The Holy Testimony

The longing of most people is to find a way to live in paradise for eternity after they depart this world. Everyone will certainly face this dilemma as they lay on their death bed. Unfortunately, there is great confusion on this subject because this world has devised thousands of false ways to enter Heaven. All of this confusion is caused by the Devil because he hates God and wants to see all humans suffer in eternal torment. We know that no one will ever be in Heaven because of good luck like someone who wins the lottery. A wonderful eternity can only be gained by deliberate acts of humility and love as we follow the commands of the Almighty. The good news is that the commands of God are not tiring. The loving God only needs us to align ourselves with His nature so that we may be adopted into His family and His life style. It is only common sense that God wants a family that is compatible with His manner of living. This begs the question, “How do we align ourselves with God?” Actually, it is all about the Holy Testimony that comes down from the eternal spiritual world of our omnipotent God.

As we look at the different passages describing testimonies in God’s word remember that they all came from the same source, God the Father. In our courts we are required to take an oath, before God, to tell the truth in any testimony we give. Certainly all eternal testimonies are a confession of the truth before God. It is our responsibility to hear and respond to godly testimony that enlightens us to facts about our life. As a rule this world does not like the truth. In fact, the words of Isaiah are true in America today; Truth is fallen in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed. Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked. Isaiah 59:14-15 All believers must align themselves with the testimony of God in order to live in real truth. When Jesus was living in Israel He said; Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven. Matt 10:32-33 (NLT) This passage is very plainly talking about Holy Testimony of truth both here and in Heaven.

Let’s start the discussion with our testimony about Jesus who is God’s Son. People that are not totally dedicated to God, try to tell us that our witness is not necessary. In fact, during the 50’s the Church even told us that we should say nothing but just live a good life before others. This may be good for people that don’t want to talk about God but it’s not what the Bible tells us to do. Jesus gave every believer these instructions; Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. Matt 28:19-20 (NLT) No one can accomplish any part of this command without testifying to the truth of God. The heart of our testimony is the faith that we show the world. Paul went so far as to say;  If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Romans 10:8-10 (NLT) According to this you are not actually saved until you testify about God. The Bible says that we cannot please God without faith and the testimony gives us a way to show our faith.

Testimony will always acknowledge openly the facts about a manner. We really need the Holy Spirit to help us when we testify about God.  Jesus knew we need help and assured His followers of this truth; For the Good News must first be preached to all nations. But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:10-11 (NLT) It is a good feeling to know that when we are under pressure to testify the Spirit of God will give us a Holy Testimony. There is nothing we do in this life that is not a testimony. John said; For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son… And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. 1 John 5:3-6 (NLT) We know that the Spirit does not speak out loud yet His voice of testimony about our Savior has been heard for years. His Holy Testimony is always centered around what Jesus has done.

Jesus was the greatest witness to ever testify. Of course, Christ does much more than testify because He is our High Priest. The Scripture says; And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest. For he was faithful to God, who appointed him Heb 3:1-2 (NLT) To be God’s messenger means we must testify to the truth of God. Jesus was full of the Spirit of God and He told us exactly the things that the Father wanted us to know. Men of God wrote these things down so we could read them for ourselves. However, the Spirit living in us will testify other truths to us if we are following His leading. These thousands of things have to do with our daily walk with God. Don’t be upset with this fact because the Spirit never leads us to violate the Scriptures. There is limited space in the Bible and many of God’s directions are given to us by the Spirit directly. This is possible because He lives inside a Christian and is a great advantage to our life.

When the redemption of humans began in the Old Testament God gave the Law of testimony to Israel. Later they cared for the ark of the testimony which was kept in the tent of the testimony. This pattern shows us that people will always have a testimony showing them the possibility of redemption. This Holy Testimony came through the prophets and was fulfilled in Christ. Jesus appeared to Paul and gave him additional words of testimony which the Spirit interprets for us today. This is what allows us to have a Holy Testimony that God will always maintain for this world. This testimony is what every person needs to listen to. Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true… And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5:9-11 (NLT) The testimony about Jesus is true and people must believe it to live eternally.

God loved humans and to prove it He sent his Son to live and die on earth. This Holy Testimony is important for the whole world to hear. Jesus said that people who never saw him while He was on earth had to depend on the testimony. All the witnesses to the truth of God are very strong and they back one another up in every way. In addition to what Jesus did for us, He promised; I will send you the Advocate —the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. John 15:26 (NLT) It is sad but some people today are confessing Jesus but are not serving God. They are probably deceived into thinking that God will not see through their pretend Christianity. The Bible says it this way; Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good. Titus 1:15-16 (NLT) These are the weeds that Jesus said would be sorted out at judgment.

There is a temple in Heaven called the temple of testimony. Apparently every person has a testimony even if it is not the truth of God. The testimony of each person is recorded for later reference. Look what will happen after the testimonies are revealed; And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. Rev 15:5-6 (KJV) May our testimony be only about Jesus Christ our Savior. Although this world is completely evil God has made it possible for us to overcome this world by our testimony. Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Rev 3:4-6

God’s testimony is being presented to us and we are answering one way or the other. Either we are testifying to the truth by our faith or we are blending into the world. Many people from all the past years have given their lives to leave a testimony that Jesus is the truth of God. We can see that the Spirit is working in our lives and in the lives of other people. The Spirit of God is working tirelessly to confirm Jesus to us daily. The prophets of old told how God would send his Son as the Savior of the world and we should do no less. Because Jesus is living in Heaven right now the testimony about Him is what we must present to the world. Our testimony is as important to the people around us as the testimony of Jesus was to His disciples. How will they hear if we don’t tell them? Our life of testifying will be judged some day and every Christian wants to be satisfied with the results. Oh, that we might hear the Savior say “they are mine” and I am pleased with them.

Indeed, He is Alive

One time there was a Jewish man observing a written message on the wall of a church. He was asking a Gentile about the beliefs of the Church members. The sign said “Jesus Lives” so the Jew turned and said to the Christian, “I thought we killed Him.” Unfortunately, many Church people today are living as if Jesus is dead. Because a living Jesus is the absolute center of everything in the Christian religion, He must be alive or Christians have nothing. A living Jesus is the reason the world has martyrs. A living Jesus is the reason there is any deceit society in the world. One of our original American leaders preached that we would become the city of light on a hill for the world to see.  Christians are always that city. The light represents Jesus because there is no other genuine light source available in this dark world. Without the “living” Jesus no one would ever have been reborn out of drunkenness, dope, sex, violence, or cruelty. There was no Jesus before the flood and the world became so vile that God had to drown all but one family. When we meet a real Christian there is a small light that shines as a proof that Jesus is alive today.

On Sunday morning, after the killing of our Savior, some friends of Jesus went to the grave site. They were surprised to meet some men standing outside the empty tomb. The men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!” Luke 24:5-6 (NLT) Many people today think Jesus is dead because they cannot see Him with their eyes. Our eyes are not the only part of man that we rely on to know the truth. Even blind people can tell the truth about things by using other senses. The Scriptures explain the living Jesus this way; Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:19-20 (NLT) People can see Jesus is actually alive inside of real Christians. Everyone should have met people that are obviously not a part of this world system. Many people like to identify Church people that do not have Jesus living in them but it would be far better if we pointed-out people that have the Savior living in them.

Jesus is alive as a spirit and gratefully our own spirit does have the capability to be united with His divine Spirit. God’s Spirit wants to unite with the spirit of humans but we must humbly seek the Lord and let Him know our desire to be in His family.  When God is satisfied with our sincerity He proceeds with our salvation; For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. Eph 2:6-7 (NLT) To be raised with Jesus means that God has granted us a life that will last into eternity. Our new life is the reason we have no fear of physical death. When we lay down this body it will have no meaning to our eternity. We have already died to this world when we join with Jesus in His death. Jesus is the reason there is such great substance to our religion.

People can “die to live,” in the Spirit of Christ. This is well documented in the Scriptures. A good description of this unusual union is given in this passage; Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. Col 2:11,12 (NLT) Buried with Christ means that we have no worldly desires left on this earth. For example, when we are someday placed 6 feet under, we will no longer desire anything from this old life. Admittedly, it is a struggle to walk around alive on this earth and not give-in to worldly desires. But this is exactly what happens when we accept the new life that God wants for us. The power for this special life is coming straight from God and into our life as explained here; Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:3-4 (NLT) We need this power.

This wonderful and unusual plan is available because Jesus came to live and die for us years ago.  For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. Romans 5:10 (NLT) Not only did Jesus die for our sin but He lived for our righteousness. We invite Jesus into our heart and our life begins anew. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Col 3:11-12 (NLT) As well as being our sacrifice, Christ is all that matters in our new righteous life. Indeed, He is alive and can easily make us winners for God in this sinful world. Paul mentioned that the sin of Adam took us all down but then he then said that Christ had done much more for us. The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17 (NLT) Righteousness is possible because of the life of Jesus both then and today.

Looking at the total life of Christ is “indeed” important because our life must become part of the Saviors life. If Jesus Christ is not alive then there is no way that we can live in Him. Can we grasp how important it is that we become part of this union which will position us before the Father as a worthy child in God’s eternal family? This is the reason that the Scriptures tell us that we must die to this world along with Him as well as living together with Him every day.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 2 Cor 4:10 (NLT) It is not as bad as it sounds. Through faith we simply yield ourselves to God and He accomplishes His will. The perfect life that Jesus lived on this earth will someday be substituted for our righteous benefit. Christ sits on His powerful throne today in order to make the Christian life possible for us. No one enjoys a life of suffering until they begin to realize its purpose. Suffering in this world is the way we identify the fact of our union in the Savior. The Christian hope is that our commitment to our Savior will ultimately be followed by a glorious eternity.    

Just Say Yes!

A few years ago we were told to “just say no” to our bad habits. Although this advice sounds easy enough, it is difficult for us to say no to our nature when it wants something. Unfortunately, Christians also seem to have a hard time saying YES to what God wants us to do. We have not developed the habit of saying yes to the Spirit of God that lives inside of us. The entirety of a real believer’s life is contained in the phrase “just say yes to God.” Every Church should be selling shirts with bold letters reading “just say yes to God.” When believers fail to listen to God and obey Him, it is the same as saying NO because the result is the same. We are not making the effort to say yes. People would gladly shout YES to every instruction if they could simply understand the great privilege a person can occupy in the body of Christ. It is impossible to over state what God has provided his people even if we made a list that took one whole year. Many people do not have such a list because they do not have the habit of saying yes to God.

The “privilege” we need to understand, is what the Holy Spirit can do in our life. God sends all of His gifts to us through the Spirit and understanding this is essential to our Godly life. Paul spent a lot of time and effort teaching people how to yield to the influence of God’s Spirit. He also gave a reason for spiritual gifts; Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor 1:7-9 (NLT) God’s gifts are the only way we can be successful in our partnership with Jesus. We all should be able to understand that by saying no to the gifts can cause great damage to the relationship that we must acquire to face eternity. The gifts are the reason that we always hear believers say “no one can work their way into the family of God.”

 The family of God is made of believers who say yes to the Spirit as He leads us with gifts. When Paul talks about this “yes” he writes; For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. 2 Cor 1:20 Why does our “yes” have any meaning? Paul continues by giving us the answer; It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us. 2 Cor 1:21-22 (NLT) This is where we are told that we have been given the task of allowing the Holy Spirit to show Jesus real in our life. This is our commission, to “just say yes” to God’s Spirit. There are at least two important reasons given here for our strength to carry out this assignment. The word for the phrase “he has identified us” in the original is “sealed us” and the word for “first installment that guarantees everything” is the word “earnest.” These two words are a great comfort.

The word sealed is very important to every Christian. It is the reason our hope in the Lord can take a huge leaps forward. When we realize the Spirit is “the seal” for our eternity with God our spiritual strength increases intensely. The Bible says; And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Eph 4:30 (NLT) In this verse we see the words “identified you, as his own” which mean sealed by the Spirit. This is our guarantee of salvation upon our meeting with the Savior someday. There is unbelievable comfort that comes with “the sealing of the Spirit.” When Paul was talking about the truth he said; when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. Eph 1:13 Our “sealing” today was promised long ago in the Old Testament. The old time prophets did not know what the Lord was promising us but the power of sealing our souls is one of the most precious things that God has done for us.

As this passage continues we see the connection of “sealing” with the “earnest” of the Spirit; The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. Eph 1:14 (NLT) Remember that guarantee is the word for “earnest”. Because we are purchased and sealed we now have the earnest of God which is His Holy Spirit. God not only promised us a fantastic inheritance but has given us the down payment as our most precious helper here on earth. How wonderful that God’s plan for us includes all the help we will ever need. As a “spirit filled” believer looks forward in life they find great hope in verses like this one; While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. 2 Cor 5:4-5 (NLT) To be swallowed by eternal life is guaranteed by the Spirit because He is the one who makes our partnership with the Savior possible.

Every Christian wants to live in Heaven for eternity. The Spirit makes this possible as the Word says; The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:11 (NLT) The Spirit raised Jesus Christ out of His death so He can certainly save us from our own death. Many church people are trying to live for God without the help of the Spirit and they think they are doing a good job. Imagine how disappointed they will be when their time comes to travel to Heaven and they don’t have the Spirit living in them. Our eternal life is only possible if the Spirit lives in us. When we are certain of our sealing and earnest our Christian life is full of peace and joy. But while we live on earth we must show our righteous life to the world because it is valuable to God. It also helps us to be certain that we are one of His children. This is why, as a member of God’s family, it is important that we have as our slogan “Just say Yes!”.