I bring near My righteousness

"I bring near My righteousness."—Isa. 46:13

God is here speaking to those who are "far from righteousness;" and He proposes to remedy their evil, and to remove this distance, by bringing His righteousness near to them. They will not come near to His righteousness. They keep aloof from it. In great love, therefore, He resolves to bring it nigh them.

And He has brought it near! It is as near as it is possible for any thing to be to us,—as near as the words themselves which tell us of it. What can be nearer to us than words which not only float round us, but which, entering by the ear, go through our whole man? So near is this righteousness, as the apostle shows us, in the tenth of the Romans. We do not need to go up to heaven for it, nor to go down into the earth for it. We do not need to go one step nor to move one inch in order to reach it. It is so near as to be within the reach of every sinner to whom the good news is preached. We know that it is free; that it is precious; that it is sufficient; that it is suitable; but we also know that it is Near. Were it far off it would not do for us. But it is so near that we have nothing to do in order to get it, but merely to consent to let God put it upon us! This is faith. Oh, let us not thrust away the Hand that would clothe us with raiment so needful and so divine!

In the LORD have I righteousness and strength

"In the LORD have I righteousness and strength"—Isa. 45:24 

These are the two things we most needed—righteousness for our unrighteousness, and strength for our helplessness. "I am unrighteous," is our feeling every moment. To meet this, a divine righteousness is at hand. "I am without strength," is our feeling also. But it was because we were without strength that Christ died for us. And, besides, there is strength provided, divine strength; strength as free and perfect, and near as is the righteousness. This strength completely meets our complaint of inability. 

The truth is that we are far more helpless than we think ourselves. Yet that matters not. It is to them that have "no might" that He "increaseth strength." We ought, then, no more to be cast down by a sense of inability than by a sense of unworthiness. God has provided against both. There is enough of strength at our disposal not only to make our inability no real hindrance, but to make it the very thing which gives us hope, inasmuch as it draws out the strength which is in the Lord for us. It gives Him an opportunity for magnifying His strength in our weakness. Most gladly, then, let us "glory in our infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon us." (2 Cor. xii. 9.) It is thus that "out of weakness we are made strong."

More than Conquerors part II

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."—Rom. 8:37.

Beloved, are not some of you weakened by this indecisiveness in your views of truth, in your steps of faith, in your refusals of temptation, in your surrender to God, in your consecration to His service and your obedience to His special call? You have been just uncertain enough to keep the question open and tempt the adversary to renew the conflict evermore. We sometimes read in God's word after one of David's hardest conflicts, or one of Joshua's boldest triumphs, "the land had rest from war!" Thus we have rest by becoming "more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

It is to have such a victory as will effectually break the adversary's power and not only defend us from his attacks but effectually weaken and destroy his strength. This is one of the purposes of temptation, that we may be workers together with God in destroying evil. We read of Joshua's battles that "it was of the Lord that these kings should come against Joshua in battle for this very purpose, that they might be utterly destroyed." It was not enough for Israel to beat them off and be saved from their attacks, but God wanted them exterminated. And so when God allows the enemy to appear in our lives it is that we may do him irreparable and eternal injury, and thus glorify God and be workers with Christ in destroying the works of the devil.