The Testimony of Jesus

Rev.1:2 - Who bare record of the Word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ…
Rev.1:9 - I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rev.6:11 - And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony…
Rev.6:17 - And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.
Rev.19:10 - And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, see thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: foe the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

What is a testimony? It is an eyewitness account of someone or some event. In a court of law they call a witness to the stand to testify about what he knows. And so it is with a Spiritual testimony. We call upon a person to give his testimony which means he stands in front of a congregation and tells about what happened to him when he got saved or the changes his life has undergone after his conversion. Now all this is great and it glorifies Christ and everyone should from time to time share his or her testimony. But notice the verses I have given above, they do not refer to our testimony but God specifically pronounces that the power comes from the testimony of Jesus which must be the foundation of any testimony concerning the changes in our lives.

Lives have changed through many different channels. People have pulled themselves up by their own strength, many have been freed from drugs and alcohol by AA and NA and other self help groups, some have changed through eastern mysticism, some have joined cults and been changed, and the list of worldly conduits that have affected life changes is legion. You see a true salvation conversion will always result in a changed life, but it is not the changes in our lives that is the ultimate testimony, it is the testimony of the Changer, not the changes. It may seem like a small difference but in reality is the greatest chasm of all.

People who are unhappy with their lives listen as a person shares how miserable he was before he became a Jehovah’s Witness and he expounds on how much peace and purpose he now has since joining the Watchtower. Some members of the audience are desirous of a new life and they are drawn to this cult because they want their lives changed also. So there are many ways that can change a life and they camouflage the claims of Jesus Christ because so many true churches now concentrate on the changed life and obscure the testimony of Jesus Christ. So people have the impression that God can change lives through many different channels and in so believing people now seek their personal aggrandizement rather than surrender to the Lord Jesus. Sadly the church not only offers earthly change through Jesus but today many don’t even emphasize the sin rejecting aspect of regeneration but they hold up the worldly success aspect claiming that Jesus wants to make your life prosperous in every aspect. And with that offer many are taken in and some even have a change in their lives based upon the superfluous nature of their belief that God is helping them climb the worldly ladder.

But a changed life through Jesus does not always result in positive changes and in eras gone by and in some parts of the world it can very well cost you your physical life. No one in Darfur or Pakistan or China could legitimately stand up and claim that if you become a follower of Christ your life will prosper in every way. Everyone who becomes a follower of Jesus Christ has their very lives changed but many time it results in the sacrifice of worldly things rather than the accumulation of them. I hope you see the tragic difference between American Christianity and Biblical Christianity.

Now God over and over emphasizes the testimony of Jesus as the foundation of the believer’s life. Jesus Himself said, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me. Paul said, For I was determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone and in all things he should have the preeminence. That is why any gospel and any teaching ministry that concentrates on our lives and minimizes or even uses the Lord Jesus and His work and testimony as a way to enhance our earthly existence is actually another form of the spirit of anti-christ. It is another gospel and another Jesus and it is a fleshly and demonic way to remove the glory of our Wonderful Savior’s testimony.

Notice the phrase in Rev.19:10 that says, The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The word prophecy simply means the proclamation of God’s truth through God’s Word. And as you will notice that without the testimony of Jesus their can be no spirit of prophecy. OK, let’s turn the beacon of God’s convicting light into our own camp and our own lives. Even in the orthodox and Biblical camps the testimony and preaching of the Lord Jesus continues to diminish. Many are the topics that have crowded out the testimony of Jesus and to find an entire post on nothing but a revelation of the work, ministry, and testimony of the Lord Jesus is rare indeed.

Is it not sad that He has taken a back seat of the preaching bus and topical Christianity, even orthodox Christianity has relegated Him to somewhat obscurity. You can find volumes of information about conservative values (man made), you can find much about having happy marriages, you will have no trouble finding testimonies about man and his work, and if you thumb through the tape libraries we can find hundreds and perhaps thousands of topics that deal with truth but are not caught up with the testimony of Jesus. And if you are searching for information about Warren, MacLaren, Bell, and all the other usual suspects you can find a veritable plethora of well documented and well researched indictments concerning these men.
But somewhere in the mix is the rare and almost token teaching about the One whose testimony is the spirit of prophecy. I also am guilty so put your stones down and allow me to stone myself.

So let me pick up in the middle of the essence of the testimony of Jesus. He has always existed and He is God which sounds so simple but is eternally deep and powerfully mysterious. Now the testimony of Jesus began with the creation and specifically the creation of man who He made in His own image. Creating something out of nothing but His Word is another praise to His glorious testimony and in that we are rendered as nothing and He is everything. But on a certain night in Bethlehem an event unfolded that signaled the beginning of the eternal plan that had been inside the Godhead before creation itself. God, Jesus, Wonderful, Counseller, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace quietly burst into the world with an entourage of angelic hosts proclaiming His glorious testimony. He would carve out a ministry within the parameters of the Palestinian landscape and He would one day leave a few miles away in the City of Peace.

His testimony could never be fully captured by the pen of man and if all the books in this world had been written of Him there still would not be enough room for His testimony. Never think that His testimony is limited to the miracles He performed while He walked as a divine man, oh no, His acts were eternal in scope and the written narrative of His earthly life is taken by the Holy Spirit and broken as bread to nourish many a hungry soul who seeks Him. Come unto Me was His offer and all the miracles were looking glasses into Who He was and why He came. His testimony has gripped the soul of all who by the Spirit have become His worshippers.

So in the space of thirty-three earthly years He has systematically and mercifully revealed His glory to anyone who had ears to hear. And then came Calvary, Golgotha. Now again remind yourselves that this was the Creator in earthly form who had the power in just a word to consume all of the universe, but here He comes into Jerusalem with the full knowledge of where He would end up. Willingly and for the joy that was place before Him He comes to be scourged of sinful men. He was holy and without sin and yet His testimony was that He loved us even unto death. They spit upon God. They whipped God. They mocked God. And God humbled Himself unto death, even the death of the cross.

No simple death. This death held the punishment for all mankind and the sufferings were beyond comprehension. Every single moment of His testimony that began with the first creative word until now were seized in this death. Look at Him, pitiful and in pain, and yet still faithful to His testimony and fulfilling the spirit of prophecy that He had foretold about this very event. High and eternally glorious Jesus is lifted upon a Roman cross and what sinful men and their father had meant for evil God changes into the glorious testimony of His only begotten Son. And this was not just for nobles and kings, this was for all who would humble themselves and by faith embrace the One who has offered Himself for the whole world.

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And fast forward to the year 1975 and to a mountain in North Jersey they call Garrett. Notice a real live sinner sitting high atop a cliff overlooking the skyline of Manhattan. He is lost and hopeless and wandering. He doesn’t realize why but he has come to wonder about this Jesus and His testimony. So he sits and wonders and finally he asks this Jesus, like John the Baptist, if He is Who He said He was. And in a Spiritual moment of revelation Jesus unveils Himself to this totally insignificant sinner and at that instant this man is changed. A laundry list of sinful habits will eventually fall and his life will be changed.

But this story is not about this sinner. When the trees bend in a storm it is not about the trees but about the power of the wind. So I want to give a testimony today about the testimony of Jesus. My testimony and what God has done to and through me will always be the moon reflecting the light of the glorious Son. I have no light and I have no testimony but Jesus. He and He alone is my testimony and He is my everything. I cannot offer you the specifics of a changed life for you but I can lift up and offer you the Lord Jesus and His testimony.

So all you who are followers of Jesus I exhort you to rest in Him. Do not get so caught up with the doctrinal battles that rage today that you have forgotten the glorious and intimate time that you can spend with the Master. God does not need you but He desires you. Look over there, can you see that shady place? If you can go ahead and walk over to it and slowly sit down. Close your eyes and clear you mind of the things of this world. Open your eyes and look around for Him. Do you see Him? No? Well look up and discover the object that blankets you with the shade. Do you see now? It is the everlasting shade of the cross and He who once endured it for you wants to share His testimony with you.

Speak Lord, we are listening…