Homilist Exodus 17:4-7 And Moses cried to the LORD, saying, What shall I do to this people? they be almost ready to stone me.… I. THE SECULAR DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN HISTORY WILL FURNISH ABUNDANT ILLUSTRATIONS OF THIS PRINCIPLE. 1. Does intelligence conduce to this end? Undoubtedly knowledge tends to make men secularly happy. How often, then, do you find streams of intelligence gushing from the most unlikely sources. Demosthenes was a stammerer; Homer and Milton were blind; Shakespeare was the son of a butcher. 2. Do philanthropic institutions conduce to the secular well. being of man? Unquestionably. If you look to the origin of temperance societies, asylums, provident associations, etc., you will find they have generally sprung from the most unlikely sources. 3. Does political liberty conduce to the secular well. being of man? Undoubtedly. It, too, has come mostly from unlikely sources — Moses, Luther, etc. II. THE SPIRITUAL DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN HISTORY WILL FURNISH STILL GREATER ILLUSTRATIONS OF THIS PRINCIPLE. 1. See it exemplified in the spiritual Deliverer of the race. Babe in manger; Son of carpenter; Man of sorrows, etc.; malefactor on cross. "This rock," says St. Paul, "is Christ" — is like Christ. How? (1) In the value of the blessings which emanate therefrom. (a) Most needed. (b) Most adequate. (2) In the method employed to secure the blessing. Rock smitten. (3) In the fact under notice, the unlikelihood of the source. 2. See it exemplified in the first preachers of the gospel. Poor fishermen, etc. 3. See it exemplified in the missionary enterprise. Carey, the shoemaker; Williams, the blacksmith; Moffat, the gardener, etc.Conclusion: This subject suggests — 1. Good ground for trusting God in the greatest difficulty. 2. To remove all ground for glorying in your usefulness. God could make the meanest creatures do all and more than you can accomplish. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. |
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