徒一8　但圣灵降临在你们身上，你们就必得着能力，并要在耶路撒冷、犹太全地、撒玛利亚，直到地极，作我的见证人。

　　二六16　……我向你显现，正是要选定你作执事和见证人，将你所看见我的事，和我将要显现给你的事，见证出来。

　　升天的基督为了执行祂天上的职事，繁殖祂自己，使神的国得以建立，众召会得着建造，成为祂的丰满，祂所使用的，不是一批由人的教导训练出来的传道人，去作传道的工作；乃是一班见证人、殉道者，担负这位成为肉体、钉十字架、复活、升天之基督活的见证。见证人在生命里为复活升天的基督作活的见证，不同于传道人仅仅传讲字句的道理。福音书记载成为肉体的基督，在地上独自完成祂的职事，将祂自己作为神国的种子，仅仅撒在犹太地。使徒行传记载升天的基督，在诸天之上执行祂的职事，乃是借着这些在祂复活生命里，带着祂升天能力和权柄的殉道者，将祂自己扩展出去，作为神国的发展，从耶路撒冷开始，直到地极，作为祂新约职事的完成。在使徒行传，所有的使徒和门徒都是基督这样的见证人（使徒行传生命读经，六二二至六二三页）。

　　Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses...unto the uttermost part of the earth.

　　26:16 ...I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you.

　　What the ascended Christ wanted to use to carry out His heavenly ministry for the propagating of Himself so that the kingdom of God might be established for the building up of the churches for His fullness was not a group of preachers trained by man's teaching to do a preaching work but a body of His witnesses, martyrs, who bore a living testimony of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. Witnesses bear a living testimony of the resurrected and ascended Christ in life. They differ from preachers who merely preach doctrines in letters. In His incarnation, Christ carried out His ministry on earth, as recorded in the Gospels, by Himself to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God only in the Jewish land. In His ascension He carries out His ministry in the heavens, as recorded in Acts, through witnesses in His resurrection life and with His ascension power and authority to spread Himself as the development of the kingdom of God from Jerusalem unto the remotest part of the earth, as the consummation of His ministry in the New Testament. All the apostles and disciples in Acts were such witnesses of Christ. (Life-study of Acts, pp. 542-543)

　　按使徒行传的启示，每一个主所兴起、打发出去的人，都是主的见证人。……〔一章八节〕里的“见证人”，并不像我们所领会的，好像在法庭上有了诉讼，需要一个见证人，所以我们去作个见证，把我们所看见、所知道的见证出来；这是我们所领会的“见证人”。在整本新约里，“见证人”的意思，首要的乃是见证这位耶稣是死而复活的。使徒行传里一直强调这点（扩建召会的三要事—生、养、教，三一五页）。

　　当主耶稣向保罗显现时，他给保罗托付，选定他作执事和见证人。论到这事，主对他说，“你起来站着，我向你显现，正是要选定你作执事和见证人，将你所看见我的事，和我将要显现给你的事，见证出来。”（徒二六16）……执事是为着职事，见证人是为着见证。职事主要的与工作有关，与执事的所作有关；见证与人有关，与见证人的所是有关。

　　按照使徒行传，撒但能煽动犹太宗教徒，并利用外邦政客来捆绑使徒和他们传福音的职事，却不能捆绑基督活的见证人和他们活的见证。犹太宗教徒和外邦政客越捆绑使徒和他们传福音的职事，这些基督的见证人和他们活的见证就越刚强明亮。主在保罗往大马色的路上向他显现，清楚地告诉他，祂选定他不仅作执事，也作见证人。我们已经看见，保罗这基督活的见证人，不仅在耶路撒冷为主作见证，也要在罗马为主作见证（二三11）。

　　使徒行传记载升天的基督，在诸天之上执行祂的职事，要借着这些在祂复活生命里，带着祂升天能力和权柄的见证人，将祂自己扩展出去，作为神国的发展，直到地极。

　　保罗在他所经过一切的审讯中，不仅在施教或尽职，更不断在作见证（使徒行传生命读经，六八一至六八二页）。

　　参读：扩建召会的三要事—生、养、教，第二十二篇；使徒行传生命读经，第五篇。

　　According to the revelation in the book of Acts, everyone who is raised up and sent out by the Lord is a witness of the Lord....[In Acts 1:8] the word witnesses is not related to our normal understanding of a witness who gives testimony in a legal case in a law court. In the New Testament the meaning of a witness is primarily to bear a living testimony of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion and resurrection. This is repeatedly emphasized in the book of Acts (v. 22; 2:32; 5:32; 26:16). (CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, "Three Crucial Matters for the Increase and Building Up of the Church—Begetting, Nourishing, and Teaching," p. 563)

　　When the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul, He commissioned him, appointing him [both] a minister and a witness. Concerning this, the Lord said to him, "Rise up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you" (Acts 26:16)....A minister is for the ministry; a witness is for the testimony. Ministry is mainly related to the work, to what the minister does. Testimony is related to the person, to what the witness is.

　　According to the book of Acts, Satan could instigate the Jewish religionists and utilize the Gentile politicians to bind the apostles and their evangelical ministry, but he could not bind Christ's living witnesses and their living testimony. The more the Jewish religionists and the Gentile politicians bound the apostles and their evangelical ministry, the stronger and brighter these witnesses of Christ and their living testimony became. In His appearing to Paul on the way to Damascus, the Lord clearly told him that He appointed him not only a minister but also a witness. We have seen that as a living witness of Christ, Paul had testified concerning Him in Jerusalem and would testify of Him in Rome (23:11).

　　As recorded in Acts, the ascended Christ carries out His ministry in the heavens through these witnesses in His resurrection life and with His ascension power and authority to spread Himself as the development of the kingdom of God unto the remotest part of the earth.

　　In all the trials through which he passed, Paul was not merely teaching or ministering; he was continually bearing a testimony. (Life-study of Acts, pp. 594-595)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, pp. 563-570; Life-study of Acts, msg. 5