Revelation: Witness, Judgment, and the Throne

How To Witness Based Upon The Absolute Sovereignty Of God

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2015-08-19

Synopsis: John Weaver argues that a biblical understanding of God's absolute sovereignty must shape how believers witness. Drawing from Old Testament law, where a witness was required to give a true account and help enforce the law, he shows that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness who both testifies truthfully and executes judgment. Believers are called to be faithful witnesses, which means declaring the truth about God's sovereignty, man's total inability, and salvation as a sovereign work of God alone—likened to birth, creation, and resurrection. Witnessing must press both human responsibility and human inability, driving sinners to seek God's gift of repentance and faith.

[John Weaver] I want you to open your Bibles tonight, if you would please, to two passages. The first one is Acts chapter 1, and the second one is Isaiah 43. I just want to read these two verses. I'm not going to necessarily be preaching from these texts, simply because the title of the message is How to Witness Based Upon God's Absolute Sovereignty. We'll read Isaiah 43 in verse 10 first. Notice what God says. Isaiah 43 in verse 10, God says to His people, You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God-form, neither shall there be any after me. But notice that you are my witnesses. Then if you look in Acts chapter 1 in verse 8, the Bible says this, our Lord is speaking to his disciples, he says, but you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria

[John Weaver] and in the uttermost parts of the earth. Notice again he said you shall be witnesses unto me. I could begin tonight by asking a number of questions. The first one is, are you a witness? Secondly, do you want to be a witness? And thirdly, are you absolutely sure you want to be a witness? Because once you begin examining the word witness in the word of God, you're going to find that there are some very uncomfortable answers. Do you realize that the law of God demands two things of every believer? Two things of every Christian. The law of God demands, first of all, obedience, and secondly, enforcement. Man's law basically does the same thing, because man's law also demands obedience, and then we have the power of citizen's arrest. So law and enforcement. Do you realize in biblical law, witness was required to do two things. First of all, he had to give an accurate and true account. He had to present the truth absolutely truthfully and honestly. And then secondly, he also helped enforce the law.

[John Weaver] Now, just to save a little time tonight, I want to quote some scriptures. We're going to be turning to a lot of scriptures, but let me just quote some. The first one is Leviticus chapter 24, verses 13 and 14. Listen carefully. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that cursed without the count. and that all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let the congregation stone him."

[John Weaver] So the witnesses then basically participated. Have you ever asked yourself, what in the world will keep a witness absolutely honest? What will keep someone from perjuring himself? If you understand God's law, then of course a perjurer really hurt his own self. How so? Listen to this. Deuteronomy chapter 19 verses 15 through 19. God says, one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin that he committed. Out of the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. Now listen carefully. If a false witness rise up against any man, to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men before whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord, before the priest and the judges, which shall be in those days, and the judges shall make diligent inquisition, and behold, if the witness be found a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother, then shall you do unto him as he thought to have done unto his brother."

[John Weaver] So shalt thou put the evil away from among you. So the law of retribution or the lex talionis of scripture just simply says this. If a man perjures himself and he gives false witness, whatever he intended to do to his brother is now to be done to him. It doesn't matter if it's confiscation of goods. It doesn't matter if it's death. In other words, he is to suffer the exact same penalty that he was trying to inflict upon his brother. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 17, verses 6 and 7, at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. Now listen carefully. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death. And afterwards, the hand of all the people, so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

[John Weaver] So I want you to note again, the word witness here, not only indicates a true and accurate and honest account, but it also indicates enforcement as well. When you get to Deuteronomy chapter 13, you find that that passage also deals with false prophets. Those individuals who are trying to seduce the people of God away from God. And so it deals then with false prophets in the family, false prophets in the city, and false prophets in the nation. Listen to what God said in Deuteronomy 13, verses 6-9, If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, namely the gods of the people which are round about you, none of you are far off from thee, from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth, thou shalt not consent to him, thou shalt not hearken unto him, neither shalt thine eye pity him,

[John Weaver] neither shalt thine eye spare, thou shalt not conceal him, but thou shalt surely kill him. Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people." So here is a witness. A witness then had to not only give a true and accurate account, a witness had to aid in the execution of the criminal as well. Wow. Do you remember in the book of Joshua, chapter 22, the two and a half tribes on the other side of Jordan erected an altar and all the other tribes said, look, They built an altar to sacrifice on.

[John Weaver] Let's get together and let's go over there. And there's going to be a war because, no, we cannot have two altars. And then you have the tribe of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. They said, look, no, no, we're not building this altar to sacrifice on. We understand there's only one altar. But what we're doing, we're building a replica of it, lest you folks over there on that side of the river begin to say, look, Those over there, they're not Israelites, they're not part of us. This altar is to be a witness that we are indeed the children of God. And the Bible says in verse 34, and they called the altar Ed, E-D. That is a witness. Ed is the Hebrew word for witness, or at least in our language. So the altar then was not built for rebellion. It was just simply built to say that we, too, are the people of God. So when you look at the Old Testament, you begin to see that a witness, of course, not only testifies truthfully and honestly and accurately, he also helps enforce the law of God.

[John Weaver] Now, what you're probably about to do at this time is say, I'm glad I'm not living in Old Testament times. Really? Well, in Acts chapter 1 in verse 8, our Lord said, but you shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses. Wow. You shall be witnesses. I want to show you something. I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. And let's begin reading in verse 15. Some of you know this passage quite well. Matthew chapter 18, notice if you would please verse 15, the Bible says this, moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. Now watch carefully. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church.

[John Weaver] But if ye know ye like to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen and as a publican. I want you to note the word witnesses in verse 16. The word witness here is a very special word. In fact, if you would look in the book of Mark chapter 14, you will see how this is used even by the high priest. Notice in Mark chapter 14, and let's begin reading there with verse 61. Mark chapter 14 in verse 61. The high priest has been questioning our Lord.

[John Weaver] The Bible says, but he held his peace and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes and said, What need we of further witnesses?

[John Weaver] You have heard the blasphemy. Well, thank you. And they all condemned him to be guilty. death.

[John Weaver] Now the interesting thing, I don't care if you're looking in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 or Matthew chapter 16 or Mark chapter 14, anywhere in the New Testament that you see the word witness, the Greek word is the word martus. It is where we get our English word martyr. Now, when you and I think of the word martyr, we think of someone who dies for his faith. Well, originally, the word just simply meant a witness. The word martyr did not come to mean someone who died for his faith until after the Roman persecution. But it just simply meant the word witness. Did you know that this very same word is used of God himself in Romans 1 and verse 9? Because the Apostle Paul said, God is my witness, and the word witness there is martous. Literally he said, God is my murderer. Obviously God is not dead. God did not die for the faith. All he is saying is, God is my witness.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 1. Because I showed you in the Old Testament that the law demanded two things of every witness. It demanded a true, honest, and accurate account, and then it demanded also that one help in the enforcement of the law. So, notice if you would please in the book of Revelation chapter 1, very interesting, in verses 5 and 6, notice what is said concerning Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 1 beginning with verse 5, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto

[John Weaver] God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

[John Weaver] Now, interestingly enough, the Bible says in verse 5 that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness. Now, if Jesus Christ is a faithful witness, and if Jesus Christ is the witness according to God's law, what is Jesus Christ going to do? Well, He's going to give an accurate and honest and truthful testimony, and then He will enforce God's law. You see, the Bible says in Proverbs 14 in verse 5, a faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. So a faithful witness will not and cannot lie. Jesus Christ as a faithful witness always gives a true and honest and accurate account, even concerning His church.

[John Weaver] If you would look in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 3, look at verses 14 through 16. Revelation 3 verse 14, And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."

[John Weaver] Now notice, if you would, what Jesus Christ does. First, he witnesses against this corrupt, compromising, and complacent church. He is a true, faithful, honest and accurate witness against them.

[John Weaver] Secondly, he says, I'm going to force judgment against you. I will spew you out of my mouth. If you look back in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 2 and verse 5, notice what he says here to the church of Ephesus. Revelation 2 and verse 5, he says, Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Now notice what he's done. He's also given a true and accurate account to the church here at Ephesus. But now what he's doing, he's saying, Unless you repent, I will come and remove thy candlestick out of his place. I'll judge you. I will enforce. my law.

[John Weaver] So the Lord then, as the true and faithful witness, not only testifies accurately and truthfully and honestly, he also judges and executes as well. Now, I want you to look at two passages. I want you to turn your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and then to Revelation chapter 19. You will see that these two passages will come in to play toward the end of the message. But look, if you would, please, first of all, the second Thessalonians, chapter one, and let's begin reading there with verse seven, second Thessalonians, chapter one and verse seven. So I want you to see what the Apostle Paul says. Second Thessalonians, chapter one and verse seven.

[John Weaver] And do you who are troubled rest with us? when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, now look, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day."

[John Weaver] Now, notice, if you would please, how our Lord is going to be executing His wrath, His judgment. He's going to be applying the law of God. And notice, if you would, it will be also in the presence of the saints.

[John Weaver] Now, if you'll look in Revelation chapter 19, look at the first three verses. Again, you're going to see the enforcement of God's law. And you're also going to see it's in the presence of the saints. Notice verse 1, And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up forever and ever.

[John Weaver] So the point I'm trying to make is this. In God's judgment, the saints are here and the saints are indeed giving honor and glory to God for this true and accurate testimony and also the enforcement of His law upon the ungodly.

[John Weaver] Now, what I really want to do tonight is this. I want to just emphasize for a little while the importance of being a true and faithful witness. We say that we believe that God is absolutely sovereign. When you stop and think about this, there can only be one sovereign. There can only be one ultimate. There can only be one absolute. God does not share his power with anybody or his sovereignty with anybody in that sense of the word. No, he is God and beside him there is no other. Now, if we believe that God is absolutely sovereign, How do we witness based upon that sovereignty? Does the fact that we believe that God is the sovereign God of heaven and earth, does that affect the way we witness?

[John Weaver] And the answer is most definitely. Will those who believe in God's absolute sovereignty witness differently from those who do not believe in God's sovereignty? The answer is yes. You have to understand that one's view of soteriology, that is the doctrine of salvation, and one's view of theology, that is the doctrine of God, dictates the manner and the matter in which one witnesses. If we believe that salvation is the work of God from start to finish, then we will certainly witness differently from someone who believes in synergism. You say, what in the world is synergism? Well, synergism is just simply the teaching in Aroni's teaching, I might add, but it is a teaching that God and man work together for man's salvation. In other words, man must do his part and then God does his part.

[John Weaver] Usually such a position is held by those who refer to themselves as Arminians or semi-Pelagians. But they actually believe that somehow that man can initiate his own salvation. It's kind of like the old saying, it is mine to be willing and it is his to do the completion. In other words, if I will to be saved, then God is obligated to finish that and to save me. That certainly is not anywhere found in the Word of God.

[John Weaver] But a multitude teach that. I heard years ago about one man who went into a church. It was basically a semi-Pelagian church. And they were having a testimony meeting. And he stood up and he said, I want to praise God for His gracious salvation who saved my sin sick soul. And I give Him all the honor and all the glory. And he sat down. And the pastor said, well, brother, I'm sure that you had to do your part, too. And he stood back up. He said, yes, sir, I did my part. I furnished the center.

[John Weaver] He did all the rest of it. And that's all we can do is just furnish the center. That is absolutely for sure. But when you understand synergism, most of us have heard this all of our lives. Because most of us were raised in what we would call fundamental, independent, Bible-believing churches. It didn't matter whatever. And they would come out and say this, you must take the first step. It's up to you. You must take the first step. What is that saying? That is saying you initiate the act of salvation. Then once you initiate it, it's up to God.

[John Weaver] Someone who believes in decisional regeneration, Or someone who believes that man is capable of initiating salvation on his own is certainly going to witness and testify completely and totally differently from someone who believes that salvation is the Lord from start to finish. I remember years ago hearing about one famous Baptist preacher who's now dead. He sent some of his people down to Florida, and in one weekend, they had over 3,000 professions of faith. And I thought to myself, if 3,000 people really got converted in one weekend, that part of the country would be changed. But nothing ever changed.

[John Weaver] Everything went on exactly the same. If you believe that man is incapable of taking the first step, if you believe that man is dead in trespasses and sin, if you believe that God must open a man's eyes, if you believe that God must give a man understanding, if you believe that God must release a man's will from its captivity to sin and wickedness and its own vile affections, if you believe that, then you're going to say, you know, my witnessing has to be different. from someone who says that man can save himself. I want you to look in First Corinthians, chapter two, First Corinthians, chapter two. Notice if you would please at verse 14, First Corinthians two, verse 14.

[John Weaver] Here's a very plain passage. The Bible says in First Corinthians two and verse 14, but the natural man, that is the unsaved man, that's man by nature. That's the way we're all born. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him." Watch. Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. There is a difference between the word can and the word may. The word may is a term of permission. When we were children, we all played that game mother, may I? And if you didn't say may I, then you didn't do. Can is a term of ability. So.

[John Weaver] Brother Ernie could ask me, Brother Weaver, can I play the piano? And my response would be, you may if you have the ability. Can's a term of ability. Look what he says very clearly. They are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them. In other words, fallen man does not have the ability to know the things of God. He does not have the ability to see the things of God.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just point something out to you. There are three basic illustrations of salvation in the Bible, in the New Testament. Each one of these illustrations clearly demonstrates that salvation is a work of God alone. It is God's work from start to finish. I want to very quickly go over these three illustrations for you. The first one is that of birth. If you would look in your Bibles very quickly to John chapter 3, you will remember this.

[John Weaver] Nicodemus has come to Jesus Christ by night. And notice if you would, in John chapter 3, Beginning there with verse 1, the Bible says there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel that I say to thee, ye must be born again."

[John Weaver] Now, interestingly enough, notice if you would, our Lord said, unless a man is born again in verse 3, he cannot even see the kingdom of God. And then again in verse 5, unless he's born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So if all men can't see the kingdom, he can't enter the kingdom in and of himself. And so our Lord here is saying, you must be born Well, Nicodemus was a ruler. He was a brilliant man.

[John Weaver] But this had him stumped. He said, how then can a man enter his mother's womb a second time and be born when he's old? Obviously, he did not understand what our Lord was talking about at all. And by the way, when our Lord says you must be born again, The Greek word is anathon, which means you must be born from above. Our Lord told Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you must be born from above.

[John Weaver] Years ago, Billy Graham wrote a book. The title of it was How to be Born Again. And I've often wondered about that. I want you to stop and think about this with me. If our Lord is liking the new birth to the physical birth. There are a number of questions here. Our Lord says that which is born of flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now, just like a man was born of the flesh the first time, our Lord said he must be born of the spirit the second time. He must be born from above. Well, now, if salvation is likened to your physical birth, Let me ask you this. How many of you had anything to do with your physical birth? How many of you sat down and said, now here's what's going to happen.

[John Weaver] I'm going to petition my father and my mother to get together and have me. Really? You had no say in it. You had nothing to do with it. You weren't around. The very fact that your mother and father came together At their own pleasure, at their own time, you had nothing to do with it. It's impossible. If your spiritual birth is anything like your physical birth, you can have nothing to do with it. You did not move upon the will of your father to birth you. You did not move upon the will of your mother to birth you.

[John Weaver] Do you know what the Bible says in James 1 in verse 18? Listen, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Of his own will. You had no influence over your parents and you had no influence over God. You know what the Bible says in Revelation 4, verse 11? Listen carefully. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they were and are created. It pleased God to give you a physical existence. It pleased God to create you. It pleased God to allow you to be born. It pleased God to regenerate you. It pleased God to open your eyes. It pleased God to release your will from the bondage of sin. It pleased God to give you faith of His own will, beguiding us with the Word of Truth.

[John Weaver] I had a young lady in our church years ago She came into my office and said, I need to talk to you. I just come to the church. She was a member of the church. And she talked to me and she told me her problem and she said, what do you think? I looked at her and I said, well, I think the problem is you're just lost. You've never been saved. You've never been regenerated. You've never been converted.

[John Weaver] You know what she did? She got angry. She got mad and she left the church. Well, I couldn't help that. It was still the truth. After two years. She called me on the phone and wanted to come back and talk to me again. I said, sure. So she came into my office. And for a full five or 10 minutes, she just sat there and wept. And finally, when she had her composure, she said. You were right. I'm lost. She said, I know I can't be a member of this church. But if you don't mind, if I could just come and listen, I said, that's what the church is here for. You're more than welcome to come and listen. I want you to come and listen. That young wife sat through service after service and wept and wept and wept. Mascara run.

[John Weaver] It looked like she looked like a zebra. I mean, really. And she was open with her tears. She knew. And I knew she was under conviction. One of our ladies, one of the most tenderhearted women I've ever known. When this young woman walked out of the church that Sunday, she grabbed my hand and she said, please keep praying, please keep praying. I said, Oh, I am. And after she walked out the door, the lady behind her threw her arms around my neck, an older woman.

[John Weaver] and began to weep, and she said, O Pastor, O Pastor, can't you do anything for her? And I looked at her. I said, No, ma'am. The reason she's in the trouble she's in now, somebody did something for her other than God. It wasn't a month or two later before God gloriously saved her, for which I'm thankful. Yes, I witnessed to her. I showed her, I told her, but I can't save her.

[John Weaver] Salvation is a birth of his own will, begat he us. The second illustration of salvation in the Bible is that of creation. Stop and think about this. How is the world created? The Bible says in the beginning, God created heaven and the earth. Well, how did God create it? Well, the Bible tells us in Psalm 33 and verse 9, for he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. God literally spoke the worlds into existence.

[John Weaver] The things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. God just simply spoke and it came into being.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. Was creation the work of God alone? Were you there to assist him? Were you there to give him counsel? Were you there to help him in any way? And the answer is, of course not. God created the world by his own power, absolutely, totally.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to follow with me. I want you to go in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Corinthians and look in chapter 5, verse 17. Let me show you something. Look in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. The Bible says this. Many of you can quote it. Here it is. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or creation. All things are passed away, be cold, all things become new. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or a new creation.

[John Weaver] If you would turn back to Romans 8. Romans 8. And notice, if you would please, beginning there, verse 19. And now we're talking about the world, this world. Look at it, Romans chapter 8 and verse 19. The Bible says, For the earnest expectation of the creature or the creation, waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature of the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has objected the same in hope. Because the creature of the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Now he says it in verse 22. For we know that the whole creation drawneth and travaileth together in pain until now. Now, we're talking about the creation. What did God do?

[John Weaver] He spoke the worlds into existence. Now I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 6. Look what he says. In fact, we'll read verse 5. For the apostle Paul says this, For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake, for God. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, that's creation, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Oh, do you realize that the same God that spoke the worlds into existence And the same God who commanded light to shine out of darkness is that same sovereign, powerful God, according to verse 6, who shined in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Did you have to help God give you that shining and that knowledge? Or did God just sovereignly do it for you Like he did creation.

[John Weaver] Interesting. Interesting, if you look back in your Bible to first Corinthians, chapter four. I believe is the passage first Corinthians, chapter four, look at the question that is asked in verse seven, first Corinthians, chapter four and verse seven, the Apostle Paul asked these Corinthians, for who make it to differ from another? And what is now that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, what is thou glories if thou hast not received it? Who make it thee to differ from another? That's an excellent question.

[John Weaver] I would imagine each one of us. Has family members that are lost. We have friends that are lost. Yet here we are saved by the grace of God who made us to differ. We were just as big as sinners. We were just as lost, just as ungodly. Who made us to differ? And what do we have that we have not received? Everything that we have, God gave to us.

[John Weaver] Spiritually, physically, mentally, morally, materially, every way imaginable. Who makes you to differ? When God talks about his salvation, he says it's a birth. If salvation is a birth and we're born of Him, obviously it's of His own will begetting us. If salvation is a creation, it must be God who creates. We cannot create. And the third illustration of salvation in the Bible is that of resurrection. You remember that passage in Ephesians 2 and verse 1 where the Bible said, And you hath be quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. And then, of course, in Ephesians 2 and verse 5, again, he says, even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ.

[John Weaver] By grace are you saved. Now, stop and think about this. God has likened salvation, first of all, to a birth, secondly, to a creation, and now to a resurrection. How many of you have ever passed a cemetery? And as you pass that cemetery, you see graves partially open and body parts sticking up because there's somebody in the grave that says, move, foot, move. Go up, arm, go up. And I never see that. You know why you don't see that?

[John Weaver] Because those people are dead. Do you realize if there is a resurrection It has to be from an outside power. Because the ones who are in the grave are absolutely dead, they are powerless, and unless an outside power comes and brings them up, they will never bring themselves up. The clearest illustration that I could ever give you is found in John 11. You don't have to turn there, but you remember Lazarus. died. And Jesus Christ said to his disciples, I go that I may wake Lazarus from his sleep. Why?

[John Weaver] They said, if he sleeps, he does well. Well, our Lord said, you don't understand. That's not the sleep that I'm talking about. And of course, when he got there, here comes Martha and she says, you know, to him and then she sends Mary. And then when he says, take me to the grave in the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11, 35, Jesus wept. And when Jesus asked, where is Elaine? She said, Lord, by now he stinketh, or he's dead four days. Jesus had said, I'm nodding to you if you believe that you see the glory of God. Roll the stone away. They roll the stone. And then Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. And the Bible says, he that was bound with grave clothes came forth.

[John Weaver] Now, here is my question. Please answer it for me. Did our Lord sovereignly give Lazarus life inside that tomb that enabled him to get up and walk out? Or did He only give him life after he got up and walked out? Obviously, if God had not done something for him inside the tomb, he never would have gotten up. He never would have walked out. Actually, inside the tomb is a picture of regeneration. Walking out is a picture of conversion. But God sovereignly and graciously gave him life inside that tomb that allowed him to come out.

[John Weaver] So when you talk about salvation, you either have to talk about a birth, a creation or a resurrection. And as you talk about those things, obviously, Each one of these demonstrates conclusively that salvation is of the Lord. Everybody in this room can probably quote Ephesians 2, 8, 9. For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. What did he say? For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

[John Weaver] You didn't drum it up. You didn't manufacture it. You could not. It was impossible. Even our faith is the gift of God. You say, but wait a minute, Brother Weaver. Wait a minute. Hold on. When I came to Jesus Christ, I was willing to come to Christ. Yes, you were. But the question is, who made you willing to come to Christ? And let me ask you another question. Why is it when you came to Christ, you were willing to come to Him when you came to Him, but all your life previously, you had been unwilling to come to Him? Philippians 2 verse 13 tells you, For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Yes, you came and you were willing to come, but it was Him who put the to will in you. And when He put the to will in you, He also put the to do in you as well.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 10. I want to show you what I'm going to call the most conclusive evidence of what I'm trying to teach you tonight. And let's begin reading with verse 17, and we'll read through verse 27. I want you to watch. Everyone knows this story of the rich young ruler. Here it is. Mark chapter 10, verse 17.

[John Weaver] And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud, not honour thy father and thy mother." And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way. Sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and take up thy cross and follow me.

[John Weaver] And he was sad at that saying and went away grief or he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. Now, look, and his disciples were astonished at these words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter in the kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Now, look, here it is. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

[John Weaver] I want you to know, salvation is the question. Who then can be saved? Here is our Lord's answer. And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men, it salvation is impossible. But not with God, for with God, all things are possible. With men, it is impossible. It is impossible. I was preaching one time and after the service was over, someone came up to me and said, Pastor, You make it mighty hard for somebody to be saved.

[John Weaver] I said, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I didn't mean to make it hard. I meant to make it impossible. That's what the Scripture says. With men, it is impossible. No one can save himself. No one can help save himself. No one can pray enough. No one can read enough of the Bible. No one can be good enough. You can't walk down enough aisles. You can't join enough churches. You can't be baptized enough. You can't do anything enough to be saved yourself. It's impossible. With men, it is impossible.

[John Weaver] Now, our Lord witnessed this young man, but I want you to see how he witnessed. I want you to understand what our Lord was doing. You remember a faithful witness will not lie. You remember, if you would please, first of all, that a faithful witness always gives a true and accurate and honest testimony. You have to remember that this young man that came to Jesus Christ. Was it cut above the average?

[John Weaver] In fact, he has so much going for him. He is so unlike a multitude today. What did he have going for him? Well, first of all, he had manners. He came running and he kneeled. He knelt to Jesus Christ. And he said, good master. He addressed him reverently. Respectfully. He not only had good manners, he had a good motive. He wanted eternal life. He said, what must I do that I may inherit eternal life? That's a good motive. He also had good morals. How do I know he had good morals? Well, our Lord said, you know the law, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. What did he say? Well, all these have I observed from my youth.

[John Weaver] So he was a moral young man. You could not speak reproachfully of him because he was not reproachable. He had been a decent young man. He not only had manners and motive and morals, he also had money. Lots of it. He was extremely rich. And either he had gotten this money by inheritance or he had earned it. Because when our Lord said, thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not defraud, what did he say?

[John Weaver] All these have I kept for my youth up. So evidently, the great riches that he had, he came by them honestly.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note something. If this young man were alive today. And he came to the average Baptist pastor and the average Baptist church, he would have been immediately accepted into membership. He would have probably been nominated to be a deacon. He would soon have financed a new addition to the building and the wing would have been named after him. But our Lord said. Your life is not enough. No, it's not enough, you're lost. He had a lot going for him, but he was still lost when our Lord got through with him.

[John Weaver] He was not a candidate for baptism. He was not a candidate for church membership. Because he was thoroughly, totally lost.

[John Weaver] Now, here's what I want you to see, how our Lord witnessed this young man. I want you to see that our Lord emphasized two truths. He emphasized responsibility and inability. And they're two totally different things. He emphasized responsibility and inability. When you look through the New Testament at how our Lord witnessed, whether you're talking to the woman in John 4 or here to this young man in Mark 10 or in the other time, our Lord always pressed upon individuals their responsibility to keep God's law and to honor God. And he showed them at the same time their inability to do what they were commanded. Now, I want you to look in verse 18, because our Lord began witnessing to this young man with a rebuke. Notice, if you would, first of all, in verse 17, the young man came running, he knelt, he said, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God.

[John Weaver] Now, here's what our Lord is saying. If I'm good, I'm God. And if I'm God, you don't come running into my presence demanding something of me. A lot of people need to hear that. You might beseech God and you might beg God and you might ask God, but you don't demand that God does anything. When the young man finally said. I want eternal life. After our Lord rebuked him, he said, look, verse 19, thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor thy father and thy mother. Why would our Lord use the Ten Commandments? You and I both know the justification not by the law of God. It's taught throughout Scripture. By the deeds of the law shall no man be justified. And yet our Lord is using the law here very clearly. Why?

[John Weaver] Because He's showing responsibility and accountability. I want you to understand something. Every man, whether saved or unsaved, is responsible and accountable to God, for we are His creatures. We owe Him. He created us. He gave us life. He gave us all things. And as His creatures, supposedly rational creatures, we're responsible to give Him the glory that's due in His name. We're responsible to worship Him and praise Him and glorify Him. We're not only His creatures. We're sinful creatures. We owe Him repentance. We do.

[John Weaver] Can you stop and think for a moment? Look at all of God's gifts that He's given to you. Look at His mercies. Look at His love that you have abused and misused for your own selfish and wicked gratifications all of your life. He gives us breath. He gives us life. He gives us health. He gives us everything. And we abuse it and misuse it. Yeah, we owe him, we're responsible, we're accountable.

[John Weaver] Not only as creatures, but as sinful creatures as well. So here's my question. Why did our Lord? Why did our Lord use the law in witnessing? Why did He quote the Ten Commandments? Why did He not say like the Apostle Paul, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved? Why in this instance did He quote the Ten Commandments? Here's the answer. Romans 3 and verse 20, For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Do you realize it's impossible to know what sin is without the law of God? 1 John 3 and verse 4 tells us very plainly, whosoever committed sin transgresses also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law. You can't sin without violating God's law. One of the real reasons, I believe, that we're not seeing real, genuine, solid conversions the way we used to, is because God's law is not preached the way it used to be preached.

[John Weaver] The old Puritans had a saying. It was like this. The sharp needle of the law must precede the scarlet thread of the gospel. Until an individual is pricked in his heart, until he knows that he's a sinner, not just intellectually, not just rationally, until he knows what he is. He'll never be ready for salvation. I was preaching in North Carolina, and there was a lady who came to church every single night, and she sat there and wept and wept and wept every night, just wept and wept and wept.

[John Weaver] Finally, toward the end of the week, she asked the pastor and myself to come by and talk to her. And I thought to myself, oh, Lord, thank you. This woman has been so broken, so weeping. So we went by and and I sat down with her. The pastor was there and and I said, you're concerned about your soul, are you not? She said, yes. And I said, let me take the Bible and show you. She's already weeping. I said, let me take the Bible and show you what God says. And I started in the Old Testament and I was going through the Bible and showing her the pictures of sin in the Bible where God says we're like into the scum of a boiling pot. where God says that we're likened to a filthy cloth, where God said we're likened to a dead and rotting body. I got through about seven of those pictures and all of a sudden she did this.

[John Weaver] And then she said, I may be bad, but I'm not that bad. I looked at the pastor and I said, neither is she a candidate for salvation. We're wasting our time. Let's leave. Let me tell you something, folks. When God convicts you, you will argue with the Apostle Paul about being the chief of sinners. You will fight for that place because you will recognize how wicked and how wretched you really were.

[John Weaver] And our Lord here uses the wall to convict this young man. This young man naively, and I'm going to say it stupidly, this man naively and stupidly said to our Lord after he quoted the law of God, All these have I observed from my youth." Really? Really? In verse 21, our Lord says this, One thing thou lackest. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up thy cross, and follow me. Oh, what does verse 22 say?

[John Weaver] And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had great possession. Now, wait a minute. Our Lord said, if you really want to be saved, here's what you need to do. You need to sell everything you have and give to the poor, take up your cross and follow me.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. How many of you, when you were saved? Sold everything you had and gave to the poor. How many of you? Not one. Well, is that a requirement for salvation? That's what our Lord told this man. So you have to ask yourself this question, why did our Lord tell him to sell everything that he had and give to the poor and take up his cross and follow him? Here's why.

[John Weaver] Remember, he began quoting the law of God. What did he say? The young man said, all these have I observed from my youth. Really? You know, the Apostle Paul said it like this in Romans 7 verse 9, For I was alive without law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Remember, Paul was the Pharisee of the Pharisee. At one point he said he was touching the law blameless. Was he really blameless? Of course not.

[John Weaver] All he had was a simple outward external conformity. That's all he had. He had nothing internal. He had nothing inside. He said, I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, when I really saw the spirituality of it, sin revived and I died. This young man like Saul of Tarsus was a good Pharisee. He had all the externals. Our Lord said, you really want to be saved? You really want eternal life?

[John Weaver] I'll tell you what you do. You go sell everything that you have and give it to the poor and take up your cross and follow me. Why did our Lord tell him that? Our Lord was applying his law. Listen, this young man said, all these have I observed from my youth. Really? Honestly? Well, go sell everything you have and give to the poor. And he goes away green. What does our Lord say? You think you've kept my law?

[John Weaver] You haven't even obeyed the first commandment. Thou shalt have had no other gods before me. Your money is your God. All he was doing was applying the law of God. This young man believed that he could keep and earn eternal life by obeying the commandment. He may be responsible to obey them, but he did not have the ability to obey them. He had an external conformity, but he did not have an internal spirituality. Listen to this.

[John Weaver] Romans 8, verses 7 and 8. Listen. God says, because the carnal mind, that is the fleshly mind, man's mind by nature, because the carnal mind is enmity with God or against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Are you listening? So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. How many of us are in the flesh? We don't have the ability to please God in and of ourselves. No, no one can please God in and of himself.

[John Weaver] You read John four, when you get home, you'll see our Lord witness to the Samaritan woman the same way. Now, my question is, how do all these truths affect our witnessing? How are they to affect our witnessing as a faithful witness? I want to declare the truth about God. I want to declare the truth about his word. But at the same time, I want to declare the truth about man. I want to declare the truth about sin. I want you to look very quickly, I'm going to tie it together, but turn in your Bibles, Acts chapter 17. What's this? Look in Acts chapter 17 at verses 30 and 31. Acts 17 verses 30 and 31. Watch. Acts 17, verse 30, the Bible says, And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Here's my question. Why does God command all men everywhere to repent? The first answer is because God is God.

[John Weaver] He may do as he pleases. God is the sovereign God of heaven and earth. He does as he pleases, only as he pleases and always as he pleases. And he has the absolute right to command us to repent. We owe him repentance. But look, if you would, at verse 31, here's another reason why he's commanded us to repent. Because he that is God, the father. hath appointed a day in which he, God the Father, will judge the world in righteousness by that man, that is, Jesus Christ, whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead." So here it is, just as surely as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, just that surely there's going to be a judgment. And men are responsible and accountable to repent, and they're going to face God if they do not. Now, men have a responsibility to repent before God, but they also have a responsibility to believe. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 23, and this is his commandment that we believe on his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave his commandment.

[John Weaver] Now watch. Responsibility does not imply ability. We might have the responsibility, but we do not have the ability. Since you're in the book of Acts, look at Acts chapter 5 very quickly. Acts chapter 5 verses 30 and 31. Acts 5 verses 30 and 31. The Bible says, The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with or at his right hand to be a prince and a savior.

[John Weaver] Are you looking for to give repentance? to Israel and forgiveness of sins, to give repentance. Repentance is the gift of God, just like faith is the gift of God. Repentance does not belong to man. It belongs to God. Now, listen carefully. Someone says, I'm going to believe, I'm going to believe, I'm going to make myself believe, I'm going to work this faith up, I'm going to do it. No, you can't work it up because faith is a gift of God. And see, one of the tricks and wiles of the devil is he tempts you into sinning and then promises you an easy and speedy repentance. Repentance is not his to give.

[John Weaver] You say, but wait a minute, Brother Weaver, wait a minute, wait a minute. All I've got to do is confess my sins. The Bible says if we confess our sins, he's thankful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Yes, the Bible does say that. 1 John 1, 9. But do you know what the word confess means? Think about this, the word confess is homo legeo in the Greek. Homo means one or the same, which we know, lego I say. You know what confession is? It's when you say the same thing that God says about your sins. When you take the attitude that God takes about your sins. No one ever really confesses their sins until they turn from their sins, and they hate those sins, and they repent of those sins, and they take the same attitude that God does toward them.

[John Weaver] Repentance is not the devil's to give. Repentance is not yours to give. Repentance cannot be worked up just like faith cannot be worked. Repentance is the gift of God. Look in Acts 11 in verse 18. Look, Acts 11 verse 18. Here it is. Because when they heard that Cornelius in the house, his house had believed, look what they say. Acts 11, verse 18, and when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then if God also to the Gentiles granted or given repentance unto life. God granted, God gave it. One other passage, I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy, chapter 2. Watch carefully. 2 Timothy, chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 24. 2 Timothy 2, verse 24.

[John Weaver] And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patience. In meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, watch if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him in his will." Now, here's my question. When the men recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, according to verse 25, it's when they acknowledge the truth. Here's my next question. When do men acknowledge the truth? And the answer is when God gives them repentance. Repentance is the gift of God. Now, here it is. Listen to me. Do men have the responsibility to repent? Yes. Do men have the ability to repent? No. Do men have the responsibility to believe on Jesus Christ? Yes. Do men have the ability to believe on Jesus Christ? No.

[John Weaver] So what do I do when I witness? If I believe that God is absolutely sovereign, I want to be a true and faithful and honest and accurate witness. I want to testify to the grace and the goodness and the mercy and the justice of God. But I also want to testify to the total depravity of man and his total inability to do anything to please God. Show him he has responsibility and show him he has inability.

[John Weaver] He has no ability whatsoever. You say, now, wait a minute, Brother Weaver. Hang on. Hang on. If someone really believes that they are totally, absolutely responsible to the sovereign God of heaven and earth, and yet they have no ability to do anything, where does that leave them? At the grace and mercy and feet of Jesus Christ. Because if He doesn't save them, they'll never be saved. They need to say, Father, In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, you've commanded me to repent. But I can't. I don't have the ability.

[John Weaver] You must give me that gift. You've commanded me to believe, but I can't. You must give me that gift. If you don't save me, I'll never be saved. If you don't give me repentance, I'll never repent. If you don't give me faith, I'll never believe. Let me tell you something. Do you want a sinner to seek after God? You take the key out of his hand. As long as that man thinks that he can repent and he can believe whenever he pleases. I've heard people say, I'm going to repent and believe right before I die. Until then, I'm going to enjoy myself. Really? Really? You may die and never have one second to repent. or one second to believe. Repentance and gifts and faith are gifts of God. They are not yours. They are not in your hand. They are in God's hand.

[John Weaver] Do you remember what our Lord said in Matthew 11, verse 27? Let me just quote it. Listen carefully. Our Lord said, All things are delivered unto me and my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. And no man knoweth the Father, but the Son, and He to Whomsoever He revealeth. Salvation is not walking down a church aisle. It's not being baptized. It's not doing good. Salvation is trusting totally and completely and solely in Jesus Christ, which results in obedience in your life. And if I believe that God is absolutely, totally sovereign, I have to be a true and faithful witness. And I have to testify not only to the grace and the goodness and the mercy and the justice of God. I have to testify. to the inability of man. God is sovereign. As Jonah found out in Jonah 2.9, he said, salvation is of the Lord. Father, help us tonight. Give us grace. Give us mercy. Teach us.

[John Weaver] Build us up in the most holy faith. And help us to learn to apply the responsibility of man, the accountability of man, and yet more at the same time, our inability and give everyone the truth about the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray, Amen.

How To Witness Based Upon The Absolute Sovereignty Of God

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	820151123491
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation: Witness, Judgment, and the Throne
Genre	Sermon
Date	2015-08-19
Dictation Name
Book	Book 140: Revelation: Witness, Judgment, and the Throne — Chapter 8
Source Timed Segments	98

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Call to Be Witnesses

Weaver reads Isaiah 43:10 and Acts 1:8, emphasizing that God calls His people to be His witnesses. He poses three questions: Are you a witness? Do you want to be a witness? Are you sure you want to be a witness?

I want you to open your Bibles tonight, if you would please, to two passages. The first one is Acts chapter 1, and the second one is Isaiah 43. I just want to read these two verses. I'm not going to necessarily be preaching from these texts, simply because the title of the message is How to Witness Based Upon God's Absolute Sovereignty. We'll read Isaiah 43 in verse 10 first. Notice what God says. Isaiah 43 in verse 10, God says to His people,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 43:10

"You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be any after me."

But notice that you are my witnesses. Then if you look in Acts chapter 1 in verse 8, the Bible says this, our Lord is speaking to his disciples, he says, "But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria

and in the uttermost parts of the earth." Notice again he said you shall be witnesses unto me. I could begin tonight by asking a number of questions. The first one is, are you a witness? Secondly, do you want to be a witness? And thirdly, are you absolutely sure you want to be a witness? Because once you begin examining the word witness in the word of God, you're going to find that there are some very uncomfortable answers. Do you realize that the law of God demands two things of every believer? Two things of every Christian. The law of God demands, first of all, obedience, and secondly, enforcement. Man's law basically does the same thing, because man's law also demands obedience, and then we have the power of citizen's arrest. So law and enforcement. Do you realize in biblical law, witness was required to do two things. First of all, he had to give an accurate and true account. He had to present the truth absolutely truthfully and honestly. And then secondly, he also helped enforce the law.

The Old Testament Role of a Witness

In biblical law, a witness had two duties: to give a true and accurate account and to help enforce the law, even participating in execution. Passages from Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Joshua illustrate this dual role.

Now, just to save a little time tonight, I want to quote some scriptures. We're going to be turning to a lot of scriptures, but let me just quote some. The first one is Leviticus chapter 24, verses 13 and 14. Listen carefully. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him."

So the witnesses then basically participated. Have you ever asked yourself, what in the world will keep a witness absolutely honest? What will keep someone from perjuring himself? If you understand God's law, then of course a perjurer really hurt his own self. How so? Listen to this. Deuteronomy chapter 19 verses 15 through 19. God says, "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin that he committed. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. Now listen carefully. If a false witness rise up against any man, to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days, and the judges shall make diligent inquisition, and behold, if the witness be found a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother, then shall you do unto him as he thought to have done unto his brother."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 17:6-7

"So shalt thou put the evil away from among you."

So the law of retribution or the lex talionis of scripture just simply says this. If a man perjures himself and he gives false witness, whatever he intended to do to his brother is now to be done to him. It doesn't matter if it's confiscation of goods. It doesn't matter if it's death. In other words, he is to suffer the exact same penalty that he was trying to inflict upon his brother. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 17, verses 6 and 7,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 17:6-7

"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. Now listen carefully. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death. And afterwards, the hand of all the people, so shalt thou put the evil away from among you."

So I want you to note again, the word witness here, not only indicates a true and accurate and honest account, but it also indicates enforcement as well. When you get to Deuteronomy chapter 13, you find that that passage also deals with false prophets. Those individuals who are trying to seduce the people of God away from God. And so it deals then with false prophets in the family, false prophets in the city, and false prophets in the nation. Listen to what God said in Deuteronomy 13, verses 6-9, "If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, namely the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth, thou shalt not consent to him, thou shalt not hearken unto him, neither shalt thine eye pity him,

neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou shalt surely kill him. Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.

Scripture Reading — Joshua 22:34

" So here is a witness. A witness then had to not only give a true and accurate account, a witness had to aid in the execution of the criminal as well. Wow. Do you remember in the book of Joshua, chapter 22, the two and a half tribes on the other side of Jordan erected an altar and all the other tribes said, look, They built an altar to sacrifice on. Let's get together and let's go over there. And there's going to be a war because, no, we cannot have two altars. And then you have the tribe of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. They said, look, no, no, we're not building this altar to sacrifice on. We understand there's only one altar. But what we're doing, we're building a replica of it, lest you folks over there on that side of the river begin to say, look, Those over there, they're not Israelites, they're not part of us. This altar is to be a witness that we are indeed the children of God. And the Bible says in verse 34, and they called the altar Ed, E-D. That is a witness. Ed is the Hebrew word for witness, or at least in our language. So the altar then was not built for rebellion. It was just simply built to say that we, too, are the people of God. So when you look at the Old Testament, you begin to see that a witness, of course, not only testifies truthfully and honestly and accurately, he also helps enforce the law of God.

The New Testament Witness and the Word 'Martus'

The Greek word for witness is 'martus' (martyr). Jesus is the faithful witness who both testifies truthfully and enforces judgment, as seen in Revelation and 2 Thessalonians.

Now, what you're probably about to do at this time is say, I'm glad I'm not living in Old Testament times. Really? Well, in Acts chapter 1 in verse 8, our Lord said, "But you shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses." Wow. You shall be witnesses. I want to show you something. I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. And let's begin reading in verse 15. Some of you know this passage quite well. Matthew chapter 18, notice if you would please verse 15, the Bible says this,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 18:15-17

"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Now watch carefully. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church.

But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen and as a publican." I want you to note the word witnesses in verse 16. The word witness here is a very special word. In fact, if you would look in the book of Mark chapter 14, you will see how this is used even by the high priest. Notice in Mark chapter 14, and let's begin reading there with verse 61. Mark chapter 14 in verse 61. The high priest has been questioning our Lord. The Bible says, "But he held his peace and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes and said, What need we of further witnesses?

You have heard the blasphemy. Well, thank you. And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. Now the interesting thing, I don't care if you're looking in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 or Matthew chapter 16 or Mark chapter 14, anywhere in the New Testament that you see the word witness, the Greek word is the word martus. It is where we get our English word martyr. Now, when you and I think of the word martyr, we think of someone who dies for his faith. Well, originally, the word just simply meant a witness. The word martyr did not come to mean someone who died for his faith until after the Roman persecution. But it just simply meant the word witness. Did you know that this very same word is used of God himself in Romans 1 and verse 9? Because the Apostle Paul said, "God is my witness," and the word witness there is martus. Literally he said, "God is my martyr.

Scripture Reading — Romans 1:9

" Obviously God is not dead. God did not die for the faith. All he is saying is, God is my witness.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 1. Because I showed you in the Old Testament that the law demanded two things of every witness. It demanded a true, honest, and accurate account, and then it demanded also that one help in the enforcement of the law. So, notice if you would please in the book of Revelation chapter 1, very interesting, in verses 5 and 6, notice what is said concerning Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 1 beginning with verse 5,

Scripture Reading — Revelation 1:5-6

"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Now, interestingly enough, the Bible says in verse 5 that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness. Now, if Jesus Christ is a faithful witness, and if Jesus Christ is the witness according to God's law, what is Jesus Christ going to do? Well, He's going to give an accurate and honest and truthful testimony, and then He will enforce God's law. You see, the Bible says in Proverbs 14 in verse 5,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 14:5

"A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies."

So a faithful witness will not and cannot lie. Jesus Christ as a faithful witness always gives a true and honest and accurate account, even concerning His church. If you would look in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 3, look at verses 14 through 16. Revelation 3 verse 14, "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."

Now notice, if you would, what Jesus Christ does. First, he witnesses against this corrupt, compromising, and complacent church. He is a true, faithful, honest and accurate witness against them. Secondly, he says, I'm going to force judgment against you. I will spew you out of my mouth. If you look back in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 2 and verse 5, notice what he says here to the church of Ephesus. Revelation 2 and verse 5, he says,

Scripture Reading — Revelation 2:5

"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

Now notice what he's done. He's also given a true and accurate account to the church here at Ephesus. But now what he's doing, he's saying, Unless you repent, I will come and remove thy candlestick out of his place. I'll judge you. I will enforce my law.

So the Lord then, as the true and faithful witness, not only testifies accurately and truthfully and honestly, he also judges and executes as well. Now, I want you to look at two passages. I want you to turn your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and then to Revelation chapter 19. You will see that these two passages will come in to play toward the end of the message. But look, if you would, please, first of all, the second Thessalonians, chapter one, and let's begin reading there with verse seven, second Thessalonians, chapter one and verse seven. So I want you to see what the Apostle Paul says. Second Thessalonians, chapter one and verse seven.

"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, now look, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day." Now, notice, if you would please, how our Lord is going to be executing His wrath, His judgment. He's going to be applying the law of God. And notice, if you would, it will be also in the presence of the saints.

Now, if you'll look in Revelation chapter 19, look at the first three verses. Again, you're going to see the enforcement of God's law. And you're also going to see it's in the presence of the saints. Notice verse 1,

Scripture Reading — Revelation 19:1-3

"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up forever and ever."

So the point I'm trying to make is this. In God's judgment, the saints are here and the saints are indeed giving honor and glory to God for this true and accurate testimony and also the enforcement of His law upon the ungodly. Now, what I really want to do tonight is this. I want to just emphasize for a little while the importance of being a true and faithful witness. We say that we believe that God is absolutely sovereign. When you stop and think about this, there can only be one sovereign. There can only be one ultimate. There can only be one absolute. God does not share his power with anybody or his sovereignty with anybody in that sense of the word. No, he is God and beside him there is no other. Now, if we believe that God is absolutely sovereign, How do we witness based upon that sovereignty? Does the fact that we believe that God is the sovereign God of heaven and earth, does that affect the way we witness?

Sovereignty and Soteriology Shape Witnessing

One's view of God's sovereignty and salvation determines how one witnesses. Arminian synergism teaches man initiates salvation; biblical monergism teaches salvation is entirely God's work.

And the answer is most definitely. Will those who believe in God's absolute sovereignty witness differently from those who do not believe in God's sovereignty? The answer is yes. You have to understand that one's view of soteriology, that is the doctrine of salvation, and one's view of theology, that is the doctrine of God, dictates the manner and the matter in which one witnesses. If we believe that salvation is the work of God from start to finish, then we will certainly witness differently from someone who believes in synergism. You say, what in the world is synergism? Well, synergism is just simply the teaching in Arminian teaching, I might add, but it is a teaching that God and man work together for man's salvation. In other words, man must do his part and then God does his part.

Usually such a position is held by those who refer to themselves as Arminians or semi-Pelagians. But they actually believe that somehow that man can initiate his own salvation. It's kind of like the old saying, it is mine to be willing and it is his to do the completion. In other words, if I will to be saved, then God is obligated to finish that and to save me. That certainly is not anywhere found in the Word of God.

But a multitude teach that. I heard years ago about one man who went into a church. It was basically a semi-Pelagian church. And they were having a testimony meeting. And he stood up and he said, I want to praise God for His gracious salvation who saved my sin sick soul. And I give Him all the honor and all the glory. And he sat down. And the pastor said, well, brother, I'm sure that you had to do your part, too. And he stood back up. He said, yes, sir, I did my part. I furnished the sin.

He did all the rest of it. And that's all we can do is just furnish the sin. That is absolutely for sure. But when you understand synergism, most of us have heard this all of our lives. Because most of us were raised in what we would call fundamental, independent, Bible-believing churches. It didn't matter whatever. And they would come out and say this, you must take the first step. It's up to you. You must take the first step. What is that saying? That is saying you initiate the act of salvation. Then once you initiate it, it's up to God.

Someone who believes in decisional regeneration, Or someone who believes that man is capable of initiating salvation on his own is certainly going to witness and testify completely and totally differently from someone who believes that salvation is the Lord from start to finish. I remember years ago hearing about one famous Baptist preacher who's now dead. He sent some of his people down to Florida, and in one weekend, they had over 3,000 professions of faith. And I thought to myself, if 3,000 people really got converted in one weekend, that part of the country would be changed. But nothing ever changed.

Three Illustrations of Salvation as God's Work Alone

Salvation is likened to birth (John 3), creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; 4:6), and resurrection (Ephesians 2:1,5). In each, man is passive and God alone acts.

Now, let me just point something out to you. There are three basic illustrations of salvation in the Bible, in the New Testament. Each one of these illustrations clearly demonstrates that salvation is a work of God alone. It is God's work from start to finish. I want to very quickly go over these three illustrations for you. The first one is that of birth. If you would look in your Bibles very quickly to John chapter 3, you will remember this.

Nicodemus has come to Jesus Christ by night. And notice if you would, in John chapter 3, Beginning there with verse 1, the Bible says

Scripture Reading — John 3:1-7

there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again."

Now, interestingly enough, notice if you would, our Lord said, unless a man is born again in verse 3, he cannot even see the kingdom of God. And then again in verse 5, unless he's born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So if all men can't see the kingdom, he can't enter the kingdom in and of himself. And so our Lord here is saying, you must be born Well, Nicodemus was a ruler. He was a brilliant man.

But this had him stumped. He said, how then can a man enter his mother's womb a second time and be born when he's old? Obviously, he did not understand what our Lord was talking about at all. And by the way, when our Lord says you must be born again, The Greek word is anothen, which means you must be born from above. Our Lord told Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you must be born from above. Years ago, Billy Graham wrote a book. The title of it was How to be Born Again. And I've often wondered about that. I want you to stop and think about this with me. If our Lord is liking the new birth to the physical birth. There are a number of questions here. Our Lord says that which is born of flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now, just like a man was born of the flesh the first time, our Lord said he must be born of the spirit the second time. He must be born from above. Well, now, if salvation is likened to your physical birth, Let me ask you this. How many of you had anything to do with your physical birth? How many of you sat down and said, now here's what's going to happen.

I'm going to petition my father and my mother to get together and have me. Really? You had no say in it. You had nothing to do with it. You weren't around. The very fact that your mother and father came together At their own pleasure, at their own time, you had nothing to do with it. It's impossible. If your spiritual birth is anything like your physical birth, you can have nothing to do with it. You did not move upon the will of your father to birth you. You did not move upon the will of your mother to birth you.

Do you know what the Bible says in James 1 in verse 18? Listen,

Scripture Reading — James 1:18

"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures."

Of his own will. You had no influence over your parents and you had no influence over God. You know what the Bible says in Revelation 4, verse 11? Listen carefully. "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they were and are created." It pleased God to give you a physical existence. It pleased God to create you. It pleased God to allow you to be born. It pleased God to regenerate you. It pleased God to open your eyes. It pleased God to release your will from the bondage of sin. It pleased God to give you faith of His own will, begat he us with the Word of Truth.

I had a young lady in our church years ago She came into my office and said, I need to talk to you. I just come to the church. She was a member of the church. And she talked to me and she told me her problem and she said, what do you think? I looked at her and I said, well, I think the problem is you're just lost. You've never been saved. You've never been regenerated. You've never been converted.

You know what she did? She got angry. She got mad and she left the church. Well, I couldn't help that. It was still the truth. After two years. She called me on the phone and wanted to come back and talk to me again. I said, sure. So she came into my office. And for a full five or 10 minutes, she just sat there and wept. And finally, when she had her composure, she said. You were right. I'm lost. She said, I know I can't be a member of this church. But if you don't mind, if I could just come and listen, I said, that's what the church is here for. You're more than welcome to come and listen. I want you to come and listen. That young wife sat through service after service and wept and wept and wept. Mascara run.

It looked like she looked like a zebra. I mean, really. And she was open with her tears. She knew. And I knew she was under conviction. One of our ladies, one of the most tenderhearted women I've ever known. When this young woman walked out of the church that Sunday, she grabbed my hand and she said, please keep praying, please keep praying. I said, Oh, I am. And after she walked out the door, the lady behind her threw her arms around my neck, an older woman.

and began to weep, and she said, O Pastor, O Pastor, can't you do anything for her? And I looked at her. I said, No, ma'am. The reason she's in the trouble she's in now, somebody did something for her other than God. It wasn't a month or two later before God gloriously saved her, for which I'm thankful. Yes, I witnessed to her. I showed her, I told her, but I can't save her.

Salvation is a birth of his own will, begat he us. The second illustration of salvation in the Bible is that of creation. Stop and think about this. How is the world created? The Bible says in the beginning, God created heaven and the earth. Well, how did God create it? Well, the Bible tells us in Psalm 33 and verse 9, for he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. God literally spoke the worlds into existence.

The things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. God just simply spoke and it came into being. Now, let me ask you a question. Was creation the work of God alone? Were you there to assist him? Were you there to give him counsel? Were you there to help him in any way? And the answer is, of course not. God created the world by his own power, absolutely, totally.

Now, I want you to follow with me. I want you to go in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Corinthians and look in chapter 5, verse 17. Let me show you something. Look in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. The Bible says this. Many of you can quote it. Here it is. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or creation. All things are passed away, behold, all things become new." Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or a new creation.

If you would turn back to Romans 8. Romans 8. And notice, if you would please, beginning there, verse 19. And now we're talking about the world, this world. Look at it, Romans chapter 8 and verse 19. The Bible says, "For the earnest expectation of the creature or the creation, waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature or the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature or the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Now he says it in verse 22. "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now." Now, we're talking about the creation. What did God do?

He spoke the worlds into existence. Now I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 6. Look what he says. In fact, we'll read verse 5. For the apostle Paul says this, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake, for God. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, that's creation, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Oh, do you realize that the same God that spoke the worlds into existence And the same God who commanded light to shine out of darkness is that same sovereign, powerful God, according to verse 6, who shined in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Did you have to help God give you that shining and that knowledge? Or did God just sovereignly do it for you Like he did creation.

Interesting. Interesting, if you look back in your Bible to first Corinthians, chapter four. I believe is the passage first Corinthians, chapter four, look at the question that is asked in verse seven, first Corinthians, chapter four and verse seven, the Apostle Paul asked these Corinthians, "For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?" Who maketh thee to differ from another? That's an excellent question. I would imagine each one of us. Has family members that are lost. We have friends that are lost. Yet here we are saved by the grace of God who made us to differ. We were just as big as sinners. We were just as lost, just as ungodly. Who made us to differ? And what do we have that we have not received? Everything that we have, God gave to us.

Spiritually, physically, mentally, morally, materially, every way imaginable. Who makes you to differ? When God talks about his salvation, he says it's a birth. If salvation is a birth and we're born of Him, obviously it's of His own will begetting us. If salvation is a creation, it must be God who creates. We cannot create. And the third illustration of salvation in the Bible is that of resurrection. You remember that passage in Ephesians 2 and verse 1 where the Bible said, "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." And then, of course, in Ephesians 2 and verse 5, again, he says, "even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ.

By grace are you saved." Now, stop and think about this. God has likened salvation, first of all, to a birth, secondly, to a creation, and now to a resurrection. How many of you have ever passed a cemetery? And as you pass that cemetery, you see graves partially open and body parts sticking up because there's somebody in the grave that says, move, foot, move. Go up, arm, go up. And I never see that. You know why you don't see that?

Because those people are dead. Do you realize if there is a resurrection It has to be from an outside power. Because the ones who are in the grave are absolutely dead, they are powerless, and unless an outside power comes and brings them up, they will never bring themselves up. The clearest illustration that I could ever give you is found in John 11. You don't have to turn there, but you remember Lazarus. died. And Jesus Christ said to his disciples, I go that I may wake Lazarus from his sleep. Why?

They said, if he sleeps, he does well. Well, our Lord said, you don't understand. That's not the sleep that I'm talking about. And of course, when he got there, here comes Martha and she says, you know, to him and then she sends Mary. And then when he says, take me to the grave in the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11, 35, Jesus wept. And when Jesus asked, where is he? She said, Lord, by now he stinketh, for he's dead four days. Jesus had said, I'm not saying to you if you believe that you see the glory of God. Roll the stone away. They roll the stone. And then Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. And the Bible says, he that was bound with grave clothes came forth.

Now, here is my question. Please answer it for me. Did our Lord sovereignly give Lazarus life inside that tomb that enabled him to get up and walk out? Or did He only give him life after he got up and walked out? Obviously, if God had not done something for him inside the tomb, he never would have gotten up. He never would have walked out. Actually, inside the tomb is a picture of regeneration. Walking out is a picture of conversion. But God sovereignly and graciously gave him life inside that tomb that allowed him to come out.

So when you talk about salvation, you either have to talk about a birth, a creation or a resurrection. And as you talk about those things, obviously, Each one of these demonstrates conclusively that salvation is of the Lord. Everybody in this room can probably quote Ephesians 2, 8, 9. "For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." What did he say? For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

The Rich Young Ruler: Witnessing with Law and Inability

Jesus witnessed to the rich young ruler by pressing his responsibility to keep the law and exposing his inability to do so, showing that with men salvation is impossible.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 10. I want to show you what I'm going to call the most conclusive evidence of what I'm trying to teach you tonight. And let's begin reading with verse 17, and we'll read through verse 27. I want you to watch. Everyone knows this story of the rich young ruler. Here it is. Mark chapter 10, verse 17.

"And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honour thy father and thy mother." And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way. Sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and take up thy cross and follow me.

And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. Now, look, and his disciples were astonished at these words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter in the kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Now, look, here it is. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

I want you to know, salvation is the question. Who then can be saved? Here is our Lord's answer. And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men, it salvation is impossible. But not with God, for with God, all things are possible. With men, it is impossible. It is impossible. I was preaching one time and after the service was over, someone came up to me and said, Pastor, You make it mighty hard for somebody to be saved.

I said, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I didn't mean to make it hard. I meant to make it impossible. That's what the Scripture says. With men, it is impossible. No one can save himself. No one can help save himself. No one can pray enough. No one can read enough of the Bible. No one can be good enough. You can't walk down enough aisles. You can't join enough churches. You can't be baptized enough. You can't do anything enough to be saved yourself. It's impossible. With men, it is impossible.

Now, our Lord witnessed this young man, but I want you to see how he witnessed. I want you to understand what our Lord was doing. You remember a faithful witness will not lie. You remember, if you would please, first of all, that a faithful witness always gives a true and accurate and honest testimony. You have to remember that this young man that came to Jesus Christ. Was it cut above the average? In fact, he has so much going for him. He is so unlike a multitude today. What did he have going for him? Well, first of all, he had manners. He came running and he kneeled. He knelt to Jesus Christ. And he said, good master. He addressed him reverently. Respectfully. He not only had good manners, he had a good motive. He wanted eternal life. He said, what must I do that I may inherit eternal life? That's a good motive. He also had good morals. How do I know he had good morals? Well, our Lord said, you know the law, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. What did he say? Well, all these have I observed from my youth.

So he was a moral young man. You could not speak reproachfully of him because he was not reproachable. He had been a decent young man. He not only had manners and motive and morals, he also had money. Lots of it. He was extremely rich. And either he had gotten this money by inheritance or he had earned it. Because when our Lord said, thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not defraud, what did he say?

All these have I kept for my youth up. So evidently, the great riches that he had, he came by them honestly. Now, I want you to note something. If this young man were alive today. And he came to the average Baptist pastor and the average Baptist church, he would have been immediately accepted into membership. He would have probably been nominated to be a deacon. He would soon have financed a new addition to the building and the wing would have been named after him. But our Lord said. Your life is not enough. No, it's not enough, you're lost. He had a lot going for him, but he was still lost when our Lord got through with him.

He was not a candidate for baptism. He was not a candidate for church membership. Because he was thoroughly, totally lost. Now, here's what I want you to see, how our Lord witnessed this young man. I want you to see that our Lord emphasized two truths. He emphasized responsibility and inability. And they're two totally different things. He emphasized responsibility and inability. When you look through the New Testament at how our Lord witnessed, whether you're talking to the woman in John 4 or here to this young man in Mark 10 or in the other time, our Lord always pressed upon individuals their responsibility to keep God's law and to honor God. And he showed them at the same time their inability to do what they were commanded. Now, I want you to look in verse 18, because our Lord began witnessing to this young man with a rebuke. Notice, if you would, first of all, in verse 17, the young man came running, he knelt, he said, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God.

Now, here's what our Lord is saying. If I'm good, I'm God. And if I'm God, you don't come running into my presence demanding something of me. A lot of people need to hear that. You might beseech God and you might beg God and you might ask God, but you don't demand that God does anything. When the young man finally said. I want eternal life. After our Lord rebuked him, he said, look, verse 19, thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor thy father and thy mother. Why would our Lord use the Ten Commandments? You and I both know the justification not by the law of God. It's taught throughout Scripture. By the deeds of the law shall no man be justified. And yet our Lord is using the law here very clearly. Why?

Because He's showing responsibility and accountability. I want you to understand something. Every man, whether saved or unsaved, is responsible and accountable to God, for we are His creatures. We owe Him. He created us. He gave us life. He gave us all things. And as His creatures, supposedly rational creatures, we're responsible to give Him the glory that's due in His name. We're responsible to worship Him and praise Him and glorify Him. We're not only His creatures. We're sinful creatures. We owe Him repentance. We do.

Can you stop and think for a moment? Look at all of God's gifts that He's given to you. Look at His mercies. Look at His love that you have abused and misused for your own selfish and wicked gratifications all of your life. He gives us breath. He gives us life. He gives us health. He gives us everything. And we abuse it and misuse it. Yeah, we owe him, we're responsible, we're accountable.

Not only as creatures, but as sinful creatures as well. So here's my question. Why did our Lord? Why did our Lord use the law in witnessing? Why did He quote the Ten Commandments? Why did He not say like the Apostle Paul, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved? Why in this instance did He quote the Ten Commandments? Here's the answer. Romans 3 and verse 20, "For by the law is the knowledge of sin." Do you realize it's impossible to know what sin is without the law of God? 1 John 3 and verse 4 tells us very plainly, "whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law." You can't sin without violating God's law. One of the real reasons, I believe, that we're not seeing real, genuine, solid conversions the way we used to, is because God's law is not preached the way it used to be preached.

The old Puritans had a saying. It was like this. The sharp needle of the law must precede the scarlet thread of the gospel. Until an individual is pricked in his heart, until he knows that he's a sinner, not just intellectually, not just rationally, until he knows what he is. He'll never be ready for salvation. I was preaching in North Carolina, and there was a lady who came to church every single night, and she sat there and wept and wept and wept every night, just wept and wept and wept. Finally, toward the end of the week, she asked the pastor and myself to come by and talk to her. And I thought to myself, oh, Lord, thank you. This woman has been so broken, so weeping. So we went by and and I sat down with her. The pastor was there and and I said, you're concerned about your soul, are you not? She said, yes. And I said, let me take the Bible and show you. She's already weeping. I said, let me take the Bible and show you what God says. And I started in the Old Testament and I was going through the Bible and showing her the pictures of sin in the Bible where God says we're like into the scum of a boiling pot. where God says that we're likened to a filthy cloth, where God said we're likened to a dead and rotting body. I got through about seven of those pictures and all of a sudden she did this.

And then she said, I may be bad, but I'm not that bad. I looked at the pastor and I said, neither is she a candidate for salvation. We're wasting our time. Let's leave. Let me tell you something, folks. When God convicts you, you will argue with the Apostle Paul about being the chief of sinners. You will fight for that place because you will recognize how wicked and how wretched you really were.

And our Lord here uses the law to convict this young man. This young man naively, and I'm going to say it stupidly, this man naively and stupidly said to our Lord after he quoted the law of God, "All these have I observed from my youth." Really? Really? In verse 21, our Lord says this, "One thing thou lackest. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up thy cross, and follow me." Oh, what does verse 22 say? And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had great possession. Now, wait a minute. Our Lord said, if you really want to be saved, here's what you need to do. You need to sell everything you have and give to the poor, take up your cross and follow me.

Now, let me ask you a question. How many of you, when you were saved? Sold everything you had and gave to the poor. How many of you? Not one. Well, is that a requirement for salvation? That's what our Lord told this man. So you have to ask yourself this question, why did our Lord tell him to sell everything that he had and give to the poor and take up his cross and follow him? Here's why.

Remember, he began quoting the law of God. What did he say? The young man said, all these have I observed from my youth. Really? You know, the Apostle Paul said it like this in Romans 7 verse 9, "For I was alive without law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died." Remember, Paul was the Pharisee of the Pharisee. At one point he said he was touching the law blameless. Was he really blameless? Of course not.

All he had was a simple outward external conformity. That's all he had. He had nothing internal. He had nothing inside. He said, I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, when I really saw the spirituality of it, sin revived and I died. This young man like Saul of Tarsus was a good Pharisee. He had all the externals. Our Lord said, you really want to be saved? You really want eternal life?

I'll tell you what you do. You go sell everything that you have and give it to the poor and take up your cross and follow me. Why did our Lord tell him that? Our Lord was applying his law. Listen, this young man said, all these have I observed from my youth. Really? Honestly? Well, go sell everything you have and give to the poor. And he goes away grieved. What does our Lord say? You think you've kept my law?

You haven't even obeyed the first commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Your money is your God. All he was doing was applying the law of God. This young man believed that he could keep and earn eternal life by obeying the commandment. He may be responsible to obey them, but he did not have the ability to obey them. He had an external conformity, but he did not have an internal spirituality. Listen to this.

Responsibility Does Not Imply Ability

God commands all men to repent and believe, but repentance and faith are gifts of God. Man has the responsibility but not the ability; this drives sinners to seek God's grace.

You read John four, when you get home, you'll see our Lord witness to the Samaritan woman the same way. Now, my question is, how do all these truths affect our witnessing? How are they to affect our witnessing as a faithful witness? I want to declare the truth about God. I want to declare the truth about his word. But at the same time, I want to declare the truth about man. I want to declare the truth about sin. I want you to look very quickly, I'm going to tie it together, but turn in your Bibles, Acts chapter 17. What's this? Look in Acts chapter 17 at verses 30 and 31. Acts 17 verses 30 and 31. Watch. Acts 17, verse 30, the Bible says, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." Here's my question. Why does God command all men everywhere to repent? The first answer is because God is God.

He may do as he pleases. God is the sovereign God of heaven and earth. He does as he pleases, only as he pleases and always as he pleases. And he has the absolute right to command us to repent. We owe him repentance. But look, if you would, at verse 31, here's another reason why he's commanded us to repent. "Because he that is God, the father. hath appointed a day in which he, God the Father, will judge the world in righteousness by that man, that is, Jesus Christ, whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead." So here it is, just as surely as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, just that surely there's going to be a judgment. And men are responsible and accountable to repent, and they're going to face God if they do not. Now, men have a responsibility to repent before God, but they also have a responsibility to believe. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 23, "and this is his commandment that we believe on his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave his commandment."

Now watch. Responsibility does not imply ability. We might have the responsibility, but we do not have the ability. Since you're in the book of Acts, look at Acts chapter 5 very quickly. Acts chapter 5 verses 30 and 31. Acts 5 verses 30 and 31. The Bible says, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with or at his right hand to be a prince and a savior.

Are you looking for to give repentance? to Israel and forgiveness of sins, to give repentance. Repentance is the gift of God, just like faith is the gift of God. Repentance does not belong to man. It belongs to God. Now, listen carefully. Someone says, I'm going to believe, I'm going to believe, I'm going to make myself believe, I'm going to work this faith up, I'm going to do it. No, you can't work it up because faith is a gift of God. And see, one of the tricks and wiles of the devil is he tempts you into sinning and then promises you an easy and speedy repentance. Repentance is not his to give.

You say, but wait a minute, Brother Weaver, wait a minute, wait a minute. All I've got to do is confess my sins. The Bible says if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Yes, the Bible does say that. 1 John 1, 9. But do you know what the word confess means? Think about this, the word confess is homologeo in the Greek. Homo means one or the same, which we know, lego I say. You know what confession is? It's when you say the same thing that God says about your sins. When you take the attitude that God takes about your sins. No one ever really confesses their sins until they turn from their sins, and they hate those sins, and they repent of those sins, and they take the same attitude that God does toward them.

Repentance is not the devil's to give. Repentance is not yours to give. Repentance cannot be worked up just like faith cannot be worked. Repentance is the gift of God. Look in Acts 11 in verse 18. Look, Acts 11 verse 18. Here it is. Because when they heard that Cornelius in the house, his house had believed, look what they say. Acts 11, verse 18, "and when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted or given repentance unto life." God granted, God gave it. One other passage, I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy, chapter 2. Watch carefully. 2 Timothy, chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 24. 2 Timothy 2, verse 24.

"And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patience. In meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, watch if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." Now, here's my question. When the men recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, according to verse 25, it's when they acknowledge the truth. Here's my next question. When do men acknowledge the truth? And the answer is when God gives them repentance. Repentance is the gift of God. Now, here it is. Listen to me. Do men have the responsibility to repent? Yes. Do men have the ability to repent? No. Do men have the responsibility to believe on Jesus Christ? Yes. Do men have the ability to believe on Jesus Christ? No.

Application: Witnessing as a Faithful Witness

A faithful witness declares God's sovereignty, man's total depravity and inability, and points sinners to Christ alone for the gifts of repentance and faith.

So what do I do when I witness? If I believe that God is absolutely sovereign, I want to be a true and faithful and honest and accurate witness. I want to testify to the grace and the goodness and the mercy and the justice of God. But I also want to testify to the total depravity of man and his total inability to do anything to please God. Show him he has responsibility and show him he has inability. He has no ability whatsoever. You say, now, wait a minute, Brother Weaver. Hang on. Hang on. If someone really believes that they are totally, absolutely responsible to the sovereign God of heaven and earth, and yet they have no ability to do anything, where does that leave them? At the grace and mercy and feet of Jesus Christ. Because if He doesn't save them, they'll never be saved. They need to say, Father, In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, you've commanded me to repent. But I can't. I don't have the ability.

You must give me that gift. You've commanded me to believe, but I can't. You must give me that gift. If you don't save me, I'll never be saved. If you don't give me repentance, I'll never repent. If you don't give me faith, I'll never believe. Let me tell you something. Do you want a sinner to seek after God? You take the key out of his hand. As long as that man thinks that he can repent and he can believe whenever he pleases. I've heard people say, I'm going to repent and believe right before I die. Until then, I'm going to enjoy myself. Really? Really? You may die and never have one second to repent. or one second to believe. Repentance and gifts and faith are gifts of God. They are not yours. They are not in your hand. They are in God's hand.

Do you remember what our Lord said in Matthew 11, verse 27? Let me just quote it. Listen carefully. Our Lord said, "All things are delivered unto me and my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. And no man knoweth the Father, but the Son, and He to Whomsoever He revealeth." Salvation is not walking down a church aisle. It's not being baptized. It's not doing good. Salvation is trusting totally and completely and solely in Jesus Christ, which results in obedience in your life. And if I believe that God is absolutely, totally sovereign, I have to be a true and faithful witness. And I have to testify not only to the grace and the goodness and the mercy and the justice of God. I have to testify. to the inability of man. God is sovereign. As Jonah found out in Jonah 2.9, he said, salvation is of the Lord. Father, help us tonight. Give us grace. Give us mercy. Teach us.

Build us up in the most holy faith. And help us to learn to apply the responsibility of man, the accountability of man, and yet more at the same time, our inability and give everyone the truth about the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Biblical Role of a Witness

Summary: A witness in Scripture is required to give a true and accurate testimony and to help enforce the law, a pattern fulfilled in Christ and applied to believers.

Evidence: Weaver cites Leviticus 24:13-14, Deuteronomy 17:6-7, and Deuteronomy 13:6-9 to show witnesses participated in execution, and Revelation 1:5 to show Jesus as the faithful witness who judges.

God's Absolute Sovereignty in Salvation

Summary: Salvation is entirely God's work from start to finish, illustrated by birth, creation, and resurrection, leaving no room for human initiative or cooperation.

Evidence: Weaver explains John 3 (birth), 2 Corinthians 4:6 (creation), and Ephesians 2:1,5 (resurrection) to show man's passivity and God's sole agency.

Human Inability and Total Depravity

Summary: Fallen man cannot understand spiritual things, cannot please God, and cannot repent or believe apart from God's sovereign gift.

Evidence: Weaver references 1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 8:7-8, and Acts 5:31; 11:18 to argue that repentance and faith are gifts, not human abilities.

The Proper Use of the Law in Witnessing

Summary: The law must be used to convict sinners of their sin and inability, preparing them for the gospel, as Jesus did with the rich young ruler.

Evidence: Weaver cites Romans 3:20 and 1 John 3:4 to show the law gives knowledge of sin, and Mark 10 to show Jesus applying the law to expose idolatry.

Responsibility vs. Ability

Summary: God commands all men to repent and believe, making them responsible, but they lack the ability; this tension drives sinners to seek God's enabling grace.

Evidence: Weaver points to Acts 17:30-31 (command to repent) and 2 Timothy 2:24-26 (God grants repentance) to distinguish responsibility from ability.

Key Arguments

A faithful witness must testify truthfully and enforce God's law

Summary: Jesus Christ is the ultimate faithful witness who both gives a true testimony and executes judgment, and believers are called to follow this pattern.

Evidence: Weaver connects Revelation 1:5, 3:14-16, and 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 to show Christ as witness and judge.

One's view of salvation determines one's method of witnessing

Summary: Arminian synergism leads to decisional regeneration and manipulative methods, while belief in God's sovereignty leads to declaring man's inability and God's grace.

Evidence: Weaver contrasts the 'first step' teaching with the biblical view that salvation is of the Lord, citing the story of 3,000 professions with no lasting change.

Salvation is a sovereign work of God alone, illustrated by birth, creation, and resurrection

Summary: Just as a baby has no role in its physical birth, creation was by God's word alone, and resurrection requires an outside power, so salvation is entirely God's doing.

Evidence: Weaver uses John 3:3-6, 2 Corinthians 4:6, and John 11 to argue that regeneration precedes and enables conversion.

The law must precede the gospel to convict of sin and inability

Summary: Jesus used the Ten Commandments with the rich young ruler to expose his self-righteousness and idolatry, showing that external conformity is not enough.

Evidence: Weaver analyzes Mark 10:17-27, showing Jesus' use of the law to reveal the man's true god (riches) and his inability to keep the first commandment.

Repentance and faith are gifts of God, not human abilities

Summary: Scripture teaches that God grants repentance and faith; therefore, witnessing must drive sinners to plead for these gifts rather than trying to produce them themselves.

Evidence: Weaver cites Acts 5:31, 11:18, and 2 Timothy 2:25 to show repentance is given by God, and Ephesians 2:8-9 to show faith is a gift.

Scripture References

Isaiah 43:10

Context: God declares His people are His witnesses, chosen to know and believe Him.

Acts 1:8

Context: Jesus promises the Holy Spirit's power so believers will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Leviticus 24:13-14

Context: Witnesses were to lay hands on the blasphemer and the congregation was to stone him.

Deuteronomy 19:15-19

Context: A false witness was to suffer the same penalty he intended for his brother.

Deuteronomy 17:6-7

Context: The hands of the witnesses were to be first in executing the death penalty.

Deuteronomy 13:6-9

Context: If a close relative entices to idolatry, the witness must not spare but be first to put him to death.

Joshua 22:34

Context: The altar called 'Ed' (witness) testified that the eastern tribes were part of God's people.

Matthew 18:15-17

Context: Church discipline requires two or three witnesses to establish every word.

Mark 14:61-64

Context: The high priest asks if Jesus is the Christ; Jesus affirms, and they condemn Him without further witnesses.

Romans 1:9

Context: Paul calls God his witness (martus), showing the word does not inherently mean death.

Revelation 1:5-6

Context: Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and ruler of kings.

Proverbs 14:5

Context: A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness utters lies.

Revelation 3:14-16

Context: Jesus, the faithful and true witness, threatens to spew the lukewarm Laodicean church out of His mouth.

Revelation 2:5

Context: Jesus warns the Ephesian church to repent or He will remove their candlestick.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10

Context: Jesus will be revealed in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God, in the presence of His saints.

Revelation 19:1-3

Context: Heaven rejoices over God's true and righteous judgments on the great harlot.

1 Corinthians 2:14

Context: The natural man cannot receive or know the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned.

John 3:1-7

Context: Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again (from above) to see and enter the kingdom of God.

James 1:18

Context: Of His own will God brought us forth by the word of truth.

Revelation 4:11

Context: God created all things for His pleasure.

Historical References

Roman persecution and the word 'martyr'

Context: The Greek word 'martus' originally meant witness; it came to mean one who dies for faith only after Roman persecution.

Billy Graham's book 'How to be Born Again'

Context: Weaver questions the title, arguing that if the new birth is like physical birth, one cannot contribute to it.

Famous Baptist preacher and 3,000 professions in Florida

Context: Weaver recounts a story of a preacher whose crusade yielded 3,000 professions with no lasting change, illustrating decisional regeneration's failure.

Puritan saying: 'The sharp needle of the law must precede the scarlet thread of the gospel'

Context: Weaver quotes the Puritans to emphasize that conviction of sin through the law must come before the gospel is applied.

Important Quotes

You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he.

Significance: Establishes the foundational call for God's people to be His witnesses, rooted in His sovereign choice.

The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death.

Significance: Highlights the enforcement role of a witness in Old Testament law, foreshadowing Christ's judgment.

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

Significance: Identifies Jesus as the ultimate faithful witness, combining testimony and authority.

For by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Significance: Explains why the law must be used in witnessing to convict sinners of their true condition.

Salvation is of the Lord.

Significance: Summarizes the entire message: salvation originates and is completed by God alone.

Discussion Questions

How does the Old Testament role of a witness (truthful testimony and enforcement) shape our understanding of what it means to be a witness for Christ today?

Context: Weaver spent significant time on the dual role of a witness in the law, culminating in Christ as the faithful witness who judges.

In what ways does a belief in God's absolute sovereignty change the content and manner of our evangelism?

Context: Weaver argued that soteriology dictates witnessing methodology, contrasting Arminian and Calvinistic approaches.

How do the illustrations of birth, creation, and resurrection help us understand that salvation is entirely God's work?

Context: Weaver used these three biblical metaphors to show man's passivity and God's sole agency in salvation.

Why did Jesus use the Ten Commandments when witnessing to the rich young ruler, and what does this teach us about using the law in evangelism?

Context: Weaver analyzed Mark 10 to show Jesus exposed the man's self-righteousness and idolatry through the law.

How should we balance declaring human responsibility with human inability when sharing the gospel?

Context: Weaver emphasized that God commands all men to repent and believe, yet they cannot do so without His gift.

What does it mean that repentance and faith are gifts of God, and how should that affect our prayers for the lost?

Context: Weaver cited Acts 5:31, 11:18, and 2 Timothy 2:25 to show these are sovereign gifts, not human abilities.

Applications

Be a faithful witness by declaring the whole truth about God and man

Summary: A faithful witness must testify accurately about God's sovereignty, grace, and justice, and also about man's total depravity and inability.

Evidence: Weaver concluded that witnessing must include both God's character and man's condition, as seen in Jesus' example with the rich young ruler.

Use God's law to convict sinners of their sin and inability

Summary: Before presenting the gospel, use the Ten Commandments to show sinners their guilt and helplessness, preparing them for grace.

Evidence: Weaver cited Romans 3:20 and the Puritan saying about the needle of the law preceding the thread of the gospel.

Drive sinners to plead for God's gifts of repentance and faith

Summary: Since repentance and faith are gifts, witnessing should lead sinners to cry out to God for these gifts rather than trying to produce them themselves.

Evidence: Weaver urged that sinners must say, 'You've commanded me to repent, but I can't. You must give me that gift.'

Reject decisional regeneration and manipulative evangelism

Summary: Avoid methods that pressure people to make decisions without genuine conviction and regeneration, as they produce false conversions.

Evidence: Weaver criticized the story of 3,000 professions with no change and emphasized that salvation is impossible with men.

Trust God's sovereignty in evangelism and pray for His work

Summary: Recognize that only God can save, so witness faithfully and depend on Him to grant repentance and faith to the lost.

Evidence: Weaver's closing prayer asks God to teach believers to apply these truths and give grace to the hearers.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:41:25Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:52:33Z

Clean Transcript

How To Witness Based Upon The Absolute Sovereignty Of God

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

I want you to open your Bibles tonight, if you would please, to two passages. The first one is Acts chapter 1, and the second one is Isaiah 43. I just want to read these two verses. I'm not going to necessarily be preaching from these texts, simply because the title of the message is How to Witness Based Upon God's Absolute Sovereignty. We'll read Isaiah 43 in verse 10 first. Notice what God says. Isaiah 43 in verse 10, God says to His people, "You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be any after me." But notice that you are my witnesses. Then if you look in Acts chapter 1 in verse 8, the Bible says this, our Lord is speaking to his disciples, he says, "But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria
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and in the uttermost parts of the earth." Notice again he said you shall be witnesses unto me. I could begin tonight by asking a number of questions. The first one is, are you a witness? Secondly, do you want to be a witness? And thirdly, are you absolutely sure you want to be a witness? Because once you begin examining the word witness in the word of God, you're going to find that there are some very uncomfortable answers. Do you realize that the law of God demands two things of every believer? Two things of every Christian. The law of God demands, first of all, obedience, and secondly, enforcement. Man's law basically does the same thing, because man's law also demands obedience, and then we have the power of citizen's arrest. So law and enforcement. Do you realize in biblical law, witness was required to do two things. First of all, he had to give an accurate and true account. He had to present the truth absolutely truthfully and honestly. And then secondly, he also helped enforce the law.
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Now, just to save a little time tonight, I want to quote some scriptures. We're going to be turning to a lot of scriptures, but let me just quote some. The first one is Leviticus chapter 24, verses 13 and 14. Listen carefully. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him."
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So the witnesses then basically participated. Have you ever asked yourself, what in the world will keep a witness absolutely honest? What will keep someone from perjuring himself? If you understand God's law, then of course a perjurer really hurt his own self. How so? Listen to this. Deuteronomy chapter 19 verses 15 through 19. God says, "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin that he committed. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. Now listen carefully. If a false witness rise up against any man, to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days, and the judges shall make diligent inquisition, and behold, if the witness be found a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother, then shall you do unto him as he thought to have done unto his brother."
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"So shalt thou put the evil away from among you." So the law of retribution or the lex talionis of scripture just simply says this. If a man perjures himself and he gives false witness, whatever he intended to do to his brother is now to be done to him. It doesn't matter if it's confiscation of goods. It doesn't matter if it's death. In other words, he is to suffer the exact same penalty that he was trying to inflict upon his brother. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 17, verses 6 and 7, "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. Now listen carefully. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death. And afterwards, the hand of all the people, so shalt thou put the evil away from among you."
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So I want you to note again, the word witness here, not only indicates a true and accurate and honest account, but it also indicates enforcement as well. When you get to Deuteronomy chapter 13, you find that that passage also deals with false prophets. Those individuals who are trying to seduce the people of God away from God. And so it deals then with false prophets in the family, false prophets in the city, and false prophets in the nation. Listen to what God said in Deuteronomy 13, verses 6-9, "If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, namely the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth, thou shalt not consent to him, thou shalt not hearken unto him, neither shalt thine eye pity him,
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neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou shalt surely kill him. Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people." So here is a witness. A witness then had to not only give a true and accurate account, a witness had to aid in the execution of the criminal as well. Wow. Do you remember in the book of Joshua, chapter 22, the two and a half tribes on the other side of Jordan erected an altar and all the other tribes said, look, They built an altar to sacrifice on.
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Let's get together and let's go over there. And there's going to be a war because, no, we cannot have two altars. And then you have the tribe of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. They said, look, no, no, we're not building this altar to sacrifice on. We understand there's only one altar. But what we're doing, we're building a replica of it, lest you folks over there on that side of the river begin to say, look, Those over there, they're not Israelites, they're not part of us. This altar is to be a witness that we are indeed the children of God. And the Bible says in verse 34, and they called the altar Ed, E-D. That is a witness. Ed is the Hebrew word for witness, or at least in our language. So the altar then was not built for rebellion. It was just simply built to say that we, too, are the people of God. So when you look at the Old Testament, you begin to see that a witness, of course, not only testifies truthfully and honestly and accurately, he also helps enforce the law of God.
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Now, what you're probably about to do at this time is say, I'm glad I'm not living in Old Testament times. Really? Well, in Acts chapter 1 in verse 8, our Lord said, "But you shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses." Wow. You shall be witnesses. I want to show you something. I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. And let's begin reading in verse 15. Some of you know this passage quite well. Matthew chapter 18, notice if you would please verse 15, the Bible says this, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Now watch carefully. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church.
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But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen and as a publican." I want you to note the word witnesses in verse 16. The word witness here is a very special word. In fact, if you would look in the book of Mark chapter 14, you will see how this is used even by the high priest. Notice in Mark chapter 14, and let's begin reading there with verse 61. Mark chapter 14 in verse 61. The high priest has been questioning our Lord.
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The Bible says, "But he held his peace and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes and said, What need we of further witnesses?
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You have heard the blasphemy. Well, thank you. And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
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Now the interesting thing, I don't care if you're looking in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 or Matthew chapter 16 or Mark chapter 14, anywhere in the New Testament that you see the word witness, the Greek word is the word martus. It is where we get our English word martyr. Now, when you and I think of the word martyr, we think of someone who dies for his faith. Well, originally, the word just simply meant a witness. The word martyr did not come to mean someone who died for his faith until after the Roman persecution. But it just simply meant the word witness. Did you know that this very same word is used of God himself in Romans 1 and verse 9? Because the Apostle Paul said, "God is my witness," and the word witness there is martus. Literally he said, "God is my martyr." Obviously God is not dead. God did not die for the faith. All he is saying is, God is my witness.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 1. Because I showed you in the Old Testament that the law demanded two things of every witness. It demanded a true, honest, and accurate account, and then it demanded also that one help in the enforcement of the law. So, notice if you would please in the book of Revelation chapter 1, very interesting, in verses 5 and 6, notice what is said concerning Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 1 beginning with verse 5, "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto
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God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
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Now, interestingly enough, the Bible says in verse 5 that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness. Now, if Jesus Christ is a faithful witness, and if Jesus Christ is the witness according to God's law, what is Jesus Christ going to do? Well, He's going to give an accurate and honest and truthful testimony, and then He will enforce God's law. You see, the Bible says in Proverbs 14 in verse 5, "A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies." So a faithful witness will not and cannot lie. Jesus Christ as a faithful witness always gives a true and honest and accurate account, even concerning His church.
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If you would look in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 3, look at verses 14 through 16. Revelation 3 verse 14, "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."
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Now notice, if you would, what Jesus Christ does. First, he witnesses against this corrupt, compromising, and complacent church. He is a true, faithful, honest and accurate witness against them.
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Secondly, he says, I'm going to force judgment against you. I will spew you out of my mouth. If you look back in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 2 and verse 5, notice what he says here to the church of Ephesus. Revelation 2 and verse 5, he says, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Now notice what he's done. He's also given a true and accurate account to the church here at Ephesus. But now what he's doing, he's saying, Unless you repent, I will come and remove thy candlestick out of his place. I'll judge you. I will enforce my law.
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So the Lord then, as the true and faithful witness, not only testifies accurately and truthfully and honestly, he also judges and executes as well. Now, I want you to look at two passages. I want you to turn your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and then to Revelation chapter 19. You will see that these two passages will come in to play toward the end of the message. But look, if you would, please, first of all, the second Thessalonians, chapter one, and let's begin reading there with verse seven, second Thessalonians, chapter one and verse seven. So I want you to see what the Apostle Paul says. Second Thessalonians, chapter one and verse seven.
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"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, now look, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day."
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Now, notice, if you would please, how our Lord is going to be executing His wrath, His judgment. He's going to be applying the law of God. And notice, if you would, it will be also in the presence of the saints.
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Now, if you'll look in Revelation chapter 19, look at the first three verses. Again, you're going to see the enforcement of God's law. And you're also going to see it's in the presence of the saints. Notice verse 1, "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up forever and ever."
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So the point I'm trying to make is this. In God's judgment, the saints are here and the saints are indeed giving honor and glory to God for this true and accurate testimony and also the enforcement of His law upon the ungodly.
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Now, what I really want to do tonight is this. I want to just emphasize for a little while the importance of being a true and faithful witness. We say that we believe that God is absolutely sovereign. When you stop and think about this, there can only be one sovereign. There can only be one ultimate. There can only be one absolute. God does not share his power with anybody or his sovereignty with anybody in that sense of the word. No, he is God and beside him there is no other. Now, if we believe that God is absolutely sovereign, How do we witness based upon that sovereignty? Does the fact that we believe that God is the sovereign God of heaven and earth, does that affect the way we witness?
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And the answer is most definitely. Will those who believe in God's absolute sovereignty witness differently from those who do not believe in God's sovereignty? The answer is yes. You have to understand that one's view of soteriology, that is the doctrine of salvation, and one's view of theology, that is the doctrine of God, dictates the manner and the matter in which one witnesses. If we believe that salvation is the work of God from start to finish, then we will certainly witness differently from someone who believes in synergism. You say, what in the world is synergism? Well, synergism is just simply the teaching in Arminian teaching, I might add, but it is a teaching that God and man work together for man's salvation. In other words, man must do his part and then God does his part.
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Usually such a position is held by those who refer to themselves as Arminians or semi-Pelagians. But they actually believe that somehow that man can initiate his own salvation. It's kind of like the old saying, it is mine to be willing and it is his to do the completion. In other words, if I will to be saved, then God is obligated to finish that and to save me. That certainly is not anywhere found in the Word of God.
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But a multitude teach that. I heard years ago about one man who went into a church. It was basically a semi-Pelagian church. And they were having a testimony meeting. And he stood up and he said, I want to praise God for His gracious salvation who saved my sin sick soul. And I give Him all the honor and all the glory. And he sat down. And the pastor said, well, brother, I'm sure that you had to do your part, too. And he stood back up. He said, yes, sir, I did my part. I furnished the sin.
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He did all the rest of it. And that's all we can do is just furnish the sin. That is absolutely for sure. But when you understand synergism, most of us have heard this all of our lives. Because most of us were raised in what we would call fundamental, independent, Bible-believing churches. It didn't matter whatever. And they would come out and say this, you must take the first step. It's up to you. You must take the first step. What is that saying? That is saying you initiate the act of salvation. Then once you initiate it, it's up to God.
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Someone who believes in decisional regeneration, Or someone who believes that man is capable of initiating salvation on his own is certainly going to witness and testify completely and totally differently from someone who believes that salvation is the Lord from start to finish. I remember years ago hearing about one famous Baptist preacher who's now dead. He sent some of his people down to Florida, and in one weekend, they had over 3,000 professions of faith. And I thought to myself, if 3,000 people really got converted in one weekend, that part of the country would be changed. But nothing ever changed.
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Everything went on exactly the same. If you believe that man is incapable of taking the first step, if you believe that man is dead in trespasses and sin, if you believe that God must open a man's eyes, if you believe that God must give a man understanding, if you believe that God must release a man's will from its captivity to sin and wickedness and its own vile affections, if you believe that, then you're going to say, you know, my witnessing has to be different. from someone who says that man can save himself. I want you to look in First Corinthians, chapter two, First Corinthians, chapter two. Notice if you would please at verse 14, First Corinthians two, verse 14.
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Here's a very plain passage. The Bible says in First Corinthians two and verse 14, "But the natural man, that is the unsaved man, that's man by nature. That's the way we're all born. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him." Watch. "Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." There is a difference between the word can and the word may. The word may is a term of permission. When we were children, we all played that game mother, may I? And if you didn't say may I, then you didn't do. Can is a term of ability. So.
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Brother Ernie could ask me, Brother Weaver, can I play the piano? And my response would be, you may if you have the ability. Can's a term of ability. Look what he says very clearly. They are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them. In other words, fallen man does not have the ability to know the things of God. He does not have the ability to see the things of God.
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Now, let me just point something out to you. There are three basic illustrations of salvation in the Bible, in the New Testament. Each one of these illustrations clearly demonstrates that salvation is a work of God alone. It is God's work from start to finish. I want to very quickly go over these three illustrations for you. The first one is that of birth. If you would look in your Bibles very quickly to John chapter 3, you will remember this.
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Nicodemus has come to Jesus Christ by night. And notice if you would, in John chapter 3, Beginning there with verse 1, the Bible says there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again."
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Now, interestingly enough, notice if you would, our Lord said, unless a man is born again in verse 3, he cannot even see the kingdom of God. And then again in verse 5, unless he's born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So if all men can't see the kingdom, he can't enter the kingdom in and of himself. And so our Lord here is saying, you must be born Well, Nicodemus was a ruler. He was a brilliant man.
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But this had him stumped. He said, how then can a man enter his mother's womb a second time and be born when he's old? Obviously, he did not understand what our Lord was talking about at all. And by the way, when our Lord says you must be born again, The Greek word is anothen, which means you must be born from above. Our Lord told Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you must be born from above.
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Years ago, Billy Graham wrote a book. The title of it was How to be Born Again. And I've often wondered about that. I want you to stop and think about this with me. If our Lord is liking the new birth to the physical birth. There are a number of questions here. Our Lord says that which is born of flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now, just like a man was born of the flesh the first time, our Lord said he must be born of the spirit the second time. He must be born from above. Well, now, if salvation is likened to your physical birth, Let me ask you this. How many of you had anything to do with your physical birth? How many of you sat down and said, now here's what's going to happen.
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I'm going to petition my father and my mother to get together and have me. Really? You had no say in it. You had nothing to do with it. You weren't around. The very fact that your mother and father came together At their own pleasure, at their own time, you had nothing to do with it. It's impossible. If your spiritual birth is anything like your physical birth, you can have nothing to do with it. You did not move upon the will of your father to birth you. You did not move upon the will of your mother to birth you.
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Do you know what the Bible says in James 1 in verse 18? Listen, "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." Of his own will. You had no influence over your parents and you had no influence over God. You know what the Bible says in Revelation 4, verse 11? Listen carefully. "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they were and are created." It pleased God to give you a physical existence. It pleased God to create you. It pleased God to allow you to be born. It pleased God to regenerate you. It pleased God to open your eyes. It pleased God to release your will from the bondage of sin. It pleased God to give you faith of His own will, begat he us with the Word of Truth.
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I had a young lady in our church years ago She came into my office and said, I need to talk to you. I just come to the church. She was a member of the church. And she talked to me and she told me her problem and she said, what do you think? I looked at her and I said, well, I think the problem is you're just lost. You've never been saved. You've never been regenerated. You've never been converted.
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You know what she did? She got angry. She got mad and she left the church. Well, I couldn't help that. It was still the truth. After two years. She called me on the phone and wanted to come back and talk to me again. I said, sure. So she came into my office. And for a full five or 10 minutes, she just sat there and wept. And finally, when she had her composure, she said. You were right. I'm lost. She said, I know I can't be a member of this church. But if you don't mind, if I could just come and listen, I said, that's what the church is here for. You're more than welcome to come and listen. I want you to come and listen. That young wife sat through service after service and wept and wept and wept. Mascara run.
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It looked like she looked like a zebra. I mean, really. And she was open with her tears. She knew. And I knew she was under conviction. One of our ladies, one of the most tenderhearted women I've ever known. When this young woman walked out of the church that Sunday, she grabbed my hand and she said, please keep praying, please keep praying. I said, Oh, I am. And after she walked out the door, the lady behind her threw her arms around my neck, an older woman.
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and began to weep, and she said, O Pastor, O Pastor, can't you do anything for her? And I looked at her. I said, No, ma'am. The reason she's in the trouble she's in now, somebody did something for her other than God. It wasn't a month or two later before God gloriously saved her, for which I'm thankful. Yes, I witnessed to her. I showed her, I told her, but I can't save her.
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Salvation is a birth of his own will, begat he us. The second illustration of salvation in the Bible is that of creation. Stop and think about this. How is the world created? The Bible says in the beginning, God created heaven and the earth. Well, how did God create it? Well, the Bible tells us in Psalm 33 and verse 9, for he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. God literally spoke the worlds into existence.
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The things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. God just simply spoke and it came into being.
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Now, let me ask you a question. Was creation the work of God alone? Were you there to assist him? Were you there to give him counsel? Were you there to help him in any way? And the answer is, of course not. God created the world by his own power, absolutely, totally.
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Now, I want you to follow with me. I want you to go in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Corinthians and look in chapter 5, verse 17. Let me show you something. Look in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. The Bible says this. Many of you can quote it. Here it is. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or creation. All things are passed away, behold, all things become new." Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or a new creation.
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If you would turn back to Romans 8. Romans 8. And notice, if you would please, beginning there, verse 19. And now we're talking about the world, this world. Look at it, Romans chapter 8 and verse 19. The Bible says, "For the earnest expectation of the creature or the creation, waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature or the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature or the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Now he says it in verse 22. "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now." Now, we're talking about the creation. What did God do?
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He spoke the worlds into existence. Now I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 6. Look what he says. In fact, we'll read verse 5. For the apostle Paul says this, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake, for God. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, that's creation, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Oh, do you realize that the same God that spoke the worlds into existence And the same God who commanded light to shine out of darkness is that same sovereign, powerful God, according to verse 6, who shined in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Did you have to help God give you that shining and that knowledge? Or did God just sovereignly do it for you Like he did creation.
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Interesting. Interesting, if you look back in your Bible to first Corinthians, chapter four. I believe is the passage first Corinthians, chapter four, look at the question that is asked in verse seven, first Corinthians, chapter four and verse seven, the Apostle Paul asked these Corinthians, "For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?" Who maketh thee to differ from another? That's an excellent question.
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I would imagine each one of us. Has family members that are lost. We have friends that are lost. Yet here we are saved by the grace of God who made us to differ. We were just as big as sinners. We were just as lost, just as ungodly. Who made us to differ? And what do we have that we have not received? Everything that we have, God gave to us.
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Spiritually, physically, mentally, morally, materially, every way imaginable. Who makes you to differ? When God talks about his salvation, he says it's a birth. If salvation is a birth and we're born of Him, obviously it's of His own will begetting us. If salvation is a creation, it must be God who creates. We cannot create. And the third illustration of salvation in the Bible is that of resurrection. You remember that passage in Ephesians 2 and verse 1 where the Bible said, "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." And then, of course, in Ephesians 2 and verse 5, again, he says, "even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ.
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By grace are you saved." Now, stop and think about this. God has likened salvation, first of all, to a birth, secondly, to a creation, and now to a resurrection. How many of you have ever passed a cemetery? And as you pass that cemetery, you see graves partially open and body parts sticking up because there's somebody in the grave that says, move, foot, move. Go up, arm, go up. And I never see that. You know why you don't see that?
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Because those people are dead. Do you realize if there is a resurrection It has to be from an outside power. Because the ones who are in the grave are absolutely dead, they are powerless, and unless an outside power comes and brings them up, they will never bring themselves up. The clearest illustration that I could ever give you is found in John 11. You don't have to turn there, but you remember Lazarus. died. And Jesus Christ said to his disciples, I go that I may wake Lazarus from his sleep. Why?
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They said, if he sleeps, he does well. Well, our Lord said, you don't understand. That's not the sleep that I'm talking about. And of course, when he got there, here comes Martha and she says, you know, to him and then she sends Mary. And then when he says, take me to the grave in the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11, 35, Jesus wept. And when Jesus asked, where is he? She said, Lord, by now he stinketh, for he's dead four days. Jesus had said, I'm not saying to you if you believe that you see the glory of God. Roll the stone away. They roll the stone. And then Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. And the Bible says, he that was bound with grave clothes came forth.
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Now, here is my question. Please answer it for me. Did our Lord sovereignly give Lazarus life inside that tomb that enabled him to get up and walk out? Or did He only give him life after he got up and walked out? Obviously, if God had not done something for him inside the tomb, he never would have gotten up. He never would have walked out. Actually, inside the tomb is a picture of regeneration. Walking out is a picture of conversion. But God sovereignly and graciously gave him life inside that tomb that allowed him to come out.
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So when you talk about salvation, you either have to talk about a birth, a creation or a resurrection. And as you talk about those things, obviously, Each one of these demonstrates conclusively that salvation is of the Lord. Everybody in this room can probably quote Ephesians 2, 8, 9. "For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." What did he say? For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
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You didn't drum it up. You didn't manufacture it. You could not. It was impossible. Even our faith is the gift of God. You say, but wait a minute, Brother Weaver. Wait a minute. Hold on. When I came to Jesus Christ, I was willing to come to Christ. Yes, you were. But the question is, who made you willing to come to Christ? And let me ask you another question. Why is it when you came to Christ, you were willing to come to Him when you came to Him, but all your life previously, you had been unwilling to come to Him? Philippians 2 verse 13 tells you, "For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." Yes, you came and you were willing to come, but it was Him who put the to will in you. And when He put the to will in you, He also put the to do in you as well.
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Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 10. I want to show you what I'm going to call the most conclusive evidence of what I'm trying to teach you tonight. And let's begin reading with verse 17, and we'll read through verse 27. I want you to watch. Everyone knows this story of the rich young ruler. Here it is. Mark chapter 10, verse 17.
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"And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honour thy father and thy mother." And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way. Sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and take up thy cross and follow me.
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And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. Now, look, and his disciples were astonished at these words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter in the kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Now, look, here it is. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
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I want you to know, salvation is the question. Who then can be saved? Here is our Lord's answer. And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men, it salvation is impossible. But not with God, for with God, all things are possible. With men, it is impossible. It is impossible. I was preaching one time and after the service was over, someone came up to me and said, Pastor, You make it mighty hard for somebody to be saved.
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I said, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I didn't mean to make it hard. I meant to make it impossible. That's what the Scripture says. With men, it is impossible. No one can save himself. No one can help save himself. No one can pray enough. No one can read enough of the Bible. No one can be good enough. You can't walk down enough aisles. You can't join enough churches. You can't be baptized enough. You can't do anything enough to be saved yourself. It's impossible. With men, it is impossible.
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Now, our Lord witnessed this young man, but I want you to see how he witnessed. I want you to understand what our Lord was doing. You remember a faithful witness will not lie. You remember, if you would please, first of all, that a faithful witness always gives a true and accurate and honest testimony. You have to remember that this young man that came to Jesus Christ. Was it cut above the average?
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In fact, he has so much going for him. He is so unlike a multitude today. What did he have going for him? Well, first of all, he had manners. He came running and he kneeled. He knelt to Jesus Christ. And he said, good master. He addressed him reverently. Respectfully. He not only had good manners, he had a good motive. He wanted eternal life. He said, what must I do that I may inherit eternal life? That's a good motive. He also had good morals. How do I know he had good morals? Well, our Lord said, you know the law, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. What did he say? Well, all these have I observed from my youth.
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So he was a moral young man. You could not speak reproachfully of him because he was not reproachable. He had been a decent young man. He not only had manners and motive and morals, he also had money. Lots of it. He was extremely rich. And either he had gotten this money by inheritance or he had earned it. Because when our Lord said, thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not defraud, what did he say?
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All these have I kept for my youth up. So evidently, the great riches that he had, he came by them honestly.
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Now, I want you to note something. If this young man were alive today. And he came to the average Baptist pastor and the average Baptist church, he would have been immediately accepted into membership. He would have probably been nominated to be a deacon. He would soon have financed a new addition to the building and the wing would have been named after him. But our Lord said. Your life is not enough. No, it's not enough, you're lost. He had a lot going for him, but he was still lost when our Lord got through with him.
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He was not a candidate for baptism. He was not a candidate for church membership. Because he was thoroughly, totally lost.
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Now, here's what I want you to see, how our Lord witnessed this young man. I want you to see that our Lord emphasized two truths. He emphasized responsibility and inability. And they're two totally different things. He emphasized responsibility and inability. When you look through the New Testament at how our Lord witnessed, whether you're talking to the woman in John 4 or here to this young man in Mark 10 or in the other time, our Lord always pressed upon individuals their responsibility to keep God's law and to honor God. And he showed them at the same time their inability to do what they were commanded. Now, I want you to look in verse 18, because our Lord began witnessing to this young man with a rebuke. Notice, if you would, first of all, in verse 17, the young man came running, he knelt, he said, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God.
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Now, here's what our Lord is saying. If I'm good, I'm God. And if I'm God, you don't come running into my presence demanding something of me. A lot of people need to hear that. You might beseech God and you might beg God and you might ask God, but you don't demand that God does anything. When the young man finally said. I want eternal life. After our Lord rebuked him, he said, look, verse 19, thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor thy father and thy mother. Why would our Lord use the Ten Commandments? You and I both know the justification not by the law of God. It's taught throughout Scripture. By the deeds of the law shall no man be justified. And yet our Lord is using the law here very clearly. Why?
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Because He's showing responsibility and accountability. I want you to understand something. Every man, whether saved or unsaved, is responsible and accountable to God, for we are His creatures. We owe Him. He created us. He gave us life. He gave us all things. And as His creatures, supposedly rational creatures, we're responsible to give Him the glory that's due in His name. We're responsible to worship Him and praise Him and glorify Him. We're not only His creatures. We're sinful creatures. We owe Him repentance. We do.
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Can you stop and think for a moment? Look at all of God's gifts that He's given to you. Look at His mercies. Look at His love that you have abused and misused for your own selfish and wicked gratifications all of your life. He gives us breath. He gives us life. He gives us health. He gives us everything. And we abuse it and misuse it. Yeah, we owe him, we're responsible, we're accountable.
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Not only as creatures, but as sinful creatures as well. So here's my question. Why did our Lord? Why did our Lord use the law in witnessing? Why did He quote the Ten Commandments? Why did He not say like the Apostle Paul, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved? Why in this instance did He quote the Ten Commandments? Here's the answer. Romans 3 and verse 20, "For by the law is the knowledge of sin." Do you realize it's impossible to know what sin is without the law of God? 1 John 3 and verse 4 tells us very plainly, "whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law." You can't sin without violating God's law. One of the real reasons, I believe, that we're not seeing real, genuine, solid conversions the way we used to, is because God's law is not preached the way it used to be preached.
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The old Puritans had a saying. It was like this. The sharp needle of the law must precede the scarlet thread of the gospel. Until an individual is pricked in his heart, until he knows that he's a sinner, not just intellectually, not just rationally, until he knows what he is. He'll never be ready for salvation. I was preaching in North Carolina, and there was a lady who came to church every single night, and she sat there and wept and wept and wept every night, just wept and wept and wept.
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Finally, toward the end of the week, she asked the pastor and myself to come by and talk to her. And I thought to myself, oh, Lord, thank you. This woman has been so broken, so weeping. So we went by and and I sat down with her. The pastor was there and and I said, you're concerned about your soul, are you not? She said, yes. And I said, let me take the Bible and show you. She's already weeping. I said, let me take the Bible and show you what God says. And I started in the Old Testament and I was going through the Bible and showing her the pictures of sin in the Bible where God says we're like into the scum of a boiling pot. where God says that we're likened to a filthy cloth, where God said we're likened to a dead and rotting body. I got through about seven of those pictures and all of a sudden she did this.
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And then she said, I may be bad, but I'm not that bad. I looked at the pastor and I said, neither is she a candidate for salvation. We're wasting our time. Let's leave. Let me tell you something, folks. When God convicts you, you will argue with the Apostle Paul about being the chief of sinners. You will fight for that place because you will recognize how wicked and how wretched you really were.
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And our Lord here uses the law to convict this young man. This young man naively, and I'm going to say it stupidly, this man naively and stupidly said to our Lord after he quoted the law of God, "All these have I observed from my youth." Really? Really? In verse 21, our Lord says this, "One thing thou lackest. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up thy cross, and follow me." Oh, what does verse 22 say?
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And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had great possession. Now, wait a minute. Our Lord said, if you really want to be saved, here's what you need to do. You need to sell everything you have and give to the poor, take up your cross and follow me.
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Now, let me ask you a question. How many of you, when you were saved? Sold everything you had and gave to the poor. How many of you? Not one. Well, is that a requirement for salvation? That's what our Lord told this man. So you have to ask yourself this question, why did our Lord tell him to sell everything that he had and give to the poor and take up his cross and follow him? Here's why.
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Remember, he began quoting the law of God. What did he say? The young man said, all these have I observed from my youth. Really? You know, the Apostle Paul said it like this in Romans 7 verse 9, "For I was alive without law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died." Remember, Paul was the Pharisee of the Pharisee. At one point he said he was touching the law blameless. Was he really blameless? Of course not.
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All he had was a simple outward external conformity. That's all he had. He had nothing internal. He had nothing inside. He said, I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, when I really saw the spirituality of it, sin revived and I died. This young man like Saul of Tarsus was a good Pharisee. He had all the externals. Our Lord said, you really want to be saved? You really want eternal life?
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I'll tell you what you do. You go sell everything that you have and give it to the poor and take up your cross and follow me. Why did our Lord tell him that? Our Lord was applying his law. Listen, this young man said, all these have I observed from my youth. Really? Honestly? Well, go sell everything you have and give to the poor. And he goes away grieved. What does our Lord say? You think you've kept my law?
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You haven't even obeyed the first commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Your money is your God. All he was doing was applying the law of God. This young man believed that he could keep and earn eternal life by obeying the commandment. He may be responsible to obey them, but he did not have the ability to obey them. He had an external conformity, but he did not have an internal spirituality. Listen to this.
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Romans 8, verses 7 and 8. Listen. God says, "Because the carnal mind, that is the fleshly mind, man's mind by nature, because the carnal mind is enmity with God or against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Are you listening? "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." How many of us are in the flesh? We don't have the ability to please God in and of ourselves. No, no one can please God in and of himself.
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You read John four, when you get home, you'll see our Lord witness to the Samaritan woman the same way. Now, my question is, how do all these truths affect our witnessing? How are they to affect our witnessing as a faithful witness? I want to declare the truth about God. I want to declare the truth about his word. But at the same time, I want to declare the truth about man. I want to declare the truth about sin. I want you to look very quickly, I'm going to tie it together, but turn in your Bibles, Acts chapter 17. What's this? Look in Acts chapter 17 at verses 30 and 31. Acts 17 verses 30 and 31. Watch. Acts 17, verse 30, the Bible says, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." Here's my question. Why does God command all men everywhere to repent? The first answer is because God is God.
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He may do as he pleases. God is the sovereign God of heaven and earth. He does as he pleases, only as he pleases and always as he pleases. And he has the absolute right to command us to repent. We owe him repentance. But look, if you would, at verse 31, here's another reason why he's commanded us to repent. "Because he that is God, the father. hath appointed a day in which he, God the Father, will judge the world in righteousness by that man, that is, Jesus Christ, whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead." So here it is, just as surely as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, just that surely there's going to be a judgment. And men are responsible and accountable to repent, and they're going to face God if they do not. Now, men have a responsibility to repent before God, but they also have a responsibility to believe. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and verse 23, "and this is his commandment that we believe on his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave his commandment."
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Now watch. Responsibility does not imply ability. We might have the responsibility, but we do not have the ability. Since you're in the book of Acts, look at Acts chapter 5 very quickly. Acts chapter 5 verses 30 and 31. Acts 5 verses 30 and 31. The Bible says, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with or at his right hand to be a prince and a savior.
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Are you looking for to give repentance? to Israel and forgiveness of sins, to give repentance. Repentance is the gift of God, just like faith is the gift of God. Repentance does not belong to man. It belongs to God. Now, listen carefully. Someone says, I'm going to believe, I'm going to believe, I'm going to make myself believe, I'm going to work this faith up, I'm going to do it. No, you can't work it up because faith is a gift of God. And see, one of the tricks and wiles of the devil is he tempts you into sinning and then promises you an easy and speedy repentance. Repentance is not his to give.
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You say, but wait a minute, Brother Weaver, wait a minute, wait a minute. All I've got to do is confess my sins. The Bible says if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Yes, the Bible does say that. 1 John 1, 9. But do you know what the word confess means? Think about this, the word confess is homologeo in the Greek. Homo means one or the same, which we know, lego I say. You know what confession is? It's when you say the same thing that God says about your sins. When you take the attitude that God takes about your sins. No one ever really confesses their sins until they turn from their sins, and they hate those sins, and they repent of those sins, and they take the same attitude that God does toward them.
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Repentance is not the devil's to give. Repentance is not yours to give. Repentance cannot be worked up just like faith cannot be worked. Repentance is the gift of God. Look in Acts 11 in verse 18. Look, Acts 11 verse 18. Here it is. Because when they heard that Cornelius in the house, his house had believed, look what they say. Acts 11, verse 18, "and when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted or given repentance unto life." God granted, God gave it. One other passage, I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy, chapter 2. Watch carefully. 2 Timothy, chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 24. 2 Timothy 2, verse 24.
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"And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patience. In meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, watch if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." Now, here's my question. When the men recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, according to verse 25, it's when they acknowledge the truth. Here's my next question. When do men acknowledge the truth? And the answer is when God gives them repentance. Repentance is the gift of God. Now, here it is. Listen to me. Do men have the responsibility to repent? Yes. Do men have the ability to repent? No. Do men have the responsibility to believe on Jesus Christ? Yes. Do men have the ability to believe on Jesus Christ? No.
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So what do I do when I witness? If I believe that God is absolutely sovereign, I want to be a true and faithful and honest and accurate witness. I want to testify to the grace and the goodness and the mercy and the justice of God. But I also want to testify to the total depravity of man and his total inability to do anything to please God. Show him he has responsibility and show him he has inability.
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He has no ability whatsoever. You say, now, wait a minute, Brother Weaver. Hang on. Hang on. If someone really believes that they are totally, absolutely responsible to the sovereign God of heaven and earth, and yet they have no ability to do anything, where does that leave them? At the grace and mercy and feet of Jesus Christ. Because if He doesn't save them, they'll never be saved. They need to say, Father, In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, you've commanded me to repent. But I can't. I don't have the ability.
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You must give me that gift. You've commanded me to believe, but I can't. You must give me that gift. If you don't save me, I'll never be saved. If you don't give me repentance, I'll never repent. If you don't give me faith, I'll never believe. Let me tell you something. Do you want a sinner to seek after God? You take the key out of his hand. As long as that man thinks that he can repent and he can believe whenever he pleases. I've heard people say, I'm going to repent and believe right before I die. Until then, I'm going to enjoy myself. Really? Really? You may die and never have one second to repent. or one second to believe. Repentance and gifts and faith are gifts of God. They are not yours. They are not in your hand. They are in God's hand.
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Do you remember what our Lord said in Matthew 11, verse 27? Let me just quote it. Listen carefully. Our Lord said, "All things are delivered unto me and my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. And no man knoweth the Father, but the Son, and He to Whomsoever He revealeth." Salvation is not walking down a church aisle. It's not being baptized. It's not doing good. Salvation is trusting totally and completely and solely in Jesus Christ, which results in obedience in your life. And if I believe that God is absolutely, totally sovereign, I have to be a true and faithful witness. And I have to testify not only to the grace and the goodness and the mercy and the justice of God. I have to testify. to the inability of man. God is sovereign. As Jonah found out in Jonah 2.9, he said, salvation is of the Lord. Father, help us tonight. Give us grace. Give us mercy. Teach us.
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Build us up in the most holy faith. And help us to learn to apply the responsibility of man, the accountability of man, and yet more at the same time, our inability and give everyone the truth about the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray, Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:41:25Z

How To Witness Based Upon The Absolute Sovereignty Of God

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver argues that a biblical understanding of God's absolute sovereignty must shape how believers witness. Drawing from Old Testament law, where a witness was required to give a true account and help enforce the law, he shows that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness who both testifies truthfully and executes judgment. Believers are called to be faithful witnesses, which means declaring the truth about God's sovereignty, man's total inability, and salvation as a sovereign work of God alone—likened to birth, creation, and resurrection. Witnessing must press both human responsibility and human inability, driving sinners to seek God's gift of repentance and faith.

Introduction: The Call to Be Witnesses

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 43:10

"You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be any after me."

The Old Testament Role of a Witness

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 17:6-7

"So shalt thou put the evil away from among you."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 17:6-7

"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. Now listen carefully. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death. And afterwards, the hand of all the people, so shalt thou put the evil away from among you."

neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou shalt surely kill him. Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people.

Scripture Reading — Joshua 22:34

" So here is a witness. A witness then had to not only give a true and accurate account, a witness had to aid in the execution of the criminal as well. Wow. Do you remember in the book of Joshua, chapter 22, the two and a half tribes on the other side of Jordan erected an altar and all the other tribes said, look, They built an altar to sacrifice on. Let's get together and let's go over there. And there's going to be a war because, no, we cannot have two altars. And then you have the tribe of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. They said, look, no, no, we're not building this altar to sacrifice on. We understand there's only one altar. But what we're doing, we're building a replica of it, lest you folks over there on that side of the river begin to say, look, Those over there, they're not Israelites, they're not part of us. This altar is to be a witness that we are indeed the children of God. And the Bible says in verse 34, and they called the altar Ed, E-D. That is a witness. Ed is the Hebrew word for witness, or at least in our language. So the altar then was not built for rebellion. It was just simply built to say that we, too, are the people of God. So when you look at the Old Testament, you begin to see that a witness, of course, not only testifies truthfully and honestly and accurately, he also helps enforce the law of God.

The New Testament Witness and the Word 'Martus'

The Greek word for witness is 'martus' (martyr). Jesus is the faithful witness who both testifies truthfully and enforces judgment, as seen in Revelation and 2 Thessalonians.

Scripture Reading — Matthew 18:15-17

"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Now watch carefully. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church.

Scripture Reading — Romans 1:9

" Obviously God is not dead. God did not die for the faith. All he is saying is, God is my witness.

Scripture Reading — Revelation 1:5-6

"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 14:5

"A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies."

Scripture Reading — Revelation 2:5

"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

Scripture Reading — Revelation 19:1-3

"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up forever and ever."

Sovereignty and Soteriology Shape Witnessing

One's view of God's sovereignty and salvation determines how one witnesses. Arminian synergism teaches man initiates salvation; biblical monergism teaches salvation is entirely God's work.

Three Illustrations of Salvation as God's Work Alone

Salvation is likened to birth (John 3), creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; 4:6), and resurrection (Ephesians 2:1,5). In each, man is passive and God alone acts.

Nicodemus has come to Jesus Christ by night. And notice if you would, in John chapter 3, Beginning there with verse 1, the Bible says

Scripture Reading — John 3:1-7

there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again."

Do you know what the Bible says in James 1 in verse 18? Listen,

Scripture Reading — James 1:18

"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures."

The Rich Young Ruler: Witnessing with Law and Inability

Jesus witnessed to the rich young ruler by pressing his responsibility to keep the law and exposing his inability to do so, showing that with men salvation is impossible.

Responsibility Does Not Imply Ability

God commands all men to repent and believe, but repentance and faith are gifts of God. Man has the responsibility but not the ability; this drives sinners to seek God's grace.

Application: Witnessing as a Faithful Witness

A faithful witness declares God's sovereignty, man's total depravity and inability, and points sinners to Christ alone for the gifts of repentance and faith.

How To Witness Based Upon The Absolute Sovereignty Of God

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	820151123491
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Revelation: Witness, Judgment, and the Throne
Genre	Sermon
Date	2015-08-19
Dictation Name
Book	Book 140: Revelation: Witness, Judgment, and the Throne — Chapter 8
Source Timed Segments	98

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Call to Be Witnesses: Weaver reads Isaiah 43:10 and Acts 1:8, emphasizing that God calls His people to be His witnesses. He poses three questions: Are you a witness? Do you want to be a witness? Are you sure you want to be a witness?
The Old Testament Role of a Witness: In biblical law, a witness had two duties: to give a true and accurate account and to help enforce the law, even participating in execution. Passages from Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Joshua illustrate this dual role.
The New Testament Witness and the Word 'Martus': The Greek word for witness is 'martus' (martyr). Jesus is the faithful witness who both testifies truthfully and enforces judgment, as seen in Revelation and 2 Thessalonians.
Sovereignty and Soteriology Shape Witnessing: One's view of God's sovereignty and salvation determines how one witnesses. Arminian synergism teaches man initiates salvation; biblical monergism teaches salvation is entirely God's work.
Three Illustrations of Salvation as God's Work Alone: Salvation is likened to birth (John 3), creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; 4:6), and resurrection (Ephesians 2:1,5). In each, man is passive and God alone acts.
The Rich Young Ruler: Witnessing with Law and Inability: Jesus witnessed to the rich young ruler by pressing his responsibility to keep the law and exposing his inability to do so, showing that with men salvation is impossible.
Responsibility Does Not Imply Ability: God commands all men to repent and believe, but repentance and faith are gifts of God. Man has the responsibility but not the ability; this drives sinners to seek God's grace.
Application: Witnessing as a Faithful Witness: A faithful witness declares God's sovereignty, man's total depravity and inability, and points sinners to Christ alone for the gifts of repentance and faith.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

A faithful witness must testify truthfully and enforce God's law

Jesus Christ is the ultimate faithful witness who both gives a true testimony and executes judgment, and believers are called to follow this pattern.

Weaver connects Revelation 1:5, 3:14-16, and 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 to show Christ as witness and judge.

One's view of salvation determines one's method of witnessing

Arminian synergism leads to decisional regeneration and manipulative methods, while belief in God's sovereignty leads to declaring man's inability and God's grace.

Weaver contrasts the 'first step' teaching with the biblical view that salvation is of the Lord, citing the story of 3,000 professions with no lasting change.

Salvation is a sovereign work of God alone, illustrated by birth, creation, and resurrection

Just as a baby has no role in its physical birth, creation was by God's word alone, and resurrection requires an outside power, so salvation is entirely God's doing.

Weaver uses John 3:3-6, 2 Corinthians 4:6, and John 11 to argue that regeneration precedes and enables conversion.

The law must precede the gospel to convict of sin and inability

Jesus used the Ten Commandments with the rich young ruler to expose his self-righteousness and idolatry, showing that external conformity is not enough.

Weaver analyzes Mark 10:17-27, showing Jesus' use of the law to reveal the man's true god (riches) and his inability to keep the first commandment.

Repentance and faith are gifts of God, not human abilities

Scripture teaches that God grants repentance and faith; therefore, witnessing must drive sinners to plead for these gifts rather than trying to produce them themselves.

Weaver cites Acts 5:31, 11:18, and 2 Timothy 2:25 to show repentance is given by God, and Ephesians 2:8-9 to show faith is a gift.

Scripture References

Isaiah 43:10: God declares His people are His witnesses, chosen to know and believe Him.
Acts 1:8: Jesus promises the Holy Spirit's power so believers will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
Leviticus 24:13-14: Witnesses were to lay hands on the blasphemer and the congregation was to stone him.
Deuteronomy 19:15-19: A false witness was to suffer the same penalty he intended for his brother.
Deuteronomy 17:6-7: The hands of the witnesses were to be first in executing the death penalty.
Deuteronomy 13:6-9: If a close relative entices to idolatry, the witness must not spare but be first to put him to death.
Joshua 22:34: The altar called 'Ed' (witness) testified that the eastern tribes were part of God's people.
Matthew 18:15-17: Church discipline requires two or three witnesses to establish every word.
Mark 14:61-64: The high priest asks if Jesus is the Christ; Jesus affirms, and they condemn Him without further witnesses.
Romans 1:9: Paul calls God his witness (martus), showing the word does not inherently mean death.
Revelation 1:5-6: Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and ruler of kings.
Proverbs 14:5: A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness utters lies.
Revelation 3:14-16: Jesus, the faithful and true witness, threatens to spew the lukewarm Laodicean church out of His mouth.
Revelation 2:5: Jesus warns the Ephesian church to repent or He will remove their candlestick.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10: Jesus will be revealed in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God, in the presence of His saints.
Revelation 19:1-3: Heaven rejoices over God's true and righteous judgments on the great harlot.
1 Corinthians 2:14: The natural man cannot receive or know the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned.
John 3:1-7: Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again (from above) to see and enter the kingdom of God.
James 1:18: Of His own will God brought us forth by the word of truth.
Revelation 4:11: God created all things for His pleasure.

Historical References

Roman persecution and the word 'martyr': The Greek word 'martus' originally meant witness; it came to mean one who dies for faith only after Roman persecution.
Billy Graham's book 'How to be Born Again': Weaver questions the title, arguing that if the new birth is like physical birth, one cannot contribute to it.
Famous Baptist preacher and 3,000 professions in Florida: Weaver recounts a story of a preacher whose crusade yielded 3,000 professions with no lasting change, illustrating decisional regeneration's failure.
Puritan saying: 'The sharp needle of the law must precede the scarlet thread of the gospel': Weaver quotes the Puritans to emphasize that conviction of sin through the law must come before the gospel is applied.

Important Quotes

You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he.

Establishes the foundational call for God's people to be His witnesses, rooted in His sovereign choice.

The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death.

Highlights the enforcement role of a witness in Old Testament law, foreshadowing Christ's judgment.

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

Identifies Jesus as the ultimate faithful witness, combining testimony and authority.

For by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Explains why the law must be used in witnessing to convict sinners of their true condition.

Salvation is of the Lord.

Summarizes the entire message: salvation originates and is completed by God alone.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the Old Testament role of a witness (truthful testimony and enforcement) shape our understanding of what it means to be a witness for Christ today?

[Context]

Weaver spent significant time on the dual role of a witness in the law, culminating in Christ as the faithful witness who judges.

[Question]

In what ways does a belief in God's absolute sovereignty change the content and manner of our evangelism?

[Context]

Weaver argued that soteriology dictates witnessing methodology, contrasting Arminian and Calvinistic approaches.

[Question]

How do the illustrations of birth, creation, and resurrection help us understand that salvation is entirely God's work?

[Context]

Weaver used these three biblical metaphors to show man's passivity and God's sole agency in salvation.

[Question]

Why did Jesus use the Ten Commandments when witnessing to the rich young ruler, and what does this teach us about using the law in evangelism?

[Context]

Weaver analyzed Mark 10 to show Jesus exposed the man's self-righteousness and idolatry through the law.

[Question]

How should we balance declaring human responsibility with human inability when sharing the gospel?

[Context]

Weaver emphasized that God commands all men to repent and believe, yet they cannot do so without His gift.

[Question]

What does it mean that repentance and faith are gifts of God, and how should that affect our prayers for the lost?

[Context]

Weaver cited Acts 5:31, 11:18, and 2 Timothy 2:25 to show these are sovereign gifts, not human abilities.

Applications

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