The
student of the New Testment must needs be impressed with the frequency with which Jesus withdrew from the crowd, sometimes even from the immediate society of his disciples, to commune with God, and thereby to refresh himself at the infinite fountain of divine inspiration.
In
the illuminating dissertation on faith which appears in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, many illustrations are given of a happy outcome from the exercise of that quality.
How
often have the weary and the sick waited patiently on God to lift the burden from them! And how often have many of them as they waited had their faith strengthened by the words of the Psalmist: "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord;" or those of Isaiah: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
In
the incomparable eighth chapter of Romans, Paul distinguishes between the flesh and Spirit with much the same emphasis which characterized the replies of Christ Jesus to Nicodemus.
Paul's
expectation of a glorified state as a reward for his constancy in disseminating the doctrine of his Lord and Master and for his obedience to God's commands was sublime.