Cause for Faithfulness

Isaiah 45:4-5 KJV

For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Here is an amazing passage. Isaiah is preaching to Cyrus, a man who will not be born for more than a hundred years. Cyrus

·         Will become King of Persia

·         Will defeat Babylon and

·         Will assume sovereignty over the Jews

But, although Cyrus was a Gentile and did not know the Lord, Isaiah asserts that his entire life was directed by God. The theme of the sermon is that there is one God; a theme which resonates through several chapters previous to and after this one.

When we preach the Gospel of salvation, that there is but one way to heaven, we have no idea

·         Where that message will go

·         To whom or

·         For how long

We live in a period of time when our message can literally go around the world and may influence people a hundred years from today. The result of our ministry, the fruit of our message may not be known in our lifetime.

That gives me cause to be faithful to truth even when it appears in this day that truth is not what brings people to church. I must remember that the purpose of my calling is not for immediate results but for eternal ones. What matters is not that I appear successful but that God's Word is faithfully carried forward. Certainly God Himself illustrates this purpose. He, who could have simply started over after Adam's sin, chose instead a plan that has taken six thousand years thus far to complete, and appears at this time to have failed. It is only faith in His Word that gives the believer assurance of His eventual success.

Surely if God would choose the long, more difficult course, we, who serve Him, must choose the same. 

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