Some years ago when I studied Isaiah 43 for the first time, I was very touched with the Saviour’s impassioned testimony of himself. Over and over He impressed upon the House of Israel the role He played in their salvation:
“O
Israel…I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (v
1)
“For
I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour” (v 3)
“….before
me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me” (v 10)
“I,
even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour” (v 11)
“I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King” (v 15)
Two chapters later I came across the same theme: “I am the Lord and there is none else” (Isaiah 45: 5,6,14,18,22: 46:9). This basically is Isaiah’s message. His testimony is that Jesus Christ is the only true source of hope for salvation: “Out of 425 separate verses of Isaiah which are quoted in the BOM, 391 say something about the attributes or mission of Jesus Christ (Monte S. Nyman, Great Are The Words of Isaiah, p 7)
Isaiah impressed me so much by his testimony of Christ that I made it my mission to search the same in other scriptures and this is what I found:
There is none else beside Him, not in heaven above, or earth beneath or waters beneath the earth, nothing, nobody, nowhere: Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 5:8; 1 Kings 8:60.
There is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits and mercy and grace of the Holy Messiah: 2 Nephi 2:8.
There is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ whereby man can be saved: 2 Nephi 25:20; 31:21; Moses 6:52.
Beside Him there is no saviour: D&C 76:1.
There is something else that caught my attention in chapter 43 of Isaiah besides this testimony of the Saviour’s salvation. Twice in this chapter we are told: “Ye are my witnesses” (vs 10,12). This is the crux of the matter, the reason for the testimony is to bear witness. The witness of His divinity can only be borne by those who possess such a testimony. This is the responsibility of the House of Israel first and foremost but it extends to all who have felt the burning witness of His love and salvation. There are many Christians throughout the world today who have spread the influence needed to help someone believe.
I offer here an inspiration from the life of one man, composer George Frideric Handel, who became such a witness. Recovering from a stroke and tired from a largely flagging career as a composer at age 52, he returned from a long and tiring walk one late August in 1741 and found that a poet and previous collaborator, Charles Jennens, had left him a manuscript littered with words of Isaiah foretelling the birth, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. From this, Handel’s most famous work Messiah was composed in just three weeks. At the completion of the composition he simply said: “God has visited me….I am cured and have been set free”. He became a power witness of the Saviour to the physically and spiritually captive as he donated all profits from performances of Messiah to prisoners, orphans and the sick. (see (Elder Spencer J. Condie , “Handel and the Gift of Messiah”, Ensign 2010)
Every
Christmas I listen to Handel’s Messiah. Each note ‘mounts me up with
wings as eagles’ and reminds me of Isaiah. I want to write like him……..
You flowed like a river through my heart
Revealing the wonder of You;
And lifted my eyes higher to see the majestic view.
You ploughed the sacred ground of my heart
And tenderly sowed your seeds of love;
In gratitude, I scatter them in the hearts of others.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
