In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Judah from Genesis chapter 44. Judah expresses his concern about leaving his brother behind and the potential harm that may come to their father. The preacher emphasizes the importance of not giving up and obeying God's command to not grow weary in doing good. The sermon also includes a story about a farmer who risked his life to stop his runaway horses, illustrating the need to recognize and respond to urgent situations.

Pick up the authorized version of the Word of God before you in the pew, and turn with me to the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, at the chapter 44. Genesis chapter 44. We're reading from verse 18 to the end of the chapter of the Lord's Day Morning. We read the Bible collectively together. Follow me and take your time from me, please. The 18th verse of the 44th chapter of Genesis. Then Judah came near unto him, and said, O my Lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my Lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant, for thou art even as Pharaoh. My Lord asked his servant, saying, Have ye a father or a brother? And he said unto my Lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one, and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. And thou saidst unto thy servant, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. And we said unto my Lord, The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die. And thou saidst unto thy servant, Accept your youngest brother, come dine with you. He shall see my face no more. And it came to pass, when we came up unto thy servant, my father, we told him the words of my Lord, and our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food. We said, We cannot go down, if our youngest brother be with us. Then will we go down, for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us. And thy servant, my father, said unto us, You know that my wife bear me two sons. The one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces. And I saw him not since. And if ye take this also from me, and mischief shall befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore, when I come to thy servant, my father, and the lad be not with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life, it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die. And thy servant shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant, our father, with sorrow to the grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame of my father forever. Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my Lord, and let the lad go up with his brother. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? Lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come to my father. And God shall bless his holy word in its reading to our hearts, for Jesus' sake. Turn in your Bibles to the 44th chapter of Genesis. The words of Judah. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? Lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father. Judgment catches up upon us all. Here in this story, in Genesis chapter 44, the family and the brethren of that family of Jacob are in sore. They are reaping what they sowed. The larger part of that family were the children of Leah, the first wife of Jacob. Two sons only came from Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph had been sold as a slave into Egypt. And for seventeen years he had been in Egypt. And Benjamin, his younger brother, was now standing before him. Although he did not know that it was Joseph, his brother, he was standing before. And the evil act of the jealous brethren of Joseph stood exposed. And no wonder Judah, who had received the blessing of the firstborn instead of Reuben, because of Reuben's sin, he cried out, How shall I go to my father, and the lad be not with me? I suppose every one of us as believers in this service have to make a similar profession. We have loved ones who will not go to the Father's house. We have children who are not going to the Father's house. We have neighbors and friends and dear ones who are not going. And the reason they're not going to the Father's house with us is because of our sins. Because of our own wicked works. Because of our inconsistency as believers in Christ. They don't see Jesus in us. They don't see the demonstration of His power and of His love. And so they turn aside and brand us as hypocrites. And they go on down the broad road that leads to certain hell and certain judgment. But the judgment caught up on the wicked brethren. They stood there in the presence of their brother whom they did not recognize, but whom they had sold to imprisonment and slavery. And their hearts were troubled. And their conscience was stirred. And the past rose in deadly darkness over their darkened hearts. And Judah became their spokesman and cried out, How shall I go up to my Father and the Lamb be not with us? I trust today that in this service God will speak to you and speak to me. And we will get a concern, a godly concern. We will get a conviction, a godly conviction. We'll get an urge, a godly urge about our loved ones and where they're going to be in the great eternity. How can I go up? Said Judah, be not with us. How can you go to the Father's house and your children not with you? How can you go to the meeting place of the saints of God forever? When your loved ones are still traversing the road to hell and are nearer to the everlasting judgments of the damned. The power of influence is a powerful power. The smallest pebble thrown into the ocean starts a ripple which continues on and on. Kindle of fire, and even when it's burnt out, the heat that generates it lives on. Influence lives on throughout all time. An influence will stand at eternity's throne on the judgment day to bear witness against us for our misdeeds and our sins. It is said that the crown jewels of this United Kingdom are guarded by an electric current around them. It seems when you go in to view them that you can stretch forth your hand and lift any jewel you wanted. But try it, and immediately your hand would go out. This sharp electric current would be switched on and your hand would be immediately paralyzed by its strength. Such is the power of influence. Oh, the awful power of evil influence that tempted the brethren of Joseph to sell their brother into slavery, to sell their brother to the prison and even to the death. The power of evil influence. It is surely an evil influence that keeps us from weeping for our unsaved loved ones. It is surely an evil influence that keeps us happy while they go down the road to everlasting woe. It is surely an evil influence that makes our country and helps us to live in enjoyment when our loved ones are in danger of everlasting judgment and everlasting hell. Oh, if we could recognize the need, how differently we would be healed. There is a story told of the days when the pilgrims were occupying the west of the United States that a farmer one day brought in his covered wagon, stopped it at the local store, tied up his horses and went in to do. He was just into the shop when someone let out an awful cry, the horses have run off. The man jumped over all the chairs that were before him in the shop to get out. He got out and he saw the horses in their wild gallop. But the reins of the horses were dragging along the ground. So he ran and threw himself upon the reins and caught them. And although he was turned over and over and over again until he was bleeding and hurt, he still gripped those reins and eventually the wagon was stopped. He dragged himself to his feet. A pool of blood was in his feet when he dragged himself up. And people came and said, why did you do such a foolish thing? Better to have a lost horse and a broken wagon than for you to lose your life. The man dragged himself to the back of the wagon. He lifted up the curtain that hung over it and a little boy, a little boy of two, looked out from under the cover and with his blood drowning him, he said, I did it. We could do well, brethren and sisters in Christ, to learn that lesson of that particular incident. If we really felt, as the Bible tells us it is so, that our lost ones will be damned in the darkness of hell forever, and that the awful judgment of that darkness of hell never relents, their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched. Surely we would bestir ourselves to the task that when we go up, the Lord will be with us, our loved ones will be with us, one by prayer, by tears, by sacrifice, and by dedication of soul. God saves the young, opportunity knocks for the young. There were more church members in the church saved when they were young than those who were saved when they were more mature. The sterile wind of the spirit blows upon the faces of the young. The power of God works in the life of the youth. Polycarp, the early Christian martyr, was saved when he was but a boy. Matthew Henry, the great biblical commentator, was saved at the age of five. Jonathan Edwards, the great revival preacher, was saved just as a young boy out of the cradle. The immortal Watts, Isaac Watts, who wrote some of the greatest hymns that the church has ever sung, came to Christ in the days of his youth. Yes, but thank God the aged can come to Christ as well. A very old man came to Christ in an evangelistic service, and he witnessed to the fact that only once in his whole long life was he ever witnessed to by a Christian about coming to Christ. He said it happened in India. A salvationist lady worker invited him at a railway station as he sat in the carriage of the train he was taking to come to Christ. He said he never forgot her. She ran along the platform speaking to him through the window and pleading with him to come to Christ. But he lost the opportunity. He neglected his salvation. As a very, very old man, he came at last to Asclesia. And there, old and infirm, but on the very edge of the grave, he came to know Christ, whom to know is life eternal. And God did a great work of grace in his life. For the last few years, he stayed on in Australia just to tell people of the wonderful power of the gospel. An old man who knew Christ in his heart was spoken to after his wife had died. And the man who spoke to him said, You'll be very lonely now. You'll be very, very, very lonely now. And that man looked at her and he repeated that hymn, Lonely, no, not lonely, while Jesus standeth by. His presence fills my chamber. I know that he is nigh. Helpless, yes, so helpless. But I am leaning hard on the mighty arm of Jesus. And he is keeping guard. Happy, yes, so happy. With joy too deep for words. A precious, sure foundation. A joy that is the Lord's. If I am going to lead souls to Christ, I must live in a soul winning environment. In a soul winning atmosphere. And that means that I must live in a biblical atmosphere. The holy book of God is the great life book for us all. We should be diligent in reading its pages and studying its exhortations. We should be continually soaking ourselves in the water of the word. Bathing in the book. If we don't have that atmosphere of soul winning, We will never win souls for Christ. We need to keep in the environment of prayer. We need to be always and constantly in communion with our Lord. We need to live with Him and with Him always. And we need to be constantly speaking to Him. And communicating with Him. And calling upon Him. And crying to Him. And bringing our petitions to Him. Without the atmosphere of the Bible. And without the environment of prayer. We shall never fill the nets or bring the souls to Christ. We ought to bring. We need to cultivate those that we want to bring to Christ. Souls are not won easily. When Zion travaileth, she bringeth forth her young. Without the travail of soul and the sacrifice demanded, there will be no sinner saved. We must live before these sinners a consistent Christian life. If our life is blotched with inconsistency. If our life is constantly stained with sin. We will barriers be and a hindrance to those we are trying to win. We must live a life that is holy. And guard both lips and life. So that we conform to the Savior. And the more we will like, be like Jesus. The more we will draw people to Him. We must take every opportunity that God gives to us. To press the claims of Jesus upon all we meet. We meet people, we pass them on the roads of life. How many do we clear of their blood from our skin. How often have you talked to people and known people and conversed with them. But never once did you say a word for your Savior. A word for your Master. We must never give up. We must obey that great injunction. Be not weary in well doing. For in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not. How can I go up and the lad be not with me. Sickly we must live for eternity. Someday I'll hear the pilot call. It will be for me. Then I shall leave my earthly all and put to sea. More not for me when I set sail. Time's harbor leave. I like earth's sea if within the veil. So do not grieve. If near me when on surging tide I do embark. Mind not the clouds which seem to hide. It will not be dark. Light shineth just beyond the bar. Eternal born and from this sure. It is not far till heaven's born to our soul. What if the pilot called for you today. How many souls would you have neglected. In telling them that they needed to know Christ. They needed to love Christ. And they needed to be washed in the blood. You need to make a telephone call this afternoon. To a person you have been unfaithful to about their soul. You need to clear their blood from off your garments. You need to get down on your knees. And confess to Christ what an unprofitable servant you are. How you have loved the things of the world. How you have loved the things of comfort. And the things of pleasure. And you forgot about the awful tragedy of being a lost soul forevermore. All we need to live for eternity. How shall I go up and the lad be not with me. Burned into the soul of Judah. Was this thought if he brought not the lad home with him. An even greater calamity would overtake the house of Jacob. And he would stand at the bedside of a broken hearted father. As he died weeping for the loss of Benjamin. His well beloved son. I trust that today these remarks will get into your heart. And into your mind. And into your soul. That you will realize you have one thing to do as a child of God. And that is to have a concern for the lost. It's your business to weep for the arid one. To lift up the fall. To tell them of Jesus the mighty to save. He that winneth souls is wise. And he that turneth man and woman to righteousness. Shall shine as the stars forever. And may God stir our hearts. May these words of Judah burn into our inward soul. And may God give us a passion. And a burden for the lost. For Jesus' sake. To see those young children. Packing the Jubilee Hall out upstairs. To singing the gospel songs. As only children in their enthusiasm could do it. To watch them as they listened. To our brother Everett. As he preached the word. And we appreciate our brother's ministry. Those services were not like ordinary children's services. They were unusual. The stillness of 500 children listening to the gospel. Eternity. Eternity. Where will they be in eternity? May that thought overcome us continually. And may God help us to put legs to our prayers. And a trumpet to our lips. To summon souls. To prepare for the great eternity. Let us bow our heads. Father in heaven. We thank Thee for Thy good. And Thy gracious word. And we pray that Thou would bestow us. In the work of winning souls for Christ. For Jesus' sake. Amen. And Amen.