Is It True?

Is It True?

(No. 1930)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1886,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S DAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 12, 1886.

"Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods, nor worship the
golden image which I have set up?" Daniel 3:14.

DEAR Friends who are not yet decided, if you would become followers of
the Lord Jesus Christ it will be well for you to count the cost. It was
our Lord's custom to bid men consider what His service might involve.
His frequent declaration was, "He that takes not his cross, and follows
after Me, is not worthy of Me." He knew and would have us know that it
is no child's play to be a soldier of the Cross. If we count upon ease
in this warfare, we shall be grievously disappointed. We must fight if
we would reign.

One reason for this is that the world, like Nebuchadnezzar, expects us
all to follow its fashions and to obey its rules. The god of this world
is the devil and he claims implicit obedience. Sin in some form or
other is the image which Satan sets up and requires us to serve. The
tyranny of the world is fierce and cruel–and those who will not
worship its image will find that the burning fiery furnace has not yet
cooled. If you mean to be a Christian and, therefore, intend to cast
off the bondage of this present evil world, your resolve must be taken
to bear all consequences rather than worship the idol of the hour. The
world's flute, harp, sackbut and psaltery must sound in vain for you! A
nobler music must charm your ears and make you bid defiance to the
world's threats. The true Believer's stand must be taken and he must
determine that he will obey God rather than man. That which commends
itself to your conscience as right and pure and true, you must follow
without reserve–but that which is wrong and foul and false–you must
quit with fixed resolve!

You cannot be Christ's disciple unless you have come to this point and
abide by it, for Jesus leads only in the ways of righteousness. He who
is a loyal subject of King Jesus will not attempt to live in sin and
live in Grace, too, for he will know that no one can serve two masters.
The love of the world and the love of God will no more mix than oil and
water. To attempt a fusion of these two is to bring confusion into your
heart and life. The prophetic challenge is a wise one– "If the Lord is
God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him." One or the other you
may serve, but not both! Every man who knows the Lord Jesus Christ and
has been washed in His blood–and has been made a partaker of the
Divine Nature–will understand that he has done with the friendship of
this present evil world. The world may demand that he should yield to
its behests, but as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, he will refuse
to do so. As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said to Nebuchadnezzar, so
will true Believers say to the world–"We will not serve your gods, nor
worship the golden image which you have set up."

Now, if you can refuse to sin, if you can refuse, even, to parley with
iniquity, it is well with you. If you stand out for truth and
righteousness, your conscience will approve your position and this is,
in itself, no small comfort. It will be an ennobling thing for your
manhood to have proved its strength and it will tend to make it
stronger. Your course of resolute right will be acceptable with God and
this, also, is an exceedingly great reward. I had rather please the
Lord than win the applause of all the angels in Heaven and all the
princes on earth! In that day, when the blessed and only Potentate
shall distribute crowns and palms to the faithful, it will be the
height of bliss to hear Him say, "Well done, you good and faithful
servant."

Perhaps some of you may say, "We will not bow before the gods of the
world, but we will worship God only: we will follow Christ, and none
beside." This is a brave resolve–you will never regret it if you stand
to it even to the end.

We are glad to hear you speak thus, but is it true? "Is it true?" These
words I shall take by themselves and set them on fire. No question can
be more necessary or more searching than, "Is it true?" It is very well
to profess, but, "Is it true?" It is very fine to promise and vow, but,
"Is it true?" It is a bold thing to talk of defying Nebuchadnezzar and
his fiery furnace, but, "Is it true?" Skeptics question your
declaration with a sarcastic sneer. Sinners question it with an open
unbelief and saints question it with deep anxiety to have you sincere.
From many sides comes the query, "Is it true?" It must be asked, it
will be asked, it ought to be asked and, therefore, I ask it, "Is it
true?"

I. Follower of Christ, BE READY FOR THE QUESTION, "IS IT TRUE?"

Do not reckon to live unnoticed, for a fierce light beats about every
Christian. You will be sure to meet with someone whom you respect or
fear who will demand of you, "Is it true?" Nebuchadnezzar was a great
personage to these three holy men–he was their despotic lord, their
employer, their influential friend. In his hands rested their liberties
and their lives. He was, moreover, their benefactor, for he had set
them in high office in his empire. All hope of further promotion lay
with him and if they would prosper and rise in the world, they must
earn his smile. Many young Christians are tried with this temptation.
Many worldly advantages may be gained by currying favor with certain
ungodly men who are like little Nebuchadnezzars–and this is a great
peril. They are bid to do wrong by one who is their superior, their
employer, their patron. Now comes the test! Will they endure the trial
hour? They say that they can endure it, but is it true? Let my hearers
stand prepared for such an ordeal, for in all probability it will come.
Some Nebuchadnezzar will put it to you pretty plainly–"Will you do as
I wish, or will you obey God?" At such a time I pray that you may
answer in the right manner without a second thought–and so prove that
your love to God is true.

Nebuchadnezzar spoke in peremptory tones, as if he could not believe
that any mortal upon earth could have the presumption to dispute his
will! He cannot conceive that one employed under his patronage will
dare to resist his bidding! He demands indignantly, "Is it true?" He
will not believe it! He must have been misinformed! Can there exist a
being in all his wide dominions who can have the impudence to think for
himself, or the audacity to insinuate that it can be wrong to do what
Nebuchadnezzar commands? He will not believe it! It is condescension on
his part even to ask, "Is it true?" You will meet with persons so
accustomed to be obeyed that they think it hard that you do not hasten
to carry out their wishes. The infidel father says to his boy, "John,
is it true that you go to a place of worship against my wishes? How
dare you set up to be better than your father and mother?"

Often ungodly men profess that they do not believe in the conversion of
their fellow workmen. Is it true, John, that you have become religious?
A pretty fellow! Why, you used to sing a jolly song as well as other
people and now you whine out a Psalm like other canting hypocrites! Is
it true? Why, you could empty a glass and follow pretty games like the
rest of us–and now you profess to be afraid of doing wrong! Is it
true? Are you really such a fool? You seem almost afraid to put one
foot before another for fear you should be hauled over the coals. Are
you really the same fellow who could once drink and swear? "Is it
true?"

They insinuate that you are out of your head, that your wits have gone
wool-gathering and that you are the dupe of fanatics. I do not see the
sense of such suggestions, but I suppose they do. In one form or other
they put to you the question, "Is it true? Can you really be of this
opinion and do you really intend to carry it out?" Beloved Brothers and
Sisters, I want you to be ready for this assault and ready to answer
without hesitation–"It is most certainly true."

You will not be able to go through life without being discovered–a
lighted candle cannot be hid! There is a feeling among some good people
that it will be wise to be very reticent and hide their light under a
bushel. They intend to lie low all during the war and come out when the
palms are being distributed! They hope to travel to Heaven by the back
lanes and skulk into Heaven in disguise. Ah me, what a degenerate set!
How was it Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came up to the front when
the king's command was given? They could not consistently keep back.
They were public men, set over provinces and it was necessary that they
should set an example. They had been summoned with the rest of the
rulers to attend the great ceremony and their course of action upon
this public occasion would be a guide to all other Jews in the
Babylonian dominions!

It would not have been enough for them to stay at home and send in the
excuse that they were not well, or were called elsewhere upon urgent
business. Others might do this and not be blamed, but these leaders
could not shun the conflict. They must try the question between the
living God and the golden idol. They must not only abstain from
idolatry, but they must bear their public protest against it or else
they would be unfaithful to their Lord. Rest assured, my fellow

Christians, that at some period or other–in the most quiet
lives–there will come a moment for open decision! Days will come when
we must speak out or prove traitors to our Lord and to His Truths.

Perhaps you have fallen among godly people and so you have gone on
quietly for a time–but look for storms! If you live with worldlings,
perhaps they have not yet suspected you because of your exceeding
closeness of disposition–but your secret will be discovered! You
cannot long hold fire in the hollow of your hand, or keep a candle
under the bed. Godliness, like murder, will soon be discovered! You
will not always be able to travel to Heaven in secret! In every house
there comes a time when each person of the family has to take sides and
acknowledge to whom he belongs. The most timid wife, or the most
unassuming child will be compelled to say, "I, also, am Christ's
disciple." Be ready at once to answer the question, "Is it true?"

To be fully prepared to answer the enquiry of opposers, act upon sound
reasons. Be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear. Be able to show why you are a believer in God, why
you worship the Lord Jesus Christ, why you trust in His atoning
Sacrifice and why you make Him the regulator of your life. Show why you
cannot do what others do–why, being a child of God–your nature is
changed and you have no wish to do that which you once delighted to do
in the days of your unregeneracy. Ask the Lord to help you to go to
work with Bible reasons at your fingertips–for these are the best of
reasons and bear a high authority about them–so that when the question
is put to you, "Is it true?" you may be able to say, "Yes, it is true
and this is why it is true! At such-and-such a time God revealed
Himself to me, in His Grace, and opened my blind eyes to see things in
a true light. He renewed my nature when He delivered me from the burden
of sin. He made me to be a child of God when I found peace through His
name and, because of all this, I cannot grieve my loving Lord by living
in sin. I am not my own, I am bought with a price and, therefore, I
must do the will of Him that redeemed me with His own blood."

I am sure that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would never have stood
out against the imperious monarch as they did if they had not known
their bearings and well understood why it was that Jehovah, alone, is
to be worshipped as God. When the mind is established, the heart is
more likely to be firm. Know your duty and the arguments for it and you
are the more likely to be steadfast in the hour of temptation. These
three men were instructed men, well trained in the Law of the Lord and,
therefore, they stood fast where the more ignorant and uninstructed
yielded at once.

Next, take care that you always proceed with deep sincerity.
Superficial profession soon ends in thorough apostasy. Only heart-work
will stand the fire. Never let your speech outrun your heart. Do not
profess to be more than you really are. Remember, all your professions
will have to be tested and the question will be made a burning one for
you, "Is it true?" Mind that it is true, all true, thoroughly true!
Alas, my Friends, how much there is of praying, singing, teaching and
preaching which is not real work! How much there is of Christian
thought–yes, and what we call, "experience"– which is not true to the
person who talks of having thought and experienced it! How much of
external religion is fiction, fluff, form, foam! What is needed is
solid reality. We need a religion which will bear us up under the
heaviest burdens and make us patient under the sharpest pains. We need
a religion which we can die with. It is a most blessed thing to be able
to face death every day like the Apostle who said, "I die daily"–by
this daily education we shall learn how to die gloriously at the last.
Put yourself through your paces and do not believe that your religion
is worth a penny unless it will bear death, judgment and the eternal
world.

God grant us to be true in our first repentance and very thorough in it
and, as we begin, so may we go on, not borrowing our religion and using
it at second-hand, but with personal sincerity making every truth our
own. We need that the Revelation of God should be a revelation to
us–that repentance, faith, hope, love, holiness should be our own
private possessions, our own inheritance! Then when the question comes,
"Is it true?" we shall promptly answer before the living God, "It is
true. O You heart-searching Lord, You know that I love You!"

This being done, accustom yourself to act with solemn determination
before God on every matter which concerns morals and religion. Many
very decent people are not self-contained, but are dependent upon the
assistance of others. They are like the houses which our London
builders run up so quickly in long rows–if they did not help to keep
each other up they would all tumble down at once–for no one of them
could stand alone! How much there is of joint-stock company religion,
wherein hypocrites and formalists keep each other in countenance! Where
things are not quite so bad as this, yet there is too little personal
establishment in the faith. So many people have a "lean-to" religion.
If their minister, or some other leading person were taken away, their
back wall would be gone and they would fall to the ground.

In some cases the wife and mother, or the husband and father, or the
friend and teacher constitute the main support of the individual's
religion–he leans upon others and if these fail him that is the end of
his hope. Friends, this sort of religion will not do! You cannot, all
your life, have these good people to be your supporters and if you
could have them in life they must be separated from you by death. It is
a safe thing for every Christian to be in the habit of judging for
himself as to what is right and then to adhere to it whether others do
so or not. We have need, nowadays, to set our face as a flint against
sin and error. We must purpose in our own heart what we will do and
then stand to our purpose. Happy is he who dares to be in the right
with two or three. Happier still is he who will stand in the right even
if the choice two or three should quit it! He who can stand alone is a
man, indeed! Every man of God should be such. Athanasius contra mundum
is a grand figure. Against the whole world Athanasius proclaimed the
Godhead of Christ and he won the day. If you will not go to the world,
the world will have, one day, to come to you.

Once more, dear Friends, when your determination is formed, act in the
light of eternity. Do not judge the situation by the king's threat and
by the heat of the burning fiery furnace, but by the everlasting God
and the eternal life which awaits you! Let not flute, harp, and sackbut
fascinate you, but listen to the music of the glorified! Men frown at
you, but you can see God smiling on you and so you are not moved. It
may be that you will be unable to grow rich in your trade if you are
honest, but in the light of eternity, you will gladly forego the
luxuries of wealth to keep a clear conscience. It may be that you will
be discharged from your employment unless you can wink at wrong and be
the instrument of injustice. Be content to lose place rather than to
lose peace. These three holy men took the burning fiery furnace into
their account and yet they cast the balance in favor of fidelity to
God! Brothers and Sisters, have an eye for the endless future. Never
forget Heaven and Hell and that sublime gathering around the Great
White Throne when you and I shall be of the company.

Now I am sure that these good men believed in immortality or they would
never have dared the violence of the flames. The martyrs, when they
went to the stake, were great fools unless they believed that they
should live forever and that in the great hereafter they would find a
Divine recompense for the torments they were about to suffer! If in
this life, only, they had hope, they were certainly poor economists.
Believing in the Glory of that word, "Well done, good and faithful
servants," and weighing eternity as against time–and life at the right
hand of God as against a cruel death– the martyrs felt that the
eternal was by far the weightier matter and so they went to prison and
to death without a question! These three brave men dared the rage of an
infuriated tyrant because they saw Him who is invisible and had respect
unto the recompense of the reward. You also must come to live a great
deal in the future or else you will miss the chief fountain of holy
strength. If you are living for this life, you will soon sell your
souls for so many pieces of silver. But if you project yourselves into
eternity and live the life eternal, no bribe will lure you from the
ways of righteousness. If your ears can hear, by anticipation, the
thunder of that sentence, "Depart, you cursed," you will not dare to
incur it! If that sweeter sound, "Come, you blessed," charms your ears,
you will be strong in your resolve to follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
Yes, with eternity before you and around you–your determination will
be fixed–and you will, with dauntless spirit, meet the challenge, "Is
it true?"

God make us champions of His holy cause! Heroism can only be worked in
us by the Holy Spirit. Humbly yielding your whole nature to the power
of the Divine Sanctifier, you will be true to your Lord even to the
end! At the foot of the Cross, with your eyes upon those blessed wounds
and your whole soul trusting in Him that lives and was dead, you will
not be ashamed of your Lord, nor afraid of the consequences of obeying
Him!

This much upon this first head of our discourse–be ready to answer the
question, "Is it true?"

II. But now, secondly, IF YOU CANNOT SAY THAT IT IS TRUE, WHAT THEN?
If, standing before the heart-

searching God at this time, you cannot say, "It is true," how should
you act? If you cannot say that you take Christ's Cross and are willing
to follow Him at all hazards, then listen to me and learn the truth!

Do not make a profession at all. Do not talk about Baptism or the
Lord's Supper, nor of joining a Church, nor of being a Christian! For
if you do, you will lie against your own soul. If it is not true that
you renounce the world's idols, do not profess that it is so. It is
unnecessary that a man should profess to be what he is not–it is a sin
of excess, a superfluity of evil! If you cannot be true to Christ; if
your coward heart is recreant to your Lord–do not profess to be His
disciple, I beseech you. He that is married to the world, or
flint-hearted, had better return to his house, for he is of no service
in this war.

If you have made a profession and yet it is not true, be honest enough
to quit–for it can never be right to keep up a fraud! A false
profession is a crime and to persevere in it is a presumptuous sin.
Whatever you are, or are not, be transparent, sincere, truthful. If
there is any man here who, says in his heart, "No, I cannot suffer for
the Truth of God's sake. I will follow Christ as far as it is good
walking and costs nothing, but I will not go through the mire for Him,"
well, then, turn back at once for you are no true pilgrim! If you are
determined not to press onward even though the way should lie through
the Slough of Despond, you had better make the best of your way home to
the City of Destruction, for you are not a man that God has called into
this Kingdom. "Strange advice," you say. Yes, but prudent advice, too!
Listen to me! If any of you are ashamed of Christ, afraid of man,
unwilling to be abused for Christ's sake, then, like the faint-hearted
men with Gideon, it will be well for you to go home and no longer
encumber the little band of the true-hearted.

Will you, then, go back to your old ways? I am sure you will if you
cannot answer the question of my text. But remember, that in so doing
you will have to belie your consciences. Many of you who are not firm
in your resolves yet know the right. You will never be able to get that
light out of your eyes which was shone into them from God's Word. You
can never again sin so cheaply as others–it will be willfulness and
obstinacy in your case. I am sure that many of you will have desperate
work to get to Hell. You will have to ride steeple-chase over hedge and
ditch to reach Perdition, for the Lord has put that within you which
will never let you rest in sin, or be easy in ungodliness. The Lord has
taught you too much to let you be comfortable slaves of ignorance and
vice! You who have tasted of the powers of the world to come are spoilt
for this world–and if you are such cowards that you will not press
forward for the next–you are, of all men, most miserable! Your
consciences will dog you, haunt you and torment you. Dare you run the
risk of being pursued by such a foe, compared with which the furies of
classic fable were gentle beings?

Remember, also, that by yielding to the fear of man you are demeaning
yourself. There shall come a day when the man that was ashamed of
Christ will, himself, be ashamed. He will wonder where he can hide his
guilty head. Look at him! There he is! The traitor who denied his Lord!
The Christ was spat upon and nailed to the Cross and this man was
afraid to acknowledge Him! To win the smile of a silly maid; to escape
the jest of a coarse fellow; to win a few pieces of silver; to stand
respectable among his companions, he turned his back upon his Redeemer
and sold his Lord! And now what can be said for him? Who can excuse
him? The angels shun him as a man who was ashamed of the Lord of Glory!
He is clothed with shame and everlasting contempt. Even the lost in
Hell get away from him, for many of them were more honest than he! Is
there such a man or woman as this before me? I summon him in the name
of the living God to answer for his cowardice! Let Him come forth and
admit his crime and humbly seek forgiveness at the hands of the
gracious Savior.

If your avowal of faith in Jesus and opposition to sin is not true, you
had better withdraw it and be silent, for by a groundless presence you
will dishonor the cause of God and cause the enemy to take up a
reproach against His people. If Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had
stood before Nebuchadnezzar and had made a compromise, it would have
dishonored the name of the Lord. Suppose they had said, "O king, we
believe in Jehovah, but we hardly know what to do in our peculiar
circumstances. We desire to please you and we also dread the thought of
the burning fiery furnace and, therefore, we must yield, though it
greatly grieves us." Why, they would have cast shame upon the name of
Israel! O Brothers and Sisters, do not talk about principle and then
pocket your principles because they are unfashionable, or will cost you
loss and disrepute! If you do this, you will be the enemies of the King
of kings! God commanded His people not to bow before engraved images,
but the king of Babylon commanded them to do so at once or die. Which
would they obey? To whom would they render the most honor?

That was the point. It would have been idle to say that they would only
do it once, that it would be only a mere form and so on, for had they
bowed the knee to the engraved image, they would have set
Nebuchadnezzar before Jehovah. They might have pleaded that to refuse
the great king was virtually to commit suicide, but they kept from such
crooked reasonings. They might have argued that it was wise to save
their lives because they could be so very useful to the Israelites and
to the cause of true religion. How often have I heard this plea for
remaining in an erring church and professing to believe what is not
believed! Men do evil that good may come and after bowing in the house
of Rimmon, wash their hands and pray, "The Lord pardon Your servants in
this thing."

I am glad that the three holy children were not "careful to answer," or
they might have fallen upon some crooked policy or lame excuse for
compromise. What have we to do with consequences? It is ours to do
right and leave results with

the Lord! To do wrong cannot, under any circumstances, be right! For
the Lord's servants to be false to their conviction is always an evil
thing, a root that bears wormwood. Yes, these men would have cast a
slur upon the living God, upon their nation and upon themselves had
they flinched in the moment of trial. Thousands of men and women are
doing this continually. Shame upon them! They plead their own
necessities, their large families, their position, their hopes of
usefulness and the examples of others–but none of these things can
excuse cowardice towards God. If by doing a little wrong, we could
effect a great deal of good, we would not, thereby, be excused! This is
a common way of drugging conscience and I beseech you be upon your
guard against it, for it comes to this–that you are a better judge of
what you ought to do than God is and your judgment is superior to the
Law of God! Is not this high presumption? Does it not, also, suggest
itself to you that some would serve God if it did not pay better to
serve the devil? And is not this Judas Iscariot all over again, the son
of perdition reproduced?

I want you to remember, also, that if you renounce Christ, if you quit
Him in obedience to the world's commands, you are renouncing eternal
life and everlasting bliss. You may think little of that, tonight,
because of your present madness, but you will think differently before
long. Soon you may lie on a sick bed gazing into eternity and then your
estimate of most things will undergo a great change. I know what that
solemn outlook means, for I have been called several times to lie in
spirit upon the brink of eternity–and I can assure you it is no
child's play. The solemn article, the judgment, the declaration of
destiny–these are not little. It requires all the faith a man can
summon to enable him to look forward, calmly and intelligently, to that
great day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed.

Come, my Hearers, look to the eternity which awaits you! I charge you
to remember that if you take the mess of pottage and barter away your
birthright, you will bemoan yourselves at the last. In your dying
hours, you may find no place for repentance though you seek it
carefully with tears. In another world there will be no hope of
reformation or of escape from the result of sin. In eternity you will
look up from under the fierce wrath of God and see no way of escape,
for you will then be too wedded to evil to be able to escape from it!
In that day which shall burn as an oven, what will you say to yourself
for having sold your Lord? Oh, do not, for the sake of a man's frown or
a woman's smile, forego eternal life! If God goes, all is gone! To lose
your Savior is to be lost yourself! Oh, my Beloved, take the roughest
road rather than part company with your Best Friend!

The question is a very solemn one–"Is it true?" And if it is not true,
I still stick to my advice–do not say that it is so, do not add to all
your other sins, a lying profession–but act in all honesty as you
stand before God.

III. But now, thirdly, let us consider what follows IF IT IS TRUE. I
hope that many here can lay their hands upon their hearts and quietly
say, "Yes, it is true; we are determined not to bow before sin, come
what may." Well, then, if it is true, I have this much to say to you,
dear Brothers and Sisters–state this when it is demanded of you.
Declare your resolve. This will strengthen it in yourself and be the
means of supporting it in others. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego spoke
out in the presence of the furious king. Perhaps they might have taken
means to hide themselves from the ordeal, but they judged it to be
their duty to come forward and take the consequences–and there they
were.

This word is meant for certain Christian people who come in and out of
this house and join with us in public worship, but have never openly
acknowledged themselves to be disciples of the Lord Jesus. Whenever we
gather to the remembrance of our dying Lord, they either take their
seats among the onlookers, or else they go home. This raises many
anxious thoughts in our minds. We are especially exercised with this
question–these people have a faith which they refuse to
acknowledge–will such a faith save them? Scripture evidently lays
great stress upon obedience to the Lord and taking up His Cross and
following Him. Will Jesus save those who will not come out and bear His
reproach? He claims of all His followers that they follow Him in the
daylight. It is written, "If you shall confess with your mouth, the
Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him
from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

He bade us preach this as His Gospel–"He that believes, and is
baptized, shall be saved." These are not words of mine, but of the Lord
Jesus, Himself! Take heed unto yourselves that you do not slight them!
I dare not leave out part of His Gospel command when I am preaching it.
If you believe in the Lord Jesus, stand on His side! Why are you slow
to do so? I compared one, the other day, to a rat behind the wainscot
which only comes out at night when the candles are put out and there
are crumbs to be picked up. Too many Christians attempt to live in that
style. Dare I call them Christians?

Do not be such miserable creatures, but quit yourselves like men!
Tremble lest you perish among "the fearful and unbelieving." Join with
me, I pray you, in singing–

"I'm not ashamed to acknowledge my Lord,

Or to defend His cause!

Maintain the honor of His Word,

The Glory of His Cross."

There are many dear children in this place, both boys and girls, who
have not been ashamed in their early days to come forward and confess
the Lord Jesus Christ! God bless the dear children! I rejoice in them.
I am sure that the Church will never have to be ashamed of having
admitted them. They, at least, show no cowardice–they take a solemn
delight in being numbered with the people of God–and count it an honor
to be associated with Christ and His Church. Shame on you older ones
who still hold back! What ails you, that babes and sucklings are braver
than you? By the love you bear to Christ, I charge you–come forth and
confess His name among this evil and perverse generation!

Is it true? Then joyfully accept the trial which comes of it. Shrink
not from the flames. Settle it in your minds that, by Divine Grace, no
loss, nor cross, nor shame, nor suffering shall make you play the
coward. Say, like the holy children, "We are not careful to answer you
in this matter." They did not cringe before the king and cry, "We
beseech you, do not throw us into the fiery furnace! Let us have a
consultation with you, O king, that we may arrange terms. There may be
some method by which we can please you and yet keep our religion." No!
They said, "We are not careful to answer you in this matter. If it is
so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
furnace and He will deliver us out of your hands, O king. But if not,
be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor
worship the golden image which you have set up."

Dear Friends, let us be ready to suffer for Christ's sake. Some will
say, "Do not be imprudent." It is always prudent to do your duty! We
have not enough, nowadays, of the virtue nicknamed imprudence. I would
like to see a display of old-fashioned imprudence in these cold,
calculating, selfish days! Oh for the days of zeal, the days when men
counted not their lives dear to them that they might win Christ! Men
sit down and reckon up what it will cost them to do right and weigh
their conduct as a matter of profit and loss–and then they call such
wicked calculations prudence! It is sheer selfishness! Do right if it
costs you your life! Where would England have been if the men who won
our liberties in former ages had bartered with the world for gain? If
they had saved their skins, they would have lost their souls and ruined
the cause of God in England! He loves not Christ who does not love Him
more than all things! Oh for men of principle who know no loss but loss
of faith and desire no gain save the Glory of God! Be this your cry–

"Through floods or flames, if Jesus leads, I'll follow where He goes."

You may lose a great deal for Christ, but you will never lose anything
by Christ. You may lose for time, but you will gain for eternity! The
loss is transient, but the gain is everlasting! You will be a gainer by
Christ, even if you have to go to Heaven by the way of persecution,
poverty and slander. Never mind the way–the end will make full amends.
The treasures of Egypt are mere dross compared with the riches of
endless bliss!

If it is true that you are willing, thus, to follow Christ, reckon upon
deliverance. Nebuchadnezzar may put you into the fire, but he cannot
keep you there, nor can he make the fire burn you. The enemy casts you
in bound, but the fire will loosen your bonds and you will walk at
liberty amid the glowing coals! You shall gain by your losses! You
shall rise by your casting down! Many prosperous men owe their present
position to the fact that they were faithful when they were in humble
employments. They were honest and, for the moment, they displeased
their employers, but in the end earned their esteem. When Adam Clarke
was put out as an apprentice and his master showed him how to stretch
the cloth when it was a little short, Adam could not find in his heart
to do it. Such a fool of a boy must be sent home to his mother and his
godly mother was glad that her boy was such a fool that he could not
stoop to a dishonest trick! You know what he became. [1760-1832 –
Influential British Methodist famous for his preaching and Bible
commentary.] He might have missed his way in life if he had not been
true to his principles in his youth. Your first loss may be a lifelong
gain!

Dear young fellow, you may be turned out of your employment, but the
Lord will turn the curse into a blessing. If all should go softly with
you, you might decline in character and by doing a little wrong, learn
to do yet more and more–and so lose your integrity and with it–and
all hope of ever lifting your nose from the grindstone! Do right for
Christ's sake, without considering any consequences, and the
consequences will be right enough. If you take care of God's

cause, God will take care of you! Rest assured that uprightness will be
your preservation and not your destruction. It will be your highest
wisdom to let all things go that you may hold fast your integrity and
honor the name of the Lord!

Lastly–and this is a consideration not to be forgotten. If you will
stand up for Jesus and the right, and the true, and the pure, and the
temperate, and the good–not only will you be delivered, but you will
do great good! This Nebuchadnezzar was a poor piece of goods, yet he
was compelled to acknowledge the power of these three decided and holy
men. They were thrown into the furnace and they came out of it–and
what did Nebuchadnezzar say? Before this, it was, "The image that I
have set up," and now he declares that no man shall speak a word
against the God of Israel on pain of being cut in pieces! There is no
having influence over the great men, or the little men of this age
except by being firm in your principles and decided in what you do! If
you yield an inch you are beaten! But if you will not yield–no, not
the splitting of a hair–they will respect you!

The man who can hide his principles, conceal his beliefs and do a
little wrong, is a nobody! He is a chip in the porridge–he will flavor
nothing. But he who does what he believes to be right and cannot be
driven from it–that is the man! You cannot shake the world if you let
the world shake you, but when the world finds that you have grit in
you, they will let you alone. Nebuchadnezzar was obliged to feel the
influence of these men–and, even so, the most wicked and the most
proud feel the force of the true-hearted, the brave and the good! For
this let us pray God to give us new hearts and right spirits. For this
let us cling to the blessed Cross of Christ and yield ourselves up to
the power of the blood and water which flowed from His wounded side! So
shall our lives be powerful! And if not illustrious in the eyes of men,
they shall be acceptable in the eyes of God!