Man, Whose Breath Is In His Nostrils
DELIVERED BY
C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for of what
account is he?" Isaiah 2:22.
MAN, especially since the Fall, is a very unspiritual creature. His
disposition is animal. He is made up, as the old writers used to say,
of soul and soil. Alas, the soil terribly soils his soul! "My soul
cleaves to the dust" might be the confession of every man in one sense
or another. We bear the image of the first Adam, who was of the earth,
earthy–and earthy enough are we.
One consequence of the prevailing materialism of our corrupt nature is
our craving for something tangible, audible, visible, as the object of
our confidence. We need something which can be touched, heard, seen, or
felt–we cannot be content with that which appeals only to the soul or
the spirit. It seems as if man is so unspiritual that he cannot believe
in a spiritual God and yet, any other than a spiritual God is an
absurdity! Man cannot see God, therefore he will not trust in Him. He
cannot hear His voice, therefore he will not attend to the movement of
the Holy Spirit upon his soul. Humanity is carnal, sold under sin,
infected with idolatry–and this fact remains true, in a measure, even
of the regenerate. Their old nature is not other than it was, save that
it is held in check by the new nature. So long as sin remains in
us–and this will be so long as we are in this body–our tendency will
be to be weary of God, who is a Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit
and in truth. We seek after something to worship, something to love,
something to rely upon which is so near akin to the coarser part of our
nature that we may commune with it through the senses. It is sad that
it should be so, but it has always been so throughout the history of
man–and sad traces of it are to be seen, even, in the history of God's
own Church.
Man is by nature an idolater. Under the most favorable circumstances he
flies to his idols, even as the dog seeks after carrion, or the vulture
hastens to its prey. The Lord's people, Israel, were delivered out of
Egypt with a high hand and with an outstretched arm. And by many signs
and tokens, God's Presence among them was abundantly certified. This
was a noble beginning. The circumstances which afterwards surrounded
them were especially helpful. They were placed in the wilderness where,
if they lived at all, they must live through the special protection and
provision of God, for they reaped no harvests and they gathered into no
barns. The bread they ate fell from Heaven! The water they drank came
from a Rock which had been smitten by command of God through the rod of
Moses. All day long they were sheltered from the burning sun by a
canopy of clouds. And at night the canvas city was made bright with
that same canopy turned into a flame of fire! They were alone in the
wilderness and apart–shut out from the rest of the world–surrounded,
as it were, by the Lord, Himself, who was a wall of fire round about
them and the Glory in their midst.
Nothing could have been more favorable for faith in God. Yet they must
have a god that they can see! "Make us gods to go before us," they
cried with such furious clamor that Aaron yielded to their evil desires
and made them the image of an ox. Behold the people of God, whom He had
brought out of Egypt, bowing before the image of an ox that eats
grass–an image which Moses, in sarcasm, styled a calf! They turned the
Glory of the invisible God into that of a brute beast and said–"These
are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of
Egypt." Then they degraded themselves and laid their manhood prostrate
on the ground in adoration of the image of a bull. How is humanity
fallen!
For century after century this was always the tendency of Israel, the
most spiritual race of men upon the face of the earth. This race,
educated by miracle and instructed by Revelation, continually went
aside after the gods of the heathen! Abraham, among his own descendants
after the flesh, had few who were like he in his high spiritual faith.
The world of spiritual realities seems to be too bright, too holy for
the best of such gross and carnal beings as we are.
The people of Isaiah's day were like the rest of their race–they
showed their unspiritualness and their inability to walk in the light
of the Lord by making their own wealth their chief confidence. We read
at verse seven–"Their land is also full of silver and gold, neither is
there any end of their treasures." And then it is added, "Their land is
also full of idols." Alas, this idolatry of wealth is common among
God's people even at this day! "Give us this day our daily bread" is a
prayer which falls far short of the general desires even of Christian
people! Our demands are for luxuries–and plenty of them. Many would be
coming down very terribly in the world if they had to receive from
hand-to-mouth fashion– day by day their daily bread! Yet the Lord
Jesus has put these words into our mouth. The Providence of God is, to
some professing Christians, a mere dream–they cannot rest till they
have something more substantial to rely upon than the care of Heaven.
You think I am sarcastic? Is it not true? See how your professed
Believers hunger to make sure of the main chance–as eagerly as the
merest worldlings, they scrape and they hoard! I have not a word to say
against that Scriptural prudence which bids us, like the ant, lay by in
store for wintry times. But I speak of the hunger to be rich and of the
selfish expenditure which entirely forgets that our substance is to be
used for the Glory of God, and that we are only stewards. I ask again,
do not many slave, hoard and grasp as if there were no promise in the
Scriptures of temporal provision from God's own right hand–and no
exhortation to lay up our treasures in Heaven? Are we liars? Do we say
that all that we are and have is the Lord's–and do we, after saying
this, live for ourselves as if there were no redemption and no
hereafter? That there should be need for the preacher to raise such
questions is an indication that there is a common tendency to worship
wealth, or at least to regard it as a substantial support.
Nations also, like the Israelite people, are apt to idolize power. Yes,
even power in the form of brute force. We read–"Their land is also
full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots." Cavalry
and war chariots were as much in repute in that age on land as
ironclads are at this day upon the sea! And Israel trusted to these.
Jehovah was the guardian of His people, the Lord of Hosts is His name.
He, alone, was a match for Egypt and Babylon, but the kings of Israel
and Judah did not think so! They could not feel secure without great
armies. They must multiply their horses and their chariots. They forgot
that "a horse is a vain thing for safety"–they knew not that only in
the Lord is the salvation of His people.
The same feeling crops up among God's people at this day. We pine for
visible power–it may be physical or men-tal–as the case requires, but
we thirst to have it available, embodied in some human form. We cannot
rest upon God, alone, and feel that when we are weak we are strong. The
Lord takes no pleasure in the strength of the horse nor in the legs of
a man, but His people often do. Eloquence, cleverness, intellect–these
are still the idols which the Church dotes upon! She has not yet
understood the words, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,
says the Lord." Still we make too much of the instrument and too little
of the Divine Worker! Still is there more expected from music,
architecture and oratory, than from the simple Gospel and the attendant
working of the Holy Spirit! How can men be brought to trust in the
invisible God! Alas, it is still true, "Their land is also full of
idols: the mean man bows down and the great man humbles himself." O
Church of God, how long will it be before you believe your God?
These people, in the heat of their idolatry, set up many idols. They
made anything into a god. He that was so impoverished that he could not
make a god of silver, would make an idol out of a tree which would not
rot–and having carved and gilded it–he prostrated himself before it!
To what a height of folly has a man come when he can do this? You tell
me that this idolatry is confined to heathen countries–alas, it is not
so–idolatry is common even here! "Little children, keep yourselves
from idols," is a text that still needs to be preached from–yes, to be
preached in Christian congregations, for idols will intrude themselves
into the sanctuary of the Lord! The forms and shapes of modern idols
are many and crafty. We see no elephant-headed deity such as is the
fear of the Hindus, and no absurd fetish such as the African
dreads–but more dangerous because more subtle and secret–forms of
idolatry are allowed to remain in our midst! Oh that the Lord would
fulfill in His people the Word, "The idols He shall utterly abolish"!
May we not easily make idols of ourselves? Almost before we are aware
of it, we may be thus debased. What more degrading than for a man to
worship himself? We read of some whose god is their belly–this is the
grosser part of self. What heathen ever worshipped his own belly? Yet
we all too much trust in ourselves at times–what is this but idolatry?
Do we not seek ourselves in a measure–is not this idolatry? Do we not
reverence our own achievements and attain-ments–in what does this
differ from idolatry? Many gods and many lords have men made unto
themselves. Like a child that must have a toy, man must have a visible
trust and confidence. For this purpose, "he has sought out many inven-
tions." He will even worship reptiles of the river and plants of the
garden rather than be without a visible deity! Alas, poor foolish
creature!
I need not enlarge upon this. You all know how true it is that, one way
or another, man gets away from the spiritual life which would make God
everything to him. And he wanders into the sensual region where he
either finds another god, or else allows some symbol or priest to stand
between him and God. Our nature is so twisted and biased through sin
that we seem to be under the witchery of idolatry!
As I have already said, there is nothing more absurd in the history of
human nature than the fact that man is apt to trust in man. To worship
something superior to myself is bad enough if it is not God–but to
begin to put my dependence upon a man like myself or upon myself and so
to allow man, who at the best is a sorry creature–to take the place of
God is, indeed, a wantonness of evil! Do you wonder that God has
pronounced a curse upon this provoking folly, this insult to His Divine
Majesty? Hear the words of this anathema–"Cursed be the man that
trusts in man and makes flesh his arm." The sin is none the less
accursed because of its commonness. That which God blesses is blest,
indeed, and that which He curses is cursed with an emphasis!
Concerning that sin so common and so accursed I have to speak at this
time. May the Lord bless the word that we may be kept from the
transgression! Here is the text–"Cease you from man, whose breath is
in his nostrils: for of what account is he?"
We will handle the text thus–First, What is man? Answer–"His breath
is in his nostrils." Secondly, What is to be our relation to man?
"Cease you from man." And thirdly, Why should we cease from him? It is
answered by another question, "For of what account is he?" This puts
the question–What is there in him or about him that renders him a
proper object of reverence or confidence? May the Holy Spirit send us a
profitable meditation!
I. Our first enquiry is, WHAT IS MAN? This question is asked many times
in Scripture and it has been frequently answered with a copiousness of
instruction. David even asks of Heaven, "Lord, what is man?" I will
not, however, go over all that wide expanse of thought which the Bible
puts before us, but simply answer the enquiry from the point of view of
our text.
What is man? He is assuredly a very feeble creature. He must be weak,
for, "his breath is in his nostrils." We measure the strength of a
chain by its weakest link. If other links are strong, yet if one is
ready to snap, we judge that the whole chain is far from strong and is
not to be depended upon. See, then, how weak man is, for he is
weakness, itself, in a vital point! He has bones that may be hard and
durable. And he has many a strong sinew, tough and wiry, as we
sometimes say. But there is a weak point about him which is found in a
matter on which his life depends, namely, his breath! And what is our
breath? A vapor which we scarcely see–a thing so unsubstantial that
when we have it, we scarcely see it– and yet when we lose it, life is
gone from us! Our earthly existence depends upon our breath and that
breath is mere wind!
How feeble must that creature be whose vitality rests on a foundation
so airy and unsubstantial as mere breath! A vapor is not more fleeting!
We talk of strong men. Is any man strong? We speak of the strength of
our constitutions– how is that strong which depends upon a puff of
air? It is a marvel that so frail a life is not sooner ended. That we
live is miraculous! That we die is but natural. Readily enough may that
house fall which is built, not on sand, but on air! Dr. Watts has well
said–
"Our life contains a thousand springs And fails if one is gone! Strange
that a harp of a thousand strings Should keep in tune so long!"
Dust we are and that dust hastens to dissolve–and so to return to the
kindred dust of the earth. Under our feet are our graves and above us
are the stars which will soon look down upon our silent tombs. The
trees cast their leaves, but they grow green, again. We shed our life's
glories once and they return no more! Thus the trees outlive us and
beneath their shade we are reminded that man is far more frail than the
tree which he fells with the axe. Yes, the very grass which he mows
outlives the mower! Man is a mere shadow–we have scarcely time to say
that we are before we are not! Are we not foolish if we place our
reliance upon such a feeble creature–so weak that his breath, his
unsubstantial breath–is essential to his life? Who are you, O man,
that trusts in man? If you have half a grain of wisdom left, how can
you quit the ever-living God and put your reliance upon a poor creature
who is as the grass–that today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven?
Go, rest on a reed, or ride on a moth, or build on a bubble–but rely
not on a man!
Moreover, man is a frail creature, for his strength must be measured by
his fleeting breath, and that breath is in his nostrils. It seems as
though his life in his breath stood at the gates, ready to be gone,
since it is in his nostrils. The text says not that his breath is in
his lungs, deep, hidden below, but in his nostrils–at the door–in the
most exposed part of the face. It is at two open portals which can
never be shut–as if it meant to secure an easy exit at any moment.
Brothers and Sisters, there are 10,000 gates to death! One man is
choked by a grape. Another dies through sleeping in a newly whitewashed
room. One receives death as he passes by a reeking sewer. Another finds
it in the best kept house, or by a chill taken on a walk. Those who
study neither to eat nor to drink anything unwholesome, nor go into
quarters where the arrows of death are flying, yet pass away all of a
sudden–falling from their couch into a coffin–from their seat into
the sepulcher!
The other day one of our own Brothers sat down in his chair to sleep a
moment, but it was his last sleep. Another stumbled in his own room,
never again to rise! These men were apparently in good health. Life is
never sure for an instant. How can we place our trust in a creature
which is so soon gone? Shall we make the insect of an hour the object
of our fond affection and our chief dependence? How can we be so
foolish as to trust our treasure in a purse made of such a spider's
web? The vault should be fit for the treasure–do you mean to trust
your soul's confidence to a man who shall die–that may die in an hour?
I asked, What is man? But before the question is answered, I have to
ask, "Where is he?" He is gone like a watch in the night! How can we
make a dying man the object of a living trust? "Cease you from man,
whose breath is in his nostrils."
Man is a weak and frail creature–he is also a dying creature. Need I
further enlarge upon this? To our sorrow, many of us know that it is
so. Some of you had fathers of your flesh, but they passed away and you
were fatherless before you could earn your bread. Had not God preserved
the orphan, you had been miserable, indeed. Some of you once leaned
upon a manly arm and looked up into the smiling face of a husband. But
the dear one has been laid in a grave wet with floods of tears–it is
well for you that your Maker dies not. There are those here who once
enjoyed dear friendships– these seemed essential to your lives–but
ruthless Death has torn Jonathan away from David. It has come closer
and stolen the child from its mother and the wife from the husband. Man
is always dying while he lives. Oh, set not all your love, or much of
your confidence, or any of your worship upon a creature that will soon
be worms' meat!
Contemplate the dead! What do you think, now, of your idol? You who
could sit down by the hour together and revel in the sight and company
of your beloved object, what think you now of that which you doted on?
If you could see it uncovered after a few days you would say, "Deliver
me from this noisome smell, this horrible corruption, this dreadful
mass of decay!" How could you ever be so vain and foolish and bereft of
reason as to make a thing that comes to this, your trust and
confidence? The Prophet asks, "Who are you, that you should be afraid
of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as
grass; and forgets the Lord your Maker, who has stretched forth the
heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth?" In this he rebukes our
fears, but equally rebukes our carnal trusts.
But I think that the text also reminds us that man is a very fickle
creature. His breath is in his "nostrils." That is where he wears his
life and this hints to us that he is sadly changeable. As his breath is
affected by his health, so is he changed. Today he loves and tomorrow
he hates! He promises fair, but he forgets his words! He swears that he
will be faithful unto death, but soon he betrays the confidence reposed
in him. No dependence can be wisely placed in him. O man! O woman!
Change is written on your brow! The lapse of years alters you! Yes, the
flight of days and hours suffices to transform you! We may better trust
the winds and waves than you!
David said in his haste, "All men are liars." That may not be quite
true and may bear the mark of hasty judgement, but it is a rough-hewn
truth which is far more accurate than flattering compliments. David
might have deliberated and then have said very much the same thing with
great certainty. In some senses the broad verdict is correct as it
stands, for if we make an arm of flesh our trust, to whomever that arm
belongs, we shall find that we have rested on a broken reed! In the
time of our calamity, when we most need help, we shall find that mortal
assistance is either gone through falsehood, or is incompetent through
feebleness. Then shall we know the curse of trusting in man, whose
breath is in his nostrils!
Who will stand by us when we are slandered? Does not winter make all
the swallows take to their wings? Who can help us when the soul is in
despair? O my Brothers and Sisters, who can help us when our spirit is
wounded, when the arrows of grief pierce our heart? Who can help us
when we come to die? When the mysteries of eternity darken around us
and we quit the light of day, what friend or fond one can be at our
side as we enter the unknown land? There are certain points of life in
which every man must tread a lonely pathway. We then need God–and if
we have made a god of any man, what shall we do? Ah me, what reason we
have to look to Him who is always the same! Remember how He says, "I am
the Lord, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed."
If you read the chapter through, you will also find that man is a
trembling creature, a cowardly creature, a creature who, indeed, if he
were not cowardly, yet has abundant reason to fear. Read from the 19th
verse–"They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves
of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty,
when He arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall
cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made, each
one, for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into
the clefts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear
of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake
terribly the earth."
Think of the days of Divine wrath and especially of the last dread day
of Judgement–and of the dismay which will then seize upon many of the
proud and the great! Are you going to make these your confidants? Are
you going to give up Christ for the sake of the smile of these who will
wail in terror when He comes? Is it so, that for the sake of some young
man or woman who loves not God–and one day must quail before the
coming Judge–you will let your Lord and Savior go? It is concerning
such a temptation as this that the text thunders at you–"Cease you
from man, whose breath is in his nostrils," who will fear and fly and
lose his breath in very dread at the appearing of the Lord. Cease to
regard these as the fond objects of your love and trust, lest the curse
of God should lie upon your soul throughout eternity! O my Hearers,
hearken to this!
So much concerning what man is, according to our text. Is it not a
powerful argument against placing man where only God should be?
II. Secondly, WHAT IS TO BE OUR RELATION TO MAN, or what does the text
mean when it says, "Cease you from man"?
It implies, does it not, that we very probably already have too much to
do with this poor creature, man? We cannot "cease" from that with which
we have nothing to do! The text implies that in all probability we have
catered into connections with man which will need changing. We may even
require to reverse our present conduct, break up unions, cancel
alliances and alter the whole tenor of our conduct.
"Cease you from man" means, first, cease to idolize him in your love.
Do any of you idolize any living person? Answer honestly. It is very
common to idolize children. A mother who had lost her babe fretted and
rebelled about it. She happened to be in a meeting of the Society of
Friends and there was nothing spoken that morning except this word by
one female friend who was moved, I doubt not, by the Spirit of God to
say, "Verily, I perceive that children are idols." She did not know the
condition of that mourner's mind, but it was the right word and she to
whom God applied it knew how true it was! She submitted her rebellious
will and, at once, was comforted! Cease you from these little men and
women, for, though you prize them so, they are of the race from which
you are to cease! Cease you from them, for their breath is in their
nostrils and, indeed, it is but feebly there in childhood. A proper and
right love of children should be cultivated, but to carry this beyond
its due measure is to grieve the Spirit of God. If you make idols of
children, you have done the worst you can for them, whether they live
or die. Cease from such folly!
I will not go into the many instances in which men have been idolized
politically, or idolized by a blind following of their teaching. You
can idolize a minister, you can idolize a poet, you can idolize a
patron–but in so doing, you break the first and greatest of the
commandments–and you anger the Most High. He declares Himself to be a
jealous God and He will not yield His Throne to another. Upon any who
are thus erring, let me press the text home–"Cease you from man, whose
breath is in his nostrils: for of what account is he?"
Next, "Cease you from man"–cease to idolize him in your trust. There
is a measure of confidence that we may place in good and gracious men,
for they are worthy of it. But a blind confidence in any man is
altogether evil. I care not who he may be, you cannot read his
heart–and some of the greatest deceptions that have ever been worked
in this world have been accomplished by persons who seemed to be
self-evidently honest and sincere. I remember conversing with a person
who was concerned in one of the great speculations which brought loss
and ruin to many–and as I looked into his honest face and heard his
open-hearted talk, I said to myself–"This is not a man who is capable
of robbery. He is a plain, blunt, farmer-like sort of man who might
even be the victim of the confidence trick."
I afterwards learned that this is the usual style of the man who puffs
a company, or betrays a trust. Of course, if a man looks like a thief,
you button up your pockets and smile if he invites you to take shares!
But you are off your guard when the man appears to be the embodiment of
simple honesty. The woman in the omnibus who picks your pocket looks
like the last person to be capable of such a thing–and this is why she
is able to do it. Transfer this knowledge to other matters and it may
save you sorrow. If you get to trusting anybody with a blind confidence
beyond what you ought to give and, especially, if you trust your soul
with any priest or preacher, whoever he may be, you are a fool and your
folly may turn out to be an everlasting mischief which can never be
undone! Hear this and learn what God would teach you– "Cease you from
man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for of what account is he?" Do
not idolize man by laying yourself at his feet, or following him in the
dark, for it will not only be, in itself, a folly, but it will bring
you under the curse of my text.
Cease to idolize any man by giving him undue honor. There is an honor
to be paid to all, for the Apostle says, "Honor all men." A measure of
courtesy and respect is to be paid to every person–and peculiarly to
those whose offices demand it–therefore is it written, "Honor the
king." Some, also, by their character, deserve much respect from their
fellow men and I trust we shall never refuse "honor to whom honor is
due." But there is a limit to this, or we shall become sycophants and
slaves and, what is worse, idolaters! It grieves one to see how certain
persons dare not even think, much less speak, till they have asked how
other people think. In some congregations there are weak people who do
not know whether they have liked the sermon till they have asked a
certain venerable critic to whom they act as echoes! The bulk of people
are like a flock of sheep–there is a gap–and if one sheep goes
through, all will follow.
If the ringleader should happen to be an infidel or a new-theology man,
so much the worse! If he should happen to be orthodox, it is much
better in some ways, but then it is a pity that people should follow
the Truth of God in so thoughtless a manner. Public opinion is a poor
substitute for conscience and is no substitute at all for righteousness
and truth! Because the general opinion bids you bow down before this
man or that, will you do so? Will you forget God, conscience, right,
truth–and ask another man to tell you when you may breathe? God's
people should scorn such groveling! If the Son shall make you free, you
will be free, indeed. Jesus loves that the soldiers in His host should
acknowledge His su-premacy–but once acknowledging Him as Lord, He
would have them feel that no man or set of men shall draw them away
from His Word, either in doctrine or in precept. Worship is for God
only! Render it to Him and, "Cease from man, whose breath is in his
nostrils."
Equally does the text bid us cease from the fear of man. Oh, how many
are kept from doing right through some man or some woman, wealthy
relative, or influential friend! Are there not men in workshops who
join with others in their ribaldry because they are afraid to speak out
lest they should be laughed at and marked as hypocrites? Are there not
persons in well-to-do circles who must attend a certain place of
worship because all the respectable people go there? No matter which
way conscience would take them, they are bound to follow the
fashion–the fear of men is upon them. They do not want to be despised
and remarked upon. But, my dear Friends, if any of you are doing wrong
under fear of men, do not excuse yourselves, but at once obey the Word
of God which says, "Cease you from man, whose breath is in his
nostrils." Who are you that you should set man before God? Is not this
a grievous presumption? The fear of God ought so to be before your eyes
that the fear of man will not weigh with you in the least. "I fear
man," said one, "but I fear God infinitely more"–this was near the
mark. Our Lord said, "Fear not him that can kill the body, but
afterwards has no more that he can do; but fear Him who can cast both
body and soul into Hell; yes, I say unto you, Fear Him." Dismiss the
cowardly fear which would make you false to your convictions in any
degree! And thus, "cease from man."
Once more, cease from being worried about men. We ought to do all we
can for our fellow men to set them right and keep them right, both by
teaching and by example. But certain folks think that everything must
go according to their wishes–and if we cannot see eye to eye with
them–they worry themselves and us! This is not right and that is not
right and, indeed, nothing is right but what is hammered on their
anvil. Let us please our neighbor for his good, for edifica-tion–but
let us not become men-pleasers, nor grieve inordinately because
unreasonable persons are not satisfied with us. To our own Master we
stand or fall! And interfering brethren must be so good as to remember
that we are not their servants, but we serve the Lord Christ.
Moreover, Brothers and Sisters, let us not be unduly cast down if we
cannot set everybody right. Truly, the body politic, common society and
especially the Church, may cause us great anxiety. But be still, the
Lord reigns–and we are
not to let ourselves die of grief. After all, our Lord does not expect
us to rectify everything, for He only requires of us what He enables us
to do. We are not magistrates, nor dictators–and when we have done our
best and kept our own garments clean, and given earnest warning and
cried unto God by reason of the evil of the times–then this Word comes
in, "Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for of what
account is he?"
"But they say." What do they say? Let them say! It will not hurt you if
you can only gird up the loins of your mind and cease from man. "Oh,
but they have accused me of this and that." Is it true? "No, Sir, it is
not true. And that is why it grieves me." That is why it should not
grieve you! If it were true, it ought to trouble you, but if it is not
true, let it alone! If an enemy has said anything against your
character, it will not always be worth while to answer him. Silence has
both dignity and argument in it. Nine times out of 10, if a boy makes a
blot in his copybook and borrows a knife to take it out, he makes the
mess 10 times worse and, as in your case, there is no blot, after all.
You need not make one by attempting to remove what is not there. All
the dirt that falls upon a good man will brush off when it is dry–but
let him wait till it is dry–and not dirty his hands with wet mud.
"Cease you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils."
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us think more of God and less of
man! Come, let the Lord our God fill the whole horizon of our thoughts.
Let our love go forth to Him. Let us delight ourselves in Him. Let us
trust in Him that lives forever, in Him whose promise never fails, in
Him who will be with us in life, in death and through eternity! Oh that
we lived more in the society of Jesus, more in the sight of God! Let
man go behind our back and Satan, too. We cannot spend our lives in
seeking the smiles of men, for pleasing God is the one objective we
pursue. Our hands, our heads and our hearts–and all that we have and
are–find full occupation for the Lord and, therefore, we must, "Cease
from man."
Cease you from man because you have come to know the best of men, who
is more than man, even the Lord Jesus Christ! And He has so fully
become the beloved of your souls, that none can compare with Him. Rest
in Christ as to your sins–and cease from priests! Rest, also, in the
great Father as to your Providential cares–why rest in men when He
cares for you? Rest in the Holy Spirit as to your spiritual needs–why
do you need to depend on man? Yes, throw yourself wholly and entirely
upon the God All-Sufficient–El Shaddai, as Scripture calls Him. Some
read it, "The Many-Breasted God," who is able to supply from Himself
all the needs of His creatures. He will do for us exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask or even think! "O rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for Him," and cease you from man!
That was a wise and tender word of our Savior to the woman who had
washed His feet. He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven you." And
then, as they began to quibble at her and talk about the expense and
the waste of the ointment, He added to her, "Your faith has saved you;
go in peace"–as much as to say, "They are going to have a discussion
about you, but you go out of earshot of it. They are going to criticize
what you have done. Do not tarry to hear them, but go home. I have
accepted you. Let that be enough for you–never mind them. You do not
need to know their opinions."
Oftentimes to a child of God it is the best advice that can be
given–"Go in peace." Certain doubters are about to argue. Let them
argue to themselves, but you go in peace! Why do you need to know the
last new doubt? Would you like to taste the last new poison? "Prove all
things," but when it has been proved to be evil, have done with it. You
do not need to hear that which can only tend to stagger your faith and
defile your conscience! You have heard enough of that stuff already–go
in peace. When men begin to quibble at Christ and the Doctrines of
Grace, cease from them! Steal away to Jesus in private prayer. Five
minutes' communion with your Lord will be worth five years of this idle
talk! Go in peace and, "Cease from man, whose breath is in his
nostrils."
Do you hear that professor declare that there is no God? And another
that there is no Providence? And another that there is no atoning
Sacrifice–and another that there is no hereafter? Now that we know
that a mad dog is about, let us keep out of his way! It does not matter
who he is–we have nothing to do with him. When a thief meets me, I
need not stay to say, "Good night" to him. Cease you from such a man,
for the very breath of his nostrils breathes death to that which is
good!
III. We finish with that last question–WHY ARE WE TO CEASE FROM MAN?
The answer is, because he is nothing to be accounted of. Begin, dear
Brothers and Sisters, by ceasing from yourselves. Every man must cease
from himself, first, and then he must cease from all men as his hope
and his trust because neither ourselves nor others are worthy of such
confidence. "For of what account is he?" If his breath is in his
nostrils, see how short his life is–"Of what account is he?" If his
breath is in his nostrils, see how weak he is–"Of what account is he?"
If his breath is in his nostrils, see how fickle he is–"Of what
account is he?"
What figure shall I put down for man? Some men would wish to have
themselves written down at a very high figure, but a cipher is quite
sufficient! Write man at nothing and you are somewhat above the mark.
"For of what account is he?" Compared with God, man is less than
nothing and vanity! Reckon him so and act upon the reckoning. If there
were no men on the face of the earth, how would you live? If only God
filled all your thoughts and all your heart, how would you live? Live
just so! Then if there are a trillion men upon the face of the
globe–or more–they will not sway you. If the city teems with them and
if the forum is disturbed with their noise–and if they ride up to the
capitol in triumph–what of it? We have ceased from them and we shall
never have cause to regret it, for they will be no loss to us! If we
try to reckon up what the loss might be if we lost their aid, it comes
to nothing, "For of what account is he?" Cease from them and go
straight on in the path of faith and duty, resting in God and believing
in Him. Care nothing for the vanity of vanities, but trust in the
Verity of verities, even God, Himself!
This is a special subject and someone will ask, "Can such a text as
this be useful for the ungodly?" Yes, it hits the nail on the head!
Some of you have been trying to save yourselves. "Cease you from man."
You have been looking to your feelings. You have been looking to your
works. You have been looking to this and that of your own–cease you
altogether from that evil man–yourself "For of what account is he?"
Some of you have kept back from Christ because you have made much of
this poor nobody that is crushed before the moth–this worm of the
earth–this mere vapor! Now, rise above your dead selves and think more
of God! Believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him–and may His Holy Spirit help you, now, to come and
commit your souls into the hands of the risen Redeemer, even He who is
able to save you and keep you to the end! God so help you, for Jesus
Christ's sake! Amen.