Wherever two or three of God’s servants are gathered together in His
name, God is in the midst of them to do all that He has promised. He
is prompt to keep His word. He rides upon the wings of the wind and
upon the wings of angels and upon the lightning, that He may meet all
His engagements. We see Him in the return of His prodigals. We see Him
every where, keeping faith, doing His will, fulfilling His promises. He
is the omnipresent God! Because of His promptness His people are always
able to confide in Him.
God is prompt in sustaining the physical needs of the universe. It is
worth our while to look into God’s storehouse to see how He has filled
it with food for the flying fowl, the fish of the sea, the beast of the
field, and man, the Lord of the earth. Food and fuel, light and heat,
air and water, soil and seed, wind and rain, snow and frost, these are
the agents of His prompt action as the Father of the Universe. Prove me
now herewith, saith the Lord, and see if I will not open the windows
of heaven and pour you out such a blessing that there will not be room
enough to receive it. (Mal. 11:1-11.)
God is as prompt in sustaining the needs of man’s soul. He was with our
forefathers, He was with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He was with Noah, He
was with Enoch, He was with Abel, He was with our first parents, Adam
and Eve, all these in their experiences and lives attested the fact
that God saved them and saved them at the right time. He gave them His
own salvation and not the salvation of another. All the Saints of the
ages have depended on God’s promptness to do what he promised He would
do. There is not an instance in the history of His people or in our
own experience, if we interpret His dealing aright, where He has not
promptly kept His word of promise. Every child of God has his spiritual
battles to fight. But depending on God with the musket of His grace
he will rout the enemy. Satan in all his hellish rage is not able to
overthrow the bulwarks of the church behind which the believer stands
to destroy the forces of evil. God was prompt in striking the sea and
His people were prompt in crossing. He was prompt in leading His armies
and they were prompt in winning the victories. Jehovah is prompt in
aiding His own and His own are quick in winning the land of spiritual
freedom.
The river was turned into blood and all the waters of Egypt were
instantly changed into blood. But God’s river is a river of the water
of life. Consider, my brethren, these great types of the Bible--these
rivers of blood, these rivers of water, these rivers of life! God
stands with His rod stretched over every river; your sins, your
wickedness, may turn the waters of life into the blood of death; which,
what, shall it be? God says to you and hear ye His voice, “Come now let
us reason together, your sins though they be as scarlet, I will make
them like snow, though they be red like crimson, I will make them like
wool.” None, my friends, but God can work these changes. The church is
moving on with the march of the centuries. She is grandly marching on!
Moses has gone, Joshua has gone, the prophets have gone, the apostles
have gone, the saints of the Christian era have gone, and we are
passing on, but God is with us and He is prompt in keeping His word.
“On the other side of Jordan, in the sweet fields of Eden,
Where the Tree of Life is blooming, there is rest for you.”
III. The text teaches us that the river, turned into blood, is the Type
of Christ.
Jehovah, or Jesus, in Egypt, turned the water into blood; Jehovah, or
Jesus, in Canaan, in the country of Galilee, turned the water into
wine. “The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” The wine of the
Communion Table is the symbol of His blood. In these last days God has
spoken to us in the person of His Son. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. He came into our own flesh and blood and dwelt
among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. “Our life is hid with Christ, in God.” These are most
wonderful words!
But let us remember that the rivers of blood in Egypt did not change
the heart of Pharaoh, neither did they change the hearts of the
Egyptians. The blood of Christ has been shed but it is of no avail to
them that will not accept its saving power. Christ died for all but
are all saved? How many are saved? Are you saved? If so, why? Oh, my
friends, it is the blood of Christ that availeth all things with God.
“What can save my soul from sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. He is the wonderful
Counselor, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting
Father.” Just as Pharaoh and his hosts were strewn in death upon the
sands of the sea, so Satan and his hosts will be strewn upon the land
of time. Christ is our mighty Captain. He has led His battle strong,
through the ages of the past and on through the ages of time to come.
He will lead to victory. His blood is all-availing with God and God is
the ruler of the universe. It is for Christ’s sake that God hears and
answers our prayers. It is for Christ’s sake that He saves our souls.
It is for Christ’s sake that He will make us kings and priests to
rule and reign with Him forever. It is for Christ’s sake that He has
prepared for us the Canaan that lies beyond the Jordan of Death and it
is for Christ’s sake that He is with us today. And after while we will
sing, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for Thou (Christ) art with me, thy rod and thy
staff, they comfort me.”
“Thus said the Lord, in this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: Behold
I will smite with the rod in mine hand upon the waters of the river and
they shall be turned into blood.” God grant to bless every soul here
to-day with the blessed words of this text.
The Intercession of Christ.
“He ever liveth to make intercession for them.”--Hebrews 8:25.
Christ had completed His work on the earth. He had kept the faith,
fulfilled the law, and suffered its penalty in His death. His work,
therefore, so far as the earthly conditions and needs were concerned,
was completed. He did this work, it must be remembered, not on his own
account or for himself, but on your account and for you. He was acting
in the capacity of a representative while on the earth, so that when
his life in the flesh had been finished, it might become your life and
my life, through faith. We are told by the apostle that after this,
i. e., “He had finished His work here, He was believed on in the world,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, received into glory where He
ever liveth to make intercession for us.” We notice that this passage
teaches us, that