“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” John 15:26-27.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
As we continue to consider the Words of Jesus at the Last Supper, He began to let His followers know their mission would not end when He left them and returned to Me. In fact, that would be the beginning of their mission. And what was their mission? To testify of Jesus. But not alone, they would receive a Helper, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from Me and He would testify of Jesus with them, in them, through them and alongside them.
And after He rose from the dead He made it clear:
So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:6-8.
You notice it was only when the Holy Spirit had come upon them that they could be witnesses of the good news of salvation. Why? I pour My love into your heart by the gift of the Holy Spirit and He guides you to all truth, for My Word is Spirit-breathed. And I made this clear when I commissioned Peter to take the leadership of the first community of believers I asked only one thing of him which then, when he replied in the affirmative, gave him the direction:
Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” John 21:15-17.
I asked him three times for many reasons but primarily to establish in his heart that he was totally committed, for hard times would come because he would face the same hostility from the religious authorities and government that Jesus had faced.
Peter later wrote to those he was shepherding:
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9.
You must have love and you must know My Word to witness. Preaching, teaching, witnessing all must be feeding the spirit of the one who is listening with My Word with My love for that person. There is no life and no light in the witnessing and preaching of the Word by one who does not know the joy of My love.
Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom like no one else ever has. Why? He is love and He knew Me and knew the Kingdom. He came down from there and at that time, since Adam had closed it just as his deed did to the Garden of Eden, no one had ever been there.
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. John 3:11-15.
It is not until your love has reached the point that there is nothing in this world or your own life that would hold you back from following Me all the way to your glorious resurrection—no money, no fame, no power, no family member, no job, no hobby, nothing created by your handwork, no gadget, no peer pressure, and no “bowl of beans” (Essau) that can take you away from Me.
“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” Revelation 12:10-11.
But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Hebrews 10:31-36.
Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” Mark 10:28-31.
When Jesus ascended back to Me after paying your judgment and satisfying your sentence so you are fully justified before Me, He poured out the Holy Spirit on you and clothed you in power from on High. And He told you that was to give you the power to go to all the world as My witnesses. And a witness gives testimony.
Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:44-49.
You are to seek out and save the lost, undo the works of the devil, and reconcile people to Me. In other words you are to feed people My Word, which if they open their hearts to receive it can save them and give them eternal life as a new creation in Christ. And the Holy Spirit in you and on you will give you the unction, the wisdom, and the skill to draw people to Me. He will anoint you with the oil of joy and fill your days with opportunities to save people from their sins and bring them into the Kingdom as new creations in Christ.
And you need to pursue love and earnestly desire the gifts of the Spirit so that as you reconcile people to Me you have a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge concerning them so they are blessed by how much I care about them. Also I tell you that you are to cast out demons and lay your hands on the sick so that they recover. I care about the whole person—spirit, soul, and body. And I will give you words and a wisdom no one can contradict or take exception to by My Spirit in you and on you. You are fully equipped to save souls. Just as I told Peter, I will make you fishers of men. And only for one reason—that they may be happy with Me forever beginning now. Let Me bless you to be a blessing to a hungry, thirsty, and dying world that longs for the glorious freedom of My children. Freely you have received, freely give. You are wise to save souls.
I love you. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And as He told Pontius Pilate, He came to testify to the truth. And so must you. Speaking the truth in love will win souls.
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Ephesians 4:14-16.