DELIVERED BY
C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back." Judges 11:35.
IN Jephtha case there were good reasons for going back. He had made a
rash vow and such things are much better broken than kept. If a man
makes a vow to commit a crime, his vow to do so is, in itself, a sin.
The carrying out of his vow will be doubly sinful. If a man's vowing to
do a thing made it necessary and right for him to do it, then the whole
moral law might be suspended by the mere act of vowing, for a man might
vow to steal, to commit adultery, or to murder–and then say–"I was
right in all those acts because I vowed to do them." This is
self-evidently absurd and to admit such a principle would be to destroy
all morality!
You have, first of all, no right to promise to do what is wrong. And
then, secondly, your promise, which is, in itself, wrong, cannot make a
criminal act to be right. If you have come under a rash vow, you must
not dare to keep it! You ought to go before God and repent that you
have made a vow which involves sin–and as to keeping the sinful vow,
that were to add sin to sin! "But," says one, "would it not be sin to
break my vow?" I reply, there was great sin in making it and there will
probably be some measure of sin connected with your breaking it, for
few human actions are perfect. But to keep your evil vow would
certainly be sin and you must not commit the greater sin to avoid the
lesser which, perhaps, may be involved in the breach of your foolish
promise.
I think it would have been well if Jephtha, though he had opened his
mouth before God, had gone back when it involved, as I think it did, so
dreadful a necessity as that of sacrificing his own innocent, only
child! His having sworn to do it did not make it right–it was just as
wrong. If he really did slay her, it was a horrible action, dramatize
or disguise it as you may! He had no right to make the dangerous
promise. He had still less right to carry it out after he had made it,
if it led to such terrible consequences.
But now I am going to speak about other openings of the mouth to God in
which there is no ill–openings of the mouth which need never be
regretted, which certainly never can be recalled–and of which we may
rightly say, before the living God, in the strength which He gives us,
"I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back." My sermon
will not have much to do with some of you. You have not given your word
to God, or made any sort of promise. No, you remain as you were, far
off from Him and negligent of His claims. I do not envy you. Your being
under no obligation from any resolution of your own does not prevent
your being under as much natural obligation to God on account of your
being His creatures and, therefore, subjects under His Law.
I sometimes hear of people who say, "You know I do not profess
anything," and after that assertion they appear to feel at liberty to
say and do whatever they like. Now, if we heard of certain persons
entrusted with our business that they had not acted honestly, what
would we think of it if one man among them should rise up and say,
"Don't blame me. You know I never professed to be honest"? What would
that mean? It would mean that he is a confessed and acknowledged thief!
Suppose a man were to say, "Well, I never profess to be truthful." What
is he? He is an acknowledged liar! And he who says, "Ah, I never made
any vows or promises, neither do I pretend to serve the Lord,"
acknowledges himself to be a godless man. He is living in the daily
robbery of God, defrauding Him of His rights! He is living in direct
and avowed rebellion against the King of kings! He is living without a
hope for the hereafter–without Grace in his soul for the present–and
without glory in prospect for the future!
Ah, Friend, although the things I may have to say at this time may not
directly bear upon you, yet the very fact that they do not bear upon
you should make you think, and weigh, and consider, and ponder your
ways as to the place which you now occupy! You are, by your
non-profession and non-avowal of Christ, making a confession of being
on the opposite side, for he that is not with Him is against Him, and
he that gathers not with Him scatters abroad.
But now I speak to my own Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus. Dear
Friends, there are three things which I would bring to your practical
remembrance. First, what we have done–we have opened our mouth unto
the Lord. Secondly, what we cannot do–"I cannot go back." And,
thirdly, what we must do–there are some things that we must seek after
if we are to be able to hold on and to act faithfully to our
profession.
I. First, then, WHAT WE HAVE DONE. "I have given my word to the Lord."
We have opened our mouths before the Lord, first, by confessing our
faith in Jesus Christ. I have said, and most of you upon whom 1 am
looking have, also, solemnly said, before others, "I believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart. Let others believe what they will
and trust in what they please–
'My hope is fixed on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.''" We are troubled by no question
of our Lord's power to save, or of our interest in His salvation, but
we have testified outright, as a matter-of-fact which we feel in our
own souls, that we believe that Jesus died for us and that He is all
our salvation and all our desire. We have opened our mouth to that in
the most decided manner and we are continually doing so in various
ways.
We have, also, avowed and declared before the living God that we are
Christ's disciples and followers. If anyone should ask us, "Are you one
of them? Do you consort with Jesus of Nazareth?" We would gladly
answer, "Yes." However short we come of perfect obedience to His
commands, yet His will is our rule. We call Him, "Master," and, "Lord,"
and when we read about the disciples of Christ we think of ourselves as
belonging to them. Blessed Master, how glad we are to acknowledge that
we are, indeed, Your disciples! We are not ashamed to acknowledge that
we have opened our mouth unto You, to believe all Your teachings and to
obey all Your commands!
We have opened our month to the Lord, next, because as we believe in
Jesus Christ and take Him to be our Master. we have admitted the
Redeemer's claims to our persons and services and have resolved to live
for Him only all our days. We have made a dedication of ourselves to
His service, declaring that we are not our own, but bought with a
price. Some of us did this years ago and–
"High Heaven that heard the solemn vow, That vow, renewed, has often
heard," and shall hear it again! We profess that nothing that we have
is ours, but our goods, our time, our talents and ourselves are all
marked with the broad arrow of the King! We are the perpetual heritage
of the Lord, to be His forever, and never to serve self again, or the
world, or the flesh, or any except Jesus.
We have, also, cast in our lot with His people. We belong to their
fraternity, heart and soul. We are not ashamed of them, either. It is
some years ago with some of us since we came forward and asked to have
our names enrolled with the despised people of God. We opened our mouth
to the Lord that we would take part and lot with His people–that if
they were abused we would take a share of the abuse–that if they had
sorrows we would help to bear their burdens and if they had joys we
only hoped that we might be worthy to enjoy the crumbs of their table!
We craved to be numbered with the citizens of that noble city, the New
Jerusalem, and we requested to share the portion of Zion's blessed but
tried inhabitants, whether they held a fast or a festival, suffered
siege or enjoyed triumph.
We asked to have it said of us that we were born there and when we were
asked if we would forego the world and all its allurements to become
heirs of the better country, we stood up before the Lord and declared
that it was even so. In all these things we have, as Christian people,
opened our mouths unto the Lord, have we not? Now, if you ask me when
you did so, I shall have to mention several occasions. Some of us
opened our mouths in this respect to the Lord in a very solemn way in
private. We made our dedication to God a solemn deed performed in a
distinct and formal manner. We took time about it, thought it over, and
then did it deliberately and definitely.
Some have even written out an act of solemn dedication and signed it.
Others, perhaps, more wisely, have refrained from writing it, lest it
should become a bondage to their spirits, but they have, nevertheless,
made a formal act of transfer of themselves and all that they had, to
the Lord. At any rate, whether we did it formally or not, we can say–
"'Tis done! The great transaction's done, I am my Lord's, and He is
mine!" There was a time when once and for all we gave up the keys of
the city of Mansoul and surrendered to the Lord, that He might be ours
and that we might be His forever and ever.
Then absolutely many of you, beloved Friends, gave your word to the
Lord in Baptism. Searching His Word, you saw there, clearly, that as
many as believed were baptized. You read of the eunuch to whom the
question was put, "Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? For if you
believe with all your heart you may"–and then on confession of his
faith he was baptized! I have given my word to the Lord in that manner.
I remember the solemn occasion when I went into the river! There were
multitudes of people as witnesses on either bank to mark my burial with
the Lord in the water! And, though I have not the remotest confidence
in outward form or ceremony, yet often has my soul recalled that day
when I did, before men and angels and devils, declare myself to be the
servant of the living God! And I was, therefore, buried in water in
token of my death to all the world–and then raised from it as the
emblem of my newness of life!
Oh, to be always faithful to what we did, when, coming forward of our
own accord, we declared that we were dead with Christ that we might,
also, live with Him! We have opened our mouth unto the Lord since then,
full often when we have come to the Communion Table. The solemn sitting
down at the Table of Communion, when others have to go away, or can
only look on–the separation which is made in that act–is a
declaration on your part, Beloved, that you belong to the Lord Jesus
Christ, that He is your meat and your drink, that you feed at His table
and are His servants! There is something very solemn about the
communion service–it ought never to be lightly entered upon–and when
you have been attending to that ordinance in remembrance of Him, you
should feel, "I have given my word to the Lord in a very special manner
by sitting at the table with His people."
Besides that, how often have we given our word to God in hymn-singing?
I am afraid that we do not always think enough about what we say when
we sing. But what solemn things you have sung. Did you not sing the
other day–
"And if I might make some reserve, And duty did not call, I love my God
with zeal so great That I would give Him all"?
And did you not sing–
"Had I ten thousand hearts, dear Lord, I'd give them all to Thee! Had I
ten thousand tongues, they all Should join the harmony"?
Ah, you have given your word very widely unto the Lord in song. And so,
too, in prayer–both in the closet and in public. We say great things
to God in supplication–do we always make good on what we say? Are we
always of the mind of Jephtha, who said, "I have given my word to the
Lord, and I cannot go back"? Do we remember those vows which our soul,
in anguish, made when we drew near to God in the bitterness of our
spirit and poured out our troubles before Him?
But ah, Beloved, very specially I may speak of some here present who
are my partners in the work and ministry of the Church for her Lord. We
who bear public testimony, "we have given our word to the Lord, and
cannot go back." You who teach classes in the school. You who try to
tell the Gospel to other men in the workshop. You who talk of Jesus
Christ even to your children–remember that you have committed
yourselves! While you are trying to speak to others you make promises
for yourselves which bind you to present the Truth of God and future
fidelity. As for me, where could I flee from my Master's Presence?
Where could I go from His service?
Should I desert His ministry, unto what part of the earth could I go to
hide myself? Somebody would remember this face which has been seen by
so many thousands–the very tones of my voice would betray me–and men
would point me out as an apostate from my Lord! Jonah might flee to
Tarshish, but if I went to Tarshish someone or other would know me and
pronounce my name as soon as I set foot upon the soil! I must fight
this battle to the finish, now–retreat is out of the question! "I have
given my word to the Lord" so often and before so many, that I am bound
by a myriad ties! Nor would I wish to be bound with one less–but daily
with more and more!
But, Beloved Friends, remember that in proportion as your religion
gains publicity and in proportion as, by teaching others, you tacitly
or avowedly declare your faith in the Gospel, in that proportion you
have given your word to the Lord–and it is not possible that you
should go back without deep disgrace and dire destruction! Now, it is
worth our remembering after what fashion we have done this. I have
shown you that we have given our word to the Lord and I
have shown you the occasions when we have done so. But in the very
manner of the deed there has been practical force. We have done this
voluntarily. We have given our word to the Lord without any compulsion!
The little child, you know, who, according to the Prayer Book [Church
of England] is made a member of Christ and a child of God and so on,
has nothing to do with the business–and is in no way responsible for
what others choose to promise without its leave. But you and I did
willingly what we did. We came forward and said, "Let me be baptized,
for I am a Believer in Jesus. Let me be united with the Church, for I
am one of the Lord's redeemed." We said to the Lord Jesus Christ, "I am
cheerfully and willingly Your servant." We took upon ourselves the
bonds of a Christian profession because we desired to do so! Well,
then, if we have done this voluntarily, that is the strongest reason
why we should not go back from our own chosen position as the Lord's
own disciples.
And we did this very solemnly. Oh, to some of you, it was, indeed, a
devout action when you avowed yourselves on the Lord's side. Many were
the prayers and praises which preceded and followed it. Shall such
solemnity be made into a falsehood? Shall the weeping and the
supplication be proven to have been base hypocrisy? I hope, also, that
we did it very deliberately, counting the cost, looking round about and
seeing what it meant–and understanding what we were doing. We did not
reckon upon a smooth path. We did not consider that we should gain
crowns without crosses, or win victories without fights–and we have
found it much as we expected.
We passed through the wicket gate and entered on the road to the
Celestial City knowing that there were dragons to encounter, giants to
fight, hills to climb, rivers to swim and swamps to ford. We set out
with considerable knowledge of what we were doing and what it
involved–and we were not, thereby, prevented from decidedly and
deliberately declaring ourselves to be on the Lord's side. Are we now
going to confess ourselves to have been fools and dupes? Will we now
tell our Lord that His service is hard and worthless?
Most of us made our profession publicly. We had many onlookers. We
cannot forget that when we began the race, a cloud of witnesses
surrounded us and have ever since kept us in full survey. If there is a
little speck in our character, they are sure to point it out! Never a
cat watched a mouse as the lynx-eyed world watches the Christian! How
it magnifies and multiplies the faults of Believers and cries, "Aha!
Aha! We figured they were hypocrites," the moment it finds the
slightest trip or mistake. Well, we have given our word to the Lord
before multitudes and shall we recant and deny the
faith?
Men and angels and devils know that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ!
We have declared it before all with whom we have come into contact–not
always in so many words, but I hope in our actions–by the decided
stand that we have taken up for God, for Christ, for Truth, for
holiness and for the fear of God in the land. But the weight of it all
lies in this–"We have given our word to the Lord." It is not what we
promised the Church, though in becoming members of it we have promised
to fulfill the mutual duties of Christians. It was not what we promised
to the minister, though, in the very fact of becoming members of a
Church of which he is the pastor, we have a Christian duty towards him.
It was not what we promised one another, though we all owe something to
each other. But we have given our word to the Lord! If a man must
trifle, let him trifle with men, but not with God! If promises to men
may be lightly broken– and they should not be–yet let us not trifle
with promises made to God! And if solemn declarations can ever be
forgotten–which they should not be–yet not solemn declarations made
to God. Beware, oh, beware of anything like frivolity in entering into
covenant with the Most High! If a man should measure his footsteps and
weigh his words when he appears before an earthly monarch, how much
more when he stands before the King of kings, who is, also, Judge of
the quick and the dead?
There let your words be few and guarded, but when you have once spoken
them, and lifted your hand to Heaven, let your promise stand and keep
it faithfully, saying, "I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot
go back."
II. But enough upon what we have done, for we need our full strength of
thought to dwell upon WHAT WE CANNOT DO. "I have given my word to the
Lord, and I cannot go back." That is to say, having once become
Christians, we cannot apostatize from the faith. We feel that we cannot
and God's servants in all ages have proven that they cannot. Men have
threatened them, "You shall go to prison if you do not go back," but
they have said, "We cannot." And they have gone to prison and they have
said, like John Bunyan, "I will lie here till the moss grows on my
eyelids, but I cannot–cannot do other than God bids me."
The enemy has said, "If you do not leave Christ you shall be stretched
on the rack," and that means the pulling of every bone from its
socket–but in defiance of torture they have replied, "We cannot go
hack–we would rather bear the rack." Poor women, like Anne Askew, have
been racked most cruelly, but they could not go back. Then the enemies
of the Lord have sworn, "We will burn you to the death." The saints
have accepted that challenge, also, and they have burned and triumphed
in the burning, clapping their blazing hands–for they could not go
back. The young people in the old city of London, over the water there,
went down to Smithfield in the early morning to see their pastor
burned. And when they came home and their mother said, "Why did you
go?" the boys replied, "We went to learn the way."
They needed to know how to burn when their turn should come! Brave sons
of brave sires! God's servants always have known how to burn, but they
have not known how to turn! They have lifted their hands to the Lord
and if it involved losses, crosses, torture, torment and death, they
could not go back! No, Sir, if you can go back, you never knew Christ!
If you can go back, He never marked the cross mark on your heart, He
never baptized you into His death for, if He had done so, a sacred
impulse would be upon you and you would go forward! As though you were
a thunderbolt launched from the Omnipotent hand of God, you must go on
and burst through every opposition till you reach the end towards which
God's eternal might is speeding you! You cannot go back.
Moreover, if we are right at heart we feel that we have lifted our hand
to the Lord and we cannot go back, even by temporary turning aside. I
do not mean that we do not do so, sadly, too often–the Lord have mercy
upon us for it. But it ought to be our solemn declaration that we
cannot go back. Somebody says to you when you enter the workshop, "Ah,
you are one of those Christians fools." The devil tempts you to say
that you are not, or, at any rate, to be very quiet about it. Do not
fall into cowardly silence, but say at once, "I have given my word to
the Lord, and I cannot go back. I am in forever. Whatever it costs, I
am enlisted and will never desert."
Sometimes the temptation is, "Come with me, young man, come with me,
young woman"–to such-and-such a questionable place of amusement.
"Shall I go? Perhaps I shall not get much hurt." Stand still and say,
"No, I have given my word to the Lord and I cannot go back, even if I
have the desire to do so. I have committed myself to the pursuit of
holiness and I cannot go back to the foolish pleasures of sin." I like
you young people to make a very straightforward profession of your
faith because it may be the means of keeping you in the hour of
temptation. You will say to yourself, "The vows of the Lord are upon
me. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"
I heard one say once, "I could not join the Church because I should
feel it such a tie." "Yes, but," I replied, "Brother, it is the sort of
tie you need to feel." A profession of our faith in Jesus ought to be a
very strong cord of love to hold us to that which is good. We ought to
feel that the sacrifice is bound to the horns of the altar, but this
bondage is true liberty to us and pleasant to us–and it should be our
desire to be bound tighter and tighter as long as we live. "I cannot go
back" is an inability of the most desirable kind!
The enemies of your soul will attempt to persuade you to forsake the
Lord. They will try ridicule and threats and bribes, but be as a deaf
man and hear them not! If you have really given your word to God with
all your heart, you cannot go back–the Divine life within you will
laugh to scorn all efforts of the foe. Baffled and discouraged, they
will soon give up their wicked endeavors! They will see that it is of
no use to tempt such an one as you are–your steadfastness and patient
endurance will drive them from the field. But there are some of you
that make a profession who attempt compromises and go a little way with
the world. If you go a furlong with the world you will soon go a mile!
I will give you a sentence to remember–"That man who is only half
Christ's is altogether the devil's."
Remember that! He who is only half a Christian is altogether an
unbeliever! As half clean is unclean, so half converted is unconverted
and half a saint is wholly a sinner! You cannot say to the world, "Up
to here you shall go, but no further." It is greedy and seeks to win
the whole man. To its imperious demands give a stern denial, saying, "I
have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back." Now, what are
our reasons why we cannot go back? The first reason is that if we did
go back we should show that we have been altogether false. You profess
to be believers in Jesus Christ. You say that you have been born again,
that you have received that inward principle which lives and abides
forever! If you go back to the world and to sin, you say to all
mankind, "I made a hypocritical profession. I was a mere formalist. The
root of the matter was not in me."
You cannot say that, for you know you love the Lord. Even when you are
in a doubting mood, you know you love Jesus! Though you question
yourselves over and over again, you know that you love your Master. If
you hear anybody
finding fault with Him, are you not sorely grieved? Oh, yes, it brings
the blood into your cheeks and you say, "I cannot bear to hear Him
spoken against." You thought that you did not love Him, but the enemy
provokes you to feel that you do love Him. You do love Him! You cannot
say that you do not! Can you? And yet if you went back it would be
tantamount to a declaration that all your former life had been a lie!
You cannot go back, dear Friend, because that were to act most basely.
Have you been bought with the precious blood of Christ and will you
leave Him? Did He die upon the Cross for you and will a little
buffeting cause you to desert Him? What? Did He fetch you up out of the
horrible pit and out of the miry clay by His own death and will you
forsake Him and choose sinful ease and the praises of a wicked world?
Oh, it were baseness, abominable baseness, for a soul who once has
tasted of His wondrous love and seen Him in His Glory and death throes
to desert Christ! No, no, NO! We cannot be so base as this, God helping
us!
To go back from that for which we have given our word to the Lord were
to incur frightful penalties, for there is no judgment so great as that
which is pronounced upon the apostate. If they have tasted of the
heavenly gift and the powers of the world to come–"if these shall fall
away, it is impossible to renew them, again, unto repentance." "Salt is
good, but if the salt has lost its savor where shall it be seasoned? It
is from now on good for nothing but to be trod under foot of men," You
know how many passages there are in which it is positively asserted
that if a child of God did deliberately and totally apostatize, his
restoration would be utterly impossible–not difficult–impossible!
This is one of the greatest proofs of the doctrine of the Final
Perseverance of the Saints, since there is no man in a condition in
which it is impossible to save him and yet any man would be in such a
state if he apostatized!
Therefore true Believers shall not apostatize, but shall stand fast and
shall be kept even to the end. Yet, could they totally apostatize, they
could never be restored again! The greatest remedy having already
failed, there would remain no other. On the supposition that the power
of the Holy Spirit and the cleansing influence of the blood of Jesus
could not preserve the man from falling back into his unregenerate
state, what else could be done for such an one? If regeneration
fails–what then? If the incorruptible Seed which lives and abides
forever can die–what then? Oh, we cannot go back! To go back is death,
shame, eternal ruin!
And to go back would be so unreasonable. Why should I leave my Lord?
Why should I let my Savior go? In my heart of hearts I cannot think of
a reason why I should forsake my Master. Do I seek pleasure? What
pleasure is equal to that which He can give me? Do I seek gain? What
gain could there be if I lost Him? Do I seek ease? Ah, to leave Him
were to forfeit eternal rest! To whom should we go? That was a forcible
question of the disciples when the Master enquired, "Will you, also, go
away?" They replied, "To whom can we go?" Ah, to whom can we go? If you
give up the religion of Jesus Christ, what other religion would you
have? If you were to give up the pleasures of godliness, what other
pleasures would you have?
"Oh," says one, "we could go into the world." Could you? Could you? If
you are a child of God you are spoiled for the world. Before you became
a Christian you could have done very well in the world, but now you
know too much to be happy there. While the sow is a sow, the mud is
good enough for her. Turn that sow into an angel–and if the angel has
no place in Heaven–where shall it go? It cannot go back to the sty!
What could it do there? The wash of the trough was good enough for the
sow, but the angel has eaten heavenly food. It cannot roll in the mire,
nor consort with swine–it must have Heaven or nothing! If you can go
back to the world you will go back to the world–but if you are a child
of God you cannot go back because Grace has so changed your nature that
you would not be in an element in which you could exist!
There is no reason for apostasy–all the reasons lie the other way. "I
have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back" for this
reason–I have no inclination that way. Brothers and Sisters, some of
us have been Christians these 25 years and we are glad of it. You know
that in the army they have short-time soldiers and long-time soldiers.
When I enlisted in Christ's army, I did not go in to enlist for a
quarter of a year and then have a new ticket. I enlisted for life! But
suppose my Master were to say to me, "Now, you have had some 25 years
of it–you may now go home and cease from being one of My soldiers."
"Ah, my Master, where should I go? Do not discharge me!"
If He were still to say, "You are out of your time and may go home," I
would tell Him that I would not leave Him in life or death. If I were
put out at the front door I would come in at the back. Ah, my Lord,
what anguish has that question stirred, whether I would, also, go as
others have done. Go? You have fastened me to Your Cross and driven in
the nails! I cannot go. Go? I am dead and buried with You! Your rich
Grace has made me part and parcel of Yourself by indissoluble union!
"Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord?" No, if I were discharged today, I would enlist again today!
The man who is married to a good wife thinks to himself, "If I had to
marry, again, tomorrow morning, she would be the bride and happy would
we be." And so, if we had our choice to make again, we would choose our
dear Lord over again, only with much more eagerness and earnestness
than we did at first! Dear Friends, we have given our word to the Lord,
and we cannot go back because we are so happy as we now are! A man does
not turn his back upon that which has become his life and his joy! He
is bound to it by the bliss which he derives from it. Can the Swiss
forget his country when he listens to the home music which he heard as
a child amidst his native hills? Does not the home-sickness come over
him so that he longs to be among the Alps, again?
Does not the Englishman, wherever he wanders, whether by land or sea,
feel his heart instinctively turn to the white cliffs of Albion? And
does he not say that, with all her faults, he still loves his country?
Who would cease to be that which he loves to be? And so our joy in
Christ is great and we cannot wish to be divided from Him. Why should
we? Shall the star desert the sphere in which it shines, or the fish
the sea in which it lives? Shall the eagle abhor the craggy rock on
which he builds his nest, or the angel shun the Heaven in which he
dwells? No, Beloved, we cannot go back! Our joy holds us fast to our
Lord.
And then, besides that, we cannot go back from what we have said, for
Divine Grace impels us onward. There is a secret power more mighty than
all other forces called the force of Irresistible Grace and this has
captured us. When the temptation comes to go back to Egypt and we
remember the garlic–that strong-smelling garlic and the cucumbers–
those spongy, watery cucumbers! And when we remember the onions–those
pungent onions–the thought of going back to the fleshpots comes upon
us like a man of war! But mighty Grace soon puts it down–it drowns the
desire in tears of repentance and makes us loathe ourselves to think
that we should be such fools as to think more of fleshpots than of
manna, and more of cucumbers than of Canaan!
Again, we resolutely press forward towards Canaan, blushing to think
that we should have, in heart, turned back into Egypt. Grace will not
let us return to our old bondage! And there is Another that holds us.
It is He with the hands nailed to the tree! Whenever He is revealed in
us we feel that we cannot go back. A sight of Him with His face to the
world's opposition, His face to the devil, His face to death, His face
to Hell, His face towards the wrath of God–and going through it all
with boundless courage–makes us feel that we must go forward, too,
even till we enter into His rest!
Brothers and Sisters, we are moved to testify all these arguments, each
one for himself, "I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go
back."
III. Now, the last thing of all is that if this is the case, there is
something WHICH WE MUST DO. What we must do is this–if there is a
present sacrifice demanded of us, we must make it directly, "I have
given my word to the Lord, I cannot go back." Now, if there is anything
in your business which you cannot do and be a Christian, renounce it at
once and forever! Do not think about it and do not ask a friend what
you should do, but follow your conscience. If you know the thing is
right, do it. Do not ask your mother, or brother, or the wisest man
that ever lived–consult not with flesh and blood–but follow Jesus at
all costs. Do not take time for second thoughts, but do it, and have
done with it.
Oh, I have known Christians falter as to what they ought to do–their
duty has been plain enough, but they have not liked it–and so they
have wished for somebody to tell them that they might be Christians and
yet do wrong! They need to get some sort of excuse from the judgment of
others. They have gone fishing about to this and that minister,
misrepresenting the circumstances to some extent, to gain the judgment
they desired–till at last they have forged a sort of dispensation for
sin from some good man's opinion–and then they have cheated their
conscience by saying, "I feel much relieved. I can do it, now, for I
have consulted a gracious man and he thinks I may."
No consultation can be required where duty is plain. "Oh, Sir, but the
sacrifice is great." If it were a thousand times greater, that does not
enter into the question! Duty is imperative, so let it be done. If your
doing right will make yourself and your children poor, so must it be.
It were better that you were poor and yet maintained your integrity and
continued in the service of God than that you should roll in riches by
violating your conscience! Say, "I cannot go back." Make the sacrifice
and go on. If you are to do this, however, you must ask for more Grace
and, dear Brothers and Sisters, wherever
there is an ugly piece in the road, since you cannot go back, all you
have to do is to ask the Lord to assist you over it– for you must go
through it and this can only be done in His strength.
Remember that your abiding faithful to the end does not depend upon
yourself. You have to do it, but the Holy Spirit is to find you
strength to do it. The American slave said, "Massa, if the Lord say to
me, 'Jump through the brick wall,' I will jump. It is the Lord that
will make me go through–but I must jump." So it is with persevering in
the face of difficulty and trouble. If you are bid to a hard duty and
it involves sacrifice and hardship, do not hesitate, but advance
unflinchingly! It is the Lord who bids you do it and if the Lord bids
you go through the brick wall, He will make a hole in it for you, or
make it soft for you, or in some way or other make you equal to the
occasion! Yours it is to go through–do not stand back because of your
own weakness, but let faith lay hold on the Divine strength.
One other admonition to Christian people is this–burn the boats behind
you. When the Roman commander meant victory he landed his troops on the
coast where he knew there were thousands of enemies troops and he
burned his boats, so as to cut off all chance of retreat. "But how are
we to get away if we are beaten?" "That is just it," he said, "we will
not be beaten! We will not dream of such a thing." "Burn the
boats"–that is what you Christian people must do! "Make no provision
for the flesh." Let the separation between you and the world be final
and irreversible. Say, "Here I go for Christ and His Cross, for the
truth of the Bible, for the Laws of God, for holiness, for trust in
Jesus! And by the Grace of God I will never go back, come what may."
This is the right spirit. The Lord send it among us more and more! It
is the spirit of martyrs. You need it, you converted working men–you
need the spirit of martyrs. I know how your workmates jest and jeer,
and torment you. Well, do not think yourself harshly treated, but play
the man and bear it all and say to yourself, "I did not quite reckon on
this, but it does not matter. I have given my word to the Lord, and I
cannot go back if it costs me everything." I will not talk to you
longer, for what, after all, Brothers and Sisters, can religion cost us
compared with what our salvation cost our Lord?
What is it to go forward if we compare it with the Glory that is
beyond? A pin's prick, that is all–and then you will be in Heaven! Oh,
to stand among the glorified!–to hear the Master say, "Well done!" One
might die a thousand deaths to get those two syllables, if there were
nothing else–"Well done!" To enjoy His smile, to share His crown, to
stand among His palm-bearing hosts and participate in His Glory–this
is worth all the difficulty and sacrifice involved in going
forward–and ten thousand times more!
Therefore accept this closing word. Forward, my Brothers and
Sisters–forward! Whatever lies before you–the Red Sea or the rage of
earth and Hell combined–if God calls you, forward! He will bear you
through to the glorious end. The Lord be with you, for Christ's sake!
Amen!
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