“But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me
that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2
THIS is the season of the year when, whether we wish it or not, we are
compelled to think of the birth of Christ. I hold it to be one of the greatest
absurdities under heaven to think that there is any religion in keeping
Christmas-day. There are no probabilities whatever that our Savior Jesus
Christ was born on that day and the observance of it is purely of Popish
origin; doubtless those who are Catholics have a right to hallow it, but I do
not see how consistent Protestants can account it in the least sacred.
However, I wish there were ten or a dozen Christmas-days in the year; for
there is work enough in the world, and a little more rest would not hurt
laboring people. Christmas-day is really a boon to us, particularly as it
enables us to assemble round the family hearth and meet our friends once
more. Still, although we do not fall exactly in the track of other people, I
see no harm in thinking of the incarnation and birth of the Lord Jesus. We
do not wish to be classed with those
“Who with more care keep holiday
The wrong, than others the right way.”
The old Puritans made a parade of work on Christmas-day, just to show
that they protested against the observance of it. But we believe they
entered that protest so completely, that we are willing, as their
descendants, to take the good accidentally conferred by the day, and leave
its superstitions to the superstitious.
To proceed at once to what we have to say to you: we notice, first, who it
was that sent Christ forth. God the Father here speaks, and says, “Out of
thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel.” Secondly,
where did he come to at the time of his incarnation; Thirdly, what did he
come for; “To be ruler in Israel.” Fourthly, had he ever come before; Yes,
he had. “Whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting.”
I. First then, WHO SENT JESUS CHRIST? The answer is returned to us by
the words of the text. “Out of thee,” saith Jehovah, speaking by the mouth
of Micah, “out of thee shall he come forth unto me.” It is a sweet thought
that Jesus Christ, did not come forth without his Father’s permission,
authority, consent, and assistance. He was sent of the Father, that he might
be the Savior of men. We are, alas I too apt to forget, that while there are
distinctions as to the persons in the Trinity, there are no distinctions of
honor; and we do very frequently ascribe the honor of our salvation, or at
least the depths of its mercy and the extremity of its benevolence, more to
Jesus Christ than we do to the Father. This is a very great mistake. What if
Jesus came? Did not his Father send him? If he was made a child did not
the Holy Ghost beget him? If he spake wondrously, did not his Father pour
grace into his lips, that he might be an able minister of the new covenant? If
his Father did forsake him when he drank the bitter cup of gall, did he not
love him still? and did he not, by-and by, after three days, raise him from
the dead, and at last receive him up on high, leading captivity captive? Ah!
beloved, he who knoweth the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost as
he should know them, never setteth one before another, he is not more
thankful to one than the other, he sees them at Bethlehem, at Gethsemane,
and on Calvary, all equally engaged in the work of salvation. “He shall
come forth unto me.” O Christian, hast thou put thy confidence in the man
Christ Jesus? Hast thou placed thy reliance solely on him? And art thou
united with him? Then believe that thou art united unto the God of heaven,
since to the man Christ Jesus thou art brother, and holdest closest
fellowship, thou art linked thereby with God the Eternal, and “the Ancient
of days” is thy Father and thy friend. “He shall come forth unto me.” Did
you never see the depth of love there was in the heart of Jehovah, when
God the Father equipped his Son for the great enterprise of mercy? There
had been a sad day in Heaven once before, when Satan fell, and dragged
with him a third of the stars of heaven, and when the Son of God launching
from his great right hand the Omnipotent thunders, dashed the rebellious
crew to the pit of perdition; but if we could conceive a grief in heaven that
must have been a sadder day, when the Son of the Most High left his
Father’s bosom, where he had lain from before all worlds. “Go,” saith the
Father, “and thy Father’s blessing on thy head!” Then comes the unrobing.
How do angels crowd around to see the Son of God take off his robes! He
laid aside his crown, he said, “My father, I am Lord over all, blessed for
ever but I will lay my crown aside, and be as mortal men are.” He strips
himself of his bright vest of glory; “Father,” he says, “I will wear a robe of
clay, just such as men wear.” Then he takes off all those jewels wherewith
he was glorified; he lays aside his starry mantles and robes of light, to dress
himself in the simple garments of the peasant of Galilee. What a solemn
disrobing that must have been! And next, can you picture the dismissal!
The angels attend the Savior through the streets, until they approach the
doors: when an angel cries, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye
lifted up ye everlasting doors, and let the king of glory through!” Oh!
methinks the augers must have wept when they lost the company of Jesuswhen
the Sun of Heaven bereaved them of all its light. But they went after
him. They descended with him; and when his spirit entered into flesh, and
he became a babe, he was attended by that mighty host of angels who after
they had been with him to Bethlehem’s manger, and seen him safely laid on
his mother’s breast, in their journey upwards appeared to the shepherds
and told them that he was born king of the Jews. The Father sent him!
Contemplate that subject. Let your soul get hold of it, and in every period
of his life think that he suffered what the Father willed, that every step of
his life was marked with the approval of the great I AM. Let every thought
that you have of Jesus be also connected with the eternal, ever-blessed
God, for “he,” saith Jehovah, “shall come forth unto me.” Who sent him,
then? The answer is, his Father.
II. Now, secondly, WHERE DID HE COME To? A word or two concerning
Bethlehem. It seemed meet and right that our Savior should be born in
Bethlehem and that because of Bethlehem’s history, Bethlehem’s name,
and Bethlehem’s position-little in Judah.
1. First, it seemed necessary that Christ should be born in Bethlehem,
because of Bethlehem’s history. Dear to every Israelite was the little
village of Bethlehem. Jerusalem might outshine it in splendor, for there
stood the temple, the glory of the whole earth, and “beautiful for situation,
the joy of the whole earth was Mount Zion.” Yet around Bethlehem there
clustered a number of incidents which always made it a pleasant restingplace
to every Jewish mind; and even the Christian cannot help loving
Bethlehem. The first mention, I think, that we have of Bethlehem is a
sorrowful one. There Rachel died. If you turn to the 35th of Genesis you
will find it said in the 16th verse-”And they journeyed from Bethel, and
there was but a little way to come to Ephrath; and Rachel travailed, and
she had hard labor; and it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that
the midwife said unto her Fear not, thou shalt have this son also; and it
came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his
name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin; and Rachel died, and
was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a
pillar upon her grave, that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.” A
singular incident this-almost prophetic. Might not Mary have called her
own son Jesus, her Ben-oni; for he was to be the child of sorrow? Simeon
said to her-”Yea a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the
thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” But while she might have called
him Ben-oni, what did God his Father call him? Benjamin, the son of my
right hand. Ben-oni was he as a man. Benjamin as to his Godhead. This
little incident seems to be almost a prophecy that Ben-oni — Benjamin, the
Lord Jesus, should be born in Bethlehem. But another woman makes this
place celebrated. That woman’s name was Naomi. There lived at
Bethlehem in after days, when, perhaps, the stone that Jacob’s fondness
had raised had been covered with moss and its inscription obliterated,
another woman named Naomi. She too was a daughter of joy, and yet a
daughter of bitterness. Naomi was a woman whom the Lord had loved and
blessed but she had to go to a strange land, and she said, “Call me not
Naomi (pleasant) but let my name be called Mara (bitter) for the Almighty
hath dealt very bitterly with me.” Yet was she not alone amid all her losses,
for there cleaved unto her Ruth the Moabitess, whose Gentile blood should
unite with the pure untainted stream of the Jew, and should thus bring forth
the Lord our Savior, the great king both of Jews and Gentiles. That very
beautiful book of Ruth had all its scenery laid in Bethlehem. It was at
Bethlehem that Ruth went forth to glean in the fields of Boaz; it was there
that Boaz looked upon her, and she bowed herself before her lord; it was
there her marriage was celebrated; and in the streets of Bethlehem did
Boaz and Ruth receive a blessing which made them fruitful, so that Boaz
became the father of Obed, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the
father of David. That last fact gilds Bethlehem with glory — the fact that
David was born there — the mighty hero who smote the Philistine giant,
who led the discontented of his land away from the tyranny of their
monarch, and who afterwards, by a full consent of a willing people, was
crowned king of Israel and Judah. Bethlehem was a royal city, because the
kings were there brought forth. Little as Bethlehem was it was much to be
esteemed, because it was like certain principalities which we have in
Europe, which are celebrated for nothing but for bringing forth the
consorts of the royal families of England. It was right, then, from history,
that Bethlehem should be the birth-place of Christ.
2. But again: there is something in the name of the place. “Bethlehem
Ephratah.” The word Bethlehem has a double meaning. It signifies “the
house of bread,” and “the house of war.” Ought not Jesus Christ to be born
in “the house of bread?” He is the Bread of his people, on which they feed.
As our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, so do we live on Jesus here
below. Famished by the world, we cannot feed on its shadows. Its husks
may gratify the swinish taste of worldlings, for they are swine, but we need
something more substantial, and in that blest bread of heaven, made of the
bruised body of our Lord Jesus, and baked in the furnace of his agonies,
we find a blessed food. No food like Jesus to the desponding soul or to the
strongest saint. The very meanest of the family of God goes to Bethlehem
for his bread; and the strongest man, who eats strong meat, goes to
Bethlehem for it. House of Bread! whence could come our nourishment
but from thee? We have tried Sinai, but on her rugged steeps there grow
no fruits, and her thorny heights yield no corn whereon we may feed. We
have repaired even to Tabor itself, where Christ was transfigured, and yet
there we have not been able to eat his flesh and drink his blood. But
Bethlehem, thou house of bread, rightly wast thou called, for there the
bread of life was first handed down for man to eat. And it is also called
“the house of war;” because Christ is to a man “the house of bread,” or
else “the house of war.” While he is food to the righteous he causeth war
to the wicked, according to his own word-”think not that I am come to
send peace on the earth; I am not come to send peace, but a sword. For I
am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter
against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” Sinner! if thou dost
not know Bethlehem as “the house of bread,” it shall be to thee a “house of
war.” If from the lips of Jesus thou dost never drink sweet honey-if thou
art not like the bee, which sippeth sweet luscious liquor from the Rose of
Sharon, then out of the selfsame mouth there shall go forth against thee a
two-edged sword; and that month from which the righteous draw their
bread, shall be to thee the mouth of destruction and the cause of thine ill.
Jesus of Bethlehem, house of bread and house of war, we trust we know
thee as our bread. Oh! that some who are now at war with thee might hear
in their hearts, as well as in their ears the song” -
“Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”
And now for that word Ephratah. That was the old name of the place
which the Jews retained and loved. The meaning of it is, “fruitfulness,” or
“abundance.” Ah! well was Jesus born in the house of fruitfulness; for
whence cometh my fruitfulness and thy fruitfulness, my brother, but from
Bethlehem? Our poor barren hearts never produced one fruit or flower, till
they were watered with the Savior’s blood. It is his incarnation which
fattens the soil of our hearts. There had been pricking thorns on all the
ground, and mortal poisons, before he came; but our fruitfulness comes
from him. “I am like a green fir-tree; from thee is my fruit found.” “All my
springs are in thee.” If we be like trees planted by the rivers of water,
bringing forth our fruit in our season, it is not because we were naturally
fruitful, but because of the rivers of water by which we were planted. It is
Jesus that makes us fruitful “If a man abide in me,” he says, “and my words
abide in him, he shall bring forth much fruit.” Glorious Bethlehem
Ephratah! Rightly named! Fruitful house of bread-the house of abundant
provision for the people of God!
3. We notice, next, the position of Bethlehem. It is said to be “little among
the thousands of Judah.” Why is this? Because Jesus Christ always goes
among little ones. He was born in the little one “among the thousands of
Judah.” Not Bashan’s high hill, not on Hebron’s royal mount, not in
Jerusalem’s palaces; but in the humble, yet illustrious, village of Bethlehem.
There is a passage in Zechariah which teaches us a lesson:-It is said that the
man on the red horse stood among the myrtle-trees. Now the myrtle-trees
grow at the bottom of the hill; and the man on the red horse always rides
there. He does not ride on the mountain-top; he rides among the humble in
heart. “With this man will I dwell, saith the Lord with him who is of a
humble and contrite spirit, and who trembleth at my word.” There are
some little ones here this morning- “little among the thousands of Judah.”
No one ever heard your name, did they? If you were buried, and had your
name on your tombstone, it would never be noticed. Those who pass by
would say, “It is nothing to me: I never knew him.” You do not know
much of yourself, or think much of yourself; you can scarcely read,
perhaps. Or if you have some talents and ability, you are despised amongst
men; or, if you are not despised by them, you despise yourself. You are
one of the little ones. Well, Christ is always born in Bethlehem among the
little ones. Big hearts never get Christ inside of them; Christ lieth not in
great hearts, but in little ones. Mighty and proud spirits never have Jesus
Christ, for he cometh in at low doors, but he will not come in at high ones.
He who hath a broken heart, and a low spirit, shall have the Savior, but
none else. He healeth not the prince and the king, but “the broken in heart,
and he bindeth up their wounds.” Sweet thought! He is the Christ of the
little ones. “Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be
ruler in Israel.”
We cannot pass away from this without another thought here, which is,
how “wonderfully mysterious was that providence which brought Jesus
Christ’s mother to Bethlehem at the very time when she was to be
delivered! His parents were residing at Nazareth; and what should they
want to travel at that time for? Naturally, they would have remained at
home, it was not at all likely that his mother would have taken a journey to
Bethlehem while in so peculiar a condition; but Caesar Augustus issues a
decree that they are to be taxed. Very well, then, let them be taxed at
Nazareth. No; it pleases him that they should all go to their city. But why
should Caesar Augustus think of it just at that particular time? Simply
because, while man deviseth his way, the king’s heart is in the hand of thy
Lord. Why, what a thousand chances, as the world has it, met together to
bring about this event! First of all, Caesar quarreled with Herod, one of the
Herods was deposed, Caesar says “I shall tax Judea, and make it a
province, instead of having it for a separate kingdom.” Well, it must be
done. But when is it to be done? This taxing, it is said, was first
commenced when Cyreneus was governor. But why is the census to be
taken at that particular period-suppose, December? Why not have had it
last October? and why could not the people be taxed where they were
living? Was not their money just as good there as anywhere else, It was
Caesar’s whim, but it was God’s decree. Oh! we love the sublime doctrine
of eternal absolute predestination. Some have doubted its being consistent
with the free agency of man. We know well it is so, and we never saw any
difficulty in the subject; we believe metaphysicians have made difficulties;
we see none ourselves. It is for us to believe, that man does as he pleases,
yet notwithstanding he always does as God decrees. If Judas betrays
Christ, “thereunto he was appointed;” and if Pharoah hardens his heart, yet,
“for this purpose have I raised thee up, for to show forth my power in
thee.” Man doth as he wills, but God maketh him do as he willeth, too.
Nay, not only is the will of man under the absolute predestination of
Jehovah; but all things, great or little, are of him. Well hath the good poet
said, “Doubtless the sailing of a cloud hath Providence to its pilot;
doubtless the root of an oak is gnarled for a special purpose, God
compasseth all things, mantling the globe like air.” There is nothing great
or little, that is not from him. The summer dust moves in its orbit, guided
by the same hand which rolls the stars along, the dewdrops have their
father, and trickle on the rose leaf as God bids them; yea, the sear leaves of
the forest, when hurled along by the tempest, have their allotted position
where they shall fall, nor can they go beyond it. In the great, and in the
little, there is God-God in everything, working all things according to the
counsel of his own will; and though man seeks to go against his Maker, yet
he cannot. God hath bounded the sea with a barrier of sand, and if the sea
mount up wave after wave, yet it shall not exceed its allotted channel.
Everything is of God; and unto him who guideth the stars and wingeth
sparrows, who ruleth planets and yet moveth atoms, who speaks thunders
and yet whispers zephyrs, unto him be glory; for there is God in everything,
III. This brings us to the third point: WHAT DID JESUS COME FOR? He
came to be “ruler in Israel.” A very singular thing is this, that Jesus Christ
was said to have been “born the king of the Jews.” Very few have ever
been “born king.” Men are born princes, but they are seldom born kings. I
do not think you can find an instance in history where any infant was born
king. He was the prince of Wales, perhaps, and he had to wait a number of
years, till his father died, and then they manufactured him into a king, by
putting a grown on his head; and a sacred chrism and other silly things; but
he was not born a king. I remember no one who was born a king except
Jesus; and there is emphatic meaning in that verse that we sing-
“Born thy people to deliver
Born a child, and yet a king.”
The moment that he came on earth he was a king. He did not wait till his
majority that he might take his empire; but as soon as his eye greeted the
sunshine he was a king; from the moment that his little hands grasped
anything, they grasped a scepter: as soon as his pulse beat, and his blood
began to flow, his heart beat royally, and his pulse beat an imperial
measure, and his blood flowed in a kingly current. He was born a king. He
came “to be ruler in Israel.” “Ah!” says one, “then he came in vain, for little
did he exercise his rule; ‘he came unto his own, and his own received him
not ,’ he came to Israel and he was not their ruler, but he was ‘despised
and rejected of men,’ cast off by them all, and forsaken by Israel, unto
whom he came.” Ay, but “they are not all Israel who are of Israel,” neither
because they are the seed of Abraham shall they all be called. Ah, no! He is
not ruler of Israel after the flesh, but he is the ruler of Israel after the spirit.
Many such have obeyed him. Did not the apostles bow before him, and
own him as their king? And now, doth not Israel salute him as their ruler?
Do not all the seed of Abraham after the spirit, even all the faithful, for he
is “the father of the faithful,” acknowledge that unto Christ belong the
shields of the mighty, for he is the king of the whole earth? Doth he not
rule over Israel? Ay, verily he doth, and those who are not ruled over by
Christ are not of Israel. He came to be a ruler over Israel. My brother, hast
thou submitted to the sway of Jesus? Is he ruler in thine heart, or is he not?
We may know Israel by this: Christ is come into their hearts, to be ruler
over them. “Oh!” saith one, “I do as I please, I was never in bondage to
any man.” Ah! then thou basest the rule of Christ. “Oh!” says another, “I
submit myself to my minister, to my clergyman, or to my priest, and I think
that what he tells me is enough, for he is my ruler.” Dost thou? Ah! poor
slave, thou knowest not thy dignity; for nobody is thy lawful ruler but the
Lord Jesus Christ. “Ay,” says another, “I have professed his religion and I
am his follower.” But doth he rule in thine hearts Doth he command thy
will? Doth he guide thy judgment? Dost thou ever seek counsel at his
handing thy difficulties? Art thou desirous to honor him, and to put crowns
upon his heads. Is he thy ruler? If so then thou art one of Israel, for it is
written, “He shall come to be ruler in Israel.” Blessed Lord Jesus! thou art
ruler in thy people’s hearts, and thou ever shalt be; we want no other ruler
save thyself, and we will submit to none other. We are free, because we are
the servants of Christ; we are at liberty, because he is our ruler, and we
know no bondage and no slavery, because Jesus Christ alone is monarch of
our hearts. He came “to be ruler in Israel,” and mark you, that mission of
his is not quite fulfilled yet, and shall not be till the latter-day glories. In a
little while you shall see Christ come again, to be ruler over his people
Israel, and ruler over them not only as spiritual Israel, but even as natural
Israel, for the Jews shall be restored to their land, and the tribes of Jacob
shall yet sing in the halls of their temple; unto God there shall yet again be
offered Hebrew songs of praise, and the heart of the unbelieving Jew shall
be melted at the feet of the true Messias. In a short time, he who at his
birth was hailed king of the Jews by Easterns, and at his death was written
king of the Jews by a Western, shall be called king of the Jews everywhereyes,
king of the Jews and Gentiles also-in that universal monarchy whose
dominion shall be co-extensive with the habitable globe, and whose
duration shall be coeval with time itself. He came to be a ruler in Israel, and
a ruler most decidedly he shall be, when he shall reign among his people
with his ancients gloriously.
IV. And now, the last thing is, DID JESUS CHRIST EVER COME BEFORE?
We answer, yes: for our text says, “Whose goings forth have been of old,
from everlasting.”
First, Christ has had his goings forth in his Godhead. “From everlasting.”
He has not been a secret and a silent person up to this moment. That newborn
child there has worked wonders long ere now; that infant slumbering
in its mother’s arms is the infant of to-day, but it is the ancient of eternity;
that child who is there hath not made its appearance on the stage of this
world; his name is not yet written in the calendar of the circumcised; but
still though you wish it not, “his goings forth have been of old, from
everlasting.”
1. Of old he wend forth as our covenant head in election, “according as he
hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world.”
“Christ be my first elect, he said,
Then chose our souls in Christ our Head.”
2. He had goings forth for his people, as their representative before the
throne even before they were begotten in the world. It was from
everlasting that his mighty fingers grasped the pen, the stylus of ages, and
wrote his own name, the name of the eternal Son of God; it was from
everlasting that he signed the compact with his Father, that he would pay
blood for blood, wound for wound, suffering for suffering, agony for
agony, and death for death, in the behalf of his people, it was from
everlasting that he gave himself up, without a murmuring word, that from
the crown of his head to the sole of his foot he might sweat blood, that he
might be spit upon, pierced, mocked, rent asunder, suffer the pain of death,
and the agonies of the cross. His goings forth as our Surety were from
everlasting. Pause my soul, and wonder! Thou hadst goings forth in the
person of Jesus from everlasting. Not only when thou wast born into the
world did Christ love thee, but his delights were with the sons of men
before there were any sons of men. Often did he think of hem, from
everlasting to everlasting he had set his affliction upon them. What!
believer, has he been so long about thy salvation, and will he not
accomplish it? Has he from everlasting been going forth to save me, and
will he lose me now? What! has he had me in his hand, as his precious
jewel, and will he now let me slip between his precious fingers? Did he
choose me before the mountains were brought forth, or the channels of the
deep scooped out, and will-he lose me now? Impossible!
“My name from the palms of his hands
Eternity cannot erase;
Impress’d on his heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace.”
I am sure he would not love me so long, and then leave off loving me. If he
intended to be tired of me, he would have been tired of me long before
now. If he had not loved me with a love as deep as hell and as unutterable
as the grave, if he had not given his whole heart to me, I am sure he would
have turned from me long ago. He knew what I would be, and he has had
long time enough to consider of it, but I am his choice, and there is an end
of it; and unworthy as I am, it is not mine to grumble, if he is but contented
with me. But he is contented with me-he must be contented with me-for he
has known me long enough to know my faults. He knew me before I knew
myself; yea, he knew me before I was myself Long before my members
were fashioned they were written in his book, “when as yet there were
none of them,” his eyes of affection were set on them. He knew how badly
I would act towards him, and yet he has continued to love me;
“His love in times past forbids me to think,
He’ll leave me at last in trouble to sink.”
No; since “his goings forth were of old from everlasting,” they will be “to
everlasting.”
Secondly, we believe that Christ has come forth of old, even to men, so
that men have beheld him. I will not stop to tell you that it was Jesus who
walked in the garden of Eden in the cool of the day, for his delights were
with the sons of men; nor will I detain you by pointing out all the various
ways in which Christ came forth to his people in the form of the angel of
the covenant, the Paschal Lamb, the brazen serpent, the burning bush, and
ten thousand types with which the sacred history is so replete; but I will
rather point you to four occasions when Jesus Christ our Lord has
appeared on earth as a man, before his great incarnation for our salvation.
And, first, I beg to refer you to the 18th chapter of Genesis, where Jesus
Christ appeared to Abraham, of whom we read, “The Lord appeared unto
him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the
day; and he lift up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him; and
when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed
himself toward the ground.” But whom did he bow to? He said “My
Lord,” only to one of them. There was one man between the other two, the
most conspicuous for his glory, for he was the God-man Christ; the other
two were created angels; who for a time had assumed the appearance of
men. But this was the man Christ Jesus. “And he said, My Lord, if now I
have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest
yourselves under the tree.” You will notice that this majestic man, this
glorious person, stayed behind to talk with Abraham. In the 22nd verse it is
said,-”And the men turned their faces from thence and went towards
Sodom;” that is, two of them, as you will see in the next chapter “but
Abraham stood yet before the Lord.” You will notice that this man, the
Lord, held sweet fellowship with Abraham, and allowed Abraham to plead
for the city he was about to destroy. He was in the positive form of man;
so that when he walked the streets of Judea it was not the first time that he
was a man; he was so before, in “the plain of Mamre, in the heat of the
day.” There is another instance-his appearing to Jacob, which you have
recorded in the 32nd chapter of Genesis and the 24th verse. All his family
were gone, “And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him
until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not
against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s
thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for
the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, unless thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said,
Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast
thou power with God.” This was a man, and yet God. “For as a prince hast
thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” And Jacob knew
that this man was God, for he says in the 30th verse: “for I have seen God
face to face, and my life is preserved.” Another instance you will find in the
book of Joshua. When Joshua had crossed the narrow stream of Jordan,
and had entered the promised land, and was about to drive out the
Canaanites, lo! this mighty man-God appeared to Joshua. In the 5th
chapter, at the 13th verse, we read-”And it came to pass, when Joshua was
by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a
man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went
unto him, and (like a brave warrior, as he was,) said unto him, Art thou for
us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as Captain of the host of
the Lord am I now come.” And Joshua saw at once that there was divinity
in him; for Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said to
him, “What saith my lord unto his servant?” Now, if this had been a
created angel he would have reproved Joshua, and said, “I am one of your
fellow servants.” But no; “the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua,
Loose thy shoe from thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.
And Joshua did so.” Another remarkable instance is that recorded in the
third chapter of the book of Daniel, where we read the account of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being cast into the fiery furnace, which
was so fierce that it destroyed the men who threw them in. Suddenly the
king said to his counsellors-”Did not we cast three men bound into the
midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He
answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the
fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of
God.” How should Nebuchadnezzar know that? Only that there was
something so noble and majestic in the way in which that wondrous Man
bore himself, and some awful influence about him, who so marvellously
broke the consuming teeth of that biting and devouring flame, so that it
could not so much as singe the children of God. Nebuchadnezzar
recognized his humanity. He did not say, “I see three men and an angel,”
but he said, “I see four positive men, and the form of the fourth is like the
Son of God.” You see then, what is meant by his goings forth being “from
everlasting.”
Observe for a moment here, that each of these four great occurrences
happened to the saints when they there engaged in very eminent duty, or
when they were about to be engaged in it. Jesus Christ does not appear to
his saints every day. He did not come to see Jacob till he was in affliction;
he did not visit Joshua before he was about to be engaged in a righteous
war. It is only in extraordinary seasons that Christ thus manifests himself to
his people. When Abraham interceded for Sodom, Jesus was with him, for
one of the highest and noblest employ meets of a Christian is that of
intercession, and it is when he is so engaged that he will be likely to obtain
a sight of Christ. Jacob was engaged in wrestling, and that is a part of
Christian’s duty to which some of you never did attain; consequently, you
do not have many visits from Jesus. It was when Joshua was exercising
bravery that the Lord met him. So with Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego: they were in the high places of persecution, on account of their
adherence to duty, when he came to them and said, “I will be with you,
passing through the fire.” There are certain peculiar places we must enter,
to meet with the Lord. We must be in great trouble, like Jacob; we must be
in great labor, like Joshua; we must have great intercessory faith, like
Abraham; we must be firm in the performance of duty, like Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego or else we shall not know him “whose goings
forth have been of old, from everlasting;” or, if we know him, we shall not
be able to “comprehend with all the saints what is the height, and depth,
and length, and breadth of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.”
Sweet Lord Jesus! thou whose goings forth were of old, even from
everlasting, thou hast not left thy goings forth yet. Oh! that thou wouldst
go forth this day to cheer the faint, to help the weary, to bind up our
wounds, to comfort our distresses! Go forth, we beseech thee, to conquer
sinners, to subdue hard hearts-to break the iron gates of sinners’ lusts, and
cut the iron bars of their sins in pieces! O Jesus! go forth; and when thou
goest forth, come thou to me! Am I a hardened dinner? Come thou to me;
I want thee:
“Oh! let thy grace my heart subdue;
I would be led in triumph too.
A willing captive to my Lord,
To sing the honors of thy word.”
Poor sinner! Christ has not left going forth yet. And when he goes forth,
recollect, he goes to Bethlehem. Have you a Bethlehem in your heart? Are
you little? He will go forth to you yet. Go home and seek him by earnest
prayer. If you have been made to weep on account of sin, and think
yourself too little to be noticed, go home, little one! Jesus comes to little
ones; his goings forth were of old, and he is going forth now. He will come
to your poor old house; he will come to your poor wretched heart; he will
come, though you are in poverty, and clothed in rags though you are
destitute, tormented, and afflicted; he will come, for his goings forth have
been of old from everlasting. Trust him, trust him, trust him; and he will go
forth to abide in your heart for ever.
