A Sermon
(No. 17)
Delivered on Sunday Morning, April 1, 1855, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At Exeter Hall, Strand
"The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him;
but his bow abode in strength; and the arms of his hands were made
strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; from thence is the
shepherd, the stone of Israel."–Genesis 49:23,24.
It must have been a fine sight to see the hoary-headed Jacob sitting up
in his bed whilst he bestowed his parting benediction upon his twelve
sons. He had been noble in many instances during his life–at the
sleeping place of Bethel, the brook of Jabbok, and the halting of
Peniel. He had been a glorious old man; one before whom we might bow
down with reverence, and truly say, "There were giants in those days."
But his closing scene was the best. I think if ever he stood out more
illustrious than at any other time, if his head was at any one season
more than another, encircled with a halo of glory, it was when he came
to die. Like the sun at setting, he seemed then to be the greater in
brilliance, tinging the clouds of his weakness with the glory of grace
within. Like good wine, which runs clear to the very bottom, unalloyed
by dregs, so did Jacob till his dying hour continue to sing of love, of
mercy, and of goodness, past and future. Like the swan, which (as old
writers say) singeth not all its life until it comes to die, so the old
patriarch remained silent as a songster for many years; but when he
stretched himself on his last couch of rest, he stayed himself up in
his bed, turned his burning eye from one to another, and although with
a hoarse and faltering voice, he sang a sonnet upon each of his
offspring, such as earthly poets, uninspired, cannot attempt to
imitate. Looking upon his son Reuben, a tear was in his eye, for he
recollected Reuben's sin; he passed over Simeon and Levi, giving some
slight rebuke; upon the others he sung a verse of praise, as his eyes
saw into the future history of the tribes. By-and-by his voice failed
him, and the good old man, with long-drawn breath, with eyes pregnant
with celestial fire, and heart big with heaven, lifted his voice to
God, and said, "I have waited for thy salvation, O God," rested a
moment on his pillow, and then again sitting up, recommenced the
strain, passing briefly by the names of each. But oh! when he came to
Joseph, his youngest son but one–when he looked on him, I picture that
old man as the tears ran down his cheeks. There stood Joseph, with all
his mother Rachel in his eyes–that dear loved wife of his–there he
stood, the boy for whom that mother had prayed with all the eagerness
of an Eastern wife. For a long twenty years she had tarried a barren
woman and kept no house, but then she was a joyful mother, and she
called her son "Increase." Oh! how she loved the boy; and for that
mother's sake, though she had been buried for some years, and hidden
under the cold sod, old Jacob loved him too. But more than that, he
loved him for his troubles. He was parted from him to be sold into
Egypt. His father recollected Joseph's trials in the round-house and
the dungeon, and remembered his royal dignity as prince of Egypt; and
now, with a full burst of harmony, as if the music of heaven had united
with his own, as when the widened river meets the sea, and the tide
coming up doth amalgamate with the stream that cometh down, and
swelleth into a broad expanse, so did the glory of heaven meet the
rapture of his earthly feelings, and giving vent to his soul , he sung,
"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose
branches run over the wall; the archers have sorely grieved him, and
shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms
of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob;
(from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel); even by the God of
thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless
thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth
under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb; the blessings of thy
father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the
utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of
Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his
brethren." What a splendid stanza with which to close! He has only one
more blessing to give; but surely this was the richest which he
conferred on Joseph.
Joseph is dead, but the Lord has his Josephs now. There are some still
who understand by experience–and that is the best kind of
understanding–the meaning of this passage, "The archers have sorely
grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in
strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of
the mighty God of Jacob."
There are four things for us to consider this morning. First of all,
the cruel attack–"the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at
him, and hated him;" secondly, the shielded warrior–"but his bow abode
in strength;" thirdly, his secret strength–"the arms of his hands were
made strong by the mighty power of the God of Jacob;" and fourthly, the
glorious parallel drawn between Joseph and Christ–"from thence is the
shepherd, the stone of Israel."
I. First, then, we commence with THE CRUEL ATTACK. "The archers have
sorely grieved him." Joseph's enemies were archers. The original has
it, "masters of the arrows;" that is, men who were well skilled in the
use of the arrows. Though all weapons are alike approved by the warrior
in his thirst for blood, there seems something more cowardly in the
attack of the archer than in that of the swordsman. The swordsman
plants himself near you, foot to foot, and lets you defend yourself,
and deal your blows against him; but the archer stands at a distance,
hides himself in ambuscade, and, without you knowing it, the arrow
comes whizzing through the air, and perhaps penetrates your heart. Just
so are the enemies of God's people. They very seldom come foot to foot
with us; they will not show their faces before us; they hate the light,
they love darkness; they dare not come and openly accuse us to our
face, for then we could reply; but they shoot the bow from a distance,
so that we cannot answer them; cowardly and dastardly as they are, they
forge their arrow-heads, and aim them, winged with hell-birds feathers,
at the hearts of God's people. The archers sorely grieved poor Joseph.
Let us consider who are the archers who so cruelly shot at him. First,
there were the archers of envy; secondly, the archers of temptation;
and thirdly, the archers of slander and calumny.
1. First, Joseph had to endure the archers of ENVY. When he was a boy,
his father loved him. The youth was fair and beautiful; in person he
was to be admired; moreover, he had a mind that was gigantic, and an
intellect that was lofty; but, best of all, in him dwelt the Spirit of
the living God. He was one who talked with God; a youth of piety and
prayerfulness; beloved of God, even more than he was by his earthly
father. O! how his father loved him! for in his fond affection, he made
him a princely coat of many colors, and treated him better than the
others–a natural but foolish way of showing his fondness. Therefore
his brethren hated him. Full often did they jeer at the youthful
Joseph, when he retired to his prayers; when he was with them at a
distance from his father's house, he was their drudge, their slave; the
taunt, the jeer, did often wound his heart, and the young child endured
much secret sorrow. On an ill day, as it happened, he was with them at
a distance from home, and they thought to slay him; but upon the
entreaty of Reuben, they put him into a pit, until, as Providence would
have it, the Ishmaelites did pass that way. They then sold him for the
price of a slave, stripped him of his coat, and sent him naked, they
knew not, and they cared not, whither, so long as he might be out of
their way, and no longer provoke their envy and their anger. Oh! the
agonies he felt–parted from his father, losing his brethren, without a
friend, dragged away by cruel man-sellers, chained upon a camel it may
be, with fetters on his hands. Those who have borne the gyves and
fetters, those who have felt that they were not free men, that they had
not liberty, might tell how sorely the archers grieved him when they
shot at him the arrows of their envy. He became a slave, sold from his
country, dragged from all he loved. Farewell to home and all its
pleasures–farewell to a father's smiles and tender cares. He must be a
slave, and toil where the slave's task-master makes him; he must be
stripped in the streets, he must be beaten, he must be scourged, he
must be reduced from the man to the animal, from the free man to the
slave. Truly the archers sorely shot at him. And, my brethren, do you
hope, if you are the Lord's Josephs, that you shall escape envy? I tell
you, nay; that green-eyed monster, envy, lives in London as well as
elsewhere, and he creeps into God's church, moreover. Oh! it is hardest
of all, to be envied by one's brethren. If the devil hates us, we can
bear it; if the foes of God's truth speak ill of us, we buckle up our
harness, and say, "Away, away, to the conflict." But when the friends
within the house slander us; when brethren who should uphold us, turn
our foes; and when they try to tread down their younger brethren; then,
sirs, there is some meaning in the passage, "The archers have sorely
grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him." But, blessed be God's
name, it is sweet to be informed that "his bow abode in strength." None
of you can be the people of God without provoking envy; and the better
you are, the more you will be hated. The ripest fruit is most pecked by
the birds, and the blossoms that have been longest on the tree, are the
most easily blown down by the wind. But fear not; you have naught to do
with what man shall say of you. If God loves you, man will hate you; if
God honors you, man will dishonor you. But recollect, could ye wear
chains of iron for Christ's sake, ye should wear chains of gold in
heaven; could ye have rings of burning iron round your waists, ye
should have your brow rimmed with gold in glory; for blessed are ye
when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for Christ's
name's sake; for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.
The first archers were the archers of envy.
2. But a worse trial than this was to overtake him. The archers of
TEMPTATION shot at him. Here I know not how to express myself. I would
that some one more qualified to speak were here, that he might tell you
the tale of Joseph's trial, and Joseph's triumph. Sold to a master who
soon discovered his value, Joseph was made the bailiff of the house,
and the manager of the household. His wanton mistress fixed her
adulterous love on him; and he, being continually in her presence, was
perpetually, day by day, solicited by her to evil deeds. Constantly did
he refuse; still enduring a martyrdom at the slow fire of her
enticements. On one eventful day she grasped him, seeking to compel him
to crime; but he, like a true hero as he was, said to her, "How can I
do this great wickedness and sin against God?" Like a wise warrior, he
knew that in such a case fleeing was the better part of valor. He heard
a voice in his ears: "Fly, Joseph, fly; there remains no way of victory
but flight;" and out he fled, leaving his garment with his adulterous
mistress. Oh, I say in all the annals of heroism there is not one that
shall surpass this. You know it is opportunity that makes a man
criminal; and he had abundant opportunity; but importunity will drive
most men astray. To be haunted day by day by solicitations of the
softest kind–to be tempted hour by hour–oh! it needs a strength
super-angelic, a might more that human, a strength which only God can
grant, for a young man thus to cleanse his way, and take heed thereto
according to God's word. He might have reasoned within himself, "Should
I submit and yield, there lies before me a life of ease and pleasure; I
shall be exalted, I shall be rich. She shall prevail over her husband,
to cover me with honors; but should I still adhere to my integrity, I
shall be cast into prison, I shall be thrown into the dungeon; there
awaits me nothing but shame and disgrace." Oh! there was a power indeed
within that heart of his; there was an inconceivable might, which made
him turn away with unutterable disgust, with fear and trembling, while
he said, "How can I? how can I–God's Joseph–how can I–other men
might, but how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God."
Truly the archers sorely grieved him and shot at him; but his bow abode
in strength.
3. Then another host of archers assailed him; these were the archers of
MALICIOUS CALUMNY. Seeing that he would not yield to temptation, his
mistress falsely accused him to her husband, and his lord, believing
the voice of his wife, cast him into prison. It was a marvelous
providence that he did not put him to death; for Potiphar, his master,
was the chief of the slaughtermen; he had only to call in a soldier,
who would have cut him in pieces on the spot. But he cast him into
prison. There was poor Joseph. His character ruined in the eyes of man,
and very likely looked upon with scorn even in the prison-house; base
criminals went away from him as if they thought him viler than
themselves, as if they were angels in comparison with him. Oh! it is no
easy thing to feel your character gone, to think that you are
slandered, that things are said of you that are untrue. Many a man's
heart has been broken by this, when nothing else could make him yield.
The archers sorely grieved him when he was so maligned–so slandered. O
child of God, dost thou expect to escape these archers? Wilt thou never
be slandered? Shalt thou never be calumniated? It is the lot of God's
servants, in proportion to their zeal, to be evil spoken of. Remember
the noble Whitefield, how he stood and was the butt of all the jeers
and scoffs of half an age; while his only answer was a blameless life.
"And he who forged, and he who threw the dart,
Had each a brother's interest in his heart."
They reviled him and imputed to him crimes that Sodom never knew. So
shall it be always with those who preach God's truth, and all the
followers of Christ–they must all expect it; but, blessed be God, they
have not said worse things of us than they said of our Master. What
have they laid to our charge? They may have said, "he is drunken and a
wine-bibber;" but they have not said, "he hath a devil." They have
accused us of being mad, so was it said of Paul. Oh, holy infatuation,
heavenly furor, would that we could bite others until they had the same
madness. We think, if to go to heaven be mad, we will not choose to be
wise; we see no wisdom in preferring hell; we can see no great prudence
in despising and hating God's truth. If to serve God be vile, we
purpose to be viler still. Ah! friends, some now present know this
verse by heart, "The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him,
and hated him." Expect it; do not think it a strange thing; all God's
people must have it. There are no royal roads to heaven–they are paths
of trial and trouble; the archers will shoot at you as long as you are
on this side the flood.
II. We have seen these archers shoot their flights of arrows; we will
now go up the hill a little, behind a rock, to look at the SHIELDED
WARRIOR and see how his courage is while the archers have sorely
grieved him. What is he doing? "His bow abideth in strength." Let us
picture God's favorite. The archers are down below. There is a parapet
of rock before him; now and then he looks over it to see what the
archers are about, but generally he keeps behind. In heavenly security
he is set upon a rock, careless of all below. Let us follow the track
of the wild goat and behold the warrior in his fastness.
First, we notice that he has a bow himself, for we read that "his bow
abode in strength." He could have retaliated if he pleased, but he was
very quiet and would not combat with them. Had he pleased, he might
have drawn his bow with all his strength, and sent his weapon to their
hearts with far greater precision that they had ever done to him. But
mark the warrior's quietness. There he rests, stretching his mighty
limbs; his bow abode in strength; he seemed to say, "Rage on, aye, let
you arrows spend themselves, empty your quivers on me, let your
bow-strings be worn out, and let the wood be broken with its constant
bending; here am I, stretching myself in safe repose; my bow abides in
strength; I have other work to do besides shooting at you; my arrows
are against yon foes of God, the enemies of the Most High; I cannot
waste an arrow on such pitiful sparrows as you are; ye are birds
beneath my noble shot; I would not waste an arrow on you." Thus he
remains behind the rock and despises them all. "His bow abideth in
strength."
Mark well his quietness. His bow "abideth." It is not rattling, it is
not always moving, but it abides, it is quite still; he takes no notice
of the attack. The archers sorely grieved Joseph, but his bow was not
turned against them, it abode in strength. He turned not his bow on
them. He rested while they raged. Doth the moon stay herself to lecture
every dog that bayeth at her? Doth the lion turn aside to rend each cur
that barketh at him? Do the stars cease to shine because the
nightingales reprove them for their dimness? Doth the sun stop in its
course because of the officious cloud which veils it: Or doth the river
stay because the willow dippeth its leaves into its waters? Ah! no;
God's universe moves on, and if men will oppose it, it heeds them not.
It is as God hath made it; it is working together for good, and it
shall not be stayed by the censure nor moved on by the praise of man.
Let your bows, my brethren, abide. Do not be in a hurry to set
yourselves right. God will take care of you. Leave yourselves alone;
only be very valiant for the Lord God of Israel; be steadfast in the
truth of Jesus and your bow shall abide.
But we must not forget the next word. "His bow abode IN STRENGTH."
Though his bow was quiet it was not because it was broken. Joseph's bow
was like that of William the Conqueror; no man could bend it but Joseph
himself; it abode in "strength." I see the warrior bending his bow–how
with his mighty arms he pulls it down and draws the string to make it
ready. His bow abode in strength; it did not snap, it did not start
aside. His chastity was his bow, and he did not lose that; his faith
was his bow, and that did not yield, it did not break; his courage was
his bow, and that did not fail him; his character, his honesty was his
bow, nor did he cast it away. Some men are so very particular about
reputation. They think, "surely, surely, surely they shall lose their
character." Well, well, if we do not lose them through our own fault,
we never need care about anybody else. You know there is not a man that
stands at all prominent, but what any fool in the world can set afloat
some bad tale against him. It is a great deal easier to set a story
afloat than to stop it. If you want truth to go round the world you
must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go
round the world, it will fly: it is as light as a feather, and a breath
will carry it. It is well said in the old proverb, "A lie will go round
the world while truth is pulling its boots on." Nevertheless, it does
not injure us; for if light as feather it travels as fast, its effect
is just about as tremendous as the effect of down, when it is blown
against the walls of a castle; it produces no damage whatever, on
account of its lightness and littleness. Fear not, Christian. Let
slander fly, let envy send forth its forked tongue, let it hiss at you,
your bow shall abide in strength. Oh! shielded warrior, remain quiet,
fear no ill; but, like the eagle in its lofty eyrie, look thou down
upon the fowlers in the plain, turn thy bold eye upon them and say,
"Shoot ye may, but your shots will not reach half-way to the pinnacle
where I stand. Waste your powder upon me if ye will; I am beyond your
reach." Then clap your wings, mount to heaven, and there laugh them to
scorn, for ye have made your refuge God, and shall find a most secure
abode.
III. The third thing in our text is THE SECRET STRENGTH. "The arms of
his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob."
First, notice, concerning his strength, that it was real strength. It
says, "the arms of his hands," not his hands only. You know some people
can do a great deal with their hands, but then it is often fictitious
power; there is no might in the arm–there is no muscle; but of Joseph
it is said; "the arms of his hands were made strong. It was real
potency, true muscle, real sinew, real nerve. It was not simply sleight
of hand–the power of moving his finger very swiftly–but the arms of
his hands were made strong. Now that strength which God gives to his
Josephs is real strength; it is not a boasted valor, a fiction, a thing
of which men talk, an airy dream, an unsubstantial unreality, but it is
real strength. I should not like to have a combat with one of God's
Josephs. I should find their blows very heavy. I fear a Christian's
strokes more than any other man's for he has bone and sinew, and smites
hard. Let the foes of the church expect a hard struggle if they attack
an heir of life. Mightier than giants are men of the race of heaven;
should they once arouse themselves to battle they could laugh at the
spear and the habergeon. But they are a patient generation, enduring
ills without resenting them suffering scorn without reviling the
scoffer. Their triumph is to come when their enemies shall receive the
vengeance due; then shall it be seen by an assembled world that the
"little flock" were men of high estate, and the "offscouring of all
things" were verily men of real strength and dignity.
Even though the world perceive it not, the favored Joseph has real
strength, not in his hands only, but in his arms–real might, real
power. O ye foes of God, ye think God's people are despicable and
powerless; but know that they have true strength from the omnipotence
of their Father, a might substantial and divine. Your own shall melt
away, and droop and die, like the snow upon the low mountain top, when
the sun shines upon it, it melteth into water; but our vigor shall
abide like the snow on the summit of the Alps, undiminished for ages.
It is real strength.
Then observe that the strength of God's Joseph is divine strength. His
arms were made strong by God. Why does one of God's ministers preach
the gospel powerfully? Because God gives him assistance. Why does
Joseph stand against temptation? Because God gives him aid. The
strength of a Christian is divine strength. My brethren, I am more and
more persuaded every day that the sinner has no power of himself,
except that which is given him from above. I know that if I were to
stand with my foot upon the golden threshold of heaven's portal, if I
could put this thumb upon the latch, I could not open that door, after
having gone so far towards heaven, unless I had still supernatural
power communicated to me in that moment. If I had a stone to lift, to
work my own salvation, without God's help to do that, I must be lost,
even though it were so little. There is naught that we can do without
the power of God. All true strength is divine. As the light cometh from
the sun, as the shower from heaven; so doth spiritual strength come
from the Father lights, with whom there is neither variableness nor
shadow of a turning.
Again: I would have you notice in the text in what a blessedly familiar
way God gives this strength to Joseph. It say, "the arms of his hands
were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." Thus it
represents God as putting his hands on Joseph's hands, placing his arms
on Joseph's arms. In old times, when every boy had to be trained up to
archery, if his father were worth so many pounds a year, you might see
the father putting his hands on his boy's hands and pulling the bow for
him, saying, "there, my son, in this manner draw the bow." So the text
represents God as putting his hand on the hand of Joseph, and laying
his broad arm along the arm of his chosen child, that he might be made
strong. Like as a father teacheth his children; so the Lord teaches
them that fear him. He puts his arms upon them. As Elijah laid with his
mouth upon the child's mouth, with his hand upon the child's hand, with
his foot upon the child's foot, so does "God put his mouth to his
children's mouth, his hand to his ministers' hand, his foot to his
people's foot; and so he makes us strong. Marvelous condescension! Ye
stars of glory, have ye ever witnessed such stoops of love? God
Almighty, Eternal, Omnipotent, stoops from his throne and lays his hand
upon the child's hand, stretching his arm upon the arm of Joseph, that
he may be made strong.
One more thought, and I have done. The strength was covenant strength,
for it is said, "The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of
the mighty God of Jacob." Now, wherever you read of the God of Jacob in
the Bible, you may know that that respects God's covenant with Jacob.
Ah! I love to talk about God's everlasting covenant. Some of the
Arminians cannot bear it, but I love a covenant salvation–a covenant
not made with my father, not between me and God, but between Christ and
God. Christ made the covenant to pay a price, and God made the covenant
that he should have the people. Christ has paid the price and ratified
the covenant; and I am quite sure that God will fulfil his part of it,
by giving every elect vessel of mercy into the hands of Jesus. But,
beloved, all the power, all the grace, all the blessings, all the
mercies, all the comforts, all the things we have, we have through the
covenant. If there were no covenant; if we could rend the everlasting
charter up; if the king of hell could cut it with his knife, as the
king of Israel did the roll of Baruck, then we should fail indeed; for
we have no strength, except that which is promised in the covenant.
Covenant mercies, covenant grace, covenant promises, covenant
blessings, covenant help, covenant everything–the Christian must
receive, if he would enter into heaven.
Now, Christian, the archers have sorely grieved you, and shot at you,
and wounded you; but your bow abides in strength, and the arms of your
hands are made strong. But do you know, O believer, that you are like
your Master in this?
IV. That is our fourth point–A GLORIOUS PARALLEL. "From thence is the
shepherd, the stone of Israel." Jesus Christ was served just the same;
the shepherd, the stone of Israel, passed through similar trials; he
was shot at by the archers, he was grieved and wounded, but his bow
abode in strength; his arms were made strong by the God of Jacob, and
now every blessing rests "upon the crown of the head of him who was
separated from his brethren." I shall not detain you long, but I have a
few things to tell you; first about Christ as the shepherd, and then
about Christ the stone.
Christ came into the world as a shepherd. As soon as he made his
appearance, the Scribes and Pharisees said, "Ah! we have been the
shepherds until this hour; now we shall be driven from our honors, we
shall lose all our dignity, and our authority." Consequently, they
always shot at him. As for the people, they were a fickle herd; I
believe that many of them respected and admired Christ, though,
doubtless, the vast majority hated him, for wherever he went he was a
popular preacher; the multitude always thronged him and crowded round
him, crying, "Hosanna." I think, if you had walked up to the top of
that hill of Calvary, and asked one of those men who cried out,
"Crucify him, crucify him," "What do you say that for? Is he a bad
man?" "No," he would have said, "he went about doing good." "Then why
do you say crucify him?'" "Because Rabbi Simeon gave me a shekel to
help the clamor." So the multitude were much won by the money and
influence of the priests. But they were glad to hear Christ after all.
It was the shepherds that hated him, because he took away their
traffic, because he turned the buyers and sellers out of the temple,
diminished their dignity and ignored their pretensions; therefore, they
could not endure him. But the Shepherd of Israel mounted higher and
higher; he gathered his sheep, carried the lambs in his bosom; and he
now stands acknowledged as the great shepherd of the sheep, who shall
gather them into one flock and lead them to heaven. Rowland Hill tells
a curious tale, in his "Village Dialogues," about a certain Mr.
Tiplash, a very fine intellectual preacher, who, in one of his flights
of oratory, said, "O Virtue, thou art so fair and lovely, if thou wert
to come down upon earth, all men would love thee," with a few more
pretty, beautiful things. Mr. Blunt, and honest preacher, who was in
the neighborhood, was asked to preach in the afternoon, and he
supplemented the worthy gentleman's remarks, by saying, "O Virtue, thou
didst come on earth, in all thy purity and loveliness; but instead of
being beloved and admired, the archers sorely shot at thee and grieved
thee; they took thee, Virtue, and hung thy quivering limbs upon a
cross; when thou didst hang there dying they hissed at thee, they
mocked thee, they scorned thee; when thou didst ask for water they gave
thee vinegar to drink, mingled with gall; yea, when thou diedst thou
hadst a tomb from charity, and that tomb, sealed by enmity and hatred."
The Shepherd of Israel was despised, incarnate virtue was hated and
abhorred; therefore fear not, Christians, take courage; for if your
Master passed through it, surely you must.
To conclude: the text calls Christ the stone of Israel. I have heard a
story–I cannot tell whether it is true or not–out of some of the
Jewish rabbis; it is a tale, concerning the text, "The stone which the
builders refused, the same is become the headstone of the corner." It
is said that when Solomon's temple was building, all the stones were
brought from the quarry ready cut and fashioned, and there were to be
put. Amongst the stones was a very curious one; it seemed of no
describable shape, it appeared unfit for any portion of the building.
They tried it at this wall, but it would not fit; they tried it in
another, but it could not be accommodated; so, vexed and angry, they
threw it away. The temple was so many years building, that this stone
became covered with moss, and grass grew around it. Everybody passing
by laughed at the stone; they said Solomon was wise, and doubtless all
the other stones were right; but as for that block, they might as well
send it back to the quarry, for they were quite sure it was meant for
nothing. Year after year rolled on, and the poor stone was still
despised, the builders constantly refused it. The eventful day came
when the temple was to be finished and opened, and the multitude was
assembled to see the grand sight. The builders said, "Where is the
top-stone? Where is the pinnacle?" They little thought where the
crowning marble was, until some one said, "Perhaps that stone which the
builders refused is meant to be the top-stone." They then took it, and
hoisted it to the top of the house; and as it reached the summit they
found it well adapted to the place. Loud hosannas made the welkin ring,
as the stone which the builders refused, thus became the headstone of
the corner. So is it with Christ Jesus. The builders cast him away. He
was a plebeian; he was of poor extraction; he was a man acquainted with
sinners, who walked in poverty and meanness; hence the worldly-wise
despised him. But when God shall gather together, in one, all things
that are in heaven and that are in earth, then Christ shall be the
glorious consummation of all things.
"Christ reigns in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise."
He shall be exalted; he shall be honored; his name shall endure as long
as the sun, and all nations shall be blessed in him, yea, all
generations shall call him blessed.