Part 47
great diffidence in recommending people to make changes in life–
especially in quitting the country to go to the great city. Change has
its perils. You begin to know your temptations by now and you are
somewhat prepared to withstand them. But you know not what may
happen to you in another sphere, with other surroundings, and other
influences.
All things considered, I would rather carry my old burden. For it
begins to fit my back and my back has grown somewhat used to it.
But what about a new burden? It might be more heavy and it might
try me in fresh places and cause fresh wounds. For myself, I am not
anxious to make any changes, for I have read the words of
Solomon the wise–"As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a
man that wanders from his place."
When God commands a man to follow an untried path, he may go
rightly and wisely, even as the young swallows fly in their
appointed time, though they have never traversed the continents
before. But he who wanders out of sheer wantonness may find that
he has gone from bad to worse and may come to wish himself back
again to that which he despised.
If Jacob trembled at making so great a change, it was not without
reason. All the habits of the family would be rudely shaken, and a
new mode of life would be forced upon them. He could not have
guessed that there would be a Goshen for the shepherds, and he
must have dreaded leaving a quiet pastoral life for the refinements
of Egyptian society and the blandishments of Egyptian idolatry.
I need say no more on that point–Jacob was always anxious, and
in his old age, more so than ever. The sketch I have given may be
the picture of some friend now present. And if it is so, I will hope
that in my discourse he may hear cheering voices from the Lord
God to allay his fears. May the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, make it
so!
II. But, in the second place, God was not of a mind that His
servant should be the slave of dread–HIS FEAR WAS TO BE
REMOVED. Therefore, the Lord appeared to Jacob in the night
visions, not to tell him of new empires, not to reveal to him the
destinies of princes but simply to say to him, "Fear not."
It appears to God to be an important matter to chase away fear,
even though it is troubling only one person and that person an aged
man. The Lord broke the eternal silence, to drive away the
anxieties of a single individual. He said to him, "Jacob, Jacob."
And then he added, "Fear not to go down into Egypt." Are you very
fearful and timorous at this time, dear Brother? It is not the Lord's
will that you should remain so–He would deliver you from this
bondage.
The Lord would drive away your fears because, in the first place,
fear makes you unhappy. It is an unhappy thing for a father when
he comes home from business and finds his child in distress of
mind. He likes to see him run cheerfully to meet him and smile and
sing a welcome. Our heavenly Father would have His people
rejoice in Him. Do you want any proof of it? Does He not
command you, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say,
Rejoice"? The Lord puts it thus, "Delight yourself also in the Lord.
And He shall give you the desires of your heart." The Spirit made
the Prophet exclaim, "Happy are you, O Israel." God takes it ill if
His people find no joy in Him. He is our portion and it is sad if we
are not delighted with such an inheritance.
But, next, the Lord would not have His people vexed with fear,
because it is sadly weakening in its effects. Jacob had a difficult
task enough, to go down into Egypt and bear witness for the true
God in that region, and he needed more, rather than less, strength.
In the midst of Canaan, his path had been a very difficult one, to
stand fast for God in the midst of that wicked and perverse
generation. He had sadly failed even in that lesser task, for his
family had grossly transgressed and fallen into the ways of the
world around them.
In Egypt his work would be more severe. For he would have the
wisdom of the Egyptians to battle with, a wisdom proudly
conservative of errors which had become hoary with antiquity. He
must not go down to such a battlefield with his hands hanging
down and his knees feeble. Before we begin a new enterprise, fear
may be seasonable–we ought to be cautious as to whether our way
is right in the sight of God. And therefore Jacob had that fear. But
when we once begin and intend going through with an enterprise,
we must say farewell to fear, for fear will be fatal to success.
Go straight ahead. Believe in God and carry the work through. To
fear in the day of battle will be mischievous to the last degree. Then
shall it be as when a standard bearer faints. When the standard of
our confidence falls in the dust, who shall gird himself for the
battle? Therefore the Lord, that His servant Jacob might be fit for
what was before him, bade him be of good courage and said to him,
"Fear not."
I am sure that the Lord wished His servant Jacob to cease from
every kind of fear, because otherwise it would look as if he were
quarrelling with the Divine will. He is to go down into Egypt by
Divine command. But if he is afraid to go, it would appear that he
judged that the Lord had put him upon an ill business. When God
judged it right for him to go, he must rest assured that it was right.
Hesitate, my dear Friend, while you are not sure that it is God's
will. But when once you are certain that it is according to the
Lord's mind, it will be unfaithfulness to God to have any kind of
fear.
Steam straight ahead, for that way lies your haven. Go on in a
direct line, like an arrow shot from a mighty bow, which seeks
nothing but the target. Say with one of old, "Shall such a man as I
flee?" If God is with you, who can be against you? Flight, when
God supports, would be not only disastrous, but treacherous. It is
not to be dreamed of for a moment. You have no armor for your
back–face the foe–yes, face him, though he were ten thousand
strong. You are able to overcome the armies of the aliens. God
being with you, the day is yours.
If you treat the Lord as you should, you will become incapable of
fear. You will, like young Nelson, ask, "What is fear?" You cannot
see any. "The Lord is my strength; of whom shall I be afraid?" The
Lord of Hosts is with us, therefore we will not fear. Perhaps I might
as well apply the subject now and say–Are you beginning to
preach, my dear Friend, in a new place and are you afraid? Do new
faces startle you? Set yourself to get rid of this fear of man. The
Lord forbids it.
Are you going across the sea directly and are you afraid of the
journey and the foreign land? Hasten to the Lord and ask Him to
drive all this fear far from you. Are you undertaking some new
service in the Church and are you trembling at the responsibility?
Cry to the Lord at once to strengthen your weak hands and confirm
your feeble knees. For, at this moment, though the Lord does not
appear to you in vision, yet He speaks to you out of this grand old
Book and by the mouth of His servant, saying unto you, "Fear not
to go down into Egypt." Surely, a "fear not" from the mouth of the
Lord will make you bold as a lion!
III. And now I shall need to show you how HIS FEAR WAS
REMOVED MOST SWEETLY. Who can cheer the heart so
effectually as the Lord our God? Fears must depart when the Lord
forbids them.
First, the Lord removed his fears by showing that He knew him
by his name. He said "Jacob, Jacob." "Oh," says one, "if the Lord
were to speak to me by my name I should not be afraid any longer."
I am not sure of that, for you might be even more fearful than you
now are. But do you think that God does not know your name? Do
you dream that if you have sought His face and cried to Him for
mercy He does not know your name? Why Beloved, He knows all
things. He knows your secret thoughts. He knows the way that you
have taken and the way that you are about to take.
He knows you infinitely better than you know yourself. Rest in
the fact that your heavenly Father knows what you have need of. O
poor troubled One, you that are cast down on account of sin,
remember that the Lord knew this Patriarch by his weak and sinful
name of Jacob, as well as by his bright and princely name of Israel.
He knew him by his worse name as well as by his better. God
knows you by your old name, for He knows your old nature. And
He knows your new name and your new nature. He calls you
tonight and tells you–"I know you. I know you. I know all about
you. Your name is engraved on the palms of My hands.
"Dream not that I have forgotten you. If you can not spell out
your own case, I can read it. If you do not know your own griefs so
as to interpret them to another, I understand all your sorrows, your
burdens and your failures. I know your despondencies and your
despairs. I know you, Jacob." Therefore, since the Lord knows us
altogether, let us trust Him and He will make even our weaknesses
to magnify the power of His Grace.
Next, the Lord told him that he was on communion terms with
God. The Lord said to him, "Jacob, Jacob," and he answered, "Here
am I." God had to call out to Adam, "Adam, where are you?" But
Jacob could say, "Here am I." Oh, it is a blessed thing to be on such
terms with God that you can truly say, "Here am I, my Lord–I have
nothing to hide. I stand forth before Your presence and have no
desire to conceal myself from Your eyes, neither have I anything to
reserve from Your notice. Tell me what I am to do. For I am willing
and eager to do it. Take me and make what You will of me. For I
am Yours and rejoice to be so. Break me up and melt me and pour
me out into Your mold, if You see fit. For 'Here am I.' "
He that has given up selfhood and is willing that God should do
whatever He wills with him, is on communing terms with God. The
barrier is removed and the Lord God Almighty can dwell with us
and even give us the desires of our heart. But then it follows–if you
are on such happy terms with God, be not afraid. Now that you
may speak with God and He will deign to speak with you, why
should you be the prey of apprehensions? Why should Jacob be
afraid of Pharaoh if he is no longer afraid of Jehovah? If you are at
peace with God, who is he that shall harm you? The stones of the
field shall be in league with you and the beasts of the field shall be
at peace with you.
Hushed is the thunder and pointless is the shaft of the lightning,
when once a man is right with God. Even if the laws of nature
should crush his mortal frame, they would but release his joyful
spirit and admit him the sooner to the joys of Heaven above.
Therefore you have nothing to be afraid of, O you who walk with
God! If the Lord is your Friend, who ishe that can harm you? All is
well. The stars in their courses fight for you and the angels of God
watch over you. To the friends of God all nature is friendly. Heaven
and earth, and sea and land, all welcome the man on whom their
Creator smiles.
Next, the Lord removed His servant's fear by declaring Himself
to be the God of the Covenant. "I am God," He said, "the God of
your father." He manifests Himself as the same God as ever–as
much the God of Jacob, the son, as of Isaac, the father. The Lord
will be to us what He has been to His people at some prior time. He
has pledged Himself to us as to our fathers. He has promised to us,
even to us, the blessing, saying, "Surely, blessing I will bless you."
My dear Friends and Brethren, can you say, "This God is our God
forever and ever"? Is Jehovah the God of this generation as of the
former? Some of you do not desire to have Jehovah for your God.
Then you cannot have the blessing that comes from His being your
God. But you that can say, "My God, my Father, You shall be my
Guide," you have no cause to fear. If God is your God, the chief
thing is secured and all the rest will be right. When we have God,
we have all things. To be in order with the Most High is to be right
with all the forces of the universe, both in nature and in
Providence.
If the Lord is yours, all things are yours. As He is the God of
eternity, "things present and things to come are yours" in Him. Oh,
how sweet to fly to our Covenant God when the tempest is
lowering! Where my father found a most secure abode, there I also
dwell.
Next, the Lord said to him, "Fear not to go down into Egypt. For I
will there make of you a great nation." The promise of a great
blessing is the dismissal of all fear. Jacob's house cannot be
destroyed if God is going to multiply them into a great nation. If
the apparent evil will work together for our good, why do we dread
it? Beloved Sufferer, do not be afraid of the cancer which is
preying upon you. It is a terrible disease. But if the Lord is going to
make your long illness a saving blessing to your family, you may
resign yourself to the lingering pain and no longer shrink from it
with horror.
Do not be afraid of that bereavement in the family. It will be a
grievous loss to all concerned, but the righteous are taken away
from evil to come, and out of their graves springs a blessing, even
as the grass grows on the hillock in the Churchyard. Many a keen
affliction brings with it God's sevenfold favor, though we cannot
see it. As the Lord said to Jacob, "Fear not to go into Egypt. For I
will there make of you a great nation," so He says to us, "Fear not
affliction. For so shall you receive the greater benediction."
Brethren, fear not the night but watch for its stars. Fear not the
fall of the leaf but look for the ripe fruits. You shall see more of
God's goodness as you see more of man's evil. We read of the
Apostles, that they "feared as they entered into the cloud." Yet in
that cloud they saw their Lord transfigured. Therefore be not afraid,
lest you be found trembling at that which should cause you joy.
Then the Lord added that which is the richest comfort of all–"I
will go down with you into Egypt." What cause of fear can remain
when we have the promise of the Lord's Presence with us? The
child is not afraid to go to bed in the dark, if his mother will go
with him into the chamber. The child does not want a candle if his
mother will be at his side. Her eyes are bright lights to him. If God
is with us, we are not in the dark–His Presence causes even the
night to be light about us. If we can have our Lord's Presence, we
have no choice of country or company.
Egypt, with Jehovah, is as Canaan. Even Hades and the land of
death-shades have nothing to make us fear evil, if the Comforter
sustains us. "For You are with me," is the joyful song of the pilgrim
when he passes through the valley of the shadow of death.
Therefore, let us dismiss our fears. We will go down into
loneliness, poverty, sickness, sorrow, and the grave, if the Lord will
be with us.
The Lord goes on to say, "And I will also surely bring you up
again"–which meant that Jacob should not lose his inheritance in
Canaan, nor be forever in banishment in a strange land. Jacob's
heart dwelt in the Canaan which the Lord had bestowed on him and
had entailed upon his seed by a covenant of salt. But Jacob's going
down into Egypt was not to alter that deed of gift. Jacob would not
have accepted Egypt, with all its treasures, in exchange for the land
that God had promised to himself and to his seed. But no such
change was proposed–the chosen seed would leave Egypt in due
course and come back to its old quarters and so the Lord said, "I
will surely bring you up again."
Go down as we may, the Lord will bring us up again. Dear
Friend, you may lose husband, or wife, or father, or child, or
property, or health, or even life. But you shall rise out of every loss
and you shall never lose your share in the sure mercies of David.
"Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord?" Esau might sell the heritage for a mess of pottage
but Jesus would not sell His portion for all Egypt's glories. Nor
shall He be called on to make the exchange. Blessed be God, we
shall never be driven down so low that we cannot rise again, for the
Lord says of every member of the chosen family, "I will surely
bring you up again!"
One more fear Jacob had, perhaps, experienced. He had some fear
of dying. But that was all removed when the Lord said, "And
Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes." "Oh," the good old
father thought, "Joseph is to close my eyes. Then death has lost its
sting." Did you ever think of dying in that light? Let me read it to
you with a word changed and another name inserted–"And Jesus
shall put His hand upon your eyes." We may never die–the Lord
may personally appear and then we shall not all sleep. But if He
does not come and we are called upon to die, Jesus will put His
fingers on our eyes and we shall sleep in peace.
Death is a Covenant blessing to a child of God. For "so He gives
His beloved sleep." That last sleep comes from the finger of that
hand which was nailed to the cross for us. And Jesus, your Joseph
whom you love, whose bloody coat you have seen with tears–He is
yet alive and He is King over all that land where you go, for the
keys of death swing at His girdle. He is the Prince of all realms and
He it is that shall put His hand upon your eyes and seal them for the
moment in darkness, to open them for you, when you shall say, "I
am satisfied, for behold I awake in Your likeness."
By this time, every fear ought to be removed from us, even as it
was from Jacob. We may now set up our banners and go forward.
Put away the sackbut and sound the silver trumpet. Let the
vanguard advance and follow the leader through the wilderness, or
through the sea. If Jehovah leads the way, let no man's heart
tremble. Let the weakest among us be strong–for thus says the
Lord, "Fear not to go down into Egypt." Rejoice and be glad. All is
well–
"What cheering words are these!
Their sweetness who can tell?
In time and to eternal days,
It is with the righteous well.
It is well when joys arise,
It is well when sorrows flow,
It is well when darkness veils the skies,
And strong temptations blow.
It is well when on the mount
We feast on dying love;
And 'tis as well, in God's account,
When we the furnace prove."
The pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day, we see at
all times. Thus Jehovah leads the way in every march through the
desert. With glad footstep, follow Him. Behold, He says to you,
"Fear not to go down into Egypt. For I will go down with you and I
will surely bring you up again." Surely, this passage is very
applicable to all who are removing from one place to another. "Fear
not to go down into Egypt. I will go down with you into Egypt."
Take your journey in peace.
This also may be used by those who are in perplexity as to what
they should do. Wait upon God for direction and when you get your
marching orders, go straight ahead, cheered by this gracious
assurance, "I will go down with you into Egypt." Any of you that
are entering upon a new business, upon new trials, new labors, new
spheres–accept with joy the promise that the Presence of God will
be with you. God leading, we fear nothing.
Lastly, to you that are about to die, here is living consolation.
There may be some here who will never see another earthly
Sabbath, for God has some better thing in store for them, namely,
to see the heavenly Sabbath sooner than they think. Fear not to go
down into the Egypt of the grave, for the Lord will go down with
you into the sepulcher. Jesus has been there–fear not to go where
He went. Whenever I am called in to see any of our dying Church
members, I find them, without exception, calm and willing to
depart. When I come out of the dying chamber I invariably feel that
my faith has been greatly strengthened.
The way in which they meet the approach of the great enemy,
calmly and triumphantly, makes me rest joyfully confident in the
Gospel which I preach. Our dear Friends sing and even shout
joyously in death. One Brother, who passed away not long ago,
even made me laugh by the joyous things he told me in his own
quaint way. I could not help laughing for joy when he talked about
Heaven as if he had been there. There is a dear Brother, not many
doors from this spot, who will probably soon pass away. But he
speaks about his departure as calmly as if he were only going to the
seaside for a holiday. Our Lord's love has changed the very aspect
of death's face.
My dear Brother and co-pastor said to me one day, "O Brother,
our people die well, do they not?" That they do. They give us proof
of the Truth of God which we preach by the way in which it
sustains them in their last hours. Without the slightest fear, or
perturbation of mind, they march onward to the Jordan singing with
the stream in view. I know no happier people in my acquaintance
than a certain suffering few, who are within measurable distance of
the Celestial City. And so it ought to be.
But what is to become of you who have no faith? What is to
become of you who have no God to go to? O Soul, if you have no
God, you are, indeed, miserable. God bring you at once to Himself,
through Jesus Christ His Son! Amen.
Ge 48:15 • A Bit of History for Old and Young
ERMON 1972
A Bit Of History For Old And Young
"And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life
long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil,
bless the lads."
Genesis 48:15, 16
JOSEPH was one by himself. In Jacob's family he was like a
swan in a duck's nest–he seemed to be of a different race from the
rest, even from his childhood. He was the son of old age, the son of
the elders, that is, a child who was old when he was young, in
thoughtfulness and devotion. He reached an early ripeness which
did not end in early decay. In consequence of this, Joseph was one
by himself in the peculiarity of his trials. Through his brothers'
hatred of him, he was made to suffer greatly and, at last, was sold
into slavery and underwent trials in Egypt of the severest kind.
"The archers have sorely grieved him and shot at him, and hated
him." But, Brothers and Sisters, see the recompense, for he had
blessings which were altogether his own. "His bow abode in
strength and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands
of the mighty God of Jacob." He was as distinguished by the favor
of God as by the disfavor of his brothers.
When Jacob is old and about to die, Joseph receives from him a
blessing all to himself, in addition to that which he received with
his brothers. In the 49 th chapter we read, "Gather yourselves
together, and hear, you sons of Jacob: andhearken unto Israel, your
father." And they did so and received as a family such blessings as
their father's prophetic eyes foresaw. But before this, "by faith,
Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph" at a private interview
especially granted to them. Had not his tribulations abounded, his
consolations would not so have abounded! Do you seem, yourself,
my Friend, to be marked out for peculiar sorrows? Do the arrows of
affliction make your life their target and are you chastened above
all other men? Do not be regretful, for the arrows are winged by
Covenant Love which designs, by their wounds, are to prepare you
for a special work which will lead up to a special benediction from
your Father who is in Heaven!
The day will come when you will be grateful for every smart you
now endure–yes, grateful for that bitter pang of unkindness from
your brothers, though now it tortures your heart. The abundance of
the Revelation of God is usually joined with a thorn in the flesh
either before or after it. Notwithstanding your grief, there shall yet
be born to you, as to Joseph, a Manasseh, for God shall make you
forget all your toil, and an Ephraim, for God shall make you fruitful
in the land of your affliction. You shall be blessed above all others!
"Even by the God of your father, who shall help you; and by the
Almighty, who shall bless you with blessings of Heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts, and of
the womb: the blessings of your father have prevailed above the
blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the
everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the
crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."
Surely it is good for a man that he bears the yoke in his youth–his
shoulders shall be the better able to bear the government when God
shall lay it upon them! Instructed by affliction, the man shall
become a father to his people and a comforter to the afflicted.
Our text tells us that Jacob blessed Joseph and we perceive that he
blessed him through blessing his children which leads us to the
next remark, that no more choice favor could fall upon ourselves
than to see our children favored of the Lord. Joseph is doubly
blessed by seeing Ephraim and Manasseh blessed. Dear young
people, to whom I now speak, your fathers can say, "We have no
greater joy than this, that our children walk in the Truth of God." If
any of you who are unconverted knew the deep searching of heart
of your parents about you, I think you would not long be careless
and indifferent about Divine things. And if you could conceive the
flashes of heavenly joy that would light up your parents' hearts if
they saw you saved in the Lord, it would be an inducement to you
to consider your ways and turn unto the Lord with full purpose of
heart. God, Himself, next to giving to His chosen the Covenant of
Grace, can do them no greater earthly kindness than to call their
children, by His Grace, into the same Covenant! Will you not think
of this?
Those of us who are parents are bound to do our best that our
children may be partakers with us of the Divine inheritance. As
Joseph took Ephraim and Manasseh to see their aged grandfather,
let us bring our children where blessings may be expected. Let us
be careful of the company into which we take our sons and
daughters. Let us never conduct them where they may receive harm
rather than benefit. Carefully, lovingly, wisely–using no undue
severity–let us guide them into likely places for the Divine
benediction and encourage them to seek the blessing for themselves
by the fact that their parents are seeking it for them. The father who
will not seize every opportunity of getting a blessing for his
Ephraim and Manasseh is not likely to see the lads seeking the
blessing for themselves. Especially should this care be taken by
parents who are growing rich–whose offspring will be tempted by
this very fact to seek grander society than the poor people of God
can afford them.
I doubt not that these two sons of Egypt's prime minister were
exposed to exceedingly great temptations. As the sons of a very
wealthy and distinguished parent, their tastes might lie in an
Egyptian direction. I believe that they were, nevertheless, greatly
swayed to the right side and led to worship the God of Abraham,
and of Isaac, and of Jacob, by the zeal of their father, Joseph, and
by the recollection of the benediction of their dying grandfather.
There is no trace of their having inclined to the religion of the king
and the nobles of Egypt–they adhered to the faith of their father. Oh
that all the descendants of Puritan fathers might be steadfast to the
pure Truth of God in these evil days!
Furthermore, observe that if we want to bless young people, one
of the likeliest means of doing so will be our personal testimony to
the goodness of God. Young men and women usually feel great
interest in their fathers' life story–if it is a worthy one–and what
they hear from them of their personal experience of the goodness of
God will abide with them. We all read biographies and we value
the results of experience which we find there, but the biographies
of our own relatives are peculiarly treasured. And when these
biographies are not read, but spoken, what wonderful force they
have! I remember in my younger days hearing a minister, blind
with age, speak at the communion table and bear witness to us
young people who had just joined the Church, that it was well for
us that we had come to put our trust in a faithful God. And, as the
good man, with great feebleness and yet with great earnestness,
said to us that he had never regretted that he had given his heart to
Christ as a boy, I felt my heart leap within me with delight that I
had such a God to be my God!
His testimony was such as a younger man could not have borne–
he might have spoken more fluently, but the weight of those 80
years at the back of it made the old man eloquent to my young
heart! We who are growing gray in our Master's service ought not
to be backward to speak well of His name. Why, my Brother, you
will not be able to do so much good in Heaven as you can on earth,
for they all know about it up there–but men here need our witness
to the God whom we have tried and proved! Let us make occasions
in which we may speak well of the Lord, even the God who has fed
us all our life and redeemed us from all evil. This is one of the best
ways in which to bless the lads. The benediction of Jacob was
intertwined with his biography–the blessing which he had, himself,
enjoyed, he wished for them–and as he invoked it, he helped to
secure it by his personal testimony.
One thing further. I want you to note that Jacob, in desiring to
bless his grandsons, introduced them to God. He speaks of "God
before whom my fathers did walk: God who blessed me all my life
long." This is the great distinction between man and man! There
are two races–he that fears God and he that fears Him not. The
religion of this present age, such as it is, has a wrong direction in
its course. It seeks after what is called "the enthusiasm of
humanity," but what we need, far more, is enthusiasm for God! We
shall never go right unless God is first, midst and last. I despair for
benevolence when it is not based upon devotion. We shall not long
have love to man if we do not first and chiefly cultivate love to
God. What our boys need in starting in life is a God–if we have
nothing else to give them, they have enough if they have God!
What our girls need in quitting the nurture of home is God's love in
their hearts–and whether they have fortunes or not, is a small
matter! In fellowship with God lies the essence of true human life!
Life in God, life by the knowledge of the Most High, life through
the Redeeming Angel–this is life, indeed!
Jacob died as one who had been delivered from all evil, yes, even
the evil of old age. His eyes were dim, but that did not matter, for
his faith was clear. I love to think that we are going where our
vision of God will not be through the eyes, but through the spiritual
perceptions. These were brighter in Jacob in his old age than ever
before. His faith and love, which are the earthly forms of those
perceptions, were apprehending God in a more forcible manner
than ever and, therefore, signified little that the eyes which he
would need no longer were failing him. We cannot say that he was
in decay, after all, for he was losing what he only needed in this
world of shadows–and was gaining fitness for the higher state! His
gracious faculties grew as his bodily faculties declined and,
therefore, he felt that his life was ending in a fullness of blessing
such as he wished for the children of his dearest son. How ardently
do I wish the same blessing for all the young people before me!
The Lord God Almighty bless you! When your earth-born faculties
fail you, may heavenly Graces more than supply their place!
All this is introduction, so now we must come at once and plunge
into the discourse! And I will be brief upon each point of it. Jacob's
testimony, wherewith he blessed the sons of Joseph, has in it four
points.
First, HE SPEAKS OF ANCESTRAL MERCIES. He begins with
that "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk."
As with a pencil he sketches the lives of Abraham and Isaac. He
does not fill in with coloring, but the outline is perfect–you see the
two men in their whole career in those few words–"God, before
whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk."
They were men who recognized God and worshipped Him
beyond all others of their age. God was to them a real existence.
They spoke with God and God spoke with them. They were friends
of God and enjoyed familiar acquaintance with him. No
agnosticism blinded their understandings and deadened their hearts.
They were worshippers of the one living and true God. Happy
children who have such fathers! Happier children who are like such
fathers!
They not only recognized God, but they acknowledged Him in
daily life. I take the expression, "God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac did walk," to mean that He was their God in
common life. They not only knelt before God when they prayed,
but they walked before Him in everything. When they went forth
from their tents and when they returned from their flocks, they
walked before God. They were never away from His service, or
without His Presence. He was their dwelling place. Whether they
sojourned under an oak or dwelt by a well. Whether they
entertained strangers or walked in the field to meditate, they lived
and moved in God. This is the kind of life for you and for me–
whether we live in a great house or in a poor cottage, if we walk
before God we shall lead a happy and a noble life–whether that life
is public or obscure. Oh that our young people would firmly
believe this!
They walked before God, that is, they obeyed His commands. His
call they heard, His bidding they followed. Abraham left country
and kindred to go to an unknown land which God would show him.
Yes, more, he took his son, whom he greatly loved, and stood
prepared to sacrifice him at God's command! Isaac also yielded
himself up to be slain, if so Jehovah willed. To them the will of the
Lord was paramount–He was Law and Life to them, for they loved
and feared Him. They were prompt to hear the behests of God and
rose up early to fulfill them. They acted as in the immediate
Presence of the All-Seeing.
To the fullest they trusted Him. In this sense they always saw
Him. We sometimes talk about tracing Him. We cannot trace Him
except as we trust Him! And because they trusted, they traced Him.
Notwithstanding all the danger and difficulty of their pilgrim state,
they dwelt in perfect security in an enemy's land, for the Lord had
said, "Touch not My anointed and do My Prophets no harm." They
were serene and tranquil because they walked before God, knowing
Him to be their Friend–and that He was their shield and their
exceedingly great reward. For temporal things they had no anxiety,
for they lived upon the All-Sufficient God. Therefore these two
men, Abraham and Isaac, though much tried, led peaceful lives–
they conversed with Heaven while they sojourned on earth.
They enjoyed the favor of God, for this, also, is intended by
walking before Him. His face was towards them–they sunned
themselves in His smile. God's love was their true treasure. We
read that God had blessed Abraham in all things and of Isaac we
hear even the Philistines say, "We saw certainly that the Lord was
with you." God was their wealth, their strength, their exceeding
joy! I say again, happy sons who have such ancestors! Happier,
still, if they follow in their track!
So Jacob spoke of Abraham and Isaac and so can some of us
speak of those who went before us. Those of us who can look back
upon godly ancestors now in Heaven must feel that many ties bind
us to follow the same course of life. Had they transgressed against
the Lord, our duty would have called us to quit the ways of the
family, even as Abraham left his kindred who dwelt on the other
side of the flood. But as their way was right, we are doubly called
to follow it because it is the good old way and the way our godly
fathers trod.
There is a charm about that which was prized by our fathers.
Heirlooms are treasured and the best heirloom in a family is the
knowledge of God. When I spoke, the other day, with a Christian
Brother, he seemed right happy to tell me that he sprang from a
family which came from Holland during the persecution of the
Duke of Alva. And I felt a brotherhood with him in claiming a like
descent. I dare say our fathers were poor weavers, but I had far
rather be descended from one who suffered for the faith than bear
the blood of all the emperors within my veins! There should be a
sacredness to you young people in the faith for which your
ancestors suffered. Choose not the society of Egypt and its wealth
and honors, but keep to the stock of Israel and claim the inheritance
of Jacob as Ephraim and Manasseh did. Let it not be said that as
your family increased in riches, it departed from the living God.
Shall the goodness of God be perverted into a reason for apostasy?
The way of holiness in which your fathers went is a fitting way
for you and it is seemly that you maintain the godly traditions of
your house. In the old times they expected sons to follow the
secular calling of their fathers and although that may be regarded as
an old-world mistake, yet it is well when sons and daughters
receive the same spiritual call as their parents. Grace is not tied to
families, yet the Lord delights to bless to a thousand generations!
Very far are we from believing that the new birth is of blood, or of
the will of the flesh, or of the will of man. The will of God reigns
here supreme and absolute–but yet there is a sweet fitness in the
passing on of holy loyalty from grandfather to father and from
father to son. I like to feel that I serve God "from my fathers." I
feel that it is right and comely that I should be found preaching out
of my whole soul the same doctrine which my grandfather and my
father preached–and equally fit that my sons should be found, as
they are, preaching no other Gospel than that which we have
received–"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever!"
I say again, if our fathers were wrong, we ought boldly to dissent
from them and obey God rather than man, but where they are right
we are bound to follow them! I stood, last Wednesday in a sort of
dream as I gazed upon my muchbeloved grandfather's place of
sepulcher. I was encouraged by seeing the record of his 54 years of
service in the midst of one church and people and I rejoiced that,
could he rise from the dead, he would find his grandson preaching
that same old-fashioned and much-despised Calvinistic doctrine of
the Grace of God which was his joy in life and his comfort in
death!
A godly ancestry casts responsibility upon young people. These
Ephraims and Manassehs perceive that their fathers knew the Lord
and the question arises, Why should they not know Him? O my
beloved young Friends, the God of your fathers will be found of
you and be your God! The prayers of your fathers have gone before
you–let them be followed by your own. Be hopeful of being heard
at that Mercy Seat where they found Grace to help in every time of
need. They died in the hope that you would fill their places–shall
not their hopes become facts? Do I speak to some who have godly
parents in Heaven and yet they are, themselves, pursuing the ways
of sin or of worldliness? Registered upon that file are your
mother's prayers. I trust they will yet be heard. Even now they
stand like a hedge about you, making it hard work for you to go to
Hell! Will you force your way to Hell over a father's grave? Will
you, by a desperate effort, push aside your pleading mother's form
and pursue your dreadful road to ruin? If so, you will involve
yourselves in tremendous guilt. I beseech you, hear the tender
voice of love which now invites you to be blest!
A godly ancestry should invest a man's case with great
hopefulness. May he not argue, "If God blessed my ancestors, why
should He not bless me? If they sought mercy and found it, why
should not I? My father and my mother were not perfect any more
than I am, but they had faith in God and He accepted them and
helped them. If I have faith in God, He will accept me and be
faithful to me. They were saved as sinners trusting in the blood of
Jesus and why should not I?" I beseech you, put this argument to
the test and you will find it holds good.
II. Thus we have seen Jacob seeking to bless his seed by bearing
testimony to the blessings which God had bestowed upon his
house. Now he comes to deal with PERSONAL MERCIES. The
old man's voice faltered as he said, "The God which fed me all my
life long." The translation would be better if it ran, "The God which
shepherded me all my life long."
He spoke of the Lord as his Shepherd. Jacob had been a shepherd
and, therefore, he knew what shepherding included–the figure is
full of meaning. There had been a good deal of Jacob about Jacob
and he had tried to shepherd himself. Poor sheep that he was, while
under his own guidance he had been caught in many thorns and had
wandered in many wildernesses. Because he would be so much a
shepherd to himself, he had been hard put to it. But over all, despite
his willfulness, the shepherding of the Covenant God had been
exercised towards him and he acknowledged it. O dear saints of
God, you to whom years are being multiplied, give praise to your
God for having been your Shepherd! You delight in the 23 rd
Psalm–sing it sometimes with variations by using the past
tense–"The Lord has been my Shepherdand I have known no need.
He has made me to lie down in green pastures; He has led me
beside the still waters. Yes, though I have walked through the
valley of the shadow of death in times of great darkness, yet I have
feared no evil: for He has been with me, His rod and His staff have
comforted me." Bear your witness to the shepherding of God, for
this may lead others to become the sheep of His pasture.
This shepherding had been perfect. Our version rightly says that
the Lord had fed Jacob all his life long. Take that sense of it and
you who have a daily struggle for subsistence will see much beauty
in it. Jacob had a large family and yet they were fed. Some of you
say, "It is all very well of you to talk of Providence when you have
few to provide for." I answer, it is better, still, to talk of Providence
where a large household requires large provision! Remember Jacob
had 13 children, yet his God provided them bread to eat and clothes
to put on. None of that large company were left to starve. You
think, perhaps, that Jacob was a man of large estate. He was not so
when he began life. He was only a working man–a shepherd. When
he left his father's house he had no attendants with camels and
tents. I suppose he carried his little bit of provision in a
handkerchief and when he laid down that night to sleep, with a
stone for his pillow, the hedges for curtains, the heavens for his
canopy, and the earth for his bed, he had no fear of being robbed.
God was with him, but apart from that, he had nothing to begin
life with but his own hands. Whatever he received from his father
Isaac afterwards, he had at first to fight his own way–but he knew
no lack either at the beginning or at the end, for he could speak of
the great Elohim as, "the God which fed me all my life long."
Hundreds of us can say the same! I remember one who came to be
wealthy who used to show me with great pleasure the tree axle of
the truck in which he used to wheel his goods through the streets
when he began in business–I liked to see him mindful of his
original. Mind you do not go and say, "See how I have got on by
my own talents and industry!" Talk not so proudly, but say, "God
has fed me." Mercies are all the sweeter when seen to come from
the hand of God.
But besides being fed, Jacob had been led, even as sheep are
guided by the shepherd who goes before them. His journeys, for
that period, had been unusually long, perilous and frequent. He had
fled from home to Padanaram. After long years he had come back
to Canaan and had met his brother, Esau. And after that, in his old
age he had journeyed into Egypt. To go to California or New
Zealand in these times is nothing at all compared to those journeys
in Jacob's day! But he says, "God has shepherded me all my life
long" and he means that the great changes of his life had been
wisely ordered. At home and in exile, in Canaan and in Goshen,
God had been a shepherd to him. He sees the good hand of God
upon him in all his wanderings, until he now finds himself sitting
up on his bed and blessing Joseph through his sons.
I am glad that he went into detail with these young men, for they
needed to be confirmed in their fidelity to God. They were in a
perilous condition, for they had the entree of the rank and fashion
of Egypt and were tempted to forsake the poor family of the
Hebrews. Some of you young fellows begin where your fathers left
off and, having the means of self-indulgence, you are apt to follow
the fashions and frivolities of the period. Oh that the Holy Spirit
may make you feel that you need God with you with wealth as
much as your fathers needed God without wealth! You may yet
come to beggary with all your inheritance if you cast off the fear of
the Lord and fall into sin. You who begin life with nothing but your
own brains and hands, trusting in your father's God, shall yet have
to sing as your fathers sang, "the God which fed me all my life
long."
Young men and young women beginning life, I charge you seek
first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness! It is not life to
live without God–you miss the kernel, the cream, the crown of life
if you miss the Presence of God! Life is but a bubble blown up of
toil and trouble without God! Life ends in blighted hope if you
have not hope in God. But with God you are as a sheep with a
Shepherd–cared for, guided, guarded, fed, led–and your end shall
be peace without end!
III. Thirdly, bear with me while I follow Jacob in his word upon
REDEEMING MERCIES. "The Angel which redeemed me from
all evil." There was to Jacob a mysterious Person who was God and
yet the Angel or Messenger of God. He puts this Angel side by side
with Elohim, for this Angel was God. Yet was He his Redeemer. He
saw Him doing the office of the next-of-kin–though God, He was
his Kinsman and, as his Kinsman, effected redemption for him!
Jacob's faith enabled him, like Job, to know that his Redeemer
lives. He saw that this Covenant Messenger had redeemed him
from all evil and he magnified the name of the Lord who revealed
Himself in this Angel!
When Jacob was in his sorest straits, this Redeeming Angel
always interposed. He fell into an evil state through the influence
of his mother and he did Esau serious wrong. He fled for his life
and at that time there was a great gulf between him and God. Then
that Angel came in and bridged the gulf with a ladder by which he
might rise to God. The Kinsman, God, came in and showed Jacob
how the abyss might be crossed, so that he might return to his God.
When he was away in Padanaram, he began to sink very low while
chaffering with churlish Laban. Then, again, the Angel came and
said, "Get you out from this land and return unto the land of your
kindred." The Redeeming Angel held back wrathful Laban–and
when Esau came to meet him in hot anger, the Angel specially
appeared to Jacob. The Angel wrestled, as a Man, with Jacob to get
Jacob out of Jacob and raise him into Israel! How marvelous was
the redemption which was worked for him that night at Jabbok!
Jacob came forth from the conflict limping, but he walked before
the Lord far better than before! That same mysterious Person had
bid him go down into Egypt with the promise that He would go
down with him. It was the Angel of God's Presence who held His
shield over Jacob and preserved him from all evil.
Brothers and Sisters, let us also tell of the redeeming mercies of
the Lord Jesus towards us! He redeemed us on the bloody tree, but
He has also redeemed us from our death in sin. Do you remember
the place and time when Jesus first met with you? Perhaps not. But
blessed be the Redeeming Angel that quickened me into spiritual
life! I recall the place and time with pleasure! He redeemed us,
also, from despair when, under a sense of sin, we could not dare to
hope. He came to us and showed us our healing in His wounds and
our life in His death. Afterwards, when our corruptions began to
rise and we had a hard battle to believe that such sinners were,
indeed, saved, the Redeeming Angel confirmed our faith and gave
us inward strength. Do we not well remember when He said unto
us, "I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with
loving kindness have I drawn you"? I want you to look back and
remember the times when you were sick and this Redeeming Angel
so sweetly visited you that you were half afraid to get well, for fear
you should lose His Presence–your bed had become a throne to
you!
You remember, too, when that pinch came in business, so that you
could not see how to provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Then Jesus revealed His love and bade you think of the lilies and
the ravens which neither spin nor sow and yet are clothed
majestically and fare sumptuously! Many a time has the Lord
delivered you because He delighted in you. When you were likely
to fall into sin. When you were very wrong in spirit, He beheld you
in pity and restored your soul. Though you were so lukewarm that
He was ready to spue you out of His mouth, yet He knocked at
your door and when you admitted Him, He came in and supped
with you–and your soul was soon on fire with love to Him! He
restored your soul and the love of your espousals came back to you.
Blessed Redeemer, how graciously do You deliver! Oh that we
more often thought of the interpositions of the loving Christ! He
did not only redeem us when He died, but He still redeems us by
His living power! This is the sum of our life–the Angel of the
Covenant has delivered us day by day, is delivering us and will
deliver us to the end! Do you wonder that we commend Him to our
offspring and desire to commit them to His loving care? Young
Friends who know not the Savior, I would gladly lead you to this
Guardian Angel, this God-like Man who will save you from all evil
from this day forth and forevermore!
IV. Now comes the last point–I do not know if anyone has gone to
sleep in this close atmosphere, but if so, let him kindly wake up, for
I have something to say which will interest him. Jacob has spoken
of ancestral mercies, personal mercies and redeeming mercies–and
now he deals with FUTURE MERCIES as he cries–"Bless the
lads." He began with blessing Joseph and he finishes with blessing
his lads. O dear Friends, if God has blessed you, I know you will
want Him to bless others! There is the stream of mercy, deep, broad
and clear–you have drunk of it and are refreshed, but it is as full as
ever! It will flow on, will it not? You do not suppose that you and I
have dammed up the stream so as to keep it to ourselves! No, it is
too strong–too full a stream for that! It will flow on from age to
age. God will bless others as He has blessed us. Unbelief whispers
that the true Church will die out. Do not believe it! Christ will live
and His Church will live with Him till the heavens are no more.
Has He not said, "Because I live, you shall live also?" "Oh," you
say, "but we shall not see such holy men in the next generation as
in past ages." Why not? I hope the next age will see far better men
than any of those who are with us at this time! Pray that it may be
so. Instead of the fathers, may there be the children and may these
be princes before the Lord!
The stream of Divine Grace will flow on. Oh, that it may take our
sons and daughters in its course! "Bless the lads." Sunday school
teachers, is not that a good prayer for you? Pray the Lord to bless
the lads and the lasses, because He has blessed you. There is the
stream–it must flow somewhere–pray, "Lord, make it flow to my
family and to my class." For Your mercy's sake, gracious Lord,
"bless the lads."
We need not say in what precise form or way the blessing shall
come. Let us leave it in all its breadth of inconceivable benediction.
May the Lord bless our youth as only He can do it! And if He
causes them to fear and trust Him, He will be blessing all of us and
blessing ages to come. Upon these Ephraims and Manassehs will
depend the work of the Lord in the years to come. Therefore, with
emphasis we pray, "Bless the lads." All for us, we are content to
work on, saying, "Let Your work appear unto Your servants." But
our anxious desire is that our children may reap the result of our
labors and, therefore, we add, "and Your glory unto their children."
In closing, I wish to bear a personal testimony by narrating an
incident in my own life. I have been preaching in Essex this week
and I took the opportunity to visit the place where my grandfather
preached so long–and where I spent my earliest days. Last
Wednesday was to me a day in which I walked like a man in a
dream! Everybody seemed bound to recall some event or other of
my childhood. What a story of Divine Love and Mercy did it bring
before my mind! Among other things, I sat down in a place that
must always be sacred to me. There stood in my grandfather's
manse garden two arbors made of yew trees, cut into sugar-loaf
fashion. Though the old manse has given way to a new one and the
old chapel is also gone, yet the yew trees flourish as before.
I sat down in the right hand arbor and I thought of what had
happened there many years ago. When I was a young child staying
with my grandfather, there came to preach in the village Mr. Knill
who had been a missionary at St. Petersburg and a mighty preacher
of the Gospel. He came to preach for the London Missionary
Society and arrived on the Saturday at the manse. He was a great
soul-winner and he soon spied out the boy. He said to me, "Where
do you sleep? for I want to call you up in the morning." I showed
him my little room. At six o'clock he called me up and we went
into that arbor. There, in the sweetest way, he told me of the love of
Jesus and of the blessedness of trusting in Him and loving Him in
our childhood. With many a story he preached Christ to me and
told me how good God had been to him.
And then he prayed that I might know the Lord and serve Him.
He knelt down in that arbor and prayed for me with his arms about
my neck. He did not seem content unless I kept with him in the
interval between the services and he heard my childish talk with
patient love. On Monday morning he did as on the Sabbath and
again on Tuesday. Three times he taught me and prayed with me
and before he had to leave, my grandfather had come back from the
place where he had gone to preach–and all the family were
gathered to morning prayer. Then, in the presence of them all, Mr.
Knill took me on his knee and said, "This child will one day preach
the Gospel and he will preach it to great multitudes. I am persuaded
that he will preach in the chapel of Rowland Hill, where, (I think he
said), I am now the minister."
He spoke very solemnly, and called upon all present to witness
what he said. Then he gave me sixpence as a reward if I would
learn the hymn–
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform."
I was made to promise that when I preached in Rowland Hill's
Chapel that hymn should be sung. Think of that as a promise from
a child! Would it ever be other than an idle dream? Years flew by.
After I had begun, for some little time, to preach in London, Dr.
Alexander Fletcher had to give the annual sermon to children in
Surrey Chapel, but as he was taken ill, I was asked, in a hurry, to
preach to the children. "Yes," I said, "I will, if the children will
sing, 'God moves in a mysterious way.' I have made a promise long
ago that so that should be sung."
And so it was–I preached in Rowland Hill's Chapel and the hymn
was sung! My emotions on that occasion I cannot describe. Still
that was not the chapel which Mr. Knill intended! All unsought by
me, the minister at Wotton-UnderEdge, which was Mr. Hill's
summer residence, invited me to preach there. I went on the
condition that the congregation should sing, "God moves in a
mysterious way"–which was also done. After that I went to preach
for Mr. Richard Knill, himself, who was then at Chester. What a
meeting we had! Mark this! He was preaching in the theater! His
preaching in a theater took away from me all fear about preaching
in secular buildings and set me free for the campaigns in Exeter
Hall and the Surrey Music Hall. How much this had to do with
other theater services you know–
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform."
After more than 40 years of the Lord's loving kindness, I sat
again in that arbor! No doubt it is a mere trifle for outmembers of
his family, including his son and his grandchildren, were in the
garden and I could not help calling them together around that arbor
while I praised the Lord for His goodness. One irresistible impulse
was upon me–it was to pray God to bless those lads that stood
around me! Do you not see how the memory begat the prayer? I
wanted them to remember, when they grew up, my testimony of
God's goodness to me–and for that same reason I tell it to you
young people who are around me this morning!
God has blessed me all my life long and redeemed me from all
evil–and I pray that He may be your God. You that have godly
parents, I would specially address. I beseech you to follow in their
footsteps, that you may one day speak of the Lord as they were
able to do in their day. Remember that special promise, "I love
them that love Me and those that seek Me early shall find Me."
May the Holy Spirit lead you to seek Him this day and you shall
live to praise His name as Jacob did! PORTION OF SCRIPTURE
READ BEFORE SERMON–Genesis 47.HYMNS FROM "OUR
OWN HYMN BOOK"–916, 214.
Ge 49:4 • Instability
ERMON 0158
Instability
"Unstable as water, you shall not excel."
Genesis 49:4
PERFECT stability has ceased from the world since the day when
Adam fell. He was stable enough when in the Garden he was
obedient to his Master's will but when he ate of the forbidden fruit
he did not only slide himself but he shook the standing places of all
his posterity. Perfect stability belongs alone to God. He alone, of all
beings, is without variableness or shadow of a turning. He is
immutable, He will not change. He is all-wise, He need not change.
He is perfect. He cannot change. But men, the best of them are
mutable and therefore to a degree they are unstable and do not
excel. Yet it is remarkable that, although man has lost perfect
stability, he has not lost the admiration of it.
Perhaps there is no virtue, or, rather, no compound of virtues
which the world more esteems than stability of mind. You will find
that although men have often misplaced their praise and have
called those great who were not great, those moral who were far
below the level of morality, yet they have scarcely ever called a
man great who has not been consistent, who has not had strength of
mind enough to be stable in his principles. I know not how it is but
so it is–whenever a man is firm and consistent–we always admire
him for it.
Though we feel certain that he is wrong, yet his consistency in his
wrong still excites our admiration. We have known men whom we
have thought to be insane–they have conceived a design so
ridiculous that we could only laugh at them and despise their idea.
But they have stuck to it and we have said, "Well, there is nothing
like a man standing to a thing." And we have admired even the
senseless, brainless idiot, as we have thought him, when we have
seen him stubbornly insisting that his idea would at last triumph
and persevering in futile endeavors to realize his wish.
Now, my Brethren, if it is so in earthly things, it is so also in
spiritual. Instability in religion is a thing which every man despises.
Although every man has, to a degree, evil in himself, stability in
the firm profession and practice of godliness will always win
respect–even from the worldly. And certainly it will not be
forgotten by Him whose smile is honor and whose praise is glory–
even the great Lord and Master–before whom we stand or fall.
I have many characters here today whom I desire to address in the
words of my text. "Unstable as water, you shall not excel." I
propose, first, briefly to notice, the common and unavoidable
instabilities which necessarily attach themselves to the best of
Christians. I shall then note the character of a Christian who is
noted for glaring instability but who,notwithstanding, has sufficient
godliness to bid us hope that he is a child of God. I shall then have
to do with the mereprofessorsinner who in any pretensions he may
ever make to better feelings, is always like the early cloud and the
morning dew.
First, then, to ALL Christians, permit me to address myself. Our
father Adam spoiled us all. And although the second Adam has
renewed us, He has not yet removed from us the infirmities which
the first Adam left us as a mournful legacy. We are none of us
stable as we should be. We had a notion when we were first
converted that we should never know a change. Our soul was so
full of love that we could not imagine it possible we should ever
flag in our devotion. Our faith was so strong in our Incarnate
Master that we smiled at older Christians who talked of doubts and
fears.
Our faces were so steadfastly set Zionward that we never
imagined Bye-path Meadow would ever be trod by our feet. We felt
sure that our course would certainly be "like the shining light
which shines more and more unto the perfect day." But, my
Brethren, have we found it so? Have we not this day to lament that
we have been very changeable and inconstant, even unstable as
water? How unstable have we been in our frames? Today we have
climbed the top of Pisgah and have viewed the heavenly landscape
by the eye of faith.
Tomorrow we have been plunged in the dungeon of despair and
could not call a grain of hope our own. Today we have feasted at
the banqueting table of communion. Tomorrow we have been
exclaiming, "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might
come even unto His feet." At night I have said, "I will not let You
go except You bless me." Tomorrow has beheld my grasp loosened
and prayer neglected until God has said, "I will return unto My
rest, until you have acknowledged your transgressions which you
have committed against Me." High frames one day, low frames the
next.
We have had more changes than even this variable climate of
ours. It is a great mercy for us that frames and slings are not always
the index of our security–for we are as safe when we are mourning
as we are when we are singing. But verily, if our true state before
God had changed as often as our experience of His presence, we
must have been cast into the bottomless pit years ago.
And how variable have we been in our faith! In the midst of one
trouble we have declared, "though He slay me, yet will I trust in
Him." We have courted the jeer, we have laughed at the scorn of