Witnesses

““You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God. Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?” Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives— The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.””
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:10-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Witnesses

There was a time when the Lord God of Israel liberated His people from bondage in Egypt. Over the course of a brief period of time, the Lord defeated all the gods of Egypt, one at a time. He demonstrated His sovereignty, showing that He is God and there is no other.

In due time God became a man and came to Earth to bring the message that only He could bring.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 NKJV

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6 NKJV

In those times, He encountered His creation, having turned to other gods, and teaching the traditions of men. Jesus came to bring the truth of the Father with all authority as the One who brought all into existence, for it was His hands that formed man, and His breath that spoke into being, all of creation.

His creation received Him not, and Jesus was rejected. Despite that He pressed on, bringing the message of the Gospel to a sick and dying world. In due time, He selected those who would be His witnesses, those who would be commissioned to go and tell.

They were not merely people, who simply believed what Jesus said, but they were people whose lives had been transformed in ways only God could bring about. They were new people, being recreated in the image of Jesus, being perfected, that is to say matured, that they be a representative of the artful hand of God. They were not for mere decoration, but charged with fulfilling His purposes that had been laid out before they even were.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV

He took people, of no repute, of no power and saved them by His grace.

Flashing forward to the world we live in today, and we are once again in a world full of idols, things that we willingly place in reverence rather than the God who created us. We have formed our gods of our own hands, and we bow down to them.

As is due our indiscretion, we have been met by the consequences of our sins, as those lower case gods cannot save us, and cannot hear our prayers. In this world, there is a great repulsion to the mention of the Creator God, and the mere mention of the name Jesus, can bring about mocking, and even violence.

Brothers and sisters, we are now those witnesses, as we take the name of Jesus into the open square, taking the notion of Christ crucified in a world that believes in its own righteousness. So many think they are good, when in reality they are evil.

As we press on to the end of the age, there will be great opportunity to feel fear as those who loved the devil and pursue death, will seek to stop up the mouths of the saints. But must remember that we are God’s witnesses, and there is not fear.

“Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.’ ””
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭44:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus is our Rock!

Therefore, my people, let us be courageous in going into the world, taking the message of the Good News, that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again. He has given us a message that makes the salvation of God available to all men.

There was a time when that message was on for Israel, but the Lord’s love is bigger than that. He has gifted in the gentile, that even those afar off can be saved. Only God can do that!

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.”
Ephesians 3:1-7 NKJV

In a world full of gods, we bring the one and only message of the One God who can truly save. We have been made messengers bringing news of this mystery, of this thing only the God of creation could do.

““Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.”
Isaiah 44:6 NKJV

Let us call upon He who created the stands, knowing that He has the power to carry us. Let us go boldly, daily carrying the message of salvation and the story of what the Lord has done for us. Our great God, Jesus Christ is able and He has sent God the Holy Spirit before, doing the work and convicting the world of its sins.

Let us call out to God, loudly and constantly, as we lift up to Him those souls we know closest hell. Our Lord is in the saving business. Even those seemingly so lost there is no hope can be brought near by the word of God. I know, because I was once one of those people.

We have no idea what the Lord can do for His power is way beyond our comprehension.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:20-21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

He is coming yet again to defeat the gods that have so ensnared the world. He will the rule and reign.

“And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 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.””
‭‭Acts‬ ‭1:7-8‬ ‭NKJV‬

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https://www.allaboutgod.com/the-roman-road.htm