Well, good morning. Turn with me to the last book of the Bible, Revelation, chapter 12.
This morning, we will read just two verses. The first is Revelation 12:17. I think most of us know the context: that woman who represents the church was with child and about to give birth. When that was done, the enemy’s assault came as a result, pursuing her and her seed. That is the context.
And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed,
who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.
It is that last phrase that has been on my heart: “Who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.” Young’s Literal Translation says, “And having the testimony of Jesus.”
Then turn with me again to Revelation 19:10. We read how John fell before the angel to worship. In this great context of seeing the marriage of the Lamb come, and the wife having made herself ready, verse 10 says:
And I fell before his feet to do him homage. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not:
I am thy fellow bondman, and fellow bondman of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus.
Once again, Young’s Literal Translation says, “Those having the testimony of Jesus.”
Lord, we thank You that we can open Your Word this morning. We are grateful that we have Your Word. Where would we be without Your speaking, without Your giving us clear understanding of what You are after in our days?
We pray this morning that, though we may not all have come with a hearing ear, by the Spirit of God You would give us an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Open our spirit, and grant us that living revelation—that divine thing—that we could see and hear what these verses are concerned with.
We say once again, Lord, Thou alone hast the words of eternal life. Unless You speak, there is nothing of value.
So we bow in Your awesome presence, and we pray that the Holy Spirit will fall upon us this morning. May we see Jesus in a way we never have before. May eyes be opened, hearts be touched, and spirits be moved; and may it be said of us in the end that we are among that group that have the testimony of Jesus.
For we ask these things in Your precious name. Amen.
Well, I think most of you know the burden that has been on my heart: this matter of testimony. I think you know by now the impact this little word have has had on my spirit. Some months ago, when I began thinking about this, it seemed to me that this word opened up and made alive to me this phrase reserved for the last book of the Bible.
I wonder if it is not a real play on words that, in the end, the issue will be: Do we really have the testimony of Jesus?
Now, you might argue that, in one sense, every believer has the testimony of Jesus. I would agree with that. If you believe in the Lord, you have a testimony that Jesus is your Savior. You may have a testimony that Jesus is your Lord. You may even understand further and say that Jesus is your life.
But I hope you have received at least part of the burden with which I have been exercised. What we are discussing is a fuller thing—something broader than just personal testimony, something broader than what we know in ourselves and what we have received in ourselves.
In the final end, I believe God is after a corporate expression of who Christ is, manifest on this earth in a practical way among the saints. In that regard there is fullness. There is something of what we sense in the New Testament when we read words such as fullness and completeness: the completeness of what God is after.
So I hope you understand: I am not discounting the individual life. I believe the individual life before the Lord is absolutely critical. As a matter of fact, if you have no individual life and no individual testimony of the Lord Jesus, there cannot be any corporate expression. You have to begin there.
But having said that, brothers and sisters, I will go to my grave with this burden. I believe the Lord is after something more—something broader, something greater, something fuller than merely the individual expression of Christ in our lives. That, I believe, is, in the final analysis, the testimony of Jesus.
You know we have shared two times already. Perhaps some of you have not been here, perhaps some have forgotten, and perhaps some simply need to be brought back up to speed. We are trying to limit this to three messages and take a broad overview of the Word of God.
We are seeking to see the broad movements of God in the Old Testament that affect the corporate life. We looked at the beginning of the Old Testament, when God first moved among His people.
When the people of God were in bondage in Egypt under that tyrant Pharaoh, God called His people out of bondage, out of the servitude of Egypt, and into the promised land. That people, we read in Psalm 78:5, was to be a testimony of God:
He established a testimony in Jacob.
Corporately, they were to be more than merely the sum of their parts. They were to be an expression, in all countries, nations, and throughout the world, of His greater fullness. In that group of people called Israel was to be that definitive expression.
We called this first movement of God the testimony revealed.
Brothers and sisters, we need to see the parallel with the New Testament. Today, it is no different. He saves a people. He brings us out of bondage to Egypt, which is representative of the world, and He brings us to Himself.
In the final analysis, we are to be a corporate expression of the fullness that is in the Lord Jesus. That is the parallel with today.
Secondly, we spoke about the testimony recovered. We looked at the end of the Old Testament. This is a broad view; it loosely covers the history.
One of the things that has to dawn upon us, as we look at the history of Israel, is that the testimony was lost. You might argue with me and say, “Brother, the testimony cannot be lost.” I will agree with you in certain ways. But the expression—that corporate, manifest expression in the people of all that God is—can be lost.
Israel is the definitive illustration of that in the Old Testament. There is a phrase, sadly, which we read in Nehemiah, Ezra, and Daniel: God alone is called “the God of the heavens.” That is because the testimony on earth was lost—at least the fullness of it.
Thank God there were Daniels. Thank God there were ones in that captivity, in the heart of that confusion, who knew and held the testimony of God. It may not have been many, but thank God. In that way, I will agree: it is never lost.
But as far as that full expression is concerned, this is the word that encouraged me as I looked over that period. It comes from 2 Timothy 2:13:
If we are unfaithful,
He abideth faithful still.
Is that not beautiful? If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful still. God, unwilling to put aside the thought in His heart for His testimony to be expressed, took it upon Himself. The final movement in the Old Testament is a sovereign move of God, in which He moves to recover lost testimony.
Thank God for Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, when Daniel was touched by the burden of the Lord to begin to pray for the manifest testimony to be recovered. Thank God there was that move.
In the final analysis, God is a God of recovery. Thus, we shared this thought: the testimony recovered.
Now bring that into the New Testament realm, brothers and sisters. Babylon means confusion. The very name means confusion. As a matter of fact, when Daniel and Nehemiah prayed, there is a phrase about confusion of face. Daniel prayed that twice when he was repenting and asking the Lord to return, to hear, and to move.
There was confusion of face. Likewise, I believe today, in a broad way, Christianity is full of confusion. You may argue with me, and it is okay if you disagree with me, but the people of God are scattered. The people of God are in things in which they are completely overcome with confusion.
The testimony is in bits and parts, and there is no full expression—no full expression, in one way, that the Lord is really after. I think God, in His mercy, is calling in this day, in a spirit of recovery, the people of God to return to Himself.
Now I am going to say the thing some of you have been waiting for me to say, so rejoice in it. You can stand up and shout hallelujah. I do not believe we are the only testimony of God.
But I do believe the Lord has shown us something central to His heart, a burden that is from Him, to which we must remain faithful—come hell or high water.
It is not a matter of being better. It is not a matter of seeing all. It is not a matter of having all. It is a matter of being faithful to what you have seen.
If I go to my grave and cannot utter, “I have been faithful to what You have shown me,” then I believe life was lost. This is the burden with which I have been exercised.
Now we come to the New Testament, the last movement of God. In the New Testament, all the shadows disappear. All the types go away. All the hidden meanings in the sacrifices and all the things set up among the people of God disappear, and we come into the fullness of God’s heart.
I hear people—and perhaps you do it too—talk about “the good old days.” Sometimes I think the good old days were not so good.
I never forget when I was in high school, grown-ups full of wisdom always said, “These are the best days of your life.” Hogwash. Now, I do not want to take away from your high school experience, but it is not the good old days.
The Old Testament showed only bits and parts, shadows and types. We saw God, but He was hidden. At the very best, one could see the backside of God and not be consumed. The Old Testament is itself a partial reflection of what God is after.
But when you come into the New Testament, we begin to get a fuller view of what God is after. We begin to receive a whole view of the counsel, purpose, and will of God.
Brothers and sisters, these are the good old days. I cannot think of anything more wonderful.
In the New Testament, the testimony of Jesus is fully realized. Thank God for that. Let me put this out right at the beginning: in the end, the testimony of Jesus will be completely realized. That is the New Testament promise.
It does not matter, in one sense, whether we are faithful. God will find others, just as He has done through the ages.
I remember recently reading from Broadbent’s book, The Pilgrim Church. Can everyone hear me? Some people complained that they could not hear me last time. I have a hard time believing that.
No one is holding their ears, at least. You can hear me in the back, okay? It was the tape, my wife is reminding me.
Where was I before I interrupted myself? Oh, The Pilgrim Church—Broadbent’s Pilgrim Church. If you have not seen that little book, you really ought to read it. It is not normal church history, established church history, or organizational church history.
In that little record are groups of believers—small and sometimes larger—that God got hold of and showed something of His heart. In them, He manifested Himself in a peculiar, extraordinary way. There were people with odd names. You love to hear Lance, with his refined British accent, speak about all the different names. He gets much of that from this book, The Pilgrim Church.
But in one sense, praise God, His testimony will be realized. The question—the question—is: Are we among those that have the testimony of Jesus?
So this is my burden: the testimony realized. May the Lord help us.
The other day, a sister came to me. I do not know whether she was trying to help me or whether she was confused—perhaps a little of both. I am not even going to look at her, because I do not want to put anybody on the spot, other than my wife, and I do that often.
She said to me, “Is it the testimony of Jesus, or is it the testimony about Jesus?” Think about that. I think that shows deep thought. At least someone is thinking about the message after Sunday morning. It has not been forgotten before lunch.
Is it the testimony of Jesus, or is it the testimony about Jesus? A very good question.
Now I am going where angels fear to tread, because an engineer giving you an English lesson is dangerous territory. But I think this little preposition of is very deep and full of meaning. I think it is full of life, full of content, and full of meaning.
I could have just said, “Well, sister, read the Word. Every time that phrase is used—the four times in Revelation—it is the testimony of Jesus.” If you look in the original Greek language, it is in agreement with the original language. It is the testimony of Jesus.
Why is this so important? Here is the English lesson. Bear with me, because perhaps you will begin to see some real benefit in it.
The word of means belonging to or originating from. Do you get that? You can get two CEUs for English today if you just write it down. I will sign it for you.
The word of conveys the thought of belonging to or originating from. Now the whole thing begins to take shape, because the testimony that some people think is such a vague and nebulous thing is the testimony of Jesus.
It belongs to Him. It speaks of Him. It originates with Him. You get it? I think that is profound.
Everything about this testimony has its beginning in the Lord Jesus. So the first point—the point I want you to get above every other point—is that the testimony is realized in a person.
It is summed up, as we read in Ephesians, in the Lord Jesus. It is captured, as we read in Colossians, in the completeness of the Lord Jesus. The whole thing has its origin, its source, and its fullness in the Lord Jesus. Therefore, the Bible calls it the testimony of Jesus.
Now, about, on the other hand, has a slightly different meaning. This is that poor English lesson you are getting. About means all around, somewhere near, not far off.
I hope you see the difference. If you are saying, “Brother, I do not see much difference,” we will sit down afterward and use this valuable time. But somewhere near, all around, and not far off—that is what about means.
Brothers and sisters, this testimony of God is not merely something near Jesus. It is not merely something around Jesus. It is not merely something about Jesus. It is Jesus. That is the whole thing.
In the end, the testimony is realized in the person of the Lord Jesus. I hope that helps.
You know the expression: “Close enough is only good in hand grenades and horseshoes.” You look puzzled, brother. Did I puzzle you? You have never heard that expression? Oh, I am sorry.
But I hope you get the spiritual point. Some people live as though close enough to Christ is good enough. “If it has Jesus in it, it has to be right.”
But when it comes down to it, God says, “This testimony is all about My beloved Son. In Him alone is it fully realized.”
It is realized in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus.
Let me ask you to turn to Hebrews 1:1. This might help too. I am going to continue the English lesson with prepositions. Now you may have to resuscitate Linda when this is all over, but nevertheless, we will continue the lesson.
Hebrews 1:1 says:
God, having spoken in many parts and in many ways formerly to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days hath spoken to us in Son.
Let me repeat that: God, having spoken in many parts and in many ways formerly to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days hath spoken to us in Son.
That is a very awkward phrase. I am not sure what your version says. Even Darby, trying to help out, put in brackets—which are not in the original—“in the person of the Son.” But if you read the literal wording, it simply says, “In Son.”
That is full of meaning, because it tells us everything is in Son. It may be hard to say, but one brother I was reading said that if we say it enough times—not merely to hypnotize ourselves with words, but to get the flavor of it—we begin to understand it.
Everything is in Son. There is no definite article. It is not “in the Son.” It is not about the Son. Everything concerning the testimony of Jesus is in Son.
One small preposition, if you will, but full of meaning.
Newell said this—turn to Romans 11. This is the last one, and then I will let you go from your English language lesson this morning. Romans 11:36:
For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, are all things.
To Him be the glory for ever. Amen.
Why is this verse so important? Because this verse takes this great letter of Romans, this great doctrinal treatise, and sums it up. It comes to the end of chapter 11, where all the mercies and compassions of God, in all their fullness and completeness, have been laid out before the saints.
We know how Romans 12:1 begins:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your intelligent service.
But what this is all about is that, in the end, at the mercies of God, we discover that it is of Him, through Him, and unto Him. He is the source of all. He is the end of all. He is the beginning of all. In Christ is the testimony of Jesus.
Newell, in his wonderful work on Romans, says that “of Him” means He is the cause and the source. Many people in Christianity have a cause, but is our cause the Lord Jesus? There is the realization of the testimony of Jesus: when He is our cause.
Secondly, Newell says, “Through Him”—as the mighty Worker, speaking of the Lord Jesus, “without creature assistance.” Now, I like that. I do not know whether it helps you, but: without creature assistance.
People all the time say, and you hear it in the world, “God helps those who help themselves.” It is as though His work needed some help.
You ever get something that says, “Some assembly required”? Run from it.
I did recently an investigation down in MCV’s medical library. The staff had decided to assemble all the library shelves and put them up. Over the weekend, all these great volumes in one place came crashing down. They called me and said, “Our building is falling apart.”
I said, “I do not think your building is falling apart.” By the way, I tried to get out of it. I said, “I am not a library shelf expert.” But they said, “We need you. This is an emergency.”
I went down there and started pulling the parts and pieces apart. They had left off the stiffener beam that strengthened these huge library shelves in one direction. Incrementally, over time, it just—well, I do not know how that translates on the tape, but that is a highly technical term—it slowly began to move back and forth, and then finally there was a full collapse.
I said, “You have left out something. Some assembly required.” The archivist said, “I guess we should not put together our own bookshelves.” I said, “I guess that is right.”
Sometimes we think the Lord’s work is so incomplete that some assembly is required, that there is a need for creature assistance. Can you imagine us going to God and saying, “You need our help”?
It is a full salvation, complete to the point that we can say we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Marvelous. Complete without creature assistance.
It brings into effect and realization, one by one, His counsels. Then Newell says, “Unto Him,” as the right, proper, and necessary object and end.
What powerful little prepositions:
Of Him. Through Him. Unto Him. All things.
Paul was caught up at that moment in the spirit of worship, and he said, “To Him be the glory for the ages. Amen.”
May we see the Son as God sees the Son. May we see, as 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
I heard a story about the great painter—he was more than a painter, quite a gifted man—Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci came up with all kinds of ideas. But what you may not know is that he painted the famous fresco, The Last Supper.
It is said that when he thought of painting the face of Jesus Christ, all he could do was give himself to prayer and meditation. Think of that. He thought, “How do I paint the face of Jesus Christ?”
It is said that even after that devotion, when he went to put the brush to the canvas, with his devout thoughts, his hand trembled at the face of Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, have we seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? That is the testimony of Jesus.
Well, that is the first point. There is another point. I hope you stay with me on this, because I think it is of great value.
The testimony is realized—or you can use the word expressed, if that helps you see it more clearly—not only in a person, but in a people.
This is a very significant thing in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Brothers and sisters, this should cause us to fall on our faces and worship the Lord.
Not only has God, in His great counsel and wisdom, determined that the whole expression of who He is would be expressed in the person of His lovely Son, but He has also determined that the person of His lovely Son would be expressed in a corporate body: His church.
I cannot think of anything more wonderful. I cannot think of a greater inclusion. I cannot think of a grander thing than knowing God wants that of us.
Amazing. So flawed, so apt to wander, so bent on our own things; and yet God will not have the fullness of His expression unless He discovers that expression of Christ in a people. To stay with the English language that I promised I would get out of: of Christ, in a people. That is what He is after.
I believe this is right at the heart of the New Testament, and it comes into clear focus there. Hebrews 2:10 says:
For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,
in bringing many sons to glory,
to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings.
Brothers and sisters, thank God, God’s heart and God’s thought are not just one Son. It is all about that one Son, but it is also about many sons. In bringing many sons to glory, there is the fuller expression and fuller realization of the testimony of Jesus.
It goes on to say in Hebrews 2:11:
For both He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one:
for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying,
I will declare Thy name unto My brethren,
in the midst of the assembly will I sing Thy praise.
The Lord Jesus is so determined that this full expression take place that He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are one. In God’s mind, this is the fuller expression, and this is the oneness that He is after.
Amazing. If anyone has the ability to say he is ashamed of us, it would be God Almighty, would you not think? But here it says He is not ashamed to call us brethren. What beauty. What glory. What a thought. That is the New Testament.
Let me put it more specifically, because I want you to get this. Even if we cut this short today and I finish later, I want you to get this:
Without the Son, there is no testimony. It is, after all, the testimony of Jesus.
But without the many sons, there is no full testimony.
You remember in Ephesians 2, when it speaks of Christ, the Head over all things, and then begins to speak of His body, the church. It speaks of this body as the fullness of Him that fills all in all. That is the many sons. That is the realization of the testimony.
Without the church, the testimony is incomplete.
I hear people talk about their relationship with the Lord, and please understand that I believe in a relationship with the Lord. I hate to make qualifications; this should be assumed, especially from those of you who know me after all these thirty-five years.
The Lord Jesus is after a personal relationship with every one of His own. But let me tell you, regarding the testimony of Jesus, it is incomplete without the corporate expression.
I hear those who perhaps do not mean to, but in their thoughts and words they demean the corporate, put it on a different level, and take away from it as though it were secondary and optional.
I believe, when you see God’s heart expressed in the Word of God, you could never say that the corporate testimony expressed through the church is optional. Good grief, if I can use that word—if you are not offended—most of the letters in the New Testament are directly to the church.
Most of the issues in the New Testament deal with problems being resolved in the church. All of the pastoral letters do not deal with individual things per se. You may apply individual things from them, but they are dealing with raising up ones in leadership and with vision, who can bring God’s thought into the house of God.
That is the corporate expression. May the Lord help us.
What I am going to do is finish this second point, because I have more to say. If it is okay, maybe I will take up the last, practical part next time. Let us think about that.
If I get on a roll here, you may have to tackle me. We will see whether we continue or whether I put you through the paces and make you listen longer.
To really understand God’s expression, there is a wonderful word. Perhaps you have glossed over it, or perhaps you think it is one of those high-sounding theological words that does not have much meaning to us as people. That word is mystery.
I do not know if you knew that the word mystery is never translated in the Old Testament. But I think the point is simple: the mystery of God is fully manifest in the New Testament—what He is after.
When you read Colossians and Ephesians, you begin to see the word mystery used on numerous occasions. Let me read to you from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, because sometimes when we hear mystery, we think of a novel.
He says this: “In the New Testament, it denotes, not the mysterious as the English word, but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension—”
Do you get that? Does that hit you the way it hits me? This is outside the realm of unassisted natural apprehension. In modern terms, we do not have a clue.
It takes a divine move. Vine continues: “It can be made known only by divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by the Spirit.”
“In the ordinary sense, it implies knowledge withheld. But in the scriptural significance, it means truth revealed.”
Brothers and sisters, to understand this corporate expression, we need to understand this word mystery. Look, when you go home, in Ephesians. Look in Colossians. In these letters, I think you will begin to see what this means.
I want to deal with the first two occurrences, because I think they set the tone. There is another phrase in Ephesians that helps: “Having made known.” That is what revelation is: having made known.
In Ephesians 1:9–10, it says:
Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
for the administration of the fulness of the times,
to head up all things in the Christ,
the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth; in Him.
Now, brothers and sisters, that is what the mystery has to do with. That is what we have spoken about in the first point. It has to do with our Lord Jesus. It has been made known in the person of our Lord Jesus. That is the mystery.
Then this is repeated again in Ephesians 3, the second occurrence concerning this matter of mystery. Paul says in Ephesians 3:4–6:
By which, in reading, ye can understand my intelligence in the mystery of the Christ,
which in other generations has not been made known to the sons of men,
as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the power of the Spirit.
Then in Ephesians 3:8–10:
To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given,
to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ,
and to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God, who has created all things;
in order that now, to the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies,
might be made known through the church the all-various wisdom of God,
according to the eternal purpose of God.
That phrase, “according to the eternal purpose of God,” is the one place it occurs in Scripture.
I hope you understand this. In the first instance, the mystery is the mystery of God: it is Christ Jesus. In the second instance, the mystery is the mystery of Christ: it is the church.
In the great wisdom of God, these two things come together to form the testimony of Jesus.
When you turn near the close of Ephesians, in the practical part, Paul speaks about marriage and family. He talks about a man leaving his father and mother and cleaving to his wife. Then he says in Ephesians 5:32:
This mystery is great: but I speak as to Christ, and as to the church.
Brothers and sisters, I do not know whether you are getting the burden on my heart, but these two things, at least in God’s view, are inseparable.
If somehow you think you can do without the church, let me be unkind for a moment: you are at least partially blind. Or secondly, you are manipulating the Scripture in a context in which it was never intended to be manipulated.
Oh, I do not understand it. Christ cannot live without His church, but we can live without the church. It is amazing, is it not? Talk about self-sufficiency.
This is a real burden I have had on my heart. Sometimes, when we, the people of God, begin to see problems in the church, we divorce ourselves from the church.
But is it not interesting that our Savior never divorces Himself from His church?
There are marvelous verses in Ephesians 5 concerning the Lord Jesus. Ephesians 5:25–27 says:
Husbands, love your own wives, even as the Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered Himself up for it,
in order that He might sanctify it, purifying it by the washing of water by the Word,
that He might present the assembly to Himself glorious,
having no spot, or wrinkle, or any of such things,
but that it might be holy and blameless.
Think of that. This is His love for the church. He gave Himself for the church. The church that is so spotted and wrinkled, and in itself full of problems in one degree or another, He is refining in this period, if we allow the Holy Spirit to do His work.
He is conforming us to the image of Christ, and in the end we shall be wrinkle-free. Now that is good news. The older I get, the more I appreciate that.
You hear all these hawkers on the home shopping club. They have the latest wrinkle-free cream. “Have you seen it? Really, it works.” I think they switch people, but I am not sure.
They are hawking this wrinkle-free, blemish-free cream. There is no such thing, except the washing of water by the Word and the work of the Lord Jesus.
In the end, we will be free of problems, free of spots, free of wrinkles, free of distortion. That is what? The testimony of Jesus.
I think it is even more extraordinary when you read the New Testament and realize the church was so troubled when the Lord walked the earth. We are not wrinkle-free.
Look at the letters. Galatians was written concerning another gospel. Consider the problems the Judaizers were bringing in. Look at Colossians and think of the Gnostics, with their problems, where Christ was merely a deity or some emanation of God.
You can go on and on. You can go to 2 Peter, the letters of John, or any number of places—not to mention Corinth. Corinth had enough problems for all the churches.
Praise the Lord, when we see the end in Revelation, we see the Lord walking in the midst of the churches that have problems. That is good.
He will never divorce His church—the thing we are so likely to do.
Well, I think this is really the burden that is on my heart. I am going to stop, and I will ask for your prayers for next week. I want to get more into the testimony realized in practice.
Some people say, “When y’all speak, it is too high.” Let me tell you, it is more important to shoot high than to shoot low. You will never have a chance of bringing anybody up.
But let me say that unless there is a practical expression, there is no real and full testimony of Jesus. May the Lord help us.
Have you seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus? That is God’s testimony.
Have you seen the love of the Savior for His people and His grand intention for His own? If you have, fellowship would be a natural thing. It would not be something imposed. It would be something to which you are drawn—the life of the Lord Jesus drawing you into communion and fellowship with the saints.
Can you imagine reading the book of Acts and thinking they had to send out notices saying, “Tomorrow the meeting will be in Joshua’s house”? “Oh, not another meeting in Joshua’s house. We just met there two weeks in a row.”
But it speaks of the heart of those people. They met daily from house to house. They did not own anything of their own, but they met daily, house to house, breaking bread from house to house. They continued in the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
This, I believe, is the testimony of Jesus.
Lord, we come to You. We bow the knee in Your presence. We know that, touching these things, we are touching holy ground.
But we do not want to be those who are partially blind. We do not want to be those who do not see what You see. Open the eyes of our heart. Give us a fuller understanding. Reach deep into our spirit, and reveal the place of the Lord Jesus in the economy of God.
Oh, that we can be like Isaiah and say, “We are those whose eyes have seen the King.”
When we think of Your love, who can imagine? Who can imagine that You would love us so, that You would not want ever to be apart from us?
You are waiting. You are longing. You are expecting that day when the bride shall be ready, and we will be forever with You, sharing all that You are, knowing You in unlimited and unhindered communion.
Show us the church as You see it. Open our eyes to see the thing You love, the thing You gave Yourself for, that we may give ourselves also.
We cannot do these things without the Spirit of God aiding us, helping us, wooing us, enlightening us, and bringing us into Your presence. So we ask You, Lord, to move upon us by Your Holy Spirit.
That in the end it can be said of us: we have the testimony of Jesus.
For we ask these things in Your mighty name. Amen.