Isaiah 45:24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come… It is important to us, in reading the Old Testament, and more particularly its prophetical portions, to take with us as our guide the well-known statement of the angel to the evangelist John: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The preceding verse contains one of the most remarkable predictions concerning the kingdom of Christ in the Old Testament, and in this prediction the kingdom of Christ is described as becoming universal and permanent. After such a prediction as that, we might have expected to find the prophet speaking of numbers being brought to acknowledge and to bow the knee to Christ. Instead of that, however, he speaks of one — a single, isolated, unknown individual; and he introduces to us this solitary individual as if the state of his mind, the subjugation of his heart to Christ, were an indication of the complete fulfilment of the most glorious prophecies of the universality of Christ's kingdom. In looking for the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom, we are too much disposed to undervalue individual conversions. We may trace the progress of Christ's kingdom in the subjugation of a single heart to the Saviour. I. THE STATE OF THIS INDIVIDUAL'S MIND IN RELATION TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. The term "righteousness" is one of those words in the Bible which it is of the first importance that you should thoroughly understand. It includes all that the Lord Jesus Christ has done and suffered for us. Mark three stages in the history of this man's mind. 1. The first thing a man does when he is awakened to a sense of his need of some righteousness, is to try to find it in himself. But when once brought to see his own righteousness aright, he sees innumerable defects. 2. Look at the second step in this man's history. We might have expected that the man would have received this righteousness with promptitude; but he sets himself as deliberately against the righteousness of God as against the law of God. Long will he struggle against the friendly hand that would lead him to the Cross of Christ; but when brought there, he will exclaim, "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." 3. Mark the third stage of the human mind in reference to the righteousness of Christ. This man appropriates it. II. HIS STATE OF FEELING IN REFERENCE TO THE STRENGTH OF CHRIST. This latter word, "strength," conveys an idea totally distinct from, and additional to, that suggested by the first. By the "righteousness" of Christ we always understand what the Lord Jesus has done for us; by the "strength" of Christ we always understand what the Lord has done in us; and it is the combination of these two that works out, in all its completeness, the salvation of an individual sinner. When he is first awakened to a sense of his own condition, he naturally tries to put forth his own strength, but he soon discovers that this is the wrong order. It is just in this way that the conviction is forced upon his mind that he has no strength in himself, but that there is strength for him in Christ. If you have sought Christ's strength and are conscious that you possess it, you must arise with vigour in the strength of the new man; and then, and not till then, will you go forth free. Mark the connection between the strength of Christ and the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness of Christ is laid hold of first, the strength of Christ is appropriated next. "Unto Him shall men come." That is the practical conclusion of the whole matter. (1) You ought to come. (2) You may come. (S. Luke.) Parallel Verses KJV: Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. |
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