tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90730346189382807092024-03-05T13:17:41.195-08:00Moses Wrote Of ChristIAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-72316649040509057552010-12-25T15:47:00.000-08:002010-12-25T15:53:29.040-08:00Genesis 44<span style="font-family: georgia;">"</span>And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken<span style="font-family: georgia;">" (Genesis 44:2).<br /><br />Is not this cup an emblem of the cup of salvation?<br /><br />Doth not Jesus put it Himself in the hands and hearts of His people?<br /><br />Psalm 116:13.<br /><br />_____________________________________________<br /><br />"</span>[And] when they were gone out of the city, [and] not [yet] far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?<span style="font-family: georgia;">" (Genesis 44:4).<br /><br />And doth not this plan of Joseph to detain his brethren, lead the reader to remark how graciously Jesus useth means to detain our hearts, in order to bring them home to Himself?<br /><br />_____________________________________________<br /><br />"" (Genesis 44:17-18).<br /><br />>><br /><br /><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-65920829095616412672010-12-08T18:55:00.000-08:002010-12-19T16:10:52.846-08:00Genesis 43<span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother [be] with you.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">" (Genesis 43:3)</span>.<br /><br />If the reader be taught of God the Holy Ghost to read this spiritually, he will perceive that the same is said respecting Jesus.<br /><br />We cannot see the face of God except that Jesus be with us; <span style="font-weight: bold;">John 14:6</span>.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">"</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">" (Genesis 43:9).</span><br /><br />I detain the reader to remark the character here assumed by Judah as a surety, in which he was an eminent type of Jesus.<br /><br />It was Jesus who from everlasting undertook to answer for His people.<br /><br />And in this great office He hath fulfilled all righteousness, and expiated all offences; and is now pledged (as Judah said here), to bring all His people and set them before His father.<br /><br />Sweetly is it said of him that he restored that which he took not away; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psalm 69:4</span>.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">"</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">And their father Israel said unto them, If [it must be] so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">" (Genesis 43:11).</span><br /><br />Observe, though Canaan wanted corn, yet it abounded with honey.<br /><br />Reader! there are many parts of the earth which are blessed with the gifts of common providence: but what are these without the special gifts of grace.<br /><br />Bread is the staff of life.<br /><br />And what bread is to the body such is Jesus to the soul.<br /><br />Lord, evermore give <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">me</span> this bread! <span style="font-weight: bold;"> John 6:33-35</span>.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 43:18).</span><br /><br />Is there not a spiritual illustration here!<br /><br />Are not awakened souls alarmed when first brought into Jesus' house and presence?<br /><br />Read that scripture, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Revelation 1:17</span>.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 43:25).</span><br /><br />Is not this expected interview between Joseph and his brethren similar to that which we are looking forward to between God and ourselves?<br /><br />But as the presence of Benjamin with them ensured their gracious reception, so if Jesus be with us we have no cause to fear ours.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br />Reader! let you and I turn from the table of Joseph amidst his brethren, while they are thus merry and happy with him, to consider the spiritual interest which we have in these things.<br /><br />The world which we dwell in, like that of Canaan to the Patriarch's family, is a world of famine in bread for the soul. And if you know what spiritual hunger means, you will know also that this heavenly corn for ourselves and our household can nowhere else be had but of the lord of the country, even from the Lord Jesus, of whom Joseph was the type.<br /><br />Shall we not arise and go to him?<br /><br />We will not, like Jacob's sons, take a present in our hand, for he is too rich to be benefitted by our favours: and his blessings are too great to come within the price of purchase.<br /><br />But like Jacob, let us pray that God Almighty may give us mercy before the man, even the God'man Christ Jesus.<br /><br />Dearest Lord, behold us now before Thee!<br /><br />Oh! say to Thy stewards the ministers of Thy table as Joseph did to his; bring these men home and make ready, for these men shall dine with me at noon.<br /><br />And oh! the wonderful condescension, Jesus indeed receiveth sinners and eateth with them.<br /><br />We see Thy face. We behold Thy glory. We hear Thy voice. We rejoice and are merry like the brethren of Joseph, while our brother Jesus saith, Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.<br /><br />And dearest Redeemer! we would pray do Thou make our meeting gracious in drawing nigh to us by Thy Holy Spirit, in opening to our minds the Holy Scriptures, and in making Thyself known to us in breaking of bread and in prayer.<br /><br />Then shall we fully understand and have our souls refreshed indeed in the experience, that Thy flesh is meat indeed, and Thy blood drink indeed.<br /><br /><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-38406981888966606972010-12-07T17:53:00.000-08:002010-12-07T17:56:41.367-08:00<span style="font-family: georgia;">"" (Genesis 42:1).<br /><br />Reader! recollect that at our last view of Jacob we left him in a state of the greatest affliction, on the supposed loss of Joseph; Genesis 37:35.<br /><br />Here we find him in the midst of his family, likely to perish for want of bread!<br /><br />Remember what Jesus saith, John 16:33.<br /><br />Then read that sweet Scripture, Isaiah 33:16.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br />"" (Genesis 42:7).<br /><br />>>><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-26788800339506192842010-12-04T16:33:00.000-08:002010-12-04T16:44:24.117-08:00Jesus, Our Wonderful Counsellor, The Revealer of Secrets - Genesis 41<span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">"" (Genesis 41:38)</span>.<br /><br />Reader! do not overlook our great spiritual Joseph through all this.<br /><br />While Pharaoh exclaims with astonishment in the view of the Spirit of God in Joseph, how ought we to admire and adore Him, who received not the Spirit of God by measure, but in Whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily? <span style="font-weight: bold;">John 3:34; Colossians 2:9</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"" (Genesis 41:40)</span>.<br /><br />How sweet are those words applied to, and spoken of, Jesus!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">John 15:5</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">"" (Genesis 41:42)</span>.<br /><br />When the Church is adorned in the robes of the Redeemer's righteousness then, like Joseph, how differently clad from the former wretchedness!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Psalm 45:9-11</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"" (Genesis 41:45)</span>.<br /><br />Zaphnath-panneah, a revealer of secrets.<br /><br />And is not Jesus a revealer of secrets?<br /><br />Is He not at the right hand of God, to teach us His Father's will, dispensing spiritual life and food to a famished world?<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"" (Genesis 41:46)</span>.<br /><br />Jesus was about the same age when He entered upon His public ministry (cf. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Luke 3:23</span>).<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"" (Genesis 41:55)</span>.<br /><br />Sweet thought suggested here, in view of the perishing Egyptians going unto Joseph; to teach perishing sinners how to go unto Jesus.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 12:2</span>.<br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-62438918646617878712010-11-24T02:39:00.000-08:002010-11-24T02:51:24.421-08:00The Lord Jesus is With Us even in the Prison Experiences of Life; Genesis 40<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bNZu_y85uYjCvxw5_NROwCLGkJlqDAgWh5Kkc2KwKGYPIjNfZawu2NtZR8q9tmjeKcWWL5trwmZuHZtxd3Zw28-PsLbH1Zfafjdv7QJDfZUG57gDdewQTN7U_w4PxYfFeRvuNd0r3Zc/s1600/Prison.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bNZu_y85uYjCvxw5_NROwCLGkJlqDAgWh5Kkc2KwKGYPIjNfZawu2NtZR8q9tmjeKcWWL5trwmZuHZtxd3Zw28-PsLbH1Zfafjdv7QJDfZUG57gDdewQTN7U_w4PxYfFeRvuNd0r3Zc/s400/Prison.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543066853001344610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Reader! mark this down in the memorandums of your life, that </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >whether in a prison or a palace, the faithful have God for their portion.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />And what a sweet thought is it, that, as no walls can confine the souls of God's people, so </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >neither can bolts or bars shut the Lord out.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">If you are the Lord's prisoner, this is preferable to being the world's freeman.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">And when we recollect how precious the enjoyments some have found in those seasons, very </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >evident it is that the Comforter is with them, and that to bless them</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />But <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">even here in Joseph's history let me not lose sight of the Lord Jesus</span>, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >who was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare His generation? </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">(</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Isaiah 53:8</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">).</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Blessed Lord! let me never forget </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-family:georgia;" >the afflictions of my spiritual and almighty Joseph</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >nor the cause</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> of them; </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >but in all events of life <span style="font-style: italic;">as well properous as distressing,</span> cease not to remember Thee!</span><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-56139799032324566182010-11-23T00:51:00.000-08:002010-11-23T01:04:31.133-08:00The Sufferings of Christ Previewed in Joseph, Genesis 39<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QzOc6hABbYJ1touIKpPwdeDcGbsu-M1w_KIYWYoXopkr_EgjJU2kdxmz_OhPIlJPu0__wM2ZgAFVlrmYOtLUL1mOkfqZPIK8sUN1VIiiiYgiGE7Co58rnbXlndFfCCzum-PumZdfFA0/s1600/Joseph_Faithful_in_Prison.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 352px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QzOc6hABbYJ1touIKpPwdeDcGbsu-M1w_KIYWYoXopkr_EgjJU2kdxmz_OhPIlJPu0__wM2ZgAFVlrmYOtLUL1mOkfqZPIK8sUN1VIiiiYgiGE7Co58rnbXlndFfCCzum-PumZdfFA0/s400/Joseph_Faithful_in_Prison.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542668459205695698" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Who doth not feel <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">pity</span> in the review of Joseph's unjust and cruel treatment!<br /><br />Behold the Patriarch <span style="font-style: italic;">a little before</span> the object of his father's love. And <span style="font-style: italic;">now</span> look at him as a bond slave and a prisoner in a strange land!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To what a reverse of circumstances are even good men exposed in this waste and howling wilderness</span>.<br /><br />But reader! <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">never forget that Jesus is with His people always, and in all their afflictions He is afflicted</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Suitable, seasonable grace</span> shall be given them as they stand in need. And <span style="font-style: italic;">as their day is, so shall their strength be.</span><br /><br />But is there nothing in this chapter which prompts the heart to discover <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">some faint sketches of Him of whom Joseph was a type</span>?<br /><br />Oh yes! certainly <span style="font-weight: bold;">a greater than Joseph is here</span>.<br /><br />• How was the Son of God when upon earth <span style="font-weight: bold;">sold and tempted, and led</span> into prison and unto death!<br /><br />• If we look at Joseph <span style="font-weight: bold;">suffering by unjust imputation</span>, can we forget for a moment Him to whom our sins are imputed; though <span style="font-style: italic;">He did no sin and in whose mouth there was found no guile.</span><br /><br />Did He not <span style="font-style: italic;">bear our sins in His own body on the tree when He died, the just for the unjust to bring us to God.</span><br /><br />Lord, grant that as in so much mercy, Thou didst condescend to be sin for us who knew no sin, we may be made the righteousness of God in Thee.<br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-38931603318969049552010-11-22T01:50:00.000-08:002010-11-22T02:17:03.071-08:00The Bloodline of Christ – from the Royal Tribe, but including some Rebellious Transgressors; Genesis 38<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzKmvAxbOMHSe2quTdsLVlsQEFP4T4u_ammZwF8TjDOr92YaLJRpWTRlncD6HhMQy_G6wqVnNNogbnFUJ-Lktm1YiobMFCPeiypMx9MdeZ_5qagfT21e0w_OuyrdauPgeVhHA1_dlUQjA/s1600/red-blood-cells.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzKmvAxbOMHSe2quTdsLVlsQEFP4T4u_ammZwF8TjDOr92YaLJRpWTRlncD6HhMQy_G6wqVnNNogbnFUJ-Lktm1YiobMFCPeiypMx9MdeZ_5qagfT21e0w_OuyrdauPgeVhHA1_dlUQjA/s400/red-blood-cells.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542316054490136962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">This chapter is a digression from the subject of Joseph's history, but it becomes a very interesting one because it records the race of Judah, another of Jacob's sons.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ans as our Lord sprang out of Judah, according to the flesh (</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Hebrews 7:14</span><span style="font-style: italic;">), it is indeed highly important to <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">trace the descent of Judah until we find it terminate in Christ.</span></span><br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">[ Verses 1-9 ]</span><br /><br />Reader! pause over this history.<br /><br />Who shall take upon him to say to what extent this unnatural sin hath been prevalent in all ages!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Though hidden from human observation, with what malignity must the vast mass of such works of darkness come up before God?</span><br /><br />Oh! <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">how precious, increasingly precious, is Jesus,</span> in every renewed consideration to the mind conscious of sin, <span style="font-style: italic;">whose blood alone cleanseth from all sin.<br /><br /></span>__________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >" (Genesis 38:13).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Judges 14:1</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">It is worthy remark, that though there are, I believe, but </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >four</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> women named in the list of the ancestors of Christ, after the flesh,</span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" > in Matthew's relation of the pedigree</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >this is one of them; </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Matthew 1:3</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">__________________________________________________</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">What hath sin wrought in all ages!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">What a dreadful bias to evil is naturally in the mind of every man!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">What awful examples doth the Lord sometimes proclaim, in punishments, of His utter displeasure of sin!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">But, my soul! </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >while thou art seeking grace from God to avoid every appearance of sin</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, let that state of humbleness, that astonishing and unequalled state of humbleness, to which Jesus submitted when He came to do away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-family:georgia;" >endear the Redeemer yet more and more to thy heart</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, and form Him there the only hope of glory.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Was it not enough, dearest Lord, when Thou condescendest to take flesh and blood for the purposes of salvation, that </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Thou didst not abhor the virgin's womb, but didst even appoint Thine ancestors, after the flesh, to be such as were more particularly marked with unworthiness</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Gracious Redeemer! may it serve to teach my heart those sweet lessons, that Thou wert pleased to be made in all things like as we are, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >yet without sin: </span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> and although Thou wert made in the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >likeness</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> of sinful flesh, yet </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Thou didst partake of none of the corruptions of flesh</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">; and that in Thy tender alliance with our nature, Thou dost not refuse that alliance even with the vilest of our nature; </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >but where sin aboundeth, grace doth much more abound</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord; </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Romans 5:20-21</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-22481779853542605822010-11-21T17:42:00.000-08:002010-11-22T01:44:39.572-08:00Joseph A Type of Christ; Genesis 37<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3sb0bwrTtF3jb0E96s5zb71vPlAaFaSoKFCvP-QRxDzfz-pg7DmN_b0nYLlqe73sLFUOJVHp0iKlFIvlW_FaJmUeYFFR8PAZlmSvu2iSDoCpFTT7nvyJ9bt1oQmtWS3F9_Bzwsbt6HM/s1600/coat2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3sb0bwrTtF3jb0E96s5zb71vPlAaFaSoKFCvP-QRxDzfz-pg7DmN_b0nYLlqe73sLFUOJVHp0iKlFIvlW_FaJmUeYFFR8PAZlmSvu2iSDoCpFTT7nvyJ9bt1oQmtWS3F9_Bzwsbt6HM/s400/coat2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542307722785523522" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The interesting history of the Patriarch Joseph, the son of Israel, begins at this chapter.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And as he is in many instances <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">a most striking type of the Lord Jesus</span>, it merits our attention the more.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Here therefore I beg the reader to call to mind <span style="font-weight: bold;">the motto</span> with which I opened our comment on this book of Genesis: <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Moses wrote of Christ.</span></span><br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 37:23).</span><br /><br />Reader! look at Him, of whom Joseph was in this instance the type! <span style="font-weight: bold;">Matthew 27:28</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 37:26).</span><br /><br />Did not David ask a similar question, as typical of Jesus? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psalm 30:9</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 37:27).</span><br /><br />So was the Lord Jesus sold by one of His disciples. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 2:14</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >" (Genesis 37:28).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Judges 6:3</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">How striking a resemblance to Jesus! </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Matthew 26:15</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">_________________________________________________</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">I turn aside from every other consideration, as of less moment, in order to follow up <span style="font-style: italic;">the evident intention of the Holy Ghost in this chapter,</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">to behold Him whom the Patriarch Joseph plainly shadowed out in several striking circumstances of his character</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">And did not <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">God the Father send His beloved Son from the realms of bliss into this our world, to see if it were well with us, and how we fared?</span><br /><br />But though He came full of love and mercy, yet <span style="font-style: italic;">when He came unto His own, His own received Him not.</span><br /><br />Did they not conspire against Him? nay, why do I say did <span style="font-style: italic;">they</span> not, have <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">we</span> not all by sin and by rebellion conspired against Him, sold Him into the hands of the Gentiles, and <span style="font-style: italic;">by wicked hands have crucified and slain Him?</span><br /><br />Was He not stripped of His raiment, cast into the pit, and His grave made with the wicked in His death, <span style="font-style: italic;">because He had done no violence, neither was there any deceit found in His mouth!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Oh! Thou Almighty Joseph of Thy brethren!</span> give me grace to see that though Thou hast been <span style="font-style: italic;">despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; </span>and I have (like those unnatural brethren) <span style="font-style: italic;">hid as it were my face from Thee;</span> yet by the sovereignty of Thy grace <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">help me to see that Thou wert sent by God the Father, to look after and provide for my everlasting welfare</span>.<br /><br />Thou art sent indeed before Thy people, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">to save their lives by a great deliverance</span>.<br /><br />Hail, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Thou dear Redeemer!</span> henceforth may the language of my heart be, <span style="font-style: italic;">blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord.</span><br /></span><br /><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-16424035885680216862010-11-20T16:46:00.000-08:002010-11-22T01:47:49.145-08:00On Christ's Side and on His Throne; Genesis 36<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqfNXMug0DX3SoWtGYbmV1ajs3AipNV2VjSBf4Af9HiJdhMnFIbl77iLJ7__VRClabqKrZRvNulGTG1rrcWvj6Eel5efhR_eUoOFddHnWGNJQxMVnyCxSoyK7tartmVEmLHUvcYpIk_c/s1600/Lancs-crest-410.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 395px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqfNXMug0DX3SoWtGYbmV1ajs3AipNV2VjSBf4Af9HiJdhMnFIbl77iLJ7__VRClabqKrZRvNulGTG1rrcWvj6Eel5efhR_eUoOFddHnWGNJQxMVnyCxSoyK7tartmVEmLHUvcYpIk_c/s400/Lancs-crest-410.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542308540225537682" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >"These were dukes of the sons of Esau ... ... he is Esau the father of the Edomites" (Genesis 36:15, 43).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Respecting the title here; see </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Genesis 27:40</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Reader! observe that while Jacob's children were husbandmen, Esau's race were nobles.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">And yet what said God?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">See </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Malachi 1:2</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">But how sure that promise, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Isaiah 56:5</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">.............</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >1 Chronicles 1:43</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> ff - </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >From dukes</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> the seed of Esau advance</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > to kings.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">But all the while are </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >rejected</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> from the covenant of promise. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Psalm 72:17</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">_________________________________________________</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">There is </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >much spiritual improvement </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">to be drawn from the perusal of this chapter by every gracious soul, when God the Holy Ghost awakens the heart to the observation.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Jacob's seed, no doubt, while they were bond slaves in Egypt felt their misery the more, while calling to mind the splendour of Esau's race in Edom.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">But </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >how mistaken are our views of things</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, and what false calculations do we make in our estimation of happiness.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Esau's children were great indeed among men.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">• But the seed of Jacob were beloved in the sight of God.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Jesus hath </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >made them kings and priests to God and the Father, and they shall reign with Him for ever.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Dear Lord! </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >give me that sweet promise</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> and I ask no more.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne;</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Revelation 3:21</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-43782294761171167402010-11-19T18:52:00.000-08:002010-11-22T01:49:37.742-08:00Seeing Christ At Our Bethels; Genesis 35<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxotxW9uyxjZAugW5RzRhiK-vT2b1K1on2shU_TIDOsdbHgleJNsBG3xk3s1MaoMu9MKpPHBgCo1jtnPw4PLTxrUL3IRvefsf5ViaWT5tZ-TsXuR-D2oX_SZrOypYZfmXoNKjb_pjIUM/s1600/711946_f520.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 277px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxotxW9uyxjZAugW5RzRhiK-vT2b1K1on2shU_TIDOsdbHgleJNsBG3xk3s1MaoMu9MKpPHBgCo1jtnPw4PLTxrUL3IRvefsf5ViaWT5tZ-TsXuR-D2oX_SZrOypYZfmXoNKjb_pjIUM/s400/711946_f520.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542309001815123730" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >"</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 35:2).</span><br /><br />I think it more than probable also that the Lord, in tender mercy, had visited the Patriarch with afflictions to call his vows to remembrance. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Revelation 3:19</span>.<br /><br />It should seem by this address of Jacob to his household that he considered his visitations in this light: <span style="font-weight: bold;"> Isaiah 1:16-18</span>.<br /><br />How sweetly <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">the apostle converts such puttings away into a gospel sense!</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">1 Peter 3:21-22</span>.<br /><br />But reader! is it not strange that Jacob, the highly favoured, highly blessed Jacob, should suffer strange gods in his family?<br /><br />Alas!<span style="font-style: italic;"> what is man in his greatest attainments!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Precious Redeemer, how increasingly dear becomes the recollection of Thy salvation</span> at every renewed instance we feel in ourselves, or are called upon to behold in others, of human corruption!<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 35:7).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">El-bethel,</span> that is the God of Bethel.<br /><br />Reader! precious are the Bethels; the house of God, and the ordinances of God's house.<br /><br />But <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">how infinitely more precious the God of His house</span>.<br /><br />See that when you attend the house of God, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">your heart is waiting for the gracious visits of God in His house</span>.<br /><br />Let you and I imitate the Greeks we read of (<span style="font-weight: bold;">John 12:21</span>), and earnestly cry out; <span style="font-style: italic;">we would see Jesus.<br /><br />______________________________________________________<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">"</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >" (Genesis 35:15).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >Every renewed token of Jesus' love</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> ought to beget in our hearts renewed thankfulness.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">If a gracious God at any time fulfils a promise, every gracious child would desire to act faith upon His faithfulness.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">______________________________________________________</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >One more look at Isaac</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> before we close the chapter, and drop the Patriarch's history.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 102, 51);font-family:georgia;" >I delight in every person and in every thing which receives in scripture the particular notice of God the Holy Ghost, to trace somewhat which may lead my heart to Jesus</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">And is there nothing striking to this amount in Isaac's life?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Was not </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >the Redeemer long promised</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, long looked for, with a devout earnestness by all the church, and at length born into the world in a method contrary to the established course of natural causes; similar, but infinitely beyond the example of Isaac's birth?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">• And were there not </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Ishmaels to mock</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> the Lord Jesus in the long and trying persecutions He sustained, like the son of Hagar the Egyptian, despising Isaac?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">• In the cheerful acquiescence which Isaac made to his father's will for sacrifice; carrying the wood; being bound upon the altar; and not offering a repining word when Abraham took the knife to slay his son; </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >can I not, as a type, trace somewhat of Thine unequalled love</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">;</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-family:georgia;" >oh! Thou Lamb of God</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, who voluntarily didst undertake, by the sacrifice of Thyself, the redemption of Thy people; when fainting beneath Thy cross, Thou wast led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so openedst not Thou Thy mouth!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Oh! may my soul</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > live in</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> the</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" > constant, daily, hourly meditation of Thy love!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">May</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > every thing</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> tend to lead my heart unto Thee!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">And may Thy love at length awaken mine, and induce all those precious effects of loving Thee </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >who hast so loved me, as to have given Thyself for me.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-66916090308542227982010-11-18T17:40:00.000-08:002010-11-19T03:51:21.335-08:00Parents Find Help in Christ During Family Troubles; Genesis 34<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsAqnXXbyL8SoUp_JNZSuL3K8weQtzbcgAwwkXHRArl_X_x7P5WhUx8_xZIGX1n0H3o0emk5vRgHHVAkVgT6HXpLArtESbTGvbhHZijI_XeZYpMge9MILBa176AN1mkwJy7cjEqd2Etk/s1600/article-1275342700226-09D4C64B000005DC-562551_636x479.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsAqnXXbyL8SoUp_JNZSuL3K8weQtzbcgAwwkXHRArl_X_x7P5WhUx8_xZIGX1n0H3o0emk5vRgHHVAkVgT6HXpLArtESbTGvbhHZijI_XeZYpMge9MILBa176AN1mkwJy7cjEqd2Etk/s400/article-1275342700226-09D4C64B000005DC-562551_636x479.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541227108228336386" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">In this chapter the history of the Patriarch records the beginning of the afflictions with which he was exercised, as they arose out of the circumstances of his children.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Dinah his daughter, and as it should seem his only daughter, prompted by vain curiosity, going forth to see the daughters of the land, is ravished by Shechem prince of the Hivites.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jacob's soul is grieved at the hearing of it.</span><br /><br />_____________________________________________________<br /><br />How <span style="font-weight: bold;">dreadful the effect of unbridled passions</span>!<br /><br />What sad events have been induced by their indulgence in all ages.<br /><br />And <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">what is the whole history of mankind since the fall, but the same distressing page of suffering and sorrow, by reason of iniquity and sin</span>.<br /><br />Blessed Jesus! how endearing here again is <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">the recollection of Thy merciful character, in that Thou camest </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">to</span> take away sin by the sacrifice of Thyself.</span><br /><br />_____________________________________________________<br /><br />• I think that this chapter affords <span style="font-weight: bold;">a very interesting lesson to young women</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Female modesty is truly graceful and becoming, that too much care can never be taken of it</span>.<br /><br />Like the fine bloom of the purple plumb it cannot be touched without injury.<br /><br />Had the daughter of Jacob been less exposed, her chastity would not have been violated.<br /><br />Hence<span style="font-weight: bold;"> among the precepts of the apostle to young women</span>, which he gives in charge to his beloved Titus, to teach the church, he particularly dwells on this, <span style="font-style: italic;">that they be chaste and keepers at home:</span> as if wandering abroad tended, most likely, to the loss of their chastity.<br /><br />• And while this lesson is read to daughters, and especially to the daughters of gracious parents, from this chapter; let not an exercised soul among parents that are gracious forget to derive this instruction also from it, that <span style="font-weight: bold;">a godly father may have ungodly children</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Grace is not by descent</span>. It runs not in the blood.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jacob</span> was dear to his God; but Jacob's children were very often a source of sorrow to him. Many afflicting providences were in his family.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">David</span> also, though the man after God's own heart. Yet concerning his children he might well cry out, as he did in one of his Psalms, <span style="font-style: italic;">Lord, remember David and all his afflictions!</span><br /><br />Reader! if God in His providence should have called you to the interesting character of a parent, and in His wisdom should see fit to exercise you with such distresses, <span style="font-weight: bold;">where will you find resources to bear you up under the heavy pressure?</span><br /><br />There is <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">but One that can give relief, and that One the holy men of old possessed</span>.<br /><br />And that is <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">a comfortable and well-grounded assurance of an interest in the covenant righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ</span>. This acts like <span style="font-weight: bold;">an anchor to the soul</span> in a dark and stormy night.<br /><br />David fled to this in his troubles, and found that he rid by it safely through the tempest: <span style="font-style: italic;">"</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="criteria">everlasting</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="criteria">covenant</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">2 Samuel 23:5</span>).<br /><br /><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-22029088787822703782010-11-17T02:41:00.000-08:002010-11-17T02:58:59.104-08:00In The Covenant Blessings of Christ, We have Enough; Genesis 33:3,9&11<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKL-wivAjguzJOyVqgNpWRdKIx-l-6F-_ZVjmDY0r1y1VGii0SdUeDKyzsRIi7llHd-anNkUyY_7bAd7-QbB4m2mTQBmgRl168Fufu4ysw11i48a4l6-rSHqv9bKt2bLyvBFsJxh_6ZyM/s1600/Brothers+At+War+%257E+Series+When+You%2527ve+Been+Wronged+%257E+Jacob+and+Esau+Meet+by+Francesco+Hayez+1844.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKL-wivAjguzJOyVqgNpWRdKIx-l-6F-_ZVjmDY0r1y1VGii0SdUeDKyzsRIi7llHd-anNkUyY_7bAd7-QbB4m2mTQBmgRl168Fufu4ysw11i48a4l6-rSHqv9bKt2bLyvBFsJxh_6ZyM/s400/Brothers+At+War+%257E+Series+When+You%2527ve+Been+Wronged+%257E+Jacob+and+Esau+Meet+by+Francesco+Hayez+1844.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540471447455002962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother" (Genesis 33:3).</span><br /><br />The passing over of Jacob before his family should remind us of Christ's unequalled love, in the moment of danger, amidst His disciples in the garden; <span style="font-weight: bold;">John 18:8</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">CONTRAST BETWEEN ESAU AND JACOB'S "ENOUGH"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And Esau said, 'I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself" (Genesis 33:9).</span><br /><br />It is one thing to have <span style="font-style: italic;">enough</span> of this world's goods, and <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">it is another to have the Lord Himself for our portion</span>; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Genesis 27:39</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it" (Genesis 33:11).</span><br /><br />There is a difference in the expression of <span style="font-style: italic;">enough</span> in this verse from the same expression in <span style="font-weight: bold;">the 9th verse</span>.<br /><br />Jacob's enough means, I have <span style="font-style: italic;">all.</span><br /><br />And so he had, according to Paul's explanation of <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">covenant blessings [in Christ]</span>; <span style="font-weight: bold;">1 Corinthians 3:22-23; Philippians 4:18-19</span>.<br /><br /><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-79178983850500555092010-11-16T09:59:00.000-08:002010-11-16T10:28:35.718-08:00Alone With Christ; Genesis 32:24<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimve-ohg9ZDZoTM1C252HDQygFuAF1glloXVySBAzsbf4MO8SPUxodGy_Cyfag3kDD7wqElQtZylf_Tg_KkqwO8AvUfHOG5GJQlA4nC5X4DugX-gYL0gTn8jS5W7ZRvLzWE7Cxwnt4fNw/s1600/u5-046.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimve-ohg9ZDZoTM1C252HDQygFuAF1glloXVySBAzsbf4MO8SPUxodGy_Cyfag3kDD7wqElQtZylf_Tg_KkqwO8AvUfHOG5GJQlA4nC5X4DugX-gYL0gTn8jS5W7ZRvLzWE7Cxwnt4fNw/s400/u5-046.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540216220177303234" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day" (Genesis 32:24).</span><br /><br />Reader! do you know what it is to be <span style="font-weight: bold;">left alone to enjoy communion with God in Christ</span>?<br /><br />Have you <span style="font-style: italic;">sent away all earthly concerns, and all natural connections, </span>how near and dear soever they may be, in order to feel the full influence of gracious impressions?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Who this angel was</span> may easily be known from the Patriarch's own account of him.<br /><br />Sweet to observe, in the numberless instances of it, how <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">that Almighty angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus, seemed to long for the period when He would fully reveal Himself unto His people</span>; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Genesis 48:16, Hosea 12:4</span>.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br />May the same <span style="font-weight: bold;">gracious Covenant God and Saviour</span> (for <span style="font-style: italic;">He is the same yesterday, today, and forever</span>), grant both to you and to me, that in our going home to our Father's house, like the Patriarch, Jesus' host may meet us, and give us comfort:<br /><br />nay, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">may Jesus Himself be there</span>, in every step of the way; that Jordan's waves, and the valley of the shadow of death that lie between, may not affright: <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">for when He is near, His rod and staff shall comfort.</span><br /><br />So will goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our life, till we come to dwell in the house of our God for ever.<br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-10028079107086127072010-11-15T17:10:00.000-08:002010-11-16T09:47:55.733-08:00How Diligently Do We Search For Jesus? Genesis 31<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNBBk-hTO_ioJygYJ4ANeIxXdvJlghIaG6LVooZCzDFCcEE4sf5YSh_E3FAgdcBN8tuIwXc2QfzY0nXW3e6DK_ZFHhWnk2-MLL5w4F3_rUleefjoGZ9Qc5uI9GHyvng-Ozkg1mlXqX18/s1600/magnifying-glass.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFNBBk-hTO_ioJygYJ4ANeIxXdvJlghIaG6LVooZCzDFCcEE4sf5YSh_E3FAgdcBN8tuIwXc2QfzY0nXW3e6DK_ZFHhWnk2-MLL5w4F3_rUleefjoGZ9Qc5uI9GHyvng-Ozkg1mlXqX18/s400/magnifying-glass.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540205677574829746" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, 'Jacob': and I said, 'Here am I'" (Genesis 31:11).</span><br /><br />Was not this the Lord Jesus?<br /><br />See <span style="font-weight: bold;">Genesis 48:15-16</span>.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent" (Genesis 31:33).</span><br /><br />Observe <span style="font-weight: bold;">the diligence</span> with which Laban sought after his false gods.<br /><br />Reader! <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">may it provoke you and me to a greater earnestness in seeking for <span style="font-style: italic;">the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent.</span></span><br /><br />• How charming Job's desire, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Job 33:3</span>.<br /><br />• How delightful David's earnestness, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Psalm 42:1-2</span>.<br /><br />• How encouraging that promise, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 11:6</span>.<br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-14631421825531040772010-11-11T10:37:00.000-08:002010-11-16T09:51:20.690-08:00Enjoying Double Blessings In Jesus; Chapter 30<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgNyjxcJD7TyVzkmpMrnLUaMcOf9eine_m4LFV_HvXxPfG8-8Pw5bOlU5SxXdxoLEcnHeEyDV9GmZqbpS0E-PjIPkeGlX_Cn8wthUGjsfPgUxdui9GwT6q57qHOoe9L5uB9Kz2lEirLc/s1600/blessings-of-summer-zoom.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 334px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgNyjxcJD7TyVzkmpMrnLUaMcOf9eine_m4LFV_HvXxPfG8-8Pw5bOlU5SxXdxoLEcnHeEyDV9GmZqbpS0E-PjIPkeGlX_Cn8wthUGjsfPgUxdui9GwT6q57qHOoe9L5uB9Kz2lEirLc/s400/blessings-of-summer-zoom.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540206626217529554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And the man increased exceedingly, and had much ..." (Genesis 30:43).</span><br /><br />What<span style="font-style: italic;"> a double sweetness</span> rests upon the possessions of the just <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">when every blessing is found to lead the soul <span style="font-style: italic;">to</span> God, instead of drawing the heart <span style="font-style: italic;">from</span> God</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><br /><br />Lord, I would pray that all Thy mercies may be thus sanctified, and not one of them received but with thanksgiving and prayer; that coming from Thy bounty, they may lead to Thy praise, <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">and all be doubly enjoyed in Jesus</span>.<br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-34363115197360344402010-11-09T16:13:00.000-08:002010-11-16T09:54:45.747-08:00Christ, the Well of Living Water and the Shepherd of His Sheep; Genesis 29<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_UdN62IquQvY1-mSRSmorABFWW7YiB08X8KUZRhhV9OxYzvPjiokXtJnDTA9Ue4U7qrdjzMx2JdHS0tdGzn8FYkIxXgSGbYp1S3b5-DYkGUrx3zYMDcxR6xBXDTKk0E33CjmdxWrTv4/s1600/26_DMD_well_big.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_UdN62IquQvY1-mSRSmorABFWW7YiB08X8KUZRhhV9OxYzvPjiokXtJnDTA9Ue4U7qrdjzMx2JdHS0tdGzn8FYkIxXgSGbYp1S3b5-DYkGUrx3zYMDcxR6xBXDTKk0E33CjmdxWrTv4/s400/26_DMD_well_big.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540207484567128802" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">A well of water was considered a great treasure in those hot eastern countries.<br /><br />Hence<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> Jesus is often spoken of under that similitude</span>; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Isaiah 32:2, John 4:14, 7:37</span>.<br /><br />____________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">[ Verses 3–7 ]</span><br /><br />How sweetly is the Lord Jesus represented under the similitude of <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">a shepherd</span>!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">John 10:1-18</span>.<br /><br />And how delightfully is the church represented as <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">His flock</span>; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Song of Solomon 1:7</span>.<br /><br />Rachael's name signifies <span style="font-style: italic;">a sheep.<br /><br />_____________________________________________________<br /><br /></span><span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And Laban said to him, 'Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.' And he abode with him the space of a month" (Genesis 29:14).</span><br /><br />It is profitable to remark, of whom these things were spoken in after ages; <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">our great Kinsman</span> after the flesh; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ephesians 5:30</span>.<br /><br />_____________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her" (Genesis 29:20).</span><br /><br />Labours of love are always apparently short and sweet.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 6:10</span>.<br /><br />But what were <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">the services of the Redeemer for His spouse, the Church</span>, and for whom He travailed in soul; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Isaiah 53:11</span>.<br /></span></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-21419515848469567832010-11-08T01:03:00.000-08:002010-11-16T09:58:45.403-08:00Plenteous Blessings From A Precious Jesus; Genesis 28<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5is84JZREi-Xri5nt8idHjne9-rcMngFqCA4h89-wEynVWMhOZOVFlWYdmiIoCuBLZae7QjfY87USjzVl1mLui44M3Rjf0CY_6wMngq3Q2G0Tlb4qL5Ks7axmvX-Y4PbwOY1pm0VEmio/s1600/Jacob%2527s-Ladder.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 324px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5is84JZREi-Xri5nt8idHjne9-rcMngFqCA4h89-wEynVWMhOZOVFlWYdmiIoCuBLZae7QjfY87USjzVl1mLui44M3Rjf0CY_6wMngq3Q2G0Tlb4qL5Ks7axmvX-Y4PbwOY1pm0VEmio/s400/Jacob%2527s-Ladder.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540208244026067218" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stanger, which God gave unto Abraham" (Genesis 28:4).</span><br /><br />Observe <span style="font-weight: bold;">the same blessing still carried on</span>.<br /><br />It is here called <span style="font-style: italic;">Abraham's blessing.</span><br /><br />And what is that but <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">the gospel blessing of the Lord Jesus; on whom, and in whom alone, all blessings centre.</span><br /><br />Precious expression! A multitude of people. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 12:22-23; Revelation 7:9; Numbers 23:10</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I [am] the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 28:12-13).</span><br /><br />Is not this <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus</span>?<br /><br />Are not <span style="font-weight: bold;">all revelation of God to man made through the medium of Jesus Christ</span>? <span style="font-weight: bold;">John 1:18</span>.<br /><br />Did not this ladder represent <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">the constancy of the communication kept open</span> between the Lord and His people?<br /><br />The top reaching to heaven, representing <span style="font-style: italic;">the divine nature</span> of Christ; and the bottom resting on the earth, His <span style="font-style: italic;">human nature.</span><br /><br />And the angels of God ascending and descending, do they not confirm that scripture, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 1:14</span>? And throw a light upon that precious declaration of Jesus, <span style="font-weight: bold;">John 1:51</span>.<br /><br />_____________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >And, behold, I [am] with thee, and will keep thee in all [places] whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done [that] which I have spoken to thee of</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:georgia;" >" (Genesis 28:15).</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">All promises are </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >in</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> Christ, and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >with</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> Christ; </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >all promises are connected</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">And reader! do not forget how the Holy Ghost taught the church to apply his to all Christ's seed; </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Hebrews 13:5-6</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">_____________________________________________________</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />I must not close this Chapter of Jacob's mercies, when the visions of God began with him, without first requesting the reader </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >not to overlook the precious outlines which are here drawn by the Holy Ghost of Jesus's manifestations to all His people</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Is it not </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-family:georgia;" >by Him that a channel of communication is opened to our souls for access to God</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, when like Jacob we have left our father's house and are as wanderers on the earth?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Is He not </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >the Way, and the Truth, and the Life</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >by which all</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> mercies come down, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >and all </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">praises and prayers go up, through His divine mediation?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">• And is it not </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-family:georgia;" >by Him alone that we humbly hope</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">, when all the pilgrimage of this life is over, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);font-family:georgia;" >to come again to our Father's house which is in heaven</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">: to which hope we are begotten by His glorious undertaken, and His accomplishment of our redemption?</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />Precious, precious Jesus!</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> be Thou with me, and keep me in the way that I go; and give me food and raiment convenient for me: fill my soul with the bread of life, and cloathe me with the garment of Thy salvation; </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >then wilt Thou be indeed the Lord my God: and I shall be Thine, in an everlasting covenant, not to be broken</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">.</span><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-42378384010284595752010-11-07T15:32:00.000-08:002010-11-08T01:26:39.760-08:00Salvation From One Source Only; Genesis 27:15&38<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWiJAzdyNO37GvqhILN4dxufJrNFNid1S-vlPQsbM7ChM9AJil5oOKYwsyzPUVnXtm5fgox9ryjffFxJG2NIF5COwVTx1-p4VPtrTMwVo2jYlAzpBudXmwdV-2arfcTPlYGr2epG3chY/s1600/Gen+27.Blessing.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 327px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWiJAzdyNO37GvqhILN4dxufJrNFNid1S-vlPQsbM7ChM9AJil5oOKYwsyzPUVnXtm5fgox9ryjffFxJG2NIF5COwVTx1-p4VPtrTMwVo2jYlAzpBudXmwdV-2arfcTPlYGr2epG3chY/s400/Gen+27.Blessing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537107888756990130" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son" (Genesis 27:15).</span><br /><br />Is not this a very apt similitude of Him who assumed our likeness, the likeness as the apostle terms it, <span style="font-style: italic;">of sinful flesh;</span> and was <span style="font-style: italic;">made sin for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Romans 8:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21</span>.<br /><br />Reader! <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">if you seek a blessing from God your Father, so must you be cloathed in the garment of Jesus</span>, who is indeed our elder brother, and <span style="font-style: italic;">the first born among many brethren.<br /><br /></span>_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept" (Genesis 27:38).</span><br /><br />No: there are <span style="font-weight: bold;">not two Saviours</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Jesus is one, and there is no other;</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Acts 4:12</span>.<br /><br />Melancholy consideration in those who can be satisfied in secondary blessings. See <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 12:17</span>.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-48451656093338508252010-11-06T06:03:00.000-07:002010-11-06T06:16:40.366-07:00Trust In Christ During Every Trial; Genesis 26<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpNoe1ROo3JHtUK2Fy40nY22nD8NhYCSiQNZcjNX-nkvP9YQT-sZmLmXlGWJg6smSzt6EBR51zhtdmzw-TiWDzb3uwfMqM0MEUk_xbW8EcyjIZUDZJRb6TbBtkB-MGO8MWuH3VRee384/s1600/Gen+26.Rainbow.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpNoe1ROo3JHtUK2Fy40nY22nD8NhYCSiQNZcjNX-nkvP9YQT-sZmLmXlGWJg6smSzt6EBR51zhtdmzw-TiWDzb3uwfMqM0MEUk_xbW8EcyjIZUDZJRb6TbBtkB-MGO8MWuH3VRee384/s400/Gen+26.Rainbow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536424992985619106" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Let no true believer in Jesus <span style="font-weight: bold;">ever be discouraged by the trials he meets with</span>, since <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">the faithful in all ages have been so exercised</span>.<br /><br />The Apostle makes this <span style="font-weight: bold;">an evidence of the Christian character</span>, that no man should be moved by these afflictions, since (saith he) <span style="font-style: italic;">ye yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto </span>[<span style="font-weight: bold;">1 Thessalonians 3:3</span>].<br /><br />Oh! <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"> it is sweet to see divine wisdom and divine faithfulness in all appointments concerning us</span>; and to be able to say of every one of them, as Paul did, <span style="font-style: italic;">I know that this shall turn to my salvation through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ</span> [<span style="font-weight: bold;">Philippians 1:19</span>].<br /><br />But <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">how very gracious is God amidst all the chequered circumstances of life</span>, in famine and in fullness, to renew to His people the unutterable assurances of His Covenant love in Christ Jesus!<br /><br />Reader! may it be your happiness and mine, to <span style="font-weight: bold;">live upon this when all the supplies of creature cisterns be dried up</span>; and like David, rejoice in that God hath <span style="font-style: italic;">made with us an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; and let this be all our salvation and all our desire, although He make it not to grow </span>[<span style="font-weight: bold;">2 Samuel 23:5</span>].<br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-65448788476406492822010-11-05T18:18:00.000-07:002010-11-06T06:02:44.889-07:00In Christ We Have Everything; By Contrast, The World Offers Only Emptiness; Genesis 25:6&31<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-un2_n1iBazGuu5QNLsNvb_49MrooKADSG8DIufq8ScCIros-tB6u1t1-Zwxc2G-XswDw2kmuPlYz1v0G4hRWr8a49MFnjP1gLnwbPM3GJyWShwet8a-3DYho_bskrOTqbcLbiGmdFsU/s1600/Gen+25.Autumn+Leaves.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-un2_n1iBazGuu5QNLsNvb_49MrooKADSG8DIufq8ScCIros-tB6u1t1-Zwxc2G-XswDw2kmuPlYz1v0G4hRWr8a49MFnjP1gLnwbPM3GJyWShwet8a-3DYho_bskrOTqbcLbiGmdFsU/s400/Gen+25.Autumn+Leaves.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536421406296263346" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country" (Genesis 25:6).</span><br /><br />Sweet distinction, in comparing this verse with the former.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Providential mercies</span> are one thing: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gracious gifts</span> are another.<br /><br />Reader! <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">if Jesus be your portion, in possessing Him, you possess all</span>;<span style="font-weight: bold;"> 1 Corinthians 3:22-23</span>.<br /><br />__________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright" (Genesis 25:31).</span><br /><br />See <span style="font-weight: bold;">Deuteronomy 21:16-17</span>.<br /><br />Spiritually considered this is<span style="font-style: italic;"> truly interesting.</span><br /><br />See <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 12:15-16</span>.<br /><br />And doth not every carnal man the same, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">who barters Jesus and the blessings in Him, for the husks of the world?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">_____________________________________________<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span>It is hardly possible to close our view of the life of Abraham without blessing God for <span style="font-weight: bold;">such an illustrious testimony</span> as his history affords <span style="font-weight: bold;">of the triumph of faith</span>.<br /><br />Lord, I would say, <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">give to me a double portion of the same spirit!</span><br /><br />But do we not behold in the Patriarch <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">some faint outlines of resemblance of Him</span>, who according to the flesh, was in after ages to be his seed?<br /><br />Was not Abraham, as the chosen of God, and the covenant head and father of millions of redeemed souls, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">a lively type of that Almighty Saviour</span> who was set up as <span style="font-weight: bold;">the Covenant Head of His people; and the One chosen of the Father before all worlds, in whom all nations are blessed</span>?<br /><br />It is said that by faith the Patriarch, when he was called of God to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went out, not knowing whither he went.<br /><br />And do we not from hence call to mind<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> the obedience of the Son of God</span>, who left the realms of bliss and came down a stranger in this strange land, that all His people might afterwards, through Him, receive the gift of an eternal inheritance?<br /><br />Blessed Jesus! <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">May every thing of a gracious nature in Thy holy Word lead me to discover somewhat of Thyself</span>, that while I admire and learn to praise God for the exercise of the faith and grace which I behold among men, I may be looking up, with gratitude and thankfulness unto Thee, who art both the Author and Giver of Faith, and of all our Mercies.<br /></span></span></span></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-63498393776402462522010-11-04T16:56:00.001-07:002010-11-04T17:05:44.873-07:00Christ The Bridegroom And His Bride; Genesis 24:4&31<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI4HidG7svN0cc2qI_cZchcNxwTtfo0uBCH_YtUNZKWV_Em8-BtZhCQozK75pGhoMALOn3-T9Rk3_GWfff15aVaAtTyeDgvjEgdlWvrJoecrg-8IR5n85t06Fq6X3YC1K3knHJaKlpd7I/s1600/Gen+24.rebekah7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI4HidG7svN0cc2qI_cZchcNxwTtfo0uBCH_YtUNZKWV_Em8-BtZhCQozK75pGhoMALOn3-T9Rk3_GWfff15aVaAtTyeDgvjEgdlWvrJoecrg-8IR5n85t06Fq6X3YC1K3knHJaKlpd7I/s400/Gen+24.rebekah7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535850056144976018" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac" (Genesis 24:4).</span><br /><br />Some have thought that as Isaac was in many respects a type of the blessed Jesus, what is said here in reference to <span style="font-weight: bold;">the servant's embassy to bring home a wife for Isaac<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"> may shadow out the service of ministers of the gospel in their bringing home souls to Christ</span></span>.<br /><br />• Certain it is that <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">the church</span> is called <span style="font-style: italic;">the bride,</span> the Lamb's wife; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Revelation 21:9</span>.<br /><br />• And <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Christ Himself</span> is called <span style="font-style: italic;">the bridegroom;</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">John 3:29, Ephesians 5:23-27, 2 Corinthians 11:2</span>.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels" (Genesis 24:31).</span><br /><br />So should ministers <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">constrain their people</span>;<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Luke 14:23</span>.<br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-76520178538702426852010-11-03T17:46:00.000-07:002010-11-03T18:15:17.357-07:00Christ With Us in Death and Resurrection; Genesis 23:2-4<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyUKeTs9vJyEWBn30ZRuvRcXNs8bBPlibPvFRtFt_NBKlV_8K9aqXzVCwrMqHc6tYd-iemi8-MifODXLNFWB0N1Vjl8RzW3BUXMt9fmR4lSpK5ZmDZ1u41Qj4Nx0yTlsPGiSGaCdzW9_E/s1600/paradise-engineering.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyUKeTs9vJyEWBn30ZRuvRcXNs8bBPlibPvFRtFt_NBKlV_8K9aqXzVCwrMqHc6tYd-iemi8-MifODXLNFWB0N1Vjl8RzW3BUXMt9fmR4lSpK5ZmDZ1u41Qj4Nx0yTlsPGiSGaCdzW9_E/s400/paradise-engineering.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535496541698923602" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">The subject of this chapter is that common place subject which belongs to our nature universally, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">forms a part in the history of all persons and families</span>.<br /><br />Death (here we are told) makes an inroad into the house of Abraham, and <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">takes away</span> Sarah, <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">the desire of his eyes</span>, with a stroke.</span><br /><br />________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">3 </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, 4 I [am] a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >" (Genesis 24:3-4).</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />Acts 7:5</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >.</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />How sweetly David made use of the same expression, and converted it into a motive for prayer.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />Psalm 39:12-13</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >.</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Reader! while we behold Abraham parting with his beloved Sarah, and desiring to bury her remains out of his sight; think </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >what a blessed relief </span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >it is to consider that the covenant relationship with Jesus rots not in the grave.</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />When the comeliness of His people is turned to corruption, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >their ashes are equally precious to Him as when their bodies were animated</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >.</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />Delightful thought!</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />Yes, </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Thou dearest Redeemer, the covenant of redemption holds good as ever in the grave</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >; </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >by Thy death</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" > Thou hast slain the enmity of the grave: and </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >by Thy resurrection</span> secured the resurrection of Thy people. <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />Death as well as life is ours, if Jesus be ours; </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >1 Corinthians 3:22-23</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >.</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />_________________________________________________</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />I detain the reader but with </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >two reflections</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" > on this chapter. May the Holy Ghost increase them largely, and profitably, to his mind!</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />• The one is, that in the confirmation of God's promises to Abraham, to give him Canaan for an everlasting possession, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >the first spot</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" > of it which he could truly call his own </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >was his burying-place</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >.</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />This was indeed possessing it, </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >until the glorious morning of a resurrection.</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />• The </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >other</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" > is, from hence </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >the first sound of that sweet declaration was made</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >, which John in after ages heard more distinctly: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />These all died in faith,</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" > said the Apostle.</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />They fell asleep in Jesus.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><br /><br />Lord, grant me the same faith.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" > May it be my portion that, wherever the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Machpelah</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" > for my earthly house may be, </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Jesus may receive my soul</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >: and may it be found in that hour that </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >I have a building with God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. </span><br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-7237337512393807992010-11-02T02:32:00.000-07:002010-11-02T03:23:53.021-07:00Christ The Lamb Upon Mount Moriah; Genesis 22<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-w1voouaFG75nim9JlxokqIF3dLjTUaRKMIzpXmUHOV7J2GukuIpYiylNZ5FCNntyZ-zfAm7diYBqFKtlKDY8ZR-sRGSMixfSBdGXVNZkhhLO6bAXEeDTTSQ3uboCEoogtbqgZjqfKXY/s1600/olivier-abraham-isaac-NG6541-fm.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-w1voouaFG75nim9JlxokqIF3dLjTUaRKMIzpXmUHOV7J2GukuIpYiylNZ5FCNntyZ-zfAm7diYBqFKtlKDY8ZR-sRGSMixfSBdGXVNZkhhLO6bAXEeDTTSQ3uboCEoogtbqgZjqfKXY/s400/olivier-abraham-isaac-NG6541-fm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534895863525082130" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >"</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">" (Genesis 22:5).</span><br /><br />Reader! recollect how <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Jesus</span>, in His unequalled agony in the garden, <span style="font-style: italic;">was withdrawn</span> from the more immediate followers which He had taken with Him there; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Matthew 22:41</span>.<br /><br />____________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid [it] upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 22:6).</span><br /><br />So Jesus carried His cross; <span style="font-weight: bold;">John 19:17</span>.<br /><br />____________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 22:8).</span><br /><br />Reader! it is no interesting question, though perhaps not easily answered; <span style="font-style: italic;">did Abraham really know that God had already provided a Lamb for a burnt-offering:</span> even<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"> the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world</span>?<br /><br />• There are <span style="font-weight: bold;">two passages in the scriptures</span> which seem to imply as much.<br /><br />Jesus hath given the one (<span style="font-weight: bold;">John 8:56</span>); and the Holy Ghost by His servant the apostle hath given the other (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Hebrews 11:17</span>).<br /><br />• But reader! whether Abraham in those distant ages had such clear views of Jesus or not; <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">what blessings, what privileges are ours, before whom the Lamb of God is not only provided, but hath fully taken away sin by His blood</span> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">John 1:29; Revelation 13:8</span>).<br /><br />___________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son" (Genesis 22:9-10).</span> <br /><br />I pass over many interesting things which belong to this history, considered naturally, in order to regard such as are <span style="font-style: italic;">spiritual.</span> <br /><br />• How <span style="font-style: italic;">delightful a representation</span> doth the whole transaction afford of <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">God the Father's love</span>? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Romans 8:32</span>. <br /><br />• How <span style="font-style: italic;">sweet a type</span> is given, in the obedience and voluntary surrender of Isaac, of <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;">the free and voluntary offering of the Lord Jesus on the cross</span>? <span style="font-weight: bold;">John 10:18; Philippians 2:8; Ephesians 5:2</span>.<br /><br />___________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;">And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here [am] I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 22:11-12).</span><br /><br />This knowledge is not meant as referring to God, but as proving the faith of His people to the world; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Deuteronomy 8:2</span>.<br /><br />But were not those three days [cf.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> verse 4</span>] during which Isaac lay under sentence of death, until released by an order from heaven, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">typical of Christ's lying under death, until raised the third day from the grave</span>? <span style="font-weight: bold;">1 Corinthians 15:3-4</span>.<br /><br />___________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;">And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">" (Genesis 22:13).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Job 33:24</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Another</span> type of Jesus as a substitute.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1 Peter 1:19; 1 Corinthians 5:7</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.</span><br /><br />___________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;">And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son]</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;">" (Genesis 22:15-16).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">Hebrews 6:13-18</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Zacharias refers to the oath and promise, and </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-family: georgia;">applies both to Christ</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">; </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">Luke 1:73</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">___________________________________________________</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">When we behold </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">the happy termination of the trial</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> of Abraham's faith, who doth not see the certainty of that precious promise, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;">'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation'!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oh! the vast privilege of those whom the Lord enables to be faithful, and </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;">whom He supports in the trying hour</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gracious God! be it my portion to be </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">kept by grace in every conflict</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">, then shall I be </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;">more than conqueror through Him that hath loved me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">But while I derive this instruction, under grace, from the Patriarch's bright example of faith, </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;">teach me Lord to behold a more glorious object of contemplation</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">, in what this scene do strikingly represents of </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">divine mercy</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">• Do I not see in Abraham, as a father so readily offering up his son, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-family: georgia;">the type of that unequalled love of God the Father in giving His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for the salvation of His people</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">• And in the free-will offering of Isaac, to his father's direction, is not </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">Jesus's voluntary submission to the death of the cross</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> strongly represented?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oh! matchless love of both!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">May it be my happiness always to connect, in the view of redemption, the love of both, as </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">the united cause and source of all my hopes</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">; and under the precious application of the Father's grace, and the Son's merits to my heart, by the merciful influences of God the Holy Ghost, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">may I live in the full enjoyment of this assurance</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">, until I come to enter upon the possession of the realised felicity unto all eternity.</span><br /></span></span></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-86991353304753243772010-11-01T01:58:00.000-07:002010-11-01T02:17:13.802-07:00Christ, the Well-Beloved Son and the Holy Spirit's Ministry to Reveal Him; Genesis 21<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYeJUVPBB0BrCuSCUAkJAiGBfDwDwnXFBwnwsvkpC6JKVuabwuR2FpmjwKVYkrLNp7ld8Vpl2OK0LvEboUeeNa70cZ-H2AGjJGi9cUzWHPMN0nsXhC90PzYSQSahY7c7kGawW5V3-J9E/s1600/Gen+21.new-born-baby-1a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYeJUVPBB0BrCuSCUAkJAiGBfDwDwnXFBwnwsvkpC6JKVuabwuR2FpmjwKVYkrLNp7ld8Vpl2OK0LvEboUeeNa70cZ-H2AGjJGi9cUzWHPMN0nsXhC90PzYSQSahY7c7kGawW5V3-J9E/s400/Gen+21.new-born-baby-1a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534507705379138226" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >"</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born [him] a son in his old age" (Genesis 21:7).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Reader! pause here to remark that while the gift of a Son became such a subject of astonishment to Sarah; <span style="font-style: italic;">what greater cause have you and I to be astonished,</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">that God should have given His only begotten Son</span>, to the end that all which believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Nay, to <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">advance one step farther in the wonderful mercy</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">who could have believed that such a gift should have been given <span style="font-style: italic;">to you, or to me?</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Well may we exclaim with the prophet:<span style="font-style: italic;"> 'Wonder, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth'!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">___________________________________________________<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">"</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;">And she went, and sat her down over against [him] a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against [him], and lift up her voice, and wept</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-family: georgia;">" (Genesis 21:16).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sweet subject, spiritually considered.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Is not </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;">the whole world a wilderness state</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">But yet, the greatest distresses will </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">not</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> open our eyes to discover our relief </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-family: georgia;">until the Holy Ghost performs this mercy and directs to the Lord Jesus</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">And although, like the well of Hagar, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">He is always near us</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> in the everlasting covenant of grace, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;">yet we shall see Him not</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">, </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;">unless He, whose office it is, takes of the things of Jesus to shew them unto us</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">;</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;"> John 16:15</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9073034618938280709.post-83772362831892736632010-10-31T06:19:00.000-07:002010-10-31T15:49:41.599-07:00Our Sin Makes Christ's Finished Salvation Increasingly Sweet and Interesting; Genesis 20<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFymncIYmlH8bGgS5yr1Ha8IjvtM9ydVQLtCsXMyC3v5_7ddWYeU2WZqjyOjGPap4njEGOvwsd-b0MQl8uiE4fDP0W3h7IIfCQbUXn6NwTLfe2eo8WQm0edUnzM9Vg8nXQX2yqwzgvo-A/s1600/iranian_woman.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFymncIYmlH8bGgS5yr1Ha8IjvtM9ydVQLtCsXMyC3v5_7ddWYeU2WZqjyOjGPap4njEGOvwsd-b0MQl8uiE4fDP0W3h7IIfCQbUXn6NwTLfe2eo8WQm0edUnzM9Vg8nXQX2yqwzgvo-A/s400/iranian_woman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534345827557811762" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">[ Summary thoughts on Chapter 20; Abraham, for fear of his own life, did not tell king Abimelech that Sarah was not only his 'sister,' but his wife! ]</span><br /><br />Reader! let not the greatness of Abraham's character tempt you to overlook Abraham's infirmity.<br /><br />Alas! <span style="font-style: italic;">what is man in his highest attainments!</span><br /><br />Had not the Patriarch <span style="font-weight: bold;">lost sight </span>that Jehovah Himself was <span style="font-style: italic;">his shield and his exceeding great reward,</span> he need <span style="font-weight: bold;">not</span> have condescended to such a pitiful resource for the safety of his wife.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">God forbid that this weakness of the Patriarch should ever be made a pretence for the sins of others, when we see how it displeased the Lord</span>.<br /><br />Surely the Holy Ghost causeth in infirmities of the faithful to be recorded:<br /><br />• <span style="font-weight: bold;">in order to teach</span> His people that most unquestionable truth that there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not;<br /><br />• <span style="font-weight: bold;">and to constrain</span> the heart into the love of Jesus, <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">whose perfect righteousness is the alone cause of justification before God.</span><br /><br />Dearest Lord! <span style="font-weight: bold;">how increasingly sweet and interesting</span>, in every renewed instance of human infirmity which I feel in myself or meet with in others, <span style="font-weight: bold;">is Thy finished salvation</span> to my view.<br /><br />Oh! do Thou <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">establish my soul in it more and more</span>. Give me to see and know that I am Thine in <span style="font-weight: bold;">an everlasting Covenant</span> which cannot be broken: that from having committed my soul-concerns in Thy hands,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> all my earthly interests I may safely leave at Thy disposal</span>; and that the fear of man, as in the case of the Patriarch, may not bring a snare.<br /></span>IAN BROWNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17062897190468481635noreply@blogger.com0