Maybe.
[Opening prayer and introductory remarks are indistinct.]
And it came to pass, as Peter went throughout all parts, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda.
And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had kept his bed eight years; for he was palsied.
And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ healeth thee: arise, and make thy bed. And straightway he arose.
And all that dwelt at Lydda and in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.
And it came to pass in those days, that she fell sick, and died: and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber.
And as Lydda was nigh unto Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men unto him, entreating him that he would not delay to come on unto them.
And Peter arose and went with them. And when he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.
But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
And he gave her his hand, and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
And it became known throughout all Joppa: and many believed on the Lord.
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I say unto you I speak not from Myself: but the Father abiding in Me doeth His works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works’ sake.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.
And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If ye shall ask anything in My name, that will I do.
I want simply to point out to you the very real connection that exists in the New Testament between the ministry of the Lord Jesus in the Gospels and the ministry of His own in the Book of Acts.
It is something that we tend to overlook: the Lord Jesus expressly stated that, after He had ascended to the Father, far greater things would be done by His people than ever He did.
Really, this should be for all of us a call for real inquiry and discussion. I do not think anyone in the room could say that they feel they are doing greater works than the Lord Jesus did when He was here on earth.
The Lord Jesus did not say, “You might do the same works, if you try hard enough.” He did not say that some of you would do the same works. He said, “Greater works than these shall ye do.”
It was evident that our Lord Jesus fully expected and provided that, in every generation, there should be something greater than that which He alone had done.
This really ought to call us to get on our knees and seek the Lord. The Lord Jesus has never commanded us to do anything that He has not given us all the ability and power to do.
There is no excuse for any child of God to say, “I cannot do it,” and to shut himself up and say it is not possible. This is a question of the faith, trust, and experience of God’s people.
Today, really, Christianity is a living thing. It is a mercy for us merely to look upon Christianity as something that you sit down and listen to—something where you attend meetings, hear messages, or study together.
But, you know, Christianity is not merely a kind of meeting. True Christianity is a life, and it is a life which is a tremendous dynamic force in its day and generation.
The testimony of Jesus is not merely formulated doctrine, nor is it merely teaching gathered people receive. That is not the testimony of Jesus.
The testimony of Jesus is His life in the midst of a broken and adverse world: His life expressing itself, saving others, and drawing others unto Himself.
We need seriously, each one of us and together as a people, to ask whether we are allowing the Lord Jesus to do what He expressly said would happen.
It is no good hiding behind a so-called modesty, behind circumstances, or behind excuses. The Lord Jesus said that each one of us can be such an integral part of Himself that, in every generation, there should be those who are bringing heaven to bear upon this earth.
Can you look at the Lord Jesus—really look at the Lord Jesus? Put aside many of our preconceptions and reflect upon Who the Lord Jesus was and how He lived.
If you read the Gospels, you will find that the Lord Jesus was continually in the presence of the greatest need. He was not found merely among the outwardly religious people of His day.
He was in the midst of the world as we know it. He was found in the most remarkable places.
The Lord Jesus said that John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and they rejected him. Then He came eating and drinking, and they said, “Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber.”
That is a remarkable testimony to what the religious people of the day thought about the Lord Jesus. They felt He was too much in the midst of the world, and thought that there was something wrong about His testimony.
The Lord Jesus was in touch with the world, but He never compromised Himself. He never became involved in its sin.
A good orthodox Jew was not even allowed to touch an immoral person, lest he become ceremonially defiled. Yet we find the Lord Jesus allowing His feet to be anointed and wiped with the hair of a woman. We find publicans and sinners continually recurring in the Gospels, sitting and speaking with Him.
The testimony of Jesus moves into this world and amongst this world without becoming compromised, without becoming changed by it. It is right at the heart of things.
When you see clearly what the testimony of Jesus was, it shatters a thousand preconceptions. It was a testimony to reality—a testimony to the reality of God.
Wherever the Lord Jesus went, people were shaken. They had only to see Him, and the superficiality of the life they had lived in for years was exposed. Simply in His presence, simply through contact with Him, men and women became broken.
The common people heard Him gladly because they encountered reality.
The testimony of Jesus was simply God brought into this world in a human life. God was in this world. God was touching this world.
The Lord Jesus came into the midst of the world and lived a life altogether different—a life from above, a life which was heaven.
John says in the opening part of his Gospel:
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
That was the testimony of Jesus. It was not merely someone bearing witness to what God is like and Who God is. The Lord Jesus Himself was the testimony.
He had the light of God. He had the love of God. He had the life of God. He was God Himself in the flesh.
When men saw Him, they suddenly encountered God. That is why the Gospels show people falling before Him in awe and recognition.
Jesus came into the flesh to destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. He came to destroy the works of the devil.
How did He destroy the works of the devil? By being what He was. Everything He did was the expression of what He was.
Wherever the Lord Jesus went, hell crumbled. The blind received sight, the lame walked, the sick were healed, and the dead were raised. Everywhere, on every side, the Lord Jesus destroyed the works of the devil.
How did He do it? By the life that was within Him; by His very being. This is the testimony of Jesus.
What would happen if the Lord Jesus came into this world in the way that He came two thousand years ago, under the conditions of life in the twentieth century?
How many churches would shut their doors against Him? How many evangelical places would refuse Him? Yet He would be found in the places where one least expected Him, in touch with human need.
Not becoming involved, not becoming compromised, not in any way becoming defiled—but positively expressing the life of God.
[Several remarks are indistinct.]
The Lord Jesus is the testimony. The Cross, which appeared to be the greatest failure, was in fact the final culmination of His victory.
At Calvary, all the powers of darkness appeared to triumph. But that was the fullest expression of the conflict between God and the devil—and God prevailed.
The question of the testimony of Jesus is a tremendous matter for you and me. You and I are those who have been called upon to show the testimony of Jesus.
If we have not got a kind of life exactly corresponding to the life we find in the New Testament, then we are in danger of living something that is only a substitute—something artificial.
Why did the Lord Jesus say that His people would do greater works? Because He knew that once He had died, risen again, ascended to the Father, and the Holy Spirit had come, the same life, the same character, and the same being would be present in His people.
We have a life in us which is indestructible.
Luke first records in his Gospel the works that the Lord Jesus did. Then, in the Book of Acts, he traces a pattern of works which deliberately corresponds to the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
In the same way that the Lord Jesus healed the lame, healed the blind, and gave life to the dead, so we find the church doing the same: healing the sick, raising the lame, opening blind eyes, and raising the dead.
This correspondence is not accidental. The church in the Book of Acts is the testimony of Jesus.
The church was in touch with the world. It was right at the heart of the world. Men and women came to it with their needs, problems, and difficulties.
Everywhere, somehow or other, the Lord Jesus was reaching out through His people and healing.
The purpose is not merely to make every child of God an evangelist in name, but to make every child of God a true expression of Christ.
There is a life, a character, and a being in the testimony of Jesus which is indestructible. Let all the powers of the world rise up to eliminate it; let all political forces come together and nail it to a cross—on the third day, it rises again.
This life does not need to be defended, upheld, or propagated by human strength. It is so wonderful that, once it is there, nothing can hold it back or stop it.
The apostles continually said, “In the name of Jesus Christ.” This was not a formula. It was the testimony of an experience.
They were gathered in the name of Jesus. They had come to share the name of Jesus. They had become the very body of Jesus.
Somehow, they had been incorporated into His life; therefore, they were expressing His life, His character, and His being in every situation.
That is the testimony of Jesus.
There is a serious question: What is really wrong? Has the life of God become too distant from the people? Has the life of God begun to lose expression in the present situation? Has the Lord Jesus become lethargic?
That does not happen in God. The difficulty is that we tend so quickly and so easily to lose our touch with reality.
On the one hand, we may be ready to run into compromise. On the other hand, we may draw back from any real involvement with the needs of the world.
Sometimes I see these movements, organizations, companies, and fellowships. They are all so good and so godly; there is teaching, activity, and much else. But then I ask, “Where is the link with the people?”
We are not merely a body of doctrine. We have a life. We have a life, and this world is absolutely crying out for it.
People often tell me how hard the world is, how indifferent people are, and how difficult it is. But I do not believe that is the whole story.
If you bring the real thing to people—if they see reality—they will be moved. In every movement of the Holy Spirit, the common people have heard gladly.
Once the world sees reality, something is moved.
The tragedy is that the world often lives with more reality than religious people do. Religion can become the greatest hindrance to the testimony of Christ.
We may read the Bible, have good doctrine, and possess correct forms, yet still fail to express the living reality of Christ.
The greatest critics are usually those who are not doing anything. It is easy to criticize the work of others; it is another thing to give oneself to the work of God.
We have been called, not merely to talk about the people of God, but to be the true testimony of Jesus in a world that needs Him.
The gospel must not only be proclaimed; it must be seen. The world needs to see a life, a character, and a being.
That life, character, and being are now vested in the body of Christ. They are not merely seen in the Lord Jesus as He walked in Galilee; they are to be seen in His people.
Wherever living members of the body of Christ are planted, they can become a living church.
God does not need a mighty organization, a thousand plans, or dozens of workers. God needs only one man or one woman prepared to be conformed to His purpose and to stand there in the reality of His life.
God will do the rest. That is all you have to do: fulfil the divine purpose, and God will accomplish His work.
That is the hardest thing. It is easier to preach, to teach, to campaign, and to organize than it is to take the ground of the Cross and die.
We have got to have a kind of life, a kind of character, and a kind of being which can be imparted to others.
It does not matter how difficult people are. Let a few people truly know the Lord, and God can use them to break through the hardest situations.
Wherever we are, there should be something happening. Things should begin to crumble; hearts should be opened. People should say, “What has happened?”
We may seem to be the same people, but something has happened. Something of the life, character, and being of the Lord Jesus has come into expression.
Once God has secured that kind of life in a people, even if they are destroyed outwardly, they cannot be destroyed spiritually. The life is indestructible.
Let us, then, this evening see something of the real nature of the testimony of Jesus.
We should be people who do greater works than these—people who carry the life of Christ into places where others are spiritually blind, paralyzed, broken, and bound.
What do people see when they look at us? Do they see religion? Do they see mere Christianity? Or do they see Christ?
We are to be a living expression of the Lord Jesus, so that people may meet Him through us.
Lord, we do not know how to express this as we ought. We do ask You to lay something upon every one of our hearts. Deliver us from pushing the responsibility on to others.
Build us together. Cause us to grow up into Christ, that we may have that life which the world so desperately needs.
Lord, we will not put up before You the world, the times, or the situation as an impossibility. We believe that Your resurrection life is able.
O beloved Lord, work this in every one of us and in Your people, that there may be a true expression of Christ in this world—a living church walking amongst men.
We ask it, Lord, in His precious name, to Whom be the glory for ever and ever.