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The Sound of Heaven
Living Epistles
You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
Clearly you are an epistle of Christ,
ministered by us, written not with ink
but by the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh,
that is, of the heart.
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2 Corinthians 3: 2-3
At the root of our Salvation is the call to be a living epistle. This is effectively what Jesus expressed in calling us to be as salt and light to a darkened world.
The one constant within life is change, and our testimonies should grow and change as we grow and change. A lack of such may indicate that we’ve fallen into the trap of religious rhetoric that many do. There are numerous types and examples of testimonies and good discernment helps to make for effective testimony. While some carry life forever, others are like Manna in that they are only effective in the season they are relevant. As living epistles, we are meant to live a relevant life and we are purposed to “live ready” regardless of season.
A heart that is ready to yield testimony is a result of learning to continually grow in Christ. We grow by maintaining a Word life, a Prayer life and living out of a Scriptural worldview as we learn to ask, seek and knock after the heart and mind of God. These are the foundational blocks of a life of growth that produces life sustaining and life-giving testimony. The question is, “Are we growing”?
Growth is, and always will be, essential. Without growth we remain unprepared to give timely, recent and effective testimony. A deficiency of testimony within our walk with Christ can indicate a very serious problem in our spiritual health. This brings us to our final segment about our first works.
The Importance of Our
Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
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Revelation 2:4-5
Finally, and very important, is the principle we find in the Revelation 2: 4-5 admonition Jesus gave the church in Ephesus. This was given to believers He said had left their first love. Too often preachers and teachers wrongly teach that Jesus commanded them, or us, to return to our first love. This is absolutely wrong, examine Revelation 2:5! Jesus clearly instructs us to return to our first WORKS in order to rekindle the first love we once had for Him.
Without exception the first work is the same for every believer. So, what was your first work? It was the work of honesty. Not one of us came to receive Jesus as Savior until the difficult work of honesty allowed us to get straight with the reality of recognizing our-self as a sinner in need of Him. For many of us buried in pride, lies and blindness it took years for the Lord to bring us to that honest moment. Honesty is married to truth that God purposes to find its way to what the Word calls our inner most parts (Psalm 51:6). Honesty is often a difficult work to achieve.
Jesus spoke of works in a plural sense. There is a second work common to the believer in their initial days of first loving Him. Many, if not most, Christians will remember this first WORK as having been TESTIMONY. Many of us moved in exuberance like missionaries spreading the testimony of the new reality of Jesus in our life to every and anyone willing to listen. After our initial first work of honesty in coming to grips with our sin and need for a Savior, it is testimony that is among the most common first works that touched other lives. These are the works Jesus called Ephesus to in their waning love.
Matthias Ministries maintains that as time grows later, and the hearts of men grow colder, maintaining and increasing in the love of God is crucial for His people. The offerings of our testimonies of Christ, which Revelation 19:10 calls “the spirit of prophecy” ignites and re-ignites our own passion for Him. Owning truth in our inward parts through honesty and yielding testimony that glorifies God before men is indispensable for spiritual survival. It is equally vital if we are to live as the over-comers He will bless and work through even in the most challenging times.
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:
and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you
with meekness and fear:”
1 Peter 3:15
Our Place
in
The Sound of Heaven
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We are called to bring glory to God and to radiate His glory to others.
As "living epistles read of all men" we are to publish our testimonies of His faithfulness in our lives.
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Collectively this is the Sound of Heaven of which each of us are privileged to have a part.
We pray the Holy Spirit has planted seed that will grow within you as you’ve considered these seven segments within the Sound of Heaven. Our effort has been to write the vision and make it plain. Hopefully it has made a clear case for the essential aspect that testimony is meant to play in the lives of all blessed with a voice in the Body of Christ. We will leave you with one more amazingly important aspect of testimony addressed in the Word as we consider the brethren spoken of in Revelation 12:11.
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.
Revelation 12:11
Nothing can add to the power of the blood sacrifice of our Savior. Yet, our testimony displays the reality of our faith in His completed work. For some the most amazing aspect of Revelation 12:11 is the 2nd time the word “and” is used in this powerful Scripture. By His blood AND our testimony…amazing! The thought that there could be anything but the blood of Christ alone required for our becoming over-comers is simply overwhelming. Yet, the faithful brethren recognized in this powerful Scriptural account show us how testimony is the very substance of faith in Christ which assures our victory over all demonic power. Moreover, the heart of these brethren which treasured their testimony in Christ above their desire to avoid death, speaks in a way that words alone never could. Revelation 12:11 should both humble us and deeply impress upon every believer the power and importance of testimony.
Bless you for investing the time to read the Sound of Heaven. Our sincere prayer is that the Holy Spirit continues to find hearts that are increasingly open to the importance of personal testimony. We are never finished learning of how God desires to move through our transparent testimonies of His faithfulness in our life. Our calling to such is one of growth, understanding and a willing heart. Ponder the thought of the Heavenly host who behold the great privilege of your testimonies that result from the Grace reserved only for the Redeemed.
This concludes the portion of the Matthias Ministries vision called the “Sound of Heaven”. But, it is a perfect place to look at a few simple "Examples of Testimony".
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Next: "Examples of Testimony"
