Claiming and Reckoning
‘The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.”
‘THIS paragraph is so associated with an especial season in our English life that it seems hedged around from common use, and we hardly realize the wealth of meaning which lies within for daily help, making it one of the deepest, sweetest, and most helpful passages in Isaiah’s prophecies.
There is an evident rebound from sorrow, from dimness and anguish, conflict and pain; and the resulting joy is compared to three similitudes, in which alone the imagination of the prophet can find adequate expression. It is the harvest-time, and the long patience “TTbe H)ass of flMMan.” 109
of the husbandman has met with its reward; the fields are cleared of their golden burden; the last of the sheaves which had cast long shadows in the setting sun has been carried to the barn; and throughout the homestead there is the joy of finished labors, hopes fulfilled, and plentiful provision for days to come. “They joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest.,1 The scene is changed and it is the close of the war for freedom in which Gideon led Israel against the hosts of Midian, that like locusts, had devoured their land. Bitter, indeed, had been the long bondage, in which their crops had been swept off, their homes pillaged, their populations enslaved; and therefore the exultation was the more jubilant when the youngest son of Joash, the Abi-ezrite, with his three hundred soldiers, inaugurated a tide of victory, which rose and gathered force until Midian had been driven across the frontier, suffering a defeat which paralyzed it for a century. Ah, what joy was there throughout all the land of Israel! And “Thou hast broen the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midi an”
Again the scene is changed, and the prophetic vision beholds that blessed hour when war itself shall die, after which the bugle will never again summon embattled hosts to meet in conflict, and the grass will never again be dyed with the rich blood of men, and nations will never again forbear to count the gains of a battle won because of the awful cost in their noblest sons. What a day that will be when museums shall be erected to preserve as curiosities the implements and accoutrements of war, that the children of the new age may study the old barbaric times which shall have passed away as a bad “dream”! Then, from
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vale to mountain peak, from river bank to ocean shore, shall ring out a note of joy so high, so piercing, that the very stars shall tremble in their silver spheres — “Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” This shall be the joy when the battle of the warrior, with its confused noise, “and the garments rolled in blood, shall be for burning, for fuel of fire” (R. V.). Nor will the prophet be satisfied with any imagery less than this to depict the joy of which he speaks when the great consummation that fires his soul shall have been realized by the zeal of the Lord of Hosts.
And what is that consummation, which is to break upon men as a great light on those that walk in darkness, and in the land of the shadow of death, thrilling them with joy unspeakable and full of glory? The answer is given in those marvelous words, in which the peace of the sea n2 Claiming au& IRecftonincy
of glass is mingled with the fire of manifested Deity: uUnto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.11 In other words, God has stored Himself up in Jesus, the Babe of Bethlehem, the Boy of Nazareth, the Son of Man, stooping low enough to be within the reach of the humblest, lowliest child of the human family; so that each of us might be able to claim, and appropriate, and use all the abundant stores of Deity for the exigencies of daily living.
A respectable family becomes very reduced in its circumstances; the mother finds it difficult to make the meagre provision suffice for her hungry little ones; their clothes get more ragged; the father’s threadbare coat makes it less and less possible for him to obtain the situation which his qualifications deserve. But a child is born into that home, quite unlike the rest of the children — beautiful in feature, quick in intelligence, winsome, gifted spirituelle. As he grows up, he manifests unusual powers; rapidly distances his compeers; passes from the elementary school to the college, and thence to the university. Presently tidings begin to come back of his success, his growing fams, his prizes, the assured certainty of his becoming a great man; and as they arrive in letter, and rumor, and newspaper, the mother’s eye gets brighter; the father no longer evades the associates of earlier days; the home becomes better furnished and the table better spread; the other children are better clothed and educated and put forward in life; and the one glad explanation of it all is found in the words, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” And in Claiming anfc TRecfeoning*
as the years go on, whilst money pours in as a golden tide to the successful student, it will find its way increasingly to the family in the eld home; and each member of it will reap the benefit of association with its child and son, all that is needed being to prove a distinct need, and to put in an appropriate claim. What a mine of wealth would be opened up in the counsel, strength, resources, influence, and position, of that beloved and trusted son and brother!
This will illustrate the prophet’s thought. As the oppressed Jews, groaning in their brick-kilns, were glad for Moses, given to lead them forth from the house of bondage; as England, travailing under the cruel exactions of the Danes, was glad for our great Alfred; as the Netherlands were glad when William the Silent arose to arrest the blood-thirsty rule of Alva; as Italy was glad when her Victor u%et bfm tafce.” 115
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Emmanuel overthrew the dark misrule of the Papacy — so may we be glad because God has given Himself to us in Jesus. Why should living men complain? Granted that Adam was our father, the second Adam is the Son of Man. If tears, and toil, and pain, and death have come by the one; glory, and honor, and immortality are ours by the other. And if only we belong to the same family by regeneration and adoption; if we are sons, and therefore younger brothers of the Son; if we have the right to call His Father our Father, we gain from our association with Him more than enough to compensate us for our association with the gardener who stole his Master’s fruit in the Garden of Paradise.
Christian people do not enough appreciate this connection, or avail themselves of its benefits. We do not enough distinguish between praying and claiming by a simple faith; but there is a wide difference between the two. We may pray for some special grace for years, and still be deficient in it; whereas we may claim it in an instant, and it will be ours. I am so often impressed with this difference in prayer-meetings. The same petitions are being constantly offered for the same things in a half entreating, half-despairing tone. But if the gifts sought from the Father’s hands are really such as He can bestow, there should be no need for the incessant repetition of the same requests because they would be claimed and taken from His outstretched hand. A Christian will request prayer that he may receive a certain grace of Christian character; whereas there is not the least reason in the world why he should not take as much of it as he requires, altogether apart from the intercession of others. We ask for health, or power, or deliverance, or vindication, with the accent of weary uncertainty, which proffers the same request, year after year, regardless of the voice, which is ever crying, “Whosoever will, let him take... freely.”
Of course there are things with all of us which are not included in God’s will, and concerning which we cannot therefore ask with any claiming faith. But there are others, which are presented on the page of scripture, or are indicated by the evident Providence of God, concerning which we have the right to say, “My Father, it is Thy grace which has put this precious thing within my reach; and I take it with a reverent grateful heart.” And when we have been led to take up this attitude, we must not suddenly turn round to ascertain through some answering emotion whether we have received the gift we sought. We must reckon that it is ours; we must rest satisfied that “8 Claiming an& IRecftonutg.
God is faithful, and that He has done as He has said; we must even count Him true and our own emotions liars. If we ask anything according to His will, we know that He hears us; and if we know that He hears us, we know that we have the petition that we desired of Him — not only that it will be ours, but that it is ours, to be used forthwith for His glory, because the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform it.
Are you in need of counsel? Reverently and thoughtfully claim the wisdom of the Counsellor; reckon that you have it, and act to the best of your judgment, believing that His wisdom is threading it with His unseen direction. And when you have acted, whatever be the results, dare to believe that you were directed to do the best thing, and never look back.
Are you in need of strength? Reverently and believingly claim the power “ffeefcontbeiipinQCbrist,” ng
of the Mighty God, and reckon that it is yours; and go forth to any work to which He may call you, believing that you are adequately equipped. You will not know what power you have till you begin to use it.
Are yon in need of Unchanging love and affection, in a world of incessant disappointment, in which the warmest friendships cool, and the dearest friends die? Reverently and gladly avail yourself of the love of the Father of the Ages, the I AM, who is the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Drink deep draughts of His love and know that it is yours, though you may not be conscious at the moment how much is pouring into your soul.
Do yon want peace? Reverently and trustfully claim His peace, who is the Prince of Peace; and know that it is yours, in the depths of your soul, though the surface of your life be still swept by storms.
We may often fail to receive these gifts from God, because we fail to feed on Christ through His word. Here, too, the same distinction must be made. We are all too prone to judge of our profit in the reading of the Bible by our emotional pleasure. If we have much of this, we think we have gained much; but if little, we ask what profit there is in our Bible study. We must learn to believe that just as food will nourish us even when it is not specially palatable, and though we may not think of it after we have eaten it, so the Word of God will nourish our spirits when we thoughtfully and prayerf ally read it, in the absence of much sensible pleasure. Read your Bibles, and so feed on the living Christ; and believe that you are gaining health and strength, even though it be an effort of your faith to reckon that it is so.
These are two great words — claim God’s fulness, and reckon that whatever you can claim is yours, although no answering emotion assures you that it is. Dare to act in faith, stepping out in the assurance that you have what you have claimed, and doing just as you would do if you felt to have it.
But this is only possible when you have put the government — where God the Father has placed it — on the shoulders of Jesus, It is there by right, but it must be also there by choice and acquiescence. And when it is, there is no limit to the freedom with which we may have access to God. All of God lies open to him who will be all for God. Nor is it such a dreadful thing to resign the government of the life to Jesus. Napoleon, standing amid the ambassadors of Europe, reassured the entire conintent by the utterance of his New Year’s motto, The empire of peace.
But with far greater truth may we apply the words to Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose rule over the soul is the synonym of peace unspeakable and full of glory. And as His government spreads further and further over the soul, with its growing area there is growing peace, until they shall both become complete to all the heights, and depths, and breadths of blessedness. Of the increase of His government, and of our peace, there is no end.
All this may seem shadowy and far away; difficult, if not impossible, to realize in our life. But we may take comfort in the assurance that the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform what we cannot accomplish. There is grace enough in him, and patience, nd strength. He will not fail, nor be discouraged. Hand over the entire matter to Him; leave yourself in his hands; accept what He sends; do what He bids; and you will drink deep draughts of that joy of which the prophet speaks in these rapturous and glowing words.