God is encouraging us today and telling us if He is for us then no one can be against us:

Romans 8:31

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

 

This means that if God is our witness then we don’t need to worry about what anyone else will say about us. Let us examine ourselves today as individuals and as a Church and ask God to help us see the truth about ourselves.

It is human nature (flesh) to enjoy praises from people and therefore, it can be tempting to do things under the compulsion of wanting to get these good reports from them. It is okay to receive compliments. The devil didn't create anything; he perverts the good that God created and gave us. As God wants us to appreciate people around us, we also ought to be careful not to get carried away as the enemy can use the praises and good reports to make us dependent on the same, to get us to do what we do. For example, we may be going to church so that we can come out as the most consistent church-attenders. What is the motive for what we do? It is tempting to use what God has given us or made us to be, to seek approval by men, or be seen, thus wanting men to be our witnesses. I have heard people say that they would like people to say good things about them when they die. This is not wrong, it is good for people to speak well of us when we die or even as we are alive. However, the truth is, it is better for people to lack a single good report about us but God to have only excellent report about us. It is so useless if the whole world would pour out praises of you then you lack a single good report from God. Ultimately, it is about what God will say about us and not men.

There are few examples that we can draw from the Bible regarding this lesson. In 2 Chronicles 18, Micaiah the prophet was being coerced by the messenger of Ahab to give a false report to the king, concerning attacking their enemies. Micaiah stood boldly and said:

2 Chronicles 18:13

...“As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.”

How many of us are willing to speak and start standing with God wants, rather than with what men say? When people come to say things to you and say they've been sent by God, there has to be a witness. We cannot entirely depend on people to tell us what God is saying; we should depend on God as our witness, so that even when everyone else is saying the contrary, just like in Micaiah's case, we can stick to what God is saying.

 

Again, what other best example of this lesson than Jesus Himself? He only did what the Father told Him and He clearly said that God was His witness and He clearly said that the one who testified for Him was true. Jesus said that He does not receive honor from men. (John 5: 30-37, 41). In Mark 1:35-39, Jesus would have chosen to go back to the village He was ministering to the previous day and heal the people, as it is a good thing to heal people, and this is what His disciples wanted Him to do. Yet, He chose to proceed on to the next village, as this is what God wanted Him to do. 

Jesus lives in us today, and it is no longer us who live but Him in us (Gal. 2:20). Therefore, let us not desire men to be our witnesses, let us not desire honor from men; our witness should be greater than the world.

It would be so sad if you would stand before God on the final day and He tells you that you refused His rewards for you and chose to enjoy the rewards of men.

1. Why do you do what you do?
2.  Who is your witness, for what you do?

Colossians 3:23, 24

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 

Blessings. 

    Dominic Mwata

(30/11/14 Sunday Morning Exhortation, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)

Brother Mwata is a vibrant youth, in Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.