Isaiah 44:5 One shall say, I am the LORD's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob… This is to take place after the Lord has poured out His Spirit upon His people, and upon their offspring. The mainspring of everything good and gracious is the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of God comes, converts come too. If they do not come by the Spirit of God, they are not worth having. Converts will come forward to confess their faith. I. THIS CONFESSION OF FAITH IS PERSONAL. "One shall say, I am the Lord's," &c. It is not a joint confession, but an individual one. It is "one" and "another" and "another." 1. All confession of Christ must be personal; anything else is unreal and worthless. All religion that is true is personal. 2. This personal confession needs to be carefully attended to when there are many coming forward. 3. This individual confession of your faith in Christ is incumbent upon you very specially when there are few coming forward. I should say to myself, "If there is nobody in this village confessing Christ, then it is all the more urgent upon me that I should confess Him. If there are few added to the Church, then I will go that the Church may not be discouraged in its Christian efforts. I like to have around me those who feel, "It is no consideration with me whether there are many or few; I have to act as before God on my own account. If there be few who do right, that is all the more reason why I should do it." II. THIS CONFESSION IS VARIED. 1. One person speaks out for himself: "One shall say, I am the Lord's." That is a fine speech. If you, from your very soul, can say this in any company, and not be ashamed to say it before men, angels, or devils, God has taught you a noble piece of eloquence. 2. The next person mentioned in our text confessed his faith in a different way, for he called himself by the name of Jacob; that is to say, he took up his position with the people of God under their lowliest title. "There," said he, "I am prepared to suffer affliction with the people of God, to be reproached when they are reproached, to be shunned when they are shunned, to be ridiculed when they are ridiculed. I belong to Jacob. He is an extra. ordinary person, cut off from the rest of the world to be the Lord's, and I go with him." 3. But here is a third person, who makes his confession in a still different way: "Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." I do not know this person; sometimes, I think that he is a friend of mine, who is afraid to speak, but who likes to write. "I could not," says one, "speak my confession of faith, but I could joyfully sit down and write it." Yes, you are timid, and trembling, and slow of speech. Do not condemn yourself for that. Still, I am not sure that this is the person mentioned in the text. I seem to fancy that it is a stronger body, a man who is not content with saying it, but who writes it down in black and white, "I am the Lord's." That which is written remains; so he puts it down. This person who thus subscribed, or wrote with his hand, unto the Lord, also went the whole way towards God and His people at their best, for it is added that he surnamed himself by the name of Israel. There are some who give themselves up to the Church of God in a very complete and unreserved manner, resolving that all the privileges they can enjoy they will have, all the holiness they can ever attain to they will gain, and all the consecration that lies within the region of possibility they will strive after and secure. III. THESE CONFESSIONS OF FAITH ARE ALL GRACIOUS. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: One shall say, I am the LORD'S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel. |
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