The Subject of Our Witness

by John Stott

The works of the Lord are to be the subject of our witness. Worship and witness belong together. We cannot possibly worship God—that is, acknowledge his infinite worth— without longing to go out into the world to persuade other people to come and worship him.

Worship leads inevitably to witness, but witness leads to worship, too. It is a continuous cycle of worship leading to witness leading to worship and so on. The two cannot be separated.

In both worship and witness, the works of the Lord are paramount. Of course, we are used to the idea that we are to bear witness to what God has done in Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world. But the Scripture says we are also to witness to the wonderful works of our Creator. Here are two examples.

Psalm 105:1-2 says:

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

Make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;

Tell of all his wonderful acts

And we hear in Psalm 145:4: “One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.”

So God’s mighty acts in creation and redemption are to be made known throughout the world. I hope, sisters and brothers, that we will not be afraid to bear witness to the Creator, as well as the Redeemer. Just as the apostle Paul did when confronted by the philosophers in Athens, we need to hold together in our evangelistic witness the creation and the cross- the God who made us, and the God who has redeemed us in Jesus Christ. If either is omitted, our gospel has become truncated.

And so, I wish to conclude by encouraging those who honor the Lord by studying and pondering his works. I am thankful for those Christians who lead us to a deeper worship of the Creator God and who make known his works to others throughout the world- all to the glory of the one true God, Creator, and Redeemer, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Adapted from a sermon given by John Stott on the tenth anniversary celebration of the A Rocha Trust on September 25, 1993, at St. Paul’s, Robert Adam Street, London, United Kingdom. This is the second of two posts in a series.