02 The Five Facets of the Gospel - The Gospel Witnesses

THE 5 FACETS OF THE GOSPEL

Part Two: "The Gospel Witnesses"

By Louie Marsh, 9-7-2025

 

 

1) The first Gospel witness – SCRIPTURE.

 

·  Jesus APPEALED to them all the time.

 

“²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27, ESV)

 

“⁴⁴Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:44–47, ESV)

 

· The Apostles constantly QUOTED them.

 

“³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4, ESV)

 

“²²To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”” (Acts 26:22–23, ESV)

 

· The Necessity of MULTIPLE Witnesses

 

“¹⁵“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” (Deuteronomy 19:15, ESV)

 

As Jews the Apostles were steeped in this. Even Scripture alone wasn't enough to conclusively prove the identity of Jesus.

 

2) The Second Gospel Witness – the APOSTLES.

 

“⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48, ESV)

 

“⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8, ESV)

 

· Their early preaching RELIED on it.

 

“¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” (Acts 3:15, ESV)

 

· Their later teaching still CLUNG to it.

 

“¹That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ²the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—” (1 John 1:1–2, ESV)

 

“¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16, ESV)

 

3) Some Conclusions

 

· Scripture & the apostles Witness is Primary.

 

· Our witness is ALWAYS secondary to theirs.

 

We don't preach a Jesus of our experience or opinion - but the Christ of Scriptures and of Apostolic witness!

 

“⁴For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:4, ESV)