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[0:00] with darkness surrounded by terrors this night in pulling and going by strength is decaying John 1193 John 1193 John 1193

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[4:42] John 1193 Johnimizaken The End The End

[5:46] The End The End The End The End The End The End The End As the Lord shall be pleased to help me, I shall call your attention to a subject you will find in the book of Isaiah.

[6:52] Chapter 40, verse 31. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

[7:08] They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not taint.

[7:19] Chapter 40, the book of Isaiah, and verse 31.

[7:31] If you are here aright, in the attitude of worship, this word before us describes how you feel before God.

[7:52] They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And that is what you hope grace will be given to you to do.

[8:07] It is essential that you and I, if we are taught of God, should do it. You cannot live the life of the righteous on your own initiative, in your own strength.

[8:25] The thing is impossible. You and I need divine aid. By day, by night, to follow on to know the Lord.

[8:39] And this word before us encourages us, whatever our case may be, to wait upon the Lord regarding it.

[8:49] And if you are helped to do that, you shall get light upon it. Whatever your experience may be, in the dealings of God with you, you will see a gracious outcome.

[9:07] Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

[9:19] I want, as the Lord, to help me to look at the subject from three or four viewpoints of it. And I hope it might be a word in season to some poor sinners found before God.

[9:42] There are many things in life's journey that come upon us day by day that are very weakening. I have told you many times there is nothing beneath the sun that can assist us to live the life of the righteous.

[10:00] Everything beneath the sun is against us living such a life. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

[10:17] In the context, there is some sublime language where Isaiah was commissioned to encourage poor sinners who were ready to faint.

[10:32] And especially some who felt their cases were so intricate that it seemed as if God was not giving them any attention to make crooked things straight and rough places plain.

[10:52] Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest thou, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment, and that means my case, is passed over from my God.

[11:13] Here is a sinner who is indeed born again, and yet much in the dark as to the why and wherefore of the dealings of God.

[11:27] Walking in darkness, and having no light as to how matters may fall, and coming to wrong conclusions.

[11:43] Like you read in the word of God concerning Jeremiah when he said, surely against me is he turned. And now Isaiah was commissioned by God to speak a word of comfort to such a case.

[12:09] Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who hath created these things that bringeth out their hopes by number?

[12:20] He calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power. Not one faileth. And now no preacher can begin to tell you a tithe of the comfort there really is in that declaration.

[12:45] How can you and I, with our scanty thoughts of God at the best, visualize or ponder in our hearts that he calls every star by name?

[13:05] And he has maintained the solar system from that day when in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all that therein is.

[13:21] And it works just the same today as it did when he instituted it in its order, with the sun as the center of it.

[13:34] And that goes on every night above our heads and every day with the sun shining. Therefore, says Isaiah, if you can look up and scan the heavens by day by night, and think of him who dwells therein as your Lord, your God, you will find that such a poor sinner as you are, he knows all about your case.

[14:09] He has not overlooked you. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.

[14:25] And then he says, Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not?

[14:40] Neither is weary. There is no searching of his understanding. You cannot understand the why and wherefore of his dealings.

[14:55] But nevertheless, he is infinite in wisdom, excellent in counsel, wonderful in working. Thy ways, O Lord, with wise design, are framed upon thy throne above.

[15:12] And every dark and bending line meets in the center of thy law. And then Isaiah goes on, He giveth power to the faint.

[15:29] And that may be just how you feel this Sabbath morn. The word faint describes you. Faint in your soul's experience. And to them that have no might, he increaseth strength.

[15:44] There you see, what is really, a paradox. And yet it is a great, truth.

[15:56] Them that have no might, he increaseth strength. What does that mean? There must be just a little strength, for it to be increased.

[16:09] Yes. You understand this. It is just enough strength to make them realize how weak they are. And that they are indeed faint.

[16:22] And they need divine aid. Oh, they want that which a man cannot receive, except it be given him from heaven. And here is another word.

[16:35] Even the youth shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall. And now, it is very striking that this word in the original says that the picked men, the lifeguards men, the six-footers, strong, who seem as if nothing would bring them down.

[17:05] But, in the things of God, the young men, the picked men, because of their strength, natural strength, shall utterly fall.

[17:19] Yes. You have got to learn, wherever you are, along life's way, whether in its morning, afternoon, or even in time, your utter helplessness in things divine.

[17:38] It is very humbling to learn it. It is very necessary to do so. A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

[17:52] And then, Isaiah sums it up. But, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

[18:04] They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk and not paint.

[18:16] And now, first of all, let us see, as grace is given, what it is to wait upon the Lord. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

[18:34] The word of God says much about it. Waiting on the Lord. And I like that word of the Selmist when he says, I waited patiently for the Lord.

[18:57] And he inclined his ear unto me and heard my cry. The margin reading is, in waiting, I waited.

[19:11] I believe that waiting grace is very scarce amongst us. Waiting grace is very valuable.

[19:25] And you and I, if we are taught of God, need more of it. It is good discipline for our souls to wait upon the Lord and in doing so wait for the Lord.

[19:46] When, the longer you wait, you have churnings up within it, maybe, as to whether what you are waiting for will ever be granted you in your soul's experience.

[20:01] And yet, to be shut up to just waiting, remembering the vision is for an appointed time. Though it tarry, wait for it, for in the end it shall speak and not lie.

[20:17] It will surely come. It will not tarry. You dear young people waiting on the Lord, will realize that as you journey on.

[20:31] And with those of us who are older in the life divine, you will have to learn a great lesson in waiting.

[20:42] I have not found it easy to learn it. The hymn writer puts it like this, tis well when at his feet they groan, yet bring their wants away.

[20:57] As yet, you are waiting on the Lord, but what you wait for, the time has not yet come for you to receive it and see the working out of the will of God concerning you therein.

[21:14] And meanwhile, to wait. and to wait patiently. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

[21:28] And now, this waiting upon the Lord means not only when you knock at mercy's door and try to plead for this and that which you feel your soul needs, but you wait on the Lord when you come up to worship.

[21:56] What is the house to me unless the master I conceive? If you worship God aright, you wait upon the Lord throughout the worship of God when you sing the Psalms of Zion.

[22:15] You should be waiting upon the Lord that you might sing praises with understanding, make melody in your heart, walk in agreement with the hymn writer in that which he sets forth.

[22:34] You might be sometimes captivated by a sweet tune that appeals to you, and we must have tunes wherein to sing the hymns, and it might be because of the tune you drop language from your lips that as yet you know not the depth of it or the height of it in your soul's experience.

[22:58] Do suffer the word of exhortation. When you draw near to God, everything hinges on this.

[23:14] Oh, send us thy unction, teach us all good, touch with compunction, and sprinkle with blood. You do want to feel it is good for me to draw near unto God.

[23:28] you do not want to come on the wrong side of that scripture. This people draw it near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

[23:40] when you look into the word of God, oh, you do need to wait upon the Lord to open up the scriptures to you, and open up your understandings that they may be enlightened, and that the word of God might be unto you, a lamp unto your feet, a light unto your path.

[24:06] And when you hear the gospel preached, you need to wait upon the Lord that your soul might be profited, and that you might be given that frame of mind wherein you shall be instructed in righteousness.

[24:32] You may think sometimes when a text is announced, that in the sermon there is not likely to be much that will be helpful to you because you think your own thoughts about the text as though there could be nothing in it to fit your case.

[24:53] And now they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And if God ordains a blessing for you in listening to the gospel of his grace, he will constrain the preacher to come where you are.

[25:12] Yes. And you shall be able to say, the watchmen that go about the city, they found me, lighted on my case, set forth my soul's my soul's exercises.

[25:29] And then you find, as in water, face answereth unto face, so does the heart of man to man. Yes, in waiting on the Lord, there is worship.

[25:45] And then, if you wait on the Lord aright, you do it like the Selmist says, in one Selm of his. My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him.

[26:03] Maybe when you come to worship God, deep down in your heart, it's an expectation. There is something special that you want light upon.

[26:17] And now, my soul, wait thou only upon God. I can tell you, dear friends, it needs much grace to do that. There is that about us that begins to look this way and that, that we can do something in regard to some matters that come on us as we journey on through life.

[26:41] But if you are taught of God, you will find this, then are they brought to their wit's end. Margin reading, all their wisdom is swallowed up.

[26:54] Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. You will be shut up to God. You will be like Peter when he began to sink.

[27:09] Lord, save I perish. And when you get there, the Lord will appear. when we are fainting and ready to die, whatever is wanting, his hand will supply.

[27:29] He giveth power to the faint. I have told you this in our context, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

[27:42] And this waiting upon the Lord has got in it the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. If you wait on the Lord to write, you realize none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good.

[28:02] And in your supplications as you wait upon the Lord, there will not be dictation suggesting to God that if he could be pleased to do this or that then things would come about as you would like them to be.

[28:18] Or you are not allowed to dictate to God. You are not allowed to drive bargains with God. God delights in giving according to his will.

[28:33] And you must learn to delight in receiving and say thank you for it. they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

[28:48] And I judge this waiting as got in it submission to the will of God. And that is Lord I would indeed submit gladly yield my all to thee what thy wisdom sees most fit must be surely best for me.

[29:11] they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And now the next viewpoint of the subject is this.

[29:29] In your waiting upon the Lord you have as I said an expectation. Some of you have got one expectation and some another.

[29:41] But in each instance it will have this characteristic whatever your expectation is it will be ultimately for your soul's good.

[29:53] You may have an expectation regarding something something to do with this life. But even then as you wait upon the Lord regarding it you will be praying if the Lord will we should do this or that.

[30:12] and his will is to do with your soul and your soul's behavior in the midst of his dealings so that if in the thing you wait upon the Lord for that he will do this or that for you and by and by it is made plain that the answer is no and not yes you will humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and say it is the Lord let him do what seem with him good you will accept it because if the Lord should say no he has got something much better to open up to you and when he is pleased to do that you will actually come to that point in your soul's experience that you will thank him that he said no when you asked him to say yes all this is to do with waiting upon the

[31:21] Lord a right they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and now it might be I hope it is your expectation can be summed up with what the psalmist said one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple how good it is when you can wait upon the Lord with that feeling to know my Jesus crucified by far excels all things beside that I may know him and the power of his resurrection the fellowship of his sufferings and be made conformable to his death some of you have waited long upon the

[32:28] Lord for a deepening of your knowledge of him and his truth and still you wait the Lord bless you Jesus will not your cry forget you shall obtain the blessing yet it may be you are waiting upon the Lord in accordance with that word of the apostle Peter wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and your election sure and now it is good to be exercised unto godliness like that and you do want something sure in your soul's experience you must not dare not yea you cannot take things for granted regarding your soul's eternal welfare all you do want what you read about in the epistle to the

[33:34] Romans the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God therefore you will wait upon the Lord you will be like the wise builder when he dig deep and got down to bed rock for sure foundation for his house to be built upon I like that picture it is very suggestive the rain descended the winds blew and the floods came and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock and that picture will appeal to you if you are a sinner born again and not will content your heart until you can say on Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand but they that wait upon the

[34:35] Lord shall renew their strength you wait upon the Lord to see his hand upon you for good I like how that is recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah the hand of our God was upon us for good nine times do you find it recorded a word's equivalent the hand of our God was upon us for good and you can say as much as that although it might be you could not say much about the deep things of God in your soul's experience and yet you can look back over the way you have come along and see where God has come into your life where the hand of God has been upon you in order in your goings and you do believe and you are here on account of it you do believe that he is leading you by the right way and you want to hear him confirming your soul therein

[35:48] I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit which leadeth thee in the way in which thou shouldest go yes they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength much might be said along this line of thought do you wait upon the Lord that your religion might be made evident to everybody around you by its fruits to be seen in your lips and life let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer earth how do you react when you read the epistles of Paul to the churches in the epistles of Paul to the churches there is set forth what is religion that is of

[36:59] God when it is reduced to practice and do you find that alluring is there an attraction when you read as you do in the epistle to the Colossians about walking worthy of the Lord unto well pleasing and being fruitful in good works do you wait upon the Lord that it might be evident in you and that others might take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus it is good to wait upon the Lord to be fruitful wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them then it might be that you are waiting upon the Lord especially if you're old and grey headed but I might just turn aside a moment and say if you're a teenager and concerned to follow on to know the

[38:02] Lord you should wait upon the Lord for it to be done for you also you wait upon the Lord that you might be made ready for a dying hour you dear young people look on us who are old and grey headed and know that the grave is awaiting us but it might be a grave will be digged for one of you before some of us who are now in life's evening time have all that is mortal of us to be laid therein and as soon as a sinner is born again he realises that the chief thing to be living for in this life is to be prepared to die die in the Lord and find the bottom to be good in Jordan swelling prepare me gracious God to stand before thy face thy spirit must the work perform for it is all of grace but they that wait upon the

[39:13] Lord shall renew their strength and now the next viewpoint of this subject is that everyday life as you and I live it I mean sinners born again is very weak in you and I are the subject of a decay a decline in our soul's experience life in dealing with the duties and difficulties of everyday life there is what one is by nature and that no preacher could tell you a weakening it is all the mischief that has been done in your soul's experience could be traced to what you are by nature you may say oh but then you tell us sometimes about what the devil does with us look you what could the devil do with you if you are not what you are by nature the dear savior said the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me but when he comes to you and me he finds something to work on remember that which shall know every man the plague of his own heart and now that is very weakening to us the good that I would

[41:01] I do not the evil I would not that I do I would do good but evil is present with me and if you fall a prey to what you are by nature then your soul's experience will soon be at a very low ebb in things divine not only so there are everyday cares and many of these everyday cares fill you with anxiety for which there is no necessity because you will not learn to do one thing at a time as you read in the book of Ezra the thing of a day in his day if while you were doing one duty you were wearing yourself out because you think you will not be able to get this other duty and that other duty attended to you will be worn down in your soul's feelings and you will be faint and you will need to renew your strength and as thy days so shall thy strength be everyday cares are very weakening because our minds are taken up with them and you give them concentration of thought and try to work out your everyday life and sometimes in doing it you find at the end of the day you are like the woman in the gospel bowed down by a spirit of infirmity and can in no wise lift yourself up not only so our very inability to do good weakens us because being born again you have a will to do good but you find yourself unable quite to do what's right and almost as unwilling because what you are by nature is so predominant sometimes you say oh my

[43:36] God my soul is cast down within me and you fall a prey to the casting down and it really gets magnified in your soul's feelings as you contemplate it and you find you are so much weakened in your soul's experience thereby why art thou cast down oh my soul why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength then you will sometimes find that there has been a great decay I'm not fitting any caps on a great decline in our profession of the name of Jesus as regards being being lively in it you have a name on a church roll of a truth but how often do you contemplate it and wait upon the

[44:43] Lord that you might live in the light of that truth that you are a follower of Jesus Christ desiring to show whose you are and whom you serve much might be said along that line of thought another thing that will weaken you and maybe most of all and that is if you should be in a backsliding state the world bewitching you time things taking up your time and your thoughts in the things of God alas are in the background and yet the word of God encourages you seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you oh but you do ponder these other things the things of this life time things and you were brought low you were like it said in the context faint you become one of them that have no might and there is another viewpoint of the subject but they that wait upon the

[46:13] Lord shall renew their strength you must not read it like this but they that wait upon the Lord shall be strong the text does not say so and you will not find it to be so either if you and I are taught of God dear friends we have got to learn to live like this every moment be receiving strength and yet be always weak my grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weakness and you will never have tomorrow strength in reserve today but you must wait for tomorrow to dawn and learn day by day the man of fell and oh to learn that lesson well they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength one hymn writer says

[47:25] Jesus is the way of strength yet the strongest way can't come and the Lord will prove at length weaklings have the victory won but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and now if you who have been following on to know the Lord you're in you're out as many of you have under Union Chapel roof I say if you look back over life's journey although you may not be able to set up many way marks many outstanding Ebenezers along life's way yet you are here before God because your strength has been renewed in following on to know the Lord here a little there a little line upon line precept upon precept and as I have told you about that word in Daniel and they shall be open with a little help and that is to be prized a little help and yet you cannot say much about it but it is an unseen hand a secret prop yes they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and now this renewal of strength as a rule is done in the means of grace

[48:56] I will be inquired of by you all house of Israel to do these things and there is that word in Malachi bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse and prove me now herewith and see if I will not open unto you the windows of heaven and let you down a blessing there shall not be room enough to receive it and good Isaiah in this word before us declares what will be the outcome if you and I are helped to wait upon the Lord and if our strength is renewed they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not pain and now if you and I could visualize the church of Christ possessing it might be you would discern some who do know what this sweet blessed experience is did you ever know what it was at any time in the dealings of

[50:12] God with you they shall mount up with wings as eagles on wings of love mount up my soul and rise view thine inheritance above the skies oh it is good when you get a sweet experience and you can mount up like that they shall mount up with wings as eagles and the eagle is the king of birds as you all know and the only bird that can mount up in the face of the sun and God has given it sagacity to do that and when you mount up in your soul's experience oh you have a feeling tis Christ the bright and morning star draws my affections from afar I would that every one of you taught of God could mount up like that they shall mount up with wings as eagles and now here is another character in the church of

[51:23] Christ they shall run and not be weary maybe you and I cannot say very much about running let us run with patience the race that is set before us you may be weary in running in that race but not weary of it not prepared to give up and go back and run no more there is a word in the Psalms I will run in the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart they shall run and not be weary and you know some of you dear people have been running it may be you have not felt to be making much speed in things divine yet it remains a truth and you should be told you have been running you're in you're out in the ways of

[52:28] God and you are here this Sabbath morn after the spirit the things of the spirit and it is by the grace of God you are what you are and where you are and if you cannot say much equivalent to mounting up with wings as eagles you can declare our good guidance saviour has helped us thus far and tis by his favour we are what we are they shall run and not be weary you are not weary in waiting upon the Lord not weary as to the worship of God you came if to be your strength could be renewed and they shall walk and not faint and there are those who are helped to do that and it means this as you have therefore received

[53:36] Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him it is a great attainment to walk with God and Enoch walk with God God and if that could be said of you and me oh it is a wonderful declaration can two walk together except they be agreed and yet that is what you and I desire if we are indeed sinners born again we would indeed walk with God live near his heart upon his bosom lean obey his voice and all his will esteem Amen Amen which worms are we have promise to start aside and in our troubles leave on Jesus room inside to wait on self for something better instead of trusting sovereign grace 730 verse 2 in therang chosen

[55:26] Oh there are not sources to wait yourselves o solidarity on the hall and watch and wilt bang through his supreme CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[56:48] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS The End

[57:50]  The End The End