The Testimony of
Jesus
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Let's pray together:
Our Father,
Our toolbox fills up gradually, thanks to the help of Your Holy Spirit who guides us in
the study of Your prophetic word.
We would like to add a third tool to those we already have: the testimony of Jesus.
What is the testimony of Jesus? How can it be useful to us?
Please enlighten us on this subject. In Jesus Christ our Savior we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to
make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
During our last two lessons, we have noticed the importance of the faith of
Jesus and the commandments of God, especially for those who will have to go through the
difficult times which are drawing near.
Now, the book of Revelation teaches us that God's people will also have to rely on a third
tool: the testimony of Jesus.
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Revelation 19:10
And I fell at his feet to worship him. But [the angel]
said to me,
«See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the
testimony of Jesus. Worship God!
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.»
What is the testimony of Jesus?
This verse tells us that «the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy». This is a beginning, but we have to know more about it.
Let's compare two passages of Revelation, in order to better define what is the testimony
of Jesus.
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1 Peter 1:10,11
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched
diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what
manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
How did the prophets bring the testimony of Jesus?
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, they bore witness to Jesus, testifying to His work, His
redeeming death, His resurrection, and His glorious return.
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Acts 10:43
To [Jesus] all the prophets witness that, through His
name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.
By bearing the testimony of Jesus, the prophets indicated that Jesus Christ was
the Messiah men were awaiting for their salvation.
This message of redemption draws us to the foot of the cross where Jesus gave His life for
each one of us.
Then we understand that His sacrifice is the only way to obtain forgiveness of our sins,
and we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord of our life.
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1 John 5:10,11
He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in
himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the
testimony that God has given of His Son.
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son.
The one who bears the testimony of Jesus acknowledges the saving work of Jesus
on the cross, and accepts His death and resurrection as the only way to inherit eternal
life.
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John 3:31,32
He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the
earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.
He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies;
and no one receives His testimony.
To bear the testimony of Jesus is also to accept the teaching of Jesus, He who
has come to reveal the character of His Father, and to invite us to imitate His character
marked by unconditional love.
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John 15:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from
the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
The role of the Holy Spirit is, among other things, to constantly remind us of
the testimony of Jesus, so that we may never lose sight of the plan of redemption God has
set up for each one of us in Jesus Christ.
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1 Corinthians 1:5-8
You were enriched in everything by [Christ Jesus] in all
utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that
you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
And once «the testimony of Christ is confirmed in us»,
our only hope will be the glorious return of our Savior and Lord, and we will do what is
necessary to prepare ourselves for this great day.
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Revelation 1:1,2
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
show His servants, things which must shortly take place.
And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the
word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, and to all things that he saw.
We can learn more about the testimony of Jesus by studying the writings of the
apostle John, the author of the book of Revelation.
More than once, John speaks of the duo formed by «the word of God»
and «the testimony of Jesus».
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Revelation 1:9,10
I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation,
and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos
for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice (...).
John tells us that his faithfulness to the word of God and the testimony of
Jesus was the cause of his tribulations and, at the end of his life, his exile on the
island called Patmos, where he received the visions he recorded in the book of Revelation.
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Revelation 20:4
I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their
witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image,
and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.
And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
John also tells us that these same two elements, the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus, will bring the persecution of Jesus' followers who, just like John,
desire to remain faithful to Him.
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Isaiah 30:9,10
This is a rebellious people, lying children, children who
will not hear the law of the Lord; who say to the seers,
«Do not see»,
and to the prophets,
«Do not prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.»
In fact, to bear the testimony of Jesus, that is, the spirit of prophecy, is to
fulfill the work of the prophets, whose task is to convey to men God's call to repentance
and conversion.
We can easily imagine that this unpopular message is often the cause of tribulations...
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1 Corinthians 14:3
He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and
comfort to men.
God wants us to bear the testimony of Jesus to those around us, just like His
prophets did.
To prepare us for this often difficult task, He has given us the gift of prophecy.
Moved by the Spirit of God, he who receives the gift of prophecy doesn't just foretell the
future: above all, he guides God's people, encourages them and offers them support, so
that they may follow the instructions of God.
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Ephesians 4:11-13
[Christ] Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the
work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.
We can see that God gives the gift of prophecy to His church to uplift the
members of His church, to help them become more like Him, and grow in unity and knowledge.
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Ephesians 4:11
[Christ] Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
1 Corinthians 12:10
(...) to another the working of miracles, to another
prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to
another the interpretation of tongues.
Quickly growing, the early Church was granted the gift of prophecy, among many
other gifts brought by the Holy Spirit.
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Acts 2:17,18
«It shall come to pass in the last days,» says God,
«that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and
they shall prophesy.»
This same gift of prophecy will also be found in the last days, as God's Church
experiences a final reawakening before the return of Jesus.
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Joel 2:28,31,32
And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out
My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall
dream dreams, your young men shall see visions (...).
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the
great and terrible day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The Bible clearly announces that the time before the return of Jesus will be
marked with a generous distribution of the gift of prophecy among God's people, to guide
them through these dark days.
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1 Thessalonians 5:19-21
Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not despise prophecies.
Test all things; hold fast what is good.
Of course, in these last days, false prophets abound.
But the word of God warns us against contempt for all prophets. Instead, it invites us to
test the words and deeds of each prophet, to know if he is really sent by God.
In our lesson «Detecting False Prophets», we saw
the clues helping us distinguish the genuine prophets from the false.
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Hosea 12:13
By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by
a prophet he was preserved.
2 Chronicles 20:20
Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be
established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.
God foretells that the gift of prophecy will still be present among His people
before the return of His Son.
And a genuine prophet of God, once identified, turns out to be a very precious source of
information.
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Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to
make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 19:10
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Let's add the testimony of Jesus to our toolbox, and listen to the message of
those we will identify as being genuine prophets, sent by God to guide and encourage us.
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Let's pray, before ending this lesson:
Our Lord,
The apostle John wrote: «And I saw the souls of those who had been
beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God.» (Revelation 20:4)
Those two sources of truth, Your word and the testimony of Jesus, are so precious that
thousands of people have given their lives for them, preferring to die rather than to deny
them.
Please enlighten us by Your Holy Spirit, so that we too may fully understand the worth of
these two pearls of great price. In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
Source of the Pictures of this Lesson
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Graphics International, 59_197.JPG. Screen 2: MANISCALCO, Joe. In:
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Screen 12: MANISCALCO, Joe. In: «Images from the Bible and Sacred History CD»,
Chosen Works, MLI Software, JM250.BMP. Screen 13: MANISCALCO, Joe. In:
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Association, 1985, p.355. Screen 19: EASTMAN, Bryant. In: «La
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Screen 20: In: «Prophecy Seminars», Seminars Unlimited, 1989, Daniel lesson #9
(«Daniel's Little Horn»), p.4. Screen 21: RUDEEN, Herbert. In: «The
Bible Story, volume 2» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1954,
p.122. Screen 22: In: «The Watchtower» magazine (October 1, 1998), New
York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, p.1. Screen 23: In: «Photo
Gallery 5,000 volume 2» by Media Graphics International, 026_139.JPG.
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The test of Lesson 11 is waiting for you!