[November 21st, 1852.]
I. Two conditions are necessary to physical life, viz.: repose and activity. So also in the spiritual life there are two conditions of health, viz.: passivity and exercise. The former is expressed by WAITING, which implies,
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Passivity; a state in which we are the recipients, in which we do nothing, but quietly expect something to be done. Thus men wait for the morning; they wait for the salvation of God; for the fulfillment of his promises; they wait for the coming of the Lord.
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It implies confidence in God, an assurance that he will reveal himself, that he will accomplish his word.
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It implies desire and expectation. Men who wait for the morning both expect it and long for it. So those who wait for God, for his salvation, for his coming, expect it and long for it.
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It implies patience and submission; patience, because we know that the good waited for will not be granted before God’s time; submission, because we know that it is in God’s power to grant or to withhold, and that our only hope is in him.
Waiting, therefore, though it implies passivity, is the opposite; (1.) of indifference; (2.) of despair; (3.) of rebellious discontent. II. Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength. 1. Because God flows in upon the soul, imparts larger measures of life. As occurs in sleep. As touching the ground according to the fable. 2. Because God approves and blesses those who thus confide in him and long for him. III. Times in which we should wait. 1. In seasons of devotion, private and public. 2. In times of sickness and sorrow. 3. In times of spiritual dearth. 4. All the time of our continuance in this world, is a time of waiting for the salvation of God.
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