Friday, June 05, 2009

Not Controversial

We are witnesses. Jesus said "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth." . In court witnesses don't need to be clever. We need only "speak the things which we know" as John said. We have only to be honest and not fear. The world wants to treat believers as defendants, "defending the ways of God to men". It demands of us explanations, apologetics, and argument.
Defense is not the business of witnesses. It is not believers who are in the dock, but the world. We are witnesses for the prosecution. The world lies in the lap of wickedness. Let the world defend itself if it can for its godlessness, wars, swindles, oppressions, greed and unbelief. We were also guilty, but have been forgiven, and have turned into the King's evidence. Our King, God Almighty, is not available at the impertinent demand of scoffing mortals to explain himself.

Witnesses have nothing to do with controversy. They want to make our witness controversial. But "We proclaim what we have seen and heard". as 1 John 1:3 says. It was called controversial when Galileo said the earth orbited the sun. Every scientific advance has been treated as controversial. They call it controversial that Jesus is alive, baptizes with the Spirit and heals the sick, but that doesn't make it controversial. The color of a rose is controversial only in the house of the blind.

Reinhard Bonnke

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