Prophecy — the Testimony of Jesus
In the book of revelation in the bible, the apostle John describes Jesus Christ as “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead (by His resurrection from the dead), and the ruler over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5).
Revelation tells us that Jesus sent His angel to His servant John, “who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:2).
When the angel of the Lord appeared to John he said to him: “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” (Revelation 19: 10).
The Greek word for testimony used in these verses is ‘Martyria’ – meaning: “record”, “report”, “testimony”, “witness”, “the office committed to the prophets testifying concerning future events”, “what one testifies” (Strong’s Concordance). This Scripture essentially tells us, that as brethren or believers in Christ, through prophecy, God has made available to us the testimony of Jesus!
- Prophecy is the voice of Jesus testifying to what he has done, is doing and is about to do.
- Christ’s relationship to us and His will for our lives as believers, is revealed to us through the Spirit of prophecy.
God does not want us to be ignorant of His will for our lives. He wants us to receive prophetic revelation so we gain spiritual understanding about what He is doing, not just the understanding of our intellect or mind.
When we receive revelation through prophecy, God guides us with His eye. We gain spiritual insight so that we are guided by what the all-knowing God sees, not by what the eye of natural man sees. “And there is no creature (Strong’s Concordance: “building”, “creation”, “creature”, “ordinance”) hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4: 13).
Through prophecy our faith is built so we then begin to walk in obedience, according to the purposes of God. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you” (Psalm 32:8 & 9).
The Spirit of the Lord
The prophet Isaiah foretold of Jesus and where His discernment would come from; that He would not judge by the sight of His eyes or the hearing of His ears, but by the Spirit of the Lord. “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might. The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears” (Isaiah 11:1-3).
The Spirit of the Lord that rested upon Jesus is described according to Strong’s Concordance as:
The Spirit of wisdom (wisdom, wisely, skilful man, wits);
The Spirit of understanding (understanding, wisdom, knowledge, meaning, perfectly, understand, shrewdness, skill, prudence);
The Spirit of counsel (counsel, counsels, purpose, advice, counsellors, advisement, counsel, counsellor);
The Spirit of might (might, strength, power, mighty acts, might, force, mastery, valour, bravery, mighty deeds);
The Spirit of knowledge (knowledge, know, cunning, perception, skill, discernment, understanding and wisdom) and
The Spirit of the fear of the lord (fear, exceedingly, dreadful, fearfulness, terror, awesome or terrifying thing, respect, reverence, piety, revered).
As believers in Christ, we, too, have received that same Holy Spirit.
We have the anointing of the Holy Spirit residing within us, so that, like Jesus, we do not need to judge by the sight of our eyes or by the hearing of our ears, but by the anointing of the Holy Spirit who resides within us.
Prophetic Anointing Exposes the spirit of Antichrist
John tells us that the spirit of antichrist is already in the world: “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).
The word antichrist in the Greek is ‘antichristos’ meaning “the opponent of Christ.”
- The spirit of truth is the legacy of Christ.
- Prophecy is the truth of Christ revealed.
- The spirit of antichrist opposes Christ and every truth that Jesus testifies to through the Spirit of prophecy.
When speaking of those with the spirit of antichrist, John said: “they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:19 – 21).
- The anointing of God within us testifies to the truth of Christ regarding all things.
- The Spirit of truth exposes the spirit of antichrist.
“These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him”.
(1 John 2:26 & 27)
The Whole Counsel Of God
It is receiving the whole counsel of God that keeps us free from error.
The Spirit of the Lord through prophecy allows us to see as God sees with His wisdom, His understanding, His counsel, His might, His knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Through prophecy, the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom to know what to do in any given situation, and understanding regarding all the purposes of God. He counsels us, giving us might, force and mastery over all the power of the enemy, enabling us with mighty acts and mighty deeds.
He gives us discernment and understanding regarding all knowledge of the spirit realm and of the Kingdom of God.
But Jesus did not delight in any of these; His delight was in the fear of the Lord (v3). The King James Version of the same verse reads: “And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:3).
The word of God has much to say about the fear of the Lord. Here are just some of what Scripture has to say: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. Counsel is Mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength. By Me kings reign, and rulers decree justice. By Me princes rule, and nobles, all the judges of the earth” (Proverbs 8:13 – 16).
“In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death”.
(Proverbs 14:26 & 27)
“My son, if you receive My words, and treasure My commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God”.
(Proverbs 2: 1 – 5)
It is the fear of the Lord that keeps us safe!
