Part 31
III. But, thirdly, we ought to dwell very long and earnestly upon
the fact that for man's need THE PROVISION WAS MADE BY
GOD HIMSELF. The text says, "Jehovah-jireh," the Lord will see
to it. The Lord will provide. No one else could have provided a
ransom! Neither on earth nor in Heaven was there found any helper
for lost humanity. What sacrifice could be presented to God if a
sacrifice could be accepted? Behold Lebanon, as it rises
majestically toward Heaven, white with its snows! See the forests
which adorn its sides! Set these all on fire and see them blaze as the
wood of the altar of God. Yet, "Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering." Take the
myriads of cattle that roam the hills and shed their blood till you
have made a sea of gore, but what of that? "It is not possible that
the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins."
Men may, themselves, die, but in death each man who dies only
pays his own debt to Nature–there is nothing left for another.
"None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
ransom for him." Where shall a redemption be found by which it
shall be possible that the multitude of the elect shall be effectually
redeemed from death and Hell? Such a ransom could only be found
by God! And He could only find it in Himself–in Him who was
One with Himself–who lay in the bosom of the Father from old
eternity. The provision was made by God Himself, since no other
could provide. God alone could say, "Deliver him from going down
to the pit: I have found a Ransom."
But was it not singular that the Lord Jehovah should provide it?
When a law has been broken and its honor has to be retrieved, it
would not be judged likely that the aggrieved party should make
the sacrifice! That God, against whom all the blasphemy and sin
and wickedness of a ribald world was aimed–shall He Himself
make expiation? Shall the judge bear the penalty due to the
criminal? "Lay it on the sinner; for it is his due"–so Justice cries
aloud–"Lay the penalty on the transgressor!" But if a substitute can
be permitted, where can one be found able and willing to become
surety for the guilty? He is found upon the Throne of God! He is
found in the Majesty that is offended!
Brothers and Sisters, I am beaten down by my subject! Forgive
me that I cannot speak of it as I would desire. There is no room,
here, for words–it is a matter for silent thought. We need the fact of
Substitution to strike us and then the Cross will grow sublimely
great. In vision I behold it! Its two arms are extended right and left
till they touch the east and west and overshadow all races of men!
The foot of it descends lower than the grave, till it goes down,
even, to the gates of Hell–while upward the Cross mounts with a
halo round about it of unutterable Glory–till it rises above the stars
and sheds its light upon the Throne of the Most High! Atonement is
a Divine business! Its sacrifice is infinite, even as the God who
conceived it! Glory be to His name forever! It is all that I can say.
It was nothing less than a stretch of Divine Love for Jesus to give
Himself for our sins. It was gracious for the Infinite to conceive of
such a thing, but for Him to carry it out was glorious beyond all
comprehension! What shall I say of it?
I will only interject this thought here–let none of us ever interfere
with the provision of God. If in our dire distress He, alone, was our
Jehovah-jireh and provided us a Substitute, let us not think that
there is anything left for us to provide! O Sinner, do you cry, "Lord,
I must have a broken heart"? He will provide it for you! Do you
cry, "Lord, I cannot master sin, I have not the power to conquer my
passions"? He will provide strength for you! Do you mourn, "Lord,
I shall never hold on and hold out to the end. I am so fickle"? Then
He will provide perseverance for you! Do you think that after
having given His own dear Son to purchase you, He will let that
work fail because you cannot provide some little odds and ends to
complete the work? Oh, dream not so! Dote not on such a folly!
Whatever you need, poor Sinner, if you believe in Christ, the
Lord's provision of a Savior in Christ warrants your believing that
God will provide it!
Salvation begins with Jehovah-jireh, the Cross and the bleeding
Savior. Do you think it will ever drivel down into your providing
this and that? Oh, your pride! Your insane pride! You are to do
something, are you? What? Yoke your little something with the
Eternal God? Did you ever hear of an angel failing to perform a
duty until he was assisted by an ant? Have you ever heard of God's
great laws of Nature breaking down till some child's finger could
supplement their force? You to help your God to provide? Get out
of the way and be nothing–then shall God come in and be
everything!
Sink! It is the Lord that must rise! He shall be seen in the
mountain–not you! Hide yourself and let the Glory of the Lord be
manifested in you. I wish that every troubled one here could catch
this idea and hold it fast. Whatever you need to put away your sin.
Whatever you need to make you a new creature. Whatever you
need to carry you to Heaven, Jehovah-jireh, the Lord, will provide!
He will see to it! Trust in Him and before long you shall see the
Divine provision and Jehovah shall be glorious in yours eyes!
IV. But I must pass on. That which God prepares for poor sinners
is A PROVISION MOST GLORIOUSLY MADE. God provided a
ram instead of Isaac. This was sufficient for the occasion as a type,
but that which was typified by the ram is infinitely more glorious!
In order to save us, God provided God. I cannot put it more simply.
He did not provide an angel, nor a mere man, but God Himself!
Come, Sinner, with all your load of sin–God can bear it! The
shoulders that bear up the universe can well sustain your load of
guilt. God gave you His Godhead to be your Savior when He gave
you His Son.
But He also gave, in the Person of Christ, perfect Manhood–such
a Man as never lived before–eclipsing, even, the perfection of the
first Adam in the garden by the majestic innocence of His Nature.
When Jesus has been viewed as Man, even unconverted men have
so admired His excellence that they have almost adored Him! Jesus
is God and Man, and the Father has given that Man–that God–to be
your Redeemer! For your redemption the Lord God has given you
the death of Christ; and what a death it was! I would that troubled
hearts would more often study the story of the Great Sacrifice, the
agony and bloody sweat, the betrayal in the garden, the binding of
the hands, the accusation of the Innocent, the scourging, the crown
of thorns, the spitting in the face, the mockery, the nailing to the
tree, the lifting up of the Cross, the burning fever, the parching
thirst and, above all, the overpowering anguish of being forsaken
by His God!
Do you think, O Soul, that to save you, the Son of God must cry,
"Lama Sabachthani!"? Do you think that to save you, He must
hang naked to His shame between Heaven and earth, rejected of
both–must cry, "I thirst"–and receive nothing but vinegar with
which to moisten His burning lips? Jesus must "pour out His soul
unto death" that we might live! He must be "numbered with the
transgressors" that we might be numbered with His saints in
everlasting Glory! Was not this a glorious provision? What greater
gift could be bestowed than One in whom God and man are
blended in one?
When Abraham on the mountain offered a sacrifice it was called a
"burnt offering." But when the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary died it
was not only a burnt offering, but a sin offering, a meat offering
and a peace offering–and every other kind of sacrifice in one!
Under the oldest of all dispensations, before the Mosaic economy,
God had not taught men the distinctions of sacrifice–but an offering
unto the Lord meant all that was afterwards set forth by many
types. When the venerable Patriarch offered a sacrifice, it was an
offering for sin and a sweet smelling savor besides. So was it with
our Lord Jesus Christ. When He died, He made His soul an offering
for sin and, "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." When He
died, He also offered unto God a burnt offering, for we read, "And
walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given Himself for
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor."
When Jesus died, He gave us a peace offering, for we come to
feast upon Him with God and, to us, "His flesh is meat, indeed; His
blood is drink, indeed." One would need many a day in which to
expatiate upon the infinite virtues and excellencies of Christ, in
whom all perfections are sweetly hived. Blessed be His name, God
has most gloriously provided for us in the day of our need!
Jehovah-jireh!
Fifthly, THE PROVISION WAS MADE EFFECTIVELY. Isaac
did not die–the laughter in Abraham's house was not stifled. There
was no grief for the Patriarch–he went home with his son in happy
companionship because Jehovah had provided Himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. The ram which was provided did not bleed in vain–
Isaac did not die as well as the ram–Abraham did not have to slay
the God-provided victim and his own son, also. No, the one
sacrifice sufficed. Beloved, this is my comfort in the death of
Christ–I hope it is yours–that He did not die in vain! I have heard
of a theology which, in its attempt to extol the efficacy of Christ's
death, virtually deprives it of any certain efficiency. The result of
the Atonement is made to depend entirely upon the will of man and
so is left haphazard. Our Lord, according to certain teachers, might
or might not see of the travail of His soul.
I confess that I do not believe in this random redemption and I
wonder that any person can derive comfort from such teaching. I
believe that the Son of God could not possibly have come into the
world in the circumstances in which He did–and could not have
died as He did–and yet be defeated and disappointed! He died for
those who believe in Him and these shall live! Yes, they do live in
Him. I should think that Isaac, the child of laughter, was solemnly
joyous as he descended the hill and went home with his father. I
think both of them tripped along with happy steps towards Sarah's
house and their own loved home! And you and I, this day, may go
home with the same joyousness! We shall not die, for the Lamb of
God has died for us!
We shall never perish, for He has suffered in our place! We were
bound on the altar–we were laid on the firewood and the fire was
ready for our consuming–but no knife shall touch us, now, for the
Sacrifice is offered once and for all. No fire shall consume us, for
He who suffered in our stead has borne the heat of the flame on our
behalf! We live and we shall live. "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." This is an
effectual and precious providing! I do not believe in a redemption
which did not redeem, nor in an atonement which did not atone!
But I do believe in Him who died in vain for none, but will
effectually save His own Church and His own sheep for whom He
laid down His life! To Him we will all render praise, for He was
slain and He has redeemed us unto God by His blood out of every
kindred and people and nation!
VI. Turn we then, sixthly, to this note, that we may well glorify
Jehovah-jireh because THIS PROVISION WAS MADE FOR
EVERY BELIEVER. The provision on the Mount of Moriah was
made on behalf of Abraham–he was, himself, a man of faith, and he
is styled the "father of the faithful." And now every faithful or
believing one may stand where Abraham stood and say, "Jehovah-
jireh, the Lord will provide." Remember, however, that our faith
must be of the same nature as that of Abraham or it will not be
counted to us for righteousness. Abraham's faith worked by love–it
so worked in him that he was willing to do all that the Lord bade
him–even to sacrifice of his own dear son! You must possess a
living, working, self-sacrificing faith if you would be saved.
If you have it, you may be as sure that you are saved as you are
sure that you have sinned. "He that believes on Him is not
condemned," because Christ was condemned for him. "He that
believes on Him has everlasting life"–he cannot die, for Christ died
for him. The great principle upon which our security is based is the
righteousness of God which assures us that He will not punish the
Substitute and then punish the person for whom the Substitute
endured the penalty! It were a matter of gross injustice if the sinner,
having made atonement for his sin in the Person of his Covenant
Head, the Lord Jesus, should afterwards be called upon to account
for the very sin for which Jesus atoned! Sin, like anything else,
cannot be in two places at once–if the great God took my sin and
laid it on His Son–then it is not on me any more! If Jesus bore the
wrath of God for me, I cannot bear that wrath–it were contrary to
every principle of a just, moral government, that a judge should
cast our surety into prison and exact the penalty from him and then
come upon those for whom the suretyship was undertaken.
By this Gospel I am prepared to stand or fall! Yes, by it I will live
or die–I know no other! Because I believe it, I this day cry from the
bottom of my heart, "Jehovah-jireh," the Lord has provided an
effectual redemption for all those who put their trust in Him whom
God has set forth to be a Propitiation. It is true, as it is written, "He
that believes and is baptized shall be saved." It is true that the faith
which works by love brings justification to the soul!
VII. But now I close with a remark which will reveal the far-
reaching character of my text. "Jehovah-jireh" is true concerning
all necessary things. The instance given of Abraham being provided
for shows us that the Lord will always be a Provider for His people.
As to the gift of the Lord Jesus, this is A PROVISION WHICH
GUARANTEES ALL OTHER PROVISION. "He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things?" Abraham learned that, for,
as soon as he had slaughtered the ram, the Covenant was repeated
in his ears and repeated as he had never heard it before–
accompanied with an oath! God cannot swear by any greater than
Himself, and so He said, "By Myself have I sworn." Thus was the
Covenant ratified by blood and by the oath of God!
Oh, that bleeding Sacrifice! The Covenant of God is confirmed by
it and our faith is established. If you have seen Jesus die for you,
your heart has heard God swear, "Surely in blessing I will bless
you!" By two immutable things, wherein it is impossible for God to
lie, He has given us who have fled for refuge to the hope set before
us in the Gospel, strong consolation! Let us fall back on this eternal
Truth, that if God has provided His own Well-Beloved Son to meet
the most awful of all necessities, then He will provide for us in
everything else!
Where will He provide? He will provide for us in the mountain,
that is to say, in the place of our trial. When we reach the place
where the fatal deed of utmost obedience is to be worked, then God
will interpose. You desire Him to provide for you when you lift up
your eyes and see the mountain afar off. He does not choose to do
so, but in the mountain it shall be seen! In the place of the trial, in
the heat of the furnace–in the last extremity Jehovah will be seen,
for He will see to it and it shall become a proverb with you–"In the
mountain, Jehovah shall be seen." That is to say, when you cannot
see, the Lord will see you and see to your need, for His eyes are
upon the righteous and His ears are open to their cry! You will not
need to explain to God your difficulties and the intricacies of your
position–He will see it all! Joyfully sing that revival ditty–
"This my Father knows."
As soon as the Lord has seen our need, then His provision shall
be seen. You need not climb to Heaven or descend into the deep to
find it–the Lord's provision is near at hand–the ram in the thicket is
behind you though you see it not as yet. When you have heard God
speak to you, you shall turn and see it and wonder you never saw it
before! You will heartily bless God for the abundant provision
which He reveals in the moment of trial. Then shall the Lord,
Himself, be seen! You will soon die and, perhaps in dying, you will
be troubled by the fear of death. But let that evil be removed by this
knowledge–that the Lord will yet be seen–and when He shall
appear, you shall be manifested in His Glory! In the day of the
revelation of the Lord Jesus, your body shall be raised from the
dead and then shall the Divine provision yet more fully be
discovered. "In the mount it shall be seen," and there shall God,
Himself, be manifested to you, for your eyes shall behold Him and
not another.
There is a rendering given to my text which we cannot quite pass
over. Some read it that, "in the mount the people shall be seen"–in
that mountain, in years to come, the multitude would gather to
worship God. God's Presence was in the Temple which was built
upon that spot! There the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord to
worship the Most High! I dwell in a house not made with hands,
but piled by God of solid slabs of mercy. He is building for me a
palace of crystal, pure and shining, transparent as the day. I see the
house in which I am to abide forever gradually growing around me.
Its foundation was laid of old in eternal love–"in the mount it shall
be seen." The Lord provided for me a Covenant Head, a Redeemer
and a Friend–and in Him I abide.
Since then, course upon course of the precious stones of loving
kindness has been laid and the jeweled walls are all around me. Has
it not been so with you? By-and-by we shall be roofed in with
Glory everlasting and then, as we shall look to the foundations, and
the walls and to the arch above our head, we shall shout, "Jehovah-
jireh–God has provided all this for me!" How we shall rejoice in
every stone of the Divine building! How will our memory think
over the method of the building! On such a day was that stone laid,
I remember it right well–"I was sorely sick and the Lord comforted
me." On such a day was that other stone laid–I was in prison,
spiritually–and the heavenly Visitor came to me! On such another
day was that bejeweled course completed, for my heart was glad in
the Lord and my glory rejoiced in the God of my salvation.
The walls of love are still rising and when the building is finished
and the top stone is brought out with shouts of "Grace, Grace, unto
it!" we shall then sing this song unto the Lord–JEHOVAH-JIREH!
The Lord has provided it! From the beginning to the end there is
nothing of man and nothing of merit, nothing of self, but all of God
in Christ Jesus who has loved us with an everlasting love and,
therefore, has abounded towards us in blessing according to the
fullness of His infinite heart! To Him be praise world without end!
Amen and Amen! PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE
SERMON–Genesis 22:1-19.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN
BOOK"–426, 226, 199.
Ge 24:5-8 • No Compromise
ERMON 2047
No Compromise
"And the servant said unto him, Perhaps the woman will not be
willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring your son
again unto the land from where you came? And Abraham said unto
him, Beware you that you bring not my son there again. The LORD
God of Heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from
the land of my kindred and which spoke unto me and that swore
unto me, saying, Unto your seed will I give this land, He shall send
His angel before you and you shall take a wife unto my son from
there. And if the woman will not be willing to follow you, then you
shall be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son there
again."
Genesis 24:5-8
GENESIS is both the book of beginnings and the book of
dispensations. You know what use Paul makes of Sarah and Hagar,
of Esau and Jacob and the like. Genesis is all through a book
instructing the reader in the dispensations of God towards man.
Paul says, in a certain place, "which things are an allegory," by
which he did not mean that they were not literal facts but that,
being literal facts, they might also be used instructively as an
allegory. So may I say of this chapter. It records what actually was
said and done. But at the same time, it bears within it allegorical
instruction with regard to heavenly things. The true minister of
Christ is like this Eleazar of Damascus. He is sent to find a wife for
his Master's son. His great desire is that many shall be presented
unto Christ in the day of His appearing, as the bride, the Lamb's
wife.
The faithful servant of Abraham, before he started, communed
with his master. And this is a lesson to us who go on our Lord's
errands. Let us, before we engage in actual service, see the
Master's face, talk with Him and tell Him of any difficulties which
occur to our minds. Before we get to work let us know what we are
at and on what footing we stand. Let us hear from our Lord's own
mouth what He expects us to do and how far He will help us in the
doing of it.
I charge you, my Fellow Servants, never to go forth to plead with
men for God until you have first pleaded with God for men. Do not
attempt to deliver a message which you have not first of all
yourself received by His Holy Spirit. Come out of the chamber of
fellowship with God into the pulpit of ministry among men and
there will be a freshness and a power about you which none shall
be able to resist.
Abraham's servant spoke and acted as one who felt bound to do
exactly what his master bade him and to say what his master told
him. Hence his one anxiety was to know the essence and measure
of his commission. During his converse with his master he
mentioned one little point about which there might be a hitch. And
his master soon removed the difficulty from his mind. It is about
that hitch which has occurred lately on a very large scale and has
upset a good many of my Master's servants, that I am going to
speak this morning–may God grant that it may be to the benefit of
His Church at large!
Beginning our sermon, we will ask you, first, to THINK OF THE
SERVANT'S JOYFUL BUT WEIGHTY ERRAND. It was a joyful
errand–the bells of marriage were ringing around him. The
marriage of the heir should be a joyful event. It was an honorable
thing for the servant to be entrusted with the finding of a wife for
his master's son. Yet it was every way a most responsible business,
by no means easy of accomplishment. Blunders might very readily
occur before he was aware of it. And he needed to have all his wits
about him and something more than his wits, too, for so delicate a
matter.
He had to journey far, over lands without track or road. He had to
seek out a family which he did not know and to find out of that
family a woman whom he did not know, who nevertheless should
be the right person to be the wife of his master's son–all this was a
great service. The work this man undertook was a business upon
which his master's heart was set. Isaac was now forty years old and
had shown no sign of marrying. He was of a quiet, gentle spirit and
needed a more active spirit to urge him on. The death of Sarah had
deprived him of the solace of his life, which he had found in his
mother and had, no doubt, made him desire tender companionship.
Abraham himself was old and well stricken in years. And he very
naturally wished to see the promise beginning to be fulfilled, that in
Isaac should his seed be called. Therefore, with great anxiety,
which is indicated by his making his servant swear an oath of a
most solemn kind, he gave him the commission to go to the old
family abode in Mesopotamia and seek for Isaac a bride from there.
Although that family was not all that could be desired, yet it was
the best he knew of. And as some heavenly light lingered there, he
hoped to find in that place the best wife for his son.
The business was, however, a serious one which he committed to
his servant. My Brethren, this is nothing compared with the weight
which hangs on the true minister of Christ. All the Great Father's
heart is set on giving to Christ a Church which shall be His
Beloved forever. Jesus must not be alone–His Church must be His
dear companion. The Father would find a bride for the great
Bridegroom, a recompense for the Redeemer, a solace for the
Savior–therefore He lays it upon all whom He calls to tell out the
Gospel, that we should seek souls for Jesus and never rest till hearts
are wedded to the Son of God.
Oh, for Divine Grace to carry out this commission! This message
was the more weighty because of the person for whom the spouse
was sought. Isaac was an extraordinary personage. Indeed, to the
servant he was unique. He was a man born according to the
Promise, not after the flesh but by the power of God. And you
know how in Christ and in all that are one with Christ, the life
comes by the Promise and the power of God and springs not of
man. Isaac was himself the fulfillment of the Promise and the heir
of the Promise. Infinitely glorious is our Lord Jesus as the Son of
Man! Who shall declare His generation? Where shall be found a
helpmeet for Him? A soul fit to be espoused unto Him?
Isaac had been sacrificed. He had been laid upon the altar and
although he did not actually die, his father's hand had unsheathed
the knife to slay him. Abraham in spirit had offered up his son. And
you know who He is of whom we preach and for whom we preach,
even Jesus, who has laid down His life a sacrifice for sinners. He
has been presented as a whole burnt-offering unto God. Oh, by the
wounds and by the bloody sweat, I ask you–where shall we find a
heart fit to be wedded to Him? How shall we find men and women
who can worthily recompense love so amazing, so Divine, as that
of Him who died the death of the Cross?
Isaac had also been, in a figure, raised from the dead. To his
father he was "as good as dead," as said the Apostle–and he was
given back to him from the dead. But our blessed Lord has actually
risen from an actual death and stands before us this day as the
Conqueror of death and the Spoiler of the grave. Who shall be
joined to this Conqueror? Who is fit to dwell in Glory with this
glorious One? One would have thought that every heart would
aspire to such happiness and leap in prospect of such peerless
honor and that none would shrink back except through a sense of
great unworthiness. Alas, it is not so, though so it ought to be.
What a weighty errand have we to fulfill to find those who shall
be linked forever in holy union with the Heir of the Promise, even
the Sacrificed and Risen One! Isaac was everything to Abraham.
Abraham would have said to Isaac, "All that I have is yours." So is
it true of our blessed Lord, whom He has made Heir of all things–
by whom also He made the worlds, that "it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell." What a dignity will be put upon
any of you who are married to Christ! To what a height of
eminence will you be uplifted by becoming one with Jesus!
O Preacher, what a work have you to do today, to find out those to
whom you shall give the bracelet and upon whose face you shall
hang the jewel! To whom shall I say, "Will you give your heart to
my Lord? Will you have Jesus to be your confidence, your
salvation, your All in All? Are you willing to become His that He
may be yours?" Said I not truly, that it was a joyful but a weighty
errand, when you think what she must be to whom his master's son
should be espoused? She must, at least be willing and beautiful. In
the day of God's power, hearts are made willing. There can be no
marriage to Jesus without a heart of love.
Where shall we find this willing heart? Only where the Grace of
God has worked it. Ah, then, I see how I may find beauty, too,
among the sons of men! Marred as our nature is by sin, only the
Holy Spirit can impart that beauty of holiness which will enable the
Lord Jesus to see comeliness in His chosen. Alas, in our hearts
there is an aversion to Christ and an unwillingness to accept Him
and at the same time a terrible unfitness and unworthiness! The
Spirit of God implants a love which is of heavenly origin and
renews the heart by a regeneration from above. And then we seek
to be one with Jesus, but not till then. See, then, how our errand
calls for the help of God, Himself.
Think what she will become who is to be married to Isaac? She is
to be his delight–his loving friend and companion. She is to be
partner of all his wealth. And specially is she to be a partaker in the
great Covenant Promise which was peculiarly entailed upon
Abraham and his family. When a sinner comes to Christ, what does
Christ make of him? His delight is in him–He communes with him.
He hears his prayer, He accepts his praise. He works in him and
with him and glorifies Himself in him. He makes the believing man
joint-heir with Himself of all that He has, and introduces him into
the Covenant treasure house, wherein the riches and glory of God
are stored up for His chosen.
Ah, dear Friends! It is a very small business in the esteem of
some to preach the Gospel. And yet, if God is with us, ours is more
than angels' service. In a humble way you are telling of Jesus to
your boys and girls in your classes. And some will despise you as
"only Sunday school teachers." But your work has a spiritual
weight about it unknown to conclaves of senators and absent from
the counsels of emperors. Upon what you say death and Hell and
worlds unknown are hanging. You are working out the destinies of
immortal spirits, turning souls from ruin to glory, from sin to
holiness–
"It is not a work of small import
Your loving care demands;
But what might fill an angel's heart,
And filled the Savior's hands."
In carrying out his commission this servant must spare no
exertion. It would be required of him to journey a great distance,
having a general indication of direction but not knowing the way.
He must have Divine guidance and protection. When he reached
the place he must exercise great common sense and at the same
time a trustful dependence upon the goodness and wisdom of God.
It would be a wonder of wonders if he ever met the chosen woman
and only the Lord could bring it to pass. By God's Grace, he had all
the care and the faith required.
We have read the story of how he journeyed and prayed and
pleaded. We should have cried, "Who is sufficient for these
things?" But we see that the Lord Jehovah made him sufficient and
his mission was happily carried out. How can we put ourselves into
the right position to get at sinners and win them for Jesus? How can
we learn to speak the right words? How shall we suit our teaching
to the condition of their hearts? How shall we adapt ourselves to
their feelings, their prejudices, their sorrows and their temptations?
Brethren, we who preach the Gospel continually may well cry, "If
Your Presence go not with me, carry us not up from this place." To
seek for pearls at the bottom of the sea is child's play compared
with seeking for souls in this wicked London. If God is not with us,
we may look our eyes out and wear our tongues away in vain. Only
as the Almighty God shall lead, and guide, and influence, and
inspire, can we perform our solemn trust. Only by Divine help shall
we joyfully come back, bringing with us the chosen of the Lord.
We are the Bridegroom's friends and we rejoice greatly in His joy.
But we sigh and cry till we have found the chosen hearts in whom
He will delight, whom He shall raise to sit with Him upon His
Throne.
II. Secondly, I would have you CONSIDER THE
REASONABLE FEAR WHICH IS MENTIONED. Abraham's
servant said, "Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me
unto this land." This is a very serious, grave and common
difficulty. If the woman is not willing, nothing can be done. Force
and fraud are out of the question. There must be a true will or there
can be no marriage in this instance. Here was the difficulty–here
was a will to be dealt with.
Ah, my Brethren! This is our difficulty still. Let me describe this
difficulty in detail as it appeared to the servant and appears to us.
She may not believe my report, or be impressed by it. When I come
to her and tell her that I am sent by Abraham, she may look me in
the face and say, "There are many deceivers nowadays." If I tell her
that my master's son is surpassingly beautiful and rich and that he
would gladly take her to himself, she may answer, "Strange tales
and romances are common in these days. But the prudent do not
quit their homes."
Brethren, in our case this is a sad fact. The great evangelical
Prophet cried of old, "Who has believed our report?" We also cry in
the same words. Men care not for the report of God's great love to
the rebellious sons of men. They do not believe that the infinitely
glorious Lord is seeking the love of poor, insignificant man–and to
win it has laid down His life. Calvary, with its wealth of mercy,
grief, love and merit, is disregarded. Indeed, we tell a wonderful
story, and it may well seem too good to be true. But it is sad,
indeed that, the multitude of men go their ways after trifles and
count these grand realities to be but dreams.
I am bowed down with dismay that my Lord's great love, which
led Him even to die for men, should hardly be thought worthy of
your hearing, much less of your believing. Here is a heavenly
marriage and right royal nuptials placed within your reach. But
with a sneer you turn aside and prefer the witcheries of sin.
There was another difficulty–she was expected to feel a love to
one she had never seen. She had only newly heard that there was
such a person as Isaac but yet she must love him enough to leave
her kindred and go to a distant land. This could only be because she
recognized the will of Jehovah in the matter. Ah, my dear Hearers!
All that we tell you is concerning things not seen as yet. And here
is our difficulty. You have eyes and you want to see everything.
You have hands and you want to handle everything. But there is
One whom you cannot see as yet, who has won our love because of
what we believe concerning Him. We can truly say of Him,
"Whom having not seen, we love: in whom, though now we see
Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of
glory."
I know that you answer our request thus–"You demand too much
of us when you ask us to love a Christ we have never seen." I can
only answer, "It is even so: we do ask more of you than we expect
to receive." Unless God the Holy Spirit shall work a miracle of
Divine Grace upon your hearts you will not be persuaded by us to
quit your old associations and join yourselves to our Beloved Lord.
And yet, if you did come to Him and love Him, He would more
than content you. For you would find in Him rest unto your souls
and a peace which passes all understanding.
Abraham's servant may have thought–"She may refuse to make
so great a change as to quit Mesopotamia for Canaan. She had been
born and bred away there in a settled country and all her
associations were with her father's house. And to marry Isaac she
must tear herself away." So, too, you cannot have Jesus and have
the world, too–you must break with sin to be joined to Jesus. You
must come away from the licentious world, the fashionable world,
the scientific world and from the (socalled) religious world. If you
become a Christian, you must quit old habits, old motives, old
ambitions, old pleasures, old boasts, old modes of thought. All
things must become new.
You must leave the things you have loved and seek many of those
things which you have up to now despised. There must come to
you as great a change as if you had died and were made over again.
You answer, "Must I endure all this for One whom I have never
seen and for an inheritance on which I have never set my foot?" It
is even so. Although I am grieved that you turn away, I am not in
the least surprised, for it is not given to many to see Him who is
invisible, or to choose the strait and narrow way which leads unto
life. The man or woman who will follow God's messenger to be
married to so strange a Bridegroom is a rare bird, indeed.
Moreover, it might be a great difficulty to Rebekah, if she had had
any difficulties at all, to think that she must henceforth lead a
pilgrim life. She would quit house and farm for tent and gypsy life.
Abraham and Isaac found no city to dwell in but wandered from
place to place, dwelling alone, sojourners with God. Their outward
mode of life was typical of the way of faith by which men live in
the world and are not of it. To all intents and purposes Abraham
and Isaac were out of the world and lived on its surface without
lasting connection with it. They were the Lord's men and the Lord
was their possession. He set Himself apart for them and they were
set apart for Him.
Rebekah might well have said, "That will never do for me. I
cannot outlaw myself. I cannot quit the comforts of a settled abode
to ramble over the fields wherever the flocks may require me to
roam." It does not strike the most of mankind that it would be a
good thing to be in the world and yet not to be of it. They are not
strangers in the world–they long to be admitted more fully into its
"society." They are not aliens here with their treasures in Heaven–
they long to have a good round sum on earth and find their Heaven
in enjoying it themselves and enriching their families. Earthworms
as they are, the earth contents them.
If any man becomes unworldly and makes spiritual things his one
object, he is despised as a dreamy enthusiast. Many men think that
the things of religion are merely meant to be read of and to be
preached about–but to live for them would be to spend a dreamy,
unpractical existence. Yet the spiritual is, after all, the only real–the
material is in deepest truth the visionary and unsubstantial. Still,
when people turn away because of the hardness of holy warfare and
the spirituality of the believing life we are not astonished, for we
hardly hoped it could be otherwise. Unless the Lord renews the
heart, men will always prefer the bird-in-the-hand of this life to the
bird-in-the-bush of the life to come.
Moreover, it might be that the woman might not care for the
Covenant of Promise. If she had no regard for Jehovah and His
revealed will, she was not likely to go with the man and enter upon
marriage with Isaac. He was the Heir of the Promises, the inheritor
of the Covenant privileges which the Lord by oath had promised.
His chosen would become the mother of that chosen seed in whom
God had ordained to bless the world throughout all the ages, even
the Messiah, the Seed of the woman, who should bruise the
serpent's head.
Perhaps the woman might not see the value of the Covenant, nor
appreciate the glory of the Promise. The things we have to preach
of–such as life everlasting, union with Christ, resurrection from the
dead, reigning with Him forever and ever–seem to the dull hearts
of men to be as idle tales. Tell them of a high interest for their
money, of large estates to be had for a venture, or of honors to be
readily gained and inventions to be found out–they open all their
eyes and their ears, for here is something worth knowing.
But the things of God–eternal, immortal, boundless–these are of
no importance to them. They could not be induced to go from Ur to
Canaan for such trifles as eternal life and Heaven and God. So you
see our difficulty. Many disbelieve altogether and others quibble
and object. A greater number will not even listen to our story. And
of those who do listen, most are careless and others dally with it
and postpone the serious consideration. Alas, we speak to unwilling
ears.
III. In the third place, I would ENLARGE UPON HIS VERY
NATURAL SUGGESTION. This prudent steward said, "Perhaps
the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Must I
bring your son again unto the land from where you came?" If she
will not come to Isaac, shall Isaac go down to her? This is the
suggestion of the present hour–if the world will not come to Jesus,
shall Jesus tone down His teachings to the world? In other words, if
the world will not rise to the Church, shall not the Church go down
to the world? Instead of bidding men to be converted and come out
from among sinners and be separate from them, let us join with the
ungodly world, enter into union with it and so pervade it with our
influence by allowing it to influence us.
Let us have a Christian world. To this end let us revise our
doctrines. Some are old-fashioned, grim, severe, unpopular. Let us
drop them. Use the old phrases so as to please the obstinately
orthodox but give them new meanings so as to win philosophical
infidels who are prowling around. Pare off the edges of the
unpleasant Truths of God, moderate the dogmatic tone of infallible
Revelation–say that Abraham and Moses made mistakes and that
the books which have been so long in reverence are full of errors.
Undermine the old faith and bring in the new doubt. For the times
are altered and the spirit of the age suggests the abandonment of
everything that is too severely righteous and too surely of God.
The deceitful adulteration of doctrine is attended by a falsification
of experience. Men are now told that they were born good, or were
made so by their infant Baptism and so that great sentence, "You
must be born again," is deprived of its force. Repentance is
ignored, faith is a drug in the market as compared with "honest
doubt," and mourning for sin and communion with God are
dispensed with to make way for entertainments, and Socialism and
politics of varying shades. A new creature in Christ Jesus is looked
upon as a sour invention of bigoted Puritans. It is true, with the
same breath they extol Oliver Cromwell.
But then 1888 is not 1648. What was good and great two hundred
years ago is mere cant today. That is what "modern thought" is
telling us. And under its guidance all religion is being toned down.
Spiritual religion is despised and a fashionable morality is set up in
its place. Do yourself up tidily on Sunday–behave yourself. And
above all, believe everything except what you read in the Bible and
you will be all right. Be fashionable and think with those who
profess to be scientific–this is the first and great commandment of
the modern school. And the second is like unto it–do not be
singular, but be as worldly as your neighbors. Thus is Isaac going
down into Padanaram–thus is the Church going down to the world.
Men seem to say–It is of no use going on in the old way, fetching
out one here and another there from the great mass. We want a
quicker way. To wait till people are born again and become
followers of Christ is a long process–let us abolish the separation
between the regenerate and unregenerate. Come into the Church,
all of you, converted or unconverted. You have good wishes and
good resolutions. That will do–don't trouble about more. It is true
you do not believe the Gospel but neither do we. You believe
something or other. Come along. If you do not believe anything, no
matter. Your "honest doubt" is better by far than faith.
"But," you say, "nobody talks so." Possibly they do not use the
same words but this is the real meaning of the present-day religion.
This is the drift of the times. I can justify the broadest statement I
have made by the action or by the speech of certain ministers who
are treacherously betraying our holy religion under pretense of
adapting it to this progressive age. The new plan is to assimilate the
Church to the world and so include a larger area within its bounds.
By semi-dramatic performances they make Houses of Prayer to
approximate to the theater. They turn their services into musical
displays, and their sermons into political harangues or
philosophical essays–in fact, they exchange the temple for the
theater and turn the ministers of God into actors, whose business it
is to amuse men.
Is it not so, that the Lord's Day is becoming more and more a day
of recreation or of idleness, and the Lord's House either a house
full of idols, or a political club, where there is more enthusiasm for
a party than zeal for God? Ah me, the hedges are broken down, the
walls are leveled and to many there is henceforth no Church except
as a portion of the world, no God except as an unknowable force by
which the laws of nature work. This, then, is the proposal. In order
to win the world, the Lord Jesus must conform Himself, His people
and His Word to the world. I will not dwell any longer on so
loathsome a proposal.
IV. In the fourth place, NOTICE HIS MASTER'S OUTSPOKEN,
BELIEVING REPUDIATION OF THE PROPOSAL. He says,
shortly and sharply, "Beware you that you bring not my son there
again." The Lord Jesus Christ heads that grand emigration party
which has come right out from the world. Addressing His disciples,
He says, "You are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."
We are not of the world by birth, not of the world in life, not of the
world in object, not of the world in spirit, not of the world in any
respect whatever. Jesus and those who are in Him constitute a new
race. The proposal to go back to the world is abhorrent to our best
instincts–yes, deadly to our noblest life.
A voice from Heaven cries, "Bring not My Son there again." Let
not the people whom the Lord brought up out of Egypt return to the
house of bondage. But let their children come out and be separate
and the Lord Jehovah will be a Father unto them. Notice how
Abraham states the question. In effect, he argues it thus–this would
be to forego the Divine order. "For," says Abraham, "the Lord God
of Heaven took me from my father's house and from the land of
my kindred." What, then, if he brought Abraham out, is Isaac to
return? This cannot be. Up to now the way of God with His Church
has been to sever a people from the world to be His elect–a people
formed for Himself who shall show forth His praise.
Beloved, God's plan is not altered. He will still go on calling
those whom He did predestinate. Do not let us fly in the teeth of
that fact and suppose that we can save men on a more wholesale
scale by ignoring the distinction between the dead in sin and the
living in Zion. If God had meant to bless the family at Padanaram
by letting His chosen ones dwell among them, why did He call
Abraham out at all? If Isaac may do good by dwelling there, why
did Abraham leave? If there is no need of a separate Church now,
what have we been at throughout all these ages? Has the martyr's
blood been shed out of mere folly? Have confessors and reformers
been mad when contending for doctrines which, it would seem, are
of no great account?
Brethren, there are two seeds–the seed of the woman and the seed
of the serpent–and the difference will be maintained even to the
end–neither must we ignore the distinction to please men. For Isaac
to go down to Nahor's house for a wife would be placing God
second to a wife. Abraham begins at once with a reference to
Jehovah, "the God of Heaven." For Jehovah was everything to him
and to Isaac, also. Isaac would never renounce his walk with the
living God that he might find a wife. Yet this apostasy is common
enough nowadays. Men and women who profess godliness will
quit what they profess to believe in order to get richer wives or
husbands for themselves or their children.
This mercenary conduct is without excuse. "Better society" is the
cry–meaning more wealth and fashion. To the true man God is
first–yes, All in All. But God is placed at the end and everything
else is put before Him by the base professor. In the name of God I
call upon you who are faithful to God and to His Truth to stand
fast. Whatever you may lose, turn not aside. Whatever you might
gain, count the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the
treasures of Egypt. We want Abraham's spirit within us and we
shall have that when we have Abraham's faith.
Abraham felt that this would be to renounce the Covenant
Promise. See how he puts it–"The God that took me from my
father's house swore unto me, saying, Unto your seed will I give
this land." Are they, then, to leave the land and go back to the place
from which the Lord had called them? Brethren, we also are heirs
of the Promise of things not seen as yet. For the sake of this we
walk by faith and hence we become separate from those around us.
We dwell among men as Abraham dwelt among the Canaanites–but
we are of a distinct race–we are born with a new birth, live under
different laws and act from different motives.
If we go back to the ways of worldlings and are numbered with
them, we have renounced the Covenant of our God, the Promise is
no longer ours and the eternal heritage is in other hands. Do you
not know this? The moment the Church says, "I will be as the
world," she has doomed herself with the world. When the sons of
God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and took them
wives of all which they chose, then the flood came and swept them
all away. So will it again happen should the world take the Church
into its arms–then shall come some overwhelming judgment and, it
may be, a deluge of devouring fire.
The Covenant Promise and the Covenant heritage are no longer
ours if we go down to the world and quit our sojourning with the
Lord. Besides, dear Friends, no good can come of trying to
conform to the world. Suppose the servant's policy could have been
adopted and Isaac had gone down to Nahor's house, what would
have been the motive? To spare Rebekah the pain of separating
from her friends and the trouble of traveling. If those things could
have kept her back, what would she have been worth to Isaac? The
test of separation was wholesome and by no means ought it to be
omitted. She is a poor wife who would not take a journey to reach
her husband.
And all the converts that the Church will ever make by softening
down its doctrine and by becoming worldly will not be worth one
bad farthing a gross. When we get them, the next question will be,
"How can we get rid of them?" They would be of no earthly use to
us. It swelled the number of Israelites when they came out of Egypt
that a great number of the lower order of Egyptians came out with
them. Yes, but that mixed multitude became the plague of Israel in
the wilderness and we read that "the mixed multitude fell a
lusting." The Israelites were bad enough but it was the mixed
multitude that always led the way in murmuring.
Why is there such spiritual death today? Why is false doctrine so
rampant in the Churches? It is because we have ungodly people in
the Church and in the ministry. Eagerness for numbers and
especially eagerness to include respectable people has adulterated
many Churches, and made them lax in doctrine and practice and
fond of silly amusements. These are the people who despise a
Prayer Meeting but rush to see "living waxworks" in their
schoolrooms. God save us from converts who are made by
lowering the standard and tarnishing the spiritual glory of the
Church! No, no! If Isaac is to have a wife worthy of him, she will
come away from Laban and the rest and she will not mind a
journey on camel-back. True converts are never daunted by Truth
or holiness–these, in fact, are the things which charm them.
Besides, Abraham felt that there could be no reason for taking
Isaac down there, for the Lord would assuredly find him a wife.
Abraham said, "He shall send His angel before you and you shall
take a wife unto my son from there." Are you afraid that preaching
the Gospel will not win souls? Are you despondent as to success in
God's way? Is this why you pine for clever oratory? Is this why
you must have music and architecture and flowers and millinery?
After all, is it by might and by power and not by the Spirit of God?
It is even so in the opinion of many.
Beloved Brethren, there are many things which I might allow to
other worshippers which I have denied myself in conducting the
worship of this congregation. I have long worked out before your
very eyes the experiment of the unaided attractiveness of the
Gospel of Jesus. Our service is severely plain. No man ever comes
here to gratify his eyes with art, or his ears with music. I have set
before you, these many years, nothing but Christ crucified and the
simplicity of the Gospel. Yet where will you find such a crowd as
this gathered together this morning? Where will you find such a
multitude as this meeting, Sabbath after Sabbath, for five-and-thirty
years?
I have shown you nothing but the Cross, the Cross without the
flowers of oratory. The Cross without the blue lights of superstition
or excitement. The Cross without diamonds of ecclesiastical rank.
The Cross without the buttresses of a boastful science. The Cross is
abundantly sufficient to attract men first to itself and afterwards to
eternal life! In this house we have proved successfully, these many
years, this great Truth of God–the Gospel plainly preached will
gain an audience, convert sinners and build up and sustain a
Church. We beseech the people of God to mark that there is no
need to try doubtful expedients and questionable methods. God will
save by the Gospel, still–only let it be the Gospel in its purity.
This grand old sword will cleave a man's spine and split a rock in
half. How is it that it does so little of its old conquering work? I
will tell you. Do you see this scabbard of artistic work, so
wonderfully elaborated? Full many keep the sword in this scabbard
and therefore its edge never gets to its work. Pull off that scabbard.
Fling that fine sheath to Hades and then see how, in the Lord's
hands, that glorious two-handed sword will mow down fields of
men as mowers level the grass with their scythes. There is no need
to go down to Egypt for help. To invite the devil to help Christ is
shameful. Please God, we shall see prosperity yet, when the Church
of God is resolved never to seek it except in God's own way.
And now, fifthly, observe HIS RIGHTEOUS ABSOLUTION OF
HIS SERVANT. "If the woman will not be willing to follow you,
then you shall be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son
there again."
When we lie dying, if we have faithfully preached the Gospel, our
conscience will not accuse us for having kept closely to it–we shall
not mourn that we did not play the fool or the politician in order to
increase our congregation. Oh, no! Our Master will give us full
absolution, even if few are gathered in so long as we have been true
to Him. "If the woman will not be willing to follow you, then you
shall be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son there
again." Do not try the dodges which debase religion. Keep to the
simple Gospel. And if the people are not converted by it, you will
be clear.
My dear Hearers, how much I long to see you saved! But I would
not belie my Lord, even to win your souls, if they could be so won.
The true servant of God is responsible for diligence and
faithfulness. But he is not responsible for success or nonsuccess.
Results are in God's hands. If that dear child in your class is not
converted, yet if you have set before him the Gospel of Jesus Christ
with loving, prayerful earnestness, you shall not be without your
reward. If I preach from my very soul the grand Truth of God that
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will save my hearers–and if I
persuade and entreat them to believe in Jesus unto eternal life–if
they will not do so, their blood will lie upon their own heads.
When I go back to my Master, if I have faithfully told His
message of Free Grace and dying love, I shall be clear. I have often
prayed that I might be able to say at the last what George Fox could
so truly say–"I am clear, I am clear!" It is my highest ambition to
be clear of the blood of all men. I have preached God's Truth so far
as I know it and I have not been ashamed of its peculiarities. That I
might not stultify my testimony I have cut myself clear of those
who err from the faith and even from those who associate with
them. What more can I do to be honest with you? If, after all, men
will not have Christ and His Gospel and His rule, it is their own
concern.
If Rebekah had not come to Isaac she would have lost her place in
the holy line. My Beloved Hearer, will you have Jesus Christ or
not? He has come into the world to save sinners and He casts out
none. Will you accept Him? Will you trust Him? "He that believes
and is baptized shall be saved." Will you believe Him? Will you be
baptized into His name? If so, salvation is yours. But if not, He
Himself has said it, "He that believes not shall be damned."
Oh, do not expose yourselves to that damnation! Or, if you are set
upon it–when the Great White Throne shall be seen in yonder skies
and the Day of Wrath has come–do me the justice to acknowledge
that I begged you flee to Jesus and that I did not amuse you with
novel theories. I have brought neither flute, harp, trombone,
psaltery, dulcimer, nor any other kind of music to please your ears.
I have set Christ crucified before you and bid you believe and live.
If you refuse to accept the substitution of Christ you have refused
your own mercies. Clear me in that day of all complicity with the
novel inventions of deluded men. As for my Lord, I pray He grant
me grace to be faithful to the end, both to His Truth and to your
souls. Amen.
Portion of Scripture Read Before Sermon–Genesis 24.
HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–166, 928, 884.
Ge 24:49 • An Urgent Request for an Immediate Answer
ERMON 2231
An Urgent Request For An Immediate Answer
"And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell
me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the
left."
Genesis 24:49
THE chapter from which the text is taken bristles with points.
There is a remarkable parallel between Eliezer seeking a wife for
Isaac and the ministers of Christ seeking souls for Jesus. It is
something more than an allegory. It is really a very instructive
parable of how we are to deal for our Master with the souls of men
and women. For as truly as Abraham sent his servant to seek a
bride for his son, we are commissioned to search for those who
shall be brought into the Church, and at last, as the bride of Christ,
sit down at the marriage feast in the Glory Land above!
You will notice how Eliezer prayed all along the way. He had no
doubt in his mind as to whether God interfered in human affairs,
but boldly and simply sought to know His will. Then, having
presented his petition, we find him in quiet confidence holding his
peace, "to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous
or not." And when success crowned his efforts, he was forward to
acknowledge that the speedy fulfillment of his objective was in
answer to his supplication. It was the guidance of God and not his
own acuteness or wisdom, which led to such a favorable issue.
Thus it is also with every true minister of the New Testament. Oh,
if we do not pray for you, my dear Hearers, our preaching to you
will be hypocrisy! We shall never speak to men for God with any
power of persuasion unless, first, we speak to God for men with
power of supplication! Not without many a prayer and many a
heaving of my heart in sighs have I come here to speak to you
tonight. I believe that I am sent to find out some appointed for
Christ in the Divine purpose and Covenant and I pray my Master
that there may be many such!
While this trusty servant thus prayed to his master's God, see how
loyal he was to his master. He evidently realized that he was not on
his own errand, but was the chosen instrument to do his lord's will.
The phrase, "my master," is the refrain of this chapter. The word,
"master," occurs 22 times. Eliezer did not aspire to any
independence of Abraham, or of Abraham's son. His thoughts were
of his master–his words were in praise of his master–his deeds on
behalf of his master. He was not his own, but the bond-servant of
another. This is also our position. Woe to the minister who loses
sight of the true relationship between himself and his Lord, or who
begins to think of serving his own interests rather than that of Him
who called and sent him! My Brothers and Sisters, we are not our
own, but the slaves of Christ! May our hearts be always kept loyal
to Him! May our lips constantly speak His praise! May our lives
always witness to our devotion to our Lord! Nothing we have is our
own–all is His–and His absolute ownership of us and ours is our
highest delight!
George Herbert speaks of the "Oriental fragrance" which dwells
in the words, "My Master." It is, indeed, a name full of sweet savor
and holy gladness. Even here it is Heaven to serve Him! But what
will it be to see His face, when His bride is brought safely home?–
"O Jesus, You have promised
To all who follow Thee
That where You are in Glory,
There shall Your servant be!
And Jesus, I have promised
To serve You to the end.
Oh, give me Grace to follow,
My Master and my Friend."
See how alert Eliezer was to seize the opportunity of obeying his
master's orders. His love to Abraham made him quick to carry out
the commission with which he was charged. When Rebekah came
to the well, he began the conversation in the same way as the Lord
Jesus, long afterwards, at Jacob's well, began to talk to the woman
of Samaria. He asked her to give him a drink. The two scenes by
the well might almost form companion pictures. Then he very
skillfully found out her name and was invited to her father's house
as a guest. I always feel a special joy when I hear of the visit of a
servant of God to a house being the means of winning some
member of the household for his Master! We should always aim to
make our visits a blessing to those with whom we visit. It speaks
much for the consistent life of the man who is enabled to do so. If
we realize that we are always on our Master's service, we shall
bear a good testimony before those with whom we come in contact,
making it quite clear that we watch for souls as those that must give
account–that we may do it with joy–and not with grief.
One other thing in this man is noteworthy. He meant business and
went with unerring aim straight to the mark. He had not many
purposes, but only one. He did not go there for anything else but to
find a wife for Isaac. And when he got into pretty comfortable
quarters and had been called, by Laban, "the blessed of the Lord,"
he was not satisfied. He meant business and would not even eat the
meat set before him until he had explained his errand. Like every
true servant of Christ, he put his Master's business before his own
ease or comfort–even before the question of necessary food. When
a man begins to think more of his eating than of doing the will of
God, he ceases to be a true-hearted minister! Let us imitate the
thoroughness of Abraham's servant in this matter. He told Bethuel
and Laban what he came for and, before he finished his address, he
turned to them and said distinctly, "Now, what answer do you mean
to give to my master's message? I cannot be kept in suspense. If
you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not,
tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left."
Notice, first, that HE STATED HIS CASE. You must not expect
men to come to a decision upon a matter which has not been laid
before them. Our good young Brother who goes into the pulpit and
cries, "Believe, believe," but does not tell his hearers what is to be
believed, has not accomplished much! You cannot ask people to
buy if you have no goods to show them. But Eliezer opened his
pack, exposed his wares and sought, at once, to do business on his
master's account. What did he say to his interested listeners?
To begin with, he told them that his master was great and gave