In this edition of Forms & Patterns™, we are considering something I believe is going to be of great help to us as ministers of the gospel, as believers, as servants of Christ. We are looking at Your Testimony, Your Ministry: How Ministers are Made by Their Own Messages. I am sure that sounds very interesting, doesn’t it? I want us to go very quickly to John 3 and I will start my reading from 27-36. The Bible says:
“John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. 36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
May the Lord bless the reading of His word in our hearts in Jesus’ name. Amen! From verse 27, it is very clear that there is a distinction between the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus, the Christ. And their ministries are peculiar to the degree of the peculiarity of their testimonies, the things that they stood for, the things that they spoke, that they declared as true. Going through the dictionary, I found the meaning of “testimony” and then the meaning of the “testifier” and I want to give it to us as quickly as I can.
Testimony, according to the dictionary, is “a thing that shows that something else exists or is true.” Now, to testify therefore means “to show or be evidenced that something is true.” So, when you are testifying, you are either showing or you are the evidence that a thing is true. So, when you are in the ministry, all you do is to testify that what you speak about, your claims, are true. You are declaring the mind of God and you wanted people to understand with you that the mind of God does exists concerning them and that the mind of God concerning them is true. A minister of the gospel, a preacher, a teacher, an evangelist is one who testifies about God and His kingdom on the earth.
What determines or what shapes your ministry is your testimony, the things that you say to be true or when we now consider you as a testifier, then we are saying that you have become an evidence of your claims. So, the things you are saying are evidenced by your life. When we look directly into your life, we can be sure of the authenticity of your claims. When we consider your marriage, when we consider your ministry, we can conclude that the things you say are true simply because the things you say have become one with the life you live with your marriage and with everything around your life.
So, it is important we understand that when we consider the testimony of a person, we are also considering the ministry of a person. For it is the testimony of a person that forms what we call ministry. Let us see verse 30 of John 3 and examine what John the Baptist said. It says: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” In verse 32 where our emphasis is on, it says: “And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.” Now, if we pause in verse 32a without reading verse 32b, we would see something. The Bible says “what he has seen and heard, that he testifies.” So, you will understand that the things that he testifies about are his testimony and his testimony are rooted in the things that he has seen as a person and has heard.
So, what he teaches and preaches are the things that he has seen, he was a witness of them and he is a witness of them. He has seen them to be true, he has heard them to be true and then he testifies before you and I that they are true. Verse 32b concludes it, it says “and no one receives His testimony.” Another way we can see that is “no one receives his ministry” for his ministry is his testimony. When you speak or you testify in the work of God on the earth and then people believe you, what simply happens is that they believe your testimony. Let us quickly look at this example by considering a man who has very poor records of marital experiences, a man, whom from the very first time he got married; has never stayed married for more than two and half years, and so, he is now like in his mid-forties or early fifties, he is in the work of ministry and is preaching and teaching about marriage, the will of God, telling the people “God ordained that a man and his wife should be together and be forever”, imagine him speaking all that. And then, the people, haven listened to him; begin to reveal his record as a man who has been married. And then, haven reviewed his record, they find it difficult to accept his claims because his experience and testimonies, the things he has gone through, his record, does not support his message.
Now, there is a problem for a man, a woman without a right testimony to speak a right message. There must never be a discord between your testimony as a minister of the gospel and your message. Now, when your testimony is different from your message, then there will be clash, irrespective of how passionate you are in delivering your message. What the people want is this, that a man, the woman who speaks to them on a matter has a testimony of success, a testimony of victory, a testimony of overcoming, a testimony of an overcomer on the same matter. That is why when we are looking at testimony and ministry, we are looking at the things that produces a minister of the gospel, the experiences, the impacts, the things that cumulate into the things he has become, because, nobody comes suddenly to the scene. Everyone has gone through the process, a path in life, everyone has gone through a pattern of life, a pattern of growth, and so, people must be able to draw the line between who he has been and who he is.
They must be able to understand that the things that he stands for today are the things that has shape his life, the things that he has had victory over and the things that he has a testimony on, because in reality, your ministry is as good as your testimony. Now, there is something I want us to quickly see in John 1, we will read from 10-12 and we will read verse 14 as well. The Bible says:
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
One thing I want us to learn from that verse 14a is the statement “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” In reality, I have come to realize that every Minister is made by his own messages. The things you speak about, the things you believe in, the things you confess, becomes the building blocks for your life as a person. And so, if you speak about a thing it must shape the life you are living. You cannot be speaking about something and living a different life. Your message must be aligned with your life and which ultimately defines your testimony and then defines your ministry.
Don’t forget the word is Spirit, the word is from God and the word is among us as we have it in John 1:1, however, the word has now become a flesh and then the word is among us. The word has become a man, the word has become a Minister, and the word is going to the villages, to the cities, proclaiming the kingdom of God. And so, it’s important you understand that, even though it could initially begin with the man who has received a word from God. if it must become an effective ministry, it must cumulate into the word that has formed the man producing the man, producing the woman, and therefore producing the minister who testifies about the same word, whose life has now become a testimony of the authenticity of the word.
So, even though the word is sent first, ultimately the word forms a man, the word forms a woman, and then, the word becomes a minister testifying about the same word. That mean: “Your testimony, Your word.” Let us read another place in that John 1:19. It says: “Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’as the prophet Isaiah said.”
Literally the word that was spoken in Isaiah has now become a flesh in this verse 23. John, haven received the word, has now become one with the word that he has received, and is now become a witness of that word. That is to show us that it is the word that makes the minister, it is the message that makes the minister. See that verse 23 again, it says: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’as the prophet Isaiah said.”
So, you must understand that God said it, you receive it, you become it, then you testify of it. That’s the order that God has put in place, indeed your testimony is about your message which is about your life which forms your ministry, and in case you are thinking “is it possible for somebody to copy my messages, is it possible for somebody to doctor my messages, is it possible for somebody else to preach my messages.” Now from what we have seen here, your message which has made you the man, the woman you have become is your life, and it is rooted in your testimony. As you have lived, as you have fought a good fight, as you have overcome, as you have received a good testimony, as you have experienced, as you have seen and you have heard, the things you have seen which are peculiar to you, as you have seen and heard, you are expected to teach, you are expected to preach.
So, if no one else have seen the things you have seen, if no one else has heard the things you have heard, then nobody else can replace you with the same message in the same ministry because even John was very clear about it, in John 3, it says “it comes from above and he is above all things.” The things he testifies, they are the things he has seen, not me. I didn’t see the things he has seen; I didn’t hear the things he has heard and his ministry is a product of things he has seen and his ministry is a product of things he has heard. His testimonies form the things he testifies about which also forms the life he lives and forms the messages, he preaches.
I cannot preach his message, I cannot do what he has called to do and this is important for us to know in ministry, so that there is no room for competition and everyone abides in his own column and every one matches in his own order of calling. There is a peculiar call upon your life, that is like the word that has become flesh, manifesting itself in your life through your daily experiences producing the messages you preach, producing the messages you teach, which also determines and forms the life you live. As no one else has received that same call, as no one else has been taking through the same experience you have been taken through, no one else can teach what you have been called to teach, no one else can preach what you have been called to preach.
Your testimony is your message, and your message is what makes you and the truer you are to your message, the truer you are to your testimony. The more unique you are in your ministry and the more effective you are. If God must be glorified in your life, you must remain a man with his testimony, a man with his message. There is a message God has given to you, there is a reason why you have been sent to the earth. You must not come here and dump your message and then take all the things that men are saying.
They said to John “are you the Christ, are you Elijah, are you this, are you that?” And he said to them “no I’m not all that I know who I am, I am not even the Christ.” I don’t want to assume I am more than who I am and I don’t want to assume I am less than who I am. “I am the voice of one crying, I am the word, I am the message that was sent by God through prophet Isaiah to the world. I am that voice of the message and I have come to fulfil the Scriptures that was written concerning me and I have become the message and I have become the word that was sent afore time concerning my life. I am now a testifier of the message of the life that I have lived, the message that I have received that has become the flesh manifesting among men.
Thank you for the gift of your time I believe you have been blessed by God. Your testimony is indeed your ministry and you are expected to be made as a man or a woman by the messages you preach. The messages you preach shouldn’t be the things you copy online. It should be the things that God has delivered to you, which must form the man/the woman you are becoming and as you do that God is glorified. John the Baptist said “He must increase, while I must decrease.” As you do that, as you remain true to your messages; God will increase in your life and you will be decreased so that He will be glorified and men will be blessed.
Remember, in case you are in a phase in your life that God is building your testimony, you must be true to that testimony. You must allow that to become the basis, the foundation of your ministry. If you fail in the days of your adversity, it is because your strength is little. Don’t fail, don’t faint, don’t allow your testimony to be taken away from you. Don’t allow the devil to snatch your testimony from you, that glorious testimony that God is building with your life, your discipline, your destiny, your vocation, your commitment, your sincerity, your integrity, your excellence; that testimony that God is building, it is for the ministry that God has commanded you. If you remain true to your testimony, your ministry will stand the test of time and God will be glorified in your life.
God bless you.
