Part 23
Lord into a thoroughly warm and earnest state, I am persuaded the
great things we have seen are only the beginning of greater things
to come! We are on the threshold of an era of mercy! We have
journeyed to the edge of a long stretch of glorious sunlight,
emerging out of the shadows into the serene clear shining of
Jehovah's face. We shall see these galleries and these aisles and this
vast area full of Believers yet! We shall see the Word of God
running, having free course, and being glorified! But we must, dear
Friends, be stirred up to holy action for it.
Alas, I must conclude! Conclude, too, with a very dark and
gloomy thought. The text SUGGESTS A VERY SOLEMN FEAR,
namely, that there may be some in our households who will not be
saved. Ah, young men and women! Ah, you who are fathers of
Christian children, but not converted yourselves! You who are
godless daughters and unregenerate sons of Christian people–you
are lost now and you may be lost forever! Lot's sons-in-law were
consumed and why not you? Saved shall the Patriarch be, but not
saved the Patriarch's son, except he shall flee out of Sodom!
Beware! No kinship can save you! You may be allied to a race of
saints, but, being yourself a sinner, your pedigree cannot save you.
Unconverted souls, flee away, I pray you! And may God's Grace
direct you to the Rock of Ages split for you. Hide yourself in the
cracks there and let your soul find peace through Jesus the Savior.
May God bless these feeble words of mine to every soul here, for
Jesus' sake. Amen.
Ge 19:15 • Hastening Lot
ERMON 2944
Urging Lot
"When the morning arose, then the angels urged Lot."
Genesis 19:15
I WILL not spend even a minute in considering whether these
were Divine persons veiled in angelic form, or whether they were
actually angels. In either case, I would make the same remark and
lead to the same practical result. Let us learn from these angels how
to do our work. "Unto the angels has He not put in subjection the
world to come, whereof we speak?" As a rule, they are not sent to
be the means of saving men. They are not called to be teachers, or
preachers, or pastors, but, on this occasion, they were sent to bring
Lot out of Sodom–and we may take them as exemplars in our
endeavors to win souls for Christ.
How did these angels do their work? Well, first, they went to
Lot's house. They got at Lot himself–and if we want to be the
means of saving men, we must, somehow or other, get at them. I
have seen the fishermen, in the Scot rivers, stand right down in the
water while they are fishing and I believe that is the best way to
fish–if we stand right down among you and come to you in your
homes–we shall likely be the means of blessing to your souls.
The angels told Lot very distinctly what was going to happen in
Sodom. They did not mince the matter, but revealed what its doom
was to be. The city was to be destroyed and he must get out of it, or
else he also would be destroyed. In like manner, we too must warn
men of their danger and we must not at all flinch even if we have to
utter words that have a very harsh sound about them, for love does
not manifest itself by lying and smooth utterances, but by speaking
the truth–even most threatening words, yet mixing sobs with them,
predicting most sorrowful judgments in a most sorrowful tone.
After these angels had told Lot the truth about his peril, they were
not content with doing that, but began pressing and urging him to
flee out of the doomed city–"The angels urged Lot"–and when that
urging did not seem to be sufficient to convince him, they laid
hands upon him, his wife and his daughters. And if, my Brother,
you and I, ourselves saved, wish to be the means of saving others,
we must not merely tell them the old, old story, however simply,
earnestly and as often we tell it–but we must come to wrestling
with them! We must plead with them, we must weep over them and
we must make up our minds that if we cannot break their hearts, we
will break our own. And if we cannot get them to flee out of
Sodom, at any rate it shall not be because we did not labor with all
our might to bring them out! Oh, that we might be as clear of the
blood of all men as these angels were clear concerning the fate of
Lot's wife! We shall not be able to rescue them all–even the angels
did not do that. Lot's wife was a signal example of a person
perishing after the best possible instruction–and Lot's sons-in-law
were examples of how, with some men, the most earnest pleading
may only end in mockery! Yes, dear Friend, we cannot wonder if
some reject our message when so many rejected the teaching of the
Master, Himself! But we must so deliver it that, at any rate, if they
do refuse it, the blame shall lie entirely at their own door.
The special point in the angelic ministry, to which I desire to call
your attention on this occasion, is the fact that they urged Lot. And
I am going to use that fact in two ways. First, I will try to show
you, that the righteous need to be urged,for Lot was a righteous
man, notwithstanding his imperfections. And, secondly, that
sinners–of whom, being in Sodom, Lot had become a type–
sinners especially need earnest urging. We must try not only to
preach about these two
things, but to do them as the Holy Spirit shall help us.
So my first remark is, that EVEN THE RIGHTEOUS NEED TO
BE URGED.
In what? Well, in almost everything good, for Dr. Watts well
said–
"Look how we grovel here below,
Fond of these trifling toys.
Our souls can neither fly nor go
To reach eternal joys."
And old Francis Quarles, in one of his poems, writes–
"When our dull souls direct our thoughts to Thee,
As slow as snails are we!
But at the earth we dart our winged desire–
We burn, we burn like fire."
Some Christians need quickening even concerning common
matters of Christian duty. I used to know a man–he is dead now–
who professed to have been converted for 40 years, yet he had
never made a profession of his faith in Baptism, though he believed
it to be his duty to do so. When I stirred him up a little concerning
his neglect, he said to me, "He that believes shall not make haste."
And I replied, "That is a shameful perversion of Scripture! You
profess to have been converted for 40 years, yet you have not
obeyed your Savior's command." I explained to him the meaning
of the text which he had so wickedly perverted and then I said to
him, "David said, 'I made haste, and delayed not to keep Your
commandments.' That is a more suitable text for you." Why, if that
good Brother had been baptized that very day on the next morning
before breakfast, I do not think he could have been considered
guilty of any haste after the long time that he had waited! Some
people, when they are young, know that they ought to unite
themselves with the Church of God, but they put it off. And when
they grow older, they seem confirmed in continuing in a condition
which is not a right one for a Christian.
I do not lay undue stress upon Baptism, as though it were the
main thing in a Christian's life. Still, it is an important matter in
which some Christians need urging, as they take such a long time
over it. It seems to me that half the beauty of obedience consists in
obeying the command at once! Suppose you have a boy and you
say to him, "John, I want you to go on an errand," and he says,
"Very well, Father, I will go next week"? What sort of a lad is he?
Suppose he says, "Yes, Father, I really mean to go, but not until
tomorrow"? Is not that virtually disobedience? Call it what you
may, delaying to obey is disobedience. Has it ever struck you, dear
Friends, that when you postpone attendance to a duty, you sin in
the postponement? How many times do you sin? I cannot calculate.
If it is a duty you ought to do at this hour, yet you put it off hour
after hour, do you not sin as many times as there are hours in which
you delay? Perhaps it would be even more correct to say that for
every moment that a duty is neglected, there is a sin every time the
clock ticks–certainly, you are keeping on in one long-continued act
of sin and thereby provoking God to anger!
Neglect of duty is continuous sin. Let that little sentence abide in
your memory and let it get down into your heart and irritate you
into prompt obedience, for there are some of you who seem to
fancy that when you have made up your minds to do a certain
thing, and have good intentions concerning it, you have practically
done the thing and need not trouble yourself any further about it!
But it is not so for, "to him that knows to do good, and does it not,
to him"–particularly and above other men–"it is sin."
There was a certain prince of Monaco who left instructions that
this inscription should be put on his grave, "Here lies So-and-So,
prince of Monaco, a man of good intentions." That was all he could
say about himself! He had not done anything, but he had intended
to do something. And this is the epitaph that will have to be put
over some of you unlessyou turn intention into action. But what is
this but a confession that you have the responsibility of knowing
what you ought to do, but you lack either the manliness, or the
Divine Grace, or something else to impel you to do what you ought
long ago to have done? As the angels urged Lot, so, my Christian
Brothers and Sisters who are slow to move in the path of duty,
would I urge you. Lie not down tonight with any duty undone if
you can attend to it tonight. Rest not while there are any arrears of
obedience due to your God. Even when you have done all your
duty, you will be but an unprofitable servant to your God–but what
shall be said of you if precept after precept shall be left neglected?
At any rate, be not so foolish as to imagine that intending to obey it
is the same thing as having really obeyed the commandment of
your God.
Some Christians also need urging concerning coming out from
the world and taking up the place of separation. Lot was in sinful
Sodom and the great concern of the angels was to get him out of it.
There are many righteous men still in Sodom–they have never
thoroughly taken their place with Christ "outside the camp, bearing
His reproach." Many a Christian knows that there is a higher
spiritual life than he has ever yet reached. He feels that his standard
is too low and that his household is too much conformed to the
world in its manners and customs. He knows that his business is
not conducted as his Lord and Master would wish it to be and he
intends that these things shall all be set right some time or other.
Possibly there is one person in the household of whom he is afraid.
If that person should, in the order of God's Providence, be
removed, then the way would be cleared for him to make the
necessary alteration, or it may be that there is one engagement
which has been made which he thinks must be fulfilled–and after
that is over, things will take quite a different complexion.
My dear Brother, wherever you may be just now, I do charge you,
before the living God, never trifle with your convictions and never
postpone the coming away from sin and the world until it shall be
more convenient for you! Do you not see what it is that you thus
say to the Lord? "I will follow Jesus when it pleases me. I will
follow Him when it will not cost me anything. I will follow Him
when everybody will clap hands at my doing it, but when the task
is difficult, I must decline it." That is very like the talk of a rebel,
not like the talk of a true disciple of our blessed Lord! Oh, that you
might have the Grace to say–
"'Through floods and flames, if Jesus leads,
I'll follow where He goes'–
"fashionable or unfashionable, condemned or applauded, loved or
hated, I will take up the Cross for Christ and be as He would have
me to be in the midst of an ungodly world." The angels are urging
you to this decision, dear Brother, dear Sister, as once they urged
the lingering Lot to escape from sinful Sodom!
Again, many good men need urging with regard to their attempts
to be of servants to others. Lot went to his sonsin-law to try to
persuade them to leave Sodom, but, though the morning light was
beginning to break and Sodom's doom was imminent, he did not
hurry to conduct his wife and daughters out of the doomed place. It
is amazing how long Christians linger over the work of seeking the
conversion of their own children. I know, dear Friend, that you
have resolved in your heart to pray with your boy–you say that you
mean to do it, yet you never seem to force yourself up to the
decisive point! I know, dear Mother, that you do not intend that
your daughter shall go away from home until you have talked with
her about her soul and set forth Christ to her. You have that new
Bible ready to give to her as a kind of help to you–a thin end of the
wedge–that you may have some reason for getting her alone and
talking to her. But why do you keep putting it off? Should it ever be
hard work for a mother to talk with her own child about her soul?
Yet, to some parents, this is a very difficult task. Should it ever be
hard, good woman, for a wife to put her arms about her
unconverted husband's neck and plead with him to see to his soul's
affairs and lay hold on eternal life? Yet perhaps you feel as if you
cannot do it–you know that you ought, but you cannot. Should it
ever be hard, dear Sister, for you to talk to that brother of yours,
who scoffs so much at sacred things that he often hurts your
feelings? I know it does seem hard, but ought it to be so? You love
him and if you knew that he was in any bodily danger, you would
not hesitate to warn him. And now that you know that he is in
spiritual and eternal peril, do not, I pray you, delay to give the
warning word.
"I mean to do it," says one. Yes, you mean to, but I want you to
do it tonight! "But perhaps I may not have a suitable opportunity
tonight?" Well, if there should be no opportunity tonight, you may
be excused, but do not make a pretext–let it be a genuine lack of
opportunity that will excuse you and, for common humanity's
sake–far more for Christ's sake, for His dear wounds sake–do
immediately seek the salvation of all that are round about you! The
angels urged Lot, so what can I do to urge you? You will probably
find your task a great deal easier than you think and you may
receive a response that you little expect! I believe that in nine cases
out of ten, when a Christian begins to speak thus to his unsaved
friend, the friend gratefully says, "I have long been expecting you
to speak to me about my soul. How is it that you have not done it
before?"
I will tell you what happened in a case with which I was
personally connected. There was a young man whose minister used
to come to his father's house very frequently. And this young man
was in great distress of soul. Every time the minister came in, the
young man used to say to himself, "I hope Mr. So-and-So will
speak to me about my soul today." He put himself in the minister's
way, but the minister never spoke to him as he wished and hoped.
After a time, that young man went to another place of worship and
there found the Lord. He told his father and the father told the
minister–and then the minister came to see him and said, "My dear
Brother, I am glad to hear that you have beenconverted. I have
always felt anxious about you." "Have you?" asked the young man.
"Yes, I have," replied the minister. "But, Sir, you never said a word
to me to show that you were anxious." There the interview ended
and I am afraid that they have had little esteem for one another ever
since. And I know that the young man said, "When I was
converted, the minister wanted to get me into his church, but as
long as I was unconverted, he never made the slightest effort to win
me to Christ." I should not like to have that said of any minister
here present and I should not like to hear that you are always
looking after other people's sheep. There is a certain denomination
which is constantly engaged in stealing the sheep that are in other
flocks–it would be much better if such people would ask the Lord,
by His almighty Grace to turn lions into lambs and sheep so that
they might gather their own flocks! That is the proper spirit in
which all Christians should act. So, dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ, let us without delay set about the task of endeavoring, in the
name and in the strength of God, to bring our relatives and
neighbors to the Lord Jesus Christ!
Putting a great many things under this general head, I may say
that Christians need urging all round. Occasionally, I hear or read
remarks about the great excitement caused by our Brothers, Moody
and Sankey, in their evangelistic services, but I must confess that I
have failed to see the excitement, although I have been to several of
their meetings. We Londoners do not know anything about real
religious excitement–we have not begun to be excited yet, though I
pray God that we soon may. I would like to see such a stir all over
the metropolis, that the press would rave and rage about our
fanaticism–and I shall not believe that God has done very much
among us until we are accused of something like that! We are
enjoying a spiritual spring time–we have heard the cuckoo and
have seen one swallow, but we must not yetsay that the summer has
come. Our friends from America have done something, but little
compared with what we ought to desire and pray for, and expect–
little, indeed, compared with what we shall see if we are but true to
God. We still need the angels to come and urge lingering Lots–may
we be urged ourselves!
Why is it that Christians need so mulch urging? The best answer I
can make is that their spirit is willing, but their flesh is weak.
Another reason is that it is easier to run fast at first than to keep on
at a rapid pace. And, perhaps they have found their breath failing
them. If so, may they drink in fresh air from the upper realm! Some
Christians, too, are passing through the Enchanted Ground, the air
of which Bunyan says made the pilgrims sleepy. Some Christians
appear to have taken up their residence in that perilous place. In the
case of others, the prevailing lethargy in the hearts of so many
professing Christians tends to make them idle, just as in a chilly
atmosphere, we are colder than we would be if our surroundings
were warmer. I fear that some Christians need quickening for God's
service because they have so much to do for themselves. The shop
shutters are down so long that there is little time for anything but
business, and the ledger is such a big book that it quite hides the
Bible! Some, on the other hand, need to be urged because they have
not anything to do. Of the two things, it is better to have too much
to do than to have nothing to do–and those people who do not
know how to occupy their time are often the most difficult to move
to anything like earnestness in spiritual things!
Whatever may be the cause of the lingering, ministers are bound
to be continually urging God's people onward in the spiritual life
and warfare. Under what great obligations we are Brothers! We are
not our own, we are bought with a price. How much Christ has
done for us, Brothers and Sisters! What manner of persons ought
we to be! What a destiny awaits us! Ought we not to walk worthily
of that which is to be our heritage? See how fast time is dying. We
cannot make up for that which we have already lost, but let us lose
no more! See how rapidly our cemeteries are being crowded and
dare even to look down and see how Hell is being thronged with
souls that have perished through ignorance! See how Christ's name
is being constantly blasphemed and how little power the ministry
of the Gospel seems to have–and what great power we find
attending erroneous teaching! Oh, may God quicken us, dear
Friends!
Sometimes, when I look at myself, and look at my fellow
Christians, I can scarcely believe that we can be the result of such a
great work as God has been carrying on. In Amsterdam I went into
workshops where great wheels and much machinery were at work
cutting diamonds. They were very small things to have all that
machinery operating upon them. Still, they were diamonds–and
when I look at some Christians, I suppose they must be diamonds,
but they appear to be very insignificant in comparison with the
work which is being worked upon them! Here is Jesus Christ
plowing that field with His armies, watering it with His bloody
sweat, casting Himself like a seed into it–and what comes up as the
result? Only that poor shriveled thing! O God, must Eternal
Election and Immutable Love, and a bleeding Savior's heart, and
the Omnipotence of the Holy Spirit all be set to work to produce
such results as that?
God forbid that I should ever slight any of His work! The
question naturally arises, "Can it be His if it only comes to that?"
Here is a man who goes to a Prayer Meeting, perhaps, once in
seven years, gives a four-penny piece to the collection if he has not
a three-penny piece in his wallet, takes a sitting in the place of
worship and then considers that all his work is done! He never
opens his mouth for the Lord Jesus Christ from the first of January
to the last of December! He is, at home, about as worldly as other
people, yet he says that he is–
"A monument of Grace,
A sinner saved by blood!"
We have heard of mountains bringing forth mice, but we can
scarcely think that Mount Zion can bring forth such creatures as
these! We ought to be something better than this, Brothers and
Sisters, and we must be. In the name of the dying Savior, now
exalted in Heaven, whose disciples we profess to be, let us awaken
ourselves and let us seek with heart and soul and strength to glorify
Christ throughout the rest of life that may be allotted to us–lest we
go back, dishonored, to the dust from which we sprang, after
having had grand opportunities, noble possibilities and a Divine
calling–and yet having lived beneath the dignity of any one of
them!
II. Now I must turn to the second part of my subject, which is,
that SINNERS NEED TO BE URGED AS MUCH AS SAINTS
DO, for sinners, also, are very slow.
I thought, this afternoon, when my head was almost splitting with
pain and I could not fix my thoughts upon my theme for this
evening, "Oh, dear, dear, dear, if these sinners were only sensible,
preaching would be very easy work, for all I would have to do
would be just to set before them the way of salvation and they
would at once walk in it!" But we have to rack our brains and to
pour out our very heart in order to get you to attend to your chief
business and to give heed to that which is for your lasting good!
Sometimes our hearers say, "The preachers always tell us that same
story and their sermons are not as polished as we would like them
to be." Ah, but if you would only believe in Jesus, and so be saved,
we would polish our sermons up for you! If you would only seek
and find Jesus Christ as your Savior, then we would try to give you
some eloquence! But, as long as you will not have Christ and
resolve to remain as you are, the only thing we can do is to keep on
persuading, entreating and even compelling you to come in to the
great Gospel feast! We are obliged to put the old Truth of God in
very much the same old way. It is not poetical work to be a Royal
Humane Society's officer, seeking to pull drowning people out of
the river–and there is not much poetry about our work in trying to
be the means of saving your souls!
But what makes you men and women so slow to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ which is the only way of salvation? Are you so
fond of your sins that you are not willing to give them up, or are
you really so self-righteous that you do not believe that you need to
be saved? I think the most of you do believe, in a way, that there is
a Hell–and that you will go there unless you are converted. But you
do not really believe it because you do not realize what it means.
You are very earnestly listening to me just now, but if somebody
over there by the door were to cry out because a piece of plaster
had dropped off the ceiling, how wide awake you would become
compared with what you are now when I am talking about your
going to Hell and being lost forever! Somehow or other, there is a
lack of reality about you when spiritual matters are being
discussed. I fear that the same spirit is getting into some good
people's prayers. We do not pray real prayers, at least not as real as
they ought to be. I do try to preach to you as if I meant it and I
would willingly lay down my life if, by doing so, I could save you.
Yet you listen to me as if it were merely a very proper thing for me
to preach and for you to hear on Sunday–but as if you had nothing
to do with the Gospel on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday!
You hear that the city in which you are dwelling is to be
destroyed. You do not tell the angel that the prophecy is a lie, but
you sit down so comfortably that it is clear that you do not believe
it. Or if you do, you need to be pressed again, and again, and again
to act as if it were true. Just now, as you took your seat, you missed
a diamond ring off your finger and you will not be at all
comfortable until you get home and see if it is there. You are
concerned about the loss of a ring, yet your souls are lost and you
are quite unconcerned about them. This terrible truth does not fret
and worry you! I wish it would, so that you would say, "I will
never rest till I know that I am saved through Jesus Christ the
Savior." Surely, madness is bound up in the heart of sinners or else
they would not need to be urged to escape.
"Well," say some of you, "we intend to think about this matter." I
know you do and that thought of yours is Satan's biggest net. He
has a number of nets of different sorts and sizes–some of them are
only meant for eagles and he does not often use them, for there are
not many eagles about. But he has a big net which he uses for
catching small birds. I picture the great enemy of souls going out
with his big net and I fancy I can hear him whistling with unholy
glee at the thought of the many birds he will take in it. This is the
style of his temptation–you are not to quibble at the Truth of God.
You are e not to be an avowed infidel. You are not to despise the
Savior, you are not to say that the salvation of your soul is an
unimportant matter, but you are to say to the minister, "Yes, Sir,
what you preach is all very true and I am glad you put it in the way
that you do. I like earnest preaching! I like to be told personally
about my need of salvation and I will attend to the matter very
soon–tomorrow, if possible. Oh, I just remembered there is
something on that day which will be rather in the way, but, as soon
as that is over, I will give heed to what you say." That is just what
has happened a long while with some of you, but you are no nearer
the deciding point.
A gentleman in this neighborhood told me that he could not come
to hear me preach again. I asked him, "Why is that?" "Well," he
answered, "I only came once and then you pointed me out and said,
'There sits a gray-headed old fool.' At least, you said that a gray-
headed old sinner is a gray-headed old fool." "Well," I said, "I do
not remember seeing you before, but are you a gray-headed old
sinner? Because, if you are, then you are the other thing as well."
He just looked at me and said nothing, and I have not seen him
since that time. I am afraid there are others here to whom I might
say just the same and it would be true. They must be foolish, for
they have not done what they have admitted it would be wise for
them to do! Again and again, a man has said, "I will do it." Now,
Sir, you are a fool to say, "I will do it," if it was a foolish thing! But
if it was a wise thing and you said, "I will do it," yet you have not
done it, what are you?
Some of you are good arithmeticians–will you take your pencils
and work out a sum for me? Here is a man of 50 years of age, and I
want you to calculate the probabilities of his ever being saved. He
had an excellent early training from a very godly father and mother
whose many prayers for him he cannot forget, though he remained
unsaved in spite of them all. He went to a Sunday school and had a
very gracious teacher who set him a good example and was very
earnest in pleading with him–but he would not yield. As he grew
up, he had many Christian friends who wrote letters to him and
used every possible opportunity to impress him. He resisted all that
and for 20 years attended the ministry of a very earnest preacher.
There was a great revival and many were saved, but he was not one
of them. Since then, he has been sitting under another very faithful
minister of God's Word and he has been impressed again and again.
Put that down and figure it out if you can. He has been impressed
50 times, or a hundred, perhaps 200 times and he has got over all
that. What are the probabilities that he will ever be saved? To tell
you the truth, I greatly fear that the probability is that the man will
be lost, that he never will be converted, but will continue as he has
already been despite every instrumentality that has been employed
on his behalf.
O you Sinners, with such terrible probabilities against you, you
do, indeed, need to be urged and gladly would we put our hands
upon you and urge you to escape for your lives, and to do it now,
for it is now or never with some of you who are present here
tonight! I have no doubt that if we could read the past history of
some who are here, we would see abundant reasons for urging them
to immediate decision. I have already shown you where these
reasons would be found and the probabilities against their
conversion. But, as to the future, happily that is hidden from all of
us. I am no prophet, nor the son of a prophet and, therefore, I shall
not attempt to utter a prediction. But you all must know that out of
some 6,000 persons assembled here, there is a great probability that
we shall not all be alive next Lord's Day. It is a certainty that we
shall never, all of us, meet here again, and the probability that some
of us will have gone from this earth before next Sabbath is very
great. In the membership of this Church, I notice, as regularly as
the year rolls around, that our death-list comes to between 50 and
seventy. There is usually one death a week or, if there should
happen to be one week in which a member of the Church does not
die, there will be two or three in the week following. The average is
one a week so that if not out of this present assembly, yet out of the
usual congregation at this Tabernacle, it is a certainty that two will
die in a week. Two, in a week!
I wonder where the two victims for this week are? Perhaps at
home, dying by degrees, with a good hope in Jesus Christ. Blessed
be God if that is the case! We will shout the harvest home as they
are gathered in! Possibly they are lying at home sick, yet without
hope. Let us pray for them if that is their condition. Lord, help
them to believe in Jesus Christ this very night, before they tread
death's awful road, O Lord, save them! But perhaps one out of the
two may be here, in good health, and unconverted. I am not saying
what is at all improbable, am I? It may be so and if I knew that
someone here would die before next Sabbath, I would beg him to
stay after the service, that I might give him a squeeze of the hand
and say to him, "My dear Friend, do not let this day go by without
your looking to Christ and committing your soul into His hands."
Now, as I do not know who it is to be, give me your hands, all of
you, all around the building. I should like to look you dear men and
women in the face and say to each one of you, "Now, dear Soul, do
not live and die without the Savior! Do lay this matter to heart. I
am not an angel, but I am one who would gladly do you good. If it
is right to believe in Jesus Christ, the sooner you do it, the better.
And if it is right to love and serve God, the sooner you do it, the
better. And if to trust in Christ's precious blood is the only safe
course, the sooner you do that, the better. May the eternal Spirit
come and lead you, even now, to lay hold on Jesus Christ and find
eternal life in Him this very hour!"
Now, look me in the face and say whether it shall be so or not. I
will not ask you to speak–there will be too much noise if you all do
so. But in your heart, I ask you to speak. Will you, or will you not?
This may be the turning point in your life's history. There is a spot,
under the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, where there is a mark made
by the chisel of a man who fell from the top and was killed. There
is also a mark, which angel eyes can see, in that pew, or in that
aisle, or up in that gallery where you have sat and said, "Not,
tonight. I will decide tomorrow." Or where you have said, "No, I
will not have anything to do with Christ." I wish that instead of
such a mark as that, there could be a star etched into the floor
which would mean, "Here, a poor soul believed in Jesus."
I know a little Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester. I went to
see it some time ago and I went into the very pew where I sat, as a
boy 15 years of age, and heard a sermon from the text, "Look unto
Me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth." I should have
liked to buy the seat and take it home, for I love the spot where
Jesus met with me and saved me. And there are some of you who
feel like that concerning these pews. They are very sacred to you
and always will be, for there you were born for God! Oh, that some
of you might be born here this very night! Some of you are in no
need of instruction–you need urging. You do not need to be
impressed concerning the guilt of your sins so much as to be urged
to give them up and to put your trust in Jesus Christ! You do not
need to be brought to the water so much as to be made to drink of
it. There it is. Oh, that you would open your mouths and let the
blessed stream flow in, for that is all that is needed! Receive Christ!
Receive Christ now, by a simple act of faith, and He will give you
Grace and strength to battle with your sins and to make you holy.
Oh, that now, now, NOW, the great work may be done!
I do not suppose you can hear this clock tick, but when you get
home, listen to your old clock on the stairs, or in your room, and it
will say to you, "Now, now, now, now." I have sometimes thought
that in the night I have heard the clock say, "Now or never! Now or
never! Now or never! Now or never! Now or never!" You need not
listen to me any longer, but listen to that message from the clock.
May the Holy Spirit speak to you through it, and may you answer,
"Now, even now, I will believe in Jesus Christ and be saved." May
God bless you! May Christ save you! Amen.
Ge 19:16 • Dangerous Lingering
ERMON 3450
Dangerous Lingering
"He lingered."
Genesis 19:16
LOT was highly favored. In the midst of a general destruction,
angels were sent to take care of him. He had received a warning
which many had not heard–and he had felt the terror that warning
would excite–while some who had heard the tidings little heeded
their imminent moment. Lot stood in the condition of one who
knew that he must leave the city, for it was about to be destroyed.
He intended to leave it. He was just about to take his departure, but,
nevertheless, hesitated a little, halted a while, avoided hurry,
protracted his stay with some attachment to the place where he had
dwelt, and so, in the face of danger, he hesitated. Being slow to
move when fully aware that judgment was swift to overtake, "He
lingered." I believe Lot to be in this respect the exact counterpart of
a great many hearers of the Gospel. They understand at least its
threats. They know something about the way of escape. They have
resolved to follow that way and they intend to do so very soon. Yet
for a long time they have halted on the verge of decision, almost
persuaded to be Christians. Strong as their resolution to become
followers of the Savior seems to be, unhappily they stop short, they
linger in their old condition–halting between two opinions. To such
persons I propose to address a few words of exhortation this
evening. First of all, to expostulate with you personally upon
personal mattersThen to speak to you about others, for I have the
full conviction that the man who lingers puts others in danger as
well as himself, just as Lot's lingering was hazardous to his
daughters and to his wife. And lastly, to commend the means which
I trust God will use tonight,similar to those which He used with
Lot, that some angelic hand or some Providential force may lay
hold upon the lingerer, that he may be brought out from the City of
Destruction and made to flee for help to Christ the Lord. I must
begin by speaking to–
THE PERSON WHO IS LINGERING.
I would like to be looked upon, just now, less as a preacher than
as a friend who is talking to the lingering one, the one almost
decided–talking to him in the most familiar tones, but, at the same
time, with the most earnest purpose. There are certain thoughts
which have been, and are still fermenting in my soul. I have heard
that a conclave was held in pandemonium. In the lower regions
Satan had called together all the devils who showed him allegiance
and he said to them, "I want one of you to go forth as a lying spirit
from this place to deceive many. The Gospel is being faithfully
preached and men are being won to Christ, my rival. Spirits of the
infernal pit, I desire your help that this Gospel may not spread
further! I pause while each one of you, my liege servants, shall tell
me of the devices you will use to prevent men from fleeing to
Christ. His device that shall seem wisest to my subtlety shall be
most fully employed among the sons of men." Then one spoke and
said, "O Prince of the infernal pit, I will go forth and tell men that
there is no God, no Heaven, no Hell, no hereafter." But the arch-
fiend said, "It is in vain! The Gospel has already gone so far with
the men of whom I am now thinking, that this would not be of use.
They know there is a God–they are sure of it. The testimony which
has been borne in the world has brought so much Light into it that
they cannot close their eyes to the fact–your device, though
admirable, will not succeed." Then up rose another, and he said, "I
shall insinuate doubts as to the authenticity of Scripture. I shall
belie the teachings of the Doctrines of the Word of God, and so
shall I keep them from Christ." But again the leader of that
conclave objected that this would scarcely suffice, for the multitude
had so heard the Gospel. And those whose conversion he was most
anxious to prevent were so conversant with its historical facts, that
they could not seriously question them. Neither could they live in
systematic doubt who had been schooled in positive belief. There
were many devices, but I will tell you which most of all struck
Satan, which he determined to use most among the sons of men. It
was this–one foul spirit said, "I will not insinuate doubts about the
existence of God or the truth of Scripture. I know it would not be of
any use. But this thing I will do–I will tell men that, though these
things are true and important, there is no hurry about them, there is
time enough and to spare–that they may wait a little till there is a
more convenient season, and then shall they attend to them." Now
the subtlety of Satan was pleased with this, and he said, "Servant,
go your way! You have invented the net in which the fowler shall
take more birds then in any other. Good speed to your enterprise.
This deadly poison will destroy innumerable souls!"
Feeling this to be the case, it shall be my earnest endeavor to tear
that net to pieces and to expose this poison, that none may be
entangled unawares and perish unwarned!
Coming back, then, to the purpose with which I started, earnestly
and personally to speak to the lingerer, I would like to ask you, my
beloved Friend, if this matter about which you are still hesitating is
not of vital importance to you? Itconcerns your soul, yourself, your
true self! It deals with your destiny, your impending, your eternal
destiny! You are immortal–you acknowledge a deathless principle
within you–and you are conscious that you shall live forever in
happiness or woe. Do you think you ought to put off all preparation
for the future that awaits you? If I knew that someone was about to
defraud you of your estate, and that unless you were diligent about
it you would lose all your property, I think I would say to you,
"Bestir yourself!" If I knew that some deadly disease had begun to
prey on your constitution and that, if neglected, it would soon gain
an ascendancy with which it were hard to grapple, I think I would
say, "Go to the physician. Do not delay, for bodily health is very
precious." But, dear Friend, if your estate is precious, much more
your soul! And if the health of this poor clay ought to be looked to,
much more the welfare of your soul–the welfare of your soul
forever! Do you not think, if anything should be postponed, it
should be something of less importance? Was not Christ right when
He said, "Seek, first, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness"?
Does not your reason agree that He was right in putting that first? I
shall not need to argue with you. I speak as to a man who has his
wits about him. Is it not so? Suppose you look to getting on in the
world, first–you may die and be lost before you have got on!
Suppose the taking of a degree at the university should be your first
concern–that would be a poor recompense. The honors of learning
could not mitigate the terrors of judgment! Do you not feel now (if
you will let your better nature speak) that the very first thing a man
should see to should be this–to be reconciled to God and be all
right with Him for eternity?
I will then ask you another question–is there anything so very
pleasant in a state of enmity to God, that you should wish to remain
in it? Why should Lot want to linger in Sodom? He had often been
vexed there. The very night, before, he had his house beset with
rioters! Why should he want to linger? Have you found any great
comfort in being undecided? Is there anything very fascinating in
remaining hesitant and halting between two opinions? Dear Friend,
if your condition is at all like what mine was before I believed in
Jesus, I know you would be glad enough to get out of it! Oh, how
earnest I was, sometimes, in seeking Christ! Oh, how wretched I
was at other times that I could not find Him! Then, again, I was
stupidly senseless about Divine things, and my self-upbraiding
would not let me be at peace. It is a most unhappy condition to be
in–to have Light enough to know that you are in the dark and no
more–to have just enough Grace to feel that you have not the Grace
that can save you–to be enough awakened to feel that if you remain
as you are, you must perish forever! I do not see anything in this
hesitating condition that should allure you to keep in it any longer
than you can help. Beloved Friends, have you ever seriously
weighed–if not I will ask you to do so–the solemnity of the
destruction which must come upon you if you are not decidedly a
Believer in Christ and, on the other hand, the unspeakable glory
and bliss which will belong to you if you are led to trust in Jesus
and are saved?
I can scarcely give you the details of a little incident in Russian
history which might illustrate the emergency. The Czar had died
suddenly and in the dead of night one of the counselors of the
empire came to the Princess Elizabeth and said to her, 'You must
come at once and take possession of the crown." She hesitated, for
there were difficulties in the way, and she did not desire the
position. But he said, "Now sit down, Princess, for a minute," Then
he drew her two pictures. One was the picture of herself and the
Count thrown into prison, racked with tortures, and presently both
brought out to die beneath the axe. "That," he said, "you can have
if you like." The other picture was of herself with the imperial
crown of all of Russia on her brow, and all the princes bowing
before her, and all the nation doing her homage. "That," said he, "is
the other side of the question. But, tonight, your Majesty must
choose which it shall be." With the two pictures vividly depicted
before her mind's eye, she did not hesitate long, but cast in her
choice for the crown. Now I would gladly paint for you two such
pictures, only I lack the skill. You will either sink forever down in
deeper and yet deeper woe, filled with remorse because you
brought it all upon yourself, or else, if you decide for Christ and
rest in Him, you shall enter the bliss of those who forever and
forever without admixture of grief enjoy happiness before the
Throne of God! To my mind there ought to be no halting as to the
choice. It should be made. I pray God's Holy Spirit to help you to
make it tonight! On this winged hour, eternity is hung. The choice
of this night may be the cooling of the wax which now is soft. Once
cooled, it will bear the impress throughout eternity! God grant it
may be a resolve for Christ, for His cause, for His Cross, for His
crown!
I would like still, dear Friend, to hold you by the button which I
laid hold of just now, and to say to you, What is itthat has kept you
waiting so long? Did I not meet you some years ago in the street,
and you said to me, "Sir, I have been a hearer of yours for many
years." And I said, "Oh, yes, and when did you join the Church?"
And you said, "Ah, I have never done that." And I asked, "Why
not?" And you were honest enough to say, "Because I am afraid I
should be very much out of place there, for I am not a Believer in
Christ." Do you recollect how I squeezed your hand and said, "Ah,
I hope it will not be long before you give your heart to the Lord,"
and you said, "Well, I hope so, too"? It is a good long while now–
and you have been getting gray since then. I dare say if I saw you
tonight and put the same question to you, you would make the
same reply! And in ten years, time, if you and I live, we shall be
still relatively in the same position–I still pleading, and you still
saying–"yes, yes, yes, it is very right." No, no, I answer, it is very
wrong, that consenting without complying, not doing what the
Gospel bids you do, yielding and resisting, as it were, by turns.
Repenting and then forgetting. "Forgetting?" Yes, forgetting, and
forgetting, till these delays will cast you into irrevocable ruin!
What is it you are waiting on, my Friend? Is there some sin you
cannot give up? What sin is worth being damned for? If there is
one, keep on with it. I defy you to defend your negligence! Put it to
this test–if there is any supposable delight that is worth the
endurance of eternal wrath, pursue that delight, however sensual it
may be, with avidity! But if there is not, do not play the fool or act
the madman! Do I hear you plead ignorance? I would make some
excuse for you, if I thought the plea was just and true, but suppose
for a minute that it is so? Then, dear Friend, ought not you to begin
to search the Scriptures? Should not you be making intensely
earnest enquiries that you might know the certainty of these things?
For the soul to be without knowledge is not good. But if you are
perishing for lack of knowledge, there certainly is no reason why
you should! Many of us would only be too delighted if we might
tell you still more fully what is the way of salvation. "Well, but it is
inconvenient just now!" Are you promising yourself a more
favorable opportunity? Let me ask you, Do you imagine you will
be any better off tomorrow than you are today? Do you think in ten
years' time you will be more likely to lay hold on Christ than you
are now? I do not think you will. Have you ever seen sponges that
have been turned into flints? Well, that is a slow process–it takes a
long time. The same process, however, is gradually happening to
you. Every year you are getting more flinty. The drip, drip, drip of
this world's care and sin is petrifying you! You are getting stony. It
strikes me the best time to repent in is this moment–and the very
best season in which to fly to Jesus is now! Before yet the clock
has ticked again, your heart will have grown more callous. It
certainly does not soften. When will there be any influence more
potent than there is now to help you? The Spirit of God is ready
now. Do you need more than His power? The blood of Christ is a
full Atonement for sin. Do you need anything more than that for
your salvation? Do you expect Christ to come down again on earth
to save you? Do you need any promise fuller than that which the
Bible has in it now, or any invitation more gracious than that which
the Gospel gives to you now–"Today is the accepted time: today is
the day of salvation." I pray you, my lingering Friend, linger no
longer! Oh, how I wish I could put my hands in yours and lead you
to the Savior! But I cannot. I will, however, pray Him to lead you
this very night!
"I will think of it," you say. No, that is the very thing I do not
want you to do! I want you to believe in Jesus now,and not talk
about thinking of it tomorrow. In your seat, if you will rest in Jesus,
and trust your soul in His hands, you are saved this very moment!
It is an instantaneous work–
"The moment a sinner believes,
And trusts in his crucified God,
His pardon at once he receives,
Salvation in full through His blood!"
Oh, that you would exercise that simple faith, now, and not talk
about thinking of it tomorrow, for tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,
alas, tomorrow never comes! It is in no calendar, except the
almanac of fools! Each day to the wise man is today as it comes.
The fool wastes today, and so wastes all his life. O Lingerer, I
beseech you, think now of the long time you have lingered. It may
well suffice you–it has surely been long enough, and I would say to
you, in the words of one of old, "How long halt you between two
opinions?" And quote the saying of yet another, "Choose you this
day whom you will serve." And may God the Holy Spirit guide the
choice, and He shall have the praise!
Now I need to speak a little upon another topic.
II. I REMIND THE LINGERER THAT WHILE HE LINGERS,
HE ENDANGERS THE SOULS OF OTHER PEOPLE.
When Lot went to his sons-in-law and told them that the city was
to be destroyed, "he was to them as one that mocked." How would
they say to him, "Go to, old dotard! Do you think we believe you?
The sky is clear and blue, and the sun has risen–dot you think we
believe your nonsense about fire and brimstone coming out of
Heaven? We don't believe you." When Lot lingered, he was
defeating his own purpose and doing the worst imaginable thing, if
he wanted to convince his sons-in-law that he spoke the truth, for
while he lingered, they would say, "The old fool does not believe it,
himself, for if he did believe it, he would pack up and hasten away!
No, he would take his daughters by the hand and lead than out of
the city at once." A little hesitancy in the conduct of a man who
said that he believed a dreadful judgment was imminent would be
sufficient to give them umbrage–quite reason enough to make them
say, "He does not believe, himself, what he tells us." Have not
some of you spoken seriously to others about the value of their
souls, though you are not saved? Did you try the other day to
rebuke a swearer? I am glad you did. You are a member of a
Temperance Association and you do what you can to stop
drunkenness. I am glad you do. You will not allow sin to pass
unrebuked in your presence. But, listen, Man, with what face do
you reprove others while you are not decided yourself? Where is
your consistency? If they should turn round on you and say, "If
there is anything reliable in the Grace of God, why are you not
reconciled to Him? If there is anything desirable in religion, why
do you not walk according to its precepts? If Christ is a Savior,
why do you not yield to Him and obey His ordinances?" I know not
what answer you could give! I cannot imagine any response but a
blush that should betoken your shame and confusion of face!
The mischief that Lot did to his daughters was yet more
aggravated, for all the while he was hesitating, they weresure to
hesitate, too. He was keeping them waiting. They were in jeopardy
as well as himself. How many comrades, young Man, you might
have instructed in the faith before now had you been yourself
decided? It is a happy circumstance when a young married couple
become converted to God before their little ones are able to imitate
a bad example. I thank God for a father whom I know and honor–
that of his children there is only one that can recollect the time
when the evening was spent in playing cards–and that one
recollects the night when the cards were all thrown into the fire and
burnt! Only one of his children recollects when the Sabbath was
known to be spent in quiet walks and pleasant recreations, but not
in public worship or private devotion. He recollects the rearing of
the family altar, when prayer was made a household institution. He
can well remember the earnest entreaties made that the father's sin
might not be visited upon the children. Oh, happy circumstance!
Had the parents been converted later in life, the ill example might
never have been wiped out! The converted father might have found
that the children did not emulate the good example of his
regenerate state, but did rather imitate him in the negligence and
sinfulness of his natural unrenewed life. When you, who are
parents, habitually demur and hesitate, do you not think that other
members of your family will hesitate, too? I have noticed it
frequently, where there is a man or a woman knowing the Truth of
God in a measure, but not decided. It almost always happens that
when the husband or the wife is in the same condition, the moment
the father gets savingly converted, the wife comes and avows her
faith. Not infrequently the children follow suit! It only needed
somehow, in God's Providence, the decision of the head of the
household! This has led the others to decision. It becomes,
therefore, a very mournful reflection that there should be men and
women lingering upon the brink of the grave who are helping
others to linger–their example being the means of keeping others in
a state of perilous hazard! You must know, many of you, that it is
so with you! Therefore, I shall leave the Truth to weigh upon your
conscience, hoping it will stir you up to decision.
Let me venture to make one other observation here. I should not
wonder if, perhaps, the death of Lot's wife mightpartly be
attributed to Lot, himself. If you think that this is a severe
reflection, I would remind you that she must have seen her husband
hesitate. She was a woman far lower down in the scale than he
was–when, therefore, she saw him lingering, it was no wonder if
that contagious example led her to look back. Perhaps among the
regrets of Lot throughout the rest of his life, there would be this
one, "I did not hurry myself out of that city as I should. I was in no
hurry. I tarried, and lingered, and paused. I had almost to be
dragged out by the angels' hands." And this, it may be, led Lot's
wife to look back with lingering–and then to be turned into a pillar
of salt. O undecided Man! I would not like you to feel that the
blood of your wife was on your skirts. O undecided Father! I would
dread to have you think, in years to come, "The loss of my
children's souls was due to my procrastination." Alas, it may be so–
it may be so! Therefore now, with a Brother's earnest affection, let
me come to you and say, "You intend to believe. You have resolved
to be a Christian. You are no Atheist, and no scoffer. You are not
hardened and rebellious–your heart is soft and tender and ready for
these things–then yield it now, yield it up completely this night to
that dear hand that once was crucified! That hand shall mold you
according to its own will. Thus says the Spirit of God to you
tonight, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved,
for, "he that believes and is baptized shall be saved." He that
believes not–though he may have resolved to believe, if he dies
believing not–must be damned! Our last word was to be this–
III. LET US PRAY FOR THE LINGERERS, that they may by
some means be hastened. I do not expect to see angels come
walking down these aisles, or threading their way through these
pews tonight. But I do trust that a messenger from God will come,
notwithstanding that. Sometimes lingerers have been quickened
and decided by their own reflections being blessed to them by the
Holy Spirit. A very simple observation was once the means of
deciding a man. He was a mechanic and a man of a mathematical
turn of mind. He had attended a meeting. The meeting was held in
an upper room, and going below the stairs, his attention was
attracted by the beam that had supported the people, and he said to
himself, "What a weight there must have been upon that!" Just at
that very minute, into his mind there flashed, "And what a weight
there is resting upon you!" How that thought followed the other, I
cannot tell, but as he turned it over, it did seem to him that he had a
weight of sin enough to crush him–that he could not bear up under
such a weight as that–and that his soul would come down in ruin
like many a building whose beams have not been strong enough
and have, at last, given way. I mind not what form the thought may
take–I only pray that some such thought may come home and
decide you!
Occasionally, a good man has been the means of suggesting the
deciding thought. A smith was blowing his bellows in a smithy one
day, when the saintly McCheyne stepped into the smithy for a
shelter from a shower of rain. As the smith was blowing the coals
and they were at a great heat, he simply said to him, "What does
that fire make you think of?" He never gave an answer–and
McCheyne went his way. It made the smith think of the wrath to
come, and it made him flee from it, too! We cannot tell what may
be, in the gracious Providence of God, the means of bringing you
to decision. He that used an angel's hand with Lot, can use a well-
timed observation with you. Therefore I urge all Christian people to
use every opportunity and study to season their conversation with
Divine Grace! Sow beside all waters, for you know not which may
prosper–this or that. Sometimes men have been decided by the
deaths of their relatives or their friends. "I may be the next," has
been suggested to them. When the dear child has been buried, it has
made the afflicted father reflect that he shall never meet it in
Heaven unless he mends his ways. So, too, the bereaved mother, in
the bitterness of her heart, has sought a Savior in the hope that she
might meet her baby, again, in the better land. Such things are
good. They are blessed deaths that bring eternal life to the
survivors! These little ones well spend their lives in winging their
flight to Paradise and showing us the way. But surely, dear Friend,
you don't require a distressing visitation to decide you! I trust your
heart will be given to Christ without the dire necessity that you
should lose those you love on earth.
Occasionally, and very occasionally, persons have been decided
by personal sickness. Some, but oh, how few, have witnessed the
good confession in the hour of death. A soldier in the army of the
Potomac, of whom I somewhere read, was taken to the rear to die.
He was badly wounded. He was also suffering from fever.
Someone had told him, just before the fever came on, of a soldier
found asleep at his post who was condemned to die. The poor
fellow, in his delirium, imagining that he was that soldier, cried out
to the doctor who was attending him, "Sir, I am to be shot
tomorrow morning, and as I wish to have all right, I want you to
send for the chaplain at once. I need to see him." The doctor, to
calm his fears, said. "No, no, you are not to be shot tomorrow
morning. It's a mistake." "Oh, but I am," he said, "I know I shall."
"But I will be here," said the doctor, "and if anyone comes to touch
you, I will have him arrested. I will take care you shall not die." "Is
it so, Doctor?" he said, in calmer accents, "then you need not send
for the chaplain. I shall not need him just yet." So the truth came
out that fear, not faith, animated him, though it was but spoken in a
feverish fit. How many men, if they thought they were going to die,
would say, "Oh, yes, let all be said and done that it is right to say
and do!" But persuade them that they are likely to live a little
longer, they will wait and adjourn their faith while they can calm
their fear. Not very often is the decision genuine which men arrive
at under the stress of that fear which comes of impending
dissolution. May God's spirit deepen in some here present their
sense of sin! May your crimes sting you. May you feel your guilt.
May you hate yourselves because of your transgressions. May you
be distressed because of your ingratitude, your disobedience, your
unbelief! Then you will long to get rid of this horrible evil, this
enmity against God! May you feel tonight what a mischievous
thing it is for the creature to be at variance with his Creator, for
man to be out of order with his God! What a shameful thing it is for
the most favored of creatures to be unfriendly to the Sovereign that
favors him! What an incredible thing it is, that while the ox knows
its owner and the ass its master's crib, man, the object of Divine
Love, should not know his Lord, his Friend, his Benefactor! Oh,
may you give no rest to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids till
you have opened your mouth to profess the name of the Lord and
fled for refuge to take hold of His righteousness and strength! Oh,
that you might be too agitated to sleep till you have confessed your
sin into the ear of the Great Elder Brother, and sought pardon from
your God through Christ your Savior. There is forgiveness, there is
mercy to be had–to be had now! Whoever believes in Christ Jesus
shall be saved! Believing is trusting, relying in simple but sincere
dependence. May His Grace enable you to cast yourselves upon
His mercy and credit His promise in this good hour, so you shall be
this night enrolled among the saved, and He shall have all the
praise! The Lord grant it, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
Ge 19:16 • Lingerers Hastened
ERMON 0789
Lingerers Hastened
"And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and
upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters
the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and
set him outside the city."
Genesis 19:16
EVEN as Lot lingered in Sodom, awakened sinners are apt to
tarry long in their sin and unbelief. Some few are suddenly brought