Can I Get A Witness?
“The” Witness is the Same!
1 Corinthians 15:1-11

† Jesus, Son, Savior †

May the grace of God our Father, shown to you in the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus, assure you of His love, as the same power is at work in your life!

 Can I get a witness?

It’s been years since I heard the phrase, but I remember a church that I guess preached at once, where the pastor asked after the sermon, “Can I get a Witness?”

And person after person would talk about how God had redeemed them or reconciled a relationship that had been trashed by sin.

It’s been probably close to forty years since I was there… but I remember the people shouting and testifying to how good God was, and how he rescued them.

As our journey together changes from the weeks of Lent to the weeks of Easter, we go from looking at the broken people at the foot of the cross to the work God did and is doing.

That is the content of the witness and the impact of the witness.

It’s not about the witness but the witness.

Paul will state the witness clearly in verse 3 of our Corinthians reading this morning,

“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. ⁴ He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said

Christ died for our sins
He was buried
He was raised from the dead

Three short points – that change the world – that change our world….

And no matter who preaches Christ, that is their message.

Christ died for our sins,
He was buried
He was raised from the dead…

That is the witness we need today, for it is the only witness that will change those who are broken…

• I don’t want the witnesses; I want what their witness

In the epistle, Paul then proceeds to document the witnesses. Peter, the 12, 500! James, everybody, then Paul.

If you asked any of them, they would agree with Paul, that they weren’t worthy to see the risen Lord, never mind account themselves as worthy to witness the fact that He died, that he was buried and Alleluia! He is risen!

They are right in a way, because they didn’t deserve to witness the cross and the resurrection any more than we do. And the witness isn’t about them, though it will change them, though it will change us.

It is about the idea that Christ has died, Christ was buried. Christ has risen, and He is coming again!

Someone should make a song out of that…  😊

When I look at social media, most of the critique of the church and of Christianity has nothing to do with the witness that Christ has died, Christ was buried, Christ has risen. Often that is because the witnesses are talking about other things—usually the sinful behavior of others, or why that denomination’s not right, or that pastor or politician is evil.

Even yesterday while writing this – out of the first 25 posts were negative religious posts, and only one mentioned Good Friday or Easter. It wasn’t one side or the other; it was both sides.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – that’s a given – we don’t have to show everyone’s sin publicly. Or assume what someone else shared about someone’s sin is accurate?

What has happened to those who have the witness?

Can I get a witness? Can I know what the Lord has done?

• We all preach the same message – you believed.

We have to get back to following the example of the early church!

¹¹ So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.

We have to get back to it, not because this is our duty. If I say you must go share your faith, I am robbing you. All I would be doing is making your work the focus, taking the attention and focus away from what Jesus has done.

That wasn’t how the early church worked…

They saw what God did—they told others about it!

They experienced His love and peace, and they shared it with others.

¹⁶  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  Ephesians 3:16-19 (NLT2)

Therefore, the witness is so important –not it is critical!

The witness reveals God’s love, our identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection changes everything.

That is the message we need to stand firm in the only message that will save us.

Christ has died!
Christ was Buried!
Christ is Risen! and
Christ will come again!

All for those who know this – who bear the witness…

Who answer the call, “Can I get a witness!”

And respond with Jesus! AMEN!