Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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I'd like to turn this afternoon to the 40th chapter of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 40.
Comfort she, comfort she my people, saith your God, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. It makes straight in the.
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry, and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field, the grass.
Whether us the flower fadeth because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it, Surely the people is grass.
The grass wither us, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Or Zion that bring us good tidings. Get thee up into the high mountain. Or Jerusalem that bring us good tidings. Lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid.
Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God, Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule with him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the sand, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains and scales, and the hills in a balance?
Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him with whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge to him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as a small dust of the bounds. Behold, he taketh up the aisles of the very little thing, and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the deficient for a burnt offering.
All nations before him are as nothing, and they are accounted to him less than nothing and vanity.
To whom then will he liken God, or what likeness will he compare unto him? The Workman melt at the graven image, and the Goldsmith spreaded it over with gold, and cast a silver chain. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot.
He seeketh unto him a cunning Workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that stitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them as a tent to dwell in.
That bringeth the Princess to nothing. He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yeah, they shall not be planted. Yeah, they shall not be sown. Yeah, their stock shall not take root in the earth. He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away. A stubble.
To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things that bringeth out their hosts by number. He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of His power, for that He is strong in power, not one sailest.
Why sayest thou or Jacob and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God. Hast thou not known, Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might. He increaseth strength, even the youth.
Shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings of eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
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Well, this is a very precious chapter, and it seems to me it brings before us two things, and that is that all flashes as grass and the greatness and the glory of God. And what a comfort this can be to us when we lay hold of these things, although so often as we find here, we have to learn them the hard way. Now. That is, it takes us a long time to get hold of the things that God is seeking to teach us in this lovely chapter.
Here, But who? Who but God could put together such thoughts as we have in this beautiful chapter? Notice how it begins. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. And then in the very second verse, it tells us that Israel had received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Well, if we didn't understand the ways of God, this would indeed seem very strange to us. What would?
Would be the comfort in being told such a thing that she had received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins? Will I believe, brethren, that there is nothing more comforting to the soul than to have learned that the flesh profiteth nothing, to have learned that all flashes of grass, how many struggles we go through, how many problems we have because we're expecting something from the flesh?
Perhaps in ourselves, perhaps in others, we're looking for something from man, only to be thoroughly disappointed. But isn't it blessed? And I say, what a comfort it is to the soul when we have learned what the Spirit of God is bringing before us in such a blessed way in this chapter. Indeed, I could say there is no real comfort until we have learned that.
Think of Job. He was prosperous, everything seemed to go well and.
Home, life and family. Why, he had plenty of wealth, and he had a nice family, and as even Satan said, the Lord had put a hedge about him. Nothing seemed to go wrong for him. Everything seemed to prosper that he did. And yet he said I was not at rest, neither had I quiet. Yet trouble came now. That is, Joel, even in all his prosperity, was living in a constant apprehension.
He was trusted.
Himself and in those things to bring peace and contentment to him. And so God came in and stirred up the nest. And it wasn't until he had lost all those things and had come to the point where he said, I repent and abhor myself in dust and ashes. He came and said, I, I am vile. What shall I say? I will lay my hand upon my mouth when he had come to this point.
But then it said, God gave him twice as much as before, and God blessed the latter end of Job more than the beginning.
Daughters, and those daughters had names that bring before us the the beauties of Christ. And I believe we could say that Job was a happier, more comforted man after he had gone all through those things than he ever was in the beginning when there was so everything went so smoothly, when all the blessings of God seemed to be so apparent.
We find the same thing in the in the book of the Psalms. The psalmist said, Lord, by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to stand strong. Everything seemed to go well, and he gave the Lord the credit for it too. But then he said, thou didst hide thy face. And I was troubled. And then after he had gone through affliction, then we have that beautiful verse that we quote so often. I think it's in the 30th Psalm.
And he said, my times are in thy hand. And so perhaps this helps us to understand what is being brought before us here.
It says, Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardon, Or she hath received of the Lords Hand double for all her sins. I thought quite a bit about that expression. She received of the Lords Hand double for all her sins. Now of course we need to be quite clear, this has nothing to do with atonement.
Atonement was accomplished by the Lord Jesus upon that cross of Calvary.
We couldn't add anything to that blessed finished work and anything that we might have to suffer in life has nothing to do with putting away sin as before God. But we do have to go through a great deal in the governmental ways of God. And perhaps when it says she received double is that we have to learn the same lesson more than once. It seems that God has to put us through an awful lot before we learn what he's trying to show us.
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And that is what we have in this chapter, that all flesh is as grass, and all the goodliness thereof is the flower of grass.
And so Israel couldn't learn it by just one thing. She had to receive double. And isn't it true? Isn't it sad what we have to go through, every one of us, if we're honest with ourselves, And before the Lord hasn't, The Lord has to pass us through things and we think we've learned. And then he has to pass us through again because we find out that we hadn't learned what he was trying to show us and that He was.
Bringing us to the point like he did Job where?
He would say, I abhor myself when he would come to the point, as the apostle would say, of the flesh profiteth nothing. And so it says her warfare is accomplished. That is, there's a constant conflict because we have the flesh within us and we don't like to give in. We don't like to acknowledge. Don't we see that with Job? Didn't he fight against the?
Ways of God. He said that God wouldn't leave him alone until he even slowed down his spittle. He was so upset at all the things that God had brought into his life. He said that those friends that were talking to him the way they did, he wouldn't put their fathers with the dogs of his flock. Wasn't there a warfare? What was he fighting against? What God was trying to show him and what he's often trying to show us, And we fight against it. There's real warfare because we don't like.
Give in, do we? That flesh within that self? It's so hard for us to come to that point where we just take the place as being nothing before Him.
And then it says her iniquity is pardoned. That is, we have never in the governmental ways of God learned these things and enjoyed what we might speak of as governmental forgiveness until the Lord has passed us through so much to bring us down and in order that he might bless us. And then he can say, comfort ye, my people, Isn't this most blessed that there is a blessed.
Comfort, I say, because when we come to that point.
Then we have in the next verse the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. We know this passage is quoted in connection with the coming into this world of the Lord Jesus, because as we think of his pathway through this world, what a pathway it was. And as John the Baptist announced his coming, he could truly say, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God, because here was one who walked through this world in perfect dependence upon his father. As one brother said the first time that he read through the gospels. The thing that struck him in the comment that he made was here is a man who never did one thing to please himself.
Oh how lovely. There was a pathway through this world and that pathway has been marked.
For us, the Lord Jesus tried that pathway. He has marked a highway through this desert scene. We were speaking the other yesterday about how Moses would have looked to hobb to the eyes for him to guide him through the wilderness. But the Lord went before to search out a resting place, and you and I are so prone to turn to someone else to find a way through this. Great.
Terrible wilderness. But there's one who has done it. There's one who has marked out the pathway. Our blessed Savior, He, he marked out the path He made straight in the desert, a highway for our God. And as Mr. Darby once said, God has a path through this world where Satan cannot touch us. That is the path in which the Lord Jesus walked. Isn't that blessed?
There is a path, there is one who walked it perfectly. It has been marked out for us and all. As he walked through this scene, were there difficulties? Yes. But he accepted every situation as from his father's hand. It doesn't matter what it was. Even when he was going to go to that cross, he could say, The cop which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? He accepted the rejection of the nations.
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With the words Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in my sight. Oh, if there were more of this in us, we would find a highway through this desert. We would find there is a path through it, and we would have our eyes upon the One, as it says in Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus, the beginner and the finisher of the path of faith. He began it and He finished it. He walked it perfectly.
Every valley shall be exhibited.
And every mountain and hill shall be made low.
Well, perhaps the thoughts when it says every valley shall be exalted, it means that when we have learned what the Lord is seeking to teach us, then even the valley experiences are exalted. Now that is when we look back over our lives, perhaps we can say we learn more in the valley experiences, the times when we were right down, when the Lord had to bring us to some point where we were brought into.
Humble place before him. Then we look back and we say, oh, that's an exalted experience. I don't look back on that as something to be regretted. I see that there was a good purpose in that. And I believe when our lives are retraced above, we'll surely say that. Do you think Job will look on those years in which or whatever length of time it was that he was so deprived of all the comforts and his friends?
Took him. Do you think you'll say, oh, I wish that had never happened? That was all lost time in my life. The Lord brought me through it, but it was all lost time. No, that'll be a valley that'll be exalted now that'll be a thing. That'll be an important thing in his life. And then the hills will be brought low. Those times when we thought we were somebody, when we attracted a little bit of public attention.
When we got some of the flattery and compliments of the world, and maybe that was more harmful.
To us than we thought, and maybe this was something that was only a hindrance instead of a blessing. The hills have to be brought down.
And the crooked shall be made straight. That is those places that we come to in life where we can't see around the corner. We just don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or the next day. And then we see that the Lord knew all about it, that those things that.
King Solomon said that which is crooked cannot be made straight. That which is wanting cannot be numbered. Now that is as a man looking at things under the sun and that was all he could say. He said there's no, he's trying to straighten things out. Just all a mass about the crooked shall be made straight. But that is when we recognize that the hand of God is in all these things, then they're not so crooked. They're they're straight, that is.
They are for a purpose.
That God is working because there is a way in the wilderness, and that is what He is seeking to teach us. And the rough places shall be made plain. There is all those rough places in life that will see that there was a purpose in them too. It'll all be made plain when we're in His presence. I've often said about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
When we meet them in heaven, and supposing we were to say.
Them. Oh, isn't it too bad the king ever passed that decree? Look, all the trouble you had to go through. Why, if he had never passed that decree, what, You would have escaped? That was a horrible experience. The fiery furnace. Do you think they'll say that? No, I believe they'll say why, That was a marvelous experience. The Lord was with us in the fire. We proved him there. And so the rough places, perhaps.
They all tell you that it was the most wonderful experience of their whole life down here. And so isn't this a comfort to us when?
We see what the Lord is trying to teach us. As I say, this is real comfort. To comfort a person who's going on in self will. To comfort a person when he is giving place to the flesh is not true comfort at all. But when we say to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand and to seek to learn what He is showing us.
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For them, it becomes a blessing. It actually is, it says here.
It becomes a comfort, comfrey, comfort ye my people, speak ye comfortably unto Jerusalem, and cry unto her. And then it says in the fifth verse, And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken at well, we know all this looks on to a day when His glory will be revealed.
Old when all those purposes that God has had in connection with this earth will all be manifested sometimes when you read the first chapter of Ezekiel.
And you read about those wheels and wheels within wheels and lights, perhaps you said that's a really a perplexing chapter. I don't know what that could mean. Lights and all those things and movement. Well, read the chapter through. It's intended to sound perplexing. And life does seem perplexing. There's often things that are happening. There are movement of events and there are wheels within wheels. That is, there's something behind it and you don't know just what it is.
As it were a light that you see, and it just seems that it's all difficult to understand, but it tells us here. It tells us rather in Ezekiel one that at the end of the chapter, Ezekiel looked up and above the firmament he saw a throne and as it were the resemblance of a man, and he saw the cherubim. And then he was able to say the glory of the Lord was revealed and that is.
We saw that God's hand was in all his confusing movement that was taking place, and you and I often have to do just like Ezekiel, we have to look above all those things that are happening and see that there is a man on the throne. Ezekiel said he saw the resemblance of a man or the semblance of a man. I forget the very.
But you and I can look up like Stephen did, and he said, I see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Now, that is, there's a much fuller revelation now in Christianity. We know who it is that's at the right hand of God. We know that it's the very one who walked this pathway here, the very one who went to Calvary because he loved us.
The very one who wants us is his companions in the glory.
He's the one that's on the throne. And when he rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples on the 28th of Matthew, there were some doubts rising in their mind. It says some doubted. And what did he tell them? All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
And we know too that it says again, he's had over all things to the church, which is his body. Isn't it blessed to see the man on the throne, to see the glory of God and Jesus there? And so we're going to understand this all in a coming day. But God would in some measure make it known to our souls now for our present enjoyment, for our present peace, for our present comfort.
So, the voice said. Cry.
And he said, What shall I cry? Well, what was he to cry? He said, all flashes grass, and all the goodliness thereof is the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Where don't we see? And the grass speaks of the man's glory, his boastings. And it says here that.
All flesh is as grass, and so it is. It's just all going to pass away.
And we see so much in which the flesh can glory, so much in which man is exalted. And perhaps if there was ever a day, it's the day where a man is given a place where man is exalted.
And so easy for us to get caught in the current. I know you young people, when you start the school, that's the first thing they seek to do is to instill in you that you have something, you're really somebody, and you're going to be able to do something and make your mark in this world. And it's all this from the very start. They've often said the very thing that God is at work to break down in US is the thing that appears so soon within us.
We find when a child begins to grow up and it comes to the age where it can take a few steps along, then you notice it pushes away it's mother's hand and it walks out. So pleased to be able to just walk alone when it can go to school and learn something. Oh how pleased it is to come home and tell mother something that is more than they learn from home.
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Yes, independence.
We get a little older to have our own job and our own money, then our own car, then we set up our own home. Isn't this all the feelings that rise in it? That independence, that liking to feel that we are independent? And what is God trying to teach us? Dependence. Dependence on him as children, as young people.
In middle age, in old age, everyone that left the land of.
Egypt was to have a staff in his hand, My staff dependents. And so here tells us all flesh is grass. Well, is there anything stable? Is there anything then? If the world is full of things that are crooked, then we have these hard lessons to learn and all flesh is as grass. Yes, there's something that's stable. Isn't this beautiful?
But the word of our God shall stand forever. Isn't that a blessed thing now? That is, if everything around is unstable, we can't trust in ourselves. People fail us. Everything seems to fail. Isn't it blessed here that we have something that we can positively rely upon? The word of our God shall stand forever.
And oh, what a comfort it is to us when we get hold of this precious book.
So many encouraging things for our hearts, and when some disappointment comes, just to have some verse of scripture to lean upon to find the comforts of God in it. The Word of our God shall stand forever. Is all man's boasting going to hinder the fulfillment of God's purposes? No Did all Satan's power hinder the accomplishment of redemption? Never.
The word of our God shall stand for.
However, you and I have a book in our hands that we can say every word of God is pure. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. And I say to yourself, and I say to myself.
When difficulties arise, turn to this precious book, and when we see all fleshes grasp when God is having to pass us through experiences to teach us our own nothingness. Let us pick up this precious book and know that all that God has purposed is going to be most surely fulfilled. Every believer is going to be carried safely home. Christ is going to have His rightful place. Everything.
That's wrong is going to be set right. All the crooked things will be made straight, all the rough places will be made plain. But who's going to get the glory? Oh, how blessed the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. We will see that God has these councils, He has these purposes, and He is going to fulfill them. He is going to accomplish what He has said to the very letter, and not one thing can fail.
That he has spoken.
So then, the ninth verse, O Zion, that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem, that bring us good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength.
Lift up, lifted up, be not afraid sand of the cities of Judah. Behold your God that is. Look away now. They have passed through all this warfare. They have received from the Lord's hand double for all their sins. They have learned that all flesh is as grass. And now he says, Zion, lift up your voice and shout, rejoice, it's good tidings. Now behold your.
God and the Lord Jesus is going to come for the deliverance of His people. Alas, we know that during the Tribulation period they will rely upon the Western world to help them. Don't we see something of this today? There are these Jews going back to Palestine, going back to their own land and trying to establish themselves.
But oh, how much conflict there is, how much trouble and.
They're going to turn to the Western world and make a tree and hope that they will be able to protect them. And as the Arabs gain strength, why they fear this? Well, might they fear too. But what is going to be the answer? Is it going to be multiplying arms? Is it going to be some Western health that's given? No.
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When the Lord comes, they'll say blow, This is our God we have waited for.
Him and so in Isaiah the godly ones are told say not a confederacy to all whom this people shall say a confederacy about their toll to wait for the Lord, not to turn to the Wizards that people must mutter, but it says to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Now that is the godly ones instead of wanting.
Confederacy and get what the world calls numbers as strength. They wait upon God. They're despised by the rest of the nation. And so with us, brethren, how needful that we go on in confidence, in obedience to the word of God. We may be despised by the world, we may even be counted as nothing as regards what is going on in Christendom, but what does God value?
It says. In Philadelphia, it says.
That they thou has a little strength, that Alice kept my word and hast not denied my name. May we be given grace to do this, and may we keep his word and not deny his name. It's our only strength. And if we look to man, we're going to be disappointed most surely. And it doesn't matter who it is. And just like we read in the I believe it's the 22nd of Isaiah.
About all those vessels that were hung upon the nail.
And it says then the nail fell. Perhaps you've had that kind of an experience. You had a nail and you started hanging things on it and you put a little too much on it and everything came down. And whenever we hang something upon man, we're putting confidence in man. And sooner or later it's all going to come down just like the things that are put on a nail that is not in a place that it's pure and secure.
But when we rest.
Upon Christ, when our confidence is in him, and then not one faileth, nothing that is resting upon him can ever fail. The word of our God shall stand forever.
And now there is some further words of encouragement here. Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, His reward is with him, and his work before him.
Yes, the Lord is going to come. He's going to set things right. We hear Christians say, well, we need Christians in politics. We need Christians and influential positions. But one has often commented we're going to reign in the first righteous government. The world has never had righteous government yet, but when it has righteous government, we're going to reign because we're going to reign with Christ and so we can safely.
Wait that time, in the meantime were identified with a rejected Christ were like David's men who went out to him to The Cave of Dullham. They recognized that he was the rightful ruler, even though he was not yet in the place of power. And we see the Lord Jesus.
There, but it says we see not yet all things put under him.
And then it says his reward is with him and his work before him. What an encouragement for us. Then what did David do when he came to the throne? Why he rewarded all those who had been faithful to him in his rejection. And isn't this an encouragement to us?
Who are failing things that we are and truly the flesh prophet of nothing but everything that is wrought in his people by the work of the Spirit of God in that coming day is going to be rewarded. Not even a cup of cold water, not even a thought upon his name will be forgotten even when we do something perhaps the wrong way, but if the mood of his right, he's going to give credit for that.
In that beautiful chapter, First Corinthians.
Chapter 4.
Paul said, I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified? But he that judgeth me is the Lord. But then he goes on to say, the Lord will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God. I really enjoyed that, because sometimes you undertake to do something for the Lord, and you feel, oh, I just made a mess of it.
What will the Lord think of that work that I tried to do for Him?
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Well, isn't it encouraging to know that even though we may fail in the carrying out of something that we desired, that the Lord says that He makes manifest the counsels of the heart and then actually gives credit, gives reward for the heart at least being right? It says about David that he wanted to build a house for the Lord.
The prophet had to tell him no, David, that's not God's will for you.
But he said it was good that it was in mine heart. Oh, what a gracious God we have. How wonderful that he should notice and take record of all these things. And it it says here his reward is with him. I just enjoy this little thought. And just like our children, they've done something for us just out of love and perhaps we go and buy.
Something that we want to give to them just to show them how we appreciate their little expression of love and service toward us. And shall I say, we can hardly wait to give it to them. We can hardly wait to give it to them. Do you know that it speaks that way in Revelation? When the Lord comes, it says, behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me. Just as if He said what? I can hardly wait to give rewards for anything. And yet how unfaithful we've been. But how He values.
The response of our hearts. Oh, brethren, I'm sure that when our lives are manifested at the judgment seat of Christ, we will be surprised how He valued the little things that we did for Him. So small, so insignificant. People have books, and when you visit their home, they ask you to write down the name in the guest book, but they don't know every time you think about them. But the Lord does. He knows when you even think about Him.
And He takes the trouble to write down your name every time you just even think about him. His reward is with him and His work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arms and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead as those that are with young. Here we find that the Lord knows too all the different things that we need in our pathway. He feeds his flocks.
Like a shepherd, so Peter exhorting the elders, he said to feed the flock of God, which is among you. And then he spoke about the chief shepherd, because the chief shepherd has under shepherds and we have the privilege of seeking to feed the flock. So he feeds his flock like a shepherd and then he has a special interest and care for the lambs.
Carries them in his bosom. Do we have a special interest in care for the young people? They surely need it. Does the Lord make any difference? Yes, he does make a difference here. It says He feeds his flock, but it says He gathers the lambs with his arm and carries them in his bosom. They need a special care.
Life is so full of all kinds of snares and pitfalls, and the young need special encouragement.
And remember what was said to the innkeeper when the Lord brought the man to the OR when the Samaritan brought that man to the end. He said, Whatsoever thou spend this more, when I come again I will repay thee.
I believe the thought is this. He gave him two pens. The normal pay was a penny a day, but the innkeeper might have grumbled and said, oh, but hotels, no place for a sick man. It's all right. If he's well, we'll give him a bed and we'll feed him. But this man's going to require some extra care. Said if you have to do anything extra for him, I'll pay when I come again. What an encouragement to us. Maybe there's some of.
The Saints of God that need a little extra care, are we willing to give it? The Lord does here. He doesn't only feed, but he gathers the lambs in his arms. Some of them need to be lifted up, some of them have to be helped, the brothers said about how when the Lord.
When Peter, I believe it was healed, that man in the axe, it says he took him by the hand and lifted him up and he said sometimes you almost have to help a person to obey the voice of the Lord. And so we find people.
Reaching out his hand, giving him a little left and sometimes we have to do that little extra help, a little extra encouragement, a little extra care and he gently leads those that are with young That is he knows all that we have to pass through. We know that what the mother has to pass through in connection with the bringing in of children and so the Lord understands every special circumstance in our lives. There is nothing I.
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Unknown to him.
And then the verses that follow here from the 12TH 1St to the 15th 1St, bring before us who this person is that has undertaken to care for us, the One who is our Deliverer. Why? Just think of His greatness.
Here at Speaks, he measured the waters in the hall of his hand. Think of the mighty oceans and he can measure the waters in the hall of his hand. It says he meets out the heavens with a spam. No one, no matter how great their telescope, has been able to discover the extent of the heavens. But there's one who just puts out his hand and he measures the whole thing just with a span. Isn't that wonderful? And this is the person that's lifting us up in his arms, that's carrying us.
This is the person that says, I'm going to reward you for a cup of cold water. A thought upon his name. Yes, the mighty creator of the universe, the one who has such greatness. And, and it says in the 13th verse, who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him with whom took he counsel, and who instructed him and taught him in the way of judgment and taught him knowledge.
Because we make so many mistakes and we don't know the right thing to do. But he does. He knows the right thing to do. Who has been his counselor? He just knows.
Understands perfectly. And so he says he not only did all this, but he didn't have to take counsel with anybody. He didn't have to ask for Job when he was in trouble. He said he would like to plead his case with God. He said if God would only listen to my case, he'd understand it a little better. And he lied. He said, oh, Joan, Joan, he doesn't have to listen to your case. He knows all about you and everybody else.
And so we sometimes feel this way too.
Even the disciples sometimes questioned what the Lord was doing. And don't we do the same? Well, He doesn't need any instruction. He knows and He loves and He cares.
And so he goes on and tells us about his greatness. And the 17th verse. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to Him less than nothing. In vanity we hear people in fear of what this nation or that nation will do.
If this country gets armed and if this country gets more power than the United States have, what is going to happen? Well, what does God say? All nations before him are of nothing.
And they are accounted to him less than nothing in vanity. Why? Well, because he's in control of everything.
There isn't anyone, and it doesn't matter what country it is or how well armed it is that can do anything unless he allows it. The great king of Assyria came up against Israel and for Hezekiah he had just a small little army. What was he going to do? How could he handle this great army? Well, his king or the captain Sennacherib just sent a letter and told him.
How foolish it was to trust in the Lord.
Antonacher and Hezekiah spread out the letter before the Lord and he he didn't know how to answer it. He didn't have enough strength to handle this great king. And the prophet came back to him and told him the Lord knows how to handle his king. He said he's just nothing at all. He has boasted against the God of Israel. And that night 1 Angel, 1 Angel went out and slew 185,000.
Oh, how wonderful it is to.
Know that God is in control, that there is no nation that is so great they can do anything unless God allows it. Nothing can happen by chance.
So then he speaks of the things in which the nations trusted. He talks about their their idols. They they made their idols from silver and gold. And he said, now this is what man does. And then he turns to that, Well, maybe we probably wouldn't make an idol with a face on it, but we have a lot of things that we make with our own hands that we trust in things that we have worked out. And we think now I've got.
Taken care of and I've got that taken care of and doesn't as often happen. Why it just all gets upset. It doesn't seem to work out at all because we were really trusting in our idol and the Lord says here I'm so great. He said are you going to be like the heathen? You're going to do something with your own hands and trust in that. He said why, they're all vanity. The power of the nations is as nothing.
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And he goes on to tell us then again about.
The 21St verse. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Have it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers.
And so he tells us about his great power again as the Creator, and says in the 23rd verse that bringeth Princess to nothing, He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
He says they're not able to do anything, they can just be carried away by the wind. In other words, what he is bringing before us, I say again, is his own greatness and how he is perfectly able to handle every difficulty that could possibly arise, it says.
In the 24th verse, yeah, they shall not be planted, they shall not be sown. Yeah, their stock shall not take root in the earth.
For he shall also blow upon them.
That is, when God blows upon something, why it surely is nothing. It says, who hath purposed and brought it to pass, when the Lord commanded it not?
And then he brings it down in the end of the chapter. And we don't want to miss this precious application that is brought out in the end of the chapter. He tells the prophet then and to just look, look up on high and think of all those stars. You know, men have tried to number them, but not recently, because as they have the more powerful telescopes, they just realize that.
It's absolutely beyond numbering. No one could possibly number but.
He said the Lord calls them all by name. Doesn't that strike you? That man have names for constellations and probably quite a few of the stars, but every one of them has a name, those stars up on high. And he said He calleth him all by names, by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power, not one sailor. And then he puts out this challenge, the 27th verse.
Why sayest thou or Jacob, and speakest thou Israel? My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God.
To me this is also marvelously striking. He has shown us how flashes as grass. God's word will stand. The Lord is going to come to deliver his people. He's able to do what he has all power and then he puts out as it were a question to them and he said, why sayest thou my way is hid from the Lord?
And haven't we done just exactly the same? We've just acted as though the Lord did.
Not really know what we're passing through. He didn't really fully understand. He must have made some mistake that such a thing could happen to us or that such an order of circumstances could possibly take place. Paul, he said you look around and you know all this the power of God, you know the one who's going to set everything right and quiet. You say the Lord doesn't know and he isn't making.
The right judgment about my case, my judgment is passed over. He just, he looked after that other friend of mine and he took up his case and he took care of my friend, but he just passed me by. He didn't, he didn't pay any attention to me. Well, he said, I mean, he's got all the stars named and he's in control of everything. He said. Why did you say that? Did you think he didn't know? Oh, doesn't it speak to it? Doesn't it speak? It speaks to my heart because when we get into situations, we do just exactly what?
Here we say, surely the Lord doesn't see this. Surely he's passed over this situation. He couldn't have noticed it because something would have happened. And then he says, hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? Notice how full this chapter is of question. Over and over again He's asking questions. Didn't you know? Didn't you hear this? Had you never known this before? Don't we need to be told?
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Too. Didn't we know this? I haven't said anything this afternoon. I'm sure that you didn't know before you knew it and I knew it, perhaps, but we forget it. We act as if it wasn't true. We act as though these things that might apply to other people. But could it really be so in our own individual personal case that this is also yes, This is so lovely.
The Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faint us not, neither is weary. There is no searching of His understanding. When we have a lot of problems, we faint. We just get weary of them. We just say, I give up just too much. But the Lord never says your problems are too great. I'm sick of hearing those things. I'm weary of it. No, He faint us not, neither is weary. We're invited in Hebrews 4.
Let us come boldly under the throne.
Of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. There is no searching of His understanding. So in spite of all our unbelief, in spite of all our slowness to lay hold of these things, now, He tells us what He's willing to do for us.
He give us power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength.
He doesn't tell us in these verses here that He is going to remove all the difficulties down here. Tells us in the beginning of the chapter that the crooked is going to be made straight. He tells us then the rough places would be made straight in a plain. But here He says what He is doing for us now and going through these things is marked out a path for us.
And he gives us the strength to go on that. Isn't that what we need?
We need the strength to go on contingent at peace and comforted because we know that all is in His hands and that if He has to pass us through something, he doesn't make any mistakes. He's he's teaching us these lessons that are set before us in this wonderful chapter.
It says even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young man shall utterly fall. That is, it isn't youth, it isn't natural strength, it isn't strength of character. It's leaning upon the Lord. It's finding in him that strength, that grace that we need. And there is no other way. Young people I know get terribly discouraged. Older people may say, well, they can take it, they're young.
Well, I think I know a little bit more of what young people go through, and I know that doesn't matter whether you're young or old. They're real conflicts in life. They're really too difficult for ourselves in in nature, but they're not too difficult for the Lord. Our way is not hid from Him. Our judgment is not passed over. He knows what he's doing and he's in control.
And so this last verse that gives us the comfort that we.
Have here.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Now that is, there are times when we don't see definitely the Lord coming in and he just says, well, you just have to wait. You just have to wait. And some things won't be set right here in this world. As we noticed in the end of the 11TH chapter of Hebrews, some people got mighty answers to their prayers in their lifetime. Others had to go.
Through the article of death, and they probably never understood until they got to the other side.
And so we find take with Joseph must have been very difficult for Joseph when he was down there in the prison. He had sought to please the Lord. He had sought to honor his father. And he's the one that seemed to get all the trouble. He must have wondered many times it was hard for him to understand God. What a wonderful thing it'll be for Joseph in heaven to find out that his life was a type of Christ.
You know, I think, I think there'll be literally thousands of people that will go up to Joseph and say, Joseph, I got such a blessing from your life. I got such a blessing as I read your life and Joseph would say I didn't understand why it was happening. Sure, everything seemed to go wrong for a long time. And yet how it has all been made a blessing to thousands of God's children.
Well, let's just notice these three things here, It says They shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. I've enjoyed these three different things here.
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They shall mount up with wings of eagles. Perhaps this suggests the ability to rise up and get above things. You know, you see the birds as they fly up, and there they are above everything that's going on in this poor and troubled world. There they are just up above looking down. And you know, sometimes it seems the Lord enables us to get above situations, and he does. Let us mount up with wings and get above them.
I'm glad the verse doesn't stop there, because sometimes we do find it hard to get above them, don't we?
Pretty much down to earth. And so it says they shall run and not be weary. You say, well, at least I'm trying. At least. I think perhaps I'm keeping up with the situation. And that's about all we can do. We just can't seem to get above it, but we're sort of keeping up to it. And so it says they shall run and not be weary. And life is worrisome. There are so many things you just find it hard to keep up sometimes, don't you? Well, it says they shall run and not.
Be weary. He gives the strength to keep up with the fast movement of things that is taking place in this world. Or you say I can't even do that. Helena says they shall walk and not fade. We get slowed down till we're just walking. At least let us not faint if we can't get above it and we can't keep up, at least if we're just walking. If we're just walking, let us not think. Our heart, our hearts, trust is in the same Blessed One and.
Here we find such a word of encouragement because if it just as I said, spoke about mounding up with wings as eagles, and then we might easily say, well, I I just can't seem to get above things. Well, God says I understand that too. If you're just running, why you'll not be weary because I'll undertake for you and we're right down to The Walking speed.
We're just able to barely move along, shall I say.
Perhaps even at the slow gate he says, well, don't faint, as it says about those in Gideon's time. They were faint yet pursuing well. May the Lord then give us grace to see what He is bringing before us in this most beautiful chapter. It's a lesson. As I say, I don't think we fully learn it, but at least I trust we are learning it. And I believe there's the most solid and blessed and wonderful comfort in learning it.
Indeed, I believe it's the only way.
True comfort, and that is to say that all fleshes as grass, but to see that the word of our God shall stand forever, that we have in the midst of all this the breakdown of everything committed to man, her own weakness and failure. We have this solid comfort. Comrade. My people speak comfortably to Jerusalem and let them see that even their trials were with a purpose of blessing to them.
Well, may the Lord give us grace then to go on.
The time is short. We've entered another year. We don't know how long you may leave us here, but we may hear the shout this very day about if he leaves us here a little longer. It says be patient. Therefore, my brethren, under the coming of the Lord.