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 illspent 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