Preached in Markham Baptist Church, February 27, 2005

WHAT'S IN A NAME? - PART 1: "THE FAITHFUL WITNESS"

How many names do you have? Take a moment and count all the names that you have. I figure that I have about 9 different names and each name describes who I am. Of course I have my three given names, but I am known by other names too. For instance my kids call me "Dad". Many of you call me "Pastor", some of the children call me the “guy who stands up at the front and talks a lot”. So each name describes a certain aspect of who I am.

When we open our Bibles we discover that our Lord Jesus is known by many names – in fact, there are 107 different names attributed to Jesus – He is called the Rose of Sharon, the lily of the field, the bread of life - 107 different names.

Some may ask, “Why so many?” And the obvious answer is that no one name can contain Him, no one name can adequately describe Him. He is the Lion of Judah – O yes, but is He is also the Lamb of God. He is Immanuel ("God with us") but He is also the Son of Man. He is known as the Way, the Truth and Life but He is also called the Stumbling Block. He is the Suffering Servant, but He is also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Is it any wonder that Paul when describing his call to preach said that he was called to preach to the Gentiles the “unsearchable riches of Christ”? (Ephesians 3:8). No one name can fully describe all that Christ is and all that Christ means to us. But each name is significant for each name describes an aspect of Christ, a characteristic of Christ, and attribute of Christ, a work of Christ. And this morning as we begin our series on the names of Christ we come to a wonderful name, a name of Christ that is filled with hope and assurance. It is the name of "Faithful Witness".

It is one of the first of many names attributed to Jesus in the book of Revelation. And it is the only place that you will find this title. In Revelation 1:5 “… Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness”. It is a wonderful title for it points us to what He did, His authenticity and what he will do.

He is the faithful witness - this name points us to what He did. He came as a faithful witness to testify, to show us what God is like. In Colossians we read “He is the image of the invisible God.” (1:15). Do you ever wonder what God is like? We need only to look at Christ. He came as a witness to show us what God is like. If you ever have a question about what God is like - if you ever wonder about the character of God, open your Bibles, look at Jesus - that is what God is like. So we read in John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” He is the faithful witness who has shown us what God is like.

He was the faithful witness who testifies to the coming of the Kingdom of God. His primary message was “repent for the Kingdom of heaven is near.” And when He sent out the 12 disciples with authority to drive out evil and heal disease, He gave them one message, “The kingdom of Heaven is near.” The end is near says Jesus, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Read that passage in Matthew 24 where Jesus speaks of the end of the age – and begins it all with the words, “I tell you the truth.” He was the faithful witness who testified to the coming of the Kingdom of God.

He is the faithful witness who came to show us the reality of sin. The Old Testament is filled with words for sin. It has 15 different words for sin – but the horrific nature of sin, the extent to which our sin would go, was not fully revealed until Jesus came.

“Sin ploughed his back and crowned him with thorns; sin hung him up on cruel nails amid the sneers and jests of mankind; sin broke his body and broke his heart; sin wrung from his lips the 'orphan cry' upon the cross, My God , My God why have you forsaken me?” Sin was revealed in all its naked unmasked horror when Jesus, the faithful witness, came to bear it for you and for me.¹

There are some who complain that we Christians always talk about sin. Jesus must have been very negative because He was always revealing the sin that was in the heart. He came and said that we should not commit adultery – not anything new, we have heard it said in the Old Testament - but then He added that we cannot even think of committing adultery. He came and said that we should not commit murder - not anything new, we have heard it said in the Old Testament - but then He added we should not even be angry with our brother, if we are we are subject to judgment. (Matthew 5:22)

Why do we talk of sin so much? Why did Jesus come to witness to the reality of sin? Why is Jesus so intent in exposing sin in our lives? The truth of the matter is that we will never understand all that Christ can do until we are aware of the utter need and depravity of our own hearts.

You see, if you went to visit your doctor and you don’t like this kind of negative stuff talking about what’s wrong all the time and you decide that you are just going to be positive – you’ll discover that all your doctor wants to do is talk about what’s wrong. He’s pretty negative, you see. So you go into your doctor’s office and you say, "Good morning doctor, could you give me a bottle of medicine please, pink medicine."

He’ll say, "I can’t give you a bottle of pink medicine." You say, “Yes you can. Give me that strawberry-flavored stuff I had last time - I enjoyed it."

“I can’t just give you some strawberry-flavoured pink medicine”, he’ll say, “what’s wrong with you?” And you say, “Oh, oh, here we go again, he is so negative.”

And he asks you some rather embarrassing things, here stick your tongue out. And he says, "O dear." Then he asks you some embarrassing questions and he asks you, "Do you get up in the night?" And you say, "yeah."

He says, how many times? "64." "And what color is it when you do?" "Blue!"

Then he says, “Come here, now tell me if this hurts?” – He pokes you – “O yes," you say.

"Good," he says, "what about this side?" "O yes that hurts too." "Good!"

What’s wrong with the doctor? What’s he doing? Well, he will sit you down, "I’ve got some good news and some bad news – here’s the bad news - you are sick. I’ve got some good news, I’ve got a remedy it’s a bottle of pink medicine. But I cannot give you the pink medicine till you know the diagnosis of your own heart.”²

So it is, my friends, with the Christian message. You cannot hear the good news until you understand the bad news. It is that no man, no woman, no boy, no girl is free from sin. The bad news is that we are sinners.

But once you have heard that, once you understand the diagnosis of your heart then you are ready to hear that Jesus Christ came not only as a faithful witness to the character of God, the coming of the Kingdom of God, and the reality of sin. He came also as a faithful witness to the good news. The good news Jesus Christ proclaimed as a faithful witness is that God is a God of grace, that salvation is found in Him.

It didn’t matter how bad you thought you were, or how good you thought you were, Jesus proclaimed this news to everyone. The woman caught in adultery, her sins had been forgiven. To upright Nicodemus, he could have a fresh start that would continue to eternal life. To the cheating tax collector named Zacchaeus, he was told that Jesus had come to seek and save the lost and salvation came to his house.

This is the testimony of the faithful witness. This is the truth that Jesus came to proclaim. He did not falter in His witness, He did not hesitate. He demonstrated God fully to us, He proclaimed the reality of the coming of the Kingdom and the nature of sin and the good news of Salvation for everyone who had ears to hear. He was the faithful witness.

But this name also points us to the His authenticity. There are some here who say, well all of that is good stuff. I did wonder what God is like, I am not all that crazy about sin, but I am glad that Jesus was faithful in showing it to me and the reality of salvation through faith in him. But how can I know He can be trusted? How can I know that He is reliable, authentic?

How do we know that Jesus is a credible witness? How do we know He can trusted? He is called the FAITHFUL witness. How do we know it to be true?

We know He is credible, that His words can be trusted, because He has the seal of approval on Him by the Father.

I brush my teeth with Crest – always have done, always will – why? I’m sure it was because my mother long ago, watched an ad on television that told her that Crest was approved by the American Dental Association. It had their seal of approval on it. Crest can be trusted because a recognized authority has said it can be trusted.

And so Jesus has the seal of approval of authenticity upon Him. When did He get this approval? It has rested upon Him from the beginning of time, but for our sakes it was stated in a very concrete way at His baptism, when the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus' testimony, His words are true and He can be trusted because He has been approved by the Father, but not only this, He has been accredited by God by the miracles He performed.

Here is Peter on the day of Pentecost standing before a huge crowd and he is seeking to make the case for Jesus – as one who can be trusted, and Peter says “Jesus was genuine, he was authentic, and you know this by this fact."

Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him.”

Look to the miracles, in the words of Jesus himself, “The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me.” (John 10:25).

Can Jesus be trusted? Can His words and His testimony about God, about judgment and sin and salvation be trusted? O yes! He has been accredited by God, and by His miraculous deeds. Will you trust Him? Those of you are searching and looking for God? Will you trust Him to reveal the Father to you? Those of you who have not confessed him as Saviour and Lord, will you trust him to expose your sin so that you can experience His grace?

He can be trusted, He is the faithful witness.

So there is this left to say, and that is how this name points to what Jesus does and will do for you and for me. He longs to be the faithful witness for you and for me.

In ancient Israel, a witness was someone who was present at any legal transaction and if a question or a dispute arose between two parties the witness would be able to confirm the deal, the purchase, the transaction.

We see it in the closing of the story in the book of Ruth. Here we see Ruth, alone, her husband Mahlon has died, she is alone in the world, with no one to care for her. And through God’s care and providence she meets a long lost relative by the name of Boaz, and as the custom of the day, he purchases Ruth, a concrete action which symbolizes Ruth being transferred out of one home and into the care of another. He buys her redemption – and Boaz announces to the elders and all the people gathered.

“Today your are witnesses” to this transaction. I have purchased Ruth and all of her husbands property so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are my witnesses.

So later on if and when someone came to Boaz and said, “I don’t think you rightfully purchased all that belonged to Mahlon – it rightfully belongs to me and I’m taking it," Boaz could say, “Not so fast, I have my faithful witnesses here, they saw that I purchased all that existed under Mahlon’s name. My purchase was fair, proper and I have witnesses. They’ll tell you I paid the full price for Ruth and you cannot lay claim to her. She belongs to me and I belong to her."

Do you know that Scripture says that we were purchased for God by the blood of Christ? The cost of our redemption was blood, the death of Christ paid the price. And He who paid the price becomes our faithful witness to our purchase.

Just imagine it, when we come to the great throne of judgment we will be filled with trembling and fear, I am sure it will be an awesome sight even for those of us who have accepted Christ as Saviour and Lord and have the assurance of forgiveness.

And in that day says Scripture, “We will know fully even as we are fully known.” And that’s frightening, we will be fully known, all our secrets, all our faults, all our good qualities, all our strengths and all our failures. We will be fully known. And Satan will be there on that Judgment Day and He will take great delight in this fact and He will claim us as his own. And He will say, “This one belongs to me, to live in the land of eternal fire, where the tongue longs to quench its thirst.”

And you bow your head in shame and disgrace, for all your secrets will be fully known.

But then comes a voice saying, “Not so fast.” O you have heard the voice before, many times calling you to believe in Him and you have responded in faith and repentance. You have heard His voice calling you to serve Him with all your heart, soul and mind. You have heard Him call your name many times in the darkness of your despair. You have heard Him before and His voice has given you a joy and a peace.

And the voice speaks. “This one has been bought at a price. This one has been purchased. I have paid the price for this one, and this one belongs to Me.”

And Satan calls for a witness – "Who has witnessed this transaction?"

And out He steps from the shadows, bearing the marks of the transaction in the palms of His hands, and on his Brow and in His side. There is Jesus. And He testifies to the truth that the price has been paid for your soul and that even though we are fully known we are fully forgiven and fully His.

This is proof that Satan cannot debate and his mouth is shut. Why? Because He is the faithful witness in whom we can trust. Do you?

ENDNOTES:

1. John Phillips, Exploring Revelation, (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1987) page 19.

2. Charles Price, from a sermon preached at the Toronto Spiritual Life Convention, 2000.

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