Title: Do Not Faint
Meta: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. - Isaiah 40:28
Tags: Isaiah 40,weary,fainthearted,depressed,strength,weak

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Well, let's turn in God's Word to Isaiah chapter 40.

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I have been tired lately and that's what I am going to preach on.

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Isaiah 40 verses 28 through 31.

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Isaiah 40 verse 28, the prophet says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard?

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The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

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He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.

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He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.

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Even youths, even the young ones shall faint and be weary,

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and young men shall fall exhausted;

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but they who wait for the Lord (or wait upon the Lord) shall renew their strength.

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They shall mount up with wings like eagles;

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they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

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I am going to speak on that last phrase in this passage.

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Speaking about the Christian, "They shall walk and not faint."

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Isaiah 40 is a majestic chapter about our majestic God.

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And it gives some of the biggest glimpses of great truths like,

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"The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,"

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and like Isaiah's cry, "Behold your God,"

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and when he says, "All nations are as nothing before Him."

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Tell that to the United Nations on Monday morning.

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And he says, "To whom will you liken God?"

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One of the glories of this chapter 40 is that Isaiah shows the great gulf

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from the highest truth to the most intimate;

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from God's sovereignty controlling the stars, the universe, the nations,

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right down to Him caring about the personal weariness of each of His children.

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That's an amazing thing to think about.

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There are so many different challenges and difficulties and obstacles in the Christian life.

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I read this week in the book of Acts when Paul was stoned at Lystra.

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And what did he do?

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It immediately says that he went and encouraged the various churches to continue in the faith.

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Imagine what it would look like when he stood up in those churches - bruises, scathes.

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He went and encouraged them to continue in the faith,

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saying that we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom.

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What kind of difficulties? All kinds, the Christian faces.

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Discouragement, loneliness,

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confusion at times about what is going on in your life where you do not have a clue,

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unbelief creeps in, doubt, mental and emotional anguish, physical tiredness,

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emotional weariness, opposition of others, criticism by others, disappointments,

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betrayal by people that you thought loved you and that you love,

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failures of others, chronic sickness, chronic problems.

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If it's not one thing, it's another.

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Yet there is one challenge the Bible speaks about so many times,

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and that's our message tonight.

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In these brief four verses, fainting is mentioned four times.

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Seven times if you include the word 'weary'.

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Fainting; weary.

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Spiritual weariness and fainting is a common experience among God's people.

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No one is exempt.

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Some of you have come here this weekend in that condition.

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It was all you could do to drag yourself here in the weariness you've battled,

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and then the long journey; I spoke to one brother at noon today.

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I said you just drove in here?

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He said, "Yes."

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I said from where? He said, "Edmunton, Canada."

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That's a journey - Denver; long distances.

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And so, weariness, none of us are exempt from it.

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It can overtake any Christian and when it does, it's like being under a cloud.

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It's like you can't escape it and you can't throw a switch to change it.

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You're just weary. You're exhausted. You're worn.

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What does the Bible mean when it speaks of this reality of fainting?

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Well, the word 'faint' and the word 'weary' mean simply the loss of strength.

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You come to the place where there is a loss of strength, mentally maybe or physically.

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Fatigue, spiritual or mental, physical or emotional exhaustion.

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Your supply is depleted.

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Your ability to keep on and go on seems gone due to the hardness of life; due to the demands.

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Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, in the last few months of his life, "I am tired of responsibilities."

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And due to the hardness of life, and due to the nature of the Christian life

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And all that the Christian life in service brings, spiritual weariness sets in often.

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As Solomon said about losing heart,

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"If you faint in the day of adversity, then your strength is small."

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Strength gone; faith failing; spiritually weak; discouragement;

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you begin to lose your heart.

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The Bible is full of examples.

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Remember Gideon.

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Gideon and his 300 men, the Bible says, came and crossed over the Jordan,

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and it says, "faint yet pursuing."

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It was under Saul's reign in the day of battle that Scripture comments on the Israelites,

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and it says this little commentary, "And the people were very weary."

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Once, David had 600 men with him and they were pursuing the Amalekites,

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but 200 of his men remained behind. They just stopped.

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You know why?

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Because the Bible says they were fainting and too exhausted to go on.

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Twice the Bible specifically shows that David needed the help of his brothers.

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He was fainting and he was weary, and the Bible says, "But Abisha helped him."

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Later Jonathan went to David, and the Bible says,

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"Jonathan strengthened David's hands in God."

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David needed that.

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We are reminded of David's classic statement in Psalm 27, remember what he says there?

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"I would have fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."

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I would have fainted.

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Jeremiah at one time was so discouraged and so sorrowful,

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he said in chapter 8, "My sorrow is beyond healing and my heart is faint within me."

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Our hearts can feel exactly that way sometimes.

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"My sorrow is beyond healing, I won't get over this, I can't get over this.

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This is too deep. I'm too weary from this. I am so faint, I am so tired."

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Faint from sorrow and heaviness of spirit.

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Jeremiah cried, "Woe is me; for the Lord has added sorrow to my pain

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and I am weary with my groaning."

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But Isaiah who knew his share of sorrow and weariness, remember how he ended up dying?

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Tradition says that he was sawed in half and met his death that way.

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Isaiah was the prophet of good tidings here in chapter 40

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because here he gives us a remedy for fainting.

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Here, he gives promises to those who are fainting and weary.

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What does Isaiah 40 tell us about this reality of spiritual fainting?

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Well, let's go back and look at it.

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First of all, we see in verse 28, he says this,

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"The everlasting God fainteth not; neither is weary.

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The first thing we see here is God never becomes weary.

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He is never in need, like us, of recharging.

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He is never in need of sleep.

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All life is in Him, and all life and strength and energy flows from Him.

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He doesn't need rest, sleep or renewed strength.

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He is immutable, unchanging, unwearied, unaffected.

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The Bible says in the Psalms, "He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."

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It is an amazing thought to think;

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we were praying last night for a revival, and even this afternoon;

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and I have often thought this thought, you know,

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the Holy Spirit could be poured out on New York city or Chicago or San Antonio

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and save everybody in the town,

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and the Lord will not lack one less ounce of power than before He saved all of them.

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His strength doesn't lessen.

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There is no change ever in His inner resources.

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Life isn't hard for Jehovah.

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It is hard for you sometimes. It is never hard for Him.

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He doesn't get tired, He doesn't get weary.

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His strength never lessens.

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Rather, He shares out of His infinite supply of unending grace

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and provides for the weary one an antidote - a spiritual antibiotic;

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a healing renewing balm to help the fainting, weak one.

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So, God never grows weary.

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But look at verse 30.

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Next, you notice this second truth, and that is this:

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Spiritual fainting affects every age group.

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Verse 30, "Even the youths (even the young ones) shall faint and be weary.

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If you're a young person here or if you're a new Christian,

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spiritual weariness may not be real to you yet, but it will be.

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Probably sooner than you realize; sooner than you think.

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The longer you walk with God, the more you'll experience, at times, weariness

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and be really tempted to faint and give up.

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"I am too tired to go to prayer meeting, I've worked too hard.

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I am too tired to go to accountability group."

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And so, you begin to faint, you begin to drop your guard.

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You grow weary in the battle and you lessen your choices.

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"Even the young ones will be faint and grow weary

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and young men, the Bible here says, will utterly fall.

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The longer you are in the Christian walk,

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the more you will face tiredness and heartaches and disappointments,

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and every conceivable thing that will begin to drain your strength

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and produce in you weariness and the temptation to faint.

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Spiritual warfare does that.

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Being hurt by others.

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Real disappointments in those closest to you.

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Deep testings of faith.

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Chronic pain; physical pain day after day, week after week can just zap it out of you;

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can make you want to quit and give up.

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Family trials.

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Hardest things can come. Personal tragedy.

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Grief and difficulties with children.

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Things beyond your control.

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Draining demands, unending demands of work and ministry that never stops without enough breaks.

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And the months wear you down.

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And you aren't Superman, you're a weak man.

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And you're weak and weary and worn.

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And then big discouragements hit you because you're weary and tired.

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Like a mother's conversation with her son when he didn't want to keep going to church cos people had hurt him.

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He said, "Mum, people are mean there. They talk about me.

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They make me feel bad so I am not going back."

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She said, "Son, I have two reasons you're going back.

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No 1. You're 40 years old. No 2. You're the pastor of the church.

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Being hurt by others can tempt you to faint, right?

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It can.

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It's very real.

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Even the youths shall grow weary.

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Have you ever seen Christians, new believers that get converted,

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and they get excited about the things of God, they get excited about church.

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And then a month, 6 months, a year into it, they have their first big wound by other Christians

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and they get offended and they draw back and are discouraged, and they stop walking.

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Even the young ones shall faint and grow weary.

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There is no age group that is exempt from this.

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You may be 80, you may be 18.

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But spiritual weariness is an enemy.

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It is a temptation; it is a battle you're going to face.

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And we must learn to deal with it biblically as Isaiah is showing us.

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Then verse 31 shows us another truth about this.

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Verse 31 shows us the way of renewal and strength for the weary one.

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"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

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They shall mount up with wings as eagles.

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They shall run and not be weary.

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They shall walk and not faint."

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The way of renewal and strength, God says point blank, "This is the way of renewal.

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This is the path to strength.

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This is where you get it.

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They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength."

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Those who learn to wait upon God; the weak then become strong.

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The fainting are renewed. The weary do get refreshed.

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They are transformed into a strong climber; into a runner who can keep running;

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into a walker who can keep going and not quit, and not give up.

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Even, Isaiah says, they mount up with wings like eagles and begin to soar.

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God does that when He renews your strength because you are waiting upon Him.

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They wait upon the Lord.

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I remember about 10 years ago, my daily Bible reading had become so inconsistent.

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And I was battling it.

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Some days I would read a chapter or two, other days I'd get busy and I wouldn't.

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Then I'd feel guilty and discouraged and empty,

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you know the cycle, you know the routine.

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So I got fed up and frustrated.

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And I said, "Okay. Enough is enough.

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I am not going to try to make promises; I am not going to vow vows;

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I am not going to buy a new Bible reading calendar at the Christian bookstore.

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What do I do? Lord, help me.

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Give me new desire. Give me new hunger for Your Word.

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Just give it to me. I know that You will.

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I am asking You to change me inside. Make me enjoy it as a feast."

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And I began to pray that everyday, and it happened.

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And it hasn't stopped.

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They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.

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In whatever area you wait on Him, God promises this.

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Promised help; renewal; new strength; new help; new grace; waiting upon Him.

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What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?

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It means going back to the place of the Word of God in your life

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and being in it and reading it and feasting upon it and praying it

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and renewing your mind to it; getting in it.

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It means the place of still communion with the Lord in prayer.

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Being still before Him.

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Neglect breeds leanness of soul. Neglect breeds weakness of mind.

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Neglect breeds dryness of heart.

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Being still and knowing that He is God.

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Entering your closet and your Father who sees in secret and who is in secret will reward you openly.

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If you are used to weariness, what would a planned, regular, half-day

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(or a whole day of 12 hours) in seclusion in the countryside,

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with a chair and your Bible and no phone, what would that do for you?

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In the country, a folding chair, your Bible, nobody else, alone, 6 hours, 8 hours,

233
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what would that do for you?

234
00:19:40,599 --> 00:19:43,963
Why did Jesus so regularly withdraw and be alone?

235
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Because He needed to.

236
00:19:46,649 --> 00:19:51,059
To be with the Father, to wait upon His Father, to renew His strength.

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They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

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The weak become strong there.

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The lame take the prey, Isaiah says.

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The Lord visits the weak and helps them with renewing grace.

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Ecclesiastes 9:11, I love this:

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"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,

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but to the weak who learn to wait upon the Lord."

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00:20:15,433 --> 00:20:18,258
Now the Bible exhorts us about this.

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You know what it says?

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Do not faint.

247
00:20:21,618 --> 00:20:25,977
Don't do it. Don't faint, don't give up, don't quit.

248
00:20:25,983 --> 00:20:31,924
Jesus said, "Men ought always to pray and not faint, not grow weary."

249
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Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, "Since we have received this ministry of the Gospel

250
00:20:38,915 --> 00:20:44,759
(we've received this mercy), we do not faint nor lose heart.

251
00:20:44,765 --> 00:20:53,367
Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for we shall reap if we faint not.

252
00:20:53,373 --> 00:20:57,393
The Lord commended the Ephesians in Revelation

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when He says, "I know your deeds and I know your toil and I know your perseverance.

254
00:21:02,689 --> 00:21:08,999
And you have persevered for my sake and have not grown weary.

255
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You don't have to always continually grow weary.

256
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Your strength can be renewed.

257
00:21:14,553 --> 00:21:18,428
So what are we to do, dear ones, what are we to do?

258
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We are not to faint. Do not faint. Do not lose heart.

259
00:21:22,944 --> 00:21:25,517
How do we fight and resist fainting?

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Well, first we have to view it biblically.

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That is why Isaiah 40:28-31 is here; to view this biblically.

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Fainting is a danger when God is disciplining you as a loving Father.

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The Bible says, "Do not regard lightly or despise the discipline of the Lord;

264
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neither faint when you are corrected by Him."

265
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All discipline is loving but it's not fun and games.

266
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It's a challenge. It's hard. It can discourage you.

267
00:22:00,252 --> 00:22:02,247
It can be sorrowful. It can be wearisome.

268
00:22:02,253 --> 00:22:08,804
So we are told, "Strengthen those weak hands and those feeble knees, and do not faint."

269
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How do we overcome fainting?

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00:22:10,469 --> 00:22:13,903
Viewing it through the lens of Jesus Christ.

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Hebrews 12:3, "For consider Him who endured the hostility of sinners against Himself,

272
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so that you will not become weary and faint in your mind.

273
00:22:24,939 --> 00:22:29,562
The NASB says, "So that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

274
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Consider Him who endured such.

275
00:22:33,089 --> 00:22:42,628
He endured the things far more than we ever will that would make us weary and want to faint.

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Consider Him, Scripture says.

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Viewing it rightly.

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If we lose sight of God in the battle of faith, we will certainly lose heart to keep fighting.

279
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When we lose sight of Christ as He is, we will certainly lose faith and heart for the battle.

280
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Consider Him in light of your weariness;

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in light of your fainting and your tendency to grow weary.

282
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Christ is the remedy for this.

283
00:23:17,750 --> 00:23:26,101
Every translation reads, "Consider Him," in the context of your weariness.

284
00:23:26,107 --> 00:23:32,267
His life and example, His endurance, His tears, His pain, His endurance to the end.

285
00:23:32,273 --> 00:23:39,856
Some of you, so many different things, some specific things

286
00:23:39,862 --> 00:23:46,705
just zap you of your strength and bring you into spiritual weariness.

287
00:23:46,711 --> 00:23:50,309
And this is where God wants to meet you and change that,

288
00:23:50,315 --> 00:23:56,429
and turn that weakness into a strength.

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00:23:56,435 --> 00:23:59,779
Christ, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross,

290
00:23:59,785 --> 00:24:03,184
despising the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of God.

291
00:24:03,190 --> 00:24:06,734
The more Christ is our life, the more He is our focus,

292
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the more He is our lens through which we view weariness,

293
00:24:11,218 --> 00:24:17,839
the less we will have fainting spells and weariness battles.

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00:24:17,845 --> 00:24:19,283
He ran well.

295
00:24:19,289 --> 00:24:23,487
He endured weariness. He did not faint.

296
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We must look to Him. We must cry out to Him.

297
00:24:25,770 --> 00:24:31,110
Psalm 107 says this, "When their soul was fainting within them,

298
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then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

299
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and He heard their cry and delivered them.

300
00:24:38,596 --> 00:24:40,306
Hope in His promises.

301
00:24:40,312 --> 00:24:47,717
Face fainting with faith in your great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

302
00:24:47,723 --> 00:24:53,901
The fainting one who comes to wait on Him, a transformation would happen.

303
00:24:53,907 --> 00:24:58,424
God promises their strength will be renewed.

304
00:24:58,430 --> 00:25:04,861
Look at verses 29 and 31, here is God's promise to the fainting:

305
00:25:04,867 --> 00:25:11,002
"He gives power to those who are fainting."

306
00:25:11,008 --> 00:25:14,788
Who is a candidate for that tonight?

307
00:25:14,794 --> 00:25:16,801
What a wonderful promise.

308
00:25:16,807 --> 00:25:19,468
He will empower the weak and the fainting.

309
00:25:19,474 --> 00:25:25,603
He will strengthen the weary soul whose strength is gone and is poured out.

310
00:25:25,609 --> 00:25:31,095
Like the angels coming to strengthen the weak and weary Jesus

311
00:25:31,101 --> 00:25:37,868
in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry, and in the garden at the end of His ministry.

312
00:25:37,874 --> 00:25:45,592
The Lord's ministry in His earthly life, the three years of His ministry were bookend by angels

313
00:25:45,598 --> 00:25:49,199
strengthening Him at the beginning and at the end.

314
00:25:49,205 --> 00:25:52,806
In the wilderness and in the garden, they came and strengthened Him.

315
00:25:52,812 --> 00:25:55,940
Jonathan went to David and strengthened his hands in God.

316
00:25:55,946 --> 00:26:00,067
God will do that for you. Trust Him for it. Ask Him for it.

317
00:26:00,073 --> 00:26:03,555
Cast yourself on His promises and on His loving heart.

318
00:26:03,561 --> 00:26:05,535
He gives power to the faint.

319
00:26:05,541 --> 00:26:12,610
He will; and when He does, then verse 31 happens.

320
00:26:12,616 --> 00:26:17,189
Suddenly, renewed strength; rising up.

321
00:26:17,195 --> 00:26:19,449
You find yourself being lifted up.

322
00:26:19,455 --> 00:26:21,836
You find the burden being released.

323
00:26:21,842 --> 00:26:25,608
You find your mind suddenly being encouraged,

324
00:26:25,614 --> 00:26:29,694
and you don't know how it happened because God has come.

325
00:26:29,700 --> 00:26:34,619
He comes and He helps you to run, and your weariness seems gone,

326
00:26:34,625 --> 00:26:39,289
and you're getting your second wind, and you're walking and not fainting.

327
00:26:39,295 --> 00:26:44,968
They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.

328
00:26:44,974 --> 00:26:46,174
What are we to do?

329
00:26:46,180 --> 00:26:49,333
Not try to improve ourselves; not try harder;

330
00:26:49,339 --> 00:26:53,459
not be more sincere; not try to show God we are more committed.

331
00:26:53,465 --> 00:26:58,017
No, your job is weakness and waiting.

332
00:26:58,023 --> 00:27:00,489
That is all you gotta have.

333
00:27:00,495 --> 00:27:02,645
Weakness and then waiting on Him.

334
00:27:02,651 --> 00:27:07,201
Get in the waiting mode as a weakling.

335
00:27:07,207 --> 00:27:12,734
He keeps our soul in famine and has not let our foot slip, Scripture says.

336
00:27:12,740 --> 00:27:15,846
He will keep you in all your ways, Scripture says.

337
00:27:15,852 --> 00:27:20,384
Kept by the power of God through faith.

338
00:27:20,390 --> 00:27:27,190
A certain promise: "You shall run and not be weary; you shall walk and not faint."

339
00:27:27,196 --> 00:27:32,219
Lay hold of that promise weary sister, weary brother.

340
00:27:32,225 --> 00:27:36,761
It is the weak and needy that He helps and that He lifts up.

341
00:27:36,767 --> 00:27:43,348
Our Lord Jesus Christ is so kind and so gracious and so tenderhearted

342
00:27:43,354 --> 00:27:49,572
and so faithful and so willing and so ready and so available and so compassionate.

343
00:27:49,578 --> 00:27:55,646
He will come to you, bringing help with Him when He comes to you.

344
00:27:55,652 --> 00:28:01,070
Though my weary steps may falter and my soul athirst may be;

345
00:28:01,076 --> 00:28:05,957
Gushing from the rock before me, suddenly,

346
00:28:05,963 --> 00:28:11,804
(drudging along, weariness, tired, wanna give up but I am keeping on,)

347
00:28:11,810 --> 00:28:19,401
suddenly, gushing from the rock before me, lo a spring of joy I see.

348
00:28:19,407 --> 00:28:21,352
The Lord just speaks a word.

349
00:28:21,358 --> 00:28:23,863
He just touches you without you realizing it,

350
00:28:23,869 --> 00:28:31,008
and suddenly, weariness is going away, and something is happening.

351
00:28:31,014 --> 00:28:34,323
He has helped me. He has become my salvation.

352
00:28:34,329 --> 00:28:36,865
The Son of righteousness arises with healing in His wings.

353
00:28:36,871 --> 00:28:37,622
He will do this.

354
00:28:37,628 --> 00:28:42,977
"Fear not, He says, I am with you. I will strengthen you. I will help you.

355
00:28:42,983 --> 00:28:48,185
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

356
00:28:48,191 --> 00:28:55,236
When you read what the Bible actually says to us about weakness and our limitations,

357
00:28:55,242 --> 00:29:02,087
and what it means to be a clay vessel, you could certainly write a new hymn,

358
00:29:02,093 --> 00:29:06,711
"What a Friend we have in weakness."

359
00:29:06,717 --> 00:29:09,813
"Sweet hour of weakness."

360
00:29:09,819 --> 00:29:15,915
"When we all become weaker, what a day of rejoicing that would be."

361
00:29:15,921 --> 00:29:21,515
For if we ever view weakness from God's point of view, from a biblical perspective,

362
00:29:21,521 --> 00:29:26,751
we will be a lot better off in our walking out the Christian life and in our usefulness.

363
00:29:26,757 --> 00:29:30,664
Weaknesses and limitations, we think they are bad.

364
00:29:30,670 --> 00:29:33,140
God says they are good.

365
00:29:33,146 --> 00:29:38,094
We think they limit us, God says they prosper us onward.

366
00:29:38,100 --> 00:29:42,326
We think they hinder us, God says they help us.

367
00:29:42,332 --> 00:29:46,626
We think our usefulness is lessened by weakness,

368
00:29:46,632 --> 00:29:51,798
God says they humble us and they empower us more.

369
00:29:51,804 --> 00:29:54,499
Our weaknesses; our limitations.

370
00:29:54,505 --> 00:30:02,700
Fainting is rooted in our wrong view of weakness.

371
00:30:02,706 --> 00:30:10,651
God says, "My power is perfected in your weakness."

372
00:30:10,657 --> 00:30:14,684
So Paul says, "Therefore," - think of what Paul says about this, it's amazing -

373
00:30:14,690 --> 00:30:19,789
"Therefore, I would boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses.

374
00:30:19,795 --> 00:30:24,319
(For the sake of Christ, I am content with weaknesses.)"

375
00:30:24,325 --> 00:30:28,212
I am not yet.

376
00:30:28,218 --> 00:30:32,351
"For when I am weak, then am I strong."

377
00:30:32,357 --> 00:30:39,977
Meaning when I am experiencing weakness and I do wait upon Him and I view this biblically,

378
00:30:39,983 --> 00:30:45,739
that's when the power of Christ will help me to be strengthened

379
00:30:45,745 --> 00:30:49,844
so that I will know His power in my weakness.

380
00:30:49,850 --> 00:30:53,183
Weakness is not a disadvantage, it's an advantage.

381
00:30:53,189 --> 00:31:02,715
It is not a liability, it's an asset; because it brings Christ's power to you

382
00:31:02,721 --> 00:31:10,502
that won't be there when you are self-sufficient and you got it all together.

383
00:31:10,508 --> 00:31:15,656
Christian usefulness is not found in our having it all together,

384
00:31:15,662 --> 00:31:19,720
or trying to make others think we have it all together.

385
00:31:19,726 --> 00:31:24,493
No one has it all together.

386
00:31:24,499 --> 00:31:28,559
Every Christian has weakness; every Christian has weariness at times.

387
00:31:28,565 --> 00:31:32,167
We must know, by experience, what God promises.

388
00:31:32,173 --> 00:31:36,726
"My power," He says to us, "Will be perfected in your weakness.

389
00:31:36,732 --> 00:31:38,639
So will you embrace your weakness?

390
00:31:38,645 --> 00:31:40,678
Will you be transparent with Me about it?

391
00:31:40,684 --> 00:31:44,800
And will you learn to wait on Me with that weakness

392
00:31:44,806 --> 00:31:50,268
so that I can strengthen you in that weakness.

393
00:31:50,274 --> 00:31:59,405
Spiritual power is attractive. Weakness is not attractive to us.

394
00:31:59,411 --> 00:32:02,332
But there's only one path to knowing God's power;

395
00:32:02,338 --> 00:32:06,741
and that is going through weakening times.

396
00:32:06,747 --> 00:32:12,584
When it can experientially be less of you so that it can be more of Christ.

397
00:32:12,590 --> 00:32:18,962
Better to have weakness and God's empowering than no weakness and no power.

398
00:32:18,968 --> 00:32:25,337
The weakness of self strength or divine strength in your weakness.

399
00:32:25,343 --> 00:32:32,082
Christ will, He promises, strengthen you and make you endure to the end;

400
00:32:32,088 --> 00:32:36,275
make you strong out of weakness.

401
00:32:36,281 --> 00:32:38,612
He is able to make all grace abound toward you;

402
00:32:38,618 --> 00:32:44,885
that you having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work.

403
00:32:44,891 --> 00:32:47,974
Our sufficiency is of God.

404
00:32:47,980 --> 00:32:54,189
One of those little remembered triumphs of faith in Hebrews 11, think of this,

405
00:32:54,195 --> 00:33:01,687
verse 34, "Who through faith were made strong out of weakness."

406
00:33:01,693 --> 00:33:03,655
That's an amazing thing.

407
00:33:03,661 --> 00:33:08,795
Or, it could read, "Who through faith, from weakness were made strong

408
00:33:08,801 --> 00:33:13,137
(or out of weakness were made strong, through faith.)

409
00:33:13,143 --> 00:33:20,909
Faith conquers weariness. Faith wins over fainting every time.

410
00:33:20,915 --> 00:33:24,822
Now the last truth on this:

411
00:33:24,828 --> 00:33:31,333
Every Christian is to have a ministry to the fainting weary ones around them.

412
00:33:31,339 --> 00:33:35,186
You have this ministry, if you're a Christian, that has been given to you.

413
00:33:35,192 --> 00:33:40,386
We like to hang around the strong ones, don't we?

414
00:33:40,392 --> 00:33:43,649
The New Testament tells us to hang around the weak ones.

415
00:33:43,655 --> 00:33:45,617
To have a heart for them.

416
00:33:45,623 --> 00:33:47,627
You have this ministry given to you if you're a Christian.

417
00:33:47,633 --> 00:33:52,210
This is body ministry at its best, at its finest, at its most important.

418
00:33:52,216 --> 00:33:56,899
"Lord, when did we visit you?"

419
00:33:56,905 --> 00:34:00,806
"When you did it to the needy and sick; to the least of these, you did it to Me."

420
00:34:00,812 --> 00:34:04,212
Isaiah 35:3 says, "Strengthen those weak hands."

421
00:34:04,218 --> 00:34:06,668
It's not talking about yours, it's talking about others.

422
00:34:06,674 --> 00:34:10,591
"Strengthen those weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees."

423
00:34:10,597 --> 00:34:18,927
1st Thessalonians 5:14, Paul closing that book, says these two little exhortations

424
00:34:18,933 --> 00:34:23,235
that we can just read over because we are getting out of the end of the book.

425
00:34:23,242 --> 00:34:31,560
He says this, "Encourage the fainthearted and help the weak."

426
00:34:31,565 --> 00:34:34,772
How often do you do that?

427
00:34:34,777 --> 00:34:41,764
Every one of us, help the fainthearted, brother.

428
00:34:41,770 --> 00:34:46,364
Help the weakened sisters, sister.

429
00:34:46,371 --> 00:34:49,572
Here is a ministry to those fainting ones around you.

430
00:34:49,578 --> 00:34:54,929
When was the last time in your church that you saw a fainting brother or a weary sister,

431
00:34:54,936 --> 00:34:58,569
and it was you who strengthened them?

432
00:34:58,575 --> 00:35:01,458
Encourage the weak-minded; help the weary.

433
00:35:01,464 --> 00:35:04,595
Like Jonathan to David; like angels to the Lord Jesus;

434
00:35:04,601 --> 00:35:07,737
like the Philippian church to Paul.

435
00:35:07,743 --> 00:35:14,306
You to others who are too tired to go on.

436
00:35:14,312 --> 00:35:19,994
Be a help to those while you're on the road to Zion

437
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,611
to strengthen all those who need you.

438
00:35:23,617 --> 00:35:29,224
Do not faint. Wait on the Lord.

439
00:35:29,230 --> 00:35:32,850
Isn't it a marvelous thing that the rest of your Christian life,

440
00:35:32,856 --> 00:35:36,686
as you face bouts of fainting and weariness and tiredness,

441
00:35:36,692 --> 00:35:44,873
there's this remedy: "They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.

442
00:35:44,879 --> 00:35:47,289
They are going to mount up with wings like eagles.

443
00:35:47,295 --> 00:35:51,430
They are going to learn to run and not grow weary.

444
00:35:51,436 --> 00:35:57,425
They are going to learn to walk and not faint."

445
00:35:57,431 --> 00:36:06,287
Amy Carmichael was born in 1867; she went to China in 1893;

446
00:36:06,293 --> 00:36:18,586
she died in 1951 after being in China 58 years with no furlow, she never went home.

447
00:36:18,592 --> 00:36:27,348
But in 1931 at the age of 64, she became a physical invalid for the last 20 years of her life.

448
00:36:27,354 --> 00:36:32,186
She went to examine this property that they were considering buying.

449
00:36:32,192 --> 00:36:35,570
And in the darkness, there was a pit she didn't see,

450
00:36:35,576 --> 00:36:41,205
and she fell into it and fractured her back and several things were broken.

451
00:36:41,211 --> 00:36:48,257
She never recovered and was limited basically to her bedroom in pain.

452
00:36:48,263 --> 00:36:52,295
And what did she do? Instead of self-pity,

453
00:36:52,301 --> 00:37:03,003
she exchanged a very active outward life of rescuing girls in India from temple prostitution.

454
00:37:03,009 --> 00:37:06,580
They kept doing it; down of her fellowship, they continued to do it.

455
00:37:06,586 --> 00:37:10,021
But she was in her room. She was in bed.

456
00:37:10,027 --> 00:37:16,052
She was limited to living in one room, a ministry of prayer, writing letters.

457
00:37:16,058 --> 00:37:19,486
From that point on in her life, 13 more books

458
00:37:19,492 --> 00:37:24,088
and many many preparations of past books to reprint.

459
00:37:24,094 --> 00:37:28,594
And out of her weakness, she was made strong.

460
00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:33,141
And in that weakness, she prayed this, listen to what she prayed:

461
00:37:33,147 --> 00:37:35,983
"Make us thy mountaineers.

462
00:37:35,989 --> 00:37:38,866
We will not linger on the lower slope.

463
00:37:38,872 --> 00:37:41,943
Fill us afresh with hope, O God of hope.

464
00:37:41,949 --> 00:37:47,359
That, undefeated, we may climb the hill, seeing Him who is invisible;

465
00:37:47,365 --> 00:37:53,762
and let us die climbing, not fainting."

466
00:37:53,768 --> 00:37:56,815
Are you going to die climbing, sister, and not fainting?

467
00:37:56,821 --> 00:38:01,906
Are you going to endure to the end, brother, persevering on,

468
00:38:01,912 --> 00:38:05,548
pressing on, being strengthened with the strength that He supplies,

469
00:38:05,554 --> 00:38:08,844
waiting on the Lord and not fainting?

470
00:38:08,850 --> 00:38:14,472
Beloved, do not faint. Christ is with you.

471
00:38:14,478 --> 00:38:17,150
The Holy Spirit is in you if you're His child.

472
00:38:17,156 --> 00:38:20,017
You have the exceeding great and precious promises of God.

473
00:38:20,023 --> 00:38:23,931
There is no excuse for fainting. Learn not to faint.

474
00:38:23,937 --> 00:38:30,945
Learn to wait upon the Lord, and He will keep His promise, as sure as He is true,

475
00:38:30,951 --> 00:38:36,378
to strengthen the weary and the needy one.

476
00:38:36,384 --> 00:38:40,802
Let's pray.

477
00:38:54,755 --> 00:39:11,361
Father would you take Your Word and just apply it and make it real to us.

478
00:39:11,367 --> 00:39:19,031
And let it transform many who this is their very need.

479
00:39:19,037 --> 00:39:25,713
They are fainting from weariness.

480
00:39:27,513 --> 00:39:32,356
Lord, You have strength and renewal for them.

481
00:39:32,362 --> 00:39:36,041
So give us grace to wait upon You and believe Your promises.

482
00:39:36,047 --> 00:39:45,840
To lay hold, Lord; to believe God.

483
00:39:47,541 --> 00:39:55,190
We thank you for the blessed reality of Isaiah chapter 40

484
00:39:55,196 --> 00:39:57,502
and what You say in those last verses.

485
00:39:57,508 --> 00:39:59,619
Lord, make it real to us.

486
00:39:59,625 --> 00:40:01,591
Apply it to our hearts.

487
00:40:01,597 --> 00:40:08,985
And Lord, may many this night, even after long journey to get here, and there's weariness.

488
00:40:08,991 --> 00:40:12,184
Lord, do this for many, we pray.

489
00:40:12,190 --> 00:40:17,267
Do this miracle of renewal and strength and encouragement rising.

490
00:40:17,273 --> 00:40:24,565
Lord, lift some who have been faltering up on wings as eagles.

491
00:40:24,571 --> 00:40:29,674
We thank You in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.