Vaughan, M. )Waiting upon the LordT. THE SEVERAL BRANCHES OF THE PROMISE.(S. To those who live in this spirit is given AN EXCEEDING GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISE. This was the strength which was in Paul before his conversion. RENEWED VIGOUR. To think that we are labouring in vain is the thought that paralyses. My soul! (1) The first typifies lofty aspiration and heroic action. He will keep himself constantly near to God. In 1899 he was called to Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, to succeed Dr. Lyman Abbott in the pulpit VariousThe World's Great Sermons, Volume 10, Of Loving Jesus Above all ThingsBlessed is he who understandeth what it is to love Jesus, and to despise himself for Jesus' sake. Youth is full of impulses, full of excesses, full of exaggerations. There are many things for which we can only ask and then wait in quiet stillness, things which we cannot help God to give us, things which God Himself bestows without our aid, if we are ever to possess them. If, however, his desires are set on the more refined pleasures of sense, such as the enjoyment of works of art, his hopes depend on the retention of the delicate sensibility of the organs by which he receives his impressions. THE GENERAL PROPOSITION. GOOD MEN ARE POSSESSED OF SPIRITUAL STRENGTH.1. THE RESULT. But hope feeds upon every act to which it prompts, and it grows thereby.2. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH, HOW IS IT TO BE OBTAINED? We must not be biassed by any theory of Church or ordinances, nor by any preaching, to suppose that we are shut up to the dealings of God with us through these channels. But this is not true of all. Dickson, D. D.)Waiting on GodD. Indeed I think we poor walkers sometimes make the most progress, for we lean more entirely on God and draw more constant supplies of His grace.(C. A weak Christian is a burden to himself as meeting with many difficulties which he cannot grapple with, but which prove too hard to him. We must renew our strength, for it is for our honour, comfort, and safety.4. Ramsay.)Soul-growthH. To maintain a quiet sustained walk, day by day, in the common things of life, in the house and out of the house, not impulsive, not capricious, not changeable, that is the hardest thing to do. A. But when the Holy Spirit enters into any man, his thoughts and affections are raised to those things which are above. Let us rejoice in the Lord evermore, and again we say, rejoice. They could not suggest to the prophet his religious thought, but his inspired genius laid them under tribute to assist the utterance of a thought of higher inspiration. The preaching of the apostles foretold12. Faith and hope and love itself, so dewy fresh in the morning, spend themselves in noonday's scorching heat, and run low at eventide. V. Tymms.As we look back on history we can see positive evidence that the promise of this text was historically fulfilled, and in the eases of the men to whom the message came first. The affections are strengthened by holy exercises on right objects. 2. "Caught up into the third heaven" he had seen "visions and revelations"; but he does not appeal to them as any sign of special grace. (2) In the subject, for the former strength is only in the outward, this in the inward man. We are rich and strong, not by the things which we possess, but by the amount of true manhood which is developed in us.5. He never is weary. The slight and shifting nature of the foundations on which worldly hopes are built makes it evident that they can do but little towards giving abiding and progressive strength to character, while frequent failures and disappointments depress and enfeeble. Because they are human.2. They get filled. To think that we are labouring in vain is the thought that paralyses. So here the prophet does not mean to say that if we would "renew our strength," we have simply to seek an interview with God and lay our request before Him; but that if we keep looking to God with a believing and patient expectation, new vigour will come to us, our very patience will be a source of strength, and the God in whom we hope will not disappoint us. F. W. H. MYERS. Running. Horton, D. D."Change their strength" (marg.). Comforts the people.Dictionary of Bible ThemesIsaiah 40:314612birds4690wings5763attitudes, positive to God5767attitudes, in prayer8150revival, personal8463priority, of faith, hope and love9612hope, in God9615hope, results ofIsaiah 40:27-316233rejection, experienceIsaiah 40:28-315537sleeplessness8724doubt, dealing withIsaiah 40:29-315057rest, physicalIsaiah 40:30-315178running8145renewal, people of GodLibraryApril 18. Obedience.IV. The man of God, the man who waits on God, is equal to any emergency, is equal to any strength. xl. I t would be improper to propose an alteration, though a slight one, in the reading of a text, without bearing my testimony to the great value of our English version, which I believe, in point of simplicity, strength, and fidelity, is not likely to be excelled by a new translation, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Our Lord refers to a similar thought in John 4:14, "The water that I shall give him shall become in him." Experience has proved that, to a great many souls, public worship is the greatest help they ever get, that it gives wings to their holiest prayers and brightness to their gladdest songs of praise, and that it does bring them nearer to God than any other external agency that they know of. But because the higher nature of some people is unfolded early, are we to make them the criterion for other people? Is thy walk less with God, thy frame less heavenly? And this is done commonly, in the greatest uncertainty whether the means will prove effectual.2. After a brief general preface (Is. "Wilt thou not revive us, O Lord?" 2. Capacity for the most strenuous exertion.IV. Without warmth in our desires and feelings we shall be found sickly. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength," they are coupled up to the source of power without, and being coupled to the power without, the effect of every throb of the engine is communicated to the carriages, and the love of every beat of the heart of God comes down to the Church of the living God.(F. xl. Whereas the man who has worn himself out by impatience, or yielded himself up to despair, is too inert or too distracted to take adequate advantage of the fresh opportunities which may come at last. This was the strength which was in Paul before his conversion. There is something very grand in these august and mysterious voices which call one to another in the opening verses of this chapter. And sated with the weary sum Of all men think, and hear, and see, O more than mother's heart, I come, A tired child to Thee. Who, then, shall give wings to a heavy laden sinner, strong enough to sustain him in his upward flight? In faith. But, in order to obtain aid from on high, we must make use of the appointed and appropriate means. The preaching of the apostles foretold12. "THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH."1. The deliverance has made the singer look forward to the end, and his confidence in the issue is confirmed. These two verses set forth two widely different operations of the divine power as exercised in two sadly different fields, the starry heavens and this weary world. The Cherubim belonged to the tutelage of the Law. God can lend to men immense physical force; but though a man had the strength of a lion and an ox combined, he would one day fail. (1) There are some cases and conditions, especially wherein a Christian has most need of having his strength renewed unto him; as, against a new service; against some new temptation and conflict with Satan; against some new trial and affliction. "Waiting" denotes a habit of mind-a devout habit that loves to call on God, a submissive habit that is ready to receive just what God sees fit to send, an obedient habit that is glad to do just what God commands, a stalwart habit of carrying such loads as duty lays upon our backs. You throw a stone into the air. As our natural life requires to be nourished by suitable food from day to day, without which it would decline and death would ensue, so the spiritual life of the Christian needs to be recruited continually, with the nutriment which is suited to its growth and strength.3. Here is a Christian, bewildered, not quite knowing why he has so perpetually failed. This service must be , (1)Spiritual.(2)Supreme.II. The inertness of the despondent continually deepens their despondency, increases their weakness, and aggravates their misery. Just such a well of spiritual force is the Lord Jesus Christ. Reviving Grace. A change from one measure of strength to another. They shall walk, and not faint." 25-29). In point of ease. Some carriages standing on the middle line of rails were to be attached to our train. THE HIGHEST STRENGTH IS DEVELOPED IN THE HIGHEST ACTIVITY. Chapters 40-55 lift up the promise of redemption for a people who are experiencing the judgment about which the prophet warned in the earlier chapters. There is a vast deal of verve in the original Hebrew; it signifies to be strong enough to hold out. In short, it is a grace, just as much as the grace of faith, or love, or humility. )Strength of soul made perfect by hope in GodW. In so far as the spiritual life is one, it is a life in God. The tyro in cycling will go at full pelt; but only the experienced rider can walk or stand. THE ENCOURAGEMENT GIVEN. The man with so keen an eye for rhetorical effect as this writer shows could not have ended this matchless oration so tamely. Zeal fills the soul with courage to encounter enemies and surmount obstacles.II. My soul! There is the strength of temper, and natural constitution, and a man may be able both to do and suffer very much by it. THE HOPES THAT ARE BASED ON FAITH GIVE STRENGTH TO LIVE FOR GOD. EXODUS XV. None had such joy as Christ. There are those who have a premature development of spiritual impulses.. B. SimpsonDays of Heaven Upon Earth 'Have Ye Not? That God will "renew our strength." 13. 1The Withering Work of the SpiritTHE passage in Isaiah which I have just read in your hearing may be used as a very eloquent description of our mortality, and if a sermon should be preached from it upon the frailty of human nature, the brevity of life, and the certainty of death, no one could dispute the appropriateness of the text. The Bible is the word of God and is powerful and life changing. 2. That is the time when we are spiritually aggressive, when we count as an active force in the world.3. Let the stream flow on uninterruptedly, and all your need in the way of weakness, helplessness, ignorance, emptiness will be met moment by moment. There are divers things which we are liable to faint at, which yet the Scripture takes us off from fainting at. On the other hand, Divine strength never fails. Halsey. This sense of the word gives us another part of the character of those that wait upon the Lord. So a heaven-bound soul flies in company with God.(T. Waiting, in Scripture language, is a term used to denote dependence. The stores of Divine grace provided for him are inexhaustible, and the communications of this grace imparted to him are most suitably proportioned to his need of them (Philippians 4:19).(D. Our deepest affections are stirred when we are told that redemption was made in love. )The strong in danger of exhaustionT. This sense of entire dependence upon the grace of God will naturally express itself in prayer, and in a devout and regular use of the appointed means of grace. But this is not true of all. Every thing is beautiful in its season. "The men of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." What did your man of the natural order stop running for? Booth by faith has changed the drunkard and the sensualist into saints. "Because of His strength," says the Psalmist, "I will wait upon Him, for God is my defence." By a sudden impetus or effort. By a sudden impetus or effort. We see the years move on, and the everlasting truth subdue all to itself. THE HOPES THAT ARE BASED ON FAITH GIVE STRENGTH TO LIVE FOR GOD. Capacity for the most strenuous exertion.IV. To "renew their strength."1. 31. )Strength helping weaknessF. Wesley fashioned modern England by faith. III. It is a crown (1 Corinthians 9:25). )Godly optimismF. There are two wings in our spiritual ascent faith and obedience. He gains wide outlooks; he breathes a clear and crystalline atmosphere. I may be very busy in connection with the Church of Christ and the advancement of the knowledge of Christ. The least that.it can mean is they shall stand their ground.3. Our text speaks not only of flying, but of running and walking. 1. Now those composite figures had subtle meanings. A patient spirit has the wings of faith and hope. What has the Lord Jesus Christ to leave? At any rate he found in the matchless wing-power of the eagle a sublime image of an inspiring and God-seeking man. The most vigorous pinion will never reach the sun, but yet it may reach so high that earth-bound creatures shall fail to track its flight, and lose it in the glare of the excellent glory.2. Waiting, in Scripture language, is a term used to denote dependence. Hocart. There, throughout, we find the Divine life in man described as a "walk." 3), and more fully by St. Luke (Is. )Life's order and the Divine sufficiencyJ. Hast thou less conscious nearness to the mercy-seat,--diminished communion with thy Saviour? Dickson, D. D.)Waiting on GodD. He who has only seen the sorrow, the grief, the sin of the world has not penetrated to the depth of the problem. If called upon to act a public part, he will seek to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, that thus, while serving the Master, his own character may continually grow. You see the progression of ideas; it is strength that has to be renewed, and it has to be renewed by God, and God gives it when we wait upon Him. A. )The continued renewal of strengthR. In point of ease. Let us, therefore, see what there is in reserve for us in the large world into which Isaiah is prepared to conduct us We are at once made aware of its vastness, to the expanding and refreshing of our spirits, for we are brought face to face with God in all the majesty of His perfections: the infinite Greatness, to which the nations are as the small dust of the balance. After a brief general preface (Is. Hence the Psalmist says, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." Health, hope, and desire pass quickly away together, and a loaded table becomes an object of revulsion. The soil is ready for the vitalising shower. Xl. Let us notice: THIS WAITING UPON THE LORD. They were now coupled up to the source of the power, and the effect of every pulse of the engine was communicated to them, and had it run one hundred miles an hour so would they have done. So it is possible for the Christian to be moving on by a power that very soon expends itself, and by a process of exhaustion he falls back again under the gravitating influence of his evil tendencies. 3-5). Zeal to the soul is what animal heat is to the body. Divine consolation. It has already conquered half the world, and controls the whole. It is often found in persons of weak understanding, and in minds not highly cultivated by refined education.3. But He requires, as the condition of our receiving His grace, that we sincerely feel and humbly acknowledge our need of it; and that, ceasing from our own wisdom, and confessing from the heart our own weakness, we throw ourselves unreservedly upon His wisdom and strength. He who looks only at the burden of the world, and only sees its sorrow and shame, has not got to the last analysis of its meaning; he has not touched the Rock, is floundering in the mud. In vain all my lonely musing, in vain all my bustle in the kingdom of Christ, if consistency of daily life does not accompany the whole. First comes the "flying" stage. Cooke.The Lord's people must wait 1. What do you say, Christian tradesman you upon whom God hath laid the responsibilities of home and family you Christian citizen-you whom the arrows of affliction have wounded you proclaimer of the Lord's message?2. In simplicity of intention. Their faith at one time is supported only by the promises,,-at other times by their own experience (Psalm 27:14; Lamentations 3:25, 26; Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 49:23). Yet I venture to question whether such a discourse would strike the central teaching of the prophet. Once more, if I am to wait upon the Lord aright I must study well what this word "wait" in itself implies. If you and I have this grace, and if we practise it, what may we expect?1. Ramsay.Nothing can give a better conception of the strength and the weakness of human nature, than by comparing what man has done in subduing the material powers by which God has surrounded him, and in providing for his own temporal comfort, and his utter helplessness in those things which relate to the life of the soul. Nothing looks less like effort.2. It is the posture of expectancy for every blessing of which we stand in need, temporal and spiritual.II. 13. The Cherubim and Seraphim show that images are not fit to represent divine mysteries. It is far easier for some of us to run than to walk. Heavenly-mindedness. Steady attachment to the ways of God. But as they came round the curve from one line to the other friction and gravitation asserted their power. This is the religion of the Bible: is it not a noble thing? But all forms of waiting on the Lord involve the personal, conscious, voluntary act of the mind or soul within us, for which no mere ceremony or ritual can be a substitute. First, the purged ear of the prophet hears the divine command to him and to his brethren--Comfort Jerusalem with the message of the Alexander MaclarenExpositions of Holy ScriptureThe Shepherd and the Fold Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.' SPIRITUAL LIFE DEMANDS RENEWAL. Poor and barren and diseased must that heart be which has no song of praise to sing, no gratitude to pour forth for past deliverances and for present mercies, which has no emotion of adoring love for a goodness so infinite and untiring. 5. "They shall mount up with wings as eagles." Waiting upon God is a duty very frequently enforced in Scripture, and to which the highest blessings are annexed. )Standing stillJ. To one who thus heroically soars towards God and His light, the things of time and earth seem trivial and contemptible. "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." Another sense in which the word "waiting" occurs in Scripture is, a willingness to be directed by the person waited upon. The preaching of the apostles foretold12. EXODUS XV. Whatever it be in their power to do, that power will be increased and their strength renewed by waiting upon God. But it is possible to rise by another kind of power. "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.". Let me translate that last word again, translate it by a word that is about as wide in its English significance as the word used by the prophet in his own time, "They shall mount up, they shall run, they shall go." If a number of ships of war were sent out to sea, and were ready to start at any moment, and if the question were asked, what are they waiting for?, the answer would likely be one of two things: either that they were waiting for supplies, or waiting for orders.

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