Part 42
reason why they looked one upon another was this. At first one
looked at the other as much as to say, "Haven't you some to spare?
Couldn't you give me some for my family?" Perhaps Dan appealed
to Simeon, "Haven't you some? My child is starving this day. Can
you help me?" Another might look at Judah. And perhaps they
might fancy that Benjamin, the favorite, would surely have some
morsel stored up. So they looked one to another. But soon, alas,
The look of hope changed into the look of despair. They were quite
certain that the necessities of each house had been so great, that no
one could help the other. They had all come to poverty. And how
can beggars help each other–when all are penniless?
And then they began to look upon one another in despair. In
speechless silence they resigned themselves to the woe which
threatened to overwhelm them. Such is the sinner's condition when
first he begins to feel a hungering and thirsting after righteousness–
he looks to others. He thinks, "Surely the minister can help me, the
priest may assist me." "Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone
out." But after awhile he discovers that the state of all men is the
same, that all are without grace, that "none can save his brother, or
give to God a ransom for him." And apart from Christ we, my dear
Friends, this morning might look one on another, aghast and in
despair–might try the wide world over and say, "Where is salvation
to be found?" Oh, if it lay in the very center of the earth we could
dig through the rocks and into the very bowels of the earth to find
it. If it were in Heaven, we would seek to scale it with some Babel
tower, that we might reach the blessing. If we had to walk through
fire to gain it, we should gladly accept the burning pilgrimage. Or
if we had to walk through the depths of the sea, we should be
content to let all its billows roll over us–if we might find it.
If every man had to say to his fellow "there is no hope for us, we
have all been condemned, we have all been guilty, we can do
nothing to appease the Most High," what a wretched world were
ours, if we were equally convinced of sin and equally convinced
that there was no hope of mercy! This, then, was the condition of
Jacob's sons temporally and it is our condition by nature spiritually.
We are in a land of famine. We have nothing of our own. We are
hungering, we are dying of hunger and our case seems totally
hopeless, for on earth there is nothing to be found to satisfy the
raving hunger of the soul.
II. Now we come, in the second place, to the GOOD NEWS.
Jacob had faith and the ears of faith are always quiet. Faith can
hear the tread of mercy, though the footfall be as light as that of the
angel among the flowers. Though mercy should be a thousand
leagues away and its journey should occupy ten thousand years, yet
faith could hear its footsteps, for it is quick of ear and quick of eye.
No, more–if God should give a promise which should never be
fulfilled till the old rolling skies were dissolved, faith would look
through all the generations, along the vista of the centuries and see
the spirit of promise afar off and rejoice therein.
Jacob had the ears of faith. He had been at prayer, I doubt not,
asking God to deliver his family in the time of famine. And by-and-
by he hears, first of his household, that there is corn in Egypt. Do
you see the gathering? The venerable Patriarch sits in the tent. His
sons come to pay him their morning obeisance. There is despair in
their faces, they bring their little children with them. All that the
Patriarch has he gives. But this morning he adds good news to his
benediction, he says to them, "There is corn in Egypt." Can you
conceive how their hearts leaped? He scarcely needs to add, "Get
you down there and buy for us from there, that we may live and not
die." Jacob heard the good news and communicated it as speedily
as possible to his descendants.
Now, we also have heard the good news. Good news has been
sent to us in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. "There is corn in
Egypt." We need not die. There is salvation with God. We need not
perish–there is mercy in the Most High. We need not think that we
must necessarily be lost. There is a way of salvation. There is a
hope of escape–do we not receive the tidings in joy? Do not our
hearts rejoice within us at the thought that we are not hopelessly
condemned, but that the Lord may yet have mercy upon us? Now,
we have better news than even Jacob had–although the news is
similar, understanding it in a spiritual sense.
First, we are told today by sure and certain witnesses, that there is
corn in Egypt, there is mercy in God. Jacob's messenger might
have deceived him–idle tales are told everywhere and in days of
famine men are very apt to tell a falsehood, thinking that to be true
which they wish were so. The hungry man is apt to hope that there
may be corn somewhere. And then he thinks there is. And then he
says there is. And then, what begins with a wish comes to be a
rumor and a report. But this day, my Friends, it is no idle talk–no
dream, no rumor of a deceiver. There is mercy with God, there is
salvation with Him, that He may be feared. The fountain is filled to
the brim. The granaries are full of the good old corn of the
kingdom. There is no reason why we should perish. By sure
infallible and certain witness, we are told upon the very oath of
God Himself that there is salvation for the sons of men. But Jacob
did not know how much corn there was in Egypt. He said there was
corn, but he did not know how much.
Now, today, we are something like Jacob. There is mercy with
God. We do not know, any of us, how much. "Oh," says one sinner,
"I am such a hungry soul, that all the granaries of Egypt would not
be enough for me." Ah, but, poor Soul, God is all that you could
want, even though you should want an infinite supply. The sixty-six
in the family of Jacob would make a heavy draw upon the granaries
of any nation. But yet, so abundant were the storehouses in every
city, that we do not read that Joseph missed all that he gave them.
So it is with you. Your necessities are immense, but nothing equal
to the supply. Your soul requires great mercy, but you will no more
exhaust the mercy of God than the taking a cup full of water out of
the sea would exhaust its fullness. High above the summits of your
mountain-sins the stars of Grace are shining.
There is another thing in which we have better than Jacob. Jacob
knew there was corn in Egypt, but did not know who had the
keeping of it. If he had known that, he would have said, "My sons,
go down at once to Egypt, do not be at all afraid, your brother is
lord of Egypt and all the corn belongs to him." No, more–I can
readily imagine that he would have gone himself, at once. And
Simeon and the rest, though they might feel a little abashed, when
they thought of the unkindness that they had shown to their
brother–when they began to feel a little hungry, if they had known
all about Joseph–they would have said, "We need not fear to go and
submit ourselves to him, for we know he has a gracious and loving
heart and would never let his poor brethren die of hunger."
Sinner, the mercies of God are under no lock and key except
those over which Christ has the power. The granaries of Heaven's
mercy have no steward to keep them except Christ. He is exalted
on high to give repentance and remission of sins. And the keys of
grace are swinging at the girdle of your own Brother. He who died
for you, He who loved you so much, that He loved you better than
He did Himself–He has the keys of grace and will you fear to go?
Will you tremble to go to these rich stores of mercy when they are
in the hands of a loving, tender and ever-gracious Lord? No, this is
good news, that all the grace is in the hands of Jesus.
There is yet another thing which the sons of Jacob knew nothing
of. When they went to Egypt, they went haphazardly. If they knew
there was corn, they were not sure they would get it. But when you
and I go to Christ, we are invited guests. Suppose now you should
have it in your heart to invite some of the most ragged people of
London to your house. You give to each of them an invitation and
they come to the door. Perhaps they are half ashamed to come in
and want to steal round the back way. But if they should meet you,
they are not at all abashed. They say, "Sir, I was not afraid to come,
because you sent me an invitation. If it had not been for that,
although I might have known your generosity, although I might
have known you could afford to help me, I should not have dared to
come if you had not sent me an invitation."
Now Joseph sent no invitation to his brothers. But Jesus has sent
an invitation to you. To each of you who are perishing sinners He
has said, "Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of
life freely." He has said Himself, "Him that comes unto Me I will
in no wise cast out." He has sent His messengers and bids them cry,
"Ho, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters and he that has no
money, come, buy and eat, yes, come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price." Now, Sinner, you need never be afraid
to go where you are invited. Christ Jesus invites. He invites the
hungry, He invites the weary. Such are you–both hungry and weary.
He invites the heavy laden–such are you. Come and welcome, then.
You need not go on haphazardly, you have the invitation and the
promise. Why do you look, then, at one another? Arise and come to
Christ. Arise and come to His Cross. May He now prove in you His
power to save!
But one other remark and I will have done with this second point.
The sons of Jacob were in one respect better off than you are,
apparently, for they had money with which to buy. Jacob was not a
poor man in respect of wealth, although he had now become
exceedingly poor from lack of bread. His sons had money to take
with them. Glittering bars of gold they thought must surely attract
the notice of the ruler of Egypt. You have no money, nothing to
bring to Christ, nothing to offer Him. You offered Him something
once, but He rejected all you offered Him as being spurious coin,
imitations, counterfeits and good for nothing. And now utterly
stripped, hopeless, penniless, you say you are afraid to go to Christ
because you have nothing of your own.
Let me assure you that you are never in so fit a condition to go to
Christ as when you have nowhere else to go and have nothing of
your own. But you reply, "I should like at least to feel my need
more." That would be something of your own–you must go to
Christ with nothing. "But I wish I could believe more." That would
be something of your own. You want to get your own faith to bring
to Christ. No, you must go to Christ just as you are. "But Sir, I
must reform myself before I can believe that Christ will have
mercy upon me." Your fancied reformation would unfit you for
Grace, rather than prepare you for it. Reformation before grace is
frequently a step backward instead of forward. That reformation
may confirm you in self-righteousness, but it cannot bring you to
Christ. Go as you are.
At a hospital, the best recommendation is sickness. He that is a
little sick needs some help to get him there, but let me be run over
in the street and be near to death and I need nothing to recommend
me to the hospital–open flies the door and I am taken in directly. So
a condition of your lost and ruined state is the only
recommendation you need in going to Christ. Just now a lot of
people want to bestow their charity and they do not know how to
get at the lowest class of the poor. They want to lay hold of those
whose beds are made of straw. They desire to gain knowledge of
those low lodgingplaces of the very poor, which are worse than the
places that beasts inhabit. These are the men they want to find. And
the greater the poverty the more recommendation. So in your case.
Your woes plead with God. Your wants, your misery, your
helplessness, your ill-deserts–these are the orators that move the
heart of God towards you–but nothing else. Come just as you are,
with nothing in your hand, to Jesus Christ, who is Lord over the
land of mercy and will not send you away empty.
III. Thus I have noticed the good news as well as the pitiful
plight. I come now to the third part, which is GOOD ADVICE.
Jacob asks, "Why do you look one upon another?" And he said,
"Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Get down there
and buy for us from there, that we may live and not die." This is
very practical advice. I wish people would act the same with
religion as they do in temporal affairs. Jacob's sons did not say,
"Well, that is very good news. I believe it," and then sit still and
die. No, they went straightway to the place of which the good news
told them corn was to be had. So should it be in matters of religion.
We should not be content merely to hear the tidings, but we should
never be satisfied until by Divine Grace we have availed ourselves
of them and have found mercy in Christ.
Some ministers do, in fact, tell poor awakened sinners to be
inactive. They say to them something like this–"You must wait,
you must wait till Christ comes to you." They will even dissuade
the woman who had an issue of blood, from pushing through the
crowd to lay hold upon the hem of the Redeemer's garment. They
would bid the man who is crying aloud by the wayside to hold his
tongue–to sit still quietly till Christ should turn and look upon him.
They cannot endure that Christ Jesus should invite men to his feast,
much less that the servants of the Lord should endeavor to compel
them to come in. They excuse the sinner and even dare to teach that
the rejection of Christ by the sinner is no sin at all.
Now, as in the sight of God, I do fear such men are guilty of the
blood of souls. I would not stand in the position of a man who talks
like that for all the stars thrice reckoned up in gold. I cannot
understand that. I cannot understand that when my Master said,
"Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which
endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto
you, for Him has God the Father sealed," that I am to tell a sinner
to sit still. When the angel said, "Escape for your life. Look not
behind you. Stay not in all the plain–but flee to the mountain, lest
you are consumed," am I to go to Sodom and say to Lot, "Stop here
till the Lord brings you out?" Why, we know for a face, that
salvation is the Lord's work and the Lord's work alone.
But we equally know for a fact, that when the Lord works, He
sets us to work. When He works in our soul, the Lord does not
believe. He has nothing to believe, He makes us believe. When the
Lord works repentance, He does not repent–what has He to repent
of? He makes us repent. The Lord brought Lot out of Sodom, but
did not Lot use his own legs to run to the mountain? And so it must
be with us. Christ does all, but He makes us the instruments. He
tells us to stretch out our own withered hand and yet we do not
stretch forth that withered hand of ourselves. He tells us to do it
and we do it through His strength.
Tell a sinner to sit still? What does Hell desire more than that?
Tell a sinner to wait–would not Satan approve of such a ministry?
And does he not approve of it? Ah, my Brothers and Sisters, he that
loves his Master, he that loves the Gospel, he that loves men's souls
cannot preach such untruthful and unchristian doctrine. He feels
that the humanity within him is much more than grace within him,
revolts against a thing so barbarous and so inhuman as that. No,
when we preach to the sinner, we must say to him, "You know your
need, you feel that you cannot be saved except through mercy in
Christ. Look to Him, believe on Him, seek Him and you shall find
Him."
But I have heard it said, that if a sinner seeks Christ without
Christ seeking Him he will perish. Now what an absurd thing for
anybody to say. Because, did a sinner, or could a sinner ever seek
Christ without Christ seeking him? I never like to suppose an
impossibility and then draw an inference from it. "Suppose," said
one, I know of–"a sinner should come to Christ without Christ
coming to him, he would be lost." Well, that is very clear, only it is
supposing a thing that cannot happen. And what is the good of that?
Sometimes people have put to me this question–"Suppose a child
of God should live in sin and die in sin, would he be saved?" The
thing is impossible. If you suppose yourself into a difficulty, you
must suppose yourself out of it. It is like the old supposition,
"Suppose the moon were cream cheese, what would become of us
on a dark night?" So, suppose a sinner should come to Christ
without Christ coming to him, what could be the result? It is
supposing an impossibility and then drawing an absurdity from it.
Christ said, "No man can come unto Me, except the Father which
has sent Me draw him." If a sinner comes, he is drawn, or he would
not have come. It is mine, therefore, to exhort the sinner to come to
Christ. It is the Holy Spirit's work to enforce the exhortation and
draw the sinner to Christ.
Lastly, let me put this question, "Why do you look one upon
another?" Why do you sit still? Fly to Christ and find mercy. Oh,
says one, "I cannot get what I expect to have." But what do you
expect? I believe some of our hearers expect to feel an electric
shock, or something of that kind, before they are saved. The Gospel
says simply, "Believe." That they will not understand. They think
there is to be something so mysterious about it. They can't make
out what it is. But they are going to wait for it and then believe.
Well, you will wait till doomsday. For if you do not believe this
simple Gospel, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," God will not
work signs and wonders to please your foolish desires.
Your position is this–you are a sinner, lost, ruined. You cannot
help yourself. Scripture says, "Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners." Your immediate business, your instantaneous duty is
to cast yourself on that simple promise and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, that as He came into the world to save sinners, He has
therefore come to save you. What you have to do with is that
simple command–"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall
he saved." Now take the sons of Jacob as your example. No sooner
had their father told them what they had to do than the first thing
they did was they went and fetched their empty sacks. Now do the
same.
"What is the good of them?" You say, "there is no corn in them."
No I know there is not, still you must take your empty sacks and
have them filled. Bring out your sins–bring out all the aggravation
of your sins–cast them all at the feet of Christ and make your
confession. There is no salvation in confession, but still you cannot
have salvation without it. You must make a full and free confession
of your sins. "What? To you, Sir?" I am extremely obliged to you. I
would not hear your sins on any account. No sum of money would
be sufficient compensation for the impurity that must accrue to any
man who shall hear another's sins. I would not tell you mine–much
less hear yours. No, make your confessions to God. Go to your
closet. Shut your door. Then pull out your empty sacks–that is,
make a full confession of your sins, Tell the Lord that you are a
wretch undone without His Sovereign Grace.
When you have done that, you say, what next? Then cast away all
hope you ever had or have, put away all trust in your good works
and everything else. And what next? Cast yourself simply on this
great Truth of God–that Jesus Christ came to save sinners–and you
shall rise from your knees a happier man. Or if that is not the case,
try it again and again and again and it shall not fail you. Prayer and
faith were never lost. He who confessed his sins and sought the
Savior never seeks in vain.
When I was first convicted of sin, yet a lad, I did go to God and I
cried for mercy with all my might, but I did not find it. I do not
think I knew what the Gospel was. For three years I persevered in
that. And many a day, in every room of the house in which I lived,
as each room became unoccupied, upon an occasion, have I spent
hours in prayer, the tears rolling down my cheeks and straining
myself in an agony of desire to find Christ and find salvation. But it
never came. It was not until I heard that simple doctrine, "Look
unto me and be you saved," I then found that my prayers were a
kind of righteousness of my own–that I was relying on them–and
consequently was on the wrong road.
Then did the Holy Spirit enable me to look to Christ hanging on
the Cross. I did not give up my prayers, but I did put the Lord
Jesus, the object of my faith, far above all prayers. And then when I
had looked to Him hanging, dying, bleeding, my soul rejoiced and I
fell upon my knees no more to cry with agony, but to exclaim with
delight, "Lord, I believe. Help You my unbelief." But if in that day,
instead of simply looking to Christ, I had said, "No, Lord, I will not
wash in Jordan and be clean. I will wait till Elijah comes out and
strikes the leper with his hand. I will not look to the brazen serpent.
That is legal preaching, that is Arminian doctrine. I will wait till the
serpent knocks right against my eyes," it would have never come.
But having looked simply to Christ, I cast all my other trusts
away. And how my soul rejoices in the liberty wherewith Christ
makes His people free. So shall it be with you. The Gospel is this
day freely preached to you. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came
down from Heaven, was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate–and was crucified for sin. Turn now your eyes to
yonder Cross. Behold a God dying. Behold the Infinite hanging on
the tree in pain. Those sufferings must save you–will you rely upon
them? Without any other trust, shall the Cross be the unbuttressed
pillar of your hope? It so, you are saved. The moment you believe
in Jesus, the Redeemer, you are saved–your sins are forgiven. God
has accepted you as His child. You are in a state of Grace. You are
passed from death unto life. Not only are you not condemned but
you never shall be. There is for you a crown, a harp, a mansion, in
the realms of the glorified. Oh that God may help you now to go
down into Egypt for heavenly corn and may you return with your
sacks full to the brim!
In conclusion, I make this last remark–Did you notice the
argument Jacob used why the sons should go to Egypt? It was
this–"That we may live and not die." Sinner, this is my argument
with you this morning. My dear Hearers, the Gospel of Christ is a
matter of life and death with you. It is not a matter of little
importance, but of all importance. There is an alternative before
you. You will either be eternally damned, or everlastingly saved.
Despise Christ and neglect His great salvation and you will be lost,
as sure as you live. Believe in Christ–put your trust alone in Him
and everlasting life is yours. What argument can be more potent
than this to men that love themselves? Are you prepared for
everlasting burnings? Friend, are you ready to make your bed in
Hell and to be lost? If so, reject Christ. But if you desire to be
blessed forever, to be accepted of God in the tremendous Day of
Judgment and to be crowned by Him in the day of the reward, I
beseech you, hear again the Gospel and obey it. "He that believes
in the Lord Jesus Christ and is baptized, shall be saved, but he that
believes not shall be damned." For this is the Gospel. It is yet again
preached to you and this is its solitary mandate–"Believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." O Lord, help us now to
believe, if we have not believed before, for Jesus' sake!
Ge 42:1 • A Discourse to the Despairing
ERMON 2379
A Discourse To The Despairing
"Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said to
his sons, Why do you look, one upon another? And he said,
Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get down there,
and buy for us there; that we may live, and not die."
Genesis 42:1, 2
JACOB had reached an age in which natural vigor had gone out
of him. He was getting very old and was worn and weary, yet here
he seems to lead the way in providing for his family. It was he who
spoke to the younger men, his sons, and urged them to go down
into Egypt to buy food. Jacob was of a timorous disposition in his
latter days–he had an old man's fear of that which is high and the
grasshopper had become a burden to him–yet he proposed to his
sons that they should make a venturesome journey into Egypt! It
was a great undertaking for them, for they were stay-at-homes, and
not travelers. They were shepherds, whose time was occupied in
looking after the welfare of their flocks, and not in roaming over
foreign countries. They thought it would be a burdensome
responsibility and a perilous risk to cross the desert and go down
into Egypt, yet Jacob proposed this to them as the only way of
escape from famine and death. Here is an instance in which an aged
father woke up his sons to action by telling them good news and by
chiding them because of their despairing looks and words.
I am going to use the passage in this way. There are many persons
who are sitting down in a kind of stupor. They have no hope and,
therefore, they are doing nothing at all. They need to be told the
good and blessed tidings concerning salvation and to be urged to
make a right use of that news and to avail themselves of the
provision of which they are informed. I shall give myself, under the
Holy Spirit's guidance, to the happy task of following out that line
of thought under these three heads. First, despair is useless. "Why
do you look, one upon another?" Secondly, hope is well-grounded.
"I have heard that there is corn in Egypt." Thirdly, action is
reasonable. "Get you down there, and buy for us there; that we may
live, and not die."
First, DESPAIR IS USELESS.
I have never heard, yet, of anybody who derived any good from
despair. Let me correct myself, there is a kind of despair which is
the work of the Spirit of God. I wish that you all felt it–a despair of
self-salvation, a despair of washing away your own sin, despair of
obtaining any merit of your own by which you can become
acceptable in the sight of God–but men never come to it unless the
Spirit of God brings them. We are always ready to hope in
ourselves with that self-conceited hope which is abhorrent to God.
And it is a great mercy when, at last, the Spirit of God, like the hot
blast of the Sirocco, passes over the green field and every flower
therein is withered! What said the Prophet? "All flesh is grass, and
all the goodliness, thereof, is as the flower of the field: the grass
withers, the flower fades: because the Spirit of the Lord blows
upon it: surely the people is grass." That is a blessed kind of
despair! But of any other sort of despair, in reference to eternal
things, I cannot say anything that is good. I believe that Giant
Despair has his dungeons full of the skeletons of men–he is a giant
and devours those who come in his way–and he never helped a
pilgrim on the road to the Celestial City. He never worked any
good to any soul that came under his power. I cannot set you free
from his grasp, but I can and do pray that the Spirit of God may
deliver you out of his clutches!
These sons of Jacob looked upon one another despairingly, it
seems, and their old father watched their looks till, at last, he asked
them, "Why do you look, one upon another?" Their looks
expressed great sadness. They had never before been in such a
plight. No corn for the asses, no bread for the children, no food for
themselves. Not one of them smiled, but grim sadness sat on every
countenance, and all their faces gathered blackness. One looked at
his brother and saw that he was sad. And that brother looked at the
next one and perceived that he was mournful and gloomy. The light
of a man's countenance is often like the shining of the sun–one
bright face will make another full of joy and gladness–but when all
the sons of Jacob were sad, their sadness was increased as they
looked, one upon another. Now, when a man knows that he has no
hope. When he feels that he cannot save himself. When he hungers
for the Bread of Life and yet has none of it–when he looks to others
who are in same case, and they only reply, "It is even so. We are
also starving. We are lost"–well, then, it is a sad, sad business
altogether.
Next, their faces expressed inability. Judah looked on Reuben and
Reuben stared back at his brother, as much as to say, "Do not gaze
at me, Judah, for I cannot do anything! I have emptied my last sack
of corn." Then Reuben looked across to Simeon and Simeon turned
to Zebulon–and they all shook their heads and each one said–"It is
no use looking to me. I cannot relieve you in this time of famine,
even in the slightest degree. I have more than I can do to take care
of my own wife and children." So is it when one sinner looks upon
another sinner. If really awakened to a true sense of his condition in
the sight of God, each one says, "I cannot help you. I cannot even
help myself." There are a number of foolish virgins with their
lamps all gone out, and they have not a drop of oil between them
and, therefore, not one of them can help another. So, sadness and
inability are both implied in old Jacob's question to his sons, "Why
do you look, one upon another?"
Besides that, I have no doubt that there was a great degree of
bewilderment expressed on their countenances. One asked his
brother, "Cannot you suggest anything?" "No," replied the other, "I
am at my wits' end. I never was so puzzled before." "But, surely,
So-and-So, the one member of the family who has always been so
quick with his suggestions, will have something to say in this
crisis." No, not one of them had anything that he could contribute
towards the hopefulness of the outlook. Sad, indeed, was the
household in which all the brothers seemed, each one, more
bewildered than the rest! So, if I were to gather, here, a company of
men, awakened to a sense of their true condition as sinners, but not
yet led to faith in Christ, and if I were to ask them, "What is to be
done to deliver you from this sad state?" they would, in utter
bewilderment, look first at me, and then at one another, and sadly
say, "What can we do?" One of them might even cry, with John
Newton–
"The help of men and angels joined
Could never reach my case"
and in his perplexity he might forget to quote the two lines that
follow–
"Nor can I hope relief to find
But in Your boundless Grace."
Such a man might say, "If all in this world who love me were to
conspire together to assist me out of the deep pit of sin into which I
have fallen, they could not lift me a single inch!"
Bewilderment, then, was upon the faces of the 12 sons of Jacob.
Their looks also expressed apprehension. As they looked on each
other, their faces wan, their persons gaunt, each one seemed to say
to his brother, "I dare not tell you what I think." And the other
would reply, "I knew what you meant before the dreadful words
came from your lips, for what can this long famine bring but
absolute starvation? We shall see our poor old father die, or,
perhaps, we shall, ourselves, perish, and all our children with us
before the old man passes away. Anyway, we are doomed. We
cannot eat the grass. We cannot devour what the birds of Heaven
might live upon–there is nothing for us to do but to die. There is no
corn in the land. There is universal famine–grim death will soon
overtake us." So they looked at one another every day with more
and more of anxious foreboding, for the famine was in the land of
Canaan as well as in all the other parts of the earth.
But, dear Friends, what good did their sad looks and their
perplexed looks do? They did not make one mess of pottage for any
of them! They did not grind for them even a single grain of corn!
They were as bad off after all their despair as they were before it–
their waiting was absolutely useless–no improvement in their
condition came of it! And addressing you, my despairing friend, to
whom I am sent tonight, I do not think that I ever saw you before,
but you are here, and I am sent to speak thus to you! You have
believed that there was no hope for you. You did not think that you
could be saved and you have been, now, for years in that sad
condition! What is the use of it to you? What is the good of all your
despair? It has not improved you in the least! It has not even kept
you back from sin. It has just made you sit in you. God help you to
shake yourself clear of it even now! There is a lie at the bottom of
your despair–there is hope–there is hope for the very chief of
sinners! Do not believe what Satan tells you, that you must sit still
and die.
The waiting time of the sons of Jacob was wasting time. If they
had started earlier, they might have reached Egypt and, perhaps,
have been back, again, with the corn which they had bought. But
now the weary hours which brought them no hope were depriving
them of the possibility of deliverance. So, dear Hearers, you have
waited because you did not think that there was a possibility of
your being saved–and all this waiting time has been wasted! Would
God that you had been converted when you were a boy! Would
God that you had known my Lord when you were a young man and
started out in business! Oh, that you had known Him even in
middle life! But now you are growing gray. Surely, the time past
suffices to have been wasted. May God help you to begin, tonight,
to obtain that heavenly bread, that true corn upon which your soul
may feed!
These sons of Jacob had waited so long that if they delayed much
longer, they could never go, for they would all be dead. Did not
their old father hint at that when he said to them, "Get you down
there, and buy for us there; that we may live, and not die"? Death
seemed waiting for them outside the door and if bread did not soon
come in, they would all have to be carried out as corpses. So,
Sinner, you have waited long enough, and far too long! You have
tarried so long that if you wait much longer, the great knell of your
soul will toll out with that most dismal sound, "Lost, lost, lost, and
lost forever!" God grant that this may not come to pass, but may
the Word of the Lord, which I am declaring in my Master's name,
lead you to another course of action than that of sitting still and
looking, one upon another! I repeat what I said before, despair is
useless! I think that you who have tried it are quite convinced that
it is so–you cannot squeeze any juice out of this flint! You can dig
nothing that will help you out of this barren soil!
II. But now, secondly, HOPE, as we preach it to the very chief of
sinners, IS WELL-GROUNDED.
In the story before us, old Jacob said to his sons, "Behold, I have
heard that there is corn in Egypt." Good news had been heard. Did
you notice that the first verse put it rather differently–"Now when
Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt"? There is a good old
proverb, quaint but true, "Faith sees with its ears." It is a new use
for ears, according to some people's notions. My own opinion is
that there is no organ that we have with which we can see so well
as we can with our ears if we use them aright. In spiritual things,
"faith comes by hearing," and that faith becomes the sight of things
hoped for! Good old Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt and he
heard that there was corn in Egypt. That is to say, he heard it upon
such good evidence that the old gentleman seemed to see it! He had
questioned some passing travelers, some Ishmaelites, some
wandering Bedouins, who had answered him, "Oh, yes, there is
corn in Egypt! We have been down there–we have bought sacks
full of it! We have brought it away with us. We know it is so, for
here it is." And Jacob, though yet very timorous, weighed the
evidence, and judged all about the matter, and he said to himself,
"Oh, yes! It is quite clear, I see that there is corn in Egypt."
Well now, dear Friends, the most of you now present and, I
should think, all of you who have come through the rain this wet
night, have heard this good news! "Heard it?" you say, "we have
heard it times out of mind." I wonder how many times you have
heard it? It would be worthwhile to sit down and figure away, to
see if you could calculate how many times you have heard the
Gospel. You know, when a boy has a father who is what a father
ought to be, he says to him, "Do not let me have to speak to you
twice, Sir." If he does speak to him twice, he says, "Do you think I
am going to speak to you three times? Listen, I shall not stop at
speaking if you do not listen pretty soon!" Would you kindly set
down on a sheet of paper, not perhaps on a slate, for you might
wipe it off, there–write down how many times God has spoken to
you, distinctly, in the preaching of the Word? I will not ask you to
reckon up how many times He has spoken to you in private, on
your bed and so on. Some of you have heard thousands of sermons,
but they have done you no good. I am afraid that you are like
Bunyan's Slough of Despond. Many thousands of tons of the best
road making material had been poured into that slough and it took
it all in–and it was as bad a slough as ever! And is it not so with
some of you?
I get astonished at some of you people who come and hear me
whenever you can. I am not going to look at the particular persons
to whom I refer, but it does astonish me when I know that there are
those who have come here for years, and yet are as bare of religion
as the palm of my hand is of hair! If you ask the wife or children
about them, you will find that though they say, "we enjoy Mr.
Spurgeon's ministry," yet they enjoy the drink rather more on
certain other days! They would not miss a sermon! Yes, and they
will even come to Prayer Meetings and enjoy Prayer Meetings. But
still, ah me! Well, I will not say all that I know. May God have
mercy upon such people! But what am I to do? Am I to keep on
preaching to people like that? Am I to go on perpetually washing
Blackamoors who will never be a bit the whiter? God have mercy
upon you and upon me, too, and grant that I may not labor in vain
towards you, lest in the end your guilt should be increased by the
rejection of His Truth!
The good news has been heard by all of you. Whatever may be
the destiny of the heathen, they can, at the last, say, "We never
heard of Christ. We were never bid to come and put our trust in
Him. We never knew the story of the Cross and all the love of God
in Christ Jesus." You cannot say that, but you will have to confess,
some of you, in that Great Day, that you closed your ears to it all
and would have none of it. The Lord prevent it, by His mercy!
Well, the good news has been heard, dear Friends, and, by many
of us, the good news has been believed. I believe with Jacob that
there is corn in Egypt, that is to say, I believe that there is salvation
in Christ Jesus, that it has, "pleased the Father that in Him should
all fullness dwell." There are many here who believe that Truth of
God with me. There are myriads, all over the world, who believe
this and who have seen it for themselves–there is pardon for sin!
There is renewal of nature! There is every blessing that is needed,
stored up in Jesus Christ! The good news has been heard and the
good news has been believed! If I were to ask you to stand up and
give your testimony after the manner of the Salvation Army, very
many here would do so, each one saying, "I believe it. It is even so.
I have proved it to be true."
Further, the good news conveyed to you is to the point. Suppose
that Jacob had said to his sons, "I believe that there is gold in
Egypt," they might have asked him, "What has that to do with us?"
Suppose he had said, "I believe that there is fine linen in Egypt."
They did not need fine linen. Suppose he had said, "I believe that
there are chariots in Egypt, and horses," for there were such in
abundance. Solomon was known, in later days, to bring them out of
Egypt. Yet Jacob's sons would have said, "Dear Father, we do not
need horses. We do not want chariots. What we need is bread, for
we are dying, or soon shall die, of hunger." Well now, my dear
Hearers, there is, in Christ Jesus, exactly what you need! If you are
guilty, there is pardon! If you are weak, there is strength! If you are
foul, there is cleansing! If you are naked, there is clothing! If you
are dead, there is life! In fact, there is, in Christ, all that you can
possibly need! Christ is as much fitted for you as a glove is for a
hand and He is exactly fitted for you, Mary, Thomas, or whoever
you are–even as when I came to Him, I found Him to be exactly
fitted for me! He is the very Savior for such a sinner as you!
Well now, this is good news concerning an available blessing.
Supposing Jacob had said, "Dear sons, there is plenty of corn in
Egypt, but you cannot have any of it. If you go down there, they
will not sell any corn to you." Now, we who believe in the Doctrine
of Election are supposed to say to some men, "It is of no use for
you to believe–you will not have the blessing." I never said–I never
thought such a thing–nor did any other preacher of the Doctrine of
Election! We have freely declared to every man that whoever
believes in Christ Jesus has everlasting life! And though we believe
that God knows who will have it, even as God knew who would go
down into Egypt, yet that does not in the least affect the freeness of
the preaching of the Gospel! Let those who hear us bear witness to
the fact. There was never a man, or woman, or child, yet, who
applied to God through Jesus Christ for mercy, who was refused.
"Him that comes to Me," says Christ, "I will in no wise cast out." If
you believe, you live. If you believe, you are saved. We have
eternal life when we come and trust in Jesus. Believe and receive it
at the hands of Christ. "He that believes on the Son has everlasting
life." Let that bell ring round the Tabernacle! "He that believes on
the Son has everlasting life." If you believe, eternal life is yours.
So, this good news is concerning an available blessing.
And, once more, this good news is in the present tense. Jacob did
not say to his sons, "There was corn in Egypt," but, "I have heard
that there is corn in Egypt." So say I to you–"There is salvation.
There is forgiveness. There is acceptance, there is reconciliation–
there is eternal life!" There is, in Christ Jesus, all that is necessary
to lift a soul from the portals of Hell to the gates of Heaven! There
is now, on this 15 th day of the month of July, 1888–there is corn in
Egypt,there is eternal life for all who trust in Jesus–
"There is life for a look at the Crucified One!
There is life at this moment for you!"
I do not know how to preach more plainly and simply to you. The
last thing that crosses my mind is to try and make"a fine
discourse." All I want to do is to talk right to your hearts about the
way to Heaven–and not to let you go until you have come to Jesus
and have trusted in Him.
So I have set before you two things, first, that despair is useless,
and, next, that there is a hope which is well grounded. There is
nothing more certain in this world than that whoever believes in
Christ shall be saved. I wish that you would all come and try, and
see for yourselves, for we have not preached to you cunningly-
devised fables, but the most sure Word of God, which we have
tasted and handled for ourselves!
III. So I shall close with my third division–ACTION IS
REASONABLE.
O my dear despairing Hearer, I say again that I do not know who
you may be, but I know that I am sent to you, tonight, with a
message! I wish that I knew you, so that I could take you by the
hand and have you here on this very platform, and look into your
eyes with my eyes. But as I cannot do that, I will speak to you as if
I were doing it.
It was time that these men should go at once to Egypt, for they
would die if they did not go. They could but die if they went to
Egypt–if they were met by robbers on the road, and killed, they
could but die. This is your case. Without Christ, you must eternally
die–there is no hope for you. Remain as you are and you are
damned. No, I soften not the word, for it is no light sentence which
the word conveys. If you do not find Christ, you are lost forever!
Say, then, as we have often sung–
"I can but perish if I go;
I am resolved to try!
For if I stay away,
I know I must forever die."
I will here bring up Giant Despair if I can, in the rear, that he may
howl a little at you, and set your feet in motion. There is no hope
for you unless you go to the Savior, even to Jesus Christ. You must
die if you do not go to Him.
It was very reasonable that Jacob's sons should go down to Egypt,
for evidently others had gone there and had found corn. O man,
would to God that you would repent and leave your sins, and come
to Christ, for others have done so, and they have found eternal life!
There never was, there never will be, there cannot be one who ever
obeyed the Gospel call and yet was disappointed! I challenge the
depths of Hades and the deep abyss of Hell, itself, to display a
single soul that truly sought the Lord and was refused! No, if you
come to Him by Jesus Christ, He must receive you. Therefore, you
who feel your need of Christ, I beseech you to awaken yourselves
and seek Him now!
Further, these sons of Jacob got what they went for. They went to
buy corn, and corn they bought, and plenty of it. And you may fare
better than they did. It is not half such a task for you to go to Jesus
as it was for them to go to Egypt. You can get to Christ in the
twinkling of an eye! Behold, He comes flying to your relief. One
look of faith and you are at His feet! Trust is the great railway that
will bear you to the blessed terminal of salvation!
The sons of Jacob found in Egypt what they went for and they
found it on better terms than they supposed. Jacob said, "Buy for us
there," but they had their money put back in the mouth of their
sacks! Joseph did not want their money–he would not sell anything
to his own brothers, he would give them whatever they needed!
The Lord Jesus Christ does not need your money. He does not even
need your repentance and your faith as the purchase-price of
salvation. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life." It is a free gift to you who are poor as beggary itself. Do but
come and you shall find how free are the gifts of Sovereign Grace!
And, in addition, Jacob's sons gained a great deal more than they
bargained for, for while they brought corn home, they found that
there was a great man in Egypt who was their brother–and they
were invited to go and stay with him and they were made great men
in that land! Oh, if you will but come to Christ, you will come for
silver, but you will get gold! You will come for gold and He will
give you diamonds! You will come for a rag and He will give you a
royal robe! You will come to Him for life and He will give you
everlasting glory! He gives infinitely more than any of us dare to
ask, or even think–and happy is that man who does but come to
Him! Oh, if you had any idea of what Christ will make of you, you
would want wings to your heels to fly to Him with all your might!
If that young woman did but know what joy the love of Christ
would pour into her heart, she would not wait till tomorrow's sun
had risen ere she had laid hold of Jesus Christ! When we come to
Christ, there is a destiny before us which an angel's future does not
rival! We become brothers of Christ, heirs of God, peers of the
blood imperial, exalted to sit with Christ upon His heavenly Throne
and to share in all His joys! Would God that you would come! If
you did but know what is to be had by trusting in Jesus, how
swiftly you would be drawn to Him!–
"His worth, if all the nations knew for
Sure, the whole world would love Him, too,"
and if they did but know what He gives, they would hold out both
hands and take from Him, now, all that He delights to
I have finished my discourse to the despairing when I have made
just two or three concluding remarks.
These sons of Jacob went down into Egypt and they did well.
Right reasoning led them to go when they heard that there was corn
there and knew that they needed it. But they were never invited to
go there. Joseph did not send an invitation to Jacob, Reuben, Judah
and Simeon, saying, "Come down into Egypt." Up to the moment
when he revealed himself, they did not know that he was there.
They were never invited and yet they went. Is there anybody here
who says, "I do not think I am invited in the Bible to trust Christ"?
Then come to Him whether you are invited or not! Do as these men
did–they were not invited, but they went! The feasts of God are of
this kind, "Whoever will, let him come." There are no tickets
demanded at God's gate of mercy. If you come, you would not
have come if He had not drawn you, for no man can come to Christ
unless the Father, who sent His Son, draws him, and, "Him that
comes to Me," says Christ, "I will in no wise cast out." You are the
right man if you but come, for the wrong man never came, never
can come and never thinks of coming! You are the man to be saved
if you but trust Christ!
But I must remind you that there are many of you who have been
invited, pressed, urged, entreated with tears to come to Christ. I
will not say anything about the many times that I have tried to press
those things upon you, for I feel my feebleness, and, if you refuse
me, I do not wonder. But still, if I knew how to put eternal things
before you better than I do, how earnestly would I labor for the
salvation of your souls! Sometimes, when I am at home, I say to
myself, "That is it. I think I see, now, how to put the Truth of God
to the people." But when I get here, I do not feel that I can speak as
I desire. What more is a man to say than to tell you that you are in
danger, that you will perish if you despair of hope, that there is
good ground for hope and, that if you come to your God, trusting in
Jesus as your Savior, He will never cast you away? Therefore,
come, and come at once! Come even now, while sitting in those
pews! What more can I say? Spirit of God, You say whatever more
is needed and make what is said to go home to the hearts of the
hearers!
Now, note again, that you are in a better state than the sons of
Jacob, for you are invited, and next, you have no journey to make.
How far is it to Christ? Well, there is no distance! If you believe,
He is there. Our railway people, as a rule, in making railways to a
certain town, do not make the railway to the town, but within a
half-mile, or a mile, or two miles, so that you must have an
omnibus or a cab to get into the town. And there is far too much
Gospel preaching that is like that. It is so far before you get to
Christ and when you do get to Him, it needs another journey in
your own omnibus to finish up the work!
But I believe that the railway to Heaven for you starts just there,
in that pew where you are sitting, and that it goes all the way, and
that if you enter the glorious Free-Grace train, it will carry you to
the terminal! And if you take a ticket, tonight, with a simple trust in
the Lord Jesus, you will not need any new ticket, but it will take
you all the way through! Oh, I would to God that by faith you
would take that ticket right now! There is a journey to get to
Heaven, but there is no journey to get to Christ, for He is here! You
need a Mediator between your souls and God, but you do not need
a Mediator between your souls and Christ! You must be prepared to
see God in Heaven, but you need not be prepared to see Christ on
earth! You may come to Him just as you are! Here He is, look at
Him by faith and the great transaction is done!
Last of all, you are informed, as these sons of Jacob were not
informed, that no payment is required. Jacob said to his sons, "Take
money in your hand," and when they went the next time, he said,
"Take double money in your hand." That was very honest on his
part, to send money to make up for what had been put back in the
sacks, as well as the double price, for the wheat would have risen
since the last time, and old Jacob also said, "Take of the best fruits
of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a
little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and
almonds." That is just what human nature says, "Take Christ a
present. Carry something with you." Now, I would advise you to
drop that present into the sea! Do not take anything with you to
Christ except your emptiness. That is all He wants–take your
emptiness, and He will fill it! Take your sin, and He will wash it
away!
When persons advertise that they clean garments–(you see their
notices everywhere, nowadays, a wonderful trade it must be)–do
they expect that when you send a coat to be cleaned, you are to put
a guinea in the pocket? Oh, dear no! You send the garment to be
cleaned–you will have to pay for the work, one of these days, but
you need not put sovereigns in the pocket! Just take your soul to
Christ to be cleansed, with nothing but the spot, and the stain, and
the filth–and He will make it whiter than the driven snow!
The Holy Spirit's message is, "Today, if you will hear His voice,
harden not your hearts." Tarry not to cleanse or mend, but come to
Christ just as you are and come at once! Sons of Jacob, starving for
need of heavenly food, look no longer, one upon another, but up
and away to the Christ who has a superabundance of everything
you need! Freely He invites you–gladly go to Him! Spirit of God,
compel them to do so, by Your sweet love, for Jesus' sake! Amen.
HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"– 531, 375, 435.
Ge 42:6 • Rough, But Friendly
ERMON 3379
Rough, But Friendly
"Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to
restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them
provisions for the way: and thus did he unto them."
Genesis 42:25
AN immense number of persons came down into Egypt from all
parts of the world to buy corn. Many of these Joseph never saw.
Many others came into his presence. I do not find that of all who
came, he treated any of them roughly, except his own brothers.
"Strange!" you will say, and if you did not know the sequel of the
story, it would not only seem strange, but cruel. You would not
know how to account for such a thing.
Very like this is the manner of God's Providence. There are
thousands of people living in this world, with all of whom God
deals according to wisdom. We all bear trouble in a measure, for,
"Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upwards."Some have
more troubles than others and these often happen to be those who
are dearest to the Lord. If any man escapes the rod, the true-born
children of the royal family of Heaven never can! Some may sin
and prosper, but the righteous, if they sin, suffer. The ungodly are
permitted to fatten like sheep for the slaughter, to have no bands
even in their death. Their strength is firm, they are not in trouble, as
other men, neither are they plagued like other men. But as for
God's people, the waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
Through much tribulation they inherit the Kingdom. To them is a
special promise which is sure to be fulfilled–"In the world you
shall have tribulation." Now, if we did not know the end of the
Lord and His great design in thus dealing with His people, it would
seem to be a strange, inexplicable mystery that the best beloved
should be the most afflicted and that the Brothers and Sisters of the
reigning Savior should be those whom He treats most roughly.
Others take their sacks of corn and go–these, 'tis true, shall have
their sacks filled and more–but they shall not go until first there
have been some rough passages of arms between them and the
Brother, who, though he loves them so well, speaks so shortly to
them!
Laying it down, then, as a rule, that God's servants will be dealt
roughly with by their Master, that the Brothers and Sisters of Christ
must accept it, I shall now proceed to offer a few thoughts, which,
perhaps, may be comfortable to those of God's people who are in
trouble. From the text and its surroundings, I gather this Truth of
God–
WHEN THE LORD IS ABOUT TO GIVE GREAT FAVORS, HE
OFTEN DEALS ROUGHLY WITH THOSE WHO ARE TO
RECEIVE THEM.
Joseph intends to bless his brothers. He has the most liberal of the
royal designs towards them, but he first deals roughly with them.
Before the Lord Jesus Christ shall come to give His Church her last
and most transcendent blessing in His millennial reign of splendor,
there are vials that are to be poured out. There will be wars and
rumors of wars. There will be the shaking of Heaven and earth–
great distress, famine, pestilences and earthquakes. The greater the
blessing, the greater the trial that shall precede it! So, too, with our
own souls. When the Lord Jesus Christ intended to save us and to
give us a sense of pardon of our sins, He began by convincing us of
our iniquity. He dealt heavy blows at our selfrighteousness. He laid
us in the dust and seemed to roll us in the mire. It seemed as though
He delighted to tread upon us and to crush our every hope and
destroy every fond expectation! It was all to wean us from self-
righteousness, to pull us up by the roots, to prevent our growing
and taking fast hold on the earth, to compel us to rest in His blood
and righteousness and to seek our soul's life entirely from Him!
That great blessing of salvation was, with the most of us, at any
rate, preceded by thick clouds and tempests! We were convinced of
sin, of self-righteousness, of judgment to come, and our heart
trembled! And afterwards, when He had dealt roughly with us, He
said, "Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven you: go in
peace." It seems, then, our experience is general and common, that
the love letters of our Lord Christ have come to us in black
envelopes and there has generally been a thunderstorm preceding a
shower of special mercy! The clear shinings have been after the
rain. The flood tide has come in most gloriously, but there has first
been an ebb. It has always been so with us till now. I think
experienced Christians begin to dread their joy and to expect
blessings from their sorrows. When things apparently go bad, they
know they really go well, and when things apparently go well, we
are very apt to fear and tremble for all the good which God makes
to pass before us and fear, lest in the dead calm, there may lurk
some mischief to our souls.
Why does the Lord deal roughly with His servants when He
means to bless them? Is it not to keep them sober? Highspiritual
joys have about them an intoxicating element to our poor nature.
"Lest I should be exalted above measure," said the Apostle, "there
was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me." Sometimes the trial comes before the mercy, sometimes
with the mercy, sometimes after the mercy–but a trial and a high
degree of spiritual joy are usually wedded together so that when
you get the one–you may look out of the window for the other. 'Tis
to keep us sober. Here is a brisk gale of spiritual influence upon our
fluttering sail. What then? And why? Our poor boat would soon be
upset, but God ballasts us with a weight of affliction, so that the
vessel may keep steady amidst the waves. Master Brookes gives us
a simile in which he shows us the danger there is even in the best
and most spiritual enjoyments–he says, "Suppose a man loved his
wife so very dearly and gave her so many rings, jewels and
earrings, that she prized these and wore them till she began, by-
and-by, to dote upon her ornaments and to forget her husband? You
could not blame him if he took these away because he wants her
love for himself, not for his gifts." Now, instead of taking away
these things, which it would be necessary for Him to do in order to
keep us from spiritual ruin, the Lord is pleased to checker our lives.
There are the bright stripes, or evidences of Grace, and then there
are the black squares of our troubles and afflictions. In that way an
equilibrium is kept up–we are balanced–we do not grow top-heavy.
And we are enabled to walk safely in the ways of the Lord. That is
one reason He speaks roughly and deals graciously, to keep us
sober.
Is it not likewise, to keep us humble? When a child of God gets
one inch above the ground in his own esteem, he getsan inch too
high! Whenever the man of God says, "I am rich and increased in
goods and have need of nothing," he is very close to spiritual
bankruptcy! None are so rich in Grace as those who pine for more.
None are so near to fullness as those who mourn their emptiness–
the men who find their fullness not in themselves, but in Christ
Jesus the Lord! Brothers and Sisters, those 10 sons of Jacob must
have felt their importance evaporate when Joseph put them in
prison. Here they were "true men," as they said, "the sons of one
man," but no respect is paid to the Patriarch or to their patriarchal
descent. They are put in prison as if they were common spies
whose fate is generally the most ignoble. Now they begin to think
of themselves in a very different light from that in which they did
when they set out with their money in their hands to pay for their
corn and have their money's worth. They were gentlemen,
merchant traders when they entered Egypt, but after awhile they
seemed like beggars in their own esteem and better still, they begin
to remember their faults! They call to remembrance that they were
verily guilty concerning their brother. And the Lord never intends
us to ride the high horse in thinking large things of ourselves. One
thing I have always noticed as an observer, that whenever any man
of God begins to get great, God always makes him smart. I think I
have never seen a Brother prospering in the ministry, or anywhere
else, who began to be too large for association with his brethren,
too good and too holy, perhaps, even to meet with common