6-8-2019 Why Should I testify?
And they overcame him by the blood of
the lamb and by the word of their testimony because they did not love their
lives, even unto death (Rev. 12:11).
I would like
to share three things here: 1) the blood of the Lamb; 2) their testimony; and
3) loving their lives. How can we relate
to these three things in our lives today?
First, let’s
back up a few verses in this passage.
Michael and his angels fought against the devil and his angels and that
old devil, Satan, did not prevail but, with all his angels (1/3 of heaven – Rev 12/4), the one who deceives the
world was cast out of heaven. Then John
says he heard a voice saying that the salvation of our God and His Christ is
now come for the accuser of the brothers is cast down from heaven. Then comes
our key passage, they overcame by ….
Consider,
once we have received Jesus into our hearts (salvation), the enemy is
constantly trying to ruin our relationship with the Father. Should God turn His back on us, or we turn
from Him, where is our hope?
The Blood of the Lamb
When we
first gave our lives over to Jesus (those of us who have), we acknowledged Him
as the Son of God. We acknowledged that
He came into this world as a real ‘human being’ over two thousand years
ago.
The woman
who gave physical birth to Jesus, Mary, was still a virgin at His birth (Luke 1:26-35). The bible tells us that the Holy Ghost put
the baby into Mary’s womb making the eternal God His Father. (How did God create everything? He spoke it into existence Gen.1:1-31)
Jesus had to
be born into the natural world, via a human being, so He could be ‘born’ under
the ‘Law’, yet with Yaweh being His Father, He was already ascended above the
law. Yet, He had to live as we do, being
bound by the same guidelines so that, when the time comes, He, not only could
be, but would be a ‘just’ judge. Jesus
lived as one of us for thirty years, He walked in ‘our shoes’, and He pleased
the Father and had found favor with man.
He also had uncommon knowledge of Spiritual things (of course). The Spiritual man conquers things of the
flesh. Jesus was born under the Law so
He could redeem us from it (Gal. 5:17-18).
John, the
Baptist, was a forerunner for Jesus. As
people confessed and repented their sins, he (John) baptized them in water as
an indication of the remission, or forgiveness, of those sins (Mark 1:4). The old man was buried and a new man was
emerging (Rom. 6:4). Jesus had to be baptized by John in order to
fulfill the law. In the natural, He was
obligated to the same conditions we are.
For thirty years, Jesus lived as a man, proving that it could be
done. But being baptized by John, the
Holy Ghost descended upon Jesus giving Him full power from Father to operate in
this world. With salvation, Father gives
us the Holy Spirit so we may have authority in this world. With the Pentecost, He gives us power (Acts 1:8). All we have to do is receive it. Now, empowered by the Holy Ghost, Jesus could
really go out and kick some spiritual butt!
Doubt it? Read the gospels –
giving sight to the blind, healing the sick, casting out devils and raising the
dead. Each event was a boot to Satan’s
derriere.
For
approximately three and a half years, Jesus taught the people about being
forgiven their sins and coming into and living in the kingdom of God. As many did back then, today, we believe Jesus
is the Messiah, of whom the Old Testament prophets spoke and we accept Him as
our Savior (the One who redeems us from death).
God tells us
that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:21). Exampled when Abraham took his only begotten
son to offer him to God upon the mountain.
Interesting, just before ascending the mountain, Abraham told those who
had come with him, that God would provide Himself a sacrifice. Isaac was not sacrificed, but rather a ram
which was caught in the bushes took his place on the altar. God substituted a ram for Isaac (Gen. 22:5-13). Israel’s animal sacrifices always pointed to
what Jesus would do for us. And He did
it! If you will, Jesus, the lamb of God
sacrificed Himself on the cross, shedding His blood four our sin. He took our place. We just need to receive what He did into our
heart.
From the
Mount of Olives, Jesus was taken by those who would condemn Him to death,
before the high priest, then Pilate and then finally to the cross on Calvary
(the place of the skull, Golgotha). So
we believe that Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross cleansing us from
our sin, our unrighteousness, giving us the promise of eternal fellowship with
the Father (John 3:16).
We don’t
serve a dead Savior. For had He died,
then never arose, where is our hope for eternity? On the third day, the grave in which they
laid Jesus, was empty (Matt. 28:1-6)! All that was left were the cloths He had been
buried in. The two Marys and Peter and
John all were witness to the empty tomb (Acts
1:2-3). We accept the testimony of
His disciples that He walked, talked and ate with them for forty days after His
resurrection (He wasn’t a ghost). We
accept their testimony that Jesus was then raised up into the clouds and back
into the kingdom of God (Acts 1:9-11). He, now, is waiting, at the right hand of the
Father (Acts 7:55-56), to come back
for us so that we, too, can be with Him – for all eternity. Oh, by the way, as He yet walked with His
disciples, before His crucifixion, He told them that He would go and prepare a
place for us so that we could be with Him (John
14:1-3). Amen? As further promise for us to be with Him, He
has given us the Holy Ghost, a ‘security deposit, a down payment) that He is
coming back for us (1 John 2:1-2).
Their (our) Testimony
We share our
testimony of salvation or what Father has done, so we can help others. We attest that it is true because, as with
the disciples, either we have lived it or, at least, seen it with our own eyes
(Eph. 4:11-16).
Because we
love God, the second best way we can show our love for Him is by loving those
around us (Mark 12:30-31). We share our salvation experience and what
God has done in our lives to encourage others that they might have hope for the
same.
Jesus
testified to His disciples what He had seen from the Father. The apostles and disciples testified to the
world what they had seen, experienced, with Jesus. Should we do any less?
When we
share what Father has done for us, it brings encouragement to those in
despair. It brings hope to the
hopeless. After all, if God did it for
us, why wouldn’t He do it for them (Acts
10:34-35)?
But, all
this does have some conditions. “Oh!”
you say, “I knew there was a catch!”
First of all, we know that we can do nothing to earn our way into heaven
(Eph. 2:8) but we do have to accept
Jesus into our heart. So, the ‘catch’ is
simple. After all, would you do
something for someone else if they didn’t believe you could do it? If they didn’t believe, would they even let
you try? We need to believe Jesus is all
that He said He is. God does not force
Himself upon us yet He continually does try (despite our unbelief) to draw us
into His Kingdom (1 Peter 3:9) until
we just flatly, unequivocally, deny Him (Rom.
1:28).
Then the
clincher – obedience. As a parent, we
expect our children to obey what we tell them.
Of course, our intent is to help them become responsible adults and know
how to deal with life. Right? Father expects the same of us for the same
reason. Of course, whatever He does is
solely and always for our good.
Sometimes, our earthly mom and dad may not.
Think about
“key clubs” or perhaps a gym membership.
We have to abide by their rules to gain access and then, if we intend to
maintain that membership, we have to maintain their rules. Father expects us to live in His love, once
we have received Jesus, to obtain full privileges (eternal life).
I was shy in
high school. Okay, I was really afraid
of being rejected by girls so I didn’t try so hard. I was a senior and there was an underclassman
who took a shine to me. One of her
classes was working in the school office so she had access to all the student
records. She searched me out, then she
approached me about going to a dance.
Not really having anything else better to do and being surprised that
she even asked me (ME), I said OK. No,
the relationship didn’t last through the summer after school. Yet, she took the time to find out all she
could about me. Father says that in a
true relationship, we need to know all about Him, too. At least as much as we can discover. We meet Him, then our relationship of
discovery begins. Our relationship grows
through bible reading and prayer.
When we find
something good, we share information about that ‘something’ with others. The woman who lost a coin told all her
friends once she found it (Luke 15:8-9).
Our
testimonies help others to come into the promise of eternal fellowship with the
Father through Jesus Christ. Our
testimonies help others to overcome difficulties they may be facing in life.
We share our
testimonies, not to brag on ourselves, but to help others become all that they
can be.
Committed to living for Jesus
Revelation
implies that we should not ‘love our lives’.
That we should be willing to die for the gospel’s sake.
Stephen gave
his life sharing Jesus with the Israelites.
Those who thought Jesus taught blasphemy stoned Stephen to death
believing that he, too, spoke blasphemy.
Many Christians were executed (martyred) because they admitted that they
followed Jesus. There are many
non-biblical stories where missionaries have given their lives as they entered
an hostile environment and shared Jesus.
The book of Revelation speaks of those who will be martyred during
tribulation. If we think about it,
Jesus, in dying on the cross, He was actually the first martyr for the faith. Saints giving their lives for our Lord Jesus happens. Even today, we hear stories of Christians, in
other countries, being martyred for their faith even today. Watchman Nee, a noted Chinese Christian in
China, was imprisoned most of His adult life before dying in a communist prison
in 1972. And the book of Revelation
tells us that until Christ returns, there will still be martyrs (Rev. 20:4).
But all
don’t have to literally die for Jesus to show that we live for Him. That we are committed to the faith.
The bible
speaks of dying daily (1 Corinth. 15:31). That is to ourselves. We yield pieces or segments of our lives over
to Jesus regularly, maybe even daily. We
die to the flesh (Rom. 8:13). That is when we recognize we are involved in
anything that is not pleasing to the Father, we confess, repent and leave it at
the cross, determined not to do it again.
Willing to
die for Jesus also means being willing to be rejected by the world. Many people didn’t like Jesus and many people
won’t like us. Our jobs not to make
people like us but to offer them life through Jesus Christ (John 15:20).
God is love
(1 John 6:5-8). He commands us to love (John 13:34-35). Jesus has
given us the example of how to live in the Father’s love. We need to do it. When we miss the mark, the Holy Ghost is our
strength to make it right (John 14:16-18).
Loving also
means that we trust God implicitly. When
we don’t, we violate His Law to love.
There is, again, confession and repentance for our lack of faith. Once we have truly confessed and repented our
sin, God puts it behind His back (Isa.
38:17). Likewise, we need to let it
go. When the enemy brings it back up (Rev. 12:10), we respond “I’ve given
that to God. Get behind me Satan (Luke 4:8).” Then, continue to press forward in our walk
with the Lord.
We need to
confess that Jesus died for us (an individual), then confess and repent our
sins. We need to live in God’s love. Then we need to be bold to share our salvation
experience with others or any other work Father has performed in our lives that
others may benefit from our experiences.
Then we need to live for Christ, giving (yielding) our lives to Jesus
and living in His love so we can be a true testimony as to who Father, who
created the heaven and the earth, is and all that which He has done for us.
Amen
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