Isaiah 51:1-8 Listen to me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the LORD: look to the rock from where you are hewn… I. A DESCRIPTION OF THE LORD'S PEOPLE. They "follow after righteousness." If you ask what righteousness is, I call upon you to behold Jesus! He is righteousness. The Lord's people "follow after righteousness. They therefore follow Him. Far better for a man to strive to love Christ than to be trying to lay down certain rules of morality. They "follow after righteousness." Does not this imply that they cannot find it in themselves? Some follow after righteousness in fear. Others with many slips. The Lord's people follow after righteousness with humility. They follow after righteousness in love. Willingly. Perseveringly. I saw a steamer on the canal drawing after it three large boats. The steamer contained its own motive power, but had there been an engine and boiler in each of those boats they also would have gone on to Liverpool urged on by inward strength. Well, we follow after righteousness, not because Christ has placed some band between Himself and us, but because He has Himself entered our hearts. Christ is the living and moving power in our souls. II. A KINDLY REMEMBRANCE. The Lord speaks very kindly to those who seek but have not yet found Him. Many are seeking the Lord without a light. Some may seek the Lord in unbelief. Some in a wrong way. Somebody else replies, "Ah, sir, I have no spiritual life, such as I had once." Well, who gave it to you in days gone by? The Lord. And will He not restore it again? III. A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT. 1. Is your soul cast down? Well, remember what God has done for you. Did He not hew you from the rock of the world? 2. If God has hewn us from the rock we ought to hope for all humanity. (W. Birch.) Parallel Verses KJV: Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. |
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