“You Are Now the Blessed of the Lord”

"You Are Now the Blessed of the Lord"

(No. 2238)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JANUARY 10, 1892,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MAY
3, 1891.

"You are now the blessed of the Lord." Genesis 26:29.

THESE words truly describe the position of many whom I address at this
time. There are hundreds here upon whom my eyes can rest and to any one
of whom I might point with this finger, or rather, to whom I might
extend this hand, to give a hearty shake, and say, "You are now the
blessed of the Lord." I need not say it in the same spirit, nor for the
same reason that the Philistines did. They had behaved basely towards
Isaac and now that he had prospered, they urged him to forget the past.
They meant, "This is why we trust that you will deal kindly with us and
overlook our harsh conduct, for, in spite of all, God has so blessed
you that you need not be fretful and pettish and remember what we have
done." I am glad that I am under no necessity to strive to make up a
quarrel in this way! These many years we have dwelt in peace and have
enjoyed sweet fellowship together. You have often borne with my
weaknesses and bestowed upon me a wealth of affection which I am sure I
do not deserve. So, though I use the language of Abimelech and his
friends, my motive is a very different one! Yet the truth is the same
concerning many a one here–"You are now the blessed of the Lord."

There is, however, much force in the argument which these Philistines
used. If God has richly blessed us, notwithstanding all our faults and
failures, surely we should learn to forgive many injuries done to
ourselves. If the Lord forgives us our debt of10,000 talents, we must
be willing to forgive our fellow servant his debt of100 pence! Child of
God, if you are now the blessed of the Lord, you will often turn a
blind eye towards the offenses of your fellow men. You will say, "God
has so blessed me that I can well overlook any wrongs that you have
inflicted; any harsh words that you have said. I am now blessed of the
Lord, so let bygones be bygones." May you have Grace given to you to do
that, now, if any of you have had a little squabble with any other! If
there have been any difficulties between any of you, I would hope that
before I really get into my subject–while with my finger I point you
out and say to each one of you–"You are now the blessed of the Lord,"
you will immediately say, "As surely as that is true, I do, from my
very heart, forgive all who have offended me, whether Philistine, or
Israelite, or Gentile. How can I do otherwise who, myself, have
received such Grace while so unworthy?"

Remember that that this was spoken by the Philistine king as a reason
why he wished to have Isaac for a friend. In your choice of friends,
choose those who are the friends of God. If you would have a blessing
upon your friendship, select a man whom God has blessed! Look out for
one who is a disciple of Christ and say, "You are now the blessed of
the Lord; therefore I seek your acquaintance. Come under my roof; you
will bring a blessing with you. Speak to me in the street; your morning
word will be a benediction to me." It was the old custom with Apostolic
men to say, as they entered a house, "Peace be unto this house." We
have given up all idea of blessing our fellow men in that way. But why
have we done so? Is it from a lack of love, or lack of faith in our own
prayers that God would make it so?

For my part, I value a good man's blessing! As I drove up a hill, in
the country, some time ago, a poor man and his wife were walking down
the hill. I had never seen them before, but the woman pulled the
husband by his coat. They both stood and looked at me and, at last, she
said, quite loudly, "It's him, God bless him!" And although her
greeting was not quite grammatical, it evidently came from her
heart–and I felt happier for it as I went on my way. I saw her,
afterwards, and asked her the reason of her words. "Why," she said, "I
have read your sermons for many a year and I could not help saying,
"God bless him!' when I saw you, for you have been a blessing to me."
Thus that humble woman, being blessed of

the Lord, became a blessing to me! And we, all of us, even the most
obscure, who know the Grace of God, might daily be like a great
benediction in the midst of the people.

When you think of your minister, say, sometimes, "God bless him!" It
will do him good to hear it. Say to your friend, "God bless you!" Say
to your children, "God bless you, my dear boy! The Lord bless you, my
dear girl!" They will be the better for it if you, yourself, are the
blessed of the Lord! You, grandparents, lay your hands on the
children's heads and bless them–they will not forget it when they grow
up. It may be that you have done much more for them than you have
thought. Concerning His flock, the Lord says, "I will make them and the
places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to
come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing." God's
people are blessed that they may bless! Therefore, for the sake of
others, as well as for your own, seek that my text may be abundantly
true of you. May this be your prayer–

"Lord, I hear of showers of blessings You are scattering full and free!
Showers, the thirsty land refreshing, Let some droppings fall on me,
Even me."

It was for this reason that the Philistines sought the friendship of
Isaac–because they could truly say to him, "You are now the blessed of
the Lord."

I want not so much to preach from this text as to ask every Believer in
Christ to feel that it is personally true. Once you were condemned,
but, being in Christ Jesus, "there is, therefore, now no condemnation."
"You are now the blessed of the Lord." Once your were at enmity against
God, but now, being reconciled to God by the death of His Son, you are
His friend–"You are now the blessed of the Lord." "You were sometimes
in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." How great the change
for the man or woman to whom we can say, "You are now the blessed of
the Lord!"

There was a day when I was cursed and there was a day when I loved sin
and opposed God's will–but now I love sin no longer and I find my
highest delight in doing the will of my Father in Heaven! My Soul, if
this is true, "you are now the blessed of the Lord." You are a miracle
of mercy! You are a prodigy of Grace and truly, "where sin abounded,
Grace did much more abound." Sit still in your pews, you people of God,
and roll this sweet morsel under your tongue! Once, because you
believed not, the wrath of God was resting upon you, but now you can
say, "O Lord! I will praise You: though You were angry with me, Your
anger is turned away and You comforted me."

Surely, then, "You are now the blessed of the Lord." You are poor,
perhaps, in this world's goods, but being an heir of the "inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in
Heaven for you," why, "You are now the blessed of the Lord!" Or,
perhaps, you are weak and ill, and scarcely able to be in your place.
But though your flesh and strength fail, "you are now the blessed of
the Lord," for, by His Grace, you will triumph over all! Though you are
oppressed with many a fear and many a care, still, "you are now the
blessed of the Lord," and on Him you can cast your care–and from Him
receive deliverance from all your fears! Whatever your distresses, this
overwhelms them all as with a flood of joy! You can join with one who,
though in a very humble station of life, says–

"O joy! 'Tis mine, this life Divine, Life hid with Christ in God! Once
sin-defiled, now reconciled, And washed in Jesus' blood! Oft far astray
from Christ the Way, I went with willful feet. From hopeless track,
love brought me back, With words of welcome sweet." If you can truly
sing this sweet song, "You are now the blessed of the Lord." You are
not yet perfect–you are not yet taken out of the body to be with your
Lord in bliss–you are not yet risen from the dead to stand before the
Throne of God in your body of Resurrection glory! But yet you are now,
even now, the blessed of the Lord! Will you let the flavor of this
sweet Truth of God be in your mouth and in your heart while I seek to
open this subject to you?

I. I would remark upon it, first, that in the case of Isaac, THIS WAS
THE TESTIMONY OF ENEMIES. It was the Philistines who said, "You are now
the blessed of the Lord." There are some of God's people who are so
evidently fa-

vored of Heaven that even those who despise and oppose them cannot help
saying of them, "They are the blessed of the Lord." I wish that we were
all such–so distinguished by piety, so marked out by strength of faith
and prevalence of prayer–that even our Abimelechs might be forced to
say to each of us, "You are now the blessed of the Lord." What caused
this heathen king and his companions to use such an expression about
Isaac? In seeking the reasons which led them to see the bounty of the
Lord in the case of Abraham's son, we may find some signs of the
blessing of God upon ourselves and upon our children.

I think, first, that they saw it in his amazing prosperity. We read in
the twelfth, thirteenth and 14th verses, "Then Isaac sowed in the land,
and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became
very great: for he had possession of flocks and possession of herds,
and great store of servants." Prosperity is not always a token of
blessing. It may be proof of the lord's favor, but it may not be. God
sometimes gives most to those on earth who will have nothing in
Heaven–as if, seeing that He cannot bless them in eternity, He would
let them enjoy the poor sweets of time. I have heard it said that
prosperity was the blessing of the old Covenant and adversity the
blessing of the new. Nevertheless, it is true that worldly prosperity
may be sent and has been sent to the children of God as a token of
Divine favor. It is not always when we eat the quails, that they make
us ill–God can send them in such a way that we may enjoy them and be
strengthened by them. He can give riches as well as poverty. That was
the Philistines' reason–and it is a Philistine's reason. It is not a
very satisfactory one, but it has some force, for the Lord Jesus,
Himself, gave the sign of blessing upon the meek, saying, "They shall
inherit the earth." And in the same memorable discourse upon the mount,
He uttered the exhortation and promise, "Seek you first the Kingdom of
God, and His righteousness; and all these things"–the things which the
Gentiles seek after–"shall be added unto you." So we may fairly
construe the "mercies of God" as a sign of His blessing.

These Philistines had a further reason for thinking that Isaac was
blessed of God–they felt it by Divine impression. A secret spirit
whispered to the king, "Touch not My anointed, and do My Prophets no
harm." God always has a way of making men feel "how awful goodness is."
They may jest and jeer against a Christian, but his life vanquishes
them. They cannot help it! They must do homage to the supremacy of
Grace. The promise is still true, "When a man's ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." God will impress
upon the minds of even unbelievers, this fact, that such a man, such a
woman, is one whom God has blessed! Do you not know some Believers who
have such an air of other-worldliness about them, that though they mix
freely with the people among whom they dwell, men instinctively
acknowledge that, "they have been with Jesus" and have been blessed by
Him? I do not care to see pictures of the saints of old with a nimbus
of light round their heads, even though they have been painted by the
old masters–yet there is a something about one who lives a saintly
life, a brightness encircling him–like the symbol of God's Presence
which separates him from those around him, and leads us to say to him,
"You are now the blessed of the Lord."

Further, before the Philistines bore this testimony to Isaac, no doubt
they remarked his gentleness. I believe that there is nothing that has
such power over ungodly men as meekness of spirit, quietness of
behavior, patience of character and the continual conquest over an evil
temper. If you grow angry when people are angry with you, you will have
lost your position. But if you can be patient under persecution; if you
can smile when they ridicule you; if you can yield your rights; if you
can bear and continue to bear, you are greater than the man who has
taken a city! Remember the blessing promised to the disciples of Christ
who are peacemakers? They are not only the children of God, but, "they
shall be called the children of God." People will say, "If any man is a
true Christian, he is one." They will have no doubt about it! When
long-suffering, gentleness and meekness are in the life, men begin to
say to such a one, "You are now the blessed of the

Lord."

As the gentleness of the Lord makes us great, the gentleness of the
saints brings to God great glory. Anger has a temporary sovereignty
that melts in the heat of the sun. Quietness of spirit is king over all
the land. If you can rule yourself, you can rule the world! Isaac
conquered by his meekness, for when Abimelech saw that he yielded well
after well rather than keep up a quarrel, he said to him, "You are now
the blessed of the Lord." Some of you do not understand this. "What?"
you ask, "are we not to stick up for ourselves?" That depends upon
whose you are–if you are your own, take care of yourselves–but if you
are Christ's, let Him take care of you! "But," you say, "if you tread
on a worm, it will turn." Surely you will not make a worm your pattern?
No, but let the meek and lowly Christ be your Example! Seek to be a
partaker of His Spirit. He prayed, even for His murderers, "Father,
forgive them," and He always sought to return

good for evil. I pray you to do the same–cultivate a gentle spirit and
even worldlings will say to you–"You are now the blessed of the Lord."

Now, while these Philistines saw that God blessed Isaac, they
nevertheless envied him, as we read in the 14th verse. How strange it
is that men, who do not care to be blessed of God, themselves, envy
them who are blessed of Him! I heard one say, "It is not just that God
should have a chosen people." Sir, do you want to be one of God's
people? These blessings which God gives to them–do you want to have
them? You may have them, if you will! If you will not have them, I pray
you do not quarrel with God because He chooses to give to whom He
wills. There are two great Truths of God, which, from this platform, I
have proclaimed for many years. The first is that salvation is free to
every man who will have it. The second is that God gives salvation to a
people whom He has chosen. And these Truths are not in conflict with
one another in the least degree! If you want the blessing of the Lord,
have it even now, for my commission as an ambassador of Christ is to
beseech men to be reconciled to God! If you do not want it, do not
quarrel with God for giving it to His own chosen. It was so with those
Philistines–they wanted not Jehovah's blessing and yet they envied
Isaac, who had it!

But while they envied him, they feared him and courted his favor. Do I
speak to some young Believer who has gone into a house of business, or
some Christian woman who has been placed in a family where her religion
exposes her to opposition? Let me counsel you to go straight on, taking
no notice of the hindrances thrown in your way. You will first be
envied. After that, you will be feared! And after that, you will be
sought after and your company will be desired. If you can only stay as
firm as Isaac did, never losing your temper, but always being gentle,
meek and kind, you will conquer! And you who are, today despised, will
yet come to be honored, even as Isaac was by the very Abimelech who
had, just a little while before, asked him to go away!

A man of God, who was bearing testimony for the faith, on one occasion
was pushed into the gutter by a person passing by who said, as he
thrust him in, "There, take that, John Bunyan." He took off his hat and
said, "I will take anything if you give me the name of John Bunyan. I
count it such an honor to have that title, that you may do anything
that you like with me." To be identified with those who have been
blessed of the Lord is worth more than all the favors of the world! We
are in good company. If men despise you, it matters little when God has
blessed you! If they push you into the gutter for being a Christian,
take your hat off and thank them, for it is worthwhile to bear any
scorn, that you may have the honor to be numbered with the followers of
Christ! Rest assured that if you will count it a privilege, even, to be
mocked for your faith, those who persecute you, today, will acknowledge
your high position tomorrow. It is a grand thing when any of us thus
gets the testimony of our enemies, "You are now the blessed of the
Lord."

II. Now, secondly, not only did his enemies thus bear witness to Isaac,
saying, "You are now the blessed of the Lord," but THIS WAS ALSO THE
TESTIMONY OF THE LORD. It was because he had the witness of God that he
was able to behave as to secure the favorable verdict of the
Philistines. Like Enoch, before his translation, Isaac, too, "had this
testimony, that he pleased God" and was, thus meekly able to bear the
displeasure of the world. When they drove him from one well, he dug
another, yet all the time he, with joy, drew, "water out of the wells
of salvation." He might almost have sat for the picture which Jeremiah
drew of the blessed man, centuries afterwards, when he said, "Blessed
is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he
shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her
roots by the river, and shall not see when the heat comes, but her leaf
shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

Let us see, then, how Isaac had the testimony of God as to his
blessedness.

First, this was the Lord's testimony to him in promises founded upon
the Covenant which He had made with Abraham, his father. God said to
Isaac, "I will be with you and will bless you." In the third verse of
this chapter, the promise is made doubly sure to Isaac when God says,
"I will perform the oath which I swore unto Abraham your father." And
in the 24th verse of the chapter, where the promise is renewed, it is
still on the ground of the Covenant–"I am with you and I will bless
you, and multiply your seed for My servant, Abraham's, sake." Now, do
you know anything of the Covenant relationship between God and His
people? The bulk of Christians, nowadays, are wholly ignorant on this
subject. The preachers have forgotten it, yet the Covenant is the top
and bottom of all theology!

He that is the master of the knowledge of the Covenants has the key of
true divinity. But the doctrine has gone out of date except with a few
old-fashioned people who are supposed to know no better, but who, in
spite of all the taunts of their opponents, cling to the Doctrines of
Grace and find in them the very marrow and fatness of the Truth of God.
I love

the promises of God because they are Covenant promises! God has engaged
to keep His Word with His people in the Person of His dear Son. He has
bound Himself, by Covenant with Christ, and will not, cannot go back
from His Word–and Christ has fulfilled the conditions of the Covenant
and He who has "brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant,"
will certainly, "make you perfect to do His will, working in you that
which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ." The promise
is a double promise when it is confirmed in Jesus!

Though we are poor and worthless creatures, yet we can say with David,
"Although my house is not so with God, yet He has made with me an
Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure." Twice God says
by Isaiah, "I have given Him for a Covenant to the people." Thrice
happy are they who receive what God has given and who, in Christ, enter
into that blessed bond! Beloved, if God has laid the promise home to
you by the Spirit and let you see it as a Covenant promise, then God
has borne this testimony to you–"You are now the blessed of the Lord."
You are blessed now! You shall be blessed all your life on earth–

"And when, through Jordan's flood, Your God shall bid you go, His arm
shall defend you, And vanquish every foe. And in this Covenant you
shall view Sufficient strength to bear you through." Further, the Lord
bore testimony to Isaac in secret manifestation. He came to him in the
watches of the night and spoke with him, face to face. None but those
who are the blessed of the Lord have such communion with Him. "How is
it that You will manifest Yourself unto us and not unto the world?"
asked Judas, not Iscariot, at the supper table, before the Lord's
betrayal. Ah, Judas! It is simply because you are not Iscariot, but a
true disciple, otherwise had you never known intimately the Presence of
Christ. If He manifests Himself to us in this choice manner, it is
because He has blessed us in a way in which He would not bless the
ungodly world. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and
He will show them His Covenant." Do you ever get manifestations of
Christ? Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit
which is given to you? Then you have a Divine attestation that "you are
now the blessed of the Lord!"

Isaac also found this testimony, I think, in Divine acceptance of his
worship. We find that "he built an altar" and then he "pitched his
tent." Keep up the altar of God in your home and keep to the right
order–the altar, first, and the tent, second. When God accepts you,
there, and makes your family altar to be a place of refreshment and
delight to you, you will feel that in thus doing, He is giving you the
sweet assurance that you are now the blessed of the Lord. It is a pity
that there are so many houses, nowadays, without roofs–I mean houses
of Christian people without family prayer! What are some of you doing?
If your children turn out ungodly, do you wonder at it, seeing that
there is no morning and evening prayer, no reading of the Word of God
in your home? In every home where the Grace of God is known, there
should be an altar from which should rise the incense of praise and, at
which the one sacrifice for sin should be pleaded before God day by
day! In the midst of such family piety, which I fear is almost dying
out in many quarters, you will get the witness, "You are now the
blessed of the Lord."

Isaac had another proof that he was blessed of God in swift
chastisement for sin. He told a lie–he said that Rebekah was his
sister, whereas she was his wife. Although that might seem to prove
that he was not blessed of the Lord, the proof of his blessedness was
that he was discovered and became ashamed of it. Worldly people may do
wrong and very likely get off scot-free, but if a Christian goes off
the straight line, he will have an accident in his roguery and be found
out, while other men may do 10 times as badly and never be suspected!
Rascals who know not God and who despise the ordinary morality of
honest men may speculate on the Stock Exchange with other peoples'
money and never be found out. But if you who really love God only do it
once, and say, "Well, I feel driven to it," you will be caught as
surely as you live! It is one mark of a child of God, that when he does
wrong, he gets a whipping.

If I were in the street and saw strange boys breaking windows, I would
say, "Go home, or I will find a policeman for you." But if it were my
own boy, I would chastise him myself. I would not meddle with the other
boys, but with my own I would! So it is with God who says, by the mouth
of Amos, to His people, "You only have I known of all of the families
of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." It
is a mark of God's blessing a man, that if the man does wrong, he
cannot do it with impunity! Whenever your sins make you smart, thank
God, for it is better to smart than it is

to sin–and better that the smart should wean you from sin than that
something sweet should come in to make you the slave of that sin
forever!

Well, I will not dwell further on this. God testified to Isaac's heart,
"You are now the blessed of the Lord." May He testify that to each one
of you who know His name and have received His Covenant promises! May
the words come to you like a benediction from the Throne of God and
send you out to testify of His goodness, and to bless Him who has
blessed us, saying, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ!"

III. Now, in the third place, I must draw your attention to the fact
that though Isaac was the blessed of the Lord, THIS DID NOT SECURE HIM
FROM TRIBULATION. Already I have approached this part of my subject by
speaking of the speedy discovery of his sin, but in addition to this,
there were other sorrows not directly resulting from his own conduct,
but permitted by God in order that he, who was now blessed, should be
still further enriched in character and conduct.

Even before Abimelech saw the source of Isaac's Grace, he was "the
blessed of the Lord." Yet he still had to move about. He was a pilgrim
and a stranger, as was his father, and he lived as an alien in the
land. He was without any inheritance in the country and though his
flocks and herds increased, he dwelt but in tents, while others reared
for themselves stately houses and palaces. But God had prepared some
better thing for him and "he looked for a city which has foundations,
whose Builder and Maker is God." Thus, this trial became a means of
blessing to him, as trials always do when sanctified by the Spirit of
God! If these words reach any child of God whose nest on earth has been
disturbed, whose house has been broken up, I would seek to cheer you by
the thought of the "continuing city" which shall soon be your portion.
If you have, through Christ, an assurance of an abundant entrance,
there, though you never have a house of your own on earth and roam from
place to place a stranger, seeming to be, very often, in the way of
other people, yet remember–"you are now the blessed of the Lord."
Daily He does load you with benefits and you can even now have your
home in His love–

"He loves, He knows, He cares! Nothing that truth can dim! He gives the
very best to those Who leave the choice to Him."

In spite of the position of blessedness in which Isaac was placed, he
had enemies to meet. It is true that, at last, his foes became his
friends, but the blessing of the Lord did not begin with their
friendship–they discovered and surely confessed the fact–but Isaac
had been "the blessed of the Lord" all along! When Abimelech sent him
away and when "the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen,"
he was not shut out from God's favor. Jehovah never bade him depart,
nor took from him His good Spirit. So, tried Heart, when foes press
around you and one thing after another seems to go wrong, do not begin
to write bitter things against yourself, as though God had forsaken
you! Remember that it is of the Lord that you are blessed–not of men.
He will never forsake you and His deliverance shall soon make your
heart glad. Even in the midst of the trial, "you are now the blessed of
the Lord" and, like Isaac, after you have drunk of the waters of
"contention" and "hatred," you will be brought to Rehoboth where you
shall have "room," yes, even to Beer-Sheba, "the well of the oath," or,
"the seventh well," "the well of satiety," where your enemies shall
seek your favor and glorify your Lord!

Isaac had especially one trial that ate into his very soul–he had
domestic sorrow. Esau's double marriage with Hit-tite women was a grief
to his father and to his mother. And I mention this because there may
be some of God's people who are suffering in the same way. I saw one,
some days ago, who said, "I am like the Spartan who carried a fox in
his bosom, that ate even to his heart, for I have a thankless,
ungrateful child." And, as he spoke to me, I saw the heart-break of the
man. Ah, it may be that some of you are in that condition! If any young
man or young woman here is causing that grief to a parent, I pray him
or pray her to think of it! You are not heartless, I hope. You have not
forgotten your mother's prayers or your father's care of you. Do not
kill those who gave you being, or insult and vex those to whom you owe
so much! But oh, dear Brother or Sister, if you have come here
broken-hearted about your Esau and all that he is doing, I want to take
you by the hand and say, "But still you are blessed of the Lord! Let
this console you." What if Abraham has his Ishmael? Yet God blessed
him! Bear bravely this trial. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Give God
no rest,

day or night, till He save your boy and bring back your girl! But
still, be not despairing! Be not cast down, for it is true of you–and
drink in, I pray you, this cup of consolation–that, "you are now the
blessed of the Lord."

Let me speak two or three earnest words in closing. "You are now the
blessed of the Lord." "Now!" Beloved, labor to get a hold of a present
blessing. If you are, indeed, saved, do not be always thinking of what
you are to enjoy in Heaven, but seek to be the blessed of the Lord now.
Why not have two heavens–a Heaven here and a Heaven there? What is the
difference between a Believer's life, here, and a Believer's life
there? Only this–here, Christ is with us–and there, we are with
Christ! If we live up to our privileges, this is the only difference we
need to know. Try to be, "now the blessed of the Lord." I have heard of
a traveler who was followed by a beggar, in Ireland, who very
importunately asked for alms. As long as there seemed a chance of
getting anything, the old woman kept saying, "May the blessing of God
follow Your Honor all through your life!" But when all hope of a gift
was vanished, she bitterly added, "and never overtake you." But the
blessings which God has for His chosen are not of that slow-footed kind
which never catch up with us. It is written, "All these blessings shall
come on you and overtake you, if you shall hearken unto the voice of
the Lord, your God." I beseech you, then, to lay hold of this
overtaking-blessing! Let it not pass unheeded. "You are now the blessed
of the Lord."

Next, be very grateful that you are in this position of Grace. You
might have been in the drink-shop. You might have been speaking
infidelity. You might have been in prison, you might have been in Hell.
But "you are now the blessed of the Lord." Why, praise the Lord, whose
mercy endures forever! If you do not lift up your voice, yet lift up
your heart and bless Him for the Grace which has made you to differ
from other people!

Again, tell others about it. If "you are now the blessed of the Lord,"
communicate to others the sacred secret that has been the means of
bringing such joy to you. Are we earnest enough about the souls of
others? Christian men and women, do you love your fellow creatures, or
do you not? How few there are of us who make it our business to be
constantly telling others the sweet story of Jesus and His love! I
read, the other day, of a chaplain in the Northern army in the
lamentable war in the United States, who, while he lay wounded on the
battlefield, heard a man, not far off, utter an oath. Though he,
himself, was so badly wounded that he could not stand, yet he wished to
reach the swearer to speak a Gospel message to him–and he thought, "I
can get to him if I roll over."

So, though bleeding profusely, he kept rolling over and over till he
got to the side of the poor blasphemer–and on the lone battlefield he
preached Jesus to him. Some of the other men came along and he said to
them, "Can you carry me? I fear that I am dying, but I do not want to
be taken off the field. I should like you, if you would, to carry me
from one dying man to another, all the night long, that I might tell
them of a Savior." What a splendid deed was this! A bleeding man
talking to those who were full of sin about a Savior's bleeding wounds!
Oh, you who have no wounds, who can walk and possess all the faculties
to fit you for service, how often you miss opportunities and refuse to
speak of Jesus! "You are now the blessed of the Lord" and, at this
moment, I would have you think that the blessed Lord lays His pierced
hand on you saying, "Go and tell others what I have done for you."
Never cease to tell the Divine story, as opportunity is given, until
your voice is lost in death! Then your spirit shall begin to utter the
story in the loftier sphere.

You are coming to the Lord's Table and I invite you, Beloved, to come
here with much love. Do not come with doubts and fears, with a cold or
lukewarm heart. Remember, "You are now the blessed of the Lord." Come,
eat His flesh and drink His blood. There, on the Table, you will see
nothing but the embers of His flesh and blood. But if you believe,
Christ will feed you spiritually upon Himself and, as you eat that
Bread of Heaven and drink that Wine of Life, you may well hear a voice
saying, "You are now the blessed of the Lord."

Well do I remember the time when I would have given away my eyes to be
as a dog under the Table–to have eaten only the crumbs which fell as
others feasted! And now, for 41 years, today, I have sat as a child at
the Table, blessed be His name!

As I told our friends, this morning, this day is an anniversary of
peculiar interest to me. Forty-one years ago I went down into the river
and was baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit–

"Yet have been upheld till now!

Who could hold me up but You?" May you, each of you, as you come to the
Table, hear a voice saying in your heart, "Now a Believer! Now
justified! Now quickened! Now regenerate! Now in Christ! Now dear to
the heart of God! 'You are now the blessed of the Lord.'"

Oh, that some who came in here without the blessing would get it before
they go! He that believes in Jesus has all the blessing which Jesus can
give to him–forgiveness for the past, Grace for the present–and Glory
for the future! "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have
believed," is the word of the Lord to you, you doubter! He was made a
curse for you, that He might redeem you from the curse of the broken
Law of God, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone that hangs on a
tree." He hung on a tree for guilty man! Believe in Him and, as you
believe, eternal joys shall come streaming down into your dry and
desolate heart, and it shall be said to you, "You are now the blessed
of the Lord." You shall be blessed now and blessed forevermore! God
grant it, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

Portion Of Scripture Read Before Sermon–Genesis 26.