Waiting on God — Hans R. Waldvogel

They're not defeated. They're not disgruntled. They're not in the flesh. Now who in the world was the choir singing about? I'm really interested. Oh do you think that they were singing about anybody in this meeting?

Waiting Upon the Lord

They that wait upon the Lord. Now who are they? Let's see if the Bible says anything about it. Oh yes. It also talks about those who don't wait upon the Lord. And you know it is marvelous how the Bible gives us clear answers to these questions.

Who is it? My God, my God. God does something for people who wait upon Him. And He does something very wonderful for them. They that wait upon the Lord. Of course you know where that's found, that text.

Isaiah as a Miniature Bible

That great chapter that begins with these words, Comfort ye, Comfort ye my people. Do you know which it is? Isaiah 40. Isaiah is called the miniature Bible. How many books are there in the Bible? Come on.

Right. That's a shame for dear Henson. Sixty-six books. And Isaiah has sixty-six chapters. And of course the Bible is divided into two sections. The Old Testament has thirty-nine chapters. And speaks of the law.

And speaks of the backsliding of God's people. And the New Testament has twenty-seven chapters and speaks of the glorious revelation of the Son of God and the power of His resurrection. And that's why Isaiah is called a miniature Bible.

Because it seems to have the same division. The first thirty-nine chapters speak about the backsliding of Israel. And the other twenty-seven chapters speak of the glory of the coming of Jesus Christ.

And that's how it begins. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Set your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

Preaching the Truth Without Trying to Please People

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? Be careful. Of course that's spoken of John the Baptist. Now you better be careful what kind of a sermon you preach. People won't like it if you don't sprinkle rose water on them.

If you don't tell them something that they like, something that tickles them behind the ear and under their third chin. Why they won't like it. If you're going to be a preacher, you better go to a seminarian and learn how to preach homiletically correct sermons.

And by all means, don't tell the truth. Because they'll turn away their ears from the truth. Having itching ears, he says, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof. Now you can dress yourself any way you please, or undress yourself, or do anything you please.

Powder your nose. The goodliness of the flesh is as the flower of the field. All this boasted of civilization and science and all this business is like the flower of the field. It perishes. It is passed into the fire and burns.

And he says in the same chapter that all nations are as a drop of a bucket. You know how much that is? All the nations in all the world, that's how much they amount to. Oh John the Baptist, you better be careful.

And when he was preaching, you know, this delegation from the temple. Pharisees and scribes had elected a delegation with dog collars and all to investigate this fellow that didn't have a diploma, no BA degree, no doctor of theology, had not studied in their schools.

And when his disciples came and said, Hey, you better be careful. The Pharisees are here. They're watching you. He said, And who is that brood of vipers? Who told them to come around here? Who has warned you to flee from the...

Oh no, John the Baptist. You're too strong. You preach too strong. You better quit it. You better go to school and learn how to preach nice sermons. After I'd been on Seneca Avenue for a few months, a preacher came to me.

And he told me that he had studied elocution. And he wanted to teach me something about preaching. And so he brought his sermon outlines. Firstly, secondly, thoidly, and pious cough. And finally, Oh John the Baptist, what shall I preach?

Death, Judgment, and the Necessity of Truth

What shall I... Oh, nobody wants to hear that. Nobody wants to hear that. Even though it is appointed unto man wants to die. And after that hellfire. They don't want to hear that. And yet, Brooklyn is full of cemeteries, full of graves, full of tombstones.

So full you can't escape this glorious truth that it is appointed unto man wants to die. And after this, the judgment. But people don't want to know the truth. But thank God for this wonderful word of which Jesus Christ says to the Father, Father, sanctify them.

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is the truth. It's a fine roadmap. It shows you the way of life. It doesn't deceive you. It doesn't mislead you.

I told you how when we were in Yugoslavia, we got a roadmap. We had to go from Zagreb down to Novi Sad. And this roadmap showed us exactly how to find the best road. But there was a preacher there and he knew better.

That's what's the matter. That little boy used to sing, and the power of God is just the same today. It doesn't matter what the preachers say. But this preacher said, no, I know a better way. And you know, we nearly lost our lives in that better way.

We, we sure got stuck in the mud. We, we cut our tires through about three times because we didn't follow the roadmap. But oh, here's this wonderful, thy word is truth. Oh, how I need the truth in view of eternity.

Where will you spend eternity? You're on an express train and you're going there just as fast as this express train time can carry you. And as sure as we're here tonight, in a little while we'll stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things we've done in this body.

No, God's word is the truth. Thank God for the Bible. Thank God for the Bible. When you talk to people about the word of God, use that word Bible. They don't know what the word of God is. Talk about the Bible.

This is the book, the only book that's worth to be called a book. Oh, thank God. Now John the Baptist, cry all flesh is grass. And then he says, and the nations are as a drop of a bucket. And he says, look at me, lift up your eyes on high and behold, who has created these things that bring about their host by number.

The Greatness of God in Creation

He calls them all by names, by the greatness of his power, not one fail to think of it. And now astronomy has discovered that there are many, many, many, many, many more constellations and blazing suns than we ever expected and ever dreamed of.

And I suppose that doesn't tell us only a fraction of it. Oh, these wonderful worlds, which Jesus Christ has hurled into space, that they might give light and that they might speak of his power and of his majesty.

Oh, praise the Lord. And he says, lift up your eyes on high and behold, did you see the full moon last night? He was smiling for a change. Usually he looks sour, but last night he was smiling. But oh, how rachai ala bhoja riga dungos ala julubini bhyatalo, how it thrills your heart to see and to think and to know that by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible.

And if the visible world is so very tremendously, marvelously created, what will the invisible world be like, which is eternal? That which is seen is temporal, but that which is not seen is eternal. Oh my God, you're very great.

You are very, very wonderful. My soul lives within me when I think of my wonderful God. And when I say our Father, which art in heaven, my God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee. Now, who is the choir singing about?

Waiting on God for Strength

Well, you can soon find out in your own life. They that wait upon the Lord will find that this great God who calls them all by names, by the greatness of his power, he calls you by name. His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, looking for hearts that look for him, that want him.

Tell me, is there a more worthy occupation for any human being than to come to God, really to meet God by faith in prayer? Hallelujah. And to open my heart in faith and wait upon my God and know that he gives power to the faint and to them that have no might, he increases strength.

Oh, the wonder of having a God that watches for me, that loves me, that has promised to give me power, to make me mount up with wings as eagles, to run and not to be weary, to walk and not faint. When Hitler came to power, he took the babes from the cradle.

He wanted to create a super-rafe. And they tell me there on the walls and where we put up our tent, they had their practice, they had their calisthenics and their physical training. And people who were there told me what a wonderful sight it was, these thousands of brown backs stooping and rising up and exercising.

And they felt that that was the best thing for Germany, to have an army of young soldiers that were strong and good muscles and healthy bodies. Now here's my God. Oh my Lord and my God. And he wants me to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

He's building me for eternity to reign with Christ, not a thousand years, but throughout the ages of eternity to be with him upon his throne to judge angels. Beloved, you wouldn't know that except for the Bible.

The Bible tells us that. That's why it says, they that wait upon the Lord, they're bound to be different. They have to be different. Jesus Christ says, I don't pray for the world. I pray for those whom thou has given me.

Here is the father and the son and the Holy Ghost expending their power. My God, it's too wonderful for words. It's too wonderful for thoughts. The Holy Ghost must quicken my understanding and give me life by the power of the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.

The Failure of Those Who Do Not Wait on God

And beloved, the Bible also tells us what happens to those who don't wait upon the Lord. They may be strong in muscles. They may be strong in intellect. He says, even the youth, the very prime of life, the very strongest, the very wisest, the best educated, they shall fail.

Even the youth shall faint and be weary. Don't you see that in the world today? Doesn't the world look like a great big haystack ready for the fire? Where are those who are strong in the Holy Ghost? Thank God they're sprinkled all over the world.

They're there, but they're few and far between in comparison to the great world of unbelievers, an unbelieving church. They're faint, they're weary, they shall utterly fall. And when theologians today bring out books entitled, God is Dead, then you know that they have not only utterly fallen, but they've fallen into the bottomless pit.

The God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Now there's the difference. On one hand, God stooping to those that faint.

Isn't that wonderful? That's me. Oh, to feel your nothingness, to feel your utter helplessness. My God, how healthy it is to faint, to be weary, to be without strength. Paul says, I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me, because when I feel my infirmity, and I feel my faintness, I have a place to come to.

I come to the fountain of living water, and that fountain is nobody else but God only. God, thou art my God. Listen, is he your God? Is he your God? What in the world have you got? Well, I got a little Ford, I got a little Ford machine, I got a little house, I got a wife, I got a child, I've got a something else, and what else have you got?

What have you got? If you haven't got God. I said to God before coming to meeting, comes to my mind now, my Lord, whom have I in heaven but thee? Nobody, and there's none upon this earth that I desire beside thee.

The Cost and Blessing of Waiting on the Lord

Oh, beloved they that wait upon the Lord. The great tragedy today among people of God is that they don't believe God. Waiting upon the Lord is no fun. I know I've experienced it. It's a hard job, because it strips you of your self-esteem, and it strips you of all your own activity, and makes you realize how nothing you are.

But oh, and that glory of God descends, and when God reacts, He giveth power to the faint. But what happens to those that don't wait upon the Lord? Well, you know, you know what happens. They shall utterly fall.

They shall faint. Oh, you feel very strong like Peter did, when he said, I'll go into prison and into death with you. But my goodness, when darkness came upon him, and the trial came, and the test came.

Beloved God wants all of us up there. He says, thou therefore my son, be strong. You can't be strong any other way. You can be strong in the flesh, and that flesh will be eaten by worms after a while.

But you can be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. You can. God will give you strength. Oh, how my God is, thank God, He's not forgotten those whom He has created. And He's not given up His job to have sons that are like Himself.

Renewing Strength for Eternity

Man in our likeness, God's never given up the job. And here's our opportunity, mine and yours, thank God, to renew our strength. You ought to be very glad, and ought to be very thankful to me for removing the clouds and the bombs, and for allowing the sun of my presence to shine through and through into your very hearts, and to give you my word, and to cause you to feel the powers of the world to come, and to know that it is I myself that I've been speaking to you again and again.

But you'll never know the power of my word in its fullness until you bow your heart, until you tremble at my word, and then I will descend the heavens and come and make my abode with you. And then you shall say, Oh God, have I not been foolish to be so slow about it?