Isaiah 43:10 You are my witnesses, said the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he… The most High has many witnesses to Himself. His works. "That Thy name is great, Thy wondrous works declare." Especially the heavens. They "declare the glory of God." His providential care of men. "He left not Himself without witness, in that He "did good," etc. The moral nature of men. "Their conscience also bearing witness," etc. But His people are God's conscious, voluntary, grateful, affectionate, and effective witnesses. I. THE SUBSTANCE AND MATTER OF OUR WITNESS. To what are we to testify? 1. To man's spiritual nature and destiny. Witness abounds to man's bodily wants, in the arrangements for their supply; to his social nature, in the institutions of civilised life; to his intellectual being, in books, schools, and colleges; to his artistic faculties, in picture-galleries, museums, etc.; and alas I to his evil nature and habits, in the courts of law, the police and military forces, etc. It is the office of the Church in this world to testify that man has a nature capable of knowing, loving, and serving, his heavenly Father. 2. To God's being and character. 3. To the Gospel of Christ. "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me," said the Lord Jesus to His disciples, before His ascension. To Christ's person, character, and doctrine, His people are bound to testify. They whom the Lord first commissioned, "with great power gave witness to the resurrection of Christ." It is the privilege of Christians to tell of the provision made in Jesus for the restoration of men to the Divine favour and image. II. THE MODE OF OUR WITNESS. How are God's people to bear the witness required? 1. By speech. 2. By the silent testimony of the life. An unworldly and self-denying life, a gentle and compassionate spirit; — these are effective methods of witnessing to a selfish and sinful world. III. THE CHARACTER OF OUR WITNESS. 1. Christians are competent witnesses, having a personal and experimental knowledge of that to which they testify. 2. They are truthful witnesses. Their power lies in their testifying to facts, not to fables, fictions, fancies. 3. They are consistent witnesses; there is no swerving from their evidence; and there is an instructive harmony between their testimony and the principles of their life. 4. They are bold and fearless witnesses. Religion is sometimes unfashionable or unpopular. IV. THE SPHERE OF OUR WITNESS. To whom is this testimony to be borne? 1. Christians are called to be witnesses to one another; for mutual edification. 2. To nominal, but erring and lukewarm disciples, who need the powerful witness of a living Church. 3. To the unbelieving world. Here is the vast sphere of the Church's labour.Practical lessons — 1. Consider the high honour of the Christian's calling. 2. Remember the responsibility attaching to this office "Freely ye have received, freely give." 3. Let hearers of the Word receive and act upon the witness that is borne. What heavier condemnation can there be than that of those to whom it must be said, — "Ye receive not our witness!" (J. Radford Thomson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. |
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