“And this is the testimony, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 Jn. 5:11,12).
“This is the testimony.” So, later when John writes that “the testimony of Jesus is the essence of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10) we know what the Testimony is: the Life is in the Son. If you have the Son, you have the Life; if you don’t have the Son, you don’t have the Life.
What does that mean? It means that all are saved in Jesus and none are saved outside of Him. It perfectly supports the very words of Jesus, also recorded by John: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father except by Me” (Jn. 14:6). This statement points to the revelation of the Eternal Purpose of God: that in all things Christ must have the preeminence. God has set the Son in the ultimate place of authority, establishing that all are saved in Him and none are saved without Him.
That simple statement – all are saved in Jesus, none are saved without Him – stands in stark contrast to the way of the world, the liberal culture, and the spirit of religion. How dare anybody suggest that Jesus is the only way to the Father! This is offensive to the Jew, the Muslim, the Buddhist, the Hindu, the Sikh, the Wiccan, the atheist, and every other stream of belief, including some so-called Christians. We are instead told that there are many paths to God, many expressions of faith. We have been told that all people of faith worship the same God, whether you call Him (or Her) God, Jehovah, Allah, The Universal Spirit, or some other name. We have been told that each path is valid for the person who happens to be traveling it, and that all roads lead to the same place. We have been told that only narrow-minded bigots and religious fanatics suggest that their way is the only correct way. Besides, what gives one group of people the right to judge another about what is right or wrong? In the name of love, harmony, ecumenicalism and universal brotherhood, we must (so they say) embrace all people and all beliefs. Diversity, tolerance, and unquestioned acceptance are the order of the day.
We are rapidly heading toward a time when the governments of this world will be forced to regulate and censor “religious speech” as the only solution to world peace. They will (correctly) determine that religion is the source of most of the world’s wars and deaths from war. They will then move decisively to silence, punish, and eliminate anyone who disturbs the peace with “hate speech,” which they will define as anything that appears to offend someone else’s beliefs or religious practices. This will not violate the conscience of most of the world’s religions, who will be allowed to practice their faith however they please, so long as they do not infringe upon the religious faith of others. But for the ones who bear the Testimony of Jesus – that all are saved in Him, and none are saved apart from Him – this will lead to widespread, universal persecution and death. Eventually, politics and religion will merge into a single entity that destroys all that oppose it.
This is not some wild conspiracy theory; it is precisely what the Book of Revelation describes.
“When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held” (Rev. 6:9).
“When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them” (Rev. 11:7).
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Rev. 12:11).
“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17).
“I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God” (Rev. 20:4).
Amateurs of Bible prophecy, who would immediately dismiss these verses as being only applicable to some future period of time that does not affect them, are badly misinformed. All the established institutions of this world – government, religion, education, banking, commerce, military, media, and entertainment – are today becoming united under a single goal. There is a great darkness that directs and coordinates their efforts towards a specific end. Do they even realize what they are doing? Probably not, but whether they realize it or not, the powerful men and women in the institutions of this world are mere pawns being moved across the board toward a goal that they cannot even fathom.
Of all people, those who bear the Testimony of Jesus are singled out. For what reason? There is a spiritual wickedness that works within the world’s institutions and systems and seeks to destroy the Testimony of Jesus. We know it as the Dragon, the Serpent, the Beast, Satan. But all these identities can be summed up into a single persona: it is the spirit of Antichrist – that evil force that stands against and in the place of Christ; and therefore, against and in the place of the Testimony of Jesus. This is the spirit behind the desire to unite the governments of this world into a single entity and exert political and religious control over the entire population of the world. And according to Scripture, God will permit it to succeed for a period of time immediately preceding the literal, visible return of Jesus Christ to personally govern the nations of this earth and prevent them from destroying the whole population of the world (Mt. 24:22). The process is well underway.
The world rejects the Testimony of Jesus. The spirit of Antichrist is determined to destroy the Testimony of Jesus. Yet this Testimony of Jesus – that He is the only Way to the Father – is the foundation of Christian belief and the essence of all prophetic revelation and utterance. Any attempt to minimize this or to suggest that all other paths to God are equally valid violates this Testimony. This Testimony puts the claims of Christ at variance with every other religious path. It is the cornerstone of our faith, the foundation of all we believe – and the only hope for the salvation of mankind. No wonder the adversary fights against it.
