Past Testimony Page
Testimony of Anthony Patrick
There are many lessons that we learn as we attempt to consecrate our lives to the Lord. Thinking of writing this testimony I realize that there have been three main truths that I had to fully comprehend prior to gaining any knowledge of God in my life at all. Those truths are:
- "Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24)
- "He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities..." (Isaiah 53:5)
- "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish..." (John 3:16)
Ye Cannot Serve God and Mammon
It is not possible to worship God on one hand while enjoying evil practices on the other. God is jealous and wants total consecration of the heart, soul and mind. It sometimes takes many, many years to understand this truth. A deceitful heart can create a myriad of excuses for its own ungodly behaviour:
- "I can't help myself!"
- "My difficult situation renders it impossible for me to obey!"
- "It's the way I've been brought up!"
And so on and so on...
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to show us that fundamentally our sin belongs to us and we commit it simply because we have chosen to enjoy it. Realizing that this was so in my own life hurt my pride terribly and forced me to face up to the fact that if I did not change radically I would go through life (and face death) without ever having any intimate knowledge of God at all.
He was Wounded for our Transgressions.
Trying to face up to my own terrible failure in life was tough. I felt in a sense that there could be no hope of my ever really becoming a Christian. It was during this time that I began to remember words that a friend of mine told me some years before. He had witnessed to me about the gospel and I remember him telling me about how Christ had borne the sins of the whole world upon His body on the cross. This was like a ray of light in an otherwise black situation. I began to think that it wasn't the church or any Christian people who could help, but Christ himself. So I began to really cry out to God for help.
I shut myself away and told God everything. How I felt utterly lost. I told Him just how wretched I felt. It was the cross of calvary that presented itself to me during this time. I realized that the only answer to the problem of all of the vile things I had done in my life was the precious life-blood of Christ. It was as if I was clinging on to the cross. No-one around me noticed any difference in my life, but I believed that throughout that agony of soul God gave me a revelation of Jesus and the work that He had done by going to calvary. The darkness lifted from my life and there was a sense of being reconciled to the creator of the heavens and the earth. Praise God for His great mercy towards all of us.
He Died for the Whosoever.
Unfortunately my health is very poor. I believe that all those years of failing to submit to God had wrecked my physical constitution. Many people seemed to treat me with contempt because they suggested that Christians should be strong. The criticism I was getting from men and women was so opposed to the encouragement I was getting from God. I decided not to listen to these people.
There is a danger of having preconceived ideas about what we think Christians ought to be like. If God only has his eyes on the strong and confident, what do the elderly do? What do the lonely and depressed do? Or the disabled and sick! I believe that Christ died for all men and women, no matter what physical or mental state we are in, no matter what race we have been born into; on the cross His arms were held out wide in welcome to all mankind.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The more I read the bible, the more convinced I am that it is indeed the word of God. The above quote is from the gospel of John. The gospel means good news and I would recommend the good news of the gospel to all who might read this. Submit your life to Him.
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