The Best Testimony
(Rev 11:7~11)
The best testimony about us is the one that comments on the way that God knows us. In Matthew 16, Peter said, 'You are the Christ, the son of living God!' when Jesus asked 'Who do the people say I am? What about you? Who do you say I am?' Even though Peters confession was not perfect, God enrolled him as the best disciple of Jesus because of his confession. We need our best testimony in order to live our best life on earth. What then is the best testimony?
1. It is devoting our life to testimony. When the two witnesses have finished their 120-day testimony, the beast came up from the Abyss and killed them. Their death means that they had finished their ministry of testifying to the gospel. After Satan could not stop their mission, God let Satan attack the church in its worst depravity. Thus God showed us the mission of the church and what it should testify to before the power of the Abyss overpowers it. The two witnesses stand for the martyrs of the gospel, followed by many other faithful witnesses. The Greek word, martus means a witness, which later refers to a martyr. Thus martyr is the supreme testimony. As in the case of Paul, a martyr seems to be a total defeat, yet in reality it has been the greatest impetus to world evangelization. Nothing is a better testimony than martyrdom. Revelation 2:10 says 'Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.' What a Christian needs to show in his trial is not his own zeal, but his faithfulness, which enables him to be patient to death. We need to eagerly seek salvation as Paul did, who was ready to risk his life for salvation. Our best testimony is our readiness to be a kernel of wheat to die and be buried.
2. It is carrying our cross in this evil world. The Sodomites were called great sinners before God because of their evil deeds, but they had been like the garden of the LORD before they were destroyed. Lot was saved by God but he didnt come back to God. After being saved by God in many ways through Abraham and living in his comfortable circumstances, Lot was addicted to the city of Sodom like a guy who leaves his church, hooked by the worldly pleasure, gambling, and sex. He was like a conqueror bent on conquest until he finally obtained the citizenship of Sodom. Yet God drove him out of Sodom by destroying it, leaving his wife, who looked back, as a pillar of salt. After losing his sons in law, Lot committed incest with his daughters. Thus a conqueror bent on conquest becomes a total loser! What we Christians need to do in this world of Sodomite and Egyptian values is to carry our own cross. We should live like an alien in the world which is destined to fall instead of trying to live here forever, keeping calm in the great turmoil of the world. Thats the moment when we spread the gospel.
3. It is being mocked by the world while doing the ministry of testimony. The road for Christian witnesses is far from that of good treatment and hearty welcome. We tend to blame others for our hardships in order to let off steam. But our present problems are what we have brought on ourselves by chasing the world. To the people who are not ready to repent, the message of repentance can be galling. A true Christian makes others change, whether blamed or criticized. But the so called a nice guy from a human perspective is actually a living dead Christian. A true Christian has no other choice but to give testimony to the gospel of repentance which worldly people hate. Because of this, he will be killed but only for three and a half days. The more we proclaim the gospel, the more conflict with the world we will have. And God who is 100 percent right puts us under the evil power of the world. Because he loves us, he puts us under the power of our trainers in order for us to stand against them. Thats why the world has not completely fallen. God saves our family, church and country through the one person who stands firm in faith, waiting for His providence. The supreme testimony is preaching the gospel of the cross to death, enduring peoples mockery.
4. It is rejoicing in the resurrection. The greatest testimony is standing on our feet with a new breath of life from God after the three and a half days. The Bible describes Christians trials with the phrase three and a half days with the implication of a short period of time, while it describes the power of their royal priesthood with 1260 days, implying that the trial is short, while the glory is long. The healing of our wounded heart should cover our soul, mind, and body. And the church should be a miraculous sanctuary which transforms our scars into stars. We are now deeply indebted to Pastor Son Yangwon, who is called the atomic bomb of love for the evangelization of Korea. One deaconess of our church touches our heart by her sacrificial application of helping her husbands concubine, which finally led him back to her. Every time we get angry, we need to overcome it by the power of our Lord. Our application of martyrdom in this last generation is not losing our temper. May God bless us all to be the seeds of the gospel by showing our martyr application over trivial matters in our daily life!
But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them (Rev 11:11).
