Christ's sure conquest.
"He shall net fail nor be discouraged." We study this text in relation to our Saviour. We may be, and often are, discouraged; but the Son, he in whom, says Jehovah (Isaiah 42:1), "my soul delighteth," he never is. He must reign. All the infinite forces of love and righteousness are on his side. In God's world error can never be supreme over truth. "The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."
I. THE SAVIOUR AND DIVINE CERTAINTY. He is expecting. All the true triumphs of the ages have been victories for him. What elevation to humanity has come with his truth! What beneficent enterprises have all had their inspiration from his cross! What fetters he has snapped! What prisons he has opened! All the vital forces of to-day are the forces he started in Judaea eighteen centuries ago. "He shall not fail;" for he lives to-day in ever-growing influence over the hearts of men. Madagascar has recently even, been won for his crown. We must, of course, take time into our estimate. "A thousand years are with the Lord as one day." It is a great work. His empire is the world. His kingdom is everlasting. The law of preparation seems related to the law of duration. A gourd springs up in a night but it lasts only for a day; whereas the oak, that monarch of the centuries, attains its perfection through the long course of yearn. We need not wonder that an "immortal kingdom" is of steady growth.
II. THE SAVIOUR AND TRIUMPHANT ENDURANCE. "He shall not … be discouraged." There is, indeed, much that might discourage, the slow victories of goodness, the enmity of the carnal mind! But Christ sees of the travail of his soul. He is not like us. We have need of the counsel, "Judge nothing before the time;" but he sees the end from the beginning.
What comfort this should be to all Christians! Why should we be discouraged? If the Leader is consciously invincible, how valiant and constant ought his followers to be! Discouragement means, on our part, unbelief.—W.M.S.