Isaiah (Quality: Good)

[0:00] As the Lord may be pleased to help me for a little while this evening I'll direct you to a word in the chapter which we read Isaiah chapter 40 and we read verse 29 He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength Verse 29 chapter 40 the prophecy of Isaiah He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength I realise this is a very well known chapter and a well known verse What a mercy dear friends if we should be favoured as it were to dip a little out of it once more and that the Lord will be pleased to make it as it were a word in season that would have helped one or another Often the Lord's dear people know what it is to be faint and to have no might and it is this people that have an interest in such a word as this

[1:13] Not the self-sufficient Not those who are strong in themselves Not those who are filled to the brim with self-confidence But it is a word to the weak and the feeble So may the Lord help us in a little while this evening to try and consider this word And in one sense we have a great contrast before us in these few words when we think of He Who He is And then those who have an interest in what He is pleased to bestow The chapter reminds us doesn't it of the omnipotence of God And how majestic are the words the language of the scriptures in this bringing before our poor finite minds something of the majesty and power and omnipotency of God He who is so great so mighty so holy

[2:17] He who sustains the universe He who spake it all into being He of whom this word reminds us sitteth upon the circle of the earth and in the inhabitants of the earth before Him are as grasshoppers All these words convey to us and may they convey to us something of the almighty power of God He in whom we live and move and have our being He before whom we almost stand the last great day And so we would think of the omnipotence of God because in one sense surely there is a ground for encouragement to God's dear people in this that He who is so mighty almighty the omnipotent God He who reigns supreme over all things and He who make known His solemn judgments upon the ungodly this same God is the God of His people the God of their salvation

[3:29] He it is who devised a way whereby mercy could flow to unworthy guilty sinners and so as we try and consider this word this evening we want to think in the first place of the majesty and almighty power of God because it brings us to consider that the source of the strength the power that the Lord is pleased to convey to His needy people you see it is unfailing there is this question isn't it in the context hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the creator of the ends of the earth faint is not neither is weary and there is no searching of His understanding no man by searching can find out God He is all to get beyond our poor finite minds to comprehend what a mercy dear friends if God has granted us a grain of faith to lay hold upon those precious things concerning Himself and although we cannot comprehend these things yet I believe this that where a little God-given faith is implanted in the hearts of poor sinners that they lay hold upon the truth and even those things that sense and reason cannot fathom but that faith embraces and so when we think of the majesty and almighty power of God and His holiness and these are needful things to consider especially when we gather together to worship God or to have some realization of the majesty and holiness of God before whom we stand before whom we appear that there may be that spirit of reverence and humility and humble all before Him it may be preservative from all that is light and trifling in a profession of worship the word of God reminds us that God is greatly to be feared and to be having reverence of all them that are about Him and that holiness becometh thine house

[5:45] O God and well it is if we are given some realization some little realization of the holiness and majesty of God and to know and to feel and to see something of how we stand before Him you know the prophet had a a vision didn't he you read of it in the sixth chapter of this prophecy in that vision Isaiah saw something of the majesty and holiness of God he's sitting upon his throne high and lifted up and there were those angels that vowed their faces and cried holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts Isaiah was given that vision and what effect did it have upon him well it humbled him didn't it it laid him low it caused him to declare and he felt it from his heart surely woe is me for I am undone from a man of unclean lips

[6:50] I dwell in in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the King and what a mercy dear friends if in some little measure we are given some realization of the majesty and holiness of God that we may be truly humbled before Him when the Lord Jesus Christ spoke the parable concerning the two men who went up to the temple to pray such a distinction between the two as the Savior describes them when you think of the Pharisee it's very clear isn't it he did not realize the holiness and majesty of God before whom he stood and therefore he had no knowledge of himself as an undone sinner so that all his devotion and professional religion was worthless it was unacceptable in the sight of a holy God we have the dear Savior in contrast describes the publican and that man with all his sin and unworthiness was accepted his petition accepted

[8:00] Jesus said I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other so I need what it is isn't it however may the Lord grant us some humbling sense of his greatness and majesty but then as I said there is the encouraging aspect of this that is with respect to God in all his grace and mercy and all that has been done for the eternal good of all his dear people there is a vast store of strength in Jehovah the Lord Jesus Christ is the way of strength when it says speak we have strength his arm is strong there is a bit of a word isn't there in this prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus Christ yea it is as though he speaks for the prophet I that speak in righteousness mighty to save or that we might more often be helped to meditate upon the might and power of the saviour the Lord

[9:11] Jesus Christ he who is mighty to save who is a great saviour and it has been said and it's a true saying isn't it that great sinners need a great saviour so then we think of the Lord God himself and may we help to speak with bated breath as it were concern the majesty and holiness of God his almighty power but to be helped to consider it also with respect to his graciousness as the Lord has been pleased to demonstrate and reveal in his own word his purposes of grace to his own dear people and in the Lord Jesus Christ there is that wonderful unfailing source of supply hast thou not known hast thou not heard the everlasting God the Lord the creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary there is no searching with understanding altogether beyond our poor finite minds to comprehend but there's a fullness there's a fullness in the

[10:23] Lord Jesus Christ the apostle in writing to one church declared that truth didn't he he hath pleased the father that in him in Jesus Christ his only beloved son should all fullness dwell and in one sense our text should remind us shouldn't it of that wondrous source of supply but the text says he giveth and that reminds us doesn't it that that supply flows so freely yes so freely oh it is one of the wonderful notes of the gospel read isn't it the freeness of God's mercy yes his grace is that free unmerited favour of God it flows freely tremendous price was paid that it could be so when you think of the dear Lord Jesus Christ and all he experienced here below his suffering life of complete obedience to the will of his father and the holy law and the suffering that he endured yes among sinners in his life and then toward the end of his life in

[11:41] Gethsemane upon the cross at Calvary one has said the price his own heart's blind in this way and this way alone there could mercy flow God is a holy God but he revealed himself in the person of his dear son as a gracious God yes and the word tells us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ full of grace yes he who is full of grace and so then that which he communicates is freely given and surely dear friends if we know anything of our poverty it should surely encourage us to know that his mercy flows freely not for our duties or deserves but for his great name sake and because it is the good pleasure of his will to bestow those blessings of his salvation so freely they cannot be purchased they cannot be bought by any creature merit and if we are made to know ourselves by the teaching of the Holy

[12:58] Spirit we have to know we're bankrupt we have no means of purchasing as it were that which we need but he freely bestows he giveth but then the text reminds us of the character of the people who are the favoured recipients of these blessings described in the text as the faint and of them that have no might perhaps as we try and consider this description it might be perhaps encouraging to some maybe one or more here this evening know very well that they are faint often reminded that they have no strength they have no might we read of the record don't we of that godly king was it on Jehoshaphat when he was in great trouble and there were the hosts of enemies round about him and he appealed to the

[14:00] Lord and he had to confess we have no might against this great company that comes against us neither know we what to do but the dear man was helped to look to that fullness yes what a mercy it is isn't it that we have the description of god's dear people in some places in that way which is so encouraging to the lowly ones the trembling ones the faint hearted ones and so this word here before us in this text it concerns those who are faint those who have no mind and there are those things that are conducive to the experience of being faint hearted some of it is to do with what a poor sinner realises is by nature may well be sometimes when there are some fresh discoveries of the plague of the heart and being convinced of the sin there is within you may feel faint sometimes as you consider the sin and what you feel within so a reminder that you are a poor sinner but it is one of the experiences that God's dear people know something about know the word of

[15:18] God so plainly shows to us that all are ruined in the Adam pool all are sinners in God's sight as one has said in the hymn yet few are so in their own but these faint ones these are the ones that know something of what it is to feel yes the burden of their sin and then these faint ones at times realise that they are without strength have no might when the enemy may come in like a flood the fierce assaults of the tempter you see we have no might against that great company that comes against us indeed we have no strength in ourselves to withstand the fierce temptations of the enemy yes the tempted ones and those who feel their weakness you see the description faint it gives a description doesn't it those without strength indeed them have no might when you think of a person faint literally that they're weak almost as it were appearing to be ready to die certainly have no strength whatever and so it is very forcible the description that the word gives concerning these people faint hearted have no might and sometimes it may be like this and there's something in this verse that helps us in the consideration when perhaps the pathway may be difficult and the trials are the way or it may be perhaps a dark path notice what is before us in verse 27 why sayest thou

[17:09] Jacob and speakest thou Israel the Lord here is speaking to his people you see my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God the implication is you see that Jacob Israel speaks in this way and comes to some very disquieting conclusion about things my way is hid from the Lord and my judgments are passed over from my God could well be the expression of those who indeed have no might in themselves have no strength feel faint when the way perhaps seems to be seems to be hid from the Lord but it's well to notice isn't it that it is so easy to come to a wrong conclusion about matters and about the Lord's dealings when we are faint hearted and often it is in such times that Satan comes with his fierce temptations but you see this puts a question isn't it the Lord speaks to his fainting people and those who are troubled and those who fear that their way is hid from the Lord why sayest thou

[18:30] O Jacob and speak it O Israel is put as a question isn't it a question that needs to be answered as it were it goes on doesn't it with the question concerning the omnipotence of the everlasting God and that he never faints he is never weary his mercy and his power and his grace are altogether beyond our understanding but there are those things then that produce this fainting spirit you may feel faint sometimes you anticipate things yes may be a matter before you in God's providence perhaps and as you view the sin there are some tremblings and you feel faint you know Jacob he felt very weak didn't he when he was returned to Bethel and he was given the news that Esau came to meet him if ever

[19:35] Jacob was faint hearted he was then indeed he felt have no strength yet God in his great mercy did not leave Jacob in the hand of his brother but the hearts of all are in God's hand and when they did eventually meet Jacob and Esau it was a friendly meeting without Esau said Esau but we see the hand of God in it in the behalf of his faint hearted Jacob but there are then those things that are conducive to faintness and sometimes it may be like this and perhaps you feel that you it is a barren time with you it may be perhaps you come to the house of prayer you sit under the sound of the truth the gospel is faithfully proclaimed but there are times when it does not seem to reach your heart and then perhaps in the contemplation of these things and consideration of them you tend to find there are so many ways and I would not linger too long in that aspect of the matter really

[20:46] I feel it is often the Lord's will that his dear people should learn yes again and again that they are without strength in themselves you know the apostle Paul had a peculiar part didn't he when there was given the thorn in the flesh the man prayed it might be removed but instead of the thorn being removed he had that word didn't he my grace he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee and among other things that Paul states with regard to that he says this that when I'm weak then am I strong that might seem perhaps on the surface of it a paradox but in many ways the experience of God's dear people is a paradox isn't it it may be perhaps you know a little of the secret of it when I am weak then am I strong or it is when these poor trembling sinners weaken themselves unworthy brought graciously to lean upon their beloved this is the source of the strength with power to the faint and that of no might he increases strength and now there is that communication then of the blessing that which is so needful that which alone can meet the need of these poor faint hearted ones these weak ones these who have no strength in themselves he giveth power he increases strength oh what a mercy dear friends if we know just a little of the secret of this word hope we do the word seemed to come a little freshness the latter part this afternoon and I venture with it in the hope that perhaps there might be a faint hearted soul here tonight when it feels he or she has no strength in himself here is the word of the living

[22:54] God and you see there is such a blessed certainty in the word I like to think upon sometimes the certainty of God's word you see it cannot fail and that was his promise to do for his dear people he will fulfill and nothing can prevent this oh we do need the faith to be increased don't we but we read in this chapter you might have noticed it as we read it down in that section where we're reminded of the frailty of humanity all flesh is grass all the goodness thereof is of the flower of the field the grass withereth the flower fadeth because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it these are things to remind us of the frailty of humanity our

[24:47] God shall stand forever and so when we think of what is contained this little verse before us here is something which stands can never fail first because there is such a wonderful supply in God I speak reverently the fullness of grace and truth in the Lord Jesus Christ and that can never fail and it is this that flows it is this that is communicated to these faint hearted ones so that while on the one hand they have to learn and learn again that in themselves they are faint and helpless weak sinful but on the other hand to realise just a little at times here and there some communication of that power and that strength which comes from above you know it is one of those secrets isn't it that is with the righteous with those that fear him you read one psalm the secret of the

[25:55] Lord is with them that fear him and one of those secrets surely is the communication of power and strength that God is pleased to make known to his needy people and often it comes this way doesn't it when you're brought so low and feel to be so faint and so helpless and so poor and have no strength is often in such a time the Lord is pleased in his mercy to appear yes because he'll never let any of his dear people sink to rise no more for they are locked as it were locked up in that covenant which is ordered in all things and sure that covenant of grace and of salvation and through the finished work of the dear saviour who as it were sealed that covenant with his blood makes every blessing sure you may perhaps along nice way sometimes feel faint because it seems as though the Lord does not appear but is it perhaps in this way that the Lord designs you shall learn a little more of your need of him but he never fails no he comes at the appointed time he comes with his grace he comes with his power he comes with his strength how good it is dear friends to experience just a little of him and I feel this that if it is rightly known it will have a humbling effect this power and this strength that the

[27:44] Lord is pleased to communicate to his dear people not puff them for themselves no but rather it will tend yes to humble them yes to humble them to think that the Lord should take notice of a poor trembling sinner you might feel to be and yet you realise you have to acknowledge that he has not left you to sink in despair not utter despair but with that secret support he's pleased to grant he giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increases strength sometimes the Lord sees fit to use means yes whereby he does communicate this power and this strength and we think of it in this way what a strength sometimes his own word is we mentioned just now the word of the Lord our God the word of our

[28:45] God shall stand forever and sometimes the Lord communicates that which does strengthen these faint hearted ones as he speaks to them maybe perhaps the written word yes applies some precious promise and how strengthened that is isn't it or perhaps some of you have known just a little of this and how you've had to plead that word before the Lord from time to time yes over the years remember the word unto thy servant upon which hath caused me to hope and then you see there's a power of the gospel isn't there it is described in the word of God as the power of God unto salvation to everyone which believer and what a power there is in the gospel it does not come through man's abilities to proclaim God's truth no hope but the source of it the secret of it is in God himself the Lord

[29:50] Jesus Christ whose gospel it is when by his spirit he applies that word to the heart it gives power doesn't it it gives strength it lifts the fainting soul though he's felt faint and ready to die yet there's a supporting word of the gospel it reaches these faint ones these poor needy ones doesn't it it is a gospel so suited to their case especially when you think of the freeness of it he giveth power to the faint and to them they have no might he increases strength sometimes the Lord communicates this in his dealings in the way he leads his dear people he leads them forth by the right way though sometimes in their faintness they may fear their way is hid from the Lord but it can never be so the Lord ever watches over his dear people he guides and directs them he orders their power the steps of a good man are ordered by the

[30:59] Lord we read and he delighted in his way and though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholded him with his hand and sometimes it may be the providential way how often the Lord sees fit to communicate his grace yes through providential means and while the providence in itself is not salvation but how these things are interwoven providence and grace in the experience of God's dear people they cannot be separated and sometimes the Lord is pleased to sanctify his providential dealings to this end that he gives power to his faint hearted ones he communicates some strength and they know where it comes from yes and so there are these ways and means the Lord is pleased to communicate his grace what a mercy dear friends it flows freely doesn't it and when you think of this word he giveth power to the faint

[32:12] I love to think of it with respect to the exercise of prayer now I said the exercise of prayer you see there is real prayer isn't there yes not just a form of words there is real prayer and there is a sense in which the Lord does give power to his dear people as it were the power of faith yes the power of faith so essential isn't it as we try to pray without faith is impossible is impossible to please God him that cometh to God must believe that he is it's a rewarder of all those that diligently seek him and how it becomes as it not from time to time in our felt need and our felt weakness and our sinfulness Lord increase our faith we have a beautiful example of this really in the case of Jacob how the

[33:12] Lord did strengthen the dear man when that memorable night they wrestled a man with him to the breaking of day really you know and there's a reference to that experience in one of the prophets that there was that power communicated and Jacob prevailed the prevailing prayer indeed his his name was changed wasn't it thou shalt be called Israel for as a prince hast thou pair with God and prevails and has prevailed we need to understand that word don't we God grants us a right understanding but there is the power of prayer yes the power of God given faith and sometimes it proves to be such a strength to these poor fighting ones that they can commit their way unto the Lord or maybe perhaps in your own experience you've known something of this perhaps in some particular need you've been helped to commit your way unto the

[34:16] Lord and to trust in him and the Lord has strengthened you yes appeared for you or even though perhaps there are still those things that remain as they were yet in the fact you're unable to commit you to the Lord there is a secret strength to be known in that experience I believe and it brings a little quietness a little peace into the soul I think of that word in the epistle of the Philippians where we read this be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God an exhortation to prayer you see then there's this word that follows and the peace of God which passes understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus and there is that blessing to be known dear friends yes and that peace let down into your heart as you're enabled to commit your word to the Lord yes

[35:23] God's word comes to pass you know and as you're helped to commit it to the Lord sometimes there's that peace that follows and you can rest as it were in his will he giveth power to the faint and have no mighty increased 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 as eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Amen We will conclude this service by singing hymn 332 batini silver hell 411 332 now let the feeble all be all be strong and make jehovah's arm their song his shield is spread o'er every saint and thus supported who shall faint 332

[37:11] Joe but hue have to who and u will pick up and Thank you.

[38:09] Thank you.

[38:39] Thank you. Thank you.

[39:39] Thank you. Thank you.