Part 6
are comfortable in heart, beautiful in the sight of God and are no
more ashamed!
Next, by way of encouragement in pursuing the Christian life, I
would say to young people–expect to be assailed. If you have fallen
into trouble through being a Christian, be encouraged by it! Do not
at all regret or fear it, but rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for
this is the constant token of the Covenant! There is still enmity
between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent–and if
you did not experience any of it, you might begin to fear that you
were on the wrong side! Now that you smart under the sneer of
sarcasm and oppression, rejoice and triumph, for now are you
partakers with the glorious Seed of the woman in the bruising of
His heel.
Still further encouragement comes from this. Your suffering as a
Christian is not brought upon you for your own sake–you are
partners with the great Seed of the woman! You are confederates
with Christ! You must not think the devil cares much about you–the
battle is against Christ in you. Why, if you were not in Christ, the
devil would never trouble you! When you were without Christ in
the world you might have sinned as you like. Your relatives and
work-mates would not have been at all grieved with you–they
would rather have joined you in it! But now the serpent's seed
hates Christ in you. This exalts the sufferings of persecution to a
position far above all common afflictions!
I have heard of a woman who was condemned to death, in the
Marian days, and before her time came to be burned, a child was
born to her and she cried out in her sorrow. A wicked adversary,
who stood by, said, "How will you bear to die for your religion if
you make such ado?" "Ah," she said, "Now I suffer in my own
person as a woman, but then I shall not suffer, but Christ in me."
Nor were these idle words, for she bore her martyrdom with
exemplary patience and rose in her chariot of fire in holy triumph
to Heaven! If Christ is in you, nothing will dismay you, but you
will overcome the world, the flesh and the devil by faith.
Last of all, let us always resist the devil with this belief, that he
has received a broken head. I am inclined to think that Luther's
way of laughing at the devil was a very good one, for Satan is
worthy of shame and everlasting contempt. Luther once threw an
inkstand at his head when he was tempting him very sorely, and
though the act, itself, appears absurd enough, yet it was a true type
of what that great Reformer was all his life long, for the books he
wrote were truly a flinging of the inkstand at the head of the fiend!
That is what we have to do–we are to resist him by all means. Let
us do this bravely and tell him to his teeth that we are not afraid of
him.
Tell him to remember his bruised head, which he tries to cover
with a crown of pride, or with a popish hood, or with an infidel
doctor's hood. We know him and see the deadly wound he bears.
His power is gone! He is fighting a lost battle! He is contending
against Omnipotence! He has set himself against the oath of the
Father, against the blood of the Incarnate Son! He dares to set
himself against the eternal power and Godhead of the blessed
Spirit, all of which are engaged in the defense of the Seed of the
woman in the day of battle!
Therefore, Brothers and Sisters, be steadfast in resisting the Evil
One, being strong in faith, giving glory to God–
"'Tis by Your blood, immortal Lamb,
Your armies tread the tempter down!
'Tis by Your Word and powerful name.
They gain the battle and renown.
Rejoice you heavens! Let every star
Shine with new glories round the sky:
Saints, while you sing the heavenly war,
Raise your Deliverer's name on high."
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–
Genesis 3.HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–335,
477, 322.
Ge 3:18 • Thorns and Thistles
ERMON 2299
Thorns And Thistles
"Thorns, also, and thistles shall it bring forth to you."
Genesis 3:18
THIS was not the penalty which might have been pronounced
upon Adam. This curse does not fall directly on him–it glances
obliquely and falls upon the ground whereon he stands–"Cursed is
the ground for your sake." It is not from materialism that a curse
comes upon the spirit of man, but it is from the erring spirit that the
curse falls upon the material creation. Let us notice this and learn
from it the infinite mercy of God, in that, while the curse falls upon
the serpent distinctly, and his head is bruised, yet upon Adam it
comes, as I have said, obliquely. "Cursed is the ground for your
sake." "Thorns, also, and thistles shall it bring forth to you." God,
in His justice, never goes beyond justice even in pronouncing His
severest sentence, but here, in this life, He tempers His justice with
great patience and long-suffering, "Not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance."
Another thing is very noticeable, that though the ground was now
to bear thorns and thistles to Adam, yet he was to be above ground
and alive to till it. Had the sentence been carried out to the fullest, a
yawning grave would have opened at his feet and there would have
been no more of Adam–but he was permitted, still, to live. Now,
whenever thorns and thistles spring up about your path, do not
murmur. "Why does a living man complain?" When a felon lies in
the dungeon and the sentence of death has been passed upon him, if
his life is spared, he may be quite content to live on bread and
water for the rest of his days. Thank God that you are not in Hell!
Thank God that life is still prolonged to you! You are on praying
ground and pleading terms with God, even though that ground may
bring forth thorns and thistles to you. "He has not dealt with us
after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." We are
still spared. And though there are thorns and thistles springing up
around us, still, that is a light punishment compared with what we
really deserve to suffer.
And, then, notice one thing more, how sweetness can be extracted
from that which is sour. If the ground was to bring forth thorns and
thistles to Adam, then he was still to live. Not only was he alive,
but he was still to live on, for the Lord added, "And you shall eat
the herb of the field." Although the sentence took away from Adam
the luscious fruits of Paradise, yet it secured him a livelihood. He
was to live–the ground was to bring forth enough of the herb of the
field for him to continue to exist. Albeit that henceforth all he ate
was to be with the sweat of his face, yet he was to have enough to
eat, and he was to live on. Thorns and thistles might multiply, but
there would be the herb of the field for him, and he would be
spared. The promises of God are often veiled by His threats and if
faith can only look beneath the rough covering of the message,
something cheerful and hopeful may be found within.
Brothers and Sisters, you will have trials! Thorns, also, and
thistles shall the ground bring forth to you, but your bread shall be
given you, your waters shall be sure! You have been provided for
until now, notwithstanding many straits and trials, and it shall be so
to the end. The manna shall not cease till you eat the old corn of
Canaan. Till you need no more, God will not cease to feed you all
your life. So, if the text, tonight, shall sound somewhat gloomy,
and you expect a very thorny and thistly sermon, yet I trust that
there will be much to cheer and comfort those of you who have
found it true in your experience–"Thorns, also, and thistles shall it
bring forth to you."
I should like to say to those here who have their portion in this
life, that it is not much of a portion. Thorns, also, and thistles shall
it bring forth to you and, if this is all you have, you have a very
poor pittance to live upon–
"There is beyond the sky
A Heaven of joy and love,"
but beneath the sky there is no such Heaven! Even for the godly
there are thorns and thistles, but for you who are not godly, thorns
and thistles are all that you have! If you have no heritage on the
other side of Jordan, in the land of the hereafter, in the dwelling
place of the blessed, it were better for you that you had never been
born! Notwithstanding all the transient delights that you now
possess, they will only be as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
soon over, and nothing but a handful of ashes left in everlasting
darkness. Oh, that you would learn from this not to set your
affection upon things below, but to be looking for a better and a
brighter land, where the thorn never grows, and the thistle never
springs up!
But now let us come to the handling of our text, thorny though it
may seem to be.
And, first, A GENERAL FACT is here stated. This fact we will
consider. Ever since that first sin of our first parents, this has been
generally true of the whole human race, not only of the earth,
literally, but of everything else round about us, "Thorns, also, and
thistles shall it bring forth to you."
It is so with regard to the natural world. This world is full of
beauty; it is full of light; it yields a thousand pleasures; but still, it
is full of terror. There is much, indeed, to distress the frail mortals
who live in this world. Have you ever been to sea in a storm? Have
you not felt as if Nature were at war with you then? Have you
never been on the land in some tremendous thunderstorm, when the
whole earth seemed to shake, and the skies were split with the fiery
bolts? Ah, then you have felt that this world is not quite a paradise
since man has become a sinner! The stars of Heaven do not fight
for him, but they sometimes fight against him. There are many
things in this world, with its stern laws, that make it a place that has
not all the comfort that a creature might wish. He is a sinful
creature and although he does not suffer all the discomfort that he
deserves, yet this world is changed from what it was when God
placed Adam in it to delight himself in Paradise!
As it is in the natural world, so it is in the social world. You go
out into the wide world of trade and business and I think you find
that thorns, also, and thistles does it bring forth to you. You do not
have a week's dealing, a week's work, a week's going to and fro in
this world without getting a pricking thorn here and there. If we do
not all have to complain of this experience, I think we who are
Christians will all admit that the world is not congenial to a
believing man or woman. The society of the world is not helpful to
a holy heart. To have to mix in it is rather a task for which we need
much Grace, as we cry, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil." You cannot have much to do with the men of the world
without finding that many of them are sharper than a thorn hedge–
and you cannot go to and fro in the earth without discovering that
you are surrounded by those who make thorns and thistles to grow
up all around you. Be not surprised when this is the case, for it is
only what your Lord foretold–"If the world hates you, you know
that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own: but because you are not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates
you."
It is the same, also, in the religious world. We read, in the Book
of Hosea, that they turned aside from God and set up altars. And
afterwards it is said, "The thorns and the thistles shall come up on
their altars." The worst thorns and thistles that ever wound my
heart are those that grow in religious circles. To see God's Truth
dishonored, to have the Glory of Christ's Substitution denied, to
hear doctrines preached which would be novel if they were not old
errors newly vamped and brought forth from the oblivion in which
they deserved to rot–and to see Christian people behave themselves
as some of them do, having little respect to the name of Him whom
they profess to serve, and bringing discredit on the Sacred cause for
which they ought to be willing to die rather than to cast a slur upon
it–these are thorns and thistles that pierce us to the very heart! You
can neither live in the Church nor live in the world without finding
that this present state of life brings forth thorns and thistles to men,
yes, to Christian men, too! Not only to the first Adam and to his
seed, but to the second Adam and to His seed, this present state has
this as one of its certain characteristics, "Thorns, also, and thistles
shall it bring forth to you."
I will go a little further, and tread upon delicate ground. I am
afraid that there are many of you who have felt that, even in the
little family world in which you move, you are not left without
trials. God, when he took away Paradise as our home, gave us
home to be our paradise! And if there is a place where all happiness
is to be found, it is around the family hearth. "East and west, home
is best." "There is no place like home." Yet where is there a home
without affliction? The dear child whom you love, sickens and dies.
Perhaps the wife or the husband may be taken away to the long
home; or poverty comes in; or one whom you love dearer than
yourself pines daily with constant sickness and frequent agony. No,
we must not expect perfect peace, perfect happiness even in the
home which is blessed with morning and evening prayer, where
God locks up the door at night and draws the curtains in the
morning–no, not even there, my dear Friends, shall we be free from
the curse that sin brought into this fair world. Still will this word
follow us into the sacred precincts of our own dwellings, "Thorns,
also, and thistles shall it bring forth to you."
And it is so if you get a little closer home, still, to the microcosm
or little world of your own self. There is no part of man which does
not yield him its thorns. Many of us have a thorn in the flesh. Is
there any part of the body which may not, if God so wills it,
become the subject of disease and, consequently, the source of pain
to us? I know some whom God dearly loves–I know He loves
them, for He favors them very highly–who, nevertheless, find that
in the body of this flesh there are the seeds of corruption. There are
the bitter wells of Marah by reason of sharp pain of body and, as to
the mind, itself, what mind is there that is full of faith and most
joyful in the Lord which is not naturally, still, the subject of grief?
There will come times of depression, seasons of apprehension,
nights when the Light of God's Countenance is withdrawn, or
when, though we know that we possess the love of God, it is not
shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit to the same extent as in
our brighter hours. Yes, and even in the soul, itself, by reason of the
imperfection of our sanctification, from the fact that we are not so
filled by the Spirit, and not so conscious of the abiding of the Spirit
within us as we yet shall be, thorns, also, and thistles are brought
forth to us.
I may be speaking to some who can say, with an emphasis, that
they oftentimes find great crops of thistles springing up in their
hearts. And they have to keep the sickle of sacred mortification
going to cut them down and they try, if possible, to dig them up by
the roots. But thus it is–you cannot expect a perfect life of
happiness in an imperfect world like this. No, your Savior carried
the Cross, and you will have a cross of some kind or other to carry
after Him. "Thorns, also, and thistles shall it bring forth to you."
Now, still dwelling on this dreary fact, as we have it foretold in
the text, let us learn from the text, itself, first, that trials will come
spontaneously. Nobody is so foolish as to sow thorns and thistles. I
have often wondered who that great fool must have been, who,
being a Scotchman, desired to see the old Scotch thistle growing up
in New Zealand and, therefore, sent a packet of seed out there to
poison, with his precious thistle, that land where there were none
before! I think the man who would venture to sow even one seed of
a thistle in such a world as this, where thistles grow quite
plentifully enough, must have gone a long way in folly. But if, dear
Friend, you never cause trouble to others and do nothing that can
bring trouble to yourself–and you will be a wonderfully wise man
if that is the case–still, troubles will come of themselves! If you
need a herb of the field that you are to feed upon, you must sow it.
Your wheat and your barley, you must sow with care. As to the
thorns and thistles, you need not take any trouble about sowing
them–they will spring up of themselves spontaneously–and so will
the afflictions and tribulations of this life come to you without any
effort on your part!
And, as they come spontaneously, so trials will come
unavoidably. I care not how careful a man may be with his farm–he
will find thorns and thistles springing up and needing to be
destroyed! He may have plowed and harrowed, and done his best to
get rid of every thistle in autumn before it has seeded, and yet he
cannot keep the troublesome things out–they will be sure to come.
So you may rest assured that troubles of heart, and troubles of
body, and troubles of mind will come to you, watch and guard
against them as you may! All the prudence and care, yes, and all
the prayer and faith that you can summon to your help, will not
keep you clear of these thorns and thistles. As they are
spontaneous, so are they unavoidable.
To many, also, trials are very abundant. "Thorns, also, and
thistles"–not a thorn and a thistle–but thorns and thistles, and
plenty of them, shall it bring forth to you. If any of you are vexed
with trial after trial, I pray you do not think it a strange thing–you
are not at all alone in such an experience. Many of you, because of
your troubles, will get alone, and say, "I am the man that has seen
affliction." Stop! I can find you another man who can equal you,
and many women who can surpass you in their afflictions! The
path of sorrow is trodden by thousands of feet–it is hard with
traffic–but as it leads to the eternal Kingdom when a Believer's
foot is upon it–we need only rejoice to follow the footsteps of the
flock and look upon our trials as the tokens that we are where the
great Shepherd leads us. Thus we sing–
"Is this, dear Lord, that thorny road
Which leads us to the mount of God?
Are these the toils Your people know,
'Tis even so, Your faithful love
Does thus Your children's Graces prove–
'Tis thus our pride and self must fall,
That Jesus may be All in All."
Thorns and thistles come abundantly–and trials come very
variously. It is not only one form of trouble, but other forms,
also–"Thorns, also, and thistles." You may think that it is bad
enough to be ill, yourself, but to be poor as well, to also have a sick
child and to be assailed by a slanderous enemy, seems more than
you can bear! Ah, well, you are to expect these things! If you had
only one form of trouble, perhaps you would grow used to it and,
therefore, it might lose its effect. It is the very fact that it wounds
that makes it useful to us! Solomon says, "By the sadness of the
countenance the heart is made better." No tribulation for the present
is joyous–if it were, it would not be tribulation at all! If the rod
does not make the child smart, what is the use of it? And if our
troubles do not make us grieve, why, then, they are not troubles,
and there is no room for Divine Grace to support us under them!
We may expect to have trials of every sort and size, for they attend
the followers of the Lamb as long as they are in the world that lies
under this curse. "Thorns, also, and thistles shall it bring forth to
you."
I think that, without straining the text, I may say that trials will
come very frequently, for thorns and thistles seem to spring up very
early in the morning, and very early in the spring, and very late in
the autumn, and even far into the winter! When is there a time
when a man in this world, yes, a Christian, too, can be sure that he
will be perfectly free from trouble?
And trials come universally. I have seen thorns and thistles on the
tops of the Surrey Hills, growing by myriads, enough to seed a
kingdom with them! And if you go down into the valley, into the
poor man's little plot of ground, you will find thorns and thistles
there. They grow in the gardens of Windsor Castle as well as in the
backyard of your lodging house. Thorns, also, and thistles grow
anywhere–on dunghills or in conservatories! They seem to be
universally scattered! The downy wings carry the thistle seed
everywhere and it springs up in most unlikely places. If you think
that other people are to be envied because of their freedom from
trial, it is possible that if you knew more about them, you would
find that they were to be pitied, and that your lot, after all, is much
better than theirs!
Now, I am not going to say any more about this general fact, a
fact which I suppose most of you know quite as well as I do, that
thorns and thistles, trials and troubles, abound in this sin-cursed
world.
II. But now, in the second place, THIS FACT HAS TO BE
FACED–"Thorns, also, and thistles shall it bring forth to you."
Now know this, you Christian people, especially, know this, and
then it will prevent disappointments. If you begin your Christian
life imagining that because you are a Christian, everything is to go
smoothly with you and that you are henceforth never to have any
more troubles, you will be bitterly disappointed when the thorns
and thistles begin to spring up! Expect them! Look forward to them
and then, when they do come, half of their sting will be gone! You
will say, "Well, when I took this farm, I knew that thorns and
thistles would spring up, I calculated upon seeing them. Now that
they have come up, to be forewarned is, in a great measure, to be
forearmed–I shall not sit down and weep with bitter
disappointment, for what I suffer is no more than I expected."
In the next place, the knowledge of this fact will awaken
gratitude. If you have not a little lot of thorns and thistles, be
thankful that you have not. And if you are saying to yourself,
"Well, I trust that I am a Christian, but really, I have not any very
great trouble. I seem to sail on a mill pond, everything goes
smoothly with me." Thank God for it. It should tend to make you
grateful if there is no bitter in your cup, when you might have
expected that there would be. Then drink the sweet with gratitude
and pour out a portion for the poor–and have sympathy with others
who are not as favored in this respect as you are! This fact should
arouse your gratitude.
In the next place, being forewarned that there will be thorns and
thistles, should brace up your soul to expect them. The finest men
in all the world are not to be found in the warm, genial climates,
where the earth has only to be tickled with a hoe and it laughs with
plenty! The strongest and the most enterprising spirits have been
found at the back of the north wind, where there are frosts and ice,
and long, dreary winters, and men have a hard struggle for a
livelihood. They become real men under that stern training! Now, if
there were no thorns and thistles, no struggles and no trials, should
we have any brave Christians? Should we have any great and noble
souls at all? When did the Church yield her best men of Christ!
These are silken days and we have wretched specimens of
Christians everywhere–but if the times of persecution were to
come, once more, with the rough winds blowing, and the whole sea
of the world tossed in tempest, we should then find brave sailors
who would put the ship's head to the wind and ride safely over the
stormy billows in the name of the Eternal God! It is, perhaps, the
worst thing that can happen to us to be without any kind of trouble.
We do not grow in Grace very quickly without trial–and we do not,
then, develop the Graces of the Spirit as we do when God sends the
thorns and thistles to grow up around us.
Further, dear Friends, the knowledge that we may expect the
thorns and the thistles should prevent our clinging to this world. I
should not always want to stay here, when all that I have as a
warranty of this farm is this–"Thorns, also, and thistles shall it
bring forth to you." There is a land–
"Where everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers."
Oh, let my heart be set upon the world to come! Let me cheer my
soul with the prospect of being forever with the Lord, where
nothing can distress or annoy my glorified spirit forever! The Lord
does not mean Believers to be satisfied with this world. If you are
His child, however fair your portion here, He means you to be
always restless until you rest in Him and never to be fully satisfied
until you wake up in His likeness. Therefore, be thankful for the
thorns and thistles which keep you from being in love with this
world and becoming an idolater as so many of your fellow men are.
Does not the Lord intend, by these trials and troubles, to bring us
to seek after higher things? Brethren, are there not many men who
would have been lost if they had not lost their all? I talked with
one, the other day, who said to me, "I never saw until I lost my
eyes." Another said to me, as I noticed that he had lost a leg, "Ah,
Sir, it was the loss of that leg that made me think and brought me to
my Savior's feet!" Some of you cannot go to Heaven with all your
possessions and with all your prosperity! It will be necessary to
have these things cut away. You are like a ship that is going down
through overloading and you will have to be unloaded that you may
float–and blessed is that hand of God which unloads you of many
an earthly joy, that you may find your all in the world to come!
Affliction is God's black dog that He sends after wandering sheep
to bring them back to the fold! If that dog is after anyone here,
tonight, I pray you, fly away to the Shepherd! Do not begin
fighting the dog and trying to struggle with him, for you will get
nothing by that, but run away to the Shepherd! One of these days
you will be glad for all the rough treatment that the black dog gave
you in the day of your tribulation. Thorns and thistles shall the
earth bring forth to you, but if these bring you nearer to your God,
they are the best crop the ground can grow! Remember what we
sang just now–
"God in Israel sows the seeds
Of affliction, pain, and toil.
These spring up and choke the weeds
Which would else overspread the soil!
Trials make the promise sweet.
Trials give new life to prayer.
Trials bring me to His feet,
Lay me low and keep me there."
Once more, these thorns and thistles should make us look to
Christ to change all things around us. The world will always go on
bringing forth thorns and thistles until HE comes–and when He
comes, our Glory and Delight–then, "instead of the thorn shall
come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the
myrtle tree." Only His Grace and His own glorious Presence can
change this visible creation, as it shall be changed when, "the wolf
and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like
the bullock." We look for that happy transformation, but as for
moral transformations, they take place every day where Jesus
comes! He constantly turns thorns and thistles into fir trees and
myrtle trees. He makes what was our sorrow to become the base of
sweet content and out of all our griefs we gather gladness, blessed
be His name!
If any of you say that this is a dreary subject, I want you to
remember how much more dreary it was to Him than it ever can be
to you, for when He was crowned on earth, the only crown He ever
wore was a crown of thorns! This curse of the earth was on His
head and wounded Him sorely. Was He crowned with thorns and
do you wonder that they grow up around your feet? Rather bless
Him that ever He should have consecrated the thorns by wearing
them for His diadem! Be willing to wear the thorn crown, too, and
if that is not given you to prick your temples, and to make every
thought an agony, be satisfied to go on treading a thorny path, for
your Lord has been that way before. The day shall come when all
these thorns will make us sing more sweetly! The special music of
some of the redeemed is due to their special trials–
"The deeper their sorrows, the louder they'll sing."
The transports of Heaven will reach a height in those who have
passed through great afflictions which they cannot attain otherwise.
"These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the Throne of God and serve Him day
and night in His Temple." Therefore, be not sorry that the earth
shall bring forth thorns and thistles to you, for without these you
could not come through these great tribulations and enter into so
great and glorious a rest!
I have ended sooner, because of the Baptism which is to follow,
but I would to God that some of you here, who have no portion in
the world to come, would lay my text to heart. So you have come
to London, young man, and you attend the theater, and music halls,
and so on! Well, they will bring forth thorns and thistles to you.
That is the kind of ground where they grow very large and with
very sharp thorns on them. Oh, but you, my young Friend, do not
go to such places–you are getting on nicely in business! Yes, but
you have no guarantee that it will always be so. Thorns and thistles
will it bring forth to you, as well as to others. And suppose that you
should prosper? Suppose that you should make L10,000? Suppose
that you should make much more than that? Do you not know that
with all that there will come great care, and that, after all, there is
no satisfaction in it, and that when all that makes success in life is
summed up, apart from laying hold of eternal things, it is all
nothing but smoke? Thorns and thistles for dying beds are often
made out of riches. There are more thorns and thistles to the rich
than to the poor when they come to die, if they have lived an ill-
spent life.
Oh, Sirs, if you could have all the world, it would only be a
bigger plot of thorns and thistles for you without Christ! But if you
get Him, if Jesus is your portion, then if your trials should be
heaped up as high as Heaven, you would not mind, for Christ
would come and be with you in the worst of them–and you would
still rejoice and glory in tribulation, also–and your tribulation
would work in you patience, and patience, experience, and that
experience would work in you the likeness of Christ, and so bring
you nearer Heaven!
It matters not to the Believer what form his life may take when
once Christ has become his life! And it will not matter much to you
who are not saved what form your life takes if you continue
without the Savior–it will be death all the same. And it will land
you in eternal death!
Oh, God, grant that we may never settle down upon this thistle
plot and try to make it to be our heritage, but may we find our
portion in the Lord Jesus Christ! I wish all of you that blessing, for
His name's sake. Amen.
Ge 4:6 • To Those Who are Angry with Their Godly Friends
ERMON 1929
To Those Who Are Angry With Their Godly Friends
"And the Lord said unto Cain, Why are you angry? And why is
your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?
And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And unto you shall
be his desire and you shall rule over him."
Genesis 4:6, 7
SINNERS are not all of the laughing sort–Cain's mind was angry
and his heart was heavy. The short life of the vicious is not always
a merry one. See, here you have a man who is utterly without God,
but he is not without sorrow. His countenance has fallen, his looks
are sullen–he is a miserable man. There are many ungodly people
still in the world who are not happy in the condition in which they
find themselves. The present does not content them and they have
no future from which to borrow the light of hope. The service of sin
is hard to them and yet they do not quit it for the service of the
Lord. They are in danger of having two Hells–one in this life and
another in the world to come!
They have a religion of their own, even as Cain brought an
offering of the fruit of the ground, but it yields them no comfort,
for God has no respect to their offering and, therefore, they are
displeased about it. The things of God bring an increase to their
inward wretchedness–it was after a sacrifice that Cain's
countenance fell. Many unrenewed hearts quarrel with God at His
own altar–quarrel by presenting what He never commanded and
then by growing angry because He rejects their will-worship! They
attend the means of Grace, but they are not saved nor comforted,
and they do not like it. They pray, after a fashion, but they are not
heard–and they feel indignant at the slight. They read the
Scriptures, but no cheering promise is ever applied to their hearts–
and they grow fierce at their failure. They see another accepted, as
Abel was, and this excites their jealousy and envy gnaws at their
heart. They are angry with God, with their fellow man and with
everything about them! Their countenance falls and they are in a
morose mood which fits them for any cruel word or deed. Can you
not see their sullen looks?
They would very much like to have the enjoyments of religion.
They would like to have peace of conscience. They would like to
be uplifted beyond all fear of death and they would like to be as
happy as Christian people are, but they do not want to pay the
price, namely, obedience to God by faith in Jesus Christ! They
would willingly bring an offering to God according to their own
choice and taste, but they do not care to come with "the Lamb" as
their Sacrifice–they cannot accept the Atonement made by our
Lord's laying down His life for us. They wish to have the reward of
obedient faith while yet they have their own way! They would reap
the harvest without sowing the seed. They would gather clusters
without planting vines. They would win the wages without serving
the Master of the vineyard! But as this cannot be and never will be,
they are full of bitter feeling. Since sin and sorrow are sure to be,
sooner or later, married together–and since only by walking in the
ways of God can we hope to find peace and rest–they quarrel with
the Divine arrangement, grow inwardly miserable and show it by
their sullen looks and growling words.
They are in a bitter state of heart and it is fair to ask each one of
them, "Why are you angry?" Alas, they are not angry with
themselves, as they ought to be, but angry with God–and often they
are angry with God's chosen and envious of them–even as Cain
was malicious and vindictive towards Abel. "Why should my
neighbor be saved, and not I? Why should my brother rejoice
because he has peace with God while I cannot get it? Why should
my own sister be converted and sing of Heaven and I, who have
gone to the same place of worship and have joined in the same
prayers and hymns, seem to be left out in the cold?" Such questions
might be useful to them, but instead of looking into their own
hearts to see what is wrong there–instead of judging themselves
and trying to get right with God–they inwardly blame the Lord or
the persons whom they think to be more favored than themselves!
The blessings of Grace are to be had by them, but they refuse to
take them and yet quarrel with those who accept them! They play
the part of the dog in the manger, who could not eat the hay,
himself, and would not let the horses do so. They will not accept
Christ and yet grumble because others have Him.
It is one of the sure signs of the seed of the serpent–that they will
always be at enmity with the Seed of the woman. This is one of the
marks of distinction between those who walk after the flesh and
those who walk after the spirit, for as Ishmael mocked Isaac, so the
child of the flesh mocks the child of promise even to this day! As
soon as the two sons born to Adam were grown up, the great
division was seen–he who was of the Wicked One slew the man
who, by faith, offered a more acceptable sacrifice. This division has
never ceased and never will cease while the race of man remains on
earth under the reign of God's long-suffering! By this shall you
know to which seed you belong–whether you are of those who hate
the righteous, or of those who are hated for Christ's sake.
Now, I want to call attention to a very gracious fact connected
with this text and that is, that although Cain was in such a bad
temper that he was very angry and his countenance fell, yet God,
the infinitely Gracious One, came and spoke with him and patiently
reasoned with him. It is wonderful that God should speak with man
at all, considering man's insignificance. Did not the Psalmist say,
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the
moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You
are mindful of him? And the son of man, that You visit him?" But
for the Lord to speak with sinful man is a far greater marvel! And
for Him to reason with such a man as Cain, a murderer in heart and
soon to be a murderer in deed–impenitent, implacable,
presumptuous, blasphemous–this is a miracle of mercy! Shall the
pure and holy God speak with such a wretch as Cain who was
angry with his brother without just cause? Why does He not, at
once, cut him off while yet his hate has not issued into murder–and
thus at the very beginning show His detestation of envy and
malice? Truly His mercy endures forever! Behold, the Lord comes
to Cain with a question, gives him an opportunity of speaking for
himself and defending, if he can, his state of mind. "Why are you
angry? And why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, will
you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the
door."
Yet this is no solitary instance of the condescension of God–it is
the way of our God to expostulate with sinners and to let them
produce their strong reasons and justify themselves if they can. It is
His fashion to say, "Turn you: turn you, why will you die, O house
of Israel?" for He wills not the death of any, but that they should
turn unto Him and live! He is greatly patient and waits to be
gracious. God gives none up until they fatally resolve to give
themselves up–and even then His good Spirit strives with them as
long as it is possible to do so, consistently with His holiness.
Often to the very gates of death and up to the very edge of the
bottomless Pit, His pity follows obstinate sinners, crying still,
"Turn you! Turn you! Turn you! Why will you die?" Yes, the angry
sinner–the Cain-ite sinner–the sinner whose face betrays the anger
of his soul, whose heart is hot with enmity against God and against
His Christ, even he is not left to die without Divine pleadings
which may show him his fault and folly. Still does the Lord handle
conscience with skill and awaken thought with fit enquiries–"Why
are you angry? And why is your countenance fallen?"
I pray God that He may speak to any among my congregation
who may be in this sad and evil condition. I have felt, lately, that I
may have but few more opportunities of preaching the Gospel and,
therefore, I would try and speak more solemnly every time I preach
and endeavor to strike right home at the heart and conscience, if, by
any means, I may save some. Oh how I long to bring men to Jesus!
I could gladly lay down my life to save my hearers. May the Holy
Spirit make my words to be full of force and holy fire–and may
they meet the case of some here present whom I have never seen
before, but whose thoughts are as well known to God as if they
were printed in a book and laid open before His eyes! Oh that I
may be moved to speak a word which shall fit the case as a glove
fits the hand which wears it! May it not merely be the voice of man
that speaks to you, but may it be clear that God has commissioned
His servant to speak to your hearts and that by my sermon, God,
Himself expostulates with you even as He expostulated with Cain
in those ancient times!
Remember that the case is that of a man who is angry–angry
mainly because he cannot get the comforts of religion. He sees his
brother enjoying them and he grows angry with him for that reason.
With him and all like he, I would reason with kind words.
I shall take the last sentence of the text, first–"Unto you shall be
his desire and you shall rule over him." In these words God argues
with Cain and answers the charge of favoritism which was lurking
in his mind. He tells him, in effect, that NO DIFFERENCE IS
MADE IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF SOCIAL LIFE BECAUSE
OF THE ARRANGEMENTS OF GRACE. Notice that He says to
him, "Unto you shall be his desire and you shall rule over him"–
which I understand to mean just this, "Why are you so angry
against Abel? It is true that I have accepted his offering–it is true
that he is a righteous man and you are not, but, for all that, you are
his elder brother and he looks up to you. His desire is toward you
and you shall rule over him. He has not acted otherwise than as a
younger brother should act towards an elder brother, but he has
admitted your seniority and priority. He has not revolted from you.
You rule over him–you are his master. Why, then, are you so
angry?"
Observe this, then–that if a man shall be angry with his wife
because she is a Christian, we may well argue with him–Why are
you thus provoked? Is she not a loving and obedient wife to you in
all things except in this matter touching her God? Is she not all the
better for her religion? I have known a husband meet his wife at the
Tabernacle door and call her foul names all the way home for no
other reason than because she joined in the worship of God! Yet she
was all the more loving, diligent and patient because of that
worship. Here is your child converted and you are angry. Are you
not unreasonable in this? You are his father and he yields obedience
to you. God has not caused religion to alter the natural position of
things–your child, your servant, your wife all recognize this–and
remain in due subservience to you. For what cause are you thus
sullen and angry? Good Sir, this is not like a reasonable man! Be
persuaded to let better feelings sway you.
Now, this is an important thing to note because, first of all, it
takes away from governments their excuse for persecution. In the
early days of Christianity, multitudes of Christians were tormented
to death because of their faith in Jesus. There was no excuse for it,
for they had done no harm to the State. Christianity does not come
into a nation to break up its arrangements, or to break down its
fabric. All that is good in human society it preserves and
establishes. It snaps no ties of the family; it dislocates no bonds of
the body politic. There are theories of socialism and the like which
lead to anarchy and riot, but it is not so with the mild and gentle
teaching of Jesus Christ, whose every word is love and patience.
He says, "Resist not evil, but whoever shall smite you on your right
cheek, turn to him the other, also." His Apostle says–"Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands: husbands, love your
wives; children, obey your parents in all things: servants, obey in
all things your masters, not with eye service as men pleasers:
masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal;
knowing that you, also, have a Master in Heaven." Such precepts
as these are no injury to government.
Paul was no leader of sedition, no destroyer of the rights of
property. Caesar needed not to fear Christ. Jesus did not covet
Caesar's purple or Caesar's throne. Even Herod needed not to
tremble for his princedom, for the Child that was born at
Bethlehem would not have hunted that fox or disturbed his den.
"My Kingdom is not of this world," said our Lord Jesus,
"otherwise would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered
to the Jews." Now, inasmuch as the religion of Jesus Christ does no
hurt any social order, teaches no one to be rebellious, takes away
from no man his rights, but guards the rights of all from the
meanest to the greatest, all excuse is taken away from any
government that dares to put out its hand to touch the Church of
God! As to each disciple of Jesus, the government may be satisfied
that he is loyal. "You shall rule over him" is certainly true.
Christians will cheerfully submit to all lawful rule and righteous
authority. To them it is a matter of joy if they are enabled to lead
peaceable lives because the magistrate is a terror to evildoers.
They are a non-resistant, peaceable, quiet people, who have, from
the beginning of the world until now, borne burdens and suffered
and been content to suffer so that they might but be true to their
Master. They hate tyranny, but they love order. They protest against
oppression, but they uphold law and justice. Why, then, should they
be persecuted? They ask nothing from the State by way of pay or
patronage–they only ask to be left alone and to be subject to no
disability on account of their religion. Let all who are in authority,
whether as kings or petty magistrates, beware of wantonly
molesting a people who cause them no trouble, lest they be found
in this matter to be fighting against God!
That being so in the broad field of national life, it is just the same
if you bring it down to the little sphere of home. There is no reason
why Cain should be so angry with Abel because God loves him, for
the love of God to Abel does not take away from Cain his right as
an elder brother. It does not teach Abel to refuse to Cain the rights
of his position, nor lead him to act rudely and wrongfully toward
him. No, Abel's desire is unto Cain and Cain rules over him as his
elder brother. Why, then, should Cain be angry and his countenance
fall?
My dear Friend, if you are angry, tonight, about the Sovereignty
of the Grace of God, as seen in the conversion of another, let me
ask you what hurt has the Grace of God in the heart of the person
you envy done to you? Is your eye evil because God's eye is good?
Have you suffered in any sense because that other one is saved?
You cannot have your way if you wish to coerce the envied one
into giving up his faith–but have you a right to your own way? Is it
not the privilege of every man to have his conscience left free to
serve God alone? What right have you as an Englishman to take
away liberty from another? You say, "Why, I think he is very stupid
to believe as he does." Very likely you may think so, but then your
judgment is given you for yourself, not for another, and you must
not become a tyrant and domineer over others. I thought you were a
stickler for liberty! And yet you sneer at others because they think
for themselves, or at least do not think as you do! If religion made
men false in their dealings with others. If it made the servant
careless and indifferent. If it made the husband a tyrant. If it made
the wife a tattler and untidy and dirty. If it turned all relationships
upsidedown–then there would be some little reasonableness in the
opposition which you offer to it! But if it does nothing of the kind,
why are you angry? And why is your countenance fallen?
Why, to me it seems to be a great blessing to a man to have his
friends converted–a blessing to be desired and prized! Their
conversion may do you good, even if you are not converted,
yourself. Laban learned by experience that the Lord blessed him for
Jacob's sake. Look at Joseph. The Lord was with him and we find
that wherever Joseph went, others were the better because God
blessed them through Joseph! A good man in a house is good store
to the family. A converted daughter, a praying son, a holy husband,
a gracious wife–why, these are the pillars, the ornaments, the
buttresses of the house! Godly people hedge the mansion in with
their prayers! Who can tell what blessings God gives to
unconverted men because of their converted relatives? I do not
doubt that, as sometimes the chaff is spared for the sake of the
grain which it covers and protects, so, often, the lives of ungodly
men are spared for the sake of the children whom they have to
bring up–for the sake of those who have to be cherished by them
for a while. Had it not been for the grief it would cause the mother
whom you mock, the Lord might have cut you down, young man,
long ago! Pity for holy relatives may be the motive for the Lord's
long-suffering to many rebels. Therefore be not angry with the
righteous.
I could hope, my angry friend, that God means to still give a
greater blessing to you–that He means to entice you to Heaven by
showing your wife the way, or He means to lead you to Christ by
that dear child of yours. I have known parents brought to
repentance by the deaths of daughters or of sons who have died in
the faith. I hope you will not have to lose those you love that you
may be brought to Jesus by their dying words. But it may be so–it
may be so. It will be better for you to yield to their gentle example
while yet they are spared, than for you to be smitten to the heart by
their sickness and death. Oh that the persecuted one may live to
have the great joy of going to the House of God with his Father, or
walking with brother in the ways of godliness, or bringing the
thoughtless sister to seek and find the Savior! Why should it not be
so? Let us hope for it!
At any rate, I do not see any cause to be angry because Grace has
visited your family. To say the very least about it, a man who is
angry with another for enjoying a religion which he, himself, does
not care for, is a poor specimen of good nature! Surely he may
allow others to enjoy what he does not, himself, desire. If you do
not wish for salvation, why worry yourself because others possess
it? If you do not mean to serve Christ, at least stand out of the way
and let other people serve Him. There cannot be any gain to you in
kicking against the pricks, by resisting the power of Divine Grace!
You will find it hard work in the long run, for the Lord has said that
if any shall offend one of the least of His little ones, it were better
for him that a millstone were hung about his neck and that he were
cast into the midst of the sea! For prudence's sake, for your own
sake, for reason's sake, for freedom's sake, I pray you be no longer
angry and let not your countenance fall! If we cannot agree in
matters of religion, let us not persecute or think contemptuously of
one another.
II. Now let us advance farther into the text. There is no room for
being angry, for THOUGH THE DIFFERENCE LIES FIRST
WITH THE GRACE OF GOD, YET IT LIES, ALSO, WITH THE
MAN'S OWN SELF. "If you do well, will you not be accepted?
And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door."
First, then, if you are not accepted and you are angry because you
are not accepted, is there not a just cause for it? If you do not enjoy
the comforts of religion and you grow envious because you do not,
you should cool your wrathfulness by considering this question–"If
you do well, will you not be accepted?" That is to say, will you not
be accepted on the same terms as Abel? You will be accepted in the
same way as your brother, your sister, your child. How is it that the
one you envy is full of peace? It is because he has come to Jesus
and confessed his sin and trusted his Redeemer. If you do this, shall
not you, also, be accepted? Has not the Lord said, "Him that comes
to Me I will in no wise cast out"? If you, too, come and confess
your sin and trust the Savior, you are as certain to be accepted as
your friend. You are envious because another is full of joy. Where
did that joy come from but from this–that he came according to the
Divine command and rested himself upon the finished work of
Christ and gave himself up to be Christ's servant–and asked for the
Holy Spirit to renew him and lead him into the way of
righteousness?
That has been done according to the faithful promise of God
which is sure to all who obey the Gospel command. If you come in
the same way and rest on the same Savior and yield yourself up to
be renewed by the same Spirit, the Lord will not refuse you! Put it
to the test and see. Try Him. Try Him and if He refuses you, let me
know, for I am telling everybody that Jesus never casts out any that
come to Him–and I must not do so any more if I find out that He
does reject you or anyone else! Come to Jesus confessing your sin
and trusting in Him and if He does not save you, let me know, and I
will publish it to the four winds of Heaven! We shall be bound to
make it known that Christ has broken His Word and that His
Gospel has become of no effect, for we must, on no account, cry up
a falsehood and lead our fellow men to believe that which is not
true! Try the Lord Jesus, I beseech you, and I know what the result
will be! You shall find that the gate of mercy stands wide open for
you and that you will be received as well as others. There is no
difference in this matter–whoever calls upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved! Whoever will, may take of the Water of Life freely!
Now, is it not much wiser for a man, instead of being angry with
another's enjoying the comforts of religion, to seek to enjoy them
himself? Am I hungry–and angry with another because he has eaten
a good meal when the same bread stands before me? Then I am
foolish and cross-grained! Do I see another refreshed at the
fountain and do I stand at the freely flowing stream and complain?
Do I bitterly demand why his lips are moistened while my mouth is
dried up like an oven? What is the use of being angry with the
neighbor who has quenched his thirst when the same fountain is
free to me? O murmuring Friend, why do you not, yourself,
believe? Stoop and drink as your friend has done and you shall be
refreshed as he has been!
If you do well–that is, if you are obedient to the precious Word of
the Gospel–will you not be accepted? "No," says one, "I am afraid
that I shall not be." Who told you so? Your fear is without
scriptural foundation. "But perhaps my name is not written in the
Book of Life." Who told you so? Who has climbed up to the secret
chamber of God to read the mystic roll? Who dares to tell you that
your name is not there? Who knows anything about the secret
purposes of God? I venture to tell you this–that if you believe in
Jesus Christ, be you who you may, your name is written in the
Lamb's Book of Life! "Him that comes to Me," He says, "I will in
no wise cast out." Any "him" that comes in all the world, while
time shall last, if he does but come to Christ, Christ has said that
He cannot and will not cast him out! Therefore, come, and you
shall find Grace in His sight! Instead of being angry with another
for believing and rejoicing, taste, for yourself, the joys which faith
secures. May infinite Grace lead you to do so now!
God's second word with Cain was, however, "If you do not do
well, sin lies at the door." That is to say, "If religion does not yield
you joy as it does your brother, what is the reason? Surely sin
blocks the entrance, as a stone blocking the doorway. If you cannot
gain an entrance to mercy, it is because sin, like a huge stone, has
been rolled against it, and remains there. If the way to God and
salvation is, indeed, blocked up, it is only blocked up by your own
sin! The door is not locked by a Divine decree, nor nailed up by
any necessity of circumstances, nor barred by any peculiarity of
your case. No, there is neither block, nor bar, nor lock except your
sin. Your sin lies at the door and makes you a prisoner, where,
otherwise, you might be free as air! I desire to press this point
home upon any unconverted persons who are somewhat anxious,
but yet cannot get peace. A secret something is keeping you from
being accepted as Abel was accepted. I am sure it is sin in one
shape or another. I entreat you to see what that sin is!
Is it unbelief? In most cases unbelief is the damning sin. You will
not believe God's Word. You reject the testimony of God
concerning His Son Jesus and thus you put away from you eternal
life. You say, "I cannot believe." But that will not do, for you know
that God is true and if God is true, how dare you say that you
cannot believe Him? If, when I stated solemnly a fact, you told me,
"I cannot believe you," I should understand you to mean that I am a
liar. And when you say, "I cannot believe God," do you not know
that the English of such an expression is this–you make God a liar
by refusing to believe on His Son? This unbelief is sin enough–sin
enough to destroy you forever! What higher offense can there be
against any man, much more against God, than to accuse Him of a
lie? Every person here who does not now believe in Jesus Christ is
guilty of the high profanity and infinite blasphemy of making the
Almighty God a liar! This is the huge stone which lies at the door.
May God help you to roll it away, by saying, "I will believe; I must
believe. God must be true; the blood of His dear Son must be able
to wash away sin. I will trust in it now!"
Possibly, however, another form of the same stone of sin lies at
your door and keeps you back. Is it impenitence? Are you hardened
about your sin? Do you refuse to quit it? Is there no sorrow in your
heart to think that you have broken the Divine Law and have lived
forgetful of your God? A hard heart is a great stone to lie in a man's
way, for he who will not acknowledge his sin and forsake it is
wedded to his own destruction! May God soften your heart and
help you, at once, to repent of sin!
Or, is it pride? Are you too big a man to become a Christian? Are
you too respectable, too wealthy, too polite? Are you too deep a
thinker? Do you know too much? You could not go and sit down
with the humble people who, like little children, believe what God
tells them. No, no–you have too much brain for that, have you?
Now be honest and admit it. You read the reviews and you like a
little dash of skepticism in your literature. You could not possibly
listen to Jesus when He says, "Except you be converted and
become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven." You do not care for such old-fashioned doctrine, for you
are too much of a philosopher! Well, I have heard of a Spanish
monarch who perished through etiquette–there was too much fire in
the grate and it was not according to state for His Majesty to pull
his chair back from the fire. And so he became over-heated and
died in consequence. I would not care to lose my soul to gratify my
loftiness! Would you? One's pride may carry him far if he is a great
fool, but let him not suffer his pride to carry him into Hell, for it
certainly will never carry him out, again!
Alas, there are some who have another sin, a hidden sin. I cannot
mention it. It is a shame, even, to speak of the things which are
done by them in secret. I have been frequently puzzled to know
why certain persons cannot attain peace. Do what we may with
them, they appear to have a tide of disquiet forever ebbing and
flowing and casting up mire and dirt. They have seemed to be in a
fair way to salvation and yet they have never reached it–they have
been one day near and the next far off! In one or two instances I
have not discovered the reason why the Gospel never succeeded
with them till they were dead. When they were gone, the sad truth
was revealed which accounted for all their uneasiness–but I will
not tell you what it was. There was a secret which, if it had been
known, would have made their character abhorrent to those who, in
ignorance, respected them!
Does any man here carry about with him a guilty secret? Does he
persevere in shameful acts which he labors to conceal? How can a
man hope for peace while he wars with the laws of morality? What
rest can there be while solemn vows are broken and the purest of
relationships are treated with despite? No, while there is any
uncleanness about a man, or about a woman, there cannot be peace
with God–such sins must be given up or there cannot be acceptance
with the Most High. Would you, for a moment, insinuate that the
Lord Jesus died to allow you to sin and yet escape its penalty?
We have known persons practice dishonesty in business and this
has shut them out from acceptance. Not that they actually pilfer,
but they have ways and means of calling things by wrong names
and taking fraudulent advantage. Cheating is called, "custom of
trade," and so on. I could not tell why the Lord did not accept
certain people when they appeared to be seeking mercy. I
understand it now. How can the Lord be gracious to one who
continues in dishonesty? Will He choose thieves to be His friends?
If He will take thieves and make them honest–they shall enter His
kingdom–but if we abide in transgression of any sort when it is
known to us, we cannot expect to be accepted! My Brothers and
Sisters, to be very plain with you, an honest heart and an honest
hand must be found in every man who is to be justified at the Last
Great Day.
Some cannot get peace because they neglect prayer. They do not
ask, or seek or knock–and so they do not receive, they cannot find
and the door of Grace is not opened to them. Oh, how can you
think that God accepts you when you live day after day without
prayer?
Not a few harbor enmity in their hearts towards their brother or
neighbor. O angry Hearer, God cannot accept your sacrifice until
you are at peace with your brother! It cannot be. He might as well
have pressed Cain to His bosom as you, for he that hates his
brother abides in death! "You know that no murderer has eternal
life abiding in him." Go home and be reconciled. Go home and
forgive your fellow servant, for if you do not so forgive your little
debts, the great Lord will not forgive you all your great debt!
Before you can hope to have peace with God, you must be at peace
with those who have offended you.
Then there are some who keep evil company. They like to come
to the Tabernacle, or to some other place where the Gospel is
preached, and they hope that they may find Christ–but then they
also like a lascivious song. They relish those silly, coarse,
loathsome ditties which have a touch of "smut" about them. These
are disgraceful things and yet certain people roll them out as choice
morsels! While that is the case, can a man hope that God will
accept him? No! It is of no use pretending anything of the kind!
You and your sins must part, or God and you cannot be friends.
God will accept us and receive us as penitent sinners, but not so
long as we open the back door for the devil and enthrone him in
our heart of hearts. If you are not accepted, sin lies at the door and
shuts you out of present rest and peace, even as it will ultimately
shut you out of Heaven!
I think this word of Divine expostulation bears another meaning.
"If you do not do well, sin lies at the door." That is to say, not only
as a stone to block your way, but as a lion to pounce upon you. It is
true that sin is hindering you from peace, but it is also true that a
greater sin is lurking at the door ready to spring upon you. What a
warning this word ought to have been to Cain! If you are doing evil