Isaiah 42:4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. — Our God is the God of hope; and the Bible is the book of hope. If we are to be true servants of God and disciples of Jesus Christ we must be partakers of this glowing hopefulness. To be discouraged is to fail. To hope is to be strong. The prayer of St. Paul for the Christians in Rome we need often offer for ourselves (Romans 15:13). This strong hope is essential to the successful worker. The good soldier of Jesus has for his helmet the hope of salvation. The Spirit of God comes to impart this gift. Hope grows strong as it feeds upon the promises. Of every one of us this word should be true — "He shall not fail nor be discouraged." The hope of the world is in Jesus Christ. It is well to begin a little farther back, at Isaiah 41:28. Man cannot find within himself the remedy for the ills of humanity. But when all is black and hopeless, there is another "Behold." The rosy morning fills the sky. "Behold My servant whom I uphold," etc. The hope of God is in Him whom He hath appointed the Saviour of the world. And our hope is in beholding Him. Here is the unfailing spring of our hope. "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged." Let us look at this hope of our Saviour. It is broad based, and its foundation is deep. The tower of His confidence stands four-square to all the winds of heaven and all the blasts of hell. I. IT IS THE HOPE OF ONE WHO KNOWS THE NEEDS OF HUMANITY. There is a shallow hope that thinks it can heal men's wounds by hiding them; or that they can banish ill by giving it some scientific name which quite satisfies everybody. But let the mind go on to think of the sin about us — the thousand shapes of ill that throng and crowd each life; the hidden sins; the sins of our great cities. He knows it all as none else can ever know it — He who was the naked conscience of the world, and upon whom was laid the iniquity of us all. Yet of Him it is written: "He shall not fail nor be discouraged." II. THIS IS THE HOPE OF ONE WHO HAS A MOST LOFTY IDEAL. There is a shallow hope that is easily able to fulfil itself by bringing down the ideal of life until it fits the case. If you would have men what they should be, it is easily done — bring down what they should be to the level of what they are. Love may afford to be blind, but the strength of hope is in its eyes. A hope that cannot see what is, and can only see what is not, is a false hope. Hope, true hope, must take the measure of what is, and the full measure of what should be. This is the hope of Jesus Christ. III. THIS IS THE HOPE OF ONE WHO COMES INTO CONTACT WITH THE WORST SIDE OF THE WORST PEOPLE. A policeman said to me one day, "It is a very easy thing for you to have faith in folks, sir: but it is very hard for me." "Why so, my friend?" I asked. "Well," said he, "you see the best of folks and you see them at their best: you see them because they are good. But I see folks because they are bad. And when you see nothing but badness it is hard to have any faith in any goodness anywhere." I sympathised deeply with that man and with thousands who are in like evil case. But this triumphant hope of Jesus Christ is the hope of One whose life and work is in relation to sin. He knows the force of adverse circumstances. IV. THE HOPE OF JESUS CHRIST ARISES FROM HIS ESTIMATE OF MAN'S WORTH. Jesus Christ alone has made man worth more than gain or pleasure: and Jesus Christ alone can keep man so. V. THE HOPE OF JESUS CHRIST IS SEEN IN HIS METHOD (vers. 2, 3). Gentleness is the token of assured power. Bluster is commonly the mask of weakness and fear. Coercion, compulsion, are the methods of a baffled or a bewildered authority. Patient hopefulness, gentleness, brotherliness — these are the Divine methods of uplifting men. VI. THE HOPEFULNESS OF JESUS CHRIST IS ROOTED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS. "He shall set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for His law." There are those who have sought to remedy our social ills by pity without judgment and without law. Their gifts have pampered the transgressor and pauperised the poor. But the remedy of Jesus Christ is in "a new heart and a right spirit." (M. G. Pearae.) Parallel Verses KJV: He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. |
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