Therefore, I am not diverting the language of my text from its true
meaning, but simply opening its depth, when I say that the condition of
the inflow of this unwearied and immortal life into our poor, fainting,
dying humanity is simply the trust in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of our
souls. True, the revelation has advanced; the contents of that which we
grasp are more developed and articulate, blessed be God! True, we know
more about Jehovah, when we see Him in Jesus Christ, than Isaiah did.
True, we have to trust in Him as dying on the Cross for our salvation
and as the pattern and example in His humanity of all nobleness and
beauty of life for young or old, but the Christ is the 'same yesterday,
and to-day, and for ever.' And the faith that knit the furthest back of
the saints of old to the Jehovah, whom they dimly knew, is in essence
identical with the faith that binds my poor sinful heart to the Christ
that died and that lives for my redemption and salvation. So, dear
brethren, here is the simple old message for each of you, young or old.
No matter where we stand on the course of life, there may come into our
hearts a Divine Indweller, who laughs at weariness and knows nothing of
decay; and He will come if, as sinful men, we turn ourselves to that
dear Lord, who fainted and was weary many a time in His humanity, and
who now lives, the 'strong Son of God, immortal love,' to make us
partakers in His immortality and His strength. The way, then, by which
we get this divine gift is by faith in Jesus Christ, which is the
expansion, as it was the root, of trust in Jehovah.
Further, what is this strength that we thus get, if we will, by faith?
It is the true entrance into our souls of a divine life. God in His Son
will come to us, according to His own gracious and profound promise:
'If any man open the door I will enter in.' He will come into our
hearts and abide there. He will give to us a life derived from, and
therefore, kindred with, His own. And in that connection it is very
striking to notice how the prophet, in the context, reiterates these
two words, _'fainteth_ not, neither is _weary._' He begins by speaking
of 'God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who fainteth
not, neither is weary.' He passes on to speak of His gift of power to
the faint. He returns to the contrast between the Creator's
incorruptible strength and the fleeting power of the strongest and
youngest. And then he crowns all with the thought that the same
characteristics will mark them in whom the unwearied God dwells, as
mark Him. We too, like Him, if we have Christ in our hearts by faith,
will share, in some fashion and degree, in His wondrous prerogative of
unwearied strength.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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