The Christian Witness

                                                     The Christian Witness                    6/1/08 am

                                                                Is 43:1-11

 Is 43:1-11          But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,

                And He who formed you, O Israel:

Israel \ˈiz-rē-əl, -(ˌ)rā- also ˈis- or ˈiz-rəl\ n

[ME, fr. OE, fr. LL, fr. Gk Israēl, fr. Heb Yiśrā’ēl]

1           : jacob 2

2           : the Jewish people

3           : a people chosen by God — Israel adj

We the saved are spiritual Israel

Ro 9:6-8   6  But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For  they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Ga 4:2828 Now  we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.



Ro 2:28-29  28 For  he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew  who is one inwardly; and  circumcision is that of the heart,  in the Spirit, not in the letter;  whose praise is not from men but from God.

     “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

                        We the saved are the redeemed

Ga 3:13-14  13  Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written,  “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14  that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.



Re 5:9-10   9 And  they sang a new song, saying:

     “You are worthy to take the scroll,

     And to open its seals;

     For You were slain,

     And  have redeemed us to God by Your blood

     Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

10     And have made us  kings and  priests to our God;

     And we shall reign on the earth.”

 I have called you by your name;

 Jn 10:3   To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

     You are Mine.

Jn 10:16 16 And  other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice;  and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

1 Co 6:19-20   9 Or  do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God,  and you are not your own? 20 For  you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

2     When you pass through the waters,  I will be with you;

     And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

     When you  walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,

     Nor shall the flame scorch you.

Ps 66:12    2     You have caused men to ride over our heads;

                         We went through fire and through water;

                         But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.



Ro 8:28  28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those  who are the called according to His purpose.

3     For I am the Lord your God,

     The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Jn 1:1-2   In the beginning  was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was  God. 2  He was in the beginning with God.

Jn 10:30 30  I and My Father are one.”

      I gave Egypt for your ransom,

     Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

4     Since you were precious in My sight,

     You have been honored,

     And I have loved you;

     Therefore I will give men for you,

     And people for your life.

In the usual sense of substitutes

Pr 21:18    18     The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous,

                          And the unfaithful for the upright.

 Pr 11:8     8     The righteous is delivered from trouble,

                        And it comes to the wicked instead.

Es 7:10   10 So  they  hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.

Es 9:1   On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them.

 By suffering what they had devised for the righteous, or brought on them, the wicked became their ransom, in the usual sense of substitutes ; Es 7:9).[1]

5     Fear not, for I am with you;

     I will bring your descendants from the east,

     And  gather you from the west;

6     I will say to the  north, ‘Give them up!’

     And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’

     Bring My sons from afar,

     And My daughters from the ends of the earth—

Mt 24:30-31  30  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

7     Everyone who is  called by My name,

     Whom  I have created for My glory;

     I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

Eph 2:10   10 For we are  His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.



1 Co 10:31   31  Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Je 1:5   5     “Before I  formed you in the womb I knew you;

                     Before you were born I sanctified you;

                    I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

8     Bring out the blind people who have eyes,

     And the deaf who have ears.

9     Let all the nations be gathered together,

     And let the people be assembled.

      Who among them can declare this,

     And show us former things?

     Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified;

     Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”

Let us  reason together

Is 1:18   18     “Come now, and let us  reason together,”      Says the Lord,



Jud 3   3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you  concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.



con•tend \kən-ˈtend\ vb

[ME, fr. AF or L; AF contendre, fr. L contendere, fr. com- + tendere to stretch — more at thin] vi 15c

1           : to strive or vie in contest or rivalry or against difficulties : struggle

2           : to strive in debate : argue vt

1           : maintain, assert 〈contended that he was right〉

2           : to struggle for : contest

1 Pe 3:15   15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always  be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

Mk 12:24-28   24 Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but  are like angels in heaven. 26 But concerning the dead, that they  rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying,  ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”

28  Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well,

v 10-11     “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord,

Ac 1:8 8  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.”

     

“And My servant whom I have chosen,

Col 3:23-24   3 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24  knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

That you may know and  believe Me,

     And understand that I am He.

We witness and serve Him to develop our relationship with Him in order to know, believe & understand that He is Lord, there is no other way except to trust and obey

Jn 14:21   21  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

     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.

Ex. 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

Ac 4:12   12  Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Is 43:21  21      This people I have formed for Myself;      They shall declare My  praise.

Are you declaring God’s praise?

Are you too ashamed to give Him praise?

Are you too afraid too praise Him?

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[1]Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Pr 21:18). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.