General Service in Malang, November 04, 2018 (Sunday Morning)

Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 8:1-5
8:1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
8:3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand.
8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

It is about the opening of the seventh seal.
There were seven angels with seven trumpets. It means that each angel was entrusted with one trumpet.

The angel refers to a pastor who feeds the congregation with the angel's bread.  
The trumpet or the angel's bread refers to the shepherding word, namely the true teaching word which is hard and entrusted by God to a shepherd or pastor to be preached to the congregation faithfully, sequentially, and repetitively, so they experience the spiritual growth up to the spiritual maturity and perfection.
The shepherding word also becomes a command for the congregation so that they know what things that they must do or not to do until they are perfect and without blemish.

There are two contradictory conditions as follows:

  1. [Revelation 8:1-4] The silence.
    One who hears and obeys the voice of the shepherd or trumpet will experience the silence which increases up to the silence for about half an hour in heaven.

  2. [Revelation 8:5] One who rejects the voice of trumpets or the shepherding word will experience the shakings which increase up to the destruction until perdition forever in hell.
Therefore, from now, we must be shepherded well and correctly.

Revelation 1:10-12
1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
1:11 saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

1:12 Then I turned to see the voicethat spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands.

The function of the voice of the trumpet, shepherding word, or the voice of the shepherd is to sanctify and change the congregation until they have no blemish and become perfect like Jesus. So, they will appear like the seven lampstands, the perfect church, the light of the world, or the heavenly bride.

Acts 1:8
1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnessesto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

The duty of the church of God on the last day is to become the witness or the light. 

Mark 5:18-19
5:18 And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.
5:19 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."

What must be testified or what is content of testimony?
  1. We must testify the thing that God has done in our life, namely the renewal of life through two things as follows:

    • Through the work of the gospel of salvation, the gospel word, or the good news which preaches the first coming of Jesus in the world as the only sinless man but he must die on the cross to save the sinful man. 
      The work of the gospel of salvation is to call us from the darkness to His miraculous light, so we can trust Jesus, repent, enter the water and Holy Spirit baptism, and be reborn from water and Spirit, so we can live in righteousness. It is the same as being saved and blessed by God.

      Actually, the salvation is only for the Israelites or the chosen people of God, but because a part of them rejected it, there is opportunity for the Gentiles to receive it.

      Acts 13:46-47
      13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
      13:47 "For so the Lord has commanded us: 'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.'"

      Acts 1:8
      1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

      The direction of the witness starts from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, western countries, to the end of the earth.

    • Through the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, the true teaching word which is sharper than any two-edged sword, or the Bride Tidings.
      2 Corinthians 4:3-4
      4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
      4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

      Matthew 25:6
      25:6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'

      It preaches the second coming of Jesus in the glory as the King of all kings or the heavenly Bridegroom.

      The work of the Bride Tidings is to sanctify and change us to be as perfect and glorious as Jesus until we become the heavenly bride who is ready to welcome His second coming on the glorious clouds to be with Him forever.

      Matthew 24:27
      24:27 "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west,so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

      The direction of the witness starts from the end of the earth or the east to the western countries, Samaria, Judea, until it returns to Jerusalem. Israelites and Gentiles become one perfect body of Christ or the heavenly bride to welcome His second coming until entering the New Jerusalem of the eternal heavenly kingdom forever.

  2. Testifying the lovingkindness of God which has helped us from all problems even the impossible ones.
    Mark 5:19-20
    5:19 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."
    5:20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

    The levels of testimony are as follows:

    • It is start from the marriage or the household.
      Matthew 5:15
      5:15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

      We become a lamp in our household.

    • The husband becomes a witness when he loves his wife as himself and does not do bitterly towards her but takes the responsibility to his house-hold physically and spiritually.

    • The wife submits to the husband in everything, prays, and worships God more to protect the weaknesses of the husband and children.
    • The children obey the parents.

    So, the lamp gives light and the darkness under the basket or the one of economy cannot influence the household. Also the darkness under the bed or the sin of uncleanness cannot enter the household. The household is not a place to quarrel but to bear witness. If the husband and the wife quarrel, the household is dark and the other darkness can enter the house.

    The house also refers to the house of God or shepherding pen. The shepherding is a place to testify not to gossip. So, there are preservation, protection, and joy.

  3. The light before men.
    Matthew 5:16
    5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

    We become the light through our good deeds. We do not harm other people but we repay good for evil.

  4. [Mark 5:29] Testifying in Decapolis. 
    Deca means ten. Polis means city. 
    The city of love or bride refers to the New Jerusalem.

    It means that we become the light of the world until we are in the New Jerusalem.

    Matthew 5:14
    5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

    Revelation 21:10
    21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
Why must we testify?
  1. Not testifying means that we have the debt of the blood of Jesus which cannot be paid by anything.
  2. The word of testimony is able to defeat Satan.  
    Revelation 12:10-11
    12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
    12:11 "And they overcame himby the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.


  3. If we do not testify, we will become an accuser like Satan and deny God for sure.

Acts 1:8

1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

The power to testify is Holy Spirit. 
Men in flesh and blood are in the dark, so they can only lie, gossip, and accuse.

John 15:25-27
15:25 "But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'
15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
15:27 "And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

Why do we need Holy Spirit to testify?
Because we face the darkness and shaking of the world on the last days which is full of difficulties, crisis, sins, hatred without any cause, until the time of the persecution of antichrist who rules over the world for three and a half years.

So, we must testify by the power of Holy Spirit in any circumstances like John the Baptist.

John 1:29,35-37
1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
1:35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.
1:36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said,
"Behold the Lamb of God!"
1:37 The two disciples heard him speak,
and they followed Jesus.

John the Baptist testified about Jesus bravely like the burning lamp and an upright reed.

Matthew11:2-7
11:2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples
11:3
and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
11:4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:
11:5 "The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
11:6 "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
11:7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A
reed shaken by the wind?

When he was in prison, he started to be doubtful like a shaken reed and smoking flax that could have made the lamp quenched. But, when he was doubtful, he asked Jesus. He was strengthened by the power of the true teaching word and the anointing of Holy Spirit, so he kept on testifying about Jesus until he was beheaded or his flesh did not speak anymore.  

Matthew 11:8-9
11:8 "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
11:9 "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you,and more than a prophet.

John was beheaded, but when Jesus comes, he will be raised to be the heavenly bride.

The functions of Holy Spirit are as follows:
  1. [John 15:25-27] The Comforter will comfort and give us extra power when we face every darkness in the world, so we are strong and courageous. We are not disappointed and hopeless. We do not leave and deny God, but keep on testifying. The lamp keeps on burning. It means that we keep faithful and fervent in spirit to serve and minister to God.

  2. The helper finishes all impossible problems in due time.
  3. The Spirit of glory changes us from the fleshly man to the spiritual one like Jesus. 
    It begins from being transparent and being honest. We confess our condition just the way we are. Being honest refers to the house of prayer, so our prayer is answered by God. The failure can become success, the bitter things can become sweet, the broken things can become good until the time when Jesus comes that things are changed to become perfect. We are ready to welcome His second coming on the glorious clouds and we are with Him forever.
God blesses you.