The Testimony of Jesus Christ

Brethren, God has given a testimony concerning His Son. We are called to believe that testimony, live by it, and faithfully pass it on. If we are to preach the gospel and discern what is spoken in the name of the Lord, we must understand what God has testified concerning Jesus Christ.

When John was told that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” he had just fallen at the feet of an angel to worship him. The angel stopped him, identified himself as a fellow servant, and told him to worship God (Revelation 19:10). Even in the midst of such a glorious revelation, the messenger remained a servant.

We must remember this ourselves. Whatever the Lord allows us to see, receive, or teach, we remain His servants. The testimony we carry belongs to Him, and we are accountable to Him for what we do with it.

What has God testified concerning His Son? What did Jesus bear witness to? What did His apostles receive and proclaim? Let us follow the Scriptures carefully.

Hear Him

On the mountain of transfiguration, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him. His face shone as the sun, and His clothing became white as light. Moses and Elijah appeared, speaking with Him.

While Peter was still speaking about making three tabernacles, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and the Father declared:

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” — Matthew 17:5 (NKJV)

The disciples fell on their faces in fear. Jesus came, touched them, and told them to arise and not be afraid. When they lifted their eyes, they saw Jesus only.

Moses and Elijah were faithful servants of God. Their presence fittingly brings the Law and the Prophets to mind. Yet the Father directed the disciples to His beloved Son and commanded them to hear Him.

Brethren, we must take that instruction seriously. Our understanding of Moses and the Prophets, our traditions, and everything we claim to have received from God must agree with Jesus Christ. We cannot honor the Father while refusing the Son whom He has sent.

Peter later recalled what happened on that mountain. He wrote that the apostles had not followed cunningly devised fables when they made known the power and coming of Jesus Christ. They had been eyewitnesses of His majesty and had heard the voice from heaven (2 Peter 1:16–18).

Peter bore witness to what he had seen and heard concerning the Lord. The glory he witnessed confirmed who Jesus was.

We must therefore ask ourselves whether we are hearing Him. Have we become so attached to a teacher, a tradition, or an experience that we struggle to receive what Jesus has plainly spoken? When His word corrects us, do we submit, or do we begin to explain it away?

The Father has commanded us to hear His Son.

The Witness God Has Given

In John 5, Jesus spoke of the testimony borne concerning Him. John the Baptist had borne witness to the truth. The works the Father gave Jesus to accomplish testified that the Father had sent Him. The Father Himself bore witness concerning Him, and the Scriptures testified of Him.

His hearers had received more than enough testimony to recognize Him, yet they would not believe.

When Jesus said that if He bore witness of Himself, His witness would not be true (John 5:31), He was addressing how a claim is established by witnesses. He was not confessing that He spoke falsely. In John 8:14 He affirmed that His testimony was true, even when He bore witness concerning Himself, because He knew where He came from and where He was going.

The difficulty was in the hearts of those who heard Him. They searched the Scriptures, thinking that in them they had eternal life. Yet those Scriptures testified of Jesus, and they were not willing to come to Him that they might have life (John 5:39–40).

This should make every one of us who studies or teaches the Bible examine himself. It is possible to know the words of Scripture and still resist the Lord who speaks through them. We may defend an interpretation because we have held it for many years, even when His word is exposing something we need to surrender.

Brethren, we must be willing to be corrected. Our study should bring us into a fuller knowledge of Jesus Christ and greater obedience to Him. When the Scriptures expose our unbelief, pride, or disobedience, we must receive that correction and come to Him.

The Life Is in His Son

In John 6, the people asked Jesus what they should do to work the works of God. He answered:

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” — John 6:29 (NKJV)

He went on to explain that the Father’s will is that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have everlasting life, and that He would raise that person up at the last day (John 6:40).

God has sent His Son, and He calls us to believe in Him.

John later wrote:

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” — 1 John 5:11–12 (NKJV)

This is God’s testimony concerning the life He has given us. That life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life.

We must be careful about the assurance we give people. A person may attend our meetings, understand our language, support our work, and be well regarded among believers. We must still help that person understand the gospel and believe in Jesus Christ. We have no authority to give anyone confidence apart from Him.

Neither can we earn this life through religious effort. God has given it to us in His Son, whom we receive by faith.

The same John who writes about believing in the Son also writes about abiding in Him, keeping His commandments, and loving the brethren. These things belong together. The life we receive in Christ is a life we are called to walk in.

Obedience does not purchase eternal life. Those who have received the Son are called to hear Him and follow Him.

The Son Who Died and Rose Again

We must also be clear about the Son in whom this life is found.

The apostles testified concerning Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh. The Father sent Him to be the Savior of the world. He gave Himself for our sins, died, was buried, and rose again.

Paul reminded the Corinthians of the gospel he had delivered to them: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).

When we say that eternal life is in the Son, we are speaking of this Jesus. He is the crucified and risen Lord. Through Him we receive forgiveness of sins, reconciliation to God, and the hope of resurrection.

We cannot separate the life He gives from who He is and what He has done. Any teaching that uses His name while denying His coming in the flesh, His saving death, His resurrection, or His lordship must be examined against the testimony delivered by His apostles.

Brethren, we have received something precious. We must preserve it faithfully and teach it as we have received it. The changing preferences of our generation give us no authority to change the gospel.

The Testimony and the Spirit of Prophecy

Revelation begins with the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants. John bore witness to the word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ, and the things he saw (Revelation 1:1–2).

At the end of the book, the angel again speaks of being sent to show God’s servants what must take place. He identifies himself as a fellow servant with John, with the prophets, and with those who keep the words of the book (Revelation 22:6–9).

Those who receive these words have a responsibility before God. The blessing pronounced at the beginning of Revelation is upon the one who reads and those who hear and keep what is written (Revelation 1:3).

It is within this book that we read:

“For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” — Revelation 19:10 (NKJV)

Jesus Himself is called the faithful witness (Revelation 1:5). His servants receive His testimony and bear witness concerning Him.

I understand Revelation 19:10 to teach that true prophecy serves this testimony. It must agree with Jesus Christ, with what He has revealed, and with what God has accomplished through Him.

Prophecy in Scripture includes warnings, promises, correction, encouragement, and instruction. Paul teaches that the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3). Its expressions may differ, but no prophetic word has authority to contradict the Lord or overturn the gospel His apostles preached.

This is why we must judge what is spoken. Paul tells us not to despise prophecies, and in the same passage tells us to test all things and hold fast what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:20–21). We must obey both instructions.

The accuracy of a prediction does not excuse false teaching. Neither should a minister’s reputation, confidence, or spiritual appearance prevent us from examining what he says.

Does the message agree with the truth concerning Jesus Christ? Does it lead us into faithfulness to Him? Does it withstand examination in the light of Scripture?

We owe this care to the Lord and to the people entrusted to us.

The Scriptures Opened Through Christ

On the road to Emmaus, two disciples were discussing the death of Jesus and the report that His tomb was empty. They knew much of what had happened, but they had not understood why the Christ had to suffer before entering His glory.

Jesus corrected their slowness to believe all that the prophets had spoken. Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained the things concerning Himself in the Scriptures (Luke 24:25–27).

Later, when He appeared to the gathered disciples, He reminded them that everything written concerning Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled. He then opened their understanding so that they could understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:44–45).

He explained that His suffering and resurrection were written, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:46–47).

The Lord Himself taught His disciples how His death and resurrection fulfilled what God had spoken. Their preaching would proceed from that understanding.

We must follow Him in this. We should read each passage carefully, paying attention to its words and setting, while receiving the fulfillment that Jesus and His apostles have made known.

Our ambitions must never govern our interpretation. We must allow the Scriptures to speak, even when what they say corrects something we have believed or hoped to accomplish.

Faithful Under Suffering

The testimony of Jesus Christ also shows us what faithfulness requires when obedience becomes costly.

Before Pontius Pilate, Jesus declared that He had come into the world to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). Paul later charged Timothy before God and before Christ Jesus, who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, to keep the commandment faithfully until the appearing of our Lord (1 Timothy 6:13–14).

Jesus bore witness while facing rejection and death. Those judging Him could threaten His life, but they could not turn Him from the truth.

We see the same faithfulness among His servants in Revelation. John was on Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Others were killed because of the word of God and the testimony they held (Revelation 1:9; 6:9; 20:4).

Brethren, this must shape our understanding of ministry. Faithfulness may require patience, sacrifice, rejection, and suffering. Attendance, applause, influence, and immediate results cannot tell us everything about whether a servant has obeyed his Lord.

There may be times when keeping the testimony costs us a relationship, an opportunity, our comfort, or something else we would have preferred to retain. We must seek grace to remain faithful.

Our Lord has gone before us. As we follow Him, we must remember that the testimony belongs to Him, and He is worthy of our obedience.

Keep What Has Been Entrusted to Us

Hebrews tells us that God, who spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. This Son is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1–3).

Every claim that God is speaking must be examined in the light of the Son He has revealed. We cannot set aside the teaching of Jesus and then appeal to the Holy Spirit as our authority. Jesus said that the Spirit would glorify Him (John 16:14).

This is the burden I believe we must carry as the body of Christ. We must receive God’s testimony concerning His Son, preserve the gospel delivered by His apostles, and walk faithfully before Him.

As we teach, let us help people know Jesus Christ and understand what He has spoken. As we preach, let us call them to repentance and faith in Him. In our fellowship, let us help one another grow in love, obedience, and endurance.

We must also keep examining our own hearts. It is possible to speak these things to others while neglecting them ourselves. May the Lord give us grace to remain in what we have received and to live as people who belong to Him.

God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

Brethren, let us believe His testimony, abide in His Son, and faithfully pass on what has been entrusted to us.

Your Brother in Christ

Dr. Tunde Caleb Agboola

Bible Teacher and Servant of Christ

Dtransfer Fellowship, Ohio, USA

Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version.