Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"At
the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death
be
put to death. But at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to
death."
Deut. 17:6
According to God's Law for Israel, two witnesses were required in order to convict a man of a capital offense (Dt. 17:6). Later, both Jesus (Mt. 18:16) and Paul (2Cor. 13:1 and 1Tim. 5:19) reaffirmed this principal of requiring two witnesses for confirmation of the most important matters in the body. Take the time to read those three verses to which I just referred, and you may begin to feel how critical it is for the saints to follow this guiding principal. Without it, lawlessness and strife will spring up and divide us.
The importance of this principal for the development of a healthy body can hardly be overstated. This is best understood by paying heed to Jesus' use of it in John 8:17-18: "It is also written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bears witness of myself, and the Father that sent me bears witness of me." Why did Jesus say this? He only said what his Father bid him to say. Why this statement, then, from God?
Men everywhere bear witness of themselves, that they are right with God or that they are sent from God to minister, but where is the second witness, the most important one, the witness of God? John once wrote, "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater" (1Jn. 5:9). Jesus knew this. He knew how important it is to have God's witness for anything. Jesus, naturally, had his own witness; all men do. He bore witness of himself, that he was the Messiah of Israel, the Anointed One upon whom man's eternal hope depends. But more importantly, he had the Father's testimony: a voice that spoke from heaven when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, as well as at other times. The voice of God testified to men who the Son was, and the voice of the Son testified of the Father to man; these were the two witnesses. In Jesus' ministry, there was an earthly witness, his, and a heavenly one, God's.
By his example, Jesus showed us that in this New Covenant, as in the Old, there must be two witnesses for any important matter within the body of Christ to be confirmed. The most important matter, of course, is the new birth. When is a person born again? When are sins washed away? According to Christian tradition, it is when men claim that it happens, or when they are told by others to say so. According to God, it is when His Spirit enters into and speaks through a person. When a person receives the baptism of the holy Ghost and begins to speak in tongues, you hear two witnesses: the Spirit's voice and man's voice working together to glorify God.
In a parable concerning the new birth, Jesus compared the holy Ghost speaking through a person (God's witness) with the wind "blowing wherever it will, and you hear the sound thereof" (Jn. 3:8). Paul described the holy Ghost speaking through a person as the cry of an newly born infant, "crying out, 'Abba, Father!' " (Rom. 8:15). The apostle John said that this speaking in tongues is the Spirit of God "confessing that Christ has come in the flesh" (1Jn. 4:2). And, I might add, John warned us that the Spirit of God speaking when it comes into a person's heart is the distinguishing mark of the real Spirit of God and that this standard should be used to judge whether or not the real Spirit of God has been received by anyone (1Jn. 4:1-3).
However the experience is described, the point is that unless you have receive the holy Ghost baptism, with the testimony of the Spirit speaking, you have not received the real Spirit of God and are not born again, no matter how many earthlings tell you differently. If you could persuade all the approximately six billion people on this dying earth to agree that you are born again, it would still be only one witness: the earthly one. But one witness will not stand up in God's court. Your new birth must be confirmed by two witnesses.
Actually, man should not be first to bear witness of himself. We should never claim to be right with God before God bears witness that it is so. He does not follow us; He demands that we follow Him. Jesus indicated to his disciples that this was the right order when he said to them, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me, and ye also shall bear witness . . ." (Jn. 15:26-27a). The holy Ghost first; man second. That is God's order.
There are many who claim to be in the body of Christ, but what witness do they have of God? Paul said, "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1Cor. 12:13). There are multitudes who claim to be ordained of God to minister in the name of Jesus, but what witness has God given of their claim? Jesus predicted the rise of false apostles claiming to come in his name (Mt. 24:4-5), and Paul and John saw the Lord's prediction begin to come true (2Cor. 11:13; 1Jn. 4:1 and 2:19).
Two witnesses. Remember it. Men are born with their witness, their own tongue, but child of God, always wait for the second witness before you believe any man's testimony. Young sister in Christ, do not marry that young man until your heavenly Father bears witness that he is washed in the blood. Do not trust the Christian minister who approves of that marriage. The lovely ceremony that he will conduct is just another form of an earthly witness. It carries no weight in heaven, and it grieves the heart of saints who know the truth.
Wait on God! Wait for His witness in all things. Nothing is sure until God's witness is given. Men claim much, but only God's voice can be trusted.