The Power of Aaron's Rod

Next Part The Power of Aaron's Rod 2

"But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods." Exodus 7:12

I. OBSERVE THIS FACT.
AARON’S ROD SWALLOWS ALL ITS RIVALS.
(the divine is triumphant over the diabolical;
or the spiritual subdues the natural)
1. The awakened sinner.
2. Faith swallows up all other confidences.
self-righteousness
religion
3. Faith swallows up all other foes.
our old sins
inbred corruptions
neglects of duty
slackness in prayer
unbeliefs
backslidings
wanderings of heart
worldly trials
temptations
4. Love to Christ swallows up all other loves.
They love no one in comparison with him.
They love nothing in contradiction to Christ
5. Delight in Christ swallows up all other delights.
6. Service of God swallows up everything else.

II. DRAW AN INFERENCE.
Wherever true religion comes into a man, it becomes a consuming passion.

III. GIVE SOME REASONS WHY AARON’S ROD OUGHT TO SWALLOW UP ALL OTHER RODS.
1. We are delivered from Hell.
2. We are going to Heaven.
3. The matchless love Christ.
4. Our new and noble nature

We shall not attempt to discuss the question as to whether these magicians actually did turn their rods into serpents or no; it is probable that they, by dexterous sleight of hand, substituted living serpents for dry rods, and so deceived the eye of Pharaoh; on the other hand, it is possible that God was pleased to permit the devil to aid their enchantments, and so the old serpent produced a brood. Into that question, I say, I shall not enter. It is of no importance which opinion we may hold. Curious questions must this morning give way to important truths. I call your attention to the fact, that Aaron’s rod proved its heaven-given superiority, and silenced all the boastings of Jannes and Jambres, by readily swallowing up all their rods. This incident is an instructive emblem of the sure victory of the divine handiwork over all the opposition of men. Whenever a divine thing is cast into the heart, or thrown upon the earth, it swallows up everything else, and though the devil may fashion a counterfeit, and produce swarms of opponents, as sure as ever God is in the work, it will swallow up all its foes. "Aaron’s rod swallowed up all their rods."

Without any preface, let me ask you, first of all, to observe this fact; when we have duly considered it, let us, in the second place, draw an inference from it; and then, in closing, let me endeavor to show some reasons why it is right that it should be so.

I. Let us turn aside to see this great sight — the divine triumphant over the diabolical: the spiritual subduing the natural — AARON’S ROD SWALLOWING ALL ITS RIVALS.

1. Let us take the case of the awakened sinner. That man was, a few days ago, as worldly, as carnal, as stolid, as he well could be. If anyone should propose to make that man heavenly-minded, to lead him to set his affection upon things above, and not on things on the earth, the common observer would say, "Impossible! the man has no thought above what he shall eat, and what he shall drink, and wherewithal he shall be clothed; his heart is buried in a grave of cares; he rises early; he sits up late; he eats the bread of carefulness; he is glued and cemented to the world — as in old Roman walls, the cement has become so strong, that the stone is no longer a separate piece, but has become a part of the wall itself — so this man is cemented to the world, he cannot be separated from it. You must break him in pieces with the hammer of death; you cannot separate him in any other way from the cares of life."

Ah, but Aaron’s rod shall swallow up this rod. The man listens to the Word; the truth comes with power into his soul; the Holy Spirit has entered him; and the next day, though he goes to his business, he finds no true contentment in it, for he pants after the living God.

Though still he will buy and sell, and get gain, yet there is a craving within — an awful hunger — an unquenchable thirst — which above the din and clamor of the world’s traffic, will be heard crying, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness." Now, his spirit pleads its needs, and outstrips the body in the contest for his warmest love. He spurns the trifles of a day: he seeks the jewels of eternity. The groveling swine which wallowed in worldliness is transformed into an eagle; the man who lived for this shadowing earth has now an eye for the upper spheres, and a wing to mount into celestial heights. Grace has won the day, and the worldling seeks the world to come!

It may be that the man is immersed in pleasure. He is at this theater and at that. In all mirthful society he bears the palm. You shall find him at every horse race and fighting ring; ah, and worse still, you may track him to dens of licentiousness, and learn that he is diving deeper than others in the turbid streams of vice. What power can make this mirthful sinner become a saint? As well ask over a moldering grave, "Can these dry bones live?" How shall he find joy in the praise of God, or interest in waiting upon the worship of the Most High? "Absurd!" cries Unbelief, while Worldliness shouts, "Ridiculous!" The man is too far gone for regeneration! He is married to pleasure, and he wears the ring upon his finger! Ay, but Aaron’s rod can swallow up this rod. For we have seen such a man loathe the very joys he loved, until there was no charm in the music of sin — no mirth in the society of folly.

He fled away to hide himself; he sought seclusion that he might weep alone. Where now the sweetness of your bowls and the melody of your viols? Where now the charms of the earth’s harlotry? Where now the giddy delights of chambering and wantonness? They are gone, for Aaron’s rod has swallowed up these rods of the magicians, and the mad sinner is sitting yonder — a penitent at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind. His companions follow him, with many weighty reasons, as they seem to think, they invite his return; they conjure him not to make a fool of himself, by joining those melancholy fanatics; they point out the faults of many professors; they remark that hypocrisies are common; they describe the inconsistencies of good men; and they say, "What! will you throw away the joviality of youth, the bloom and flush of life, to be united with a miserable band of enthusiasts and deceivers like these?"

Then they insinuate cunning doubts; they thrust into the man’s way certain strange things, of which he had never heard before, which startle him like thunder-claps, and almost drive him from his purpose. If God’s grace be in him, the world’s best magicians may throw down all their rods: and every rod may be as cunning and as poisonous as a serpent, but Aaron’s rod will swallow up their rods! The Sweet Attractions of the Cross will woo and win the man’s heart. The blessed arguments, fetched from the bleeding wounds of Jesus, will answer all the blandishments of Madam Wanton and the reasonings of her sister Madam Bubble. Everything shall be set aside, when true religion comes in. The man shall have a longing so intense, that he cannot stop it, nor can he keep himself from obedience to it — a longing after pardon by blood, and salvation by grace.

Oh, have you not seen the trembling penitent, when under conviction of sin, apparently oblivious to everything else? How changed the man! The furrows of that brow prophesy a harvest of hope. Tears, those Jewels of Repentance, bedeck his eyes. He is dressed in the sackcloth and ashes, which are the court robes of those blessed mourners who shall be comforted. For a season even righteous joys yield him no solace; the comforts of his household, and the enjoyments of the fireside, fail to reach his case. There is no balm in Gilead for him, Heaven alone can supply him a fit physician. His cry has become, "These can never satisfy; give me Christ, or else I die."

You have marked the deer when it is let loose for a royal hunt. Away it flies. The dogs are behind it. It flies over flowery meadows, but it does not pause to snuff the fragrance of the gale. It dashes along the woods, but it waits not for shelter beneath you umbrageous oak! It scatters the sparkling waters of the brook, but it scarce has time to bathe its limbs. Onward, up the hill, the scenery is grand; but that wild eye, starting from its head, is solaced by no sight of beauty. The birds are singing sweetly in yonder copse, but those startled ears are not comforted. The bay of the dog is all the noble victim hears; the wrath of the hunter is all it dreads; on — on — on it flies, panting for life. Such is the soul hunted by the dogs of conscience. Such is the awakened spirit, when the wrath of God is let loose upon it.

No comforts can charm it; no joys can delight it. It flies on — on — on — resting never until it finds a shelter and deliverance in the clefts of the Rock of Ages. It is in vain that Satan tries to attract it from the one master-thought; the divine life must and will have its course. As some lofty mountain casts its shadow all along the valley, so a sense of condemnation throws its dark influence over the whole life; then follows a longing for mercy, which, like a swollen torrent, bears all before it. To use another illustration: the man has found the Pearl of Great Price, and for joy thereof, he parts with all to buy it. No matter how dear the old ancestral homestead, it must be sold; the favorite horse; the faithful dog — all must go. He will sell his dearest joys and his most prized luxuries of sin, that he may buy this priceless, peerless pearl. Aaron’s rod swallows up all other rods, and serpents too.

2. Beloved, the same fact, with equal distinctness, is to be observed in the individual when he becomes a believer in Jesus Christ; his faith destroys all other confidences. Once that man could trust in his self-righteousness. He was rich and increased in goods, and had need of nothing. He was honest. Who could say that he ever fraudulently failed in business, or robbed a creditor? For integrity, he so boasted that none could say him nay. He was, moreover, kind and charitable; amiable in his deportment, and tender in heart towards the poor. He trusted that if any man went to Heaven by his merits, that he should. But where is that rod now? Lo, Aaron’s rod has swallowed it up! For now that man can say with the apostle Paul, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yes doubtless, and count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

The man once could rely upon religion. Was he not sprinkled in infancy in the customary manner? Was he not confirmed afterwards by episcopal hands? Did he not receive the blessed sacrament of the Lord’s Supper? What more was needed? He was regular at his Church, or punctual at his chapel. He paid the contribution expected of him, and perhaps a little more. He had family prayers, and went through a private form at his bedside. What more did he need? But Aaron’s rod swallows this up, too, for all our righteousnesses are but as filthy rags. This is the cry of the man now — "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." My hearers, you are no Christians unless your faith in Christ has devoured every other confidence; unless you can say, "On Christ, the solid rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand."

It is not to trust Christ and to trust self; to rely on Jesus somewhat, and then upon our prayers and our works to some degree. Jesus ONLY! must be your watchword. Christ will never have a partner. He trod the wine-press alone, and he will save you alone. He stretched his hands to the cross, and none but he could bear the burden of sin: nor will he divide the work of salvation, lest at the last he should have to divide the crown. The rod of the one only High Priest must swallow up all other rods!

3. My dear friends, what multitudes of foes has our faith had to meet with; but how it has swallowed them all up. There were our old sins. The devil threw them down before us, and they turned to serpents. What hosts of them! What multitudes! How they hiss in the air! How they intertwist their many coils. How horrible are their deadly poison-fangs, the gaping jaws, their forked tongues! Ah, but the Cross of Jesus, like the rod of Amram’s son, destroys them all! Faith in Christ makes short work of all our sins, for it is written, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin."

Then the devil stirs up another generation of vipers, and shows us our inbred corruptions, our neglects of duty, our slackness in prayer, our unbeliefs, our backslidings, our wanderings of heart; and sometimes you and I get so tormented by these reptiles, that we grow alarmed, and are half inclined to flee. Do not run, brother, but Throw Down Aaron’s Rod, and it will swallow up all these serpents, even though they were poisonous as the cobra, fierce as the rattlesnake, or huge as the python. You shall overcome through the blood of the Lamb. "Jesus is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him." The battle is the Lord’s, and he will deliver them into your hands. The old enemy will throw down another host of serpents in the form of worldly trials, diabolical suggestions, temptations to blasphemy, ill-thoughts of God, hard thoughts of his providence, rash thoughts of his promises, and such like, until you will be almost distracted. You will wonder how you can meet such a host as this. Remember to stand fast, and throw down Aaron’s rod — your simple trust and faith in Jesus Christ — and it must and shall swallow up all these rods. There is not one doubt which the craft of Hell can insinuate — there is not one difficulty which the infernal wisdom of Diabolus can suggest — but simple faith in Christ can disarm, tread under foot, and utterly destroy.

On a certain railroad there is a viaduct, the arches are of considerable height, wooden centers of course were used for the building of these arches, and they remain there until this day, because there is some suspicion that if the wooden centers were knocked out, the brick arches might not be strong enough and might come tumbling in. Now, there are some professors whose faith is of that kind, it is supported by wooden centers of human persuasion, reasoning, or excitement, which they cannot afford to lose. But the Christian man can say, that if by providence all the earthly props of his confidence should fail; if feelings, graces and excitements were all gone, still the Cross Alone Is an All Sufficient Dependence, and faith could bear the most terrible strain which earth or Hell could put upon it.

I wish we were more and more possessed of that faith which leans on God and God alone; for remember that the faith which is supported by anything except the word and promise of God, is no faith at all. It is a bastard faith which has the cross for a buttress, but finds its foundation elsewhere. The cross must be the foundation, corner-stone, and buttress too. None but Jesus! None but Jesus! We need to have a faith which can endure every form of trial, and that as long as life lasts. One day last week, when I was preaching, it started to rain, a gentleman asked why the largest chapel in the neighborhood could not be used for the occasion? The reply was, "Why, the galleries are not safe." I thought, what was the good of galleries into which they were afraid to let in the people. Pull them down and build fresh ones. So there are some people who have a faith like that good-for-nothing gallery; it is not safe; it will not sustain a crowd of afflictions and temptations, difficulties and troubles; it would all come down with a crash in the day of trial, and great would be the fall of it. Brethren, if you have such a faith as I have described, pray God to take it away; it is worthless and dangerous; for remember, in the hour of death, if it cannot stand the tramp of the eternal feet, it will give way, and your everlasting ruin will be the result. Have a faith which is built upon God, which will bear whatever comes. But mind you, do not mix it with wood, hay, stubble, of your own gathering. Let Aaron’s rod swallow up all other rods. Let your faith in Christ overturn every refuge of lies.

4. The same fact is very manifest after faith in all who truly love the Savior. It will be found, I am sure, that every true lover of Jesus has an all-consuming love — coals of juniper, which have a most vehement flame. They who love Christ aright, love no one in comparison with him. The husband is dear; the father is cherished; the children are precious; but after all, Jesus Christ is better than all kindreds. We can look upon all and say, "Yes, it were a bitter pang to lose you, but we would sooner lose you all ten times over, than once lose our Savior;" for, oh! if we lose him, we have lost all, even if all else remained; but if all be gone, and we still keep our Savior, we have all in him. The Christian as he loves nothing in comparison, so he loves nothing in contradiction to Christ. Whatever comes between him and his Savior, the true lover of Jesus abhors and rejects in a moment. He holds no deliberation or debate about the matter. He counts that vile, which, though precious in itself, becomes evil through interposing between him and his Lord.

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