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Testimony of Jesus Christ
By Warren Zehrung – March 5, 2011 |
In our study of the
epistles, we come to I Corinthians, which was written approximately 55 AD,
or more probably ~ 56 AD from Ephesus. It was written before Passover,
because Paul discusses a lot of things to do with Passover in this letter.
It was actually the second letter that we know of to the Corinthians; the
first one was not recorded.
Paul is a very, very interesting man. It helps us to understand a little
bit of his early life to know who he was and how he worked, and what made
him tick.
We read in Romans 11:1 that he was a Benjamite. He referred to himself
as “A Hebrew among the Hebrews”, in Philippians 3:5. That is his physical
heritage.
His birth name was “Saul,” which is a terrible name to name a child. In
Hebrew the name means ‘destroyer'. Maybe it had a different context because
I cannot imagine naming somebody like that, unless they were just a real
house wrecker as a child. I would like to know the derivation of that name.
Then his name was changed to Paul, and it means, little builder or
little worker. It is a whole lot like the name that was the profession of
Christ; Joseph and Jesus were a carpenters, or zimmermen, builders.
In Acts 23:6, we see that Paul was raised in the home of a Pharisee; his
father was a Pharisee. The chances are good that his mother was a Benjamite
or a Jew.
Paul was a Pharisee to the utmost, and you can read about that in
Philippians 3:6.
Tarsus was a major city where you had exposure to many peoples, many
cultures, and different languages. It was the capital of that country,
between Syrians and the Galatians.
In Acts 21:37-40, we read that Paul spoke four languages – Hebrew,
Greek, Aramaic, and Latin. This was a gift that God had given to him. Paul
was an educated man; he had a legalistic mind. Paul went to the leading
university of his day. He was taught at the feet of Gamaliel, as we read
Acts 22:3.
Paul had a tremendous education and he knew Roman law, and he was raised
in the very strict Stoic philosophy. He had a real desire and a
commitment to
learning, and, by virtue of birth, he was a Roman citizen. This was
another gift
that God gave to Paul to help him in spreading the gospel. Being a Roman
citizen also allowed Paul to appeal to Caesar, and to bring the gospel to
Rome.
We get rather settled today, and we know that we will always be able to
meet with brethren, and go up to the Feast each year, but one thing that we
should remember is that Paul only visited each area three times at most. He
went on what we would call three evangelistic campaigns. Those people, in
those areas, could not look forward to weekly services, week after week and
year after year, as so many people in the modern Church of God have become
accustomed to. Paul would visit these people and set them on the foundation
of Jesus Christ. He left those people to live their lives, as Christians.
Paul traveled extensively, and sometimes he walked day and night on
dusty trails – and he spoke to whoever happened to be at Sabbath services at
the local synagogue. That was the typical meeting place, but not always as
they met in homes, they met by the river and other places. The church was
not as structured, and the church was not, well I started to say stability,
but, that would not be correct any more. For a while in our lives it seemed
to be a stable way of praising and worshipping and attending services to
pray to God, and to fellowship with one another. But that is no more.
There were people that only heard, or saw, Paul once, and some not at
all! One thing that they had in common at these synagogues, is that they had
the Old Testament writing, the Pentateuch, the five books of the law, and
sometimes they had a few of Paul’s letters that had gone out.
Paul was able to bring the Word of God to people who had never heard it
before.
Paul was able, because of the calling of God, the commission of Jesus
Christ, to bring the Gospel to the Gentile. As we have seen before, in our
studies of the Epistles, even to the people of Europe.
He made dangerous sea crossings in open boats, and there were times it
seemed that he would drown at sea, but he had the faith to know that God
would protect him. But in dealing with these people, from town to town, he
was attacked viciously and continuously for preaching that Jesus Christ was
the Messiah.
Today, I do not think that we picture how difficult, and how rough,
Paul’s journeys were. Today, in God’s church, there is a different culture,
and we try to be so professional. If you see most of the ministry, in their
three piece suits, and they have the spit and the polish, we would say. Let
me give you an example. When I worked at Pasadena they re-made a World
Tomorrow Television program because one of the presenters had a light flash
off his glasses, and they stopped the broadcasting and bought him some new
glasses, so that everything could be precise. He sat up in his chair and he
faced the camera, and there was not a hair out of place. There was a
different culture in the church about the ministry being on somewhat of a
higher order.
There were men in Pasadena who would only fly first-class, because
anything else was beneath their dignity. I draw your attention to that
because that is not at all the way that the Apostle Paul presented himself.
Paul was a humble and hard-working man. He taught late on into the
night, and then took off walking to the next town, and walked all night
long. That is anything but first-class. Paul was a humble man and he did not
come with words of human wisdom, he did not come with clever words, even
though he was an educated man, but he came in simple, straightforward terms,
preaching that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and He preached Christ
crucified.
But what Paul produced, his letters, his written word, the epistles have
endured, by the grace of God, to untold millions of people. They have been
presented, but many are called and few are chosen.
There are times, Paul reveals to us, when entire congregations fell
away, and it must have been terribly discouraging to Paul.
Was Paul able to say to himself when he got news that a congregation had
completely left him, “It will all work out for the good,” as he wrote in
Romans 8:28?
We are taking on a big project in going through all of the epistles that
we can get through in the scriptures, and now we have come to Corinthians.
God preserved at least two out of three of the letters that are referenced.
Paul’s words were inspired and they had the power of Scripture of equal
weight to the books of the Old Testament.
When Paul came on the scene, Corinth was a hot bed of sin, corruption
and paganism. The church was raised up in the midst of that appalling
culture. It was a part of who and what the brethren were, and that was what
they were raised in, and that was what they had to come out of, when Paul
said, “Come out and be separate”. They knew nothing else.
Temple prostitution and the worship of idols was a part of who and what
the Corinthian people were.
Here in America today, we call ourselves a “Christian” nation, but we
are no closer as a people to the true way of God than were the Corinthians
or Romans for that matter.
I Corinthians 1:1-2 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ
through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, Unto the church of God
which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to
be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ
our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Paul speaks to these brethren as being holy and set apart. ‘Saints’ just
means holy ones. This letter is written to you and me brethren, and the
lessons are for us. There are things here that we could never figure out for
ourselves.
I Corinthians 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and
from the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are blessed that Jesus Christ has revealed His Father to us. When you
hear them say prayers at a football game, basketball game or a car race,
they will mess it up and pray Lord in Thy name, and they do not understand
about God the Father. Today, we will see a great deal about God the Father,
and how the scriptures point to God the Father.
I Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God
which is given you by Jesus Christ;
Interesting that he says “my God.” Maybe that is a reference to that fact
that there was so much idolatry there in Corinth. There was the great
idolatrous temple to Diana, so that is why he says “my God” as opposed to
all of the pagan gods. We are called by the grace of God, not because of
anything that we did, and it was the same with the Corinthians. God had
poured out His unmerited pardon on them, and on us. These people did have
gifts of the Holy Spirit and so forth, as we will see as we go along.
Paul greeted the Corinthians this way:
I Corinthians 1:5-6 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all
utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was
confirmed in you:
What is the testimony of Jesus Christ?
Take a second and jot down in your notes what the testimony of Jesus Christ
is. I am saying that because we can very easily fall into the habit of
reading these epistles and other parts of the Bible, and we come to a phrase
like, the “testimony of Jesus Christ.” This sounds pretty good; maybe those
are the words of Jesus Christ’s testimony. Maybe it is the testimony about
Jesus Christ, maybe it is the gospel, and maybe it is the gospel of the
Kingdom. We need to know what the testimony of Jesus Christ is.
The way that it struck me, when I came to this phrase: the “testimony of
Jesus Christ,” was asking myself what does this mean and what does it
encompass? It is a word that we do not use a whole lot. How many of you have
used the word testimony today? We might refer to the New Testament, not
fully understanding what that means either.
One gentleman responded to last night’s Countdown with: “The testimony of
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." He was quoting Revelation 19:10
That is absolutely true. Should I stop the sermon right there? Are you
satisfied, is that complete, is that everything? No, there is more…
The prophetic words of Jesus alone is not what is being spoken of right here
in I Corinthians 1:6.
We must put the entire word of God together – precept upon precept – line
upon line, and we take all that the Bible says on a subject. We will take a
moment and look at what the Bible says about the testimony of Jesus Christ,
so that when we study through the writings of Paul, we will have a better
understanding of what
is being spoken of here. As we study through the Bible, we will not be
finished doing that before the Son of God is come – and that is even if we
are diligently studying. There is so much in the scriptures, we will never
get it all.
Paul refers to the testimony of Christ a number of times. Obviously, it is
something that he had taught when he was present with the Corinthians.
Otherwise they would draw a blank like many of us do when we read a phrase
like the “testimony of Christ.” It must be something that they used over and
over, explained very clearly to them what it was.
This is the message that Paul brought, and it does have to do with Christian
living according to the Gospel, and according to how we are to live our
Christianity.
I Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with
excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
Paul was a straightforward, down to earth man. But here is what he did with
the Corinthians. Again, what is the testimony of God, what is the testimony
of Jesus Christ? I will tell you now, we need to know.
I Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you, except
Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
He did not want to be the big wheel, he did not want to be the Pastor
General, but he was an apostle by Jesus Christ. He was called to be an
apostle through the will of God. It was not something that he sought, or
desired; but he was knocked down by God. He came declaring the testimony of
God.
Why does Paul use a strong legal word – “testimony”? Why does he not just
say, “I told you all about Jesus?”
There is more here:
Paul says “testimony of Christ”, and then he adds, “that was confirmed in
you”.
What does that mean?
Let us consider this word ‘testimony’ for a moment. What does that word
mean?
It is a legal word, but it means record, evidence, report, witness or
testimony. Let me give you one Greek word – martureo, and sometimes it has a
different ending like marturia, and it means bearing witness, or bearing
testimony.
It is translated many, many different ways in the scriptures. The King James
translators were not consistent in translating ‘matureo.’ It is a legal
term, and they like to mix it up a bit. ‘Marturia’ is easy to remember, we
get our English word “martyr” from this Greek word. A martyr is one who lays
down his life as a witness or as a testimony. They stood up for Jesus
Christ. They died for the gospel; and they died for the faith as a witness
and testimony. So this is where the word martyr comes from, and I hope that
you realize that we are called to be martyrs, to lay our lives down.
In the world there are legal ways to give testimony, or to testify. You
might hear in today’s world:
In law, a “deposition” is the out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that
is reduced to writing for later use in court or for discovery purposes. That
is giving of testimony, and we are talking about the testimony of Jesus
Christ.
An “affidavit” is a formal sworn statement - testimony of fact, and it is
signed by the author, who is called the affiant or deponent, and it is
witnessed as to the authenticity of the matter at hand.
“Attest” means to give legal testimony.
“Set a seal” is the way that it was done in Biblical writings, and it means
to solemnly declare verbally, or in writing, that a particular document or
testimony about an event is a true and accurate representation of the facts.
Those are legal phrases.
So what is the testimony of Jesus Christ, and how is it revealed to man?
God has developed the concept, in the scriptures, of witnessing and
testifying throughout the entire Bible, but there are very few people who
understand or believe what is being spoken of here.
Let us understand the difference between our personal efforts to be a
witness to the world, and the true witness or testimony of Jesus Christ,
Himself.
Let us go to the Old Testament and see how this concept of testimony began
and was developed. It goes all of the way through the Bible. Do not say, ‘I
know what that is, that is a last will and testament, that is just
somebody’s last will’. It goes beyond that. How did it begin?
We will see a clear progression as we study into these scriptures.
As we look into this concept of “testimony” let us begin with the manna that
fell in the wilderness, and we will see how that has to do with “testimony,”
and how that progresses to the Ten Commandments, and then to the Ark of the
Covenant, and then to the Mercy Seat, and then to the Tabernacle in the
wilderness, and then how that relates to the Temple of God on earth, the one
that was built at Jerusalem. And then how that points to God’s throne in
heaven, and it even points to God the Father, Himself. It is all linked with
this word “testimony.”
Exodus 16:30-32 So the people rested on the seventh day. [We start with the
Sabbath Day] And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it
was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made
with honey. And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth,
Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the
bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth
from the land of Egypt.
I believe that Moses takes a little bit to himself here, but he was in
charge. The Jews will pick up on that and say that Moses was the one who
gave them the bread. So Moses is taking a little credit for bringing them
out of the land of Egypt as well.
Exodus 16:33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of
manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your
generations.
I picture the manna as being light and fluffy, a little bit like flour or
cereal.
Remember that the manna that was gathered on Friday did not spoil on
Saturday, because manna had a shelf life of one day. If you tried to save it
over from Tuesday, it turned rotten and had worms in it by Thursday. God
showed them which day was the true Sabbath by doing it this way.
Exodus 16:34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the
Testimony, to be kept.
This is the first occurrence of the word “testimony” in the scriptures. We
will find out as we go along that this was a reference to the Ark of the
Covenant.
Testimony manna did not spoil for generations and generations. That is
interesting. The manna that was picked up on Friday lasted a whole next day.
But “testimony” manna did not spoil for generations and generations. Moses
said to Aaron that this was to be kept in the little pot for “your
generations”.
We are beginning to see a little bit about what the Testimony of Jesus
Christ is all about. You lay up this pot of manna before the Testimony. What
are we talking about here? The pot of manna was a witness to testify that it
was God who sustained the obedient Children of Israel in the wilderness.
This points to Jesus Christ, and it points to the entire plan of God.
The Jews said that Moses gave them manna in the desert.
That manna pointed to Jesus Christ, the bread of God.
John 6:48 I am that bread of life.
The manna was just an Old Testament pointing to this Testament, that Jesus
Christ is the bread of life.
John 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven [actually it was Jesus Christ who gave
them the manna in the wilderness]; but my Father gives you the true bread
from heaven.
This has to do with the Testimony of Jesus Christ. Let us tie it together:
John 6:33, 35 For the bread of God is He [Jesus Christ] who cometh down from
heaven, and gives life unto the world. And Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that
believeth on me shall never thirst.
There is a spiritual component here. Keep in mind that all of this testimony
points to God the Father. That is the end result, that is the goal and that
is the purpose.
John 6:38-39 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the
will of him [God the Father] that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat
of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
The world does not understand that, in fact there have been people who have
been in the Church of God for a while and they do not understand that.
Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament.
The Ten Commandments were placed in the Ark of the Covenant, and another
name is the Ark of Testimony. We are talking about the Testimony of Jesus
Christ.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law [the goal or purpose of the
law] for righteousness to everyone that believeth.
What did the Ten Commandments testify unto? The Ten Commandments were placed
in the Ark of Testimony.
Exodus 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before
me.
The Ten Commandments testify to the true God.
The testimony of Jesus Christ is the focus of the tabernacle, and all its
furnishings. Sometimes we go back there and we see that there is a piece
here that is made like a pomegranate and we say what is this all about?
Exodus 25:16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall
give thee.
Here you put the testimony into the ark which God gives.
Exodus 25:21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in
the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
So we see that the Word of God is also the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Holy of Holies from which God
communicated with Moses.
Exodus 25:22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee
from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the
ark of the testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment
unto the children of Israel.
This is talking about all of the different commands, not just the Ten
Commandments, but the precepts, the statues, all of those things are part of
this testimony that go into the Ark of the Testimony.
Numbers 7:89 And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation
to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off
the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two
cherubims: and he spake unto him.
The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Word of God in the form of the Ten
Commandments, and the other commandments that God gave.
Also, 1 Kings 2:3, we see what was contained in the Ark of the Covenant.
This is where David instructed Solomon, and we see that he is talking about
the first five books of the Bible – the Pentateuch – the Torah – the Law of
Moses.
Exodus 31:7-8 The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the
testimony [Ark of the Covenant], and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and
all the furniture of the tabernacle, And the table and his furniture, and
the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense.
In the book of Hebrews Paul said he did not have time to go into how all
this testified to the coming Messiah – Jesus Christ. At least He told us
about the veil being torn in two in the temple, and how that made the access
to the Holy of Holies available to us. It is interesting that all of these
things had significant meaning, and it has to do with the testimony of Jesus
Christ.
In our Christian living we can just jump over and skip these things, and say
that they are not important. They are very well-founded in the scriptures
with a tremendous basis.
The people who the epistles are written by only knew the Old Testament until
they began to receive the gospel writings in those new accounts.
Exodus 31:18 And he [Jesus Christ] gave unto Moses, when he had made an end
of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of
stone, written with the finger of God. This is how we know that the Ten
Commandments are part of this testimony. Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
Something that is always erroneously depicted is showing Moses with two
tablets, one in his right hand and one in his left hand. You can see four
commandments engraved on one side, usually the right side, and then the
other six on the left side. That might not be the case because Hebrew goes
from right to left, whereas ours goes from left to right.
But, those tablets were written front and back. There were two tablets, and
the first one was written on the front and back, and then the second tablet
was written on the front and the back. They were called the two tables of
testimony. That is not something that we speak of all of the time, but it
needs to be pointed out.
Exodus 32:15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two
tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both
their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
Exodus 38:21 This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of
testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the
service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.
So the tabernacle is being called the tabernacle of testimony. You have the
Manna and it is before the testimony, and you have the Ark of the testimony
and now you have the Ark in the tabernacle. It is called the tabernacle of
witness:
Numbers 17:18 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the
tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi
was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded
almonds.
Psalm 78:5 The testimony of Jesus is the sure promise of salvation in
Christ.
It was given to Jacob, and his name was changed to Israel. That was a
promise that was a covenant. See how it makes that transition from Ark of
the Testimony to Ark of the Covenant.
Exodus 40:20-21 And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the
staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark: And he brought
the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the covering, and
covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.
The testimony was placed into the Ark, the testimony that God gave.
The testimony of Jesus Christ is the entire Bible; the entire Word of God
That is why the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy, because
the entire Bible is prophecy, because it points to the plan of God. Do not
fall for that thing that says one third of the Bible is prophecy; it is the
entire Word of God that points to the Plan of God.
This theme of the testimony of Jesus Christ is consistent.
Revelation 1:1-2 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him,
[God the Father gave it to Jesus Christ] to shew unto his servants [that is
you and me] things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and
signified it by his angel unto his servant John…
Revelation comes from God the Father, the Apostle John did not come up with
it.
Revelation 1:2 Who bare record [testified] of the word of God, and of the
testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
He gave it to John who bare record of the Word of God and of the testimony
of Jesus Christ, and all of the things that he saw.
Revelation 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.
It is important that we know what that is.
Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar
the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony
which they held:
The testimony of Jesus Christ is the entire Gospel message of the good news
of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus was making the point that the only true witness was His Father. It is
the Testimony of God the Father! Has this Testimony of God the Father taken
root in our lives?
I John 5:9 If we receive the witness [testimony] of men, the witness
[testimony] of God is greater: for this is the witness [testimony] of God
which he hath testified of his Son.
That is a very important scripture. It shows that God the Father is the one
who did the testifying. He is testified of His Son.
I John 5:10 He that believes on the Son of God hath the witness [testimony]
in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he
believeth not the record [same word - testimony] that God gave of his Son.
Do you have the testimony of God the Father in you? That is what we should
ask ourselves.
In both verse 9 and 10, it shows that God the Father is the one who gave
testimony of His Son. That is the testimony of Jesus Christ; it is the
testimony of God the Father.
I John 5:11-13 And this is the record [testimony], that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life;
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the
Son of God.
Actually, the witness, the testimony of Jesus Christ, does not originate
with Jesus Christ, but it is the testimony of the One who sent Him, God the
Father. There are very few people who understand the meaning of the
testimony of Jesus Christ, and its critical importance in our lives.
Jesus’ testimony contains spiritual elements and truths that we otherwise
could not know or comprehend.
These spiritual concepts of Christ explain how God the Father would have us
live our lives in a right relationship with Him, and our fellow man.
Only the Father – through Jesus Christ – shows us the way to salvation and
eternal life.
This is what John the Baptist said of Jesus Christ:
John 3:30-32 He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from
above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the
earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and
heard, that he testifies; and no man receives his testimony.
Jesus Christ testifies of what He saw and heard from God the Father. What is
it that He saw and heard that He testifies to?
John 3:33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal [attests]
that God is true.
This phrase “received his testimony” means that Jesus had received the
Testimony of God the Father. When John was speaking he said, “And no man
receives His testimony.”
You and I, because we were called, and because we have God’s Holy Spirit,
can say that we have received the Testimony of Jesus Christ, but not the
world.
Paul explains that:
I Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him.
He is talking about the Testimony of Jesus Christ that He received from God
the Father.
I Corinthians 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the
Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.
That is the Testimony of God the Father.
I Corinthians 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit
of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the
Spirit of God.
As we saw in John 3:32.
I Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but
the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God.
What did God the Father testify?
Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.
That is a testimony of God the Father.
II Peter 1:17 For he (Jesus Christ) received from God the Father honour and
glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them:
and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Jesus Christ’s witness and testimony originated with God the Father.
Jesus said:
John 5:30-31 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my
judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself [testify of myself],
my witness is not true.
Is Jesus Christ a liar? Of course not, what then does Jesus mean by, “My
witness [my testimony] is not true”?
What is being spoken of here is that it is not legally true, because we read
in the Law that one witness is not enough, and at the mouth of two
witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be
established.
We know that God is Love, God is life, God is light, and God is Law. God
always follows the rule of His perfect Law.
John 5:32 There is another that bears witness [testifies] of me [God the
Father]; and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true.
Jesus defers to God the Father’s testimony.
John 5:33-37 Ye sent unto John [the Baptist], and he bore witness unto the
truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye
might be saved. He [John the Baptist], was a burning and a shining light:
and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have greater
witness [marturia] than that of John: for the works which the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the
Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne
witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his
shape.
God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, with a message for all of us. The
Father’s own witness is the testimony of Jesus Christ, and everything points
to God the Father. The Father’s testimony is the testimony of our Lord,
Jesus Christ.
Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the
testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
Jesus Christ was testified of by His Father. It was God the Father who
spoke, and it was God the Father who empowered. Jesus was an obedient Son.
This testimony reveals to us the way of life, and how the Father requires us
to live. It is the good news of the Kingdom of God. The record, the witness,
the testimony, and the report of Jesus Christ tell us how to be reconciled
to the Father, how to receive salvation and how to have eternal life through
Jesus Christ.
John 8:18 Jesus said “I am one that bears witness [testifies] of myself, and
the Father that sent me bears witness of me.”
Jesus says that He is repeating the same testimony, the same witness of God
the Father.
The testimony of Jesus is that faithful witness and testimony to us. It
bears witness of the truth of God’s Word, and the intention of God to have
it alive and working in us, changing us and empowering us through God’s Holy
Spirit.
So much of the world wants to say that they are preaching the gospel to the world. It is not
our testimony about Jesus Christ that is important, but rather the Father’s testimony
that is Jesus’ own testimony.
And finally, it reveals to us the mercy, the goodness, the grace, the love,
and the compassion that the Father has for us, the Children of God.
WZ/pp/sl
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Sermon: |
"Testimony of Jesus Christ" |
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