Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2113
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, November 3, 1889
“Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall.” Genesis 49:22.
“And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of Heaven, for the dew and for the deep that couches beneath” Deuteronomy 32:13.
DEAR friends, we long to have many converts. We count that Church happy to which God adds daily of such as are being saved. But we are very much concerned about the quality of our converts. We do not wish to make up a Church with a number of shallow professors, whose religion lies upon the surface, and is of a doubtful character. We are very anxious that we should have those in our fellowship who are thoroughly converted, richly experienced and fully instructed in the deep things of God.
We would have as our associates people who are established by principle rather than moved by passion. We would earnestly pray to have a company of Believers added to the Church who shall be like Joseph in character—fruitful trees growing by the well, whose branches ran over the wall. Jacob describes Joseph as a fruitful offshoot and he explains his fruitfulness by his position—he is fruitful “by a well.” When a vine grows near a well which is always full, and when it is able to send its roots down to drink of the unfailing spring, it may very well be fruitful and send forth many branches.
The point is, to get by the well. Or, to use our second text, to tap “the deep that couches beneath.” If we can reach the secret fountains and say to God, with the Psalmist, “All my fresh springs are in You,” then shall we find nourishment for our branches and our fruit and leaf will never fail. “Dwell deep” is a prophetic word of much value to Christians. To live upon land-drainage and casual rains may suffice for ordinary plants. But the trees of the Lord which bring forth much fruit need to penetrate below the topsoil and reach the secret fountains of Divine Grace.
Upon that subject I am going to talk this morning. Our desire is that we may each one of us abide in Christ Jesus and be in constant fellowship with the Father through the Holy Spirit, so that we may, in very truth, be rooted by the well and may drink from “the deep that lies under.” We would be grounded and settled by living and lasting union and communion with the Eternal God. We would know the secret of the hidden life and be filled with its fundamental principles, its constraining influences, its spiritual powers. We would drink in such supplies, by secret contact with God, that our outward life would bear ample testimony to our private communion with Heaven.
May the Holy Spirit graciously aid us in our meditations while we first notice that this figure describes Joseph’s character—he was all that Jacob styled him. Secondly, that this in itself was a great blessing, for it was used as such by Moses in after years. And thirdly, that it brings with it many other choice favors.
I. First, THIS DESCRIBES JOSEPH’S CHARACTER. He flourished near to God. He was an offshoot of the old tree and he was rooted deep by a well which always watered him. From his childhood until he died, the main point in Joseph’s character was that he was in clear and constant fellowship with God—and therefore God blessed him greatly. He lived to God and was God’s servant. He lived with God and was God’s child. He looked up to Heaven for daily teaching and comfort. And God was with him so as not only to bless him but to bless others for his sake—as, for instance, the house of Potiphar, first—and afterwards Pharaoh, and all the land of Egypt, and all the famishing nations.
In this respect his branches ran over the wall in scattering blessings far and wide—and all this was the result of living in constant communion with God. My dear Hearer, you profess to be a Christian, but have you really had dealings with God? I know you have been baptized and you come to the communion table. But have you pressed beyond the signs
to the Lord Himself? Is there a root in your religion, and has that root struck deep into spiritual Truth? And have you received the life and power which come from the spiritual Fountain? Can you say with David, “My soul, wait you only upon God. For my expectation is from Him”?
The first blessing in the Book of Psalms is that the godly man should be, “like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither. And whatever he does shall prosper.” The great matter is being rooted by the Well—the drawing of supplies from the eternal storehouse of Christ Jesus the Lord—in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell.
How can we fail to be fruitful if we draw our life and all its vigor from the Lord Jesus?
Because Joseph lived near to God, he received and retained gracious principles. There is a great difference between religious principle and religious passion. Many persons are religious by starts and fits—according to their company, their feelings, or their whims. According to the influences under which they come, certain people become good, bad, or indifferent. But when a man lives in the Presence of the Lord, he has fixed principles which rule his heart and guide his life. He fears God, not because others fear Him, but because God is “to be had in reverence of all them that are about