Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians?
請我們翻開哥明多前書 1 Corinthians chapter 2 哥明多前書第二章 The first
five verses 從第一到第五節 And I, when I
came to you, the brethren, came not in
excellency of word or wisdom, announcing to you
the testimony of God.
弟兄們, 從前我到你們那裡去並沒有用高言大字對你們宣傳神的奧秘
For I did not judge it well to
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified.
因為我曾定了主意在你們中間不知道別的只知道耶穌基督並他釘十字架 And I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling.
我在你們那裡又軟弱又懼怕又甚戰驚 And my word and my preaching not
in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power.
我說的話講的道不是用智慧維遠的言語乃是用聖靈和大能的明證 That your faith might not stand in
man's wisdom but in God's power.
叫你們的信不在乎人的智慧只在乎神的大能 The book of Revelation 啟示錄 Revelation Chapter
1 啟示錄第一章 Verse 9 第九節 I, John,
your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation
and kingdom and patience in Jesus was in
the island of Patmos for the word of
God and for the testimony of Jesus.
我約翰就是你們的弟兄 和你們在 耶穌的患難 國度 忍難裡一同有份 為神的道 並為給耶穌做的見證
曾在那 帕摩的海島上 Still Chapter 1 Verse 17 and
Verse 18 還是第一章十七十八兩節 And when I saw him
I fell at his feet as dead and
he laid his right hand upon me saying
fear not I'm the first and the last
and the living one and I became dead
and behold I'm living to the ages of
ages and have the keys of death and
of Hades 我一看見就 撲倒在他腳前 像死了一樣 他用右手按著我說不要懼怕
我是首先的 我是末後的 又是那存活的 我曾死過 現在又活了 只活到永永遠遠
並且拿著死亡和陰間的鑰匙 Revelation Chapter 12 啟示錄第十二章 Verses 10 and
11 第十十一兩節 And I heard a great voice
in the heavens saying now is come the
salvation and the power and the kingdom of
our God and the authority of his Christ
for the accuser of our brethren has been
cast out who accused them before our God
day and night and they have overcome him
by reason of the blood of the Lamb
and by reason of the word of their
testimony and have not loved their lives even
unto death 我聽見在天上有大聲音說 我神的救恩 能力 國度 並他基督的權柄
現在都來到 因為那在我們神面前 晝夜控告我們弟兄的 已經被摔下去了 弟兄勝過他
是因羔羊的血 和自己所見證的道 他們隨之於死 也不愛惜性命 Let's have a word
of prayer.
我們再有一點的禱告 Dear
Lord, our hearts bow low in worship.
親愛的主, 我們的心 俯伏敬拜 Who in this
universe loves us as you did?
在這宇宙的裡面 有誰愛我們像你這樣?
We thank thee that even though we are
the most unworthy people, 我們謝謝您 我們雖然是最不配的人 and yet
Thou are willing to die for us.
但是您這樣願意為我們死 Lord, our hearts are melted by Thy
love.
主啊,我們的心被祢的愛來融化了 We cannot keep
back ourselves from giving over to Thee.
我們實在不能夠不把我們自己給祢 Thou has redeemed us 祢救贖了我們 for a
reason, for a purpose.
為了那一個旨意 And Lord, we do desire that Thy
purpose will be fulfilled in each one of
us.
我們實在願意 祢的旨意 能夠在我們每個人身上成就 It is not for ourselves,
Lord.
主啊,不是為了我們 It is for Thee.
是為了祢 So may Thy name be glorified among
Thy people.
願祢的名在祢兒女當中被告知 May Thy purpose be fulfilled in all
Thy people.
願祢的旨意 在祢所有的兒女們身上得到成全 That glory may fill the universe.
願榮耀就充滿了宇宙 And glory to Thee.
榮耀都歸給祢 We ask in Thy precious name.
我們禱告奉祢寶貝的名 Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, 親愛的弟兄姊妹們 We do thank
the Lord for being so faithful to us.
我們實在感謝主 他是那樣的信誓向著我們 In the last few days 在過去幾天的當中
He gathered us together before Him.
他把我們聚在他的跟前 That is His love.
這是祂的愛 He does not want us to meet
Him with shame.
他不願意我們見他面的時候帶著羞愧 He is coming soon.
他很快就再來 He wants us to meet Him with
joy and glory.
祂願意我們 帶著榮耀跟喜樂的去見他 And that's the reason why He
gave us this opportunity.
這是為什麼 祂再給我們這樣的機會 Our prayer is that
what He has said to us 我們禱告乃是 祂向我們已經說過的話
will become reality in our lives.
實在能夠成為我們生活裡面的實際 There is nothing more important than the
eternal purpose of God.
沒有比神永遠的旨意更重要的是 We thank God that it pleases Him
to reveal that purpose to us.
我們感謝神 祂樂意將祂的旨意向我們顯現出來 And we thank God that He
has always also show us the way to
that purpose.
我們也感謝神 祂把這條道路也指給我們 Our dear brother Lance mentioned the
cross and Christ.
我們親愛的藍帝兄講到 十字架與基督 In that eternal purpose of God
在神那永遠的旨意裡面 God's Son is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world.
神的兒子是在創世的時候就被殺 He came in this world to die.
他來到這個世上為了被殺 Not for himself.
不是為了他自己 He has no need to die.
他不需要死 And God never dies.
神是永遠不死的 But He died for you and for
me.
但是祂為你跟我受死 On Calvary's cross the one who
knows no sin died for us sinners.
不知罪的為我們死成為罪 That we might become the righteousness of
God in Him.
叫我們在湯裡面成為神的義 What amazing love is this!
這是多麼奇妙的愛 Our Lord went to the cross for
our sake.
我們的主為了我們的緣故上了十字架 On the cross He accomplished the work
that God has sent Him.
在十字架上 他完成了神差他來做的功 And He also calls us to
follow Him.
祂也呼召我們來跟從祂 To follow Him in the way of
the cross.
跟從祂在這條十字架的道路上 Because that is the way that will
lead us to the eternal purpose of God.
因為這條路是引我們到神永遠的旨意的道路 The scripture said, by the eternal spirit
He offered Himself spotless to God.
詩經告訴我們 祂用那永遠的名把自己無瑕疵的現象 Purifying
us 潔淨我們 Purifying our conscience from that work.
潔淨我們的良心 That we may worship the living God.
叫我們能夠敬拜那位永生的神 So our dear brother Christian tells us
我們親愛的陳弟兄告訴我們 It is the spirit, the Holy Spirit
that leads to the cross.
是聖靈把我們帶到十字架那裡 And the cross will again lead us
to the spirit.
十字架又把我們帶到聖靈的跟前 This is a principle that is universal.
這是宇宙裡面都行得通的一個原則 The cross is the only way to
the eternal purpose of God.
十字架乃是那唯一的道路 達到神永遠的旨意 Out of the cross of our
Lord Jesus comes the church.
從我們主耶穌基督的十字架那裡 就產生了教會 The church is His own body.
教會是祂自己的身體 And when that body is fully grown
當那個身體長大的時候 Then He will come back and take
her as His bride.
主就回來來接祂的新婦 The body of Christ the church is
born out of the cross of our Lord
Jesus.
基督的身體是從主耶穌的十字架那裡誕生的 And it is built, matured, completed also
through the cross.
也是藉著十字架在那裡被建造 能夠長大,能夠成熟 And that's the reason why
our Lord Jesus call us to deny ourselves,
take up our cross and follow Him.
這是為什麼我們的主呼召我們 要捨棄背起我們的十字架來跟從祂 If we try to avoid our
cross 如果我們要避開這個十字架 Then we find that we are
not growing into Christ.
我們就發現我們就沒有辦法長進基督 So we find how necessary the cross
must work in our lives.
我們實在覺得這是必須的 讓十字架在我們生命裡面工作 It will purify us.
會潔淨我們 It will sanctify us.
教我們成為聖潔 And it will transform us.
教我們被改變 So dear brothers and sisters 親愛的弟兄姊妹們 If
we love the Lord Jesus 如果我們愛我們的主耶穌 We love
the cross.
我們就愛十字架 We know that the cross Originally Is
a sign Of sin Of shame Of death
Of curse 我們知道十字架本來是罪 是羞恥 是死的一個表記 But our Lord
Jesus has transformed it Into a symbol Of
love Of peace Of life Of victory 我們的主就把它改變成為一個
愛生命得勝的一個記號 And that is the reason why today
We glory in the cross Of our Lord
Jesus.
也就是今天我們 因著我們耶穌基督的十字架 而得榮耀 Now in this concluding message
在這個結束的一次信息裡面 We would like to fellowship on the
cross And the testimony of the church.
我們要交通到十字架跟教會的見證 The cross and the testimony of the
church.
十字架與教會的見證 We know that the church is the
body of Christ.
我們知道教會是基督的身體 It is the fullness of him Who
fills all and in all.
是他的豐滿充滿在萬有的裡面 All the riches of the head Dwell
in that body.
同一切的豐滿都住在身體的裡面 And that body is the means to
manifest The glory of the head.
這個身體就是能夠 彰顯侯榮耀的那一個 But the church is also an
instrument In the hand of God.
教會也是在神手裡的一個器皿 It is an instrument for his testimony.
是為了他見證的器皿 And that's the reason why we find
The church is sometimes described As a golden
lampstand.
這也為什麼我們看到教會 是被形容是金燈台 We find that in Revelation chapter
1 我們在其實目第一章的裡面 The apostle John was exiled to
the island of Patmos.
使徒約翰被放逐在巴摩的海島 For the word of God and for
the testimony of Jesus.
為了耶穌的見證為了神自己的道 And there on the Lord's day 在主日
He heard a loud voice behind him.
他聽到後面有大聲音 When he turned around 當他轉過頭來 He saw
a vision.
他看到了一個意象 He saw there were seven golden lampstands.
他看到有七個金燈台 And in the midst of the lampstands
One like the Son of Man.
燈台中間有一位好像是人子 We know that before John was exiled
我們知道在約翰被放逐以前 He was laboring for the Lord.
In Asia that is Asia Minor.
他在小雅西亞為主在那裡勞苦 But after he was exiled to that
island 當他被放逐到那海島上 He was not able to serve
the brothers and sisters Whom he loved so
much.
他就不能夠去服侍他所親愛的那些弟兄姊妹們 So there is no wonder that on
the Lord's Day 所以在主日的那一天 He might be sitting
on a rock And facing over the aging
sea.
他就坐在那個向著愛琴海的大石上 Because there he could see faintly the
outline of Asia.
他可以隱隱地看到 雅西亞的沿岸 He must be thinking about these
churches that he served.
他實在在這裡想著他所服侍的那些教會 But there was nothing he could do.
但他不能夠為他們做什麼 And he was under that kind of
circumstance 在這種的情況底下 That he heard a loud voice
behind him.
他在後面聽到一個大的響聲 So he turned back.
所以他就轉過身來 And then he saw that vision.
他就看見了那個意象 And the Lord himself explained to us
我們的主他自己向我們解釋 That the Seven Lamb stands on the
seven churches in Asia.
那七個金燈臺就是雅西亞的七個教會 So we find that before God The
church is a lamb stand.
所以我們知道在神的跟前 教會乃是那燈臺 Now what is a lamb stand?
燈臺是什麼?
A lamb stand is an instrument That holds
the light And lifts up the light.
燈臺乃是一個器皿 燈放在旗上 而且它把燈高舉起來 The lamb stand is not
an end in itself.
這個燈臺本身不是那個目的 The lamb stand is a means to
an end.
這個燈臺只不過是其中所使用的一個中間的物 The meaning of a lamb stand is
for the light.
燈臺的意義是為了燈 Now even today sometimes people use lamb
stand as an ornament.
今天很多人用燈臺作為一個裝飾品 But that lamb stand will cry out
and say I have lost my purpose.
那個燈臺它會說 哎呀我失去了我的意義 The church does not speak
of herself.
教會不是說出它自己 Her testimony is the testimony of Jesus.
她的見證是耶穌基督 Brothers and sisters 弟兄姊妹們 Our Lord Jesus
is always at the front.
我們的主耶穌一定在前面 And the background is the lamb stand.
燈臺只是背景 In the Old Testament time
在舊約的時代 We remember how God delivered the children
of Israel out of Egypt.
我們知道神如何地拯救以色列人出埃及 And he brought them to himself at
Mount Sinai.
他把他們帶到他跟前到西乃山的腳下 He told them if they keep his
commandment 他對他們說如果他們守神的律法 Then they will be his people
and he will be their God.
他們要做神的子民 神要做他們的神 And to differentiate them from all
the nations 就把他們從萬國裡面分別出來 As a possession of his
own 是神自己擁有的 He gave them the law, the
ten commandments 他把十條誡命律法給了他們 Now the ten commandments in
the word of God Is also the testimony
of God 在聖經裡面 十誡律法也是神的見證 So far as God
is concerned 從神這邊來說 The ten commandments that he
gave is his testimony 這十誡乃是他的見證 No one knows
God 沒有人認識神 God is the greatest mystery in
the universe 神是宇宙當中最大的奧秘 We know him only because
he reveals himself 我們認識他是因為他向我們顯現 And there you find
how God revealed himself In giving the ten
commandments 神為了向我們顯現他自己 他就把十誡給了我們 The ten commandments speak to
us of God 十誡向我們說出了神 What a God he
is 他是怎麼樣的神 Because in the ten commandments You
have two tables 因為在十誡上面有兩塊石板 And on one table
of stone Inscribe four commandments 一塊石板上刻著四條的誡命 And on
the other one six commandments 另一塊石板上有六條的誡命 On the
first table of stone 在頭塊的石板上面 There are four
commandments 在那裡有四條的誡命 And these four commandments Show us
that God is holy 那四條的誡命就告訴我們說神是聖的 Aside from him
there is no other God 除他以外沒有別的神 Now that
is holy 那是聖的 Holy means separated 聖節聖的但是說是分別出來 It
means unique Altogether different 那是說出他是獨特的與其他不同的 God is the
only true God 神是那唯一的真神 There is no other
God 沒有別的神 No one is like him 沒有任何像他的
That is his holiness 這是講到他的神聖 And because he
is so holy 因為他是那麼的神聖 Therefore he cannot be
represented by any image 所以就不能夠用任何的形象來代表他 He is spirit
因為他是個靈 And we must worship him in spirit
and in truth 我們要在靈跟真實的裡面敬拜他 Because he is holy
因為他是神聖的 Therefore his name should be respected 所以他的名要被尊崇
We cannot idly use his name 我們不能夠隨便來妄稱他的名 And
we must keep Sabbath That is rest in
his work 我們要守安息日 我們要安息在他的工作裡面 And rest in his
finished work 安息在他所完成的工作裡面 So in the first table
of stone He shows us that he is
most holy 所以在頭一塊的石板上 他告訴我們他是最神聖的那一位 That is the reason
why you find in the Old Testament time
所以在舊約的時代 Even when it goes into the New
Testament 就算進入新約的時代 When there is a vision of
the glory of God 那裡有神榮耀的意象 You find the
cherubim, the living creatures Will cry out holy,
holy, holy 那你看到那個活物那個基督伯 在那裡喊出聖哉聖哉聖哉 He is all by
himself 他是那獨一的真神 Above everything 超越一切 Cannot be compared
不能夠與任何其他相比 And he is the only one that
needs to be worshipped 他是那唯一配得敬拜的 And then you
find the six commandments In the second table
of stone 你再看到那第二塊石板上的六條誡命 And these six commandments Are
concerned with the righteousness of God 這六條的誡命 乃是關於神的公義
God is holy 神是神聖的 And God is righteous
神也是公義的 He is holy in his nature 他是神聖的
這是他的性情 He is righteous in his actions 他是公義的是在他的行為上
And because he is righteous Therefore he wants
his people to be righteous 因為他是公義的 所以也叫他要他的百姓也是公義 So
the ten commandments So far as God is
concerned That is his testimony 這十誡 從神的角度來看 這是他的見證
Now he has to testify of himself 他要為自己做見證
Because there is no one who can testify
for him 因為沒有任何的人可以為他做見證 No one knows him 沒有人認識他
So he has to tell us Who he
is and what kind of God he is
他要告訴我們他是誰 他是一位怎樣的神 But he gave these ten commandments
the law To the redeemed people of Israel
他把這十條的誡命 誡命就是律法給被救贖出來的以色列人 So when that reached the hands
of the children of Israel 當這十誡臨到以色列百姓的手中 That becomes
law 就成為他們的律法 To God it is testimony 對神來講是他的見證
To the nation of Israel it is law
對以色列國來講這是他們的律法 If they keep the law 如果他們遵守這律法 Then
they will be God's people 他們就是神的百姓 If they
violated the law 如果他們違背了律法 They will be under
God's chastisement 他們就落在神的責罰裡 So we find here the
testimony of God And the vessel, the instrument
of that testimony 所以我們就看到神的見證 跟在那裡盛裝這個見證的器皿 Now this
was most important in the Old Testament time
這是在舊約時代裡面最重要的 Because the whole world did not know
God 因為全世界都不認識神 Only the chosen people In the
nation of Israel They were supposed to be
a nation belonging to God 只有被揀選的族美 以色列這個族美 他們能夠認識神
By keeping the law 因著遵守律法 They will testify
to the whole world Who God is 他們就向全世界來見證神是誰
What a testimony that should be 這是何等樣的見證 But
unfortunately we find the children of Israel They
failed to keep the law 但是很可惜我們看到以色列的百姓 他們失敗了沒有遵循這律法 And
because they failed to keep the law 因為他們不能守律法
Not only themselves will be chastised 不單止他們個人要被管教 But
we find the nations fail to know the
living God 我們也發現萬國也不認識這位永生的神 Now when you come to
the New Testament time 當我們來到新約的時代 We find that
the testimony of God Is now centered in
the testimony of Jesus 我們就看到神的見證 神的見證現在集中在耶穌基督的見證上面 Or we
may say the testimony of God Finds its
fulfillment in the testimony of Jesus 我們就看到神的見證 在耶穌基督的見證上面得著成就
What is the testimony of Jesus?
什麼是耶穌基督的見證?
A testimony is something that you personally experience
見證是你個人可以經歷的 A testimony is something that you personally
see or hear 見證乃是你親身看見親耳聽見的 A testimony cannot be
second hand 見證不能夠是二手的 It cannot be just handed
down 不能夠就是別人給你的 It must be something that you
yourself are present 一定是你親歷其身的 If something happened and
you are there 有一些事情發生你在那裡 Now such testimony is
powerful 這樣的見證是帶著能力的 And such testimony has power in
the court 這樣的見證裡面帶著大能 What is the testimony of
Jesus?
耶穌基督的見證是什麼?
As a matter of fact, the whole Bible
is the testimony of Jesus 實際上來說,整轉的聖經乃是耶穌基督的見證 You
remember, after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus
你記得我們的主復活之後 Two disciples of his left Jerusalem on
the way to Emmaus 兩個門徒離開一路上崗到伊瑪武斯去 And as they
were walking towards Emmaus, they were talking 他們向著伊瑪武斯的路上
,他們邊走邊談 They talked to each other 他們彼此的來對話 With
sadness and sorrow 帶著憂愁,帶著悲傷 And suddenly a
man came and joined them 突然有一個人與他們同行 And that
man asked these two disciples 這個人問這兩個門徒 你們在講什麼?
為什麼你們這麼憂傷?
他說難道你不知道在耶路撒冷發生什麼事嗎?
哦,人人都應該曉得 耶穌
,我們所相信的這位彌賽亞 被釘十字架 他死了
他也被埋葬了 他們所有的盼望都滅亡了
就是他們已經完全絕望了 那個人對他們說 Oh, you
foolish 你們 slow in believing 你們這愚拙小心的人 Don't you
know that the Messiah must first suffer And
then be glorified?
難道你們不知道彌賽亞先要受苦才得榮耀嗎?
And on the road, that man opened up
The Old Testament to them 在路上那人把舊約向他們打開 From the
Law and the Prophets 先知 He explained to
them 他向他們解釋 How all these Law and Prophets
point to the Messiah 這一切的律法與先知都是指著彌賽亞 And that Messiah
must suffer and glorify 那彌賽亞必先受苦才得榮耀 While they were
listening to these words 當他們聽這些話的時候 Their hearts were
warm 他們的心就火熱 When they arrived at Emmaus 當他們來到一馬五十
That man seemed to be going onward 那個人就向前去
So they forced him to stay back with
them 所以他就強留他下來 It was in the evening 那是在最後
So they sat down and broke bread 他們要一起來剝餅
And that man broke the bread 那人剝了餅 And
gave to them 給了他們 And suddenly their eyes
were opened 突然他們的眼睛明亮 It was Jesus 是耶穌 Then
Jesus disappeared 然後耶穌就消失了 And because they have seen
him 因著他們見到他 They have the strength to go
back to Jerusalem 他們就有力量回到耶路撒冷 It is no longer
the end 那不再是絕末 It is the beginning of
their lives 那是他們生命的開始 Brothers and sisters 弟兄姊妹們 Every
time when we break the bread 每一次當我們剝餅的時候 It
is the desire of my heart 這是我心裡面的願望 That
my eyes will open 我的眼被開啟 And see it
is he 看到是他 And it is he 是他
He is the one who break the bread
他是剝餅的那一位 He is the one who pass on
the cup 他是那位把杯遞給我們的那一位 And that should strengthen us
這能夠叫我們得能力 To return to the original purpose of
God 叫我們能夠回到那起初神的旨意裡面 Then you remember in Luke chapter
24 我們在看在路加二十四章的裡面 In that night 在那一天的晚上 The two
men returned to Jerusalem 當這兩個人回到耶路撒冷 And saw the
other disciples 看到其他的門徒們 They were gathered there 他們也在那裡聚會
And they said the Lord has appeared to
Peter 他們說主向彼得顯現 And these two men began to
tell them what happened 這兩個人就告訴他們 他們的經歷 While they
were fellowshiping 當他們在一起交通的時候 Suddenly the Lord himself appeared
主親自的就站在他們當中 And said little children 小子們啊 Peace be
with you 願你們平安 They were amazed 他們裡面實在覺得驚嚇 It
was too good To be true 是太美好了 他們不敢信
So our Lord said Do you have anything
to eat?
主問他們你們有吃的嗎?
So gave him a piece of fish And
a honeycomb 所以就給他一片的燒魚 And our Lord ate them
我們的主接過來 在他們面前吃了 To show that he is really
resurrected 顯明他的確是復活 And then our Lord Jesus 我們的主耶穌
Opened the whole Old Testament to them 把整卷的舊約向他們打開
From the law and the prophet and the
Psalms 從律法從先知和詩篇上所記的 Telling them all that must be
fulfilled in him 指教著他的話都必須在他裡面應驗 That he must suffer
and then be glorified 基督必須先受害然後得榮耀 So brothers and
sisters 弟兄姊妹們 What is the testimony of Jesus?
耶穌基督的見證是什麼?
According to the Old Testament 根據舊約 The law
The prophets And the Psalms 律法 先知與詩篇 They
all testify That Christ must suffer And then
be in glory 他們都在那裡做見證說 基督要先受害然後得榮耀
Not only that 不單只這樣 But in the beginning
of the New Testament 在新約的開始 In the beginning
of the dispensation of grace 在這恩典的時代的開始 We find
John the Baptist 我們看到施洗約翰 He is the forerunner
of Christ 他是基督的先鋒 And while he was preaching
當他在那裡傳道的時候 他說天國盡了你們應當悔改 Then
he saw Jesus coming to be baptized 他就看到耶穌在那裡要受禁
And our brother has already mentioned to us
我們的弟兄已經跟我們提到 Somehow John sensed in his spirit 約翰在他的靈裡面感覺到
That this man did not need to be
baptized 這個人他不需要受禁 He had nothing to repent of
他沒有需要悔改的 So he said to this man 所以他就對這人說
I need to be baptized by you 我要受你的禁
Why do you come and to be baptized
by me?
為什麼你要我給你試禁 You have no need to be baptized
你不需要受禁 我們的主耶穌說 但就要這樣
要禁諸般的義 因為在這一個關口
是神的旨意 我們要悔改受禁
因為天國已經禁了 我們的主耶穌 在那個時候
他背負了我們一切的罪 他成為我們的代替
如果有一個人替別人受禁的 那位就是耶穌
今天如果一個人替別人受禁 那是沒有用的
我們的主耶穌
是為了站在我們的地位上受禁 So, when
our Lord Jesus came out from the water
Something happened The Spirit of God Like a
dove Descending upon him And abiding in him
Not only our Lord Jesus saw it John
saw it too So he testified This is
the Son of God Brothers and sisters John
saw it personally So he testified This is
the Son of God Then our Lord Jesus
was led by the Spirit to be tempted
While After he was tempted for forty days
He came back in the power of the
Holy Spirit And he walked by John
the Baptist saw him So he cried out
Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away
the sin of the world The next day
John the Baptist was with two disciples Of
his disciples And Jesus was walking by So
again, John cried out Behold the Lamb of
God And his two disciples led him and
followed Jesus So John the Baptist is a
witness to Jesus But brothers and sisters There
is much more We find even the Heavenly
Father He testified of his own Son According
to the record of the Bible Three times
the Heaven opened And there is a voice
coming from the Holy One This is my
beloved Son In whom I am well pleased
He is my delight Hear him Brothers and
sisters What a testimony given to our Lord
Jesus And even that Our Lord Jesus once
was questioned by the people That was recorded
in the Gospel of John Our Lord Jesus
said, I am the light of the world
And the Pharisees said You are testifying of
yourself Therefore your testifying is not true Our
Lord Jesus said That is in John 8
And our Lord Jesus said Even if I
testify of myself My witness, my testimony is
true Why?
Because I know where I come from And
I know where I am going Now brothers
and sisters If we testify of ourselves That
is not true Because we do not know
ourselves But our Lord Jesus is different He
knows where he comes from He comes from
above He comes from the Father He is
God And he knows where he is going
He is going back to his Father By
way of the cross Because he knows himself
Therefore his testimony is trustworthy And what does
he say of himself?
In Revelation chapter 1 When John saw
that vision On the island of Patmos He
was so majestic He was so powerful He
fell down as dead Now brothers and sisters
John the Apostle Is the one who knows
Jesus most intimately Among
the apostles He is the first one Who
followed the Lord He and Andrew are the
first two And he was so close to
our Lord Jesus He is the first one
He is the one whom Jesus loved And
during the last supper He leaned upon the
breast of our Lord Jesus He knew the
Lord more than anybody else But when he
saw the glory of the Lord He fell
as one dead You know of all the
apostles of our Lord Jesus Only John saw
our Lord's death on the cross He
was at the foot of the cross And
he could see so clearly That he could
even see the blood and water coming out
with the spear He knew
Jesus crucified But on the
island of Patmos When he saw the risen
Christ When he saw Christ in glory When
he saw Christ as the great high priest
in heaven There was something he had never
seen before And he was full of fear
He fell as dead And our Lord laid
his hand on him As a fear not
Then the Lord gave his own testimony Who
am I?
I am the first and the last He
is the beginning and he is the end
He is the Alpha and the Omega Everything
comes out of him And everything will return
to him He is God He is God's
only begotten Son But our Lord said
I am the living one He is the
source of life He is eternal life And
yet, he said, I became dead He came
into this world To be crucified To die
And buried For our sake But that's not
the end Because he is risen Overcoming death
Overcoming the one who has the power of
death Overcoming everything And he lives
forevermore Brothers and sisters And he said I
hold the keys of death and Hades That
is the testimony of Jesus Brothers and sisters
Let us be very clear What is the
testimony of Jesus?
The testimony of Jesus Is Christ crucified and
glorified And
this testimony Is entrusted to the church The
church is to bear the testimony of Jesus
To tell the world that Christ crucified And
to tell the world that Christ glorified Thank
God In the days of the apostles That's
the way they bear the testimony of Jesus
We remember when Peter stood up On the
day of Pentecost And he gave the first
gospel message And if you read carefully You
find what he said about the Lord Jesus
Christ crucified and glorified Jesus whom
you crucified God has raised him up And
he is anointed As Christ and Lord That
is bearing the testimony of Jesus Brothers and
sisters This testimony
of Jesus Is entrusted to the church But
as we mentioned before To bear testimony Needs
personal experience If the church is to bear
the testimony of Jesus Not only they should
know the fact But that fact must have
affected their lives So the testifier
and the testimony Will become one If
we bear testimony Of something happened And these
things did happen These things are very real
Very true But if when it happened We
were not there We knew about it Because
it was told to us And if we
go to the court And bear testimony We
are a very weak witness The
court will not accept it That does not
change the fact But that fact cannot be
established By that witness
So brothers and sisters If we want to
bear the testimony of Jesus Something must be
done Personally Deeply In us We
can even say We are there We experience
it The cross of Christ Is something That
we have experienced It has worked in our
lives The glory of our Lord Is something
That we personally experience Because His glory Has
touched us And we have been glorified Then
our testimony Will be powerful So brothers and
sisters The Apostle Paul In 1 Corinthians 2
He said I come to announce The testimony
of God He came to Corinth To announce
the testimony of God Which is the testimony
of Jesus Not in
persuasive words Not with human wisdom He
was determined To know nothing But Jesus Christ
And Him crucified Because this is the very
essence Of the testimony of Jesus And then
in 2 Corinthians In 2 Corinthians 4 Verse
5 He said For we do not preach
ourselves But Christ Jesus Lord And ourselves Your
bondmen For Jesus sake Paul
did not come to Corinth To preach himself
He came to Corinth To preach Jesus Christ
And Him crucified And then in 2 Corinthians
He said We do not preach ourselves There
is nothing To say about ourselves All we
preach Is Jesus Christ Lord He is Lord
He is glorified Because when He ascended Because
when He ascended God has glorified Him God
has given Him a name That is above
every name And in that name Every knee
shall bow Every tongue must confess Jesus is
Lord To the glory of God Brothers and
sisters This is The testimony of Jesus Christ
Crucified And glorified But in order To bear
the testimony He said Verse 3 of chapter
2 Of 2 Corinthians Verse 3 And I
was with you In weakness And in fear
And in trembling Much trembling And my word
And my preaching Not in persuasive words of
wisdom But in the demonstration Of the Spirit
And of power Poor
In announcing The testimony of Jesus He said
I am in weakness In fear And in
much trembling Now some people say Now this
is because Of his physical weakness Because of
his physical condition Because Paul He traveled in
The province Roman province of Galatia And
he traveled in places Where malaria Was very
Very common And
most likely Paul got malaria Now if you
had malaria You find it weakened Your constitution
And if malaria Should strike You begin to
tremble And because of malaria Paul Lost his
good eyesight So people say Now that's malaria
But brothers and sisters We believe there is
Something deeper There is a spiritual Reality there
I am in weakness A thorn Is
in my body That thorn Is a stick
A stick In my body It makes me
weak But when I am weak Then I
am strong Because his power Is perfected In
my weakness He said I am in fear
Whom was he afraid of Saul The Pharisees
Was a brave person He was not afraid
of anything People were afraid of him But
he said I am in fear He was
not afraid Of Roman Empire He was not
afraid Of the scribes and Pharisees He was
afraid Of himself He was afraid He himself
Might come forth And he trembled At the
word of God We know in Isaiah
The heavens And the heavens Cannot contain Our
God Heaven is his throne The
earth is his footstool But he dwells With
those Who are of a contrite Heart And
tremble At God's word Brothers and sisters Do
we tremble At the word of God We
are too brave With God's word We need
to tremble At his word It shows that
The cross Has worked Into his very being
The messenger of the cross Knows What cross
is And because of this His testimony
Is powerful Brothers and sisters The apostle John
The same way He was in the island
of Patmos For the word of God And
for the testimony Of Jesus Thank
God We have The testimony Of Jesus And
this testimony Has been entrusted To the church
But how Much Has the church Fulfilled In
that trust You remember Towards the end of
the first century That
was when John Saw The vision On the
island of Patmos And the Lord told John
Write To the seven churches In Asia And
when you read these Seven letters You find
at the beginning Of each letter The Lord
will give A description A part of the
description Of the vision In the first chapter
There in the vision He shows people Who
he is And what he is And so
in every letter It is headed by a
part Of that vision The reason is No
one Local assembly Is able to bear That
full testimony Of Jesus We
need all the churches To join together To
bear that testimony So
what is it That our Lord Jesus Was
looking for In these seven churches These seven
churches Are seven land stands Before God They
have been entrusted With the testimony Of Jesus
How effective Were their testimonies Our Lord Jesus
As the high priest To the church And
there he was There watching And there he
was there Trying to find Himself In them
He was not looking For their labor He
was not looking For their work He was
not looking For their knowledge Nor even their
discernment Or their good deeds Even their suffering
He was not looking For these things He
was looking For himself In these churches Can
he find What he has revealed And entrusted
to them Nothing can satisfy
him Except Himself Because
These churches Are entrusted With the testimony Of
Jesus But brothers and sisters We
find Of the seven churches Most of them
Have failed In their testimony And
because of this At the end of each
letter There is the word He who has
ear to hear Let him hear What the
Spirit says To the churches He Who
overcomes Brothers and sisters So far as the
church in general Is concerned Even towards the
end Of the first century The church Had
failed In the testimony of Jesus But thank
God God never fails So out of this
General declension The general failure His
testimony cannot fail It has to be bared
So he is calling For overcomers Overcomers in
the church Overcomers are not Super Christians Overcomers
are not Normal Christians Those who are faithful
To what They are entrusted with To those
who entrust more More is required But they
are faithful To what the Lord Has revealed
to them And those who overcome That is
overcome The declension Overcome the failure To
the testimony Faithful To what God What our
Lord Has shown to them Faithful To Christ
crucified And glorified Then they will be rewarded
In the kingdom Brothers and sisters How about
today We mentioned Again and again When
The body of Christ The church Is fully
grown Then our Lord Jesus Will come back
And claim His bride But as we look
At the church today It seems It is
Farther And farther Away If That is the
case Will our Lord Jesus Delay And delay
Forever How can God's Purpose Be fulfilled In
the overcomers They overcome The accuser Because
of the blood Of the Lamb Not because
they are better Than anybody else They have
their failures But they Know the blood Of
the Lamb They know the cleansing Of the
precious blood They overcome Because of the word
Of their testimony In other words When they
testify It is true When they testify That
Christ crucified They know what Cross means Because
it has Worked in their life When they
say Jesus is Lord They know what it
means Because they were Under the lordship Of
Christ And their word Is powerful And they
love Not their soul life Even unto death
They are willing To lay down themselves If
they are not Dead martyrs They are living
martyrs They follow the Lamb Wheresoever
He goes Brothers and sisters When death Is
completed God will take it As for the
whole church So what a responsibility
We are entrusted with We
cannot afford To be careless It
is time For us to wake up Thank
God That he has faith In us That
he is willing To entrust The testimony of
Jesus To us Can we Fail him May
the Lord Have mercy upon us Let us
pray Dear Lord Jesus Thou
hast entrusted Us thyself Thou hast entrusted The
cross And the glory To us We
pray That we may know Thy suffering And
know Thy glory That
we may be faithful Witness To thee Make
us a people Who not only wait for
thee But hasten Thy return Not
only in our prayer But in our lives
We are Waiting for thee As
we return To our various places May we
be faithful Witnesses To thee We ask in
thy precious name We ask in thy precious
name Amen