10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Rev 12:10-11 (KJV)
A young brother wrote, “….I often run into people whom always have a “personal testimony to testify about!”…. I know some people do things ignorantly, but there are those whom do things thinking it is right….Your testimony is your testimony and people don’t need to hear your testimony…People need to hear Christ’s testimony because it is the testimony that saves!”
What this young man has failed to realize, the “testimony of Christ” IS our own personal testimony!
If you review Rev. 12:17, you will find these words, “17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Rev 12:17 (KJV)
What is the “testimony of Jesus Christ”? It’s found in Rev. 19:10: “10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Rev 19:10 (KJV) (Please note, although I could have chosen to use just the part of the text which answers the question, I prefer to quote the whole verse for contextual reasons. It keeps problems away and the assertion one is using the Bible for their own purposes.)
THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS is THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. For one, this was only to be given to the “remnant” church as according to what we read in Rev. 12:17. Therefore, the conclusion could be made those who are NOT a part of the “Remnant” would not have the “Spirit of Prophecy”! This explains quite succinctly, why many so-called denominations, but I’ll refer to them as “non-remnant” churches stay away from the Book of Revelation. They CANNOT understand it. Yet, it IS the book for these times and God promises in the third verse of the first chapter a “blessing” to those who read it!
When you read any book of the Bible, what you are reading is the testimony of that writer. It’s the testimony of Matthew, of Mark, Luke and John. It is the testimony of Jeremiah, of Ezekiel, etc. When someone stands in church and shares their “God-given testimony”, they’re imparting words, spiritual FIGHTING words which encourages those who hear, those who are ABLE TO HEAR, which gives them what they need so they can go out and accomplish victories in their lives by “overcoming” the evil one, Satan.
So, for one to point blank say our “personal” testimony is not to be shared, well, is simplistic, foolish, unscriptural, ignorant and definitely bespeaks of one who is speaking making noise, but there’s nothing of relevance being shared.
In conclusion, let’s examine Rev. 19:10 again and see something which is often overlooked: “…thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Notice there are two sets of colon (:) being used. It is defined as such: “the sign (:) used to mark a major division in a sentence, to indicate that what follows is an elaboration, summation, implication, etc., of what precedes;”
So, to understand this most important line, it would read thus: “thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: IS/ARE worshiping God (in truth as by the Ten Commandments): because they KNOW and SPEAK what they KNOW because it is given them BY God. The word: “prophecy” is defined as “speaking what is inspired” and/or “ability given to speak knowingly of ‘future’ events”. Therefore, one’s “testimony” is something which is “inspired” and “given” for the benefit of others, which may/may not necessarily be that of something to take place but what has already taken place in the person’s life.
Can you imagine a prayer meeting without a period of testimony? I can’t. Well, apparently there are churches where it doesn’t happen and THIS, my Friends, is sad.
TESTIFY!
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