"And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him." --Genesis 42:8
This morning our desires went forth for growth in our acquaintance with the
Lord Jesus; it may be well to-night to consider a kindred topic, namely,
our
heavenly Joseph's knowledge of us. This was most blessedly perfect long
before we had the slightest knowledge of Him. "His eyes beheld our substance,
yet being imperfect, and in His book all our members were written, when as yet
there was none of them." Before we had a being in the world we had a being in
His heart. When we were enemies to Him, He knew us, our misery, our madness, and
our wickedness. When we wept bitterly in despairing repentance, and viewed Him
only as a judge and a ruler, He viewed us as His brethren well beloved, and His
bowels yearned towards us. He never mistook His chosen, but always beheld them
as objects of His infinite affection. "The Lord knoweth them that are His," is
as true of the prodigals who are feeding swine as of the children who sit at the
table.
But, alas!
we knew not our royal Brother, and out of this ignorance
grew a host of sins. We withheld our hearts from Him, and allowed Him no
entrance to our love. We mistrusted Him, and gave no credit to His words. We
rebelled against Him, and paid Him no loving homage. The Sun of Righteousness
shone forth, and we could not see Him. Heaven came down to earth, and earth
perceived it not. Let God be praised, those days are over with us; yet even now
it is but little that we know of Jesus compared with what He knows of us. We
have but begun to study Him, but He knoweth us altogether. It is a blessed
circumstance that the ignorance is not on His side, for then it would be a
hopeless case for us. He will not say to us, "I never knew you," but He will
confess our names in the day of His appearing, and meanwhile will manifest
Himself to us as He doth not unto the world.
Morning and Evening Index
