What’s Your Evidence?
Nov 8 2022 - Eric Buresh
If you’ve ever had the “opportunity” to participate in a trial in a court of law, perhaps as a juror, you’ve heard a lot of talk and instructions about different types of evidence. There is documentary evidence, there can be physical evidence, and there is always testimony or spoken evidence. In many trials, the most dramatic moment is when the accused individual takes the stand and gives testimony in their own defense. They explain that they are innocent. Credible testimony is essential.
Someday, we must all appear in court before the judgment seat of God. He will consider our evidence – evidence that Christ is in us, that Christ is the propitiation for our sins, that Christ is our righteousness, and that Christ gave us the Holy Spirit who produces fruit in our lives. Like a court of law, there will be different kinds of evidence. Those who are in Christ will have evidence in the form of good works, which are any acts done in faith in Jesus and powered by God’s grace through the Holy Spirit. Only those that received the gift of faith in Jesus by God’s grace can have good works as evidence. They will also have credible testimony. Credible testimony is essential.
In God’s court, however, your testimony is not what you say in that moment before the judgment seat. Many will come to that moment and say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And He will say, “I never knew you; depart from Me.” Matt. 7:23-24. No, the only testimony that matters in this court will be the testimony you gave on earth.
Jesus tells us the type of testimony He’ll be looking for on that day. He said, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. Matt. 10:27. And Jesus tells us not to fear any rejections or reprisals that may come. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matt. 10:28-31.
And then He gives us a warning – credible testimony is essential. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Matt. 10:32-33. If you genuinely testify of Christ now – if you confess Him in the light, if you shout His glories from the housetops here on earth, it is undeniable evidence that Christ is in you, and He will be your advocate before the Father. If you deny testifying of Jesus at every turn, well, you will lack this essential evidence and Jesus will deny knowing you, and that’s not going to work out well for you. Heed His warning. If you’re not regularly confessing Christ and giving your testimony about Him, examine your heart, confess, and pray for God to incline your heart toward Him until you become an overflowing fountain of the Living Water.
Perhaps you haven’t testified about Jesus to others in a long, long time. You read this post and think, shoot, is Christ even in me? Maybe you need to be asking that question, but if you’re pursuing God and are in the Word and longing for Christ, salvation is not the question (only saved people pursue God and long for Christ), but rather it is an opportunity for repentance and growth. Christ in no way expects perfection. He knows our weak state. He knows how incapable we are in our flesh. And when we repent of the things we do in the flesh, He is faithful every single time to forgive us and to cleanse us.
In fact, I am writing this paper as an overflow of my own repentance. A few weeks ago, on a Friday evening, my wife and I were out to dinner with some close Christian friends of ours. We were at a familiar restaurant and casually knew several of the employees. While we were enjoying an appetizer and fellowship together, one of the employees came to our table to say hello. He saw a God-centered phrase on a hat I was wearing, and directly asked me about what it meant. In that moment, my heart went dark. I had a very quick conversation in my mind that went something like this, “It’s been a long week, I’m tired, I just want to enjoy some time with my friends, I don’t want this interruption, I’ll just blow him off.” And I did. Totally blew him off. I did not testify of Christ even though the door was so open I could have easily drove a truck through it. After about 30 seconds of silence around the table, my friend said, “What was that?” All I could say is “I don’t know.” Everyone gracefully let it go, and we finished our dinner.
The next morning, I woke up saddened. I had denied an open opportunity to proclaim Christ’s glory, and I effectively hated the employee at our restaurant by denying Him an opportunity to hear the call of God. All because I was selfish. My flesh jumped out of wherever it hides, and it won. I don’t let shame linger. I grabbed my Bible and I prayed for a heart of repentance and for new and fresh affections for my Father that would flood out the flesh that had the victory the night before. I asked God to lay a Word on my heart, and the Spirit tenderly pointed me to Luke 22. There, I found Peter with a wide open door to testify about Christ on three occasions in rapid succession, Peter refused to acknowledge Jesus all three times, and then he broke into weeping tears of shame. Luke 22:54-62. But what captured me that morning, what I needed to hear from Jesus, was that He did not expect perfection and He is tender and merciful in our failure. Jesus knew Peter would deny Him all three times (vs. 34), and He told Peter, “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (vs. 32)
Like Peter, I failed. Like Peter, I was ashamed. Like Peter, Christ tenderly applied His grace and forgiveness to me. Like Peter, I returned with a whole heart to Jesus. And like Peter, hopefully I’m strengthening the brethren (that’s you).