The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

Zion and Jerusalem, October 29, 2012

Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

(Old Testament | 1 Chronicles 16:22)

“If to serve God be vile, we purpose to be viler still.” To be Christ like is not an easy enterprise to undertake in any world age, for the world loves his own and hates us for we are not of the world. But it is worth and eternally satisfactory endeavor to the penitent soul to serve God faithfully at all peril and to endure his will to the end, even unto death. And of this I bear solemn witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. For of this it is written:

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.  If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

(New Testament | John 15:18 - 25)

Now, those of us who have suffered much as a result of wickedness in our carnal state know better that it is better to deny ourselves of all ungodliness as God said and to take up our cross and suffer Christ like for righteousness sake.   Because no son of God has passed through mortality without tasting of the heritage of the righteous which is to be hated: to be rejected by one’s own; to be scorned; to be humiliated; to be defaced, to marred or dishonored before the world and even to be shot at and be sorely grieved; and perhaps also to die under the arrows of unkind hands.  Yet no weapon against the rightesous shall prosper for of this it is also written:

Behold, they shall surely gather together against thee, not by me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

(Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 22:15 - 17)

Jesus Christ is the living personification of the greatest attributes of deity in its fullness which are Truth, Grace, Virtue, Justice and Mercy among other divine qualities. And we know that the LORD Jesus Christ came to his own who expected him anxiously for centuries to honor him, to adore him and to sustain him as once a morning preacher named Rowland Hill told a curious tale in his "Village Dialogues, about a certain Mr. Tiplash, a very fine intellectual preacher, who, in one of his flights of oratory, said:”

"O Virtue, thou art so fair and lovely, if thou wert to come down upon earth, all men would love thee," with a few more pretty, beautiful things.”

But the law and the testimony or the Holy Wirt denotes is that instead, God almighty and the only one of Israel ended up being rejected by the majority of them who were their own. In the part of Christ, he was scorned; he was dishonored; he was stripped of his rights; he was spat upon; he was defamed; and ultimately he was crucified.

This was told in different or more poetic words in the same day as Mr. Tiplash earlier remarks, by Mr. Blunt, a more realistic and honest preacher as Mr. Charles Spurgeon, who lived in the mid eighteen hundreds, who was in the neighborhood and who was asked to preach in the afternoon. He supplemented the worthy gentleman's earlier remarks by saying:

 "O Virtue, thou didst come on earth, in all thy purity and loveliness; but instead of being beloved and admired, the archers sorely shot at thee and grieved thee; they took thee, Virtue, and hung thy quivering limbs upon a cross; when thou didst hang there dying they hissed at thee, they mocked thee, they scorned thee; when thou didst ask for water they gave thee vinegar to drink, mingled with gall; yea, when thou diedst thou hadst a tomb from charity, and that tomb, sealed by enmity and hatred."

Nevertheless, despite all peril for the praise of heaven and earth and the rage of the living hell, it is time and again written that the stone that the builders rejected was made the chief corner stone. And it is written also that eventually, even that same stone became or had become the stumbling block of the wicked. Hence the ratifying parable and prophetic sayings:

The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

(New Testament | Luke 20:17 - 18)

I came unto mine own, and mine own received me not; but unto as many as received me gave I power to do many miracles, and to become the sons of God; and even unto them that believed on my name gave I power to obtain eternal life.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 45:8)

For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them. And again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.

And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction. And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted. But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

(Book of Mormon | Mosiah 7:29 - 33)

And thus, in this eighth year of the reign of the judges, there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; yea, there were envyings, and strife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God.

And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling–block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress.  Themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted.

Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions, for Christ's sake, who should come according to the spirit of prophecy; Looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power and deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death.

(Book of Mormon | Alma 4:9 - 14)

Having said that, how many times will the archers shoot at Joseph and do harm to the prophets of GOD before redemption comes unto the chosen seed?  How many times will the Joseph or his direct descendants of that faithful and virtuous patriarch will have to be placed in the pit or in the dungeon for crimes that he or they did not commit; or who were taken under false charges and or calumnies before he or they can see the daylight of Liberty according to the everlasting covenant. This is so that he and his posterity, the true seed of Ephraim enjoy the promised blessing in peace?  This is the question I ask myself this morning.  And this is as a result of a dream that I had yesterday afternoon when the archers shot at me and sorely grieved me.

Because, I myself, in life or in death, have been sent to the pit more times that I can recall mostly because I have no comeliness or a more acceptable way to explain myself or my cause to the satisfaction of others.  I am sorry to say that I am a man short on worldly manners. But being wild or rude in speech, not by choice is not a sin, it is a lack of formal education. And for this, even though merely with words, I do not break a bruised reed or quench the smoking flax, many get offended at the rigor of the truth which is in me and chich comes from GOD. I cannot help to be full of the reprehension of the LORD and it trully shows. But my zeal is not inherited but ingrown by suffering and it comes from the LORD who once said way aforetime by his servant the agony that he would suffer in a solemn prayer as recorded in the Psalm or song that says:

SAVE me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I become a proverb to them.

They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.

Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.

Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

(Old Testament | Psalms 69:1 - 36)

I say things as I see them; as I hear them and as I feel them regardless of personal peril and the worst of it is that when I am provoked I cry aloud. Yet, when I am not in the battlefield, I spend and wear my life anxiously engaged in a good cause, writing and reading errands such as this to observe them; and going about doing good which is to preach the gospel of repentance by the gift and power of God to the impenitent both at the gate and outside the gate. It takes a long time to write, even more than it takes to read. And the time will come when I will rise up to the pray in the fire of my jealousy. for of this it is also writen:

Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

(Old Testament | Zephaniah 3:8)

Yet, I observe that the people are dull of hearing; they have taught their tongue to profess lies even from the pulpit. They claim to know and be Sons of God, when in fact they only know a thing or two about him. If they had known him, even him who sent me, they would have received me for the doctrine that we preach is not mine or but of him who sent me. And when they are told so, even when I speak as the Christ did, or when I shown them the right path to follow as the prophets make it manifest in the holy writ with sings and wonders, they hate you vehemently for it. They get offended and say that you are a false prophet, that you are mad or that you have devil. And try all manner of way to discredit the character of the rightful preacher until in their own sight they apparently succeed.  Yet, when they least expect it, they are smitten and afflicted when the cloak that protects them is taken away from them. And this is the manner that they act or react against them, even today as it is plausibly recorded in the book of Mormon according to the words of the prophet Samuel the Lamanite in the book of Helaman who bears more light in this subject even on this day saying:

For this cause hath the Lord God caused that a curse should come upon the land, and also upon your riches, and this because of your iniquities. Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time.

And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out. Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil.

But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet. Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.

O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye stiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you?  Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides?  Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light? Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity. And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them.  And in the days of your poverty ye shall cry unto the Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, for your desolation is already come upon you, and your destruction is made sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts. 

And then shall ye lament, and say: O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out.  Yea, in that day ye shall say: O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us. Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrow it is gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the day we have sought them for battle. Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land. O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them. Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls.  Behold, our iniquities are great.  O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us?  And this shall be your language in those days.

But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.

O ye people of the land, that ye would hear my words!  And I pray that the anger of the Lord be turned away from you, and that ye would repent and be saved.

(Book of Mormon | Helaman 13:23 - 39)

And this I do, unceasingly and unwearied as a rightful branch or surrogate of Christ and of Samuel the Lamanite or Even as Enoch and John the Baptist and Nephi, or with the same authority they cherished with the intent to prepare the way before the LORD and make his path straight. And I also do it in faith, hoping with great charity that one soul will repent and sum up to the ten righteous that are so desperately needed so that the LORD does not send his wrath upon this or that city and spare us as a people little longer. And I know that if I succeed in my endeavor, we are all benefited or blessed. But if the virtue of the word of GOD does not succeed as intended sue to the hardness of heart of the people, I, mourn. And the witness of heaven or his sermons smite the people even unto utter destruction with great catastrophes and calamities and washing downs that come in all their wrath and fury. For it is written:

And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.  For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand. And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 88:88 - 91)

Having been instructed and skilled more than any other mortal under haven in this generation in the solemn art of offering peace offerings and sacrificing unto the LORD even since my youth, I am from time to time required or called in the similitude to the son of GOD to offer the honorable acceptable much needed sacrifices, which include, when all else fails, even myself or my whole soul, if necessary. Sometimes these sacrifices are accepted and some times they are not accepted.

The LORD has given me great knowledge concerning the mystery of Godliness.  I know about the liquidity of sins and how to dispose of them and how the atonement takes place in most cases. This is why I offer sacrifices to the similitude of the son of GOD. This I can do and have conducted time and again, not of myself or of myself because for a mere mortal the pain and anguish is unbearable unless that person is endowed with power from on high. Not of myself, but by following the example of Jesus Christ in words and in deeds to the best of my ability the LORD provides for my short comings. And by borrowing or taking upon me the guilt and the required taxation of justice as required at the moment of truth for the impenitent with strong crying and supplication, and suffering the effects of sins that perhaps Sodom and Gomorrah never knew, even as Melquisedec did during his own time. And having been given the keys of salvation, I am able to propitiate when inspired to do so, through the providence of the almighty GOD, even GOD the father, after whom I am fully named, a temporal or even salvation for some or many by fighting their battles. For of this it is plainly written:

That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world; That you may come up unto the crown prepared for you, and be made rulers over many kingdoms, saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Zion, who hath established the foundations of Adam-ondi-Ahman; Who hath appointed Michael your prince, and established his feet, and set him upon high, and given unto him the keys of salvation under the counsel and direction of the Holy One, who is without beginning of days or end of life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along.  The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours. And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.

Wherefore, do the things which I have commanded you, saith your Redeemer, even the Son Ahman, who prepareth all things before he taketh you; For ye are the church of the Firstborn, and he will take you up in a cloud, and appoint every man his portion. And he that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit all things.  Amen.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 78:14 - 22)

For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome him who seeketh the throne of him who sitteth upon the throne, even the Lamb.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 88:115)

This I do because of the love I have for this people, and specially the house of Israel. As guided by the Holy ghost, by pouring my soul even unto death, so that trough suffering, the demands of justice are satisfied and the LORD may grant the gift of Christ like obedience to his servant through his own power and his own will in order to prolong a little longer the life of the impenitent, the life of the ignorant, and the life of those that are out of the way; and even to provide an escape for my own infirmities as intercession for the wickedness in our nature, and by confessing loudly our sins. For it is written that the salvation of the LORD is seen, even today as in ancient days from generation to generation in fulfillment of the scripture that says that he is the strength of those who put their trust in him:

FOR every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared. Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

(New Testament | Hebrews 5:1 - 14)

But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

(Old Testament | Psalms 37:39 - 40)

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool.  But my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

(Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 8:7 - 8)

But as Isaiah said yesterday so it is today: who has believed our report, to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  Being short of speech or dumb in oratory skills, I have no other way of explaining my errand but by writing it attesting to the law and the testimony in remembrance of the word of God and the prophets to put all that may hear in remembrance of Christ of whom the prophet says:

YEA, even doth not Isaiah say: Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed.  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation?  For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no evil, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

(Book of Mormon | Mosiah 14:1 - 12)

Yesterday this scripture was fulfilled time and again as it did in Christ, his prophets and apostles from the beginning even unto this day. The following is not a reproach; it is only an account of what transpired for the ratification or confirmation of doctrinal purposes with intent to show that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And that he is mindful of us as he was with the ancients. I just happen to be the vessel who was chosen to act and to write the tale.

After church services, I went home with my family after having had an exchange of words with the chief archer or the acting Bailif in the house of the LORD my GOD.  I had been there in search for Justice, for one slightly wayward child of mine, even my first born whom I have consecrated unto the LORD even before birth. This child rebelled against me and broke a an important commandment for the dishonor and lack of reverence to his father, so that a divine lesson or exhortation to repentance could be propitiated. And so a just counsel or correction could be swiftly taught and applied to the child by other than me so that that my friends who continually reproach me, think not that I am a dictator or a tyrant or that I take the law unto myself. For it is written:

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

(New Testament | Hebrews 12:5 - 9)

VERILY, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you—

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 95:1)

Fear not thine enemies, for they are in mine hands and I will do my pleasure with them. My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 136:30 - 31)

And instead of getting the resolve I sought, it came to pass that it was I the one who ended up being scoured, scolded and judged myself as in double jeopardy for sins that I had already, repented, confessed and atoned for. In other words, I went as a lamb before the shearers dumb, not knowing what would befall me.

At the end of the day, no heavenly Justice could be administered to my child as I expected so that an escape should be provided for by the standing judge, no mercy could be propitiated for my child either. For the LORD has more than once told me that before mercy can take effect for our faults transgressions, justice has to be fully satisfied.  And also knew before hand that all first born must be redeemed, less a peril overtakes them.

So, I left the office of the judge very discouraged, with unresolved business and with the penalty of sin in the back of my child still hanging. Now that I think about it, I felt as those youth that refused to offer sacrifices in the days of Eli the High Priest who refused to go up before the altar and offer the sacrifice unto the LORD because of the wickedness of the archers and prevaricators who knew not GOD but were sons of Belial. And I was at heart resolute to never comeback to that station for advice on spiritual matters. I have learned that I often have better chances of resolving these issues satisfactorily directly with my GOD who will upon request correct me or help me correct my children. 

So, I went home determined to exchange places with my child whom I love to intercede for her as Job did for his children or as I had in the past interceded for others in secret by virtue of the office I hold. And also to intercede for any other offender for that matter that needed more time in life to repent for the hour of judgment was fast approaching.

And this I did yesterday upon arrival at my house with strong crying and supplication unto the LORD as it is customary of me to do when I am darkened or troubled in mind and in spirit or in spiritual distress. I requested, if would be the will of God, to pass that cup from me, but if not, that their sins to be imputed or ascribed to me so I suffer the penalty or chastisement for them. That whatsoever justice required of them, particularly for my child, I will gladly pay if this was the will of heaven. This is so that mercy can take effect and for justice to follow its proper course. This was not the first or the second time in my life that I have requested this. But regardless of courage or selfless interest in the benefit or foolishness of me for the  benefit others, this did not prevent me from the peril of being exposed to deadly spiritual warfare. Warfare or peril that could come upon me suddenly from any source or place and inflict the penalty of sin upon me which is spiritual death.  And so it was, for it is written:

Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly.  And all the people shall say, Amen.

(Old Testament | Deuteronomy 27:24)

Thus, after returning home from church, I went directly to pray and to ask my God for resolve. As I was praying, I was called soon after, that is to have a late lunch with my family. And after I ate and was filled, being somewhat heavy and sorrowed, I retired again to my quarters to pray. And when I had finished doing so, I felt a stupor that landed me in bed. Before I knew it I was day dreaming that soon after I was in intense persecution.

I somewhat recall the dream. I, remember being in a great and spacious building under construction or under demolition like a hotel or perhaps a prison house. After doing my business thereof, I was confronted by familiar intelligence officers who though they knew me and told me that I had no clearance to be there; and that I would be punished by the Intelligence chiefs for trespassing or if found enquiring from the guests thereof.

As an internal affairs officer, I often go to uncharted places in the spirit world in dreams. This I do under cover and under the direction of my Father in heaven. SO, I was not worried at all at their words for I was doing my duty and I also knew that I was not doing anything wrong. I was in the pit in search of an unknown prisoner or to enquire intelligence from certain man whom I had not yet met and who had an errand to me of which I had to report up to heaven to propitiate his deliverance from even the pit of hell. But nonetheless, sensing trouble and knowing that I was being observed or followed or being prayed by unkind eyes, I left the presence of those men cautiously and conspicuously seeking a way out of that place or from their presence.

When I approached the exit ways, I saw a parapet of volcanic or sulphurically formed rocks before me in my outward path. This is why I think there was a demolition or a crashing down in the place. Then, I saw a couple patrol vehicles with their emergency lights as in an ambush mode blocking the known exits respectively on the right and on the left of my path to freedom.  So I conspicuously looked for an alternate route out of that place. As I was turning back, stepping on certain posts I perceived in the distance a man dressed in black speedily approaching the area where I was. He was short of stature like me and he was coming conspicuously towards me with intent to terminate me on sight or within his range. So, I quickly turned back again in haste towards the known exits with intent to lose him by hiding by an intermediate wall between him and me. But in truth I just wanted to take some impulse to run away from the man in the direction I wanted to go in order to lose his pursuit of me.

And as I begun to run over the wooden posts on the floor where the demolished walls were, I made significant noise or movement that the rattling thereof alerted him of my flight in the opposite direction. And he, seeing or sensing that I had noticed him, he returned and begun to vigorously persecute me. As he did hasten towards me, he drew his deadly weapon out and begun to shoot all the rounds of his weapon at me.  I had to act swiftly, and the only way to escape the already flying bullets was to exercise the power of God that was in me. And in so doing, I extended my hands and begun to fly horizontally towards the open stairs case with intent to sky fall or land in the mezzanine level or lower just to be out of his reach. And the man, saying, so it is true, you can fly; or by acknowledging my ability to fly, the man rushed towards me and kept firing his gun at me over and over. But though the bullets flews, he did not hit me and I managed to jump below without receiving harm until I reached the bottom. Soon I learned that I was in the dungeon or in the very the pit of hell, where the prisoners were kept in cages and where they were tortured.

Now, when I landed several flights into the dungeon, I saw masked and formidable giants or executioners who had the charge of torturing the prisoners at will. I tried to pass by them swiftly under one of them but they grabbed me. I wrestled with them and tried to unmask one of them, but their combined strength was greater than mine that I could not get lose from their grasp. Yet, I ceased not to wrestle them. Once they held me on the floor with my face up, their intention was to torch my face with phosphorous or an emergency street torch light. But in the strength of the LORD, I managed to outwrestle them when another one of them passed by me who entreated them as he was being questioned by my executioners. I grabbed him and…

I believe I was able to take the mask out him; and in the heat of battle, seeing that he was merely a man and not a monster in disguise, I punched him on the face with my fist a few times. He appeared to be the bailiff in charge; and I was very surprised that he did not return the favor as I expected him to do, yet he was fearful. He was busy as if answering questions from his superiors. And I heard him say that whatsoever was happening to me or him was the truth. He specifically said, IT IS THE TRUTH. Only then I felt free from their grasp. And having taken keen a look at his face and under the peril or impression of having my face marred by the lighted torch, I suddenly woke up.

And when I woke all I remembered clearly from the dream was the scriptural phrase that say: “The archers shot at him and sorely grieved him.” So, knowing in my heart where those words came from, I went directly to the scriptures and on the interest to investigate the life and patriarchal blessing of one of my ancient ancestors whose name was Joseph. Yea, even the same Joseph of old who was sorely envied and grieved and sold into slavery by his own brethren. And having somewhat suffered the same fate only in a lesser degree, in several instances in my life, I applied or learned that I had a rightful claim to that portion of the scriptures, for it was also fulfilled in me to the words and deeds.   Yet I desired to know more about it, and the reason or the interpretation for the dream.

Now, that is not all. I also looked for sermons, speeches or doctrines referenced to that particular passage of the scriptures that says that “the archers shot at him and sorely grieved him.” And I did find out an interesting sermon that was chanted or preached in the mid eighteen hundreds by an English Baptist Pastor named Charles Spurgeon. I read his sermon on the matter altogether very attentively; and I was fascinated by the spiritual insight of that man. And more particularly how he graciously depicted the dire doctrine concerning the life of Joseph inasmuch that I reasoned or speculated that he, even Charles Spurgeon, must have been an unknown and a far relative or descendant of Joseph himself to have had such a good and praiseworthy report of Joseph and his progenitors.  I learned that his light on the matter must have come from God or from agency of the Holy Ghost. But I did not notice anything out of the ordinary in his sermon until I had read it again and again. And when I had finished reading his sermon, I searched to see if there was a picture of the preacher man in the internet. And with the confidence of previous spiritual encounters of the fourth kind, I quickly recognized him, as the man whom I had punched in the face during my dream in the dungeon.  TO me this was a blessing from the deep that lie under that gave me the answer I was seeking for. For it is written:

 blessings of the deep that lieth under,

(Old Testament | Genesis 49:25)

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

(New Testament | Matthew 7:7 - 8)

Then I went further or the extra mile to search if Charles Spurgeon was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and if he had his genealogy work completed vicariously in the church and discovered that he is one of us or that his work was at to a point satisfactorily completed.  And this is my report.

And the intriguing part of he matter was how what he had preached, I experienced in the dream where I saw the dark masked men who hate the light and how what he feared came unto him, which was to experience the strength and sinew of a direct descended of Joseph in his own face. And I bear witness that it is the truth. And the fullness of the wisdom of these things remains with GOD.

A Sermon

Delivered on Sunday Morning, April 1, 1855, by the
REV. C. H. Spurgeon
At Exeter Hall, Strand

"The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength; and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel."—Genesis 49:23,24.

It must have been a fine sight to see the hoary-headed Jacob sitting up in his bed whilst he bestowed his parting benediction upon his twelve sons. He had been noble in many instances during his life—at the sleeping place of Bethel, the brook of Jabbok, and the halting of Peniel. He had been a glorious old man; one before whom we might bow down with reverence, and truly say, "There were giants in those days."

But his closing scene was the best. I think if ever he stood out more illustrious than at any other time, if his head was at any one season more than another, encircled with a halo of glory, it was when he came to die. Like the sun at setting, he seemed then to be the greater in brilliance, tingeing the clouds of his weakness with the glory of grace within. Like good wine, which runs clear to the very bottom, unalloyed by dregs, so did Jacob till his dying hour continue to sing of love, of mercy, and of goodness, past and future. Like the swan, which (as old writers say) singeth not all its life until it comes to die, so the old patriarch remained silent as a songster for many years; but when he stretched himself on his last couch of rest, he stayed himself up in his bed, turned his burning eye from one to another, and although with a hoarse and faltering voice, he sang a sonnet upon each of his offspring, such as earthly poets, uninspired, cannot attempt to imitate.

Looking upon his son Reuben, a tear was in his eye, for he recollected Reuben's sin; he passed over Simeon and Levi, giving some slight rebuke; upon the others he sung a verse of praise, as his eyes saw into the future history of the tribes. By-and-by his voice failed him, and the good old man, with long-drawn breath, with eyes pregnant with celestial fire, and heart big with heaven, lifted his voice to God, and said, "I have waited for thy salvation, O God," rested a moment on his pillow, and then again sitting up, recommenced the strain, passing briefly by the names of each.

But oh! when he came to Joseph, his youngest son but one—when he looked on him, I picture that old man as the tears ran down his cheeks. There stood Joseph, with all his mother Rachel in his eyes—that dear loved wife of his—there he stood, the boy for whom that mother had prayed with all the eagerness of an Eastern wife. For a long twenty years she had tarried a barren woman and kept no house, but then she was a joyful mother, and she called her son "Increase." Oh! how she loved the boy; and for that mother's sake, though she had been buried for some years, and hidden under the cold sod, old Jacob loved him too. But more than that, he loved him for his troubles. He was parted from him to be sold into Egypt. His father recollected Joseph's trials in the round-house and the dungeon, and remembered his royal dignity as prince of Egypt; and now, with a full burst of harmony, as if the music of heaven had united with his own, as when the widened river meets the sea, and the tide coming up doth amalgamate with the stream that cometh down, and swelleth into a broad expanse, so did the glory of heaven meet the rapture of his earthly feelings, and giving vent to his soul, he sung:

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall; the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel); even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb; the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."

What a splendid stanza with which to close! He has only one more blessing to give; but surely this was the richest which he conferred on Joseph.

Joseph is dead, but the Lord has his Josephs now. There are some still who understand by experience—and that is the best kind of understanding—the meaning of this passage,

"The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob."

There are four things for us to consider this morning. First of all, the cruel attack—"the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him;" secondly, the shielded warrior—"but his bow abode in strength;" thirdly, his secret strength—"the arms of his hands were made strong by the mighty power of the God of Jacob;" and fourthly, the glorious parallel drawn between Joseph and Christ—"from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel."

 

First, then, we commence with THE CRUEL ATTACK. "The archers have sorely grieved him." Joseph's enemies were archers. The original has it, "masters of the arrows;" that is, men who were well skilled in the use of the arrows. Though all weapons are alike approved by the warrior in his thirst for blood, there seems something more cowardly in the attack of the archer than in that of the swordsman.

The swordsman plants himself near you, foot to foot, and lets you defend yourself, and deal your blows against him; but the archer stands at a distance, hides himself in ambuscade, and, without you knowing it, the arrow comes whizzing through the air, and perhaps penetrates your heart. Just so are the enemies of God's people. They very seldom come foot to foot with us; they will not show their faces before us; they hate the light, they love darkness; they dare not come and openly accuse us to our face, for then we could reply; but they shoot the bow from a distance, so that we cannot answer them; cowardly and dastardly as they are, they forge their arrow-heads, and aim them, winged with hell-birds feathers, at the hearts of God's people.

The archers sorely grieved poor Joseph. Let us consider who are the archers who so cruelly shot at him. First, there were the archers of envy; secondly, the archers of temptation; and thirdly, the archers of slander and calumny.

1. First, Joseph had to endure the archers of ENVY. When he was a boy, his father loved him. The youth was fair and beautiful; in person he was to be admired; moreover, he had a mind that was gigantic, and an intellect that was lofty; but, best of all, in him dwelt the Spirit of the living God. He was one who talked with God; a youth of piety and prayerfulness; beloved of God, even more than he was by his earthly father. O! how his father loved him! for in his fond affection, he made him a princely coat of many colors, and treated him better than the others—a natural but foolish way of showing his fondness. Therefore his brethren hated him. Full often did they jeer at the youthful Joseph, when he retired to his prayers; when he was with them at a distance from his father's house, he was their drudge, their slave; the taunt, the jeer, did often wound his heart, and the young child endured much secret sorrow. On an ill day, as it happened, he was with them at a distance from home, and they thought to slay him; but upon the entreaty of Reuben, they put him into a pit, until, as Providence would have it, the Ishmaelites did pass that way. They then sold him for the price of a slave, stripped him of his coat, and sent him naked, they knew not, and they cared not, whither, so long as he might be out of their way, and no longer provoke their envy and their anger. Oh! the agonies he felt—parted from his father, losing his brethren, without a friend, dragged away by cruel man-sellers, chained upon a camel it may be, with fetters on his hands.

 

Those who have borne the gyves and fetters, those who have felt that they were not free men, that they had not liberty, might tell how sorely the archers grieved him when they shot at him the arrows of their envy. He became a slave, sold from his country, dragged from all he loved. Farewell to home and all its pleasures—farewell to a father's smiles and tender cares. He must be a slave, and toil where the slave's task-master makes him; he must be stripped in the streets, he must be beaten, he must be scourged, he must be reduced from the man to the animal, from the free man to the slave. Truly the archers sorely shot at him.

And, my brethren, do you hope, if you are the Lord's Josephs, that you shall escape envy? I tell you, nay; that green-eyed monster, envy, lives in London as well as elsewhere, and he creeps into God's church, moreover. Oh! it is hardest of all, to be envied by one's brethren.

If the devil hates us, we can bear it; if the foes of God's truth speak ill of us, we buckle up our harness, and say, "Away, away, to the conflict." But when the friends within the house slander us; when brethren who should uphold us, turn our foes; and when they try to tread down their younger brethren; then, sirs, there is some meaning in the passage, "The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him." But, blessed be God's name, it is sweet to be informed that "his bow abode in strength."

None of you can be the people of God without provoking envy; and the better you are, the more you will be hated. The ripest fruit is most pecked by the birds, and the blossoms that have been longest on the tree, are the most easily blown down by the wind. But fear not; you have naught to do with what man shall say of you. If God loves you, man will hate you; if God honors you, man will dishonor you. But recollect, could ye wear chains of iron for Christ's sake, ye should wear chains of gold in heaven; could ye have rings of burning iron round your waists, ye should have your brow rimmed with gold in glory; for blessed are ye when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for Christ's name's sake; for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. The first archers were the archers of envy.

2. But a worse trial than this was to overtake him. The archers of TEMPTATION shot at him. Here I know not how to express myself. I would that some one more qualified to speak were here, that he might tell you the tale of Joseph's trial, and Joseph's triumph.

 

Sold to a master who soon discovered his value, Joseph was made the bailiff of the house, and the manager of the household. His wanton mistress fixed her adulterous love on him; and he, being continually in her presence, was perpetually, day by day, solicited by her to evil deeds. Constantly did he refuse; still enduring a martyrdom at the slow fire of her enticements. On one eventful day she grasped him, seeking to compel him to crime; but he, like a true hero as he was, said to her, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" Like a wise warrior, he knew that in such a case fleeing was the better part of valor. He heard a voice in his ears: "Fly, Joseph, fly; there remains no way of victory but flight;" and out he fled, leaving his garment with his adulterous mistress.

Oh, I say in all the annals of heroism there is not one that shall surpass this. You know it is opportunity that makes a man criminal; and he had abundant opportunity; but importunity will drive most men astray. To be haunted day by day by solicitations of the softest kind—to be tempted hour by hour—oh! it needs a strength super-angelic, a might more that human, a strength which only God can grant, for a young man thus to cleanse his way, and take heed thereto according to God's word. He might have reasoned within himself, "Should I submit and yield, there lies before me a life of ease and pleasure; I shall be exalted, I shall be rich. She shall prevail over her husband, to cover me with honors; but should I still adhere to my integrity, I shall be cast into prison, I shall be thrown into the dungeon; there awaits me nothing but shame and disgrace." Oh! there was a power indeed within that heart of his; there was an inconceivable might, which made him turn away with unutterable disgust, with fear and trembling, while he said, "How can I? how can I—God's Joseph—how can I—other men might, but how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God." Truly the archers sorely grieved him and shot at him; but his bow abode in strength.

3. Then another host of archers assailed him; these were the archers of MALICIOUS CALUMNY. Seeing that he would not yield to temptation, his mistress falsely accused him to her husband, and his lord, believing the voice of his wife, cast him into prison. It was a marvelous providence that he did not put him to death; for Potiphar, his master, was the chief of the slaughtermen; he had only to call in a soldier, who would have cut him in pieces on the spot. But he cast him into prison. There was poor Joseph. His character ruined in the eyes of man, and very likely looked upon with scorn even in the prison-house; base criminals went away from him as if they thought him viler than themselves, as if they were angels in comparison with him.

 

Oh! it is no easy thing to feel your character gone, to think that you are slandered, that things are said of you that are untrue. Many a man's heart has been broken by this, when nothing else could make him yield. The archers sorely grieved him when he was so maligned—so slandered. O child of God, dost thou expect to escape these archers? Wilt thou never be slandered? Shalt thou never be calumniated? It is the lot of God's servants, in proportion to their zeal, to be evil spoken of.

Remember the noble Whitefield, how he stood and was the butt of all the jeers and scoffs of half an age; while his only answer was a blameless life.

"And he who forged, and he who threw the dart,
Had each a brother's interest in his heart."

They reviled him and imputed to him crimes that Sodom never knew. So shall it be always with those who preach God's truth, and all the followers of Christ—they must all expect it; but, blessed be God, they have not said worse things of us than they said of our Master. What have they laid to our charge? They may have said, "he is drunken and a wine-bibber;" but they have not said, "he hath a devil." They have accused us of being mad, so was it said of Paul. Oh, holy infatuation, heavenly furor, would that we could bite others until they had the same madness.

We think, if to go to heaven be mad, we will not choose to be wise; we see no wisdom in preferring hell; we can see no great prudence in despising and hating God's truth. If to serve God be vile, we purpose to be viler still. Ah! friends, some now present know this verse by heart, "The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him." Expect it; do not think it a strange thing; all God's people must have it. There are no royal roads to heaven—they are paths of trial and trouble; the archers will shoot at you as long as you are on this side the flood.

II. We have seen these archers shoot their flights of arrows; we will now go up the hill a little, behind a rock, to look at the SHIELDED WARRIOR and see how his courage is while the archers have sorely grieved him. What is he doing? "His bow abideth in strength."

Let us picture God's favorite. The archers are down below. There is a parapet of rock before him; now and then he looks over it to see what the archers are about, but generally he keeps behind. In heavenly security he is set upon a rock, careless of all below. Let us follow the track of the wild goat and behold the warrior in his fastness.

First, we notice that he has a bow himself, for we read that "his bow abode in strength." He could have retaliated if he pleased, but he was very quiet and would not combat with them. Had he pleased, he might have drawn his bow with all his strength, and sent his weapon to their hearts with far greater precision that they had ever done to him. But mark the warrior's quietness. There he rests, stretching his mighty limbs; his bow abode in strength; he seemed to say, "Rage on, aye, let you arrows spend themselves, empty your quivers on me, let your bow-strings be worn out, and let the wood be broken with its constant bending; here am I, stretching myself in safe repose; my bow abides in strength; I have other work to do besides shooting at you; my arrows are against yon foes of God, the enemies of the Most High; I cannot waste an arrow on such pitiful sparrows as you are; ye are birds beneath my noble shot; I would not waste an arrow on you." Thus he remains behind the rock and despises them all. "His bow abideth in strength."

Mark well his quietness. His bow "abideth." It is not rattling, it is not always moving, but it abides, it is quite still; he takes no notice of the attack. The archers sorely grieved Joseph, but his bow was not turned against them, it abode in strength. He turned not his bow on them. He rested while they raged.

Doth the moon stay herself to lecture every dog that bayeth at her? Doth the lion turn aside to rend each cur that barketh at him? Do the stars cease to shine because the nightingales reprove them for their dimness? Doth the sun stop in its course because of the officious cloud which veils it: Or doth the river stay because the willow dippeth its leaves into its waters? Ah! no; God's universe moves on, and if men will oppose it, it heeds them not. It is as God hath made it; it is working together for good, and it shall not be stayed by the censure nor moved on by the praise of man. Let your bows, my brethren, abide. Do not be in a hurry to set yourselves right. God will take care of you. Leave yourselves alone; only be very valiant for the Lord God of Israel; be steadfast in the truth of Jesus and your bow shall abide.

But we must not forget the next word. "His bow abode IN STRENGTH." Though his bow was quiet it was not because it was broken. Joseph's bow was like that of William the Conqueror; no man could bend it but Joseph himself; it abode in "strength." I see the warrior bending his bow—how with his mighty arms he pulls it down and draws the string to make it ready. His bow abode in strength; it did not snap, it did not start aside. His chastity was his bow, and he did not lose that; his faith was his bow, and that did not yield, it did not break; his courage was his bow, and that did not fail him; his character, his honesty was his bow, nor did he cast it away.

Some men are so very particular about reputation. They think, "surely, surely, surely they shall lose their character." Well, well, if we do not lose them through our own fault, we never need care about anybody else. You know there is not a man that stands at all prominent, but what any fool in the world can set afloat some bad tale against him. It is a great deal easier to set a story afloat than to stop it. If you want truth to go round the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go round the world, it will fly: it is as light as a feather, and a breath will carry it. It is well said in the old proverb, "A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on." Nevertheless, it does not injure us; for if light as feather it travels as fast, its effect is just about as tremendous as the effect of down, when it is blown against the walls of a castle; it produces no damage whatever, on account of its lightness and littleness.

Fear not, Christian. Let slander fly, let envy send forth its forked tongue, let it hiss at you, your bow shall abide in strength. Oh! shielded warrior, remain quiet, fear no ill; but, like the eagle in its lofty eyrie, look thou down upon the fowlers in the plain, turn thy bold eye upon them and say, "Shoot ye may, but your shots will not reach half-way to the pinnacle where I stand. Waste your powder upon me if ye will; I am beyond your reach." Then clap your wings, mount to heaven, and there laugh them to scorn, for ye have made your refuge God, and shall find a most secure abode.

III. The third thing in our text is THE SECRET STRENGTH. "The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." First, notice, concerning his strength, that it was real strength. It says, "the arms of his hands," not his hands only. You know some people can do a great deal with their hands, but then it is often fictitious power; there is no might in the arm—there is no muscle; but of Joseph it is said; "the arms of his hands were made strong. It was real potency, true muscle, real sinew, real nerve. It was not simply sleight of hand—the power of moving his finger very swiftly—but the arms of his hands were made strong.

Now that strength which God gives to his Josephs is real strength; it is not a boasted valor, a fiction, a thing of which men talk, an airy dream, an unsubstantial unreality, but it is real strength. I should not like to have a combat with one of God's Josephs. I should find their blows very heavy. I fear a Christian's strokes more than any other man's for he has bone and sinew, and smites hard. Let the foes of the church expect a hard struggle if they attack an heir of life.

Mightier than giants are men of the race of heaven; should they once arouse themselves to battle they could laugh at the spear and the habergeon. But they are a patient generation, enduring ills without resenting them suffering scorn without reviling the scoffer. Their triumph is to come when their enemies shall receive the vengeance due; then shall it be seen by an assembled world that the "little flock" were men of high estate, and the "offscouring of all things" were verily men of real strength and dignity.

Even though the world perceive it not, the favored Joseph has real strength, not in his hands only, but in his arms—real might, real power. O ye foes of God, ye think God's people are despicable and powerless; but know that they have true strength from the omnipotence of their Father, a might substantial and divine. Your own shall melt away, and droop and die, like the snow upon the low mountain top, when the sun shines upon it, it melteth into water; but our vigor shall abide like the snow on the summit of the Alps, undiminished for ages. It is real strength.

Then observe that the strength of God's Joseph is divine strength. His arms were made strong by God. Why does one of God's ministers preach the gospel powerfully? Because God gives him assistance. Why does Joseph stand against temptation? Because God gives him aid. The strength of a Christian is divine strength. My brethren, I am more and more persuaded every day that the sinner has no power of himself, except that which is given him from above. I know that if I were to stand with my foot upon the golden threshold of heaven's portal, if I could put this thumb upon the latch, I could not open that door, after having gone so far towards heaven, unless I had still supernatural power communicated to me in that moment. If I had a stone to lift, to work my own salvation, without God's help to do that, I must be lost, even though it were so little. There is naught that we can do without the power of God. All true strength is divine. As the light cometh from the sun, as the shower from heaven; so doth spiritual strength come from the Father lights, with whom there is neither variableness nor shadow of a turning.

Again: I would have you notice in the text in what a blessedly familiar way God gives this strength to Joseph. It say, "the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." Thus it represents God as putting his hands on Joseph's hands, placing his arms on Joseph's arms. In old times, when every boy had to be trained up to archery, if his father were worth so many pounds a year, you might see the father putting his hands on his boy's hands and pulling the bow for him, saying, "there, my son, in this manner draw the bow." So the text represents God as putting his hand on the hand of Joseph, and laying his broad arm along the arm of his chosen child, that he might be made strong. Like as a father teacheth his children; so the Lord teaches them that fear him. He puts his arms upon them. As Elijah laid with his mouth upon the child's mouth, with his hand upon the child's hand, with his foot upon the child's foot, so does "God put his mouth to his children's mouth, his hand to his ministers' hand, his foot to his people's foot; and so he makes us strong. Marvelous condescension! Ye stars of glory, have ye ever witnessed such stoops of love? God Almighty, Eternal, Omnipotent, stoops from his throne and lays his hand upon the child's hand, stretching his arm upon the arm of Joseph, that he may be made strong.

One more thought, and I have done. The strength was covenant strength, for it is said, "The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." Now, wherever you read of the God of Jacob in the Bible, you may know that that respects God's covenant with Jacob. Ah! I love to talk about God's everlasting covenant. Some of the Arminians cannot bear it, but I love a covenant salvation—a covenant not made with my father, not between me and God, but between Christ and God. Christ made the covenant to pay a price, and God made the covenant that he should have the people. Christ has paid the price and ratified the covenant; and I am quite sure that God will fulfil his part of it, by giving every elect vessel of mercy into the hands of Jesus.

But, beloved, all the power, all the grace, all the blessings, all the mercies, all the comforts, all the things we have, we have through the covenant. If there were no covenant; if we could rend the everlasting charter up; if the king of hell could cut it with his knife, as the king of Israel did the roll of Baruck, then we should fail indeed; for we have no strength, except that which is promised in the covenant. Covenant mercies, covenant grace, covenant promises, covenant blessings, covenant help, covenant everything—the Christian must receive, if he would enter into heaven.

Now, Christian, the archers have sorely grieved you, and shot at you, and wounded you; but your bow abides in strength, and the arms of your hands are made strong. But do you know, O believer, that you are like your Master in this?

IV. That is our fourth point—A GLORIOUS PARALLEL. "From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel." Jesus Christ was served just the same; the shepherd, the stone of Israel, passed through similar trials; he was shot at by the archers, he was grieved and wounded, but his bow abode in strength; his arms were made strong by the God of Jacob, and now every blessing rests "upon the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brethren." I shall not detain you long, but I have a few things to tell you; first about Christ as the shepherd, and then about Christ the stone.

Christ came into the world as a shepherd. As soon as he made his appearance, the Scribes and Pharisees said, "Ah! we have been the shepherds until this hour; now we shall be driven from our honors, we shall lose all our dignity, and our authority." Consequently, they always shot at him. As for the people, they were a fickle herd; I believe that many of them respected and admired Christ, though, doubtless, the vast majority hated him, for wherever he went he was a popular preacher; the multitude always thronged him and crowded round him, crying, "Hosanna."

I think, if you had walked up to the top of that hill of Calvary, and asked one of those men who cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him," "What do you say that for? Is he a bad man?" "No," he would have said, "he went about doing good." "Then why do you say 'crucify him?'" "Because Rabbi Simeon gave me a shekel to help the clamor." So the multitude were much won by the money and influence of the priests. But they were glad to hear Christ after all. It was the shepherds that hated him, because he took away their traffic, because he turned the buyers and sellers out of the temple, diminished their dignity and ignored their pretensions; therefore, they could not endure him.  But the Shepherd of Israel mounted higher and higher; he gathered his sheep, carried the lambs in his bosom; and he now stands acknowledged as the great shepherd of the sheep, who shall gather them into one flock and lead them to heaven.

Rowland Hill tells a curious tale, in his "Village Dialogues," about a certain Mr. Tiplash, a very fine intellectual preacher, who, in one of his flights of oratory, said, "O Virtue, thou art so fair and lovely, if thou wert to come down upon earth, all men would love thee," with a few more pretty, beautiful things.

Mr. Blunt, and honest preacher, who was in the neighborhood, was asked to preach in the afternoon, and he supplemented the worthy gentleman's remarks, by saying, "O Virtue, thou didst come on earth, in all thy purity and loveliness; but instead of being beloved and admired, the archers sorely shot at thee and grieved thee; they took thee, Virtue, and hung thy quivering limbs upon a cross; when thou didst hang there dying they hissed at thee, they mocked thee, they scorned thee; when thou didst ask for water they gave thee vinegar to drink, mingled with gall; yea, when thou diedst thou hadst a tomb from charity, and that tomb, sealed by enmity and hatred." The Shepherd of Israel was despised, incarnate virtue was hated and abhorred; therefore fear not, Christians, take courage; for if your Master passed through it, surely you must.

To conclude: the text calls Christ the stone of Israel. I have heard a story—I cannot tell whether it is true or not—out of some of the Jewish rabbis; it is a tale, concerning the text, "The stone which the builders refused, the same is become the headstone of the corner."

It is said that when Solomon's temple was building, all the stones were brought from the quarry ready cut and fashioned, and there were to be put. Amongst the stones was a very curious one; it seemed of no describable shape, it appeared unfit for any portion of the building. They tried it at this wall, but it would not fit; they tried it in another, but it could not be accommodated; so, vexed and angry, they threw it away.

The temple was so many years building, that this stone became covered with moss, and grass grew around it. Everybody passing by laughed at the stone; they said Solomon was wise, and doubtless all the other stones were right; but as for that block, they might as well send it back to the quarry, for they were quite sure it was meant for nothing.  Year after year rolled on, and the poor stone was still despised, the builders constantly refused it.

The eventful day came when the temple was to be finished and opened, and the multitude was assembled to see the grand sight. The builders said, "Where is the top-stone? Where is the pinnacle?" They little thought where the crowning marble was, until some one said, "Perhaps that stone which the builders refused is meant to be the top-stone." They then took it, and hoisted it to the top of the house; and as it reached the summit they found it well adapted to the place. Loud hosannas made the welkin ring, as the stone which the builders refused, thus became the headstone of the corner. So is it with Christ Jesus. The builders cast him away. He was a plebeian; he was of poor extraction; he was a man acquainted with sinners, who walked in poverty and meanness; hence the worldly-wise despised him. But when God shall gather together, in one, all things that are in heaven and that are in earth, then Christ shall be the glorious consummation of all things.

"Christ reigns in heaven the topmost stone,And well deserves the praise."

He shall be exalted; he shall be honored; his name shall endure as long as the sun, and all nations shall be blessed in him, yea, all generations shall call him."

Lo and behold, SO is the end of this great yet unfinished sermon. At last the time will come when Joseph returns unto his fathers and enters into his glory or he returns not at all. When the house of the LORD is established in the top of the mountains, the entire house of Israel will honor him in humility and the house of Israel will surround him and shout to him great hosannas of welcome. Then Joseph shall utter these strange and mystical words unto them that still echo the ages saying:

I AM JOSEPH DOES MY FATHER YET LIVE?

I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?

(Old Testament | Genesis 45:3)

These things I say for the benefit of my children and others who have interest in my writings so that they learn in life or in death, that a giant named Joseph roamed the land of the free and the home of the brave among them as an obscure and unlearned elder. Like the Living Christ, he came to his own, but his own received him not. Yet, he was despised, he was rejected, he was marred more than any other man of God, he was cast into the pit where he was numbered with the infirm and with the transgressors. In life and in hell he was shot at and grieved sorely. He fought your battles in light and in the shadows of darkness in search of the lost sheep of Israel with intent to bring at least one of them back into the fold of Jesus Christ. And he succeeded as Michael. And all he desired of them is that they remember him, perhaps not as he is or became but as he was, when we were all in heaven even before the foundation of the world where he had the Glory of the sanctified in heaven and the respect of his friends, brethren and companions of whom this is written:

For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome him who seeketh the throne of him who sitteth upon the throne, even the Lamb. This is the glory of God, and the sanctified; and they shall not any more see death.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 88:115 - 116)

And these things I say humble and meekly not of myself, but as the LORD has said he will also fulfill. And I do it solemnly in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

This is but an unworthy servant in the hands of Christ, amen.

GAZELEM-IXMIQUILIPANTL

Scribe

Miguel Angel Tinoco Rodriguez