Do you know that your most powerful weapon in your spiritual
arsenal is your testimony? In Revelation 12:11, John wrote that when Satan
attacks God’s people, the devil is overcome by “the blood of the Lamb and by
the word of their testimony….” Carman, a Christian musician from the 80s and
90s has a song that says something like this: “When the devil reminds you of
your past, remind him of his future.” You see, our testimony as Christians is that
our past is in the past. It is covered by the blood of the Lamb, and no weapon
formed against us will stand. Verse after verse in the Bible tells us that we
are victors because we are in Christ Jesus. When the temptations come, remember
your testimony. When you have those moments where you doubt your salvation,
remember your testimony.
But there is another powerful aspect to this weapon. When it
comes to your testimony, you are the expert. You know everything there is to
know about what God saved you from, how He saved you, and what your life has
been like since you have been saved. With that information, you can tell anyone
how to be saved.
As I read these verses, I can almost picture the apostle as
he remembered and recounted his own testimony. A sinner, guilty of blaspheming
God, who did everything in his power to destroy the early church, but then he
had that amazing encounter on the road to Damascus. It was a visit from the
risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. His sins were forgiven, and he was
commissioned as an apostle to the Gentiles. And he knew that this is the
message that we must teach. This is what is important – not fables and
genealogies. Teaching people the Word of God so that they can be saved is what
matters.
Paul also defended his apostleship in a roundabout way. I
know that he is thankful for all that Jesus had done for him. Bringing him out
of darkness to walk in the light of Christ’s love. Transforming him into the
new creation that he was. Enabling him to serve in the ministry because Jesus
had found him faithful.
For every minister who reads the words of Paul – stop and
realize what he was doing. Again recounting his testimony. Why is that so
important? Because there are times when we need to go back to that moment when
we know that Jesus called us into ministry. We need to remember that this isn’t
just a job; it’s a lifestyle. We must remember every time we are ready to give
up or when we begin to doubt our calling that He is the one who called us and
empowered us to do what we do. And in those moment, we must remember that He
didn’t invite us to become ministers – He put us there. And it is by His
exceedingly abundant grace, faith, and love that we can carry on. By the blood
of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.
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