Genesis 49:10

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff (a lawgiver) from between his feet, until Shiloh comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.”

There was a series of predictions relative to the Messiah from the very beginning of the world; and, as the time for the accomplishment of the prophecies drew near, the predictions concerning him were more particular and minute.

About seventeen hundred years before his appearance, the time of his coming was fixed with great accuracy and precision. At the very first moment that the sons of Jacob were made heads of different tribes, it was foretold, that the continuance of Judah’s power should extend beyond that of the other tribes, and that the Messiah should arrive before its expiration. In explaining this prophecy we shall of necessity be led to speak of,

I. The time of Christ’s advent.

This, according to the text, was to precede the departure of Judah’s scepter.

Judah is here represented as a lion gorged with his prey, and couching in his den with a scepter between his feet; a scepter, which none should ever wrest from him, until he should come, whose right it was. “The scepter” does not import dominion over the other tribes, but only the same kind of separate and independent jurisdiction which was vested in Dan, and in all the other tribes. Nor does the term “lawgiver” mean a person who should enact laws; but rather, one who should execute and enforce them. Moses was the only lawgiver of the Jews; and even the kings were required to write a copy of his law, and to obey it in all things.

Now it was here foretold, that this particular power should remain with Judah after that the other tribes should have been deprived of theirs; and that it should continue vested in people belonging to that tribe until the Messiah should come. The precise import of the term “Shiloh” is not certainly known; but it is thought by most to mean, The Peacemaker. All however are agreed that it is a name for the Messiah, whose advent was to precede the dissolution of the Jewish polity.

The event exactly corresponded with the prediction.

The ten tribes were spoiled of their power when they were carried captive to Assyria. But the tribe of Judah retained both their ecclesiastical and civil polity even in Babylon. If they did not exercise it to the same extent as before, they had by no means wholly lost it. As they had possessed it in Egypt, and retained it the whole time of their Egyptian bondage, Exodus 34:31-32, so they still nominated their chiefs and elders, yes and appointed fasts and feasts, while they were oppressed with the Chaldean yoke. Moses and Aaron were sent to the elders of the people, Exodus 3:16; Exodus 4:29; and these were heads of houses, Exodus 6:14; and rulers of the congregation, Exodus 16:22. Compare Numbers 1:3; Numbers 1:16.

Their bondage in Babylon was indeed, on the whole, exceeding heavy; but many of them were allowed to build houses and plant gardens, and to live rather as a colony than as slaves, Jeremiah 29:5; Jeremiah 29:7. On their return from Babylon, their own chiefs and elders were appointed to superintend the execution of Cyrus’ decree, Ezra 1:5; Ezra 1:8; and, after that period, they continued to enjoy their privileges until the time of our Lord’s advent.

Soon after that, they were reduced to the state of a Roman province; but still exercised the same powers, only in a more limited manner. Compare John 18:3; John 18:31. But, forty years after the death of Christ, when his Gospel had been fully preached, and people of all nations had been gathered to him, their city and temple were utterly destroyed; and they themselves were dispersed into all lands. From that time their scepter has utterly departed from them; nor can the smallest vestige of their former power be traced. They are therefore living proofs throughout the whole world that their Messiah has indeed come.

The time of Christ’s advent being thus clearly ascertained, let us consider,

II. The consequences of Christ’s advent.

The last clause of the text is by some applied to Judah, to whom the tribe of Benjamin was attached, and the few of the other ten tribes, who returned after their dispersion by the Assyrians, were gathered, 1 Chronicles 9:3. But the sense of that clause is both more clear, and infinitely more important, as applied to Shiloh. And, if it is understood, as it may well be, as a further limitation of the time beyond which Judah should not retain this power, it will mark, with most astonishing accuracy, the precise period at which his scepter was to depart.

But, taking it according to its general acceptance, it declares the calling of the Gentiles to the knowledge of Christ.

The Scriptures speak much upon this glorious subject. Without noticing the innumerable passages that declare God’s intention to convert the Gentiles, we will confine our attention to two or three that speak of it almost in the very same terms as those in the text.

Isaiah, representing Christ as standing for an ensign to the people, says, “To him shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious, Isaiah 11:10.” There was a remarkable prophecy to the same effect unwittingly uttered by Caiaphas the high-priest. While he designed nothing more than to instigate the Jews to destroy Jesus, God overruled his mind to declare that Jesus should die for the whole world, and should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad, John 11:52. Our Lord himself also, foretelling the same glorious event, said, “I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men unto me, John 12:32.”

Nor is only the mere circumstance of their conversion declared in the test; the manner also of their coming to him is strongly intimated. They “shall be a willing people in the day of God’s power,” and as the prophet describes at large, shall fly to him as a cloud, or as doves to their windows, Isaiah 60:3-8.

This part of the prediction also has received, and is daily receiving, its accomplishment.

No sooner had our Lord given up the Spirit, than the centurion, the first fruits of the Gentiles, was led to acknowledge him as the Son of God. Presently, not Judea only, but the whole Roman empire, was filled with those who were gathered unto him. And, at this moment, “all who are taught of God come unto him” as the one foundation of all their hopes, and the only fountain of all their blessings. There is a period still future, when this prophecy shall be fulfilled in its utmost extent; when “all kings shall bow down before him, and all nations shall serve him.” Blessed period! May “God hasten it in its time!” May his “Gospel run and be glorified,” and “his glory fill the whole earth!”

Let us now ADDRESS a few words,

1. To those who are yet dispersed, and at a distance from the Lord.

We need not here turn our eyes to Jews, but reflect how many are there even in this Christian land, who have no more fellowship with Jesus than if he had never come into the world! But what account will they give to him when they shall stand at his tribunal in the last day? Are not the words of our text a direction, as well as a prophecy? Are they not equivalent to an express command? Has not Christ himself enforced this command by repeated invitations and promises, “Look unto me, and be saved!” “Come unto me, and you shall find rest unto your souls!” Has he not even sworn that all shall come to him, or perish for their neglect, Isaiah 45:22-25.

Why then should we not all gather ourselves around him as in the days of his flesh? Why should not the blind, the lame, the leprous, the possessed, come to him for deliverance? Why should not the poor trembling sinner press through the crowd, and “touch the hem of his garment!” Surely none should find it in vain to come unto him, “Virtue would go forth from him to heal them all.” O let the prophecy then receive a fresh accomplishment this day; and may God so “draw us by his Spirit that we may run after him,” and abide with him forever!

2. Those who, through grace, have been gathered to him.

The scepter is now passed into the hands of Jesus. He is the true lion of the tribe of Judah, Revelation 5:5, to whom all power in Heaven and in earth has been committed. What then have you to fear, who are under his protection? Who shall ever pluck you from his hands! John 10:28. When, or to whom shall his scepter ever be transferred? His mediatorial kingdom will indeed be done away with, when there shall be no more occasion for it, 1 Corinthians 15:24. This relates to the peculiar mode of administering the affairs of his kingdom as our Mediator.

Though he will cease to mediate between God and man, his sovereign dominion shall exist to all eternity, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; of your kingdom there shall he no end! Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 2:44; Hebrews 1:8.”

Rejoice then, believers, in your Lord, “let the children of Zion be joyful in their king.” Cherish his attractive influences; gather yourselves around him yet daily and hourly; spread before him your every need; commune with him on every occasion; consult him; listen to him; obey him; cleave to him with full purpose of heart. So will he keep you steadfast unto the end, and admit you to the richer fruition of his presence in his kingdom above!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 48:15-16

“Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm—may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth.”

There are not any more profitable scenes than those which we behold in the chambers of dying saints. There religion is exhibited in the most lively colors, and evinces itself to be, not a visionary phantom, but a real and substantial good. We are bidden to “mark the perfect man, and to behold the upright, because the end of that man is peace.” There are some instances where people on their death-bed are transported with unutterable joy; they seem to breathe the very atmosphere of Heaven, while they are yet in the body. But it is more frequent to behold them waiting for their dissolution with a peaceful dignified composure; and improving their precious moments for the benefit of their surviving friends.

Such was the closing scene of Jacob. We read not of any particular ecstasies that he enjoyed; but we see him with a hope full of immortality, and an affectionate attention to the welfare of all his children. It seems indeed that several of the patriarchs were on these occasions endued with a spirit of prophecy, and directed to pronounce blessings on those for whom God, of his own sovereign will, had reserved them. They were not left to their own caprice or judgment in this matter; but were overruled, sometimes contrary to their own intentions to convey the blessings of the first born to the younger branches of the family in preference to the elder.

Thus Isaac, having unwillingly given the blessing to Jacob, was constrained to confirm it to him, notwithstanding Esau labored with tears to prevail upon him to recall his word.

Somewhat similar to that was the transfer of the blessing to the younger of Joseph’s sons in preference to the elder. Joseph brought his sons to his dying parent, and placed them so that Manasseh, his first-born, would have the right hand of Jacob placed upon his head; but the dying patriarch was inspired by God to counteract the wish of Joseph in this particular, and, by crossing his hands, to convey the principal blessing to Ephraim, who was the younger son.

We might remark upon this subject, that God often, if we may so speak, crosses his hands in bestowing his blessings, since he gives them to those who, in our eyes, are least worthy of them, and least likely to receive them.

But our object at present is rather to inculcate the necessity of attending to the spiritual interests of young people, and especially of those who by the ties of kinship are connected with us.

In prosecuting this subject, we observe, that,

I. We should feel a concern for the spiritual welfare of the rising generation.

We should by no means be indifferent to the souls of any; on the contrary, the conveying of religious instruction to children is an occupation well worthy of the attention of all, who have leisure and ability to engage in it. But we are more especially bound to instruct those who are related to us and dependent on us; indeed they may justly claim this service at our hands.

1. Their spiritual welfare is incomparably more important than their temporal welfare.

All people feel it incumbent on them to consult the temporal welfare of their children, and account themselves happy if they can bequeath them an inheritance, that shall make them independent of the world; or give them such an education, as shall enable them to make a comfortable provision for themselves.

But how much richer is a child that possesses a saving knowledge of Christ, however low he is in outward circumstances, than the heir of a kingdom would be, if destitute of that knowledge! Shall we then be diligent in promoting the temporal prosperity of our relations, and show no regard for their eternal interests? God forbid! Let rather our care be most bestowed on those things which most of all deserve our care.

2. Their spiritual welfare greatly depends on us.

Who is to instruct our children, if we do not? Or how can they gain knowledge without instruction? We provide for their bodies, because nature, as well as custom, tells us that it is our duty to do so. But is it not equally our duty to provide for their souls? If we educate them in ignorance, what can be expected but that they should grow up in sin? How can it be thought that they should bestow any pains in cultivating divine knowledge for themselves, when they see us, whom they suppose to have formed a right estimate of things, indifferent whether they possess it or not? On the contrary, if we conscientiously discharge our duty to them in this respect, we have reason to hope, that God will bless our endeavors, and make us instruments of good to their souls. For though the best efforts may not universally succeed, we may assume it as a general truth, that “if we bring up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it.”

3. Their souls will be required at our hands.

This is a truth acknowledged in reference to ministers; all agree that they must give account of the souls committed to their charge. Why then should not this be the case with those who have the care of children? Methinks every parent, as soon as ever a child is born, should receive it as it were from the hands of God, with this charge, “Bring this child up for me! Exodus 2:9.” As for the attention which a parent bestows on the temporal advancement of his children, it will not only not excuse his neglect of their better interests, but will be a fearful aggravation of it. The Judge will say to them as he once did to the hypocritical Pharisees: These things ought you to have done, and not to leave the others undone.

If we should feel this concern at all times for the rising generation,

II. We should express it more especially in a dying hour.

Every word acquires weight from the circumstance of its being uttered at the approach of death. We should avail ourselves therefore of that advantage, to impress the minds of young people with a concern for their souls. Two things in particular we should do:

1. We should commend God to them.

This Jacob did; and we cannot do better than follow his example.

Young people are ready to think that religion is a new thing, and that the exhortations of their parents are the effects of needless preciseness, or of superstitious fear. On this account, it is well to show them that all those eminent characters of old, whom they profess to reverence, were devoted to the service of God; and that, in recommending the gospel, to them, we recommend only what all the wise and good in all ages have approved; that, if God is our God, he was “the God also, before whom Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob walked.”

Moreover, though it is not always expedient to be talking of our own experience—yet, at such a season, we may do it to good effect. We may declare to others what we have known of God, both as a God of providence and of grace. It is of great importance to make them entertain right opinions respecting the providence of God, and to make them know that whether they become rich by industry or by inheritance, it is “God who feeds them all their life long.”

It is also indispensably necessary to direct their attention to that “Angel,” Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Angel of the Covenant. The same Person is spoken of as in the former members of the text; nor would Jacob have prayed to him, if he had not been God. Compare Genesis 32:24; Genesis 32:28; Genesis 32:30 with Hosea 12:3-5 and Malachi 3:1,” through whom alone we have redemption, either from the moral evil of sin, or from the penal evil of damnation. It is “He who redeems us from all evil,” temporal, spiritual, and eternal.

If we can from our own experience bear testimony to Christ in this view, it will avail more than a thousand lectures given in a time of health; for then the surrounding relatives will see that the sting of death is taken away, and that “they are indeed blessed who put their trust in Christ.”

2. We should pray to God for them.

The prayer of Jacob is short, but sententious. The expression, “God bless you!” is often uttered in a dying hour, but without any just ideas affixed to the petition. But we, in imploring the blessing of God upon our children, should distinctly inform them wherein that blessing consists. We should inform them, that, to enjoy God in the dispensations of his providence, and Christ in the riches of his grace, and to walk before God in Christ, as our God and Savior, in all holy obedience—is to be truly blessed; and that we are then indeed blessed, when God by his Spirit enables us thus to enjoy and to serve him. Having these things in our own minds, and conveying them to the minds of those whom we desire to instruct, we need not multiply words in prayer; while we entreat of God to bless those for whose welfare we are particularly concerned, we shall find acceptance with God, and obtain mercies for them.

It is recorded of Jacob, that in this prayer of his he exercised faith, Hebrews 11:21. Now we have not precisely the same grounds for faith that he had; because he was inspired to pronounce over the youths the blessings which God had before determined to bestow; but the more we are enabled to believe in God as a prayer-hearing and promise-keeping God, the more reason we have to hope that our prayers shall be answered, whether for ourselves or others.

ADDRESS.

1. To those who are advanced in life.

You see before you the composure of a dying saint. Seek to obtain such for yourselves. And that you may “die the death of the righteous,” be diligent to live his life. If your own business be not already transacted with God, (so to speak,) you will have little disposition either to speak to others in a dying hour, or to pray for them; but if your own calling and election be made sure, then will your dying exhortations be delivered with ease, and received with benefit.

2. To those who are coming forward into life.

You are apt to slight the instructions of your parents, under the idea that they are unnecessary or unsuitable to your state. But you see what has always occupied the minds of dying saints. You know that Jacob’s example is commended by God himself. Be thankful then, if you have friends or relatives who walk in the steps of Jacob; and let that, which they above all things desire for you, be your chief desire for yourselves.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 47:7-10

“Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.”

To acknowledge God in all our ways, and to commit our way to him, secures to us his gracious interposition for the direction of our paths, and the accomplishment of our desires. It is possible that Jacob, after he had set out towards Egypt in the wagons that Joseph had sent for him, felt some doubts about the propriety of leaving the promised land, when, at his advanced age, he could have no reasonable prospect of returning there with his family. But knowing from experience the efficacy of prayer, he betook himself to that never-failing remedy; he stopped at Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the Lord. That very night God appeared to him in a vision, and dissipated his fears, by an express command to proceed on his journey, and by a promise that he would in due time be brought back again, Genesis 46:1-4.

He then prosecuted his journey in safety, and had a most affecting interview with his beloved Joseph. Soon after his arrival, five of his sons were introduced to Pharaoh; and afterwards he himself. It is this introduction of the aged patriarch to Pharaoh that we are now more particularly to consider. In the account given us of the interview, we notice,

I. The question which Pharaoh put to Jacob.

It could not be expected that people so remote from each other in their station, their views, and habits of life, should have many topics in common with each other whereon to maintain a long and interesting conversation. The interview seems to have been very short, and of course the conversation short also. All that is related concerning it contains only one short question. This, as far as it related to Jacob, was a mere expression of kindness and respect on the part of Pharaoh. To have questioned him about matters which he did not understand, would have been embarrassing to Jacob, and painful to his feelings; and to have asked him about anything in which neither party was at all interested, would have betrayed a great lack of judgment in Pharaoh. The topic selected by Pharaoh was liable to no such objection; for it is always gratifying to a person advanced in years to mention his age, because the “hoary head, especially if found in the way of righteousness, is always considered as a crown of glory, Proverbs 16:31; Leviticus 19:32.”

As a general question, independent of the history, it cannot fail of suggesting many important thoughts to all to whom it is addressed. “How old are you?”

Are you far advanced in life? Then how much then of your allotted time is gone, and how little remains for the finishing of the work that is required of you! How diligently therefore should you redeem every hour that is now added to your expiring term!

Are you, on the contrary, but just setting out in the world? Then how little do you know of its snares, temptations, sorrows! what disappointments and troubles have you to experience! and how deeply are you concerned to have your views rectified, and your conduct regulated by the Word of God!

Whatever your age, you should consider every return of your birthday rather as a call to weep and mourn, than as an occasion of festivity and joy; for it is the knell of a departed year; a year that might, in all probability, have been far better improved; a year in which many sins have been committed, which are indelibly recorded in the book of God’s remembrance, and of which you must shortly give a strict account at his judgment-seat.

We notice,

II. Jacob’s answer to it.

The patriarch’s mind was fraught with zeal for God; and therefore not contenting himself with a plain short answer, he framed his reply in words calculated to make a deep impression on the mind of Pharaoh, without giving him the smallest offence.

He insinuates, and repeats the idea, that life is but a “pilgrimage;” that we are merely sojourners in a foreign land, and that our home and our inheritance is in a better country.

This part of his speech is particularly noticed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, as being an open acknowledgment of his principles as a worshiper of Jehovah, and of his expectations in a better world, Hebrews 11:13-14; Hebrews 11:16; Hebrews 11:21. He intimates also that his years, though they had been a hundred and thirty, were few. This age might appear great to Pharaoh; but it was not nearly equal to that of Jacob’s progenitors. Terah was 205 years old; Abraham 175; Isaac 180.

On a retrospect, every person’s days appear to have been but few. Various incidents of former life seem to have been but recently transacted; the intervening time being lost, as it were, like valleys intercepted by adjacent hills. He further declares, that these years of his had been replete with evil. Certainly his life, from the time that he fled from the face of his brother Esau to that hour, had been a scene of great afflictions. His fourteen years’ servitude to Laban, the disgrace brought on him and his family by Dinah his only daughter, the murderous cruelty of his vindictive sons, the jealousies of all his children on account of his partiality to Joseph, the sudden loss of Joseph, and all his recent trials, had greatly embittered life to him, and made it appear like a sea of troubles, where wave followed wave in endless succession. And who is there that does not find, (especially in more advanced life,) that the evil, on the whole, outweighs the good?

These hints, offered in so delicate a manner to a potent monarch, with whom he had only one short interview, afford a beautiful pattern for our imitation, at the same time that they convey important instruction to our minds.

We conclude with commending to your imitation the whole of Jacob’s conduct towards Pharaoh.

At his first admission into Pharaoh’s presence, and again at his departure from him, this holy patriarch blessed him. We do not suppose that he pronounced his blessing in a formal and authoritative manner, as Melchizedek did to Abraham; but that he rendered him his most grateful acknowledgments for the favors he had conferred, and invoked the blessing of God upon him and upon his kingdom on account of them. Such a mode of testifying his gratitude became a servant of Jehovah, and tended to lead the monarch’s thoughts to the contemplation of the only true God.

Well may it put to shame the greater part of the Christian world, who systematically exclude religion from their social converse, under the idea that the introduction of it would destroy all the comfort of society. True Christians, however, should learn from this instance not to be ashamed of their religion; but, as inoffensively as possible, to lead men to the knowledge of it; and to make the diffusion of it a very essential part of all their fellowship with each other. More especially we should embrace every opportunity of impressing on our own minds and on the minds of others the true end of life; that we may thereby secure that rest which remains for us after our short but weary pilgrimage.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 45:27-28

“But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

It is of very great importance to exercise sound wisdom and discretion in interpreting the Holy Scriptures, lest, by imposing on them a forced or fanciful meaning—we bring the sacred oracles themselves into contempt. Yet is there a certain latitude allowed to us, provided we do not set forth the subordinate and accommodated sense as if it were the true and primary import of the passage.

The Apostles themselves frequently take this liberty. The prophet, speaking of the Babylonish captivity, says, “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel, weeping for her children, refused to he comforted for her children, because they were not, Jeremiah 31:15.” This passage Matthew applies to the slaughter of the children in Bethlehem, to which, in its primary sense, it had no reference, Matthew 2:17-18; nevertheless, the citation of it was just, and the accommodation beautiful.

A similar use, the same evangelist makes of a passage primarily referring to the atonement which Christ would offer for the sins of mankind; he applies it to his miraculously healing their bodily disorders. Compare Isaiah 53:4 with Matthew 8:16-18. These examples, and others which might be adduced, would justify a considerably greater latitude of observation than we propose to adopt on the present occasion.

In considering this portion of sacred history, we do not found upon it any doctrine relating to the Gospel; we do not even insinuate that it was originally intended to illustrate any of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity; we shall merely take occasion from it to introduce to your notice some useful observations, with which indeed it has no immediate connection, but with which it has a very striking correspondence.

Joseph having made himself known to his brethren, and cautioned them against “falling out by the way,” (an event too probable in their circumstances,) sends them back to their father, with orders to inform him of all that they had seen and heard, and to bring him and their respective families down to Egypt. Jacob, when first he received the information, could not believe it; but upon further conversation with his sons he was convinced of the truth of their report, and determined to accept the invitation which his beloved Joseph had sent to him.

Now we propose to notice,

I. The grounds of Jacob’s doubts.

There seem to have been two reasons for his questioning the truth of the information he received:

1. The report contradicted all that he had before received for truth.

He had above twenty years before had reason to believe that his son Joseph had been torn in pieces by a wild beast; he had even seen his son’s coat torn and drenched in blood; nor had the lapse of so many years brought him any other information; how then could this son be the person that presided over the kingdom of Egypt at this time? There might be someone that resembled him in name; but it could not possibly be his darling son; had Joseph been alive, he must long since have heard of him; whoever therefore the person might be, or whatever he might profess to be, he could not be the long-lost son of his beloved Rachel. Such were Jacob’s arguments, and such his reasons for rejecting the testimony of his sons.

And do we not here see one ground on which the testimony of those who preach the Gospel is rejected? We find men rooted in certain opinions, which, in their opinion, they have adopted on very sufficient grounds. The general acceptance which those opinions meet with, and the confirmation of them during a long course of years, concur to render them, as it were, fixed principles in their minds.

But the doctrines of the Gospel are directly the reverse of those which pass current in the world.

The extreme depravity of human nature,

the desert and danger of all mankind,

the insufficiency of any good works to recommend us to God,

the necessity of seeking justification by faith alone,

the nature and extent of true holiness, and

the impossibility of being saved without an entire consecration of ourselves to the service of God,

are as opposite to the doctrines and opinions of the world, as light is to darkness; and on this account they are rejected by the generality with scorn and contempt. It was on this ground that Nicodemus rejected the doctrine of the new birth, “How can these things be?” ‘I have never held this sentiment; therefore it cannot be true.’ And on the same grounds it is, that the preaching of the Gospel is at this time, no less than in former ages, accounted foolishness.

2. The tidings were too good to be true.

There is a proneness in the human mind to believe evil reports more easily than those which are favorable. Jacob instantly acceded to the idea that his son Joseph had been torn in pieces, notwithstanding, if he had considered the spirit and temper of his brethren towards him, there was very abundant reason to doubt the fact. But, when he is told that Joseph is alive, and at the head of the Egyptian kingdom, he cannot entertain the thought one moment, “his heart even faints” at the mention of the fact, (not because he believed it, but) because he believed it not.

Here again we trace the workings of the human mind in relation to higher things. If we come and tell people that they must make their peace with God by a long course of repentance and good works, they will believe us readily enough; though, if they duly considered the nature of such tidings, they would have evidence enough of their falsehood. But if we declare to them:

that Christ has made a full atonement for our sins;

that a free and full salvation is offered them through Him;

that they may partake of it “without money and without price,” that is, without anything on their part to merit it;

and that their former guilt, however great and aggravated, is no bar to their acceptance with God, provided they simply and sincerely believe in Christ;

‘all this seems too good to be true; it can never be, that the way to Heaven should be so easy.’ This is the argument used by all the train of self-righteous Pharisees, who, “being whole, feel no need of a physician;” and by multitudes also of repenting “Publicans, who dare not lift up their eyes to Heaven,” or entertain a hope, that “grace should ever so abound towards them, in whom sin has so greatly abounded, See Isaiah 49:24-25.”

Having canvassed thus his doubts, we proceed to notice,

II. The means of the removal of Jacob’s doubts.

Of these we are minutely informed in the words of our text. They were,

1. A fuller recital of Joseph’s words.

Jacob’s sons had told him of Joseph’s elevation; but not being believed, proceeded to “tell him all the words that Joseph had said unto them.” Now their testimony became so circumstantial and convincing, that he could resist no longer; his incredulity was borne down by a weight of evidence that could not be withstood.

Thus also it is that the Gospel forces its way into the hearts of thousands, to whom, at its first statement, it appeared no better than an idle tale. Ministers set forth innumerable declarations which Jesus has made respecting us; they report his gracious invitations, his precious promises, his tender expostulations; all of which evince such a perfect knowledge of our state, and are so suited to our necessities, that we cannot any longer doubt from whom they come. They shame us out of our doubts, and constrain us to exclaim, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

2. An actual sight of the tokens of his love.

A view of the wagons which Joseph had sent, stored with everything requisite for his accommodation in his journey, completed his conviction. All the patriarch’s doubts were dissipated, and his “spirit instantly revived.”

And what will not give way before the sensible manifestations of God’s love to the soul?

Let “His love be shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit;”

let the promises be applied with power to the soul;

let “the Spirit of God once witness with our spirit that we are God’s;”

and no fears will then remain respecting the truth of the Gospel or the power and grace of Christ. We shall then “have the witness in ourselves,” that “Jesus is exalted to be a Prince and a Savior,” and that he is “able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.”

With the removal of his doubts, there was an instantaneous change in his determinations. This will appear while we consider,

III. The effect which their removal produced upon him.

He had been hitherto reluctant to leave his home; but now:

1. He desired nothing so much as to see the one object of his affections.

Joseph was now more dear to him than ever; and if he might but live to enjoy a sight of him, he would consider himself as having attained all for which he wished to live, “It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die!”

Just so, let us once be persuaded that Jesus is set at God’s right hand, far above all principalities and powers, and that he has all Heaven at his disposal, and has sent to invite us to come unto him, and has made ample provision for us by the way, and prepared mansions for us at the end of our journey, and engaged that we shall dwell in his immediate presence forever and ever; let us be persuaded of this, and shall we feel no disposition to visit him?

Will it not, on the contrary, be the first desire of our hearts? Shall we not say, “Whom have I in Heaven but You; and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison with You?” Will not the attainment of this object appear to be the only thing worth living for? And having an assured prospect of this, shall we not say, “Now let your servant depart in peace?” Yes; this desire will swallow up, as it were, every other; and to secure this happiness will be the only end for which we shall wish to live.

2. He disregarded all the difficulties he might encounter in the way to him.

It was not a pleasing thing for an infirm old man, who was one hundred and thirty years of age, to leave his home, and set out upon so long a journey; but the mountains became a plain, when such an object was to be attained.

Nor is it pleasing for flesh and blood to encounter the difficulties which we must meet with in our journey heaven-ward. But who that loves our exalted Jesus will regard them? Who will not welcome reproach, and take up with cheerfulness whatever cross may lie in his way to that blessed kingdom? Suppose that we must suffer the loss of our worldly interests and accommodations; who will not account them mere “stuff,” that is unworthy of one moment’s notice? who will not readily exchange them for the fullness of the heavenly land, and for the enjoyment of the Savior’s presence? Difficulties become no difficulties, and sacrifices no sacrifices, when by faith we behold the Savior’s glory, and have an assured hope of participating in it forever.

Reflections.

1. How amiable is the exercise of sincere love!

Joseph, for peculiar reasons, had imposed a restraint upon his feelings, until the proper time arrived to give them vent; but when he was no longer under any necessity to conceal them, they burst forth in a torrent of affection, as waters that have broken down the dam by which they had been confined. He retained no anger against his murderous brethren, but fell on their necks and kissed them. His charge to them “not to argue along the way,” showed how ardently he desired that they might maintain, with each other as well as with himself, the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

And how animated was his message to his dear aged father! “Hasten and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus says your son Joseph; God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me; tarry not; and you shall dwell in the land of Goshen; and you shall be near unto me, you and your children, and your children’s children, and your flocks, and your herds, and all that you have; and there will I nourish you!”

Nor was the aged patriarch’s affection less ardent, when once he was persuaded that his Joseph was yet alive. His whole soul was enrapt up in his darling son; and, in his determination to visit him, he lost sight of all his temporal interests; the thought of enjoying plenty in Egypt seems not to have entered into his mind; all that he cared for was a sight of Joseph; and beyond that he had no wish in life.

Would to God it were thus in every church, and every family! Thus indeed it will be, wherever the grace of God reigns in the heart. Instead of “rendering evil for evil,” we shall “heap coals of fire on the heads” of those who injure us, to melt them into love. Instead of harboring envy, or hatred, or a selfish indifference in our hearts, we shall feel the sublimest happiness in the exercise of love; parents will love their children, and children will seek to requite their parents, and “brethren will delight to dwell together in unity.” O let us cultivate such a spirit, which shall be the best evidence, both to ourselves and others, that we are Christ’s disciples.

2. How delightful will be our interview with Christ in Heaven!

If we had beheld the meeting of this aged patriarch with his beloved Joseph, who among us could have refrained from tears? But what must be the meeting of the soul with Jesus, on its first admission into his presence? Who can conceive the tender endearments of the Savior’s love, or the admiration, gratitude, and joy with which the soul shall be overwhelmed in his embrace? Surely such an interview is worth the longest and most arduous journey. Well may we account everything as dung and dross, to obtain it; more especially because it shall not be transient, like that which Jacob enjoyed, but permanent and everlasting. Behold then, we invite you all to a participation of it. He has said respecting you, “Father, I will that they whom you have given me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me.”

Is there one among you that will not add his Amen to that petition? Make haste then, tarry not, “Mind not your stuff” but commence your journey instantly; and soon shall death transport you into his presence; and “then shall you be forever with the Lord. Comfort one another with these words!”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 45:8

“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God!”

By looking through second causes to the first Cause of all—we learn to trace events to an all-wise Being, who “works all things after the counsel of his own will,” and whose prerogative it is to bring good out of evil, and order out of confusion. To this view of things we are directed, and in this we are greatly assisted, by the Holy Scriptures; which draw aside the veil of mystery that is on the ways of God, and set before our eyes the most hidden secrets of divine providence. The history before us more especially affords a beautiful illustration of those ways in which the Governor of the Universe accomplishes his own designs; he allows, in many instances, such adverse circumstances to occur, as apparently to preclude almost a possibility of their terminating according to his original purpose; yet does he wonderfully interpose in such a manner as to bring them easily, and, as it were, naturally, to their destined outcome.

If in anything God’s intentions could be frustrated, we would have found them fail in reference to the predicted elevation of Joseph above his brethren; yet that event took place at last, and that too through those very means which were used to defeat it; and Joseph, alter the event was actually accomplished, referred the whole dispensation to God, as its primary Author and infallible Director.

To elucidate this subject, we shall show,

I. What part God takes in the actions of wicked men.

Though God cannot be a partaker in the wickedness of men—yet he may, and certainly does, bear a part in those actions which wicked men perform. We need go no further than the text, to confirm and establish this truth. That the conduct of Joseph’s brethren, notwithstanding it, was ultimately instrumental to his advancement, was deeply criminal, can admit of no doubt; yet says Joseph, “It was not you who sent me here, but God.” The question is then: What is that part which God takes in the actions of wicked men? To this we answer,

1. He affords them opportunities of perpetrating the wickedness that is in their hearts.

The brethren of Joseph were full of envy and malice against him; but while he was under his father’s wing, they could not give full scope to their hatred, because they were afraid of their father’s displeasure. To remove this difficulty, God so ordered matters that Joseph should be sent to inquire after the health of his brethren when they were at a distance from home. This gave them an opportunity of executing all the wickedness that was in their hearts. But as the executing of their first intention would have defeated the plans of Providence, it was so appointed that certain Ishmaelite merchants would be passing that way, and that he would be sold to them for a slave instead of being put to death.

That we do not err in tracing these more minute incidents to divine providence, is manifest; for the elevation of Pharaoh to the throne of Egypt is expressly said to have been effected by God for that very purpose, that he might be an instrument on whom the divine power would be exerted, and in whose destruction God himself would be glorified, “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth, Romans 9:17.”

But in thus facilitating the execution of evil, God does not make himself a partner in the crime; he only affords men power and opportunity to do what their own wicked dispositions prompt them to; and this he does, as in the instances before referred to, so also in every crime that is committed in the world. What our blessed Lord said to his judge who boasted of having power to release or condemn him, we may say to every criminal in the universe, “You could have no power at all to commit your crimes, except it were given you from above.”

2. He allows Satan to instigate them to evil.

“Satan is always going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour;” but he cannot act without divine permission. He could not tempt Job, or even enter into the herd of swine, until he had first obtained permission from God. For the most part, God imposes a restraint on this our inveterate enemy; or, if left to himself, he would soon “sift us all as wheat,” and reduce us all to the lowest ebb of wickedness and misery! But at times he leaves the fiend somewhat more at liberty, and permits him to exercise his power over his wretched vassals. On these occasions Satan operates upon their minds with more than usual violence, and not only leads them captive at his will, but instigates them to the commission of the most heinous crimes.

Of these acts God is frequently represented as the author, while in other parts of Scripture their origin is referred to Satan. We are told that Satan moved David to number the people; and that he sent forth lying spirits into all the prophets of Baal, that they might induce Ahab to go up to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, where he was sure to fall. But both these things are also said to have been done by God, 2 Samuel 24:1 with 1 Chronicles 21:1 and 2 Chronicles 18:20-22.

The fact is, that God did these things through the agency of Satan; that is, he permitted Satan to act according to the impulse of his own mind, and left the people whom he assaulted, to comply with his temptations.

3. He withdraws from them his restraining grace.

Man needs nothing more than to have the preventing grace of God withheld, and he will as surely fall, as a stone, cast out of the hand, will gravitate to the earth. Now it is in this way that God often punishes the sins of men; he leaves them to put forth the depravity of their own hearts; he withholds those mercies which he sees they despised, and gives them up to follow their own vile propensities without restraint. To this effect, it is often said in Scripture, “So I gave them up.” Yes, the sacred records speak yet more strongly, and represent God as “blinding the eyes of men,” and “hardening their hearts, Exodus 7:3; Exodus 7:13; Isaiah 6:9-10, which is quoted six times in the New Testament.”

But we must not imagine that God ever actively concurs in the production of sin; in fact, there is no occasion for any active exertion on his part. Nothing further is necessary than for him to withdraw his preventing grace—and evil will blaze forth, as fire will to consume the stubble, when no counteracting influence is used to extinguish the flames.

To remove all objection against his participating in the actions of wicked men, we proceed to point out,

II. The benefit arising from acknowledging God in them.

It may be thought that such an acknowledgment, if it did not make God a minister of sin, would at least represent him in a very unamiable light; and that it would tend to justify men in their iniquities. But we affirm, on the contrary, that such an acknowledgment is calculated rather to bring good to man, and honor to our God.

1. It affords us sweet consolation under our troubles.

Were we to look no further than to second causes, we would be grieved beyond measure at the instruments of our affliction, and be filled with apprehensions at their malevolent desires. But when we reflect that our enemies are no more than the sword in our Father’s hand, and the rod with which he corrects us; when we consider that his design in correcting us is widely different from theirs, Isaiah 10:4-6, and that after he has made use of them for our good, he will cast them into the fire, Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 10:16, and receive us to his bosom in an improved state, Isaiah 10:24-27, our minds are pacified, and we say, “It is the Lord, let him do what seems him good!”

What a source of comfort was this to Job, when the Sabeans and Chaldeans slew his servants and his cattle! “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away—blessed be the name of the Lord!” It is thus with all the sons and daughters of affliction, when once they can view the hand of God in their trials; they adopt the language of the Psalmist, “I was silent, and opened not my mouth, because You are the one who had done this!”

2. It disposes us to a ready forgiveness of those who injure us.

It does not incline us to palliate their faults, as if they were mere unconscious instruments impelled by the force of Him who made use of them; (for in all that they do, they act as freely as if God bore no part at all in their actions,) but it inclines us to pity, to forgive, and pray for them—as slaves to their own passions, enemies to their own welfare, and real, though unwitting, benefactors to our souls.

This effect is strongly exemplified in our text; Joseph saw the hand of God overruling the designs of his brethren; and from that consideration, he not only readily forgave them, but entreated them “not to be grieved or angry with themselves;” since, whatever had been their intentions, God had made use of their counsels for the accomplishment of his own gracious purposes; yes, thrice does he repeat this idea as a ground whereon he would have them satisfied with the dispensation, as he himself also was.

We have also a similar effect mentioned in the history of David. Shimei, in the hour of David’s adversity, loaded him with execrations; and Abishai, eager to avenge the insult offered to his master, asked permission to go and kill him; but David forbade it, saying, “Let him curse, because the Lord has said unto him: Curse David; let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has bidden him; it may be that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day, 2 Samuel 16:5-12.”

Thus shall we also mortify all vindictive feelings, when once we discern that our enemies are agents for Him; we shall say with Stephen and our blessed Lord, “Lay not this sin to their charge;” “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

3. It fills us with an admiration of God’s wisdom.

It is impossible to trace all the parts of this history, and not adore God’s wisdom whereby the various incidents in Joseph’s life were made to concur to the production of one great outcome—the preservation of Jacob and all his family.

If we contemplate the still greater diversity of circumstances, whereby Jesus was made to fulfill the Scriptures, and to effect the redemption of the world; or the astonishingly mysterious designs of God relating to the excision of the Jews, as the means of engrafting the Gentiles into their stock; and the restoration of the Jews, as the means of bringing in all the fullness of the Gentiles; I say, if we contemplate all these things, we are necessitated to exclaim with the Apostle, “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Romans 11:33.”

In like manner, the more we are habituated to trace the mercies of God in our own personal experience, and the numberless instances wherein he has made “the wrath of men” and devils “to praise him,” the more heartily shall we join in the adoring language of Moses, “Who is like unto You among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders! Exodus 15:11.”

In prosecuting this subject, we cannot but be struck with the following reflections:

1. How happy is the Christian in this world!

Those who know not God, have no refuge to flee unto; no consolation under the trials they endure, no security against the evils they dread. But the true Christian is persuaded, that, though he navigates a tempestuous ocean, he has an all-wise, almighty Pilot at the helm; and “therefore he will not fear though the waves thereof roar, and the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea.” He knows not indeed what will be the precise outcome of impending calamities; but he knows that it shall be precisely such as his heavenly Father sees to be best for him; and with that assurance he is satisfied. Thus is he kept in perfect peace, because he “trusts in God.”

2. How happy will he be in the future world!

Here “he walks by faith, and not by sight.” He believes that all things are working for his good, because God has said that they shall do so. But in Heaven he will have a perfect discovery of all the links in that chain of providences whereby he has been brought to glory. He will see the importance of those things which once appeared most trifling, and the necessity of those things which once were most distressing, and the perfect harmony of those things which once were involved in the most impenetrable darkness and confusion. What cause will he then see to bless and adore his God! What views will he then have of the unsearchable depths of wisdom, which ordered everything for his good! Well may he leave himself at God’s disposal now, when such shall be his recompense at last! Let us then commit ourselves entirely to God, and be satisfied with all his dealings towards us; and “what we know not now—we shall know hereafter.”

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 42:36

“Their father Jacob said to them: You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin! Everything is against me!”

The best of men are weak when they come into temptation. The trials of Jacob were indeed heavy; and, if we suppose that he had any idea that his sons had been active agents in bereaving him of his beloved Joseph, his grief must have been poignant beyond all expression. Not having been able to bring home to them any proof of such a conspiracy, he seems never to have dropped any hint to them before respecting it; and possibly he did not even now mean to charge it home upon them, but only to say, that he had been bereaved in some measure through them; nevertheless his words seem to betray a lurking suspicion, that they had been accessory to Joseph’s death, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin!”

But in the complaint he uttered respecting the ultimate end of his trials, he was manifestly wrong. We say not, that we would have shown more constancy than he; it is more than probable that none of us in his circumstances would have acted better; but from his language on the occasion we may learn, how we do act in trying circumstances, and how we ought to act.

I. How we do act in trying circumstances.

“We are born to trouble as the sparks fly upward;” none therefore can hope to escape it; and least of all those who, like Jacob, have large families. While our trials are light, we can bear them with composure; but if they become heavy and accumulated, we are then apt to indulge:

1. Murmuring complaints.

Whether Jacob meant to reflect on his sons or not, he certainly meant to complain of his afflictions; which was, in fact, to complain of God, who, in his all-wise providence, had appointed them.

It was thus with his posterity during their sojourning in the wilderness; they always murmured against Moses, and against God, whenever they were involved in any difficulty or distress; and, when they were discouraged by the report of the spies respecting the land of Canaan and its inhabitants, they even proposed to set a Captain over them, and to return unto Egypt, Numbers 14:4.

And how many such “murmurers and complainers” are there among ourselves! Some will expressly declare, that they think God deals harshly with them; others content themselves with venting their spleen against the instruments of their calamities. But all, in one way or other, are apt to “charge God foolishly,” as if he were unmerciful, if not unrighteous also, in his dispensations towards them.

2. Desponding fears.

So filled was Jacob with a sense of his present calamities, that he could not indulge a hope of a favorable outcome from them; he thought of nothing but increasing troubles, which would “bring down his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.”

Thus also his descendants, whom we have before alluded to; they had seen bread given them from Heaven, and water out of the rock; but they doubted whether God were able to provide flesh also for their sustenance; and when they were brought to the very borders of Canaan, they doubted whether it were possible for them ever to conquer the inhabitants, and take their fenced cities.

And are not we also ready to say, on some occasions, “Our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts?” Are we not ready to ask with David, whether his “mercy be not come utterly to an end?” Yes; in temporal things we too often sink under our troubles as absolutely irremediable; and in spiritual matters, we doubt almost the ability, and at all events the willingness, of Christ to save us.

While we condemn the unbelief of this afflicted patriarch, we acknowledge, in fact:

II. How we ought to act in trying circumstances.

However dark may be the dispensations of God towards us, we should:

1. Await his perfect time.

We are not to be impatient because relief does not come at the first moment that we ask for it. There must be a time for the dispensations of God to produce their proper effects upon our hearts. We do not expect that a medical prescription shall effect in one moment all for which it was administered; we expect its operation to be unpleasant; and we are contented to submit to pain for a season—that we may afterwards enjoy the blessings of health.

Now we know that our heavenly Physician prescribes all things concerning us with unerring wisdom, and consults our greatest good. Whatever time therefore the accomplishment of his designs may occupy, we should wait with patience, assured that the intended benefits shall ultimately be enjoyed. We should give him credit, if we may so speak, for his wisdom and love; and leave him to display them in his own way, “He who believes, shall not make haste.”

2. Rest on his promises.

The promises of God to his people, respecting the outcome of their trials, are exceeding great and precious. He declares, that we shall have “no temptation without a way to escape;” that “all things shall work together for our good,” and “work out for us a more exceeding weight of glory!” Surely such promises as these should reconcile us to trials, however great. What can we wish for more? And how can we dare to say, “All these things are against me,” when God tells us positively that they are working for us? Did we ever know any one of God’s promises to have failed? Why then should we doubt the accomplishment of these, when they have already been fulfilled in so many thousand instances? Let it satisfy us, that God has promised; and that “what he has promised, he is able also to perform.”

3. Hope against hope.

This was Abraham’s conduct under far heavier trials than we have ever experienced, Romans 4:18 with Hebrews 11:17-19. What though we cannot see how God can effect our deliverance? Is he also at a loss? The darker our state, the more simple should be our trust. We should say with Job, “Though he slay me—yet will I trust in him.” How was Jacob reproved at last, when he saw the outcome of those things which in his haste he had so deplored! Let us remember that there is the same gracious, almighty God at this time; and that “those who trust in Him shall never be confounded.”

We may further learn from this subject,

1. What an excellent grace faith is.

Faith beholds nothing but paternal love in the heaviest chastisements. Faith “brings meat out of the eater,” and tastes sweetness in the bitterest cup. Faith looks to the end of things, and sees them, in a measure, as God sees them. Faith is the great and sovereign antidote to troubles of every kind. If Jacob had exercised faith as Abraham did, the trials of which he complained would scarcely have been felt at all. But God is pleased to try us on purpose that we may learn to trust in him. In this world “we are to walk by faith, and not by sight.” Let us therefore cultivate continually this divine principle of faith, which, while it honors God, tends exceedingly to the advancement of our own happiness.

2. How blessed a state Heaven will be.

Here God has wisely and graciously hidden futurity from our view. But when we are arrived at the heavenly mansions, we shall see all the merciful designs of God developed, and the wisdom of his dispensations clearly displayed. We shall then see that the trials of which we once complained, were not only beneficial, but absolutely necessary for us; and that, if they had been withheld from us, there would have been wanting a link in that chain, by which we were to be brought in safety to Heaven.

Who will there adopt the language of the text? Who will utter it in reference to any one trial of his life? Who will not rather say, “He has done all things well?” Let us then look forward to that time, and not pass our judgment on present things, until we see and understand the design of God in them!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 42:21

“They said to one another: Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.”

The history of Joseph appears rather like a well-concerted fiction, than a reality. In it is found all that gives beauty to the finest drama; a perfect unity of design; a richness and variety of incident, involving the plot in obscurity—yet gradually drawing it to its destined end; and the whole issuing happily, to the rewarding of virtue and discouraging of vice. The point to which all tends, is, the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams in the submission of his whole family to him. And here we find his dreams realized through the very means which were used to counteract their accomplishment.

Already had his brethren bowed themselves down with their faces to the earth; but this was only the commencement of their subjection to him; they must be brought far lower yet, and be made to feel the guilt they had contracted by their cruelty towards him. With this view Joseph forbears to reveal himself to them, but deals roughly with them, imprisoning them as spies, and threatening them with death if they do not clear themselves from that charge. They had formerly cast him into a pit, and sold him as a slave; and now they are cast into prison and bound; they once were deaf to his cries and entreaties; and now the governor of Egypt is deaf to theirs. This brings to their remembrance their former conduct; and they trace the hand of an avenging God in their sufferings. Their conscience, which had been so long dormant, now awakes, and performs its office.

This is the incident mentioned in our text; and, confining our attention to it, we shall show,

I. The general office of conscience.

To enter into any philosophical discussion respecting that faculty which we call conscience, would be altogether beside our purpose, and unsuited to the present occasion. It will be sufficient to take the word in its popular sense, as importing that natural faculty whereby we judge both of our actions and the consequences of them.

1. Conscience is given to us by God to operate as a guide.

Of itself indeed it cannot guide, but only according to rules which before exist in the mind. It does not so much tell us what is right or wrong, as whether our actions correspond with our apprehensions of right and wrong. But as we are apt to be biased by interest or passion to violate our acknowledged obligations, conscience is intended to act as a guide or monitor, warning us against the commission of evil, and inciting us to the performance of what is good.

It is true indeed that conscience often stimulates to evil under the notion of good; for Paul followed its dictates in persecuting the Christians, when “he thought he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus, Acts 26:9.” Our blessed Lord informs us, that many who would kill his disciples would do it under an idea that they were rendering unto God an acceptable service, John 16:2.

The fault of these people consists not in following the dictates of their conscience, but in not taking care to have their conscience better informed. A thing which is evil in itself cannot be made good by any erroneous conceptions of ours respecting it; but things which are of themselves innocent, become evil, if they are done contrary to the convictions of our own minds, Romans 14:14; for we ought to be fully persuaded of the propriety of a thing before we do it Romans 14:5; and “whatever is not of faith is sin, Romans 14:23.”

2. Conscience is given to us by God to operate as a judge.

Conscience is God’s vice-regent in the soul, and authoritatively pronounces in the soul the judgment which God himself will pass on our actions, Romans 2:15. It takes cognizance not of our actions only, but of our principles and motives, and brings into its estimate everything that will form the basis of God’s judgment. Of course, in this, as well as in its suggestions, it may err; for, if it forms a wrong judgment of the qualities of our actions, its judgment must be wrong also as to the consequences of them. It may promise us God’s approbation upon grounds that are very erroneous; but when its apprehensions of our duty are themselves just, its award respecting our performance of it is a prelude of God’s final judgment; for John says, “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things;” but “if our heart condemns us not, then have we confidence toward God, 1 John 3:20-21.”

But, as its operations are by no means uniform, we proceed to mark,

II. The insensibility of the conscience, when dormant.

Astonishing was the insensibility of the consciences of the sons of Jacob!

When they conspired against their brother Joseph, and cast him into the pit, that he might perish with hunger, they regarded not the cries and entreaties of the youth, but proceeded in their murderous career without remorse. But the seasonable appearance of a company of Ishmaelites suggested to them somewhat of an easier method of ridding themselves of him. At the suggestion of Judah, “What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, and our flesh;” they acceded to it, and “were content.”

In the first instance, after putting him into the pit, “they sat down to eat bread,” evidently without any compunction; but now they were quite “content,” applauding themselves for their humanity, instead of condemning themselves for their injustice and cruelty, Genesis 37:23-28.

View next their mode of deceiving their aged father. They took Joseph’s coat, and dipped it in the blood of a young goat which they killed for the purpose; and brought it to their father, in order that he might conclude, that an evil beast had devoured his son. (How far God might design this as a just retribution for the deceit which Jacob himself had practiced towards his aged father, when he, by assuming Esau’s coat, stole away the blessing that belonged to Esau, we stop not to notice; with this the sons of Jacob had nothing to do.) They behold their aged parent overwhelmed with grief, and absolutely inconsolable for the loss of his son; and these detestable hypocrites “rise up to comfort him, Genesis 37:31-35.” Where is conscience all this time? Has it no voice? Is there not one among them all who has a functioning conscience? Not one among all the ten? Does no heart relent at the sight of the anguish of an aged and pious parent, sitting from day to day and from month to month “with sackcloth on his loins,” and “going down mourning to the grave?” No; not one of them all, as far as we know, ever “repented, saying: What have I done?” For the space of twenty-two years they all continued in impenitent obduracy; and were not made even at last to feel the guilt they had contracted in selling their brother, until they themselves were brought into somewhat similar circumstances with him, and constrained to read their own crime in their punishment. Such was conscience in them!

Yet this is in reality what we may see in ourselves and in all around us:

Behold the profane, who have not God in all their thoughts, and who never utter the name of God but to blaspheme it; they can go on for years and years, and yet never imagine that they have once offended God.

Behold the sensual, who revel in all manner of impurity; they “wipe their mouth, like the adulteress, and say, I have done no wickedness! Proverbs 30:20.”

Behold the worldly, who have no cares whatever beyond the things of time and sense; their idolatrous love to the creature raises no doubts or fears in their minds; yes, rather, they bless themselves as wise, prudent, and diligent, and think that they have done all that is required of them.

Behold the self-righteous, who, from an excessive conceit of their own goodness, will not submit to the righteousness of God; they can make light of all the invitations of the Gospel, and pour contempt upon its gracious overtures—and yet never once suspect themselves to be enemies of Christ.

Behold the professors of religion who “confess Christ with their lips but in their works deny him;” they will spend a whole life in such self-deceit, and never entertain a doubt but that he will acknowledge them as his in the day of judgment.

And whence is all this? Is it not that conscience is asleep? If it performed in any measure its office, could it be thus? Yet thus it is sometimes even with those who are well instructed in religion. The sins of David are well known; yet even he, who at one time was smitten with grief and shame at having cut off the skirt of a man who sought his life, now kills the very man who was daily hazarding his life for him, and feels no remorse; yes, after having seduced the wife of his friend, and then murdered him, he continues at least nine months as obdurate as the most profligate of the human race; to such a degree was his “conscience seared as with a hot iron! 1 Timothy 4:2.” To such a degree may our “hearts also be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin! Hebrews 3:13.”

But the text leads us to contemplate more particularly,

III. The power of the conscience, when awake.

God has various ways of awakening a drowsy conscience:

Sometimes he does it through some afflictive dispensation, as in the case before us;

sometimes through the conversation of a friend, 2 Samuel 12:7;

sometimes by the public ministry of the Word, Acts 24:25;

sometimes by an occurrence arising out of men’s wickedness, 2 Samuel 24:10, or in some way connected with it, Daniel 5:5-6; Matthew 14:1-2.

But by whatever means it is called into activity, our conscience will make us hear when it speaks to us.

The conscience inspires some, only with terror.

Thus it wrought on Joseph’s brothers; they saw their guilt, and the wrath of God upon them on account of it, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother,” said they, “and behold his blood is required of us.”

Thus it wrought also on the unhappy Judas, who, when he saw what he had done, could no longer endure his very existence, Matthew 27:3-5.

And on how many does it produce no other effect than this! They see how grievously they have offended God; and, not having the grace of repentance given to them, they sink into despondency. Life now becomes a burden to them; and they choose rather to rush into an unknown state, than to endure the stings of an accusing conscience.

Hence the suicides that are so frequent in the world. Men live in sin, imagining that no painful consequences shall ever ensue; but at last “their sin finds them out;” and they seek in suicide a refuge from the torments of a guilty mind. But where a sense of guilt does not drive men to this extremity, it makes them tremble, as Felix did; and embitters to them their whole existence, so that they are utter strangers to peace, according as it is written, “There is no peace,” says my God, “to the wicked.”

On others, the conscience operates with a more congenial influence.

Thus it wrought on Manasseh, when he was taken among the thorns, 2 Chronicles 33:11-13. And thus on Peter also, when he “went out, and wept bitterly Luke 22:61-62.” Happy, happy are they, on whom it produces such effects as these! They will have no reason to repine at any afflictions that are productive of such a blessing, Job 36:8-9. What if the intermediate trials be severe? we shall have reason to bless God for them to all eternity, if they lead to this end! Psalm 32:3-6; and shall have cause to say with David, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.”

On all, the testimony of conscience is somewhat as the voice of God himself.

It speaks with authority. The stoutest man in the universe cannot endure its reproaches; and the most afflicted man in the universe is made happy by its testimony in his behalf, 2 Corinthians 1:12. We should therefore keep our conscience tender, and be ever attentive to its voice. On no occasion should we violate its dictates; for though we may silence its voice for a time, or drown it in vanity and dissipation, it will speak at last, and constrain us to hear all that it has recorded concerning us. And when once it does speak, then we may say concerning it, that “he whom it blesses, is blessed; and he whom it curses, is cursed.”

Advice.

1. Seek to maintain a good conscience before God.

Let your minds be well instructed in the written word, and your lives be regulated by its dictates. To have always a conscience void of offence towards both God and man is no easy matter; but it is worth the utmost labor and vigilance that you can bestow upon it.

2. Do not however rest too confidently in testimonies of its approbation.

It will not always speak the same language, when it is blinded by prejudice or passion. At the time of committing this great evil, the sons of Jacob “were content;” and they applauded themselves for their forbearance towards their ill-fated brother. But at a subsequent period, how different were their views of the very same action! So will it be with us. We may now approve and applaud our own conduct; but we must not conclude that we shall therefore always do so. We are now too apt to be partial in our own favor; but at a future period we shall judge righteous judgment, even as God himself will do; and we are no longer certain that our judgment of our own state is correct, than when it manifestly accords with the Word of God.

3. Look forward to the future judgment.

That will certainly be correct; for God knows our hearts, and will bring every secret thing into judgment, whether it be good or evil! But oh! how painful will be the review in that day, if then for the first time we are made sensible of our sins! What a bitter reflection will it be, ‘I did so and so; and therefore all this has come upon me; I have procured it all unto myself.’ On the other hand, how delightful will it be to look back, and be able to appeal to God and say, “I have walked before you with a perfect heart!” True it is, this will afford us no ground for boasting; but, if we walk before God in all good conscience now, we shall have its approving testimony in a dying hour, and the approbation of our God in the day of judgment! Isaiah 38:3.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 41:41

“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph: See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

In the eventful life of Joseph we are particularly struck with the suddenness and greatness of the changes he experienced. One day he was his father’s favorite; the next he was threatened with death and sold as a slave. One day he was at the head of Potiphar’s household; the next he was immured in a prison and laden with fetters of iron. From that state also he was called in a moment by the singular providence of God, and exalted to the government of the first nation upon earth. Of this we are informed in the text; from whence we take occasion to observe,

I. We can be in no state, however desperate, from whence God cannot speedily deliver us.

The state of Joseph, though considerably ameliorated by the indulgence of the keeper of his prison, was very hopeless. He had been many years in prison; and had no means of redress afforded him. His cause being never fairly tried, his innocence could not be cleared; and there was every reason to apprehend that his confinement would terminate only with his life. The hopes he had entertained from the kind offices of Pharaoh’s cupbearer had completely failed; and God had allowed him to be thus disappointed, in order that, “having the sentence of death in himself, he might not trust in himself, but in God that raises the dead.” But when God’s time had arrived, every difficulty vanished, and his elevation was as great as it was sudden and unexpected.

It would be well if we bore in mind the ability of God to help us. People when brought into great trials by loss of dear friends, by financial difficulties, or by some other calamitous event, are apt to think, that, because they see no way for their escape, their state is hopeless; and, from indulging despair, they are ready to say with Job, “I am weary of life,” and “my soul chooses strangling, and death rather than my life! Job 7:15.”

But we should remember that there is “a God with whom nothing is impossible;” though human help may fail us, “his arm is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear;” yes rather he would glorify himself, as he did in rescuing Israel at the Red Sea, if we would call upon him; and our extremity would be the opportunity he would seize for his effectual interpositions, “In the mount, the Lord would be seen.”

We may apply the same observations to those who seem to have cast off all fear of God, and to have sinned beyond a hope of recovery. But while the conversion of Saul, and the deliverance of Peter from prison, stand on record, we shall see that there is nothing too great for God to effect, and nothing too good for him to give, in answer to the prayer of faith.

II. God is never at a loss for means whereby to effect his gracious purposes.

He had decreed the elevation of Joseph to the highest dignity in the land of Egypt. To accomplish this, he causes Pharaoh to be disturbed by two significant dreams, which none of his magicians could interpret. The solicitude of Pharaoh to understand the purpose of his dreams leads his cupbearer to “confess his fault” in having so long neglected the youth who had, two years before, interpreted his dreams; and to recommend him as the only person capable of satisfying the mind of Pharaoh.

Instantly Joseph is sent for (not from a sense of justice to an injured person, but from a desire for the information which he alone could give); and, upon his interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, and giving suitable advice respecting the steps that should be taken to meet the future distress, he is invested with supreme authority, that he may carry his own plans into execution. Thus God, by suggesting dreams to Pharaoh, and to Joseph the interpretation of them—effects in an hour what, humanly speaking, all the power of Pharaoh could not otherwise have accomplished.

If we were duly observant of God’s works of Providence, we would see, in many instances relating to ourselves, how wonderfully God has brought to pass the most unlooked-for events! Things the most strange have been made to subserve his gracious purposes, and to accomplish what no human foresight could have effected for us. In relation to the concerns of our souls this may perhaps be more visible than in any temporal matters. The history of God’s people, if it were fully known, would furnish thousands of instances, not less wonderful than that before us, of people “raised” by the most unexpected and apparently trivial means “from the dust or a dunghill—to be set among princes, and to inherit a throne of glory.” We are far from recommending any one to trust in dreams, or to pay any attention to them whatever; “For in a multitude of dreams there is futility and worthlessness.” But we dare not say that God never makes use of dreams to forward his own inscrutable designs; on the contrary, we believe that he has often made a dream about death or judgment the occasion of stirring up a person to seek after salvation; and that he has afterwards answered the prayers, which originated in that apparently trifling and accidental occurrence.

At all events, there are a multitude of little circumstances which tend to fix the bounds of our habitation, or to bring us into conversation with this or that person, by whom we are ultimately led to the knowledge of the truth. So we should commit our every way to God, and look to him to order everything for us according to the counsel of his own gracious will.

III. We are never in a fairer way to exaltation to happiness than when we are waiting God’s time, and submitting to his providential will.

We hear nothing respecting Joseph but what strongly impresses us with a belief that he was perfectly resigned to the will of God. It is most probable indeed that he had formed some expectation from an arm of flesh; but two years experience of human ingratitude had taught him that his help must be in God alone. At last, his recompense is bestowed, and ample compensation is given him for all that he endured. With his prison garments, he puts off his sorrows; and, from a state of oppression and ignominy, he is made the benefactor and the savior of a whole nation.

How profitable would it be for us if we could leave ourselves in God’s hands, and submit ourselves in all things to his wise disposal! We are persuaded, that our lack of submission to Divine Providence is that which so often necessitates God to afflict us; and that if we could more cordially say, “May Your will be done,” we should much sooner and much oftener be favored with the desire of our own hearts.

Have we a husband, a wife, a child in sick and dying circumstances? Our rebellious murmurings may provoke God to inflict the threatened stroke, and to take away the idol which we are so averse to part with. Whereas, if we were once brought to make a cordial surrender of our will to His, he would in many instances arrest the uplifted arm, and restore our Isaac to our bosom. At all events, he would compensate by spiritual blessings whatever we might lose or suffer by a temporal bereavement.

We may yet further learn from this subject,

1. To submit with cheerfulness to all the dispensations of divine Providence.

We may, like Joseph, have many great and long-continued trials; the end of which we may not be able to foresee. But, as in his instance, and in that of Job, “we have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy” Just so, we may be sure that our trials shall terminate well; and that however great or long-continued they may be, our future recompense, either in this world or the next, will leave us no reason to complain.

2. To be thankful to God for the Rulers whom he has been pleased to set over us.

It is “by God that kings reign, and princes decree justice.” Sometimes, “for the punishment of a land, children (that is, people weak and incompetent) are placed over it,” that their infatuated counsels or projects may bring upon it his heavy judgments. We, blessed be God! have been highly favored in this respect. By his gracious providence, we have for a long series of years had people exalted to posts of honor, who, like Joseph, have sought the welfare of the nation, and have promoted it by their wise counsels and indefatigable exertions. Let us thankfully acknowledge God in them, and endeavor to show ourselves worthy of this mercy, by the peaceableness of our demeanor, and the cheerfulness of our submission to them.

3. To be thankful, above all, for our adorable Emmanuel.

“Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior.” “To Him has he given a name that is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow! Compare with Philippians 2:9-11.” To Him does our almighty King direct us, saying to every famished soul, “Go to Jesus!” In Him there is all fullness treasured up; to Him all the nations of the earth may go for the bread of life; nor shall any of them be sent away empty. They shall receive it too “without money and without price.”

O what do we owe to God for raising us up such a Savior! and what do we owe to Jesus, who has voluntarily undertaken this office, and who suffered on the cruel cross as the appointed step to this glorious elevation! Let us thankfully bow the knee to him; and go to him continually for our daily supplies of grace and peace!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 40:23

“The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.”

It was a wise and prudent choice which David made, “Let me fall into the hands of God, and not into the hands of man.” Man, when intent on evil, knows no bounds, except those which are prescribed by his ability to execute his wishes. He is easily incensed, but with difficulty appeased. The ties of blood and relationship are not sufficient to bind people in amity with each other, when once any ground of discord arises between them. It might have been hoped that in such a family as Jacob’s, love and harmony would prevail; but to such a degree had envy inflamed his whole family against their younger brother, that they conspired against his life, and only adopted the milder alternative of selling him for a slave, through a horror which they felt at the thought of shedding his blood.

Nor will the most amiable conduct always ensure regard, or protect a person from the most cruel injuries. The holy, chaste, and conscientious deportment of Joseph should have exalted his character in the eyes of his mistress; but when she failed in her attempts to ensnare his virtue, her passionate desire after him was converted into rage; and she procured the imprisonment of him whom she had just before solicited to be her paramour.

During his confinement, he had opportunities of showing kindness to his fellow-prisoners. To two of them he interpreted their dreams, which proved to be prophetic intimations of their respective fates. Of Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer, whose speedy restoration he foretold, he made a most reasonable request; he told him, that he had been stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and that there existed no just cause for his imprisonment; and he entreated, that he would make known his case to Pharaoh, and intercede for his deliverance. In making this request, he never once incriminated either his brethren who had sold him, or his mistress who had falsely accused him; he cast a veil of love over their faults, and sought for nothing but the liberty of which he had been unjustly deprived. Who would conceive that so reasonable a request, presented to one who had such opportunities of knowing his excellent character, to one too on whom he had conferred such great obligations, should fail?

Lord, what is man? how base, how selfish, how ungrateful! Let us fix our attention upon this incident in the history of Joseph, and make some suitable reflections upon it.

We observe then:

I. Gratitude is but a feeble principle in the human mind.

Corrupt and sinful principles are, alas! too strong in the heart of man; but those which are more worthy of cultivation, are weak indeed. To what a degree are men actuated by pride, ambition, covetousness, envy, wrath, revenge! To what exertions will they not be stimulated by hope or fear! But the motions of gratitude are exceedingly faint; in the general, they are scarcely perceptible; and though on some extraordinary occasions, like that of Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea, the heart may glow with a sense of the mercies given unto us, we soon forget them, even as the Israelites did, and return to our former coldness and indifference.

II. The operations of gratitude are rather weakened than promoted by prosperity.

Pharaoh’s cupbearer, when restored to his master’s service, thought no more of the friend whom he had left in prison. This is the general effect of prosperity, which steels the heart against the wants and miseries of others, and indisposes it for the exercise of sympathy and compassion. It is usually found too, that the more we abound in temporal blessings, the more unmindful we are of Him who gave them. That is a true description of us all, “Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked.”

On the other hand, adversity tends to bring us to consideration; when we have suffered bereavements of any kind, we begin to feel the value of the things we have lost; and to regret that we were not more thankful for them while they were continued to us. The loss of a part of our blessings often renders us more thankful for those that remain; and it is no uncommon sight to behold a sick person more thankful for an hour’s sleep, or a small intermission of pain, or the services of his attendants—than he ever was for all the ease and sleep that he enjoyed, or the services that were rendered him, in the days of his health.

We have a very striking instance of the different effects of prosperity and adversity in the history of Hezekiah. In his sickness he exclaimed, “The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day;” but when restored to health, he forgot his Benefactor, and “rendered not again according to the benefits that had been done unto him.” In this, I say, he is an example of the ingratitude which prevails in the world at large; for we are told, that “God left him to try him, and that he might know all that was in his heart.”

III. The lack of gratitude is hateful in proportion to the obligations conferred upon us.

We suppose that no man ever read attentively the words of our text without exclaiming (in thought at least, if not in words), What base ingratitude was this! Whether we consider his obligations to Joseph, who had been to him a messenger of such glad tidings, or his obligations to God, who had overruled the heart of Pharaoh to restore him to his place, he surely was bound to render that small service to his fellow-prisoner, and to interpose in behalf of oppressed innocence.

We cannot but feel a detestation of his character on account of his unfeeling and ungrateful conduct. Indeed it is thus that we are invariably affected towards all people; and more especially those who have received favors at our hands. If we receive an injury or an insult, or are treated with neglect by people whom we have greatly benefitted—we fix immediately on their ingratitude, as the most aggravating circumstance of their guilt; it is that which pains us, and which makes them appear most odious in our eyes. Though this sentiment may be easily carried to excess—yet, if kept within due bounds, it forms a just criterion of the enormity of any offence that is committed against us.

It was this which in God’s estimation so greatly aggravated the guilt of the Jewish nation, “They forgot God who had done such great things for them! Psalm 106:7; Psalm 106:13; Psalm 106:21.” And we shall do well to bear it in mind, as the means of awakening in our own minds a just sense of our condition before God; for ingratitude, above all things, subjects us to his displeasure! Romans 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:2; Isaiah 1:3; Deuteronomy 28:45; Deuteronomy 28:47.

This subject may be fitly improved.

1. Our ingratitude should fill us with shame and confusion before God.

If we think of our temporal mercies only, they call for incessant songs of praise and thanksgiving. But what do we owe to God for the gift of his dear Son, and of his Holy Spirit, and of a preached Gospel? What do we owe to God if he has rendered his word in any measure effectual for the enlightening of our minds, and the quickening of our souls? “What kind of people then ought we to be?” How should our hearts glow with love, and our mouths be filled with his praise! Let us prosecute these thoughts, and we shall soon blush and be confounded before God, and lie low before him in dust and ashes!

2. This topic should keep us from putting our trust in man.

Many years had Joseph been confined in prison, and now he thought he would have an advocate at court, who would speedily liberate him from his confinement. But God would not let him owe his deliverance to an arm of flesh; yes, he left him two years longer in prison, that he might learn to put his trust in God alone; and then he wrought his deliverance by his own arm. “Until his time was come, the word of the Lord tried him.” At last, God gave to Pharaoh dreams which no magicians could expound; and thus brought to the cupbearer’s recollection the oppressed youth who had interpreted his dreams, and who was the only person that could render similar service to the affrighted monarch.

Now we also, like Joseph, are but too apt to lean on an arm of flesh, instead of looking simply to the Lord our God; but we shall always find in the outcome, that the creature is only a broken reed, which will pierce the hand that leans upon it; and that none but God can render us any effectual assistance. Let us then trust in God alone, and with all our heart, and then we shall never be confounded.

3. This topic should make us admire and adore the Lord Jesus.

That blessed Savior is not less mindful of us in his exalted state, than he was in the days of his flesh. Yes, though not at all indebted to us, though, on the contrary, he has all possible reason to abandon us forever—yet he is mindful of us day and night; he makes intercession for us continually at the right hand of God; he considers this as the very end of his exaltation; and he improves every moment in protecting, comforting, and strengthening those who depend upon him. We challenge anyone to say, When did the blessed Savior forget him? We may have been ready to say indeed, “He has forsaken and forgotten us;” but “He can no more forget us than a woman can forget her nursing child.” Let us then bless his name, and magnify it with thanksgiving. And let us from time to time offer to Him the petition of the dying thief, “Lord, remember me when you are in your kingdom;” and not all the glory and felicity of Heaven shall divert his attention from us for a single moment!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)

Genesis 39:9

“How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

The grace of God is equally necessary for us in every situation of life.

In adversity, God’s grace is necessary to support us.

In prosperity, God’s grace is necessary to preserve us.

We would have been ready indeed to congratulate Joseph on his advancement in the house of Potiphar, as though his trials had been ended; but we see that, if his former path was strewed with thorns, his present station was slippery, and replete with danger!

His history is well known, and need not be reviewed here; suffice it to say, that when tempted by his mistress, and importuned from day to day to commit sin with her—he resisted her solicitations with unshaken constancy, and rejected her proposals with indignation and abhorrence. The reply, which through the grace of God he was enabled to make, leads us to observe that,

I. Sin is no slight evil—

The unconverted in general imagine sin to be of very little consequence—

Sin universally prevails, and, except where it greatly interferes with the welfare of society, is countenanced and approved. The customs of the world sanction the practice of it to a certain extent in every one, whether male or female; though the greater latitude of indulgence is allowed to men. The very education that is given both to our sons and daughters, tends only to foster in them:

pride and vanity,

wantonness and sensuality,

worldliness and profaneness.

But let but these dispositions assume the names of ease, elegance, and gaiety—and they instantly lose all their malignant qualities; and, instead of exciting our abhorrence, endear to us the people by whom they are indulged. Too many indeed will not submit to any restraints, but will even justify the grossest immoralities. They impose upon their excesses some specious appellation; they call drunkenness, conviviality; and whoredom, youthful indiscretion. Thus they commit sin without fear, persist in it without remorse, and even glory in their shame—when, through age and infirmity, they can no longer follow their former courses.

But, if viewed aright, sin will appear a dreadful evil—

Can that be light or venial which cast myriads of angels from their height of glory, into the bottomless abyss of Hell? Is that of trifling importance which in one moment ruined the whole race of man, and subjected them to an everlasting curse?

But if these effects are not sufficient to convince us, let us behold the Savior in the garden of Gethsemane, or on the hill of Calvary; let us behold the Lord of glory bathed in blood, and expiring under the curse which our sins have merited; and we shall instantly confess with Solomon, that they are “fools, who make a mock of sin!”

Not however to insist on this general view of sin, we observe that,

II. Considered as an offence against God, sin’s enormity is exceedingly great—

This is the particular light in which sin struck the mind of Joseph. Though the iniquity to which he was tempted, would have been a defiling of his own body, and an irreparable injury to Potiphar his master—yet every other consideration seemed to be swallowed up in that of the offence it would give to God. David viewed his sin in this light, Psalm 51:4. Sin is leveled more immediately against God himself:

1. Sin is a defiance of God’s authority—

God commands us to keep his law; and enforces his commands with the most solemn and encouraging sanctions. But sin says, like Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord, that I should regard him? I know not the Lord, neither will I obey his voice! Exodus 5:2. See also Psalm 12:4 and Jeremiah 44:16.” Is it a light matter for:

a servant thus to insult his master,

a child to insult his parent,

a creature to insult his Creator?

2. Sin is a denial of God’s justice—

God threatens, “Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished! Proverbs 11:21.”

But what does sin reply? It says like them of old, “The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad! Zephaniah 1:12.” And shall it be thought a trifling matter to rob the Deity thus of his most essential perfections?

3. Sin is an abuse of God’s goodness—

It is altogether owing to the goodness of God that we are even capable of sinning against him. It is from him that we receive the bounties which we abuse to sin, and the strength whereby we provoke the eyes of his glory. And can anything be conceived more vile than to make his goodness to us the very means and occasion of insulting him to his face?

4. Sin is a rejection of God’s mercy—

God is continually calling us to accept of mercy through the Son of his love. But sin “tramples under foot the Son of God;” it even “crucifies him afresh, and puts him to an open shame.” Sin proclaims aloud that the gratification of our lusts is to be preferred to the glory of Heaven; and that it is better to perish in Hell by self-indulgence, than to obtain salvation in the exercise of self-denial. What terms then can sufficiently express the enormity of sin, which so blinds and infatuates its wretched votaries?

It is not possible to behold sin in this light, without acknowledging that,

III. We ought to flee from it with indignation and abhorrence—

Instead of tampering with sin, we should flee from it—

Sin is of so fascinating a nature that it soon bewitches us, and leads us astray. As “a man cannot take fire into his bosom without being burnt,” so neither can he harbor sin in his heart without being vitiated and corrupted by it. Had Achan fled from the wedge of gold as soon as ever he found a desire after it springing up in his heart; and had David turned away his eyes the very instant he saw Bathsheba—then how much shame and misery would they have escaped! But the breach, which might easily have been stopped at the first, presently defied the efforts of an accusing conscience; and a flood of iniquity soon carried them away with irresistible impetuosity! Thus also it will be with us. If we parley with the tempter, he will surely overcome us! We must resist sin at it’s first uprising, if we would oppose it with success!

Instead of loving sin, we should utterly abhor it—

The grace of God enabled Joseph to reject with abhorrence the offers proposed to him; and to prefer a dungeon with a good conscience, before the indulgence of a criminal passion, or the favor of a seducing mistress. Thus should we turn with indignation from the allurements of sin! We should “make a covenant with our eyes,” yes, with our very hearts, that we may close, as much as possible, every avenue of evil.

Instead of mitigating sin, we should new it in all its aggravations; and especially as an offence against a just and holy, a merciful and gracious God. Nor should we ever forget, that, though it be “rolled as a sweet morsel under the tongue, it will prove gall in the stomach;” and though it flatters us with its innocence, “it will bite as a serpent, and sting like an adder!”

Address,

1. To those who think lightly of sin—

We well know that the generality of men have much to say in mitigating of their guilt; and, if they had been in the situation of Joseph, would have accounted the greatness of the temptation a sufficient excuse for their compliance with it. But to what purpose shall we mitigate our guilt, unless we can prevail on the Judge of the living and dead to view it with our eyes? We may indeed weaken our present convictions, but we shall only secure thereby, and enhance, our eternal condemnation! Let us remember that “fleshly lusts war against the soul, 1 Peter 2:11;” and that either we must mortify and subdue them—or they will enslave and destroy us! Romans 8:13. For, even though the whole universe would combine to justify the commission of sin, not one who yields to its solicitations, shall ever pass unpunished!

2. To those who are beginning to see the evil of sin.

It is an unspeakable mercy to have a view of the malignity of sin. To see how much we have deserved the wrath and indignation of God, is the very first step towards repentance and salvation. Let not any then turn away from this sight too hastily, or think they have discovered the evil of sin in its full extent. This is a lesson we are to be learning all our days; and it is only in proportion as we advance in this humiliating knowledge, that we shall be qualified to receive and enjoy the Savior.

It is necessary indeed that, while we look at sin, we look also at Him who made atonement for it; for otherwise, we shall be led to despair of mercy. But, if we keep our eyes fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and see the infinite extent of his merits, we need never be afraid of entertaining too bitter a remembrance of sin.

The more we loath ourselves for past iniquities—the more shall we be fortified against temptations to commit them in the future, and the more will God himself be ready to preserve and bless us.

3. To those who, like Joseph, are enabled to withstand sin.

Blessed be God, there are many living witnesses to prove, that the grace of God is as sufficient at this day, as ever it was, to purify the heart and to “keep the feet of his saints”. Let those then who are enabled to hold fast their integrity, give glory to him, by whom they are strengthened and upheld. But let them remember, that they are never beyond the reach of temptation, nor ever so likely to fall, as when they are saying, “My mountain stands strong; I shall not be moved”.

Let us then continue to watch against the renewed assaults of our great adversary. Never let him find us off our guard, or draw us to parley with him. Let us suspect him, and he shall not deceive us. Let us resist him, and he shall flee from us; and the very assaults that he shall make upon us, shall terminate in our honor, and his own confusion!

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)