Homilist Isaiah 64:7 And there is none that calls on your name, that stirs up himself to take hold of you: for you have hid your face from us… 1. There is a confession of neglected privilege and duty. "There is none that calleth upon Thy name." 2. There is a definition of true and saving religion. "That stirreth himself up to take hold of Thee." This latter is the most striking and important, for it shows what a man must do in order to approach God, the act requiring exertion and activity. Multitudes of so-called Christians live on without the semblance of devotion, while with many more this worship is a mere matter of form. I. WHAT ARE THE CAUSES? There are many things which operate to make a man neglect God. 1. Devotion to the world. No man can serve two masters, and he who loves the world cannot consistently love God. 2. Selfish indulgence. There are many who do not, strictly speaking, love the world, who nevertheless so pamper their bodies with temporal comforts that they sink down into a dreamy sloth. 3. Want of desire. Deadness of soul makes a man sluggish. If we keep out of the sunshine, we cannot feel its warmth. If men hide from God, they can neither desire nor love Him. II. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES? A terrible roll-call of iniquity and sin. Evil rolls on like the waves of the troubled sea. Prayer-less souls are marching on to perdition; Satan triumphs over the ungodly world; God is dishonoured; angels weep. III. WHAT IS THE REMEDY? Such reflections ought — 1. To arouse us to new efforts in prayer. 2. To excite us to greater personal efforts. We can all do something. Many can do much. 3. To awaken us to indirect work. We can send others to preach and to labour. 4. To see that we ourselves are not among those who fail to take hold, and that our personal example is not hindering the progress of the truth. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. |
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