27 “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”
28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.
29 “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”
30 So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?” John 7:25-31.
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I love that question. “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?” The inference is that the believers were reminding others of the signs that Christ performed.
When we feel like we are not a good witness for Christ, we can take comfort and gain strength through remembering Acts 1:8: “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
And what do good witnesses do? They tell others of what they witnessed. Maybe, we witnessed some Scripture by reading it and understanding it to some God-given extent. Maybe, we witnessed some Reformed Confession and can link it to some Scripture to help others better understand the Scripture. Maybe, we witnessed some personal experience that Scripture describes. Maybe, we witnessed some Godly character trait in others, such as the fruit of the Spirit, and we can encourage them that God is working in them.
These are all signs. Scripture is a sign. Reformed Confessions are signs. Personal experiences are signs. Godly character traits in others are signs. We can and should point to these signs.
Now, obviously, some signs are more reliable than others. Scripture is more reliable than the others I mentioned. But, a witness can and should tell others of not only the clearest and closest thing he saw; a witness can and should tell us, with careful explanation of the conditions, of things that he saw through a darker light and from a greater distance. We should testify even though we are not perfect and even though our observations are not perfect.
We can raise a helpful question like was raised here. “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”
We can also testify as to our personal experience (point to a sign) and raise a question as was done by the Samaritan woman at the well: “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” John 7:29.
So, what have you witnessed that may help others?
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 