Being a witness is both an honor and a burden. Those who would claim to be witnesses and yet harbor worries about the honors of men have not tasted of the power and simultaneous meekness there offered. Having such a witness of HIS living reality and being set as a witness of it, leaves no room for twisted and deceiving tongues! There is no deception in him.
Christ set the fruit and type of a witness of Him in JST John 5 by telling us that John’s witness of Him is true. He is indeed the God the Eternal father made flesh (JST john 1 and DC 93). But, Christ said that he had an even greater witness than that! The works, or the fruit, that he did bore witness that the Father sent him. His very presence is the strongest, “greatest” testimony of all (John 5:36) that God lives. Being a witness, literally, of his resurrection allowed his disciples to go in power to the great cities of the world (Acts 1:8). It was said that only those who were witnesses, literally, of his life in Glory and subsequent resurrection, where allowed to be ordained to that calling of witness (Acts 1:22). Having been cleansed and made pure, given power, in Pentecost, Peter (whose voice we hear again), boldly declared that He and all these were and are literal witnesses to that resurrection, “this Jesus hath God raised up , whereof we are all witnesses!” (Acts 2: 31-32).
Raised up is a fabulous term, as it spans the symbolism of seven thousand years to a time all the true prophets looked forward to, when “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise UP unto you of your brethren”. The fact that Christ was then raised up to do his work amongst the Jews and is here testified to do the same amongst the Fullness of the Gentiles is not a coincidence. He is raised up to perform this work, and will be seen amongst our brethren. That is resurrection, resurrection to Life at it’s best. He testified in D&C 27 that he would drink of this new vine with many other prophets. Revelation 7 shows us that he will direct the sealing in the forehead of one hundred and forty four thousand of those who have been prepared for this work since the beginning. This is resurrection to be a witness in its purest sense, knowing the process themselves they are in a solid place to testify.
The Lord promised to Enoch, “As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfill the oath which I have made…And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth to bear testimony of mine only begotten; his Resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of All Men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth…” That same calling which was given to those in the meridian, with Peter, they will find amongst His people, the ‘little flock’ in the last days. They carry the same powerful witness of Him that they carried. He will be in our midst, as Righteousness and will be able to rely on Truth to spread the word about him. And the testimony they all bear, loudly and clear is that HE LIVES! He is amongst them, he is one of them. And indeed, they too, being of ‘all men’, are here as living witness of the resurrection, having been brought here from ages past for this purpose. Truth will go forth to bear testimony of the Only Begotten, and He will go forth as Righteousness.
Finally, we also can use these verses to gain another tint on the seemingly destructive word ‘flood’, as seen in other apocalyptic writings such as Isaiah. The “truth” will sweep the earth, gathering and reaping at the same time. Doing the ‘greater things’ until the consummation of the earth is complete, leaving only those who are attracted to light left as a remnant in a field. Righteousness and truth will Flood the earth. We can recall that sweeping the earth with water, as a river overruns its banks, leaves a very fertile place for planting behind, as seen in the major river drainages of the world. We are seeing this course of events happen again, as Resurrected beings are again here as men to perform the Great and Marvelous Work a final time, bearing witness of the Only Begotten of the Father.
That witness is not ‘too sacred’. In fact, it’s very sacred reality is the REASON it needs to be shouted from the housetops. This is resurrection. He and WE are resurrected and have come to sweep the earth as a flood. They say the Sadducees were sad because they didn’t believe in resurrection, will the corporate church and world proclaim the same thing, a disdain for the living reality of our resurrection?
