Know Thine Enemy 5
We must know our own weakness and inability to defeat Satan without the power of God and that when we are on the side of the power of God we cannot fail.
John 15:5: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
When the all-powerful Creator of the universe chooses to save a soul or many of them, do it on a certain day and use a sinner like you or me in the process, there is absolutely nothing that Satan can do to stop it. Sometimes we may plant the word and sometimes we may water it or reap the harvest. The Lord is in charge of it all.
John 16:8: And when he (The Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
1 Corinthians 3:6: I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Psalms 126:5: They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
The following article entitled Search And Look was written by Evangelist Wil Rice on John 5:39. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
We frequently feel alone, even in a crowd, because we are surrounded by people who do not believe the things that we hold most dear. It may well be that majority of people you will see today have not yet trusted the Lord Jesus, but that is exactly why He has placed you where you are, to bear witness of Him.
While at times it may feel as if you are in the minority, your witness of Jesus Christ is never alone.
First of all, you have the witness of other people who have gone before you. In John 5:33 we see this illustrated when Jesus reminds us that John *bare witness unto the truth.* John was to Jesus what a lamp is to the flame, a light-bearer. That is what you and I are. You never know how many other people God has already send ahead of you to prepare for the witness that you give to someone today. I*ve met a number of people who were saved after many years of people coming to them in various avenues and giving them a gospel witness.
In verse 36, Jesus says that there is an even greater witness, Jesus* own works. The more one learns of Jesus, the more one sees His singular nature. There is no one like Him; there never has been. He made Himself equal to God, and said of Himself, *The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.* So Jesus* own works are a witness to people.
In verse 37 we find a third witness, the Father Himself. Jesus said, *And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.* The Father bears witness by His Spirit and by His Word.
The fourth witness is the Scriptures. Jesus said, *Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.* In essence Jesus is saying, *If you haven*t believed the Bible, you don*t believe Me. If you believe Me, you certainly believe the Bible.* All of us have the Word of God to show us the answers we seek.
Your witness is never alone. You are never alone. You have the person of Christ with you, and you have a number of other witnesses that God has provided for the people to whom you are sent. You may be the first gospel witness a person has ever heard, but even then, there are other witnesses that God has given to bring others to His Son.
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