The Power Of Aaron’S Rod

The Power Of Aaron'S Rod
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 26, 1863, BY THE REV. C. H.
SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." Exodus 7:12.
WE shall not attempt to discuss the question as to whether these
magicians actually did turn their rods into serpents or not. It is
probable that they, by dexterous sleight of hand, substituted living
serpents for dry rods and so deceived the eyes of Pharaoh. On the other
hand, it is possible that God was pleased to permit the devil to aid
their enchantments, and so the old serpent produced a brood. But into
that question, I say, I shall not enter. It is of no importance which
opinion we may hold. Curious questions must this morning give way to
important Truths of God.
I call your attention to the fact that Aaron's rod proved its
Heaven-given superiority and silenced all the boastings of Jannes and
Jambres by readily swallowing up all their rods. This incident is an
instructive emblem of the sure victory of the Divine handiwork over all
the opposition of men. Whenever a Divine thing is cast into the heart,
or thrown upon the earth, it swallows up everything else. And though
the devil may fashion a counterfeit and produce swarms of opponents, as
sure as ever God is in the work, it will swallow up all its foes.
"Aaron's rod swallowed up all their rods."
Without any preface, let me ask you, first of all, to observe this
fact. When we have duly considered it, let us, in the second place,
draw an inference from it. And then, in closing, let me endeavor to
show some reasons why it is right that it should be so.
I. Let us turn aside to see this great sight–the Divine triumphant
over the diabolical–the spiritual subduing the natural–AARON'S ROD
SWALLOWING ALL ITS RIVALS.
1. Let us take the case of the awakened sinner. That man was, a few
days ago, as worldly, as carnal, as impassive as he well could be. If
anyone should propose to make that man heavenly-minded, to lead him to
set his affection upon things above, and not on things on the earth,
the common observer would say, "Impossible! The man has no thought
above what he shall eat, and what he shall drink, and how he shall be
clothed–his heart is buried in a grave of cares. He rises early. He
sits up late. He eats the bread of carefulness. He is glued and
cemented to the world–as in old Roman walls, the cement has become so
strong that the stone is no longer a separate piece, but has become a
part of the wall itself–so this man is cemented to the world. He
cannot be separated from it. You must break him in pieces with the
hammer of death. You cannot separate him in any other way from the
cares of life.
Ah, but Aaron's rod shall swallow up this rod. The man listens to the
Word. The Truth of God comes with power into his soul. The Holy Spirit
has entered him. And the next day, though he goes to his business, he
finds no true contentment in it, for he pants after the living God.
Though still he will buy and sell and gain, yet there is a craving
within–an awful hunger–a thirst unquenchable–which above the din and
clamor of the world's traffic, will be heard crying, "Seek you first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness." Now his spirit pleads its
needs, and outstrips the body in the contest for his warmest love. He
spurns the trifles of a day–he seeks the jewels of eternity. The
groveling swine which wallowed in worldliness is transformed into an
eagle. The man who lived for this shadowing earth has now an eye for
the upper spheres and a wing to mount into celestial heights. Divine
Grace has won the day and the worldling seeks the world to come.
It may be that the man is immersed in pleasure. He is at this theater
and at that. In all gay society he bears the palm. You shall find him
at every horserace and fighting ring–ah, and worse still, you may
track him to dens of licentiousness and learn that he is diving deeper
than others in the turbid streams of vice. What power can make this gay
sinner become a saint? As well ask over a moldering grave, "Can these
dry bones live?"–how shall he find joy in the praise of God, or
interest in waiting upon the worship of the Most High?
"Absurd!" cries Unbelief, while Worldliness shouts, "Ridiculous!" The
man is too far gone for regeneration! He is married to pleasure and he
wears the ring upon his finger! Yes, but Aaron's rod can swallow up
this rod. For we have seen such a man loathe the very joys he loved
till there was no charm in the music of sin–no mirth in the society of
folly. He fled away to hide himself. He sought seclusion that he might
weep alone. Where are now the sweetness of your bowls and the melody of
your viols? Where now the charms of the earth's harlotry? Where now the
giddy delights of chambering and wantonness? They are gone, for Aaron's
rod has swallowed up these rods of the magicians, and the mad sinner is
sitting yonder–a penitent at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his
right mind.
His companions follow him. With many weighty reasons, as they seem to
think, they invite his return. They plead with him not to make a fool
of himself by joining those melancholy fanatics. They point out the
faults of many professors. They remark that hypocrisies are common.
They describe the inconsistencies of good men. And they say, "What?
Will you throw away the joviality of youth, the bloom and flush of
life, to be united with a miserable band of enthusiasts and deceivers
like these?" Then they insinuate cunning doubts. They thrust into the
man's way certain strange things, of which he had never heard before,
which startle him like thunder, and almost drive him from his purpose.
If God's Grace is in him, the world's best magicians may throw down all
their rods–and every rod may be as cunning and as poisonous as a
serpent–but Aaron's rod will swallow up their rods.
The sweet attractions of the Cross will woo and win the man's heart.
The blessed arguments, fetched from the bleeding wounds of Jesus, will
answer all the blandishments of Madam Wanton and the reason of her
sister, Madam Bubble. Everything shall be set aside when true religion
comes in. The man shall have a longing so intense that he cannot stop
it, nor can he stop himself from obedience to it–a longing after
pardon by blood and salvation by Divine Grace.
Oh, have you not seen the trembling penitent, when under conviction of
sin, apparently oblivious to everything else? How changed the man! The
furrows of that brow prophesy a harvest of hope. Tears, those jewels of
repentance, bedeck his eyes. He is dressed in the sackcloth and ashes
which are the court robes of those blessed mourners who shall be
comforted. For a season even righteous joys yield him no solace. The
comforts of his household, and the enjoyments of the fireside fail to
reach his case. There is no balm in Gilead for him–Heaven alone can
supply him a fit physician. His cry has become, "These can never
satisfy! Give me Christ, or else I die."
You have marked the stag when it is let down for a royal hunt. Away it
flies. The dogs are behind it. It flies over flowery meads but it does
not pause to smell the fragrance of the dale. It dashes along the wood
but it waits not for shelter beneath yon shady oak! It scatters the
sparkling waters of the brook, but it scarce has time to bathe its
limbs. Onward, up the hill, the scenery is grand. But those wild eyes,
starting from its head, is solaced by no sight of beauty. The birds are
singing sweetly in yonder thicket, but those startled ears are not
comforted. The bay of the dog is all the noble victim hears. The wrath
of the hunter is all it dreads.
On–on–on it flies, panting for life. Such is the soul hunted by the
dogs of conscience. Such is the awakened spirit, when the wrath of God
is let loose upon it. No comforts can charm it. No joys can delight it.
It flies on–on–on– resting never until it finds a shelter and
deliverance in the clefts of the Rock of Ages. It is in vain that Satan
tries to attract it from the one master thought. The Divine life must
and will have its course. As some lofty mountain casts its shadow all
along the valley, so a sense of condemnation throws its dark influence
over the whole life. Then follows a longing for mercy, which, like a
swollen torrent, bears all before it.
To use another illustration–the man has found the pearl of great price
and for joy thereof he parts with all to buy it. No matter how dear the
old ancestral homestead, it must be sold. The favorite horse. The
faithful dog–all must go. He will sell his dearest joys, and his most
prized luxuries of sin, that he may buy this priceless, peerless pearl.
Aaron's rod swallows up all other rods, and serpents, too.
2. Beloved, the same fact, with equal distinctness, is to be observed
in the individual when he becomes a Believer in Jesus Christ–his faith
destroys all other confidences. Once that man could trust in his
self-righteousness. He was rich and increased in goods and had need of
nothing. He was honest. Who could say that he ever fraudulently failed
in business, or robbed a creditor? For integrity he boasted that none
could say he lacked the highest. He was, moreover, kind and
charitable–amiable in his deportment and tender in heart towards the
poor. He trusted that if any man went to Heaven by his merits, he
should.
But where is that rod now? Lo, Aaron's rod has swallowed it up. For now
that man can say with the Apostle Paul, "But what things were gain to
me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yes doubtless and count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."
The man once could rely upon ceremonies. Was he not sprinkled in
infancy in the customary manner? Was he not confirmed afterwards by
Episcopal hands? Did he not receive the blessed sacrament of the Lord's
Supper? What more was wanted? He was regular at his Church, or punctual
at his Chapel. He paid the contribution expected of him, and perhaps a
little more. He had family prayers and went through a private form at
his bedside. What more did he want? But Aaron's rod swallows this up,
too. For all our righteousnesses are but as filthy rags.
This is the cry of the man now–"God forbid that I should glory, save
in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." My Hearers, you are no
Christians unless your faith in Christ has devoured every other
confidence–unless you can say–
"On Christ, the solid Rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand."
It is not to trust Christ, and to trust self. To rely on Jesus
somewhat, and then upon our prayers, and our works to some degree.
Jesus ONLY must be your watchword. Christ will never have a partner. He
trod the winepress alone, and He will save you alone. He stretched His
hands on the Cross and none but He could bear the burden of sin–nor
will He divide the work of salvation, lest at the last He should have
to divide the crown. The rod of the one only High Priest must swallow
up all other rods.
My dear Friends, what multitudes of foes has our faith had to meet
with! But how it has swallowed them all up! There were our old sins.
The devil threw them down before us and they turned to serpents. What
hosts of them! What multitudes! How they hiss in the air! How they
intertwine their many coils. How horrible are their deadly fangs, the
gaping jaws, their forked tongues! Ah, but the Cross of Jesus, like the
rod of Amram's son, destroys them all. Faith in Christ makes short work
of all our sins, for it is written, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleans us from all sin."
Then the devil stirs up another generation of vipers and shows us our
inbred corruptions, our neglect of duty, our slackness in prayer, our
unbelief, our backslidings, our wanderings of heart. And sometimes you
and I get so tormented by these reptiles that we grow alarmed and are
half inclined to flee. Do not run, Brother, but throw down Aaron's rod
and it will swallow up all these serpents, even though they were
poisonous as the cobra, fierce as the rattlesnake, or huge as the
python. You shall overcome through the blood of the Lamb. "Jesus is
able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him."
The battle is the Lord's, and He will deliver them into your hands. The
old enemy will throw down another host of serpents in the form of
worldly trials, diabolical suggestions, temptations to blasphemy, ill
thoughts of God, hard thoughts of His Providence, rash thoughts of His
promises, and such like till you will be almost distracted. You will
wonder how you can meet such a host as this. Remember to stand fast and
throw down Aaron's rod–your simple trust and faith in Jesus
Christ–and it must, and shall, swallow up all these rods. There is not
one doubt which the craft of Hell can insinuate–there is not one
difficulty which the infernal wisdom of Diabolus can suggest–but
simple faith in Christ can disarm, tread under foot, and utterly
destroy.
On a certain railroad there is a viaduct. The arches are of
considerable height. Wooden centers, of course, were used for the
building of these arches and they remain there till this day because
there is some suspicion that if the wooden centers were knocked out,
the brick arches might not be strong enough and might come tumbling
down. Now, there are some professors whose faith is of that kind–it is
supported by wooden centers of human persuasion, reasoning, or
ex-citement–which they cannot afford to lose. But the Christian man
can say that if by Providence all the earthly props of his confidence
should fail. If feelings, graces, and excitements were all gone–still
the Cross, alone, is an all-sufficient dependence–and faith could bear
the most terrible strain which earth or Hell could put upon it.
I would to God we were more and more possessed of that faith which
leans on God, and God, alone. For remember, the faith which is
supported by anything except the Word and promise of God is no faith at
all. It is a bastard faith which has the Cross for a buttress, but
finds its foundation elsewhere. The Cross must be the foundation,
cornerstone, and but- tress, too. None but Jesus! None but Jesus! We
need to have a faith which can endure every form of trial and as long
as life lasts.
One day last week, when I was preaching, it began to rain. A gentleman
asked why the largest Chapel in the neighborhood could not be used for
the occasion? The reply was, "Why, the galleries are not safe." I
thought, "what was the good of galleries into which they were afraid to
let the people?" Pull them down and get fresh ones! So there are some
people who have a faith like that good-for-nothing gallery. It is not
safe. It will not sustain a crowd of afflictions and temptations,
difficulties, and troubles. It would all come down with a crash in the
day of trial, and great would be the fall of it.
Brethren, if you have such a faith as I have described, pray God to
take it away. It is worthless and dangerous. For remember, in the hour
of death, if it cannot stand the tramp of the eternal feet, it will
give way–and your everlasting ruin will be the result. Have a faith
which is built upon God, which will bear whatever comes. But mind you,
mix not with it wood, hay, stubble of your own gathering. Let Aaron's
rod swallow up all other rods. Let your faith in Christ overturn every
refuge of lies.
3. The same fact is very manifest after faith in all who truly love the
Savior. It will be found, I am sure, that every true lover of Jesus has
an all-consuming love–coals of juniper–which have a most vehement
flame. They who love Christ aright, love no one in comparison with Him.
The husband is dear. The father is cherished. The children are
precious. But after all, Jesus Christ is better than all kin. We can
look upon all and say, "Yes, it were a bitter pang to lose you, but we
would sooner lose you all ten times over than once lose our Savior."
For, oh, if we lose Him, we have lost all, even if all else remained.
But if all is gone and we still keep our Savior, we have all in Him.
The Christian, as he loves nothing in comparison, so he loves nothing
in contradiction to Christ. Whatever comes between him and his Savior,
the true lover of Jesus abhors and rejects in a moment. He holds no
deliberation or debate about the matter. He counts that vile, which,
precious in itself, becomes evil through interposing between him and
his Lord–
"The dearest idol I have known, Whatever that idol be"– though it is a
golden idol–though it be myself–whatever that idol is–
"Help me to tear it from its throne, And worship only You."
The Christian's love to Christ is of such a kind that he would forego
honor and think it honor to be dishonored for Christ. Persecution's
flame cannot, by any means, consume bands of union which unite his soul
and his Lord. Through fire and through water this love can march. For,
"many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it." That
is not true love to Jesus which governs only one part of the man out of
twenty. It must be all the passions bound into one. This is the reason
why our Apostle does not say, "Set your affections on things above."
But, "Set your affection on things above." Tie up the affections in one
bundle. There is not to be a host of them. They are to be made into
one. Bind them into a bundle of camphire and then offer them to your
Beloved Jesus.
Oh, if I pretend to love Christ and have other lovers, too–He cares
not for such a heart as mine–it must be an undivided heart. "Their
heart is divided. Now shall they be found faulty," said Hosea. "Unite
my heart to fear your name," cried the Psalmist, and let each of us
pray so, too. "My Beloved is mine and I am His." Let that be without
any sort of reserve. Let the giving up of ourselves to Christ, and the
taking of Christ to ourselves be done heartily and earnestly, with all
the powers of the soul.
This love to Christ reminds me of the fire which fell of old upon
Elijah's sacrifice–there stood the altar made of twelve rough stones.
On it lay the bullock and the wood–and over all the Prophet had poured
water, until it saturated the bullock, and stood in the trenches. But
when the fire came down from Heaven, it devoured not only the wood, and
the sacrifice, but the very stones of the altar–and licked up the
water from the trenches. So when this heavenly fire of love comes down
upon our hearts in very deed and truth, it not only burns the sacrifice
and the wood–our own true intentions and our renewed heart–but the
stones, the very flesh that seemed as dull and cold as a stone!
Yes, and those old corruptions which seemed to quench the fire of
Divine Grace like water–this love licks the whole up, and the whole
man goes up to Heaven–a living sacrifice unto God. "My heart and my
flesh," said the Psalmist, "cry out for the living God." I used to
wonder however he made his flesh to do it, for the flesh lusts against
the Spirit. But there are times when Aaron's rod does swallow up all
other rods, and even the heart and the flesh cry out for the living
God. Our love to Jesus should be like the love of David to Jonathan and
of Jonathan to David. As Jonathan was ready to take off both his sword,
and his bow, and his girdle, and give them to David, so should we make
no reserve–our selfishness being swallowed up–giving to Jesus all
that we are and all that we have evermore.
I have heard of one good man who carried out to the letter this love to
Christ. He was rich. He prospered much in business. A very sincere
friend who might take great liberties called upon him and said, "My
dear Brother, you are so prosperous that I am afraid lest your heart
should depart from God." The other replied, "No, my Brother, I thank
you for the warning, but I am not in that danger, for I enjoy God in
everything." Years went on–riches took to themselves wings and fled
away. The rich man was brought to the depths of poverty. He even knew
what it was to want bread. The same friend came to see him and he said,
"My dear Brother, you remember what I said to you in your prosperity?
Now, I am afraid, lest in your adversity, you should grow unbelieving
and so dishonor your Lord." But the other said, "Dear Brother, I thank
you for your warning as I said before, but I am not in danger, for
before I enjoyed God in everything, and now I enjoy everything in God."
Oh, this is a sweet way of living, when our love to Christ is such that
we find Christ in everything. We see the marks of His pierced hands on
our daily bread. We see the blood mark upon the garments which we wear.
It is good, too, when suffering and wanting times shall come, to find
we are rich because we have Christ and can sing–
"You, at all times, will I bless;
Having You, I all possess;
How can I bereaved be,
Since I cannot part with You?"
4. Brethren, you will notice this in the man who makes his delight in
the Lord Jesus. He who makes his delight in Christ after a true sort
will discover that this delight swallows up all other delights. There
is none equal to this. The Christian man enjoys himself as others do.
He is not denied the sweets of this life any more than another man. But
to him all these things are brown bread. He has eaten manna from
Heaven! His mouth has tasted angels' food! And he feels that the
choicest mirth and delight his soul can know in all the bounties of
God's rich Providences are mere ashes compared with what he finds in
Christ. His delight in Christ is of such a kind that nothing can stop
it.
In disease he still rejoices in his God, who makes his bed in his
sickness. When he comes to die, that last of foes cannot interrupt the
music of his soul. "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord," he has
said. And he carries out his vow. He has little to delight in besides.
But he has more delights than those who have all the world. Though he
were rich as Solomon, and had singing men, and singing women, and
gardens, and houses and chariots and all manner of delights, he would
not be so contented as he is with Christ, and with his Christ, alone.
I speak experimentally–I who am but a babe in Christ, even I know that
there is such joy to be found in Jesus. Such rapture, such
ecstasy–what shall I say?–such Heaven to be found in His dear name
and in communion with Him, that if I could have but five minutes of my
Lord's company, I would sooner have it than a whole year of the society
of princes rolling in wealth and exalted in fame. One glance of His
eyes outshines the sun. The beauties of His face are fairer than all
flowers. There is no such fragrance as in the breath of His mouth. "Let
Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth: for Your love is better than
wine."
5. Yet more is it so in a man who is devoted to God's service. The
service of God swallows up everything else when the man is truly God's
servant. When a man gets fully possessed with an enthusiastic love for
Jesus and there is no other love worth a moment's care, difficulties to
him become only things to be surmounted. Dangers become honors,
sacrifices pleasures, sufferings delights, weariness rest. Life he
looks upon but as a loan and gives it back to Jesus Christ with
interest. Look in the olden times how the martyrs despised death.
Aaron's rod swallowed up the terrors of fire, and stake, and rack, and
dungeon.
Poverty, nakedness, peril, sword–the love of Christ made short work of
these. In later days, in the Reformer's times, to meet the score of the
multitude and the wrath of princes, was a thing of every day. They
laughed at all sufferings for the love of Jesus. Today some of our
missionary Brothers and Sisters prove the same fact. Williams staining
Ero-manga with his blood. Knibb spending a weary life in the midst of
his swarthy Brothers and Sisters. Moffat at this hour cut off from
contact with those whom he holds dear, pressing on in the work of
saving the Bechuana and the Bushman.
These men and men like them of whom the world is not worthy prove that
the love of Jesus will swallow up everything else.
I hope there are some in this Church in whom the service of Christ has
become the main object of their lives. If you stand up and preach in
the streets, and you are mocked at, Aaron's rod will swallow up all the
ribaldry of scoffers. You can bear all that, and rejoice in it! If you
go home and find persecutors there, you can patiently endure their
cruel mockery. Aaron's rod will swallow up that rod very speedily.
Perhaps you have to lose customers by closing your shop on Sunday.
Perhaps friends forsake you because of your godly walk. Perhaps
adversaries gather round you and say spiteful things of you because
Jesus is yours. Aaron's rod will swallow up those rods.
I would to God there were more Christians, however, in whom all their
business cares and their worldly pursuits were subjugated and
subservient to their devotion to their Master. For he is not a
Christian of any standing who lives for anything but to extend the name
of Christ and to spread His kingdom among the sons of men.
Brethren, we are waiting for the time in which my text shall have a
more splendid significance than I can give it just now. In every
neighborhood wherever Christ's Truth is preached, like Aaron's rod it
swallows up all the serpents of sin. Go to the dark alleys in London,
take Jesus Christ there and Aaron's rod shall swallow up the rods of
ignorance, vice, and ungodliness. Go to popish countries–spread the
Bible–let the name of Jesus Christ be proclaimed and there is no lie
of the Pope which the Cross cannot overcome. Go to the heathen land,
where Juggernaut sits in bloody contentment on his throne. Or go to the
islands of the South Seas, or to Africa's wondrous plains! Wherever you
go, cast down Aaron's rod, and whatever the form of superstition or
error, it shall swallow all up.
Wait yet a little while, when from eastern coast to western, one song
shall be heard, the Hallelujah to the Lord– when Jesus' name shall be
exalted, and every knee shall bow–and every tongue shall confess that
He is Lord. Then admiring angels looking from the battlements of
Heaven, or flying down and mingling with the sons of earth, shall
rejoice to see that Jannes and Jambres, who withstood Moses, were not
more totally defeated than the foes of Christ shall be when Aaron's rod
shall swallow up their rods and the chorus shall be heard, "Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!"
II. WE NOW DRAW AN INFERENCE. If it is so, that wherever true
religion–the finger of God–comes into a man it becomes a consuming
passion till the zeal of God's house eats the man up–then there are
many persons who profess religion who cannot have found the right
thing. I will picture you one or two of them. There are some who sit
and listen to the Gospel and who somewhat delight in its doctrines.
They feel an attachment to the Truth and find some degree of comfort in
it. But the one thing they think of is how they shall scrape together
money–how they shall, by some means or other, fill their bank account.
As for God's House, though it has many claims, it is looked upon as a
nuisance when it once entrenches upon their pocket. They give–well,
what per cent do they give of their incomes? So small is the fraction
that we will not waste our time in calculating it. I dare say they give
as much as their religion is worth. We have heard of one who said that
his religion did not cost him above a quarter of a dollar a year. And
somebody said he thought it was very dear at that price. I dare say
most people are pretty good judges of what their religion is worth and
their payment for its support may be taken as a fair estimate.
Those who are mean, miserly and miserable in the cause of Christ–whose
only expenditure is upon self–and whose main object is gain, what can
we say of them? Why, that they look upon religion as some great farmers
do upon their little off-hand farms. They think it is well to have a
little religion. They can turn to it for amusement sometimes, just to
ease them a little of their cares. Besides, it may be very well, after
having had all in this world, to try to get something in the next. They
are not honest people. Serving the devil all their lives, the devil has
a sort of deferred interest in them and will no doubt see to his
claims. But, instead of doing justice, they want to cheat him at the
last. No doubt, in the end, they will have their due. There are many of
these in our Churches with whom we can find no fault in other respects.
They are moral and decent in all ways. They can pray very nicely in
Prayer Meetings, yet they never dream of consecrating their secular
employments unto God. Aaron's rod, in their case, has never swallowed
up their rods.
I heard of a minister, who, having need to have a Chapel built, told
the collector to call upon a certain person. The collector said, "Oh,
he will not give anything. He never gives anything." "Well," said the
minister, "if he gives as he prays, I should think he would give all he
has!" So the collector called. "Well," the gentleman replied, "really,
he had so many calls." You know all the fibs which are customary on
such occasions. He would give nothing. So the collector said, "Sir, our
minister said if you were to give as you pray, he thought you would
give a large amount." Well, that touched his conscience. "Our minister
said, he thought when you prayed, you would give yourself away."
There are many who say that who are a long way from meaning to carry it
practically out. But give me the man who, with all worldly discretion,
feels that it is as much his business to get money for God, as it is
mine to preach for God. He sells his calicoes, his slabs of meat, his
earthenware, or his groceries, for Christ, as truly as I come upon this
platform to speak for Christ. He sanctifies his ordinary calling to the
cause of Christ and makes himself the Lord's servant in everything,
saying, "Here, Lord, I give myself to You. It is all that I can do."
I am afraid the inference I am to draw from what I have already said,
is that those who love the world have a religion they had better get
rid of. There are other persons who profess to be Christians, but who
spend all the week round without ever brushing against their religion.
They expect it to call upon them as the postman does, at regular hours.
It may wake them up on Sunday morning, but it must mind it does not
intrude upon the Monday. What are the books they read? Those yellow
volumes of one shilling or two shilling trash which abound at the
railway bookstalls?
What is their talk about? Well, anything you like, except what it
should be. What do they do during the week? Oh, they do twenty things.
But what do they attempt for Christ? Do for Christ, Sir? With what
surprise they look at you, when you ask them that question! What did
they do all the week? Well, let us see–beginning with Monday and going
on to Saturday– hear it all–and what is its sum total? As far as the
Church or the world is concerned, these people might just as well have
been in bed and asleep all the time–they do nothing whatever. They
have a name to fire and practically they are dead.
If a young man joins a rifle corps, there he is. He stands in the rank.
He learns his practice and drills. He tries to get a prize by hitting
the target. But when a man joins the Christian Church, where is he? I
do not know where he is. You may find his name seven hundred and
something in the attendance book. He is there, but what is he? You find
him at Chapel on Sunday, but where is he, and what is he doing for the
cause of Christ during the week? The smallest scrap of paper would be
too large to record his deeds of faith. He thinks he adorns his
profession. But what kind of adornment is it, or who ever sees that
adornment? I cannot tell. I believe that the man who does not make his
religion his first and last thought, who does not subject all his
actions, his eating and drinking, too, to the cause of Christ, has not
the work of God in his soul. "Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or
whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
The man who has not consecrated the lap stone–who has not dedicated
the counter to God–who has not made the desk and the pen holiness unto
the Lord has yet to learn what the Christian religion is. It is not a
uniform to be worn one day and cast away the next. It ought to be a
part of the woof and warp of your being. It ought to run in your blood,
penetrate the marrow of your bones, work in the arms, gaze from the
eyes and speak from the tongue. O to be baptized, saturated, immersed
in the Spirit of God and so, wherever we go to say to men who put our
Lord at the bottom of the scale, "For us to live is Christ"! Only such,
I say, will ever be able to add, "For me to die is gain."
I hope this may come home to some of you. And if it does, may it
produce from this day forth a more thorough love to Jesus–a more
practical way of showing a more entire devotedness to that great cause
which is either an awful imposition, or else deserves to have our whole
heart, our whole spirit, soul and body devoted to it.
III. Now, I will close, by trying to GIVE SOME REASONS WHY I PUT THE
SERVICE OF GOD SO PROMINENT, AND THINK THAT AARON'S ROD OUGHT TO
SWALLOW UP ALL OTHER RODS.
What does the great Gospel revelation disclose to us? Does it not show
us an awful danger and only one way of escape from it? Yonder is the
place where the wrath of God burns without abatement, where souls
suffer pangs indescribable. "To-phet is ordained of old. Yes, for the
king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large: the pile there is
fire and much wood. The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
does kindle it." Horrors, past imagination are revealed to us by the
words of Jesus when He speaks of the worm that dies not, and of the
fire that never shall be quenched.
If we could once, but for an instant, have an idea of the wrath to
come. If but for a moment the scathing lightning of God could flash
before our vision–if we could taste, but for an instant, the
bitterness of that cup of trembling, the dregs of which the wicked
earth must drink–I am sure we should feel that the religion which
teaches us how to escape from it must be worthy of a man's most solemn
consideration! And we should give to it all the strength of our mind.
To escape from Hell–O Sirs–if you do but manage this, though you die
in an attic, you will have done well! Oh, if you have but escaped from
the wrath to come, you will have been wise. Though you have lived as
paupers here, wiser far than he who has piled–like the tower of
Babel–wealth on wealth, only to find his way to despair at last.
Does not our religion also reveal to us the joyous reward of another
world? It opens to us yonder pearly gates and bids us gaze on angels
and glorified spirits. It tells us of celestial glories, of
immortality, the crown of life which fades not away. It brings to our
ear the melody ofheavenly harps and bids our eyes look upon the
splendors of the Son of God upon the Throne. Heaven–if there is a
Heaven, and we, by calling ourselves Christians, accept it as Truth.
Should it not, then, be our first and last thought, the Alpha and Omega
of man's existence, to seek and find it–so that we may not be shut out
like the foolish virgins, but may enter with the wise into the marriage
supper? By Hell and by Heaven, therefore, I do entreat you, let Aaron's
rod swallow up all other rods. And let love and faith in Jesus be the
master passion of your soul.
Moreover, do we not learn in our holy faith of a love unexampled? Where
was love such as that which brought the Prince of Glory down to the
gates of death and made Him pass the portals amid shame and scoffing?
Oh, matchless love which draws the Prince of Life down to the shades of
death! That takes the crown from His lofty brow, removes His purple
robe from His shoulders, loosens His glittering garment and strips His
fingers of their golden rings. That wraps Him in clay, clothes Him in
rags, houses Him nowhere, gives Him no place to lay His head! That
makes Him eat the bread of penury and drink the water of affliction.
Shall such a love as this have half our hearts? Shall it have a cold
love in return? Shall Jesus sit at the bottom of the table? Shall we
stow Him away in some back chamber of the heart? Shall we treat Him to
cold meats, to dogs' meat? God forbid! Let us make Him King of kings
within our hearts, as He is today King of kings in the highest heavens.
If Christ is anything, He must be everything. If He deserve not to be
everything, He deserves to be less than nothing.
But, my Brothers and Sisters, does not the Grace of God create in us a
new and noble nature? And if new and noble, should it not predominate?
He is accursed who lets his body rule his mind, who lets his eating and
drinking chain the immortal spirit. And he is equally accursed who
shall let his mind rule his new-born spirit. No, let that nature which
feeds on Christ, which breathes Christ, and which ascends to Christ–as
flame ascends up to the central source of fire–the sun–let that
nature always have its full liberty. Let it be ruling in us! Though the
Law in our members strives against it, yet let it rule and reign–like
the rod of Aaron–let it swallow up all other rods.
And since, dear Brothers and Sisters, since God has been pleased to
ennoble us by giving us the high dignity of being His children, shall
we make our being a son of man a greater thing than being a son of God?
Shall men, as they look at me, say of me first, "He is a tradesman"? O
let me live so that the first thing they may say shall be–"He is a
Christian"!
I heard of one, speaking of a certain earnest man's religion, as riding
his horse. I knew that the person who so spoke of him knew nothing
about it. For this is a steed which you may ride all day and all night
long. It is a very Pegasus which will bear you up to Heaven and carry
you aloft up to the starry spheres. Never dismount, Christian–having
been once set upon Christ's own beast–continue to ride till He brings
you safely home. Whatever others may be with their religion, let yours
be of a sort which you cannot lay aside. You must hold it, you must
speak about it.
The Brahmins and the Hindus practice caste. A Hindu one day asked our
missionaries whether they had caste in England. The missionary replied,
No, all men might eat and drink together. The Brahmin said this was
very disorderly and even immoral. But the missionary said, "Well, but
upon your great feast day–for instance, the great feast of
Juggernaut–the Sudra eats with the Brahmin." "Oh," says he, "that is
because we are in the presence of our god." "So," said the missionary,
"that is the reason why we have no caste in England, because we are
always in the presence of our God."
I would that we thought of this. And being always in the presence of
our God, let us live every day as the idolater does some days. As the
Romanist does now and then. Talk of holy days! Why, every day ought to
be to you a holy day. Speak of keeping the Sunday holy! Every day
should be kept holy. Only the Sunday is a day of rest unto us more than
the others. Write upon the bells of the horses, "HOLINESS UNTO THE
LORD," and let the pots in your own house be like the bowls before the
altar.
I shall not say any more upon this subject. Only pray that the Lord may
give to this Church a larger number of consecrated men and women–and
ask of you, for I make a point of it–to remember that this must always
be a labor of love if it is to be acceptable. No man ever does anything
for the Lord acceptably which he would rather not do–no man ever gives
to the Lord acceptably that which he would rather withhold. The service
of Christ is perfect freedom–to serve Him day and night is to enjoy
perpetual liberty.
Only try it, dear Brothers and Sisters! You that are low in Divine
Grace and weak in your faith, doubting and unbelieving, do more for
Christ! Make your consecration more perfect. and your light shall come
forth as brightness and the glory of your soul as a lamp that burns.
May the Lord now add His blessing. Amen.