Christmas In Future Tense Revelation 19

In heaven every day is a celebration of Jesus

Not just once a year

A good marriage is not a once a year thing it’s year round

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The testimony of who Jesus is:

To adam he was the bruised heeled skull crushing deliverer

To Abraham he was the ram in the brambles

To issaac he was a well in a dry and thirsty land

To Jacob he was a the name changing hip stretcher

To david he was the good shepherd

To mary he was the promise of God’s good favor

To judas he was the rock of offense

To pilate he was the personification of truth

The lost he is hell’s lost horizon

To the saved he is the light for our home in heaven

The testimony of what he does as the center of our lives

Your past can conspire with your present against your future

Without a proper understanding of Jesus we will never allow him to heal our future provide for our now and we will never have a place with him in heaven

He has been God with us in the past and present so that we can be with him in the future!

Mat 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

Mat 15:23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

Mat 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Mat 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

Mat 15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

Mat 15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

Mat 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Be careful who you give your allegiance to

Worship

Pros keneho…the dog who licks the hand of his master

the gentile woman who wanted the crumbs from the master’s table

Your commitment to Christ benefits you in proportion to how much you look to him only for provision

The story of my overexcited basketball game I did not check in so my great shot did not count! Make your life count by checking in with Lord

I’ve become a “scrooge” because my focus has been on myself and not on Jesus…off center…yields off center living

Your future in heaven is to celebrate Jesus

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy

Gift of the future

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

How many times do we see the phrase just as he said or as it had been told to them

Be careful or your past can conspire with your present against your future

Your future is not always your friend

The wise men got theirs have you gotten yours?

An eternal commitment

Your commitment to Christ only benefits you in proportion to how much you look to him for blessings

Jesus testifies to your future because he is the same yesterday today and forever.

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Testimony of Jesus Is the Spirit of Prophecy?

For a long period of time the church has relegated prophecy either to the classical prophets of the biblical period or to preaching (which is normally the gift of teaching, not prophecy). While the revival of interest in prophecy in the church began close to two hundred years ago, there has been a recent upsurge in interest in prophecy, both in scholarly circles and in church ministry. Rev. 19:10 appears to have something to say to this trend, especially since it comes from a Christian prophet. In the middle of a picture of "the wedding supper of the Lamb," when the hopes of the church will be consummated in union with her Lord, John is overwhelmed. He falls at the feet of the angel who is explaining everything to him, bowing his head to the pavement in worship. We are not surprised that the angel stops him (and will do so again in Rev. 22:8-9), but the statement that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" needs explanation. What does it mean? What is "the testimony of Jesus"? Just what is the "spirit of prophecy"? What might either of these have to do with prophecy today?

The New Testament mentions the gift of prophecy several times, most significantly in 1 Cor. 12-14, although Acts mentions prophets several times as well. Yet we know very little concerning what New Testament prophets spoke about, other than the words of Agabus (Acts 11:27-28; Acts 21:1), with the exception of Revelation. This whole book is designated as prophecy (Rev. 1:3; Rev. 22:7, 18-19) and is therefore our most extensive example of Christian prophecy. Within this context John says that "the testimony of Jesus" is "the spirit" of this prophecy.

Prophecy was not, of course, to be accepted without testing it to see if it were genuine or distorted in some way. Several New Testament passages address this issue. Col. 2:18 suggests that some Christians had been led into the worship of angels, probably through prophetic speculation. The church is called to weigh prophecy (1 Cor. 14:29), for, given our fallenness, prophetic words are normally more or less words from God, not the pure word. According to 1 John 4:1, Christians are not to trust every spirit, as not all are the Holy Spirit. Finally, in Revelation, "Jezebel" "calls herself a prophetess," functioning within the church (Rev. 2:20), and the beast "out of the earth" (Rev. 13:11), who persecutes the church, is called a false prophet (Rev. 19:20). All of this shows the need for knowing the criteria for testing prophecy.

The angel in this verse notes that he and the Christians "hold to the testimony of Jesus" and that this same "testimony" is "the spirit of prophecy." That is, it is by this testimony or witness that one can discern the genuine prophetic Spirit. But what is "the testimony [or witness] of Jesus"? The phrase itself occurs several times in Revelation (Rev. 1:2, 9; Rev. 12:17; Rev. 19:10; Rev. 20:4), while a related phrase occurs in Rev. 17:6. There are two interpretations of it. In the first, it is the testimony or witness that Jesus bore to God in his life and teaching, carrying that witness to the point of death and still bearing it from his exalted place in heaven. In support of this interpretation we see that Jesus is called the "faithful witness" (Rev. 1:5; Rev. 3:14), and the whole book of Revelation is referred to as his testimony through his angel (Rev. 22:16). The second interpretation is that this is a testimony about Jesus that one makes by conforming to his commands and confessing one's allegiance and his truth with one's mouth. In support of this we note those who are called witnesses or who give testimony, such as Antipas (Rev. 2:13), the martyrs (Rev. 6:9), the two witnesses (Rev. 11:3) and the victors (Rev. 12:11).

Given that both of the meanings are supported in the text, we may have created a false dichotomy between them, although the accent in the "testimony of Jesus" passages appears to fall on the latter rather than the former meaning. What Jesus witnessed to in his life and death is precisely what faithful Christians are to witness to in theirs. A true testimony to Jesus means obedience to his commands and faithfulness to his teaching. And, as Jesus openly confessed his allegiance to his Father, so the true Christian openly acknowledges faithfulness to Jesus. Life and word go together; the Christian who does not live like Jesus is a contradiction in terms, as is the idea of a secret Christian. Thus we see in Rev. 17:6 that the saints (not just the best of them) bore testimony to Jesus. In Rev. 12:17 to "obey God's commandments" is the equivalent of holding to "the testimony of Jesus." In Rev. 1:2, 9; Rev. 20:4 the "testimony of Jesus" is a parallel idea to "the word of God." The true Word of God, of course, was incarnate in Jesus (according to John 1), came through Jesus and is about Jesus.

That "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," then, means that true prophecy inspired of the Holy Spirit will be in conformity to the life and teaching of Jesus (who was himself in conformity with the rest of the Word of God) and will ultimately point to Jesus. By this standard one may evaluate both the life and the words of a prophet. Revelation itself, then, is on the one hand an attempt to uphold the standards that Jesus taught and lived (such as its call to watching; its rejection of compromise with the world; its demanding that God alone be worshiped; and its rejection of sexual immorality) and on the other hand a call to value the redemption by his blood, live in accordance with his faithfulness unto death, and expect his final victory as King of kings and Lord of lords. While addressed to human beings in seven churches, its ultimate focus is Jesus. It does indeed pass its own test.

In a time when the church is rediscovering the gift of prophecy, then, this verse is very relevant. It is not the messenger who should be honored, but the giver of the message, Jesus himself. He becomes the standard by which all is measured. It is Jesus who clearly distinguishes between John and Jezebel, between the true spirit of prophecy and the spirit of the antichrist. Thus the true prophet is that prophet who lives like Jesus, teaches in harmony with Jesus and points others to Jesus as their Lord and King.

—Hard Sayings of the Bible