• What Is A Witness?

  Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 11, 2009 (message contributor)

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WHAT IS A WITNESS?

I once heard a story about a prosecuting attorney from a small Texas town who called his first witness to the stand in a trial. She was a grandmotherly type, and he asked her, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"

She said, "I do know you, Mr. Williams. I’ve known you since you were a young boy. And to be honest, you have been a big disappointment. You lie; you cheat on your wife, and manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you are some big shot on the rise, BUT you don’t have the brains to realize you are nothing more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes sir, I know you!"

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?"

She replied, "Yes I do. I’ve known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, as well. In fact, I used to baby-sit him for his parents. He, too, has been a real disappointment. He is lazy, bigoted and has a drinking problem. The man can’t form or hold a decent relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes sir, I know him, too."

The crowd began to murmur and the noise level in the courtroom rose to an unacceptable level with all the people responding to what had just been said. The sound of the judge gavel rang thru the courtroom, and the judge motioned for both attorneys to approach the bench. When they were in front of the judge, he whispered to them in a very quiet voice, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, I’ll have you thrown in jail for contempt!"

******

I read another story about a Christian who prayed: "Lord, if you want me to witness to someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is."

That very day he found himself on a nearly empty bus when a big, burly man sat next to him. The timid believer anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. However, before he could get off, the big burly guy next to him burst into tears and began to weep. This big but contrite man then cried out with a loud voice, "I’m a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?" He turned to this Christian gentleman and pleaded, "Can you show me how to find the Lord?"

The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?"

(From a sermon by Bobby Stults, "What is a Witness?" 1/13/2009)