November 17

“Ye are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.” Isaiah 44:8

To witness is not to disseminate knowledge which everyone already has, but to point to truth that few are aware of. Because of conditions generally in the ancient world, God wanted within it a witness—a people and a land where things were different. Through them, he would bring the Good News of his justice and lovingkindness to all the nations of the earth.

Our commission is the same. Unclouded fellowship with God, faithful exhortation of one another, beautiful Christian lives, all are not enough. There must be witness. The Church is likened to a golden lampstand, not an ornament. Nor is it enough that it should be of gold: it must shed forth the light of God into every corner of this dark world.

November 16

“I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut.” Revelation 3:8

If God is going to have a witness in the earth today, he must have the service of all his less-gifted servants, his “one-talent” men. We might imagine that if he were gracious to his Church, he would give us more people like Paul and Peter; but in fact he seldom does so. The Church of God is full of ordinary, one-talented believers, and if only we would abandon our personal ambitions and seek instead ways for them to serve him, wonderful things would happen.

The Church needs leaders, but it also needs brothers. I believe in authority, but I believe also in brotherly love. In Philadelphia they respected authority, for they kept the Lord‘s word and did not deny his name. But philadelphia in Greek means “brotherly kindness.” It was to these caring brothers and sisters that the door was opened. Let them set out to serve him together and not wait for the specialists; then we shall begin to see what the Church’s service really is.