In my youth I was taught that if a person testified in a
court of law, then that person would have to say what actually happened. A witness was supposed to say what he
actually saw. What court would accept a
testimony of, “I feel,” or “I think,” or even “I know,” without the witness
having actually saw the crime?
We testify of what we know, because we experienced it
ourselves. We bear witness of what we
have seen, because we were there, we saw it with our own eyes.
There is a custom in some of the religious communities where
the words testify, testimony, and bearing witness, etc are just buzz words that
do not actually mean what they mean in any other context. How often have we heard a person speak from
the pulpit and testify of their beliefs, without any actual, physical
experience? Would anyone be happy if
they were brought into a court of law and charged with a crime they didn’t
commit, and the prosecution had only witnesses that said I feel, he is guilty?
Or ‘I know he is guilty, even though I never saw him do it, but I just know he
is?’
Great care must be taken when speaking of the things of God,
lest we be guilty of taking the name of the Lord in vain. It is good that a person can bear witness of
the workings of the Holy Spirit, but a person has to be careful not to say that
they know anything more than what they have experienced.
Testiomony, knowing, and bearing witness, actually
experiencing, actually seeing, actually touching with your own hands, actually
talking back and forth, not just I know because I feel it inside. To feel something inside is good. To feel
what is right and wrong is good. But it
is not the same as actually talking to God, to actually shaking his hand, to
actually embracing him.
The conclusion of this rant is, that the things that I write
on this blog are things that I have actually experienced. They are not made up. They are not intangible. They are fact as they have happened to me, as I have actually experienced them. I will try to be careful to state whether something is my opinion, or from what source I received it.
I have realized this recently, too, and it puts Rev 19:10 in a whole new light: "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." True prophets, or those who are given to speak forth the words of Christ, are witnesses of the reality and divinity of the risen Lord.
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