In the last 20 years I can honestly say that I can probably count on one hand how many times that I have heard this passage of scripture preached or ministered. I would like to share this with you right now and submit this to you in a very unique way.

    Without the grace of God we are absolutely nothing, and we never will be! Like Paul said in 2 Cor. 1:4-8; I am always thanking My God for the grace of God that is given to the body of Christ in order that “in everything” we may be enriched by Him or literally “made rich” by Him (“enriched” is used metaphorically of spiritual riches) in all utterance and all knowledge “even as” the testimony of Christ was (past tense) confirmed in you!

    Now what is a testimony? It is something that somebody literally saw first hand, or heard first hand. Now the “testimony of Christ” is literally what Christ Himself saw or heard first hand - personally!!! Now I do not believe that this was just what He witnessed as a man on earth. I believe that this is literally whatever Christ heard and or saw from the Father and the Spirit from eternity past since before the foundations of the earth!!!

    We know that Jesus Christ existed outside of time and in eternity with the Father, long before the foundations of the earth! He is not a created being, He always was! He is, and He always will be! (He is the same yesterday, today, and forever) He is the beginning, all things were created in Him! “And He Himself existed before all things, and in him all things consist (cohere, are held together)“ (Col 1 ;17 AMP,)

    The word consist in Col 1:17  (Strongs# 4921) actually means: to place together, to set in the same place, to bring or band together, to stand with (or near) to set one with another,  by way of presenting or introducing him, to comprehend to put together by way of composition or combination, to teach by combining and comparing, to show, prove, establish, exhibit, to put together, to unite parts into one whole, to be composed of, consist.

    I believe that the Lord put His testimony on the inside of us so that we would be seated in the same place, that we would stand near the very flow of what the Lord is saying! That we  would not only comprehend but actually be composed of and to be put together with His witness! He greatly desires for us to be combined with and to become one with, the very oracles of God! (1 Pet 4:11) He wants all of us to be united as one whole with His spirit, His word, His voice; so that we will show forth, prove, exhibit the power of God instead of man’s carnal wisdom.  1 Cor 2:1 - 5 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. (2)For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (3) And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. (4) And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: (5) That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God".

    Christ is in us, we are in Christ, and His testimony is confirmed in us! If you look at this topic according to scripture I believe that the true application here is that we are to become one with the testimony of Jesus Christ! Lets take a minute and look at Rev 19:10 (b) … "I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” 

    The “spirit” of prophecy, is talking about the very nature, the character, the very essence of prophecy itself - which is accurately tuning into and hearing what the Lord is currently saying right now! The ability to do this has already been founded, instituted, established, and confirmed within you according to 1 Cor. 1:6

    Christ has already “witnessed” everything that the Father is saying first hand and He lives and abides within our spirit! He has already promised that the Holy Spirit will “guide us into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.” John 16:13... “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” Num 23:19 KJV

    The Lord’s desire is so great for us to accurately hear from His Spirit! No matter how great we desire to hear in the Spirit of God, His own desire for us to hear is thousands of times greater than our most intense desire! That is just the tip of the iceberg! You may ask “OK do I have to be a prophet to hear from the Lord? “The answer to that is NO! The Lord wants every one of us to accurately hear from Him!

    So how do I hear the spirit of God??? How do I become acquainted with His voice??? The main thing is just that. We must become “acquainted” with His spirit,  with His voice! We have got to spend as much time as possible being open to His presence. Welcoming His presence is a huge step! Being filled with His spirit is a very critical piece to the equation. Spending time praying in the spirit  (praying in tongues) is another very critical thing to do. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Thes. 5 :17 that we are to “pray without ceasing” he also said that he “prayed in the spirit and he prayed with understanding” 
(1 Cor. 14:15)

    Paul the Apostle also said “I speak in tongues more than you all” 1 Cor. 14: 18) personally, I find that spending time praying in tongues (praying in the spirit) is highly effective in getting myself acclimated to and acquainted with the spirit of the living God! Reading His word and quoting the word of God over yourself and over situations as much as possible, is essential to tuning in to the spirit of God and hearing from Him personally! Isn’t that exciting? You can hear from the Lord personally!!!

    In every thing you have been “enriched” in all utterance and in all knowledge even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed on the inside of you! The testimony of Christ is on the inside of you! Christ Himself is on the inside of you! His witness is on the inside of you! Get in the word, pray with understanding as often as you can, pray in the spirit as much as you possibly can and get ready to hear from the Lord.

    The Bible says that as a child, even Jesus “grew and waxed strong in the Spirit” (Luke 1:80). This is something that you must practice and allow the Lord to develop you and allow yourself to grow and “wax strong” or  to be made strong, to be strengthened in the things of the spirit. grow and develop as a witness and learn to become acquainted with the testimony of Jesus Christ as it is confirmed WITHIN YOU!!!

Kingdom Blessings and Divine Favor to You!!!
Curtis Forbes