The Bride for Isaac

Genesis

The Bride for Isaac

April 27th, 1958 @ 8:15 AM

And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter. And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the LORD. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren. And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house these things. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son. And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house: Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath. And I came this day unto the well, and said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink; And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my master's son. And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also. And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands. And I bowed down my head, and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD hath spoken. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
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A BRIDE FOR ISAAC

Dr. W. A. Criswell

Genesis 24

4-27-58    8:15 a.m.

 

 

Now, this morning’s sermon is an unusual come-to-pass.  I do not know whether you remember it or not – been a long time ago – but I was preaching through Genesis – started at the first verse of Genesis – at these 8:15 o’clock morning services.  And I was just preaching through the book, chapter after chapter, until I came to the twenty-fourth chapter of the book, Genesis 24.

And I had come across, many times, references to the fact that the story in the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis was a type of the calling out of the bride of Christ from this world to meet our Lord in heaven.  I had until then never preached on types, never.  And before I started this, I just stopped and began to study types in the Old Testament.

I intended to stop for about two Sundays – now this is last June.  I intended to stop for about two Sundays and just study to see whether or not I was going to present the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis as a type.  I had never thought of it particularly.  Certainly I had never prepared anything concerning it.

Well, I stopped at the end of June and began to look at these types.  Bless your heart, July, September, October, November, December, January, February, March, and April I have been studying those types, and we’re not near through yet.  I have just come to the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis, that’s all.  I’ve just come back.

We’ve got the tabernacle awaiting us.  We have all of those things that God gave to Moses awaiting us.  But we have finally come, in our preaching of the types, to the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis.  And the reason we have come back to it is last Sunday morning I spoke on types of the Holy Spirit, like oil, like the rivers of water, like the cloud of fire at night and the pillar of cloud by day.  You remember last Sunday morning.  Now, this is a type of the Holy Spirit, the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Genesis.

So let’s turn to it, and you can easily follow the message: Genesis 24.  Now the chapter is so long I do not have opportunity to read it.  It is the story of Abraham calling his servant and making his servant swear that he will not take a wife to his son Isaac from among the Canaanites, but he will go to his own house, Abraham’s house, back there at Haran, and find the daughter there for Isaac his son.  And then this story of how this servant finds Rebekah and brings her back to Isaac.  That is the story in this long, long chapter, the twenty-fourth of Genesis.

All right, now let’s begin with the presentation of this morning.  In the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis, the father and the son are in Canaan.  And the servant is commissioned to go out and away and abroad and to find a bride for the son who is in Canaan.  The father and the son are in Canaan, the Promised Land.  All our lives we’ve heard of that as a picture, a type, of heaven, the Promised Land:

 

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand

And cast a wistful eye,

To Canaan’s fair and happy land

Where my possessions lie.

 [from On Jordan’s Stormy Banks, by Samuel Stennett, 1727-1795]

 

– a type of heaven.  The father and the son are in Canaan, in the Promised Land, in heaven, and the servant is commissioned to go out and to find a bride for the Son who is in heaven.  And the Lord’s long length of this chapter just shows how much store God places in the wooing and the winning of a bride for His Son.  The Father and the Son are in heaven, in the Promised Land, and the servant is the Holy Spirit of God, who is in this earth wooing and winning a bride for God’s Son.

The last time we saw Isaac, he was on the altar in the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Genesis.  And the father had raised his hand to plunge death into his heart, and God stayed his hand.  But in figure Abraham slew his son and received him back – a type of resurrection.  That’s what we read this morning in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.

The last time we saw Isaac was in the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, in death and in resurrection.  And the Scriptures say that Isaac, the seed of Abraham, is Christ, that is, a type of Christ, a figure of Christ.  And in the twenty-second chapter of Genesis the seed of Abraham, which is Christ, has gone through death and resurrection.  That’s the last time we’ve seen him, the Christ who has died for our sins and the Christ who was raised for our justification.

The next time you see Isaac is in the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis, and he’s in the Promised Land, waiting for his bride.  He’s in heaven, waiting for the final gathering together of His church.  And when that last one enters in, then the great day of Christ, the marriage supper of the Lamb, the espousal of the chaste virgin to Jesus, shall come to pass, when the bride, the church, is finally made up.

Now all of that is here in the Book of Genesis and in this story.  It isn’t just a story, like you’d read in Herodotus, or like you’d read in Homer, or like you’d read in Aesop’s Fables.  But all of these things, as Paul says, has a meaning.  They are pictures.  They are similitudes.  They are figures.  They are adumbrations.  They are types of great spiritual truths that finally came to pass fully in Jesus our Lord, and will ultimately come to pass in that great final day of Christ.

All right, now let’s take the story and let’s follow it through as the Spirit shall give us utterance. It starts off, Genesis 24:

Abraham was old and well stricken in age:  and the Lord had blessed

Abraham in all things.

And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, the one that

ruled over all that he had – his name was Eliezer – Put, I pray thee, thy

hand under my thigh:

And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God

of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters

of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred – that is, to Haran,

up at the top of the Mesopotamian Valley – and take a wife unto my son

Isaac.

And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be

willing to follow me unto this land:  must I needs bring thy son again unto

the land from whence thou camest?

Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither

again.

The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and

from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that swear

unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land – an unconditional

promise; He didn’t say, if you obey me, I’ll give you this land – Unto thy

seed will I give this land – that’s Palestine, an unconditional

covenant – Unto thy seed will I give this land; the same Lord God shall

send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from

thence.

And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be

clear from this my oath:  only bring not my son thither again.

And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and

sware to him concerning that matter.

[Genesis 24:1-9]

 

All right, this is what that is a picture of, a type of.  Isaac is in the promised land.  The seed of David, the seed of Abraham, is in the promised land.  He’s in heaven.  And Abraham says, “You are to go – the Holy Spirit, the Servant – and get a bride for my son.”  And the servant says, “I will go and I will plead and I will woo and I will do my best, but what if the woman won’t come?  Am I to take the son and take him to the bride if she won’t come with me?”  And Abraham said, “Under no conditions are you to bring my son thither again.  If the woman will not come, thou art free from this thine oath.  Only you’re not to bring my son thither again.  She must be brought to Isaac, my son.”

God is saying there that the bride of His Son is to be taken out of this world.  Jesus is the head of a great band of immigrants, and their faces are toward Canaan.  They are strangers and pilgrims in the earth.  Our home, and our inheritance, is over there, never in this world; never.  We don’t belong in it; we’re not a part of it.  We are to be translated out of it.  Some day God will take us away; some of us buried in the heart of the earth, some of us alive, when the time comes.  But God says His bride is to be taken out of this world.  This isn’t our home.  We are strangers and pilgrims here.  I love the old time song:

 

I am a stranger here;

Heaven is my home.

Earth is a desert drear;

Heaven is my home.

Sorrows and dangers stand

Round me on every hand.

Heaven is my fatherland.

Heaven is my home.

 [Fatherland, by T. R. Taylor, 1872]

 

The bride is to be taken out and given to the Son.

All right now, we continue.  We haven’t time, oh, not the beginning, to take all of this.  I’m just pointing out a few things through this beautiful chapter.

So the servant took – now this is the tenth verse – So the servant took ten

camels of the camels of his master, and he laden them with his

master’s goods, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in

his hand:  and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of

Nahor.

 

Well, all the goods of the master are in his hands.  And he takes of them, going to the land where the bride is to be found.  Over here it says in the fifty-third verse of that same chapter that the servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment, and gave them unto Rebekah.  That is, when the Holy Spirit comes wooing, when He comes winning, when He comes pleading, He doesn’t come empty-handed, for all of the goods of God are in the hands of this Servant.

And He brings with him tokens of our inheritance over there on the other side.  He has gifts to bring with Him.  They are earnests of the inheritance that we shall enjoy on the other side of the river; things that are wonderful, gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Joy and delight and happiness and forgiveness and fullness of life, and so, love of God, gladness in Christ, love of one another, rejoicing in the house of the Lord, oh, and how many things does the Holy Spirit bring us earnests of the wonderful, wonderful things God has in store for those who love Him!

So the servant comes, laden with these beautiful gifts, and he arrives up there in that land in the city of Nahor, Abraham’s brother.  He arrives up there, and he prays a little prayer. Now he says:

Lord, I’m here on a mission to find a bride for Isaac.  Now Lord, lead me

to the right one.  And it shall come to pass, at the time of the day when

the young women come out to draw water, that the girl having a pitcher

on her shoulder to whom I shall say, Give me to drink, and she says,

Drink thou, and I drink, and then, I will go also for the camels:  let that be

the one, let that be the one, that God hath chosen for the bride of my

master’s son.

[from Genesis 24:12-14]

 

What do you think about that?  Do you think it’s silly to pray about things like that?  What do you think about it?

 “Aw, such fanaticism.  Aw, such silliness.”  Well, bless your heart, they sure prayed like that in the Book.  They prayed like that in the Book.  I suppose a people of the Book would pray like that too.  Don’t be hesitant; ask God.  Ask Him for a sign, a fleece to be wet when all of the earth is dry, or a fleece to be dry when all the earth is wet.  Ask Him.  Ask Him.  This servant asked, and such an unusual thing, a simple thing, but that’s what he asked.

 “Well, I wouldn’t trouble God with those little old petty things.”  Trouble God, nothing!  That’s all God’s got to do, God says, is take care of His children and watch over them for good.  And He is awake all night long looking after you.  And He lives all day long just to attend to the needs of His children.  And here we go around hungry when there’s bread to eat, thirsty when there’s water to drink, lost when there’s guidance for the way, burdened when He’s able to carry all of our burdens.  I don’t know why God’s children are so impoverished when the riches in the Master’s house belong to nobody but to Jesus and to us.  Ask, ask!

Now we must hasten.  So when the servant is led by this sign, which is an answer to his prayer, led by this sign to Rebekah, a fair young girl, a virgin, unmarried – when he’s led by her, he says to her, now the twenty-third verse, “Who’s daughter art thou?  Tell me, I pray thee, is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?”

She said unto him, “We have both straw and provender enough and room to lodge in.”  That is, before the Holy Spirit can tell us all, we’ve got to open our hearts and we have to listen.  And if we don’t open our hearts and if we don’t listen, the Spirit of God can’t tell us.  He can’t talk to us, nor can He show us the jewels from His Master’s house.  We’ve got to listen.

You know what I think?  I think the reason people drink so much is to drown their hearts, drown them.  They’ve got to drink.  The American home typically serves liquor.  Why?  To drown their hearts.  I see them every once in a while as I stay in these hotels preaching at a revival or speaking through a conference.  And there they are.  “Oh,” I just think, “wouldn’t it be pitiful to have to do that, in order to be glad, to laugh, to smile, to be happy?  To have to drown my heart?”

You know what?  If you’d just put it out, and the world with it, and all that belongs to it, and just open your heart and let God speak to you, and His Spirit lay before you all the jewels of our Master’s house, you wouldn’t have to drink.  You wouldn’t have to enter all of those things of the world.  You’d be having such a good time with God, and with God’s people, and in God’s house, and with God’s Book, and walking with the Lord, it just wouldn’t occur to you that you’d have to be entertained, or you’d have to drown your soul.  Oh, I don’t know – it is a mark of the impoverishment of life; got to do it.

“Tell me, I pray thee, is there room to lodge in for us?”  And she said, “We have straw and provender enough and room to lodge in.”  “Come into my heart; come into my life.”  And the Holy Spirit comes in.  And what does He do?  When the Holy Spirit comes into a heart and into a life, and He speaks, what does He do?

Look at this.  Look at this.  In the thirty-third verse there:  “And when the servant was invited in, they set meat before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told mine errand.”  The Holy Spirit has one subject, one object, one commission, one purpose, and one great oath to keep.  And that is, He is going to speak of His Master’s Son, and that’s all.  He doesn’t do anything else, and we’re going to see that all through this story.  He doesn’t speak of anything else.  He’s just talking about one subject, his master’s son.  And he doesn’t delay, and he speaks immediately, “And I’ll not rest until I’ve told my story.”

Now you don’t need to turn to it, but let me read you something.  The Lord Jesus said,

Nevertheless, I tell you truth – in John 16:7 and following – It is expedient for you that I go away . . . If I go away, I will send Him – the Servant, the Paraclete – unto you

And when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of Himself.

He shall glorify Me: He shall receive of Mine, and show it unto you.

[John 16:7-9]

 

He will not speak of Himself.  He’s not going to refer to Himself.  He’s not going to talk about Himself.  You know, I think of Paul.  When a man is filled with the Spirit of God, “we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  Preach not ourselves, but Jesus the Lord.

A fellow went to hear Joseph Parker preach, and when he turned away, he said, “Oh, what a glorious preacher.”  And the same fellow went to hear Charles Haddon Spurgeon preach, and he turned away and said, “Oh, what a glorious Savior.”  Well, that’s not taking away from Joseph Parker.  He was a glorious preacher, there’s no doubt about it, one of the most incomparably eloquent men of all time.  But oh!  Of the two, I would have loved better to have heard Spurgeon.

Oh, what a wonderful Savior!  Preaching not ourselves, but Jesus; not glorifying himself, but glorifying Jesus; not referring to himself, but pointing to Jesus; the whole subject of his words, and sentences, and presentation, and everything – talking about his Master’s Son.

Well, we must really hasten now.  Now in the fifty-second verse: "And it came to pass, that, the servant, having his prayer answered, having given all of these things to Rebekah,"  Now the fifty-fifth verse:

And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at least ten; and after that she shall go.

And the servant said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.

And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth.

So they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Will thou go with this man?

And she said, I will go.

[Genesis 24:55-58]

 

Now, that’s what God says.  “Today, if you will hear His voice, Harden not your hearts.”  In the third chapter of Hebrews that verse quoted from Psalms is applied to the Holy Spirit:  “Thus saith the Holy Spirit, Today, if you will hear His voice, Harden not your hearts.”  [Hebrews 3:7]  And Paul said it like this:  “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  [2 Corinthians 6:2]  “Wilt thou go with this man?”  And friends said, “Wait a while.  Wait a while.”  Neighbors said, “Tarry a while.”  And the family said, “At least ten days.”  

But they asked Rebekah.  When the servant said, “No, we must go now,” they asked Rebekah, “Is it now?”  And Rebekah said, “It is now.”  Ah, isn’t that fine?  Do it now.  Not tomorrow, or ten days hence, but today.  “Now, I will go.”  That’s the call of the Holy Spirit.  God never calls for some other time; God calls for now.  This is the day of salvation.

All right, to haste again, in the sixty-first verse:  “And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and they followed this man:  and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.”  Isn’t that a remarkable thing?  A spouse to a husband she’s never seen.  “Whom having not seen ye love.”  She’s going to be married to a master she has never looked upon, but just took the word of the servant that he was.  And she’s going to follow the servant through a long journey across a desert, following by faith.

That’s you.  We’ve never seen Jesus face to face; we’ve never looked upon Him in the flesh.  We just believe that He is, and that over yonder He has such rich treasures for us.  And we’re following the Servant, the Holy Spirit, in the pilgrimage across the desert over yonder to the Promised Land.

Now look what’s over there.  Over there in the Promised Land Isaac waits:  “He went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: . . . and the camels drew near.  And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, . . . . And she said, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?  And the servant said,” – and this is the office work of the Holy Spirit, to reveal to us Jesus – “And the servant said, It is my master.”  There he is.

The office work of the Holy Spirit is to point out to us Jesus.  Didn’t I say that’s all that He talked about?  Didn’t I say that’s all that He did?  Leading to the Lord; it is the Holy Spirit that reveals to us Jesus.  Why a man couldn’t do it; argument can’t do it; logic can’t do it.  It is the Spirit that does it.

“Who is this?” 

“And the servant said, It is my master.”

And Isaac, who had been waiting for his bride, received her to himself, and the story ends.  And she became his wife, and he loved her.  Ah, doesn’t the thing mean a thousand times as much now?  It’s no longer just a story.  Look how much length in God’s holy Word that He gave to it.  And the purpose of it was that we might see once again the great, devoted, waiting love the Lord hath for us, who is over there abiding that wonderful and glorious consummation, when we shall see our Lord and be His, world without end.

Now, in the little moment that we sing our song, a stanza, is there someone here this day to give his heart to Jesus?  Is there someone to put his life in the church?  While we sing the song, on the first note of the first stanza, down these stairwells, or from side to side, to take the Lord as yours, answering the call of the Spirit’s appeal in your heart, or to put your life in the church, as the Lord shall lead the way and the Spirit shall call, would you come while we stand and sing.