Genesis 37:1-111And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. 4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. (Genesis 37:1‑11)
THE Scriptures testify of Christ. This is the declaration of the Lord Himself: “They are they which testify of Me,” He says, referring to the Scriptures. And He does not here refer to the Gospels, as some might suppose, for they had not yet been written. He is speaking of the Old Testament Scriptures. So throughout the whole of the Old Testament canon we may expect to find allusions, direct and indirect, to Christ. This is what makes it all so interesting. God has chosen a double method of bringing Christ before us in these ancient writings. He speaks of Him by direct reference, as in the 53rd of Isaiah, Deuteronomy 18:1515The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; (Deuteronomy 18:15), and in many other places. Then He shows us Christ in type and figure. In doing this, He uses inanimate things, such as the ark, the tabernacle, the manna, etc. He uses animals also, as the firstling of Abel’s flock, the Passover lamb, the scapegoat, sacrificial bullocks, and doves. But His most string and effective method of manifesting beforehand the character of the coming One was in the use of persons.
It is not my purpose now to point out to you all these persons. They are many. Some are named, and others are unnamed. A few are in a very manifest and full way typical of Christ; others are only so in a somewhat shadowy and mystical way. Seven stand out prominently from the general background of the less apparent. These are Adam, Melchizedek, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, David, and Solomon. There we have the perfect number, seven, giving us a perfect sweep of the sky of prophecy (“for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” Revelation 19:1010And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)) from the dawn of human history to the end of time. Adam (“figure of Him that was to come”— “the last Adam,” Romans 5:1414Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (Romans 5:14); 1 Corinthians 15:4545And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)) heads the list; and Solomon, beautiful figure of Christ in His millennial reign, completes it. And in the five that come between we are given a good general outline of all the leading truths of Christ’s person, character, offices, and work.
And if we take the book of Genesis alone, we have in it also just seven men who picture Christ. This is only what we might expect, since the book has been called the “seed-plot” of the whole Bible, which means that all the leading truths of Scripture are found in Genesis in the germ. The seven are Adam, Abel, Melchezedek, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Benjamin. Of course, three of this number do not stand out so strikingly as types as do the others, but they are nevertheless types unmistakably, if not so manifestly. For even the tricky Jacob, when “he served for a wife, and for a wife kept sheep,” in this toil of his for his beloved Rachel, typifies our Lord in His life of toil for the “bride of His heart’s deep longing,” His loved and ransomed Church.
But of all these typical characters, Joseph is, without doubt, the chief. He eclipses even David, who, though “a man after God’s own heart,” failed grievously, and in his sin could not in any sense be taken as a type of our holy, spotless Lord. But in Joseph’s life there is no recorded failure. He rises on the horizon of his time like a beautiful star, that shines on and sets without a single cloud to dim its brightness. He is the Sirius of the shining host of Old Testament typical men.
Joseph’s very name is suggestive of Christ. It means “adding.” At his birth his mother “called his name Joseph, and said, The Lord shall add to me another son” (Genesis, ch. 30:24). Let us see how this name “adding” suits our Lord.
He has been adding in a threefold way: 1St. He adds to the creature’s knowledge of God. Until the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ, God’s heart of love was never fully known, even by the angels who stand in His presence and behold His face. They by their very creation knew His power. They saw His glory too, and beheld His awful majesty. Other of His divine attributes were known to them. When He “spared not the angels that sinned,” they fully understood His holiness. But His love and grace were never fully known by either men or angels until Jesus came, telling out the Father’s heart. He it was who first said, “God so loved the world.” God’s love was manifested toward us through His Son and Fellow, Jesus Christ. His death upon the cross manifested to the full, to all the universe, what depths of love and kindness towards guilty man were in the heart of God. So in this way Christ adds; He increases our knowledge of God by showing forth His love as none but He could do.
2d. He adds to heaven’s inhabitants. He says, in John 12:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:24), “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bring eth forth much fruit.” He refers here to His death. “Much fruit” is the result. And it is all to be gathered at last into the heavenly garner. In addition to the “innumerable company of angels” already there, there shall be, through the death and resurrection of Christ, “a great company, that no man can number,” composed of men redeemed from the earth. Angels that sinned were cast out; and in their place, in proportion ten to one, perhaps, God will place men who, though they have sinned, have believed in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
“But will you be there, and I?”
That’s the question. I shall be there, by His grace, thank God. My presence shall help to swell the ranks of the redeemed on high; my glad voice shall mingle with that of the many myriads whose song shall swell in volume until it becomes like the sound of the many waters of a mighty sea. Hallelujah! But again I ask, Will you, dear friend, be there? Listen:
“If you trust the risen Saviour now,
Who for sinners once did die,
When He gathers His own in that bright home,
Then you’ll be there, and I.”
3d. Christ adds to the Church. I mean by “the Church” all true believers of the present dispensation, of course. “The Church, which is His body,” Scripture says. And we read in Acts 2:4747Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:47), “And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.” No one can “join” this Church. No pastor, however successful, can “add to the membership.” It is Christ who does the adding. All mere voluntary “joining,” or human “adding,” is like waxwork apples fastened to a living tree, or an artificial limb attached to a live body. He it is who “builds” His Church (Matt. 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)). It is His body, and every true believer is a member. Now here is my little finger; it is a member of my body. But how did it get to be a member? or, when did it ever “join?” Not by any voluntary act of its own, certainly; nor by the manipulation of some clever surgeon. God, my Maker, joined it to my human body; it was an act of creation. And just so Christ, by an act of new creation, makes the sinner who believes on Him a member of His body, which is the Church. So He now, as of old, adds to the Church daily. May He add some few from among this company to-night. May He make you a “member” now, poor sinner, by saving your precious soul.
We have seen how the name of Joseph — “adding” — suits our Lord. Let us now see how Joseph, in his character and doings, pictures Him.
He is first of all presented to us like David — in the character of a shepherd. “Joseph,” we read in verse 2, “being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren.” I notice this because no figure of Christ can be more beautiful than that of a shepherd. It seems to come nearest our hearts. The earliest conceptions of Christ among children are as a gentle shepherd. One lovely infant prayer is,
“Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me,
Bless Thy little lamb to-night.”
No figure could be more full, suggesting, as it does, His tender love, His watchful care, His doted tenderness, His faithfulness, His meekness, His patience, and His gentle sympathy. Scripture presents Him as the “good,” “great,” and “chief Shepherd.” He is also called “the Shepperd and Bishop of our souls.” It is only what we might expect, then, in this fullest and most perfect type of Christ, to have a shepherd shown us first of all.
Next we have a contrast. “Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.” We learn as much from contrasts as we do from parallels, and sometimes more (as, for example, in the great epistle to the Hebrews). A snowball never appears so white as when laid beside a lump of coal. Now Jesus says to the unbelieving Jews, in John 5:4545Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. (John 5:45), “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.” These Jews are pictured by the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, who were not wives of Jacob really, but only concubines. They were sons of the bond-women, not of the free. It is remarkable that there is no mention of the sons of Leah, the free woman, here. And the apostle Paul, at the close of Galatians 4, speaking of those who were “Israelites indeed,” says, “So, then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” They were Jews “outwardly only,” children of the bondwoman, whom Christ said He would not accuse to the Father. And we see in Joseph’s brethren their early representatives. Joseph might accuse his brethren, but “God,” we read, “sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world.” And again, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” What wonderful grace! Christ did not come to accuse, nor condemn. He said to the poor trespasser in the temple, “Neither do I condemn thee.” Moses accused her, and his law condemned her, but Jesus came to save; all glory to His name!
We have Jacob’s love for Joseph next. We read in verse 3, “Now Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age.” This suggests to us the love of God the Father to His Son Jesus Christ. Twice God opened heaven over His head, and said, “This is My beloved Son.” Twice our Lord Himself said, when here on earth, “The Father loveth the Son” (John 3:35; 5:2035The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. (John 3:35)
20For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. (John 5:20)); and He is called by the Spirit, “the Son of His love” (Col. 1:1313Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13), margin). Precious as this is, we cannot dwell upon it, as there are other points to nice and take up our time.
Israel, we read, made his son “a coat of many colors.” This has, evidently, some typical significance. The question is, what does it signify? Scripture itself, I think, supplies the answer. I shall ask you to turn to two passages, Judg. 5:3030Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? (Judges 5:30), and 2 Sam. 13:1818And she had a garment of divers colors upon her: for with such robes were the king's daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her. (2 Samuel 13:18). In Judg. 5 you will see it is “the mother of Sisera” who speaks in the 30th verse. She was awaiting the return of her son from his war with the Israelites. She had not yet been apprised of the fact that he had been slain by the hand of a woman, Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. So, we read, “She looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? “Her” wise ladies “volunteer to explain the cause of the delay; which, however, she heeds not, but repeats to herself,” Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey of divers colors of needlework, of divers colors of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?” Here we have a hint as to the use in Old Testament times of these garments of divers colors. They were worn as marks of distinction, “meet for the necks of them that take the spoil,” Sisera’s mother says. He should wear this” prey of divers colors “as a distinctive honor becoming such a mighty conqueror as he, she thought. The verse in 2 Samuel reads,” And she had a garment of divers colors upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins appareled.” Here we have the many-colored garments again referred to as a mark of honorable distinction, as the attire of unmarried princesses. Such a garment would mark one as a person of noble birth, or of very high standing. And this is what Jacob, doubtless, had in view when he gave to Joseph the coat of many colors. He would have a mark of honor placed upon him to distinguish him from his other sons. Such a mark would attract attention. Everybody would understand the meaning of his many-colored coat.
Now, see how this applies to Christ. From the beginning, at His very birth, God gave evidence to all, that this was not a mere Galilean carpenter’s son that had been brought into the world. Angels, in glad acclaim, announce to wondering shepherds of the plains of Bethlehem the advent of “that holy thing” that should be called the Son of God. Wise men, truly wise (like all who seek the Saviour), come from the east to find and worship Him that was born “King of the Jews.” God gave a special star to be their guide; and when they find Him, though He lay in a “manger rude,” they offer Him their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is emblematic of the display of the glory of God; and so their gifts of gold bore witness to the deity of the infant “wrapped in swaddling clothes.” The frankincense foretold the holy, blameless life that He should lead on earth; every act of which should ascend as a sweet perfume of burning incense up to God, His Father. In the meal offering, as described in Lev. 2 (type of the spotless life of “the man. Christ Jesus”), all the frankincense was placed upon it; and as it burned upon the altar, it ascended up, “a sweet savor unto the Lord.” And myrrh was prophetic of “the sufferings of the Christ.” How precious, and how wonderful! The virgin’s infant is distinguished unmistakably from any other child that ever had been born, from Seth to John the Baptist. For even this “more than a prophet,” while yet unborn, leaped in his mother’s womb for very joy at the sound of the salutation of “she that believed,” who was soon to bring forth Him who should be called “the Son of the Highest.”
At His baptism, too, He was marked off from all others. Jerusalem and all Judea, stirred by the preaching of the fiery Baptist, were being baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. How natural it would be for the bystanders to think that this man, too, had sins to be confessed. To prevent any such mistake, God, at just that critical moment, parts the heavens, and says, as the dove-like Spirit descends and abides upon Him, “This is My beloved Son, in whom is all My delight.” All might know from this that He was no mere man who was that day baptized of John in Jordan. He was markedly distinguished from all around.
He has been born, baptized; and now, His life-work finished, He is dying. Shall He die undistinguished from the malefactors at His side? Shall He be allowed to die as any mortal man might die? No I the heavens grow black; and though it is high noon, a midnight darkness settles over all the land. Rocks are rent as a mighty earthquake’s throes convulse the land; graves are opened and the dead arise, not to ascend silently to heaven, but to appear in Jerusalem as witnesses to the fact that the crucified Jesus of Nazareth was not only Israel’s smitten Shepherd, but Jehovah’s Fellow too. There could be no mistake as to the meaning of such signs. God took care that even in death there must be marks that men might see. And men did see. The centurion saw when he exclaimed, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
On three important occasions, then, we see our Lord “declared to be the Son of God,” and not a mere man. They are, we might say, the three great epochs in His life: His birth, when He became “God manifest in the flesh”; His baptism, when He entered upon His public ministry; and in death, when He finished the work given Him to do, and “died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”
Who, or what, is Jesus Christ to you, my hearer? What say you to these things? Do you in your heart and life honor Him whom God has taken so much care to honor? Not if you do not love Him. And you do not love Him, if you have not yet received Him as your Saviour. Nobody does. There is positive enmity to Christ in every human heart until renewed by grace. Joseph’s brethren, we read in vs. 4 of our chapter, “hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.” So it was with Jesus here on earth. He was hated without a cause, and had to endure “the contradiction of sinners against Himself.” And this is every sinner’s attitude toward Christ until he comes to Him by faith and learns His love. “The carnal mind is enmity against God,” Scripture says. You may not wish to believe this of yourself, but it is true nevertheless. You may not know this enmity to Christ is in your heart, but it is there just the same. I may not know nor believe that there is deadly arsenic in the clear-looking glass of water, but it might be there just the same, and only the introduction of another chemical element would be needed to discover it and turn the water black as ink. So in every human heart there is this awful and deadly enmity to the Son of God, and it only requires the proper circumstances, testings, or temptations, to draw it out so as to manifest itself. Better believe it to-night, friends, just because God says it, and seek reconciliation at the Cross, than wait until the great Judge says, “Those Mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before Me.” This brings us to another subject, Joseph’s sovereignty, as predicted in his dreams.
He dreams two dreams. The first is an earthly scene. He and his brethren were binding sheaves in the field, when, lo, his sheaf arose, and stood upright; while the sheaves of his brethren stood round about, and made obeisance to Joseph’s sheaf. In the second dream the scene is heavenly. Joseph there sees the sun and the moon and the eleven stars making obeisance to him. In the dream of the sheaves in the field, only Joseph’s brethren are concerned; in the dream of the sun, moon and stars, his father and mother also figure. There is a possible reason for this. For why are there two dreams? And why is the first scene earthly, and the second heavenly? Both foretell Joseph’s supremacy. But they forecast more, I believe. They have a sort of double significance. Primarily and literally, they are predictive of Joseph’s exaltation over his brethren and all his father’s house. This they themselves appeared to understand. When Joseph tells to his brethren his first dream, they say, “Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?” And when he tells to his father his second dream, Job says, “What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?”
But I am persuaded that they have a much more deep and full significance. Turn, please, to Eph. 1:1010That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10). There we read,” That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one (head up) all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.” Here things in heaven and things on earth are mentioned. And Christ is to be the supreme head of all. The heavens (or heavenlies) are at this present time in revolt against the Lord. By “heavens,” of course I do not mean God’s dwelling-place, or that blest abode of holy angels and the spirits of the righteous dead, but a sphere beyond and above this earth, in which are “invisible” principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, or “wicked spirits in the heavenlies.” (See Eph. 6:1212For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12).) These, in the coming day of Christ’s power, are all to be in complete and manifest subjection to Him. We see not yet all things put under Him. But God has foretold it; and here it is foreshadowed in Joseph’s second dream. And it has not to do with the forces of evil in the heavenly places only; it has a good side also, if this expresses it. Paul speaks of being preserved unto Christ’s “heavenly kingdom.” Saints and angels will compose this heavenly kingdom of our Lord’s. All this will be headed up in Him. This we have foreshadowed in the obeisance of the heavenly bodies to Joseph, type of the “Star” that should arise out of Jacob. This, I think, is confirmed by the fact that Joseph’s mother is mentioned as making obeisance with the rest, when she had been dead years before. This gives the dream an air of mystery, and seems designed of God to teach us that there is in it something beyond the personal Joseph and the present life. Symbolically it is a post-resurrection scene.
The scene of the other dream is laid in the harvest-field. It is Christ’s kingdom on earth. The field out of which the tares are gathered, in the parable of the 13th of Matthew, is called “His kingdom.” All the earth shall own His sway. “All power is given unto Me in heaven and upon earth,” He says. He does not now publicly take “upon Himself His great power, and reign.” But He shall, when the harvest of this earth is reaped. Now is the day of “His kingdom and patience.” He bears long with evil-doers. He has borne long with you, unsaved hearer. He waits in long-suffering grace to see if you will submit to His authority of your own volition. If you refuse in the time of His patience, you will, by sheer force, be compelled to own His righteous rule in the period of His power. Down, then, in your heart now, and cry, like Thomas of old, “My Lord and my God!” In John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36) we read, in our common version, “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Literally, it is, “He that is not subject to the Son.” Submit to Him, then. Do not say, like poor, hardened Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord, that I should serve (or obey) Him?” You know who He is, even “Lord of all” You know, too, that you must submit to Him in the end. But if you wait till then to render submission to His authority, it will only be to make your obeisance before the throne of His judgment, and then depart to the eternal miseries of hell, where damned souls and powerless demons gnash their teeth in baffled rage and hate. Oh, it is a fearful thing to contemplate! And what will it be to be there! Submit to Christ now, and you will never know it by awful and endless experience. Oh, do it I do it Now!
But the obeisance of the eleven sheaves had a direct reference to Joseph’s brethren, who hated him, and who, in their groundless hatred of their brother, vividly picture the mass of the Jewish nation in the days of our Lord, and, indeed, up to this very day. And when Joseph told his dream, we read, “They hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.” They could not bear to hear of his supremacy and future glory. It aroused all the cruel anger of their wicked hearts. The same thing happened with our Lord when standing before Caiaphas. He says, “Hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” He tells them of His future exaltation and His coming glory. And with what result? “Then,” we read, “the high priest rent his clothes (a thing forbidden by the law, Lev. 21:1010And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes; (Leviticus 21:10); so much for his consistency), saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? bold, now ye have heard His blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in His face, and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ, who is he that smote Thee?” (Matt. 26:64-6864Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 65Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. 67Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, 68Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee? (Matthew 26:64‑68).) It is Joseph and his brethren reproduced — the original of the picture, the type fulfilled to the very letter almost.
And see what happens further: when Joseph tells his second dream, we read, “His brethren envied him.” It was the same in the case of the great Antitype. It is written of Pilate, “He knew that for envy they had delivered Him” (Matt. 27:1818For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. (Matthew 27:18)). And “Who can stand before envy?” the proverb says. The rulers and the Pharisees were jealous of His prestige. “Bold, the world is gone after Him,” they said, in alarm. They felt that because of Him, their own popularity and influence were on the wane. This is why they took the lead in clamoring for His blood. How different the spirit manifested by John the Baptist, who said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” It was his joy to be retired to the shades of obscurity, that Christ his Lord might, as God intends He shall, “in all things have the preeminence.” That” Christ might be magnified,” whether it were by his life or his death, was Paul’s consuming desire. God give all us Christians more of the spirit of these mighty men. We should spell Christian, CHRIST, -I-Am-Nothing—Christ all, and I nothing at all. The center of sin is I.
Before I close this introductory address, I want to ask you, sinner, if you will submit to Christ to-night. God has exalted Him above all might and dominion. The true Joseph is seated now upon the highest pinnacle of celestial glory. Here, in the sphere of the terrestrial, “we see not yet all things put under Him.” But we shall. He is coming again, not as once He came, the lowly Nazarene, to meekly suffer, but in His glory. But if you wait till that time, you will find, alas, that it is then too late. The time to own a king’s authority in a land that has risen up in rebellion against him is not when he comes with his armies to put the rebellion down, for then it will be “not to your honor.” It is during the rebellion, in the very midst of it, that loyalty is demanded. Now is your opportunity. I have heard it said that when “The Messiah” was being sung before Queen Victoria, and the part was reached where it says, “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth,” when all but herself were supposed to rise from their seats, she too arose and stood upon her feet. It was contrary to all custom for crowned heads to rise during any part of the oratorio; but, happy woman, she had yielded her heart’s submission to Him who is King of kings, and would confess it in this way. She had anticipated the second Psalm, where, when God sets His Son upon His holy hill of Zion, all earthly potentates are called to yield instant and absolute submission. “Kiss the Son,” the last verse says, “lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way.... Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.” Do it, unsaved one; do it here, and Now!