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Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Pt.7 Healing and The Testimony

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Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Pt.7 Healing and The Testimony

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Luke 8:38-39  “Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”

Quote by Charles Spurgeon

“When people hear about what God used to do, one of the things they say is: 'Oh, that was a very long while ago.'… I thought it was God that did it. Has God changed? Is he not an immutable God, the same yesterday, today and forever? Does not that furnish an argument to prove that what God has done at one time he can do at another? Nay, I think I may push it a little further and say what he has done once is a prophecy of what he intends to do again .…Whatever God has done…is to be looked upon as a precedent .… [Let us] with earnestness seek that God would restore to us the faith of the men of old, that we may richly enjoy his grace as in the days of old.”

Why is the testimony critical? Because acknowledging and praising God for what He has done in the past, : 1)Positions us to experience what He is doing in the present, 2)Keeps us focused so we can discern what He’s wants to do in the future. 

  • A testimony is the written or spoken record of anything God has done in history. 
  • God’s acts reveal His ways, and His ways reveal His nature. A testimony reveals not only what He has done, but who He is.  The nature of God. 
  • The testimony is not just about sharing what God has done from our memories, but also revealing what God is like to those around us through declaration and demonstration. 
  • The word for testimony in the OT comes from a word meaning “to repeat” ,“do it again”.
    • Saying (to repeat) and doing (do it again).
    • When we declare the testimonies of God to people, we are creating an atmosphere for them to meet God in the same way that we are declaring. The same way that we met Him. 
    • A testimony is an invitation to receive. A revelation of God through a testimony is always an invitation to know/encounter God experientially in that revelation.
    • The testimony of the Lord must be declared. There is a clear connection between the declaration and the release of power. From the very beginning: God spoke, power was released. This is the pattern God gave us to advance His Kingdom by. One way we put that into action is by declaring what God has done. 
    • When the testimony is declared, it creates access for the very anointing that brought about the testimony in the first place. “TO DO AGAIN”. The fact that it is being released is evidence that God wants to do it agin. 
    • Expectation for Duplication! 
    • We have a responsibility to keep, remember and steward the testimonies of God. 
      • Hebrew root word for male. The male carries the seed of reproduction. When you remember the times when God has supernaturally intervened in your life or the life of others, you are carrying the seed of another miracle. 
      • Remember, declaring the testimony creates an atmosphere for duplication.
      • When you remember what He has done, and you declare it, your taking the seed from one miracle, depositing it into a new environment and it reproduces another miracle. A SEE REPRODUCES AFTER ITS OWN KIND!
      • Stewardship involves speaking. 
      • Declaration does not have to look like preaching from a stage with a mic. In fact, declarations of what He has done is usually more effective though our conversations. Deuteronomy says the testimony some be continually in our conversations. 
      • When we talked about it, we focus on it. When we focus on it, it creates an exception, faith for it to be repeated. 
      • Testimonies release faith for someone to receive what God has made available! Testimonies prophesy God‘s intent and nature to all who hear. When someone hears a testimony of what God has done, their is an anointing on that testimony. It opens a realm of possibility. The atmosphere becomes stirred with faith for the miracle that has been described in the testimony to be duplicated. When we engage our faith and step into that opportunity, that possibility becomes reality.
      • Revelation 19:10 NKJV [10] And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
      • Hebrews 13:8 NKJV [8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
      • Acts 10:34 NKJV [34] Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.
      • Testimonies prophesy God’s intent and nature to all who will hear.
      • To prophecy means to declare the word of the Lord. 
      • Prophecy is either FORETELLING OR FORTH-TELLING. Prophecy either foretells the future or causes a change in the present. A testimony can become catalyst to bring about a change of atmosphere in the present, making room for a supernatural release.
      • The testimony is a declaration that what Jesus has done He wants to do again. 
      • Testimonies encourage pursuit of relationship instead of gifts. Testimonies of God are the key because, in unveiling who God is, they teach believers to pursue a relationship with Him more than gifts or answers to prayer. God is longing for His people to love Him along with His gifts. He is longing for them to encounter His incredible love so they will be motivated by passion more than duty.
      • In every story of what God has done, there is a revealing of an aspect of His nature and an invitation to the person hearing to know Him, to experience that aspect of who he is. 
        • My provider. My healer. My defender. 
        • Testimonies help us to walk in obedience and boldness. 
        • Continual, personal interaction with supernatural God brings a complete change in a persons confidence level. Awareness of God’s ways effects how people think and live. 
          • Deuteronomy 6:17 NKJV [17] You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you.
          • Keep: means to watch or preserve. It is translated in several ways including observe, watch and protect. 
          • Commandments show us how to live. Statutes show us how to think. Testimonies show us how to Expect!
          • Testimonies will become a reference point. This supernatural way of thinking should be sustained through conversations, songs, reading...
          • When we forget the miracles, we talk about them less and our expectation declines. When this happens miracles eventually disappear from our lives altogether. 
          • Testimonies keep our focus on how big our God is! 
            • We spend to much time talking about how big the devil is. 
            • When I’m focused on what the devil is doing I will react to him. If I live in reaction to the powers of darkness, I’m allowing the enemy to influence my life. 
            • Living in reaction to the devil is not the same as living in response to God. 
            • Instead of taking about the strongholds the devil has in our city, our lives... Let’s find a testimony of God breaking that power off someone’s life, combine it with The Word to back it up and declare that over our city! 
            • Spreading testimonies of what God has done will spark hope that will soon become expectation! 
            • The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy: The testimony of a healed body or a healed marriage prophesies God’s intent and desire for every body and every marriage!
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              Ignite RogersBy Ignite Church Rogers
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