PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Memory verse: Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 14:14

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 41-43

BIBLE STUDIES: Ezekiel 14:13-15

As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven opened and a voice was heard. Matthew 3:17 says and lo a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Heaven gave two important testimonies about Jesus Christ. Firstly, He is the son of God. Jesus is not a slave of God neither is He, a prophet of God. Secondly, God is well pleased with Him. There are few instances in the scriptures where we find God referring to an individual or a nation as His sons, none of them lived up to His expectation. In Exodus 4:22, God referred to Israel as His firstborn. By the time we get to Exodus 32, the children of Israel had begun to worship a molten calf. Before Solomon was born, the Lord choose him to be His son. 2 Samuel 7:14 says i will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. After God blessed Solomon, he went and marry strange women, these strange men led him into Baal worship. Jesus is the only One who never disappointed God for once. The Most High was not only pleased with Jesus; He was well pleased with Him. This was heaven’s public testimony of Jesus.

All through the scriptures, we see God giving public testimony about people. He said of Abraham in Genesis 18:19 : “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” Concerning Moses, He said, Moses was meek above all the men on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). Concerning Job, He said to Satan, that boy Job eschews evil (Job 1:8). Can God give such testimony about you and me?

In our bible studies, God gave a wonderful public testimony about Noah, Daniel and Job. He said the righteousness of these three would deliver them from harm. They were so righteous; God could not allow anything to harm them. Can God testify that if you find money on the floor, you will not keep it? Can the Most High say, I know that boy, if you slap him on the right cheek, he will turn the left. If you are a politician, can God say that if you get into power, you will not embezzle public money? In this age where oppression is the other of the day, can the Lord say, if I bless that family, they will not oppress anyone? Can God say of you, if I give her a child, that child will not replace Me in her life? Can God testify that if you become the MD, you will not only promote people from your ethnic group? Can God testify that, wealth will not take you from Him?

TO PONDER: Is my lifestyle pleasing to God?

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus.