No Quarter

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 30, 1872,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Elijah said unto them, take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them
escape," 1 Kings 18:40.

ELIJAH may be called the Iron Prophet. He was a stern and brave man who
flinched not to deliver his Master's message at all hazards. It was
right that such a man should be raised up just at that time, for the
Sidonian queen, Jezebel, was a woman of imperious spirit, superstitious
to the last degree and resolute in carrying out her will. She ruled
King Ahab with sovereign sway and had issued her mandate that the
Prophets of Jehovah should be slain–a mandate which was all too well
obeyed. None could stand before this tigress until Elijah came and
dared her malice to do its worst. That lone man, of heroic soul,
stemmed the fearful torrent of idolatry and like a rock in mid-current,
firmly stood his ground. He, alone and single-handed, was more than a
match for all the priests of the palace and the groves, even as one
lion scatters a flock of sheep.

On the occasion of our text, you will remember that he had proved the
prophets of Baal to be liars and pretenders, and then, like a practical
man as he was, he went on to the natural conclusion. The Law of Israel
was, "The prophet which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which
I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of
other gods, even that prophet shall die." And, therefore, the case
being proven before all men, Elijah became, himself, the executioner.
He bade the people seize the impostors and he himself purpled the
Kishon with their blood. "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of
them escape," was the thundering voice of the Prophet of fire. The man
did his Master's will thoroughly, never dreaming of compromise.

Perhaps it was for this reason that he, with but one other of woman
born, ascended to Heaven by an unusual road. The God who made him so
grandly faithful had determined that he who passed through the world
differently from other men should pass out of it differently, and he
who had in life flamed like a seraph, should in a chariot of fire be
carried to his reward. I am not, however, about to go further into the
details of that matter, but would seek instruction from its main idea.

Brothers and Sisters, the spiritual teaching of such an utterance as
this is far-reaching. There is a lesson in it which might be turned to
many accounts, for like the cherubic sword at the gate of Eden, it
turns every way. One use of it must suffice for this morning–but at
the same time–as a hint of how it might be employed, we would observe
that it has a distinct bearing upon the present condition of the Church
of God. "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape," is a
voice which our cathedrals and parish Churches might be the better for
hearing. Unholy compromises are the fashion of the day! An infusion of
honest blood is needed, greatly needed. Men are growing utterly
careless as to religious truth because they see the servants of God and
the votaries of Baal associated in the same church, and worshipping at
the same altars!

Sincere loyalty to God brooks not this confederacy with idolaters.
Errors were suffered to remain in the National Church for the sake of
peace, and now they have become dominant and threaten to destroy the
lovers of the Truth of God! It is now clear that every error of
doctrine or ordinance is as mischievous as a prophet of Baal and should
not be endured. The world is wide and men are only responsible to God
for their beliefs–but the Church should not, within her borders,
suffer falsehood to propagate itself. Christians have no right to
associate themselves with any Church which errs in its teaching. If we
see that gross error is rampant in a Church and we join it in
membership, we are partakers of its sins–and we shall have to share in
its punishment in the day of visitation. It is utterly false that it
does not matter to what Church we belong!

It matters to every man who has a conscience and loves his God. I dare
not associate in Church fellowship with Ritualists and
Rationalists–loyal subjects will not join the society of traitors.
What a blessing it would have been in

Luther's time if the Reformation had been carried out completely! Great
as the work was, it was, in some points, a very superficial thing and
left deadly errors untouched. The Reformation in England was checked by
policy almost as soon as it commenced. Ours is a semi-popish Church! If
in this country the axe had been laid to the root of the trees, as John
Knox laid it in Scotland, we might have been spared a thousand evils!
But now, the trees, which were only lopped, begin to send out their
branches again and the errors which were allowed to occupy a secondary
place by permission, now come to the front and threaten to thrust out
the Truth of God altogether.

The only way in which our conscience can be kept clear before God, so
that we can walk with Him in light, is that we abhor every false way
and renounce everything which is not of God and of the Truth. "To the
Law and to the Testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it
is because there is no light in them." When will Christians see this?
The Bible, and the Bible alone, is said to be the religion of
Protestants, but the statement is a terrible lie! The most of
Protestants believe a crowd of other things over and above what is
taught in the Bible! They practice ordinances destitute of Scriptural
authority and believe doctrines which are not revealed by the Holy
Spirit. Happy will the Churches be when they shall cast off the yoke of
all authority apart from the Scriptures and the Spirit!

What have the Lord's free men to do with councils of the Church? With
fathers and doctors, with tradition and custom? The true Church has but
one Rabbi, and His Word suffices her. Away with the commandments of
men! Down with the traditions which make void the Law of God. "Take the
prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape." A thorough purgation is
needed–a root and branch reformation is imperatively necessary. May
the Lord send us a Prophet, clothed with the spirit and power of
Elijah, by whom the fruitless and poisonous trees of error shall be
hewn down and cast into the fire!

I am not, however, about to speak upon that important subject. I need
to carry fire and sword into another district where I trust the
invasion will yield practical results. Let us look at home, searching
our own hearts, testing our own souls. Our manhood is a triple
kingdom–spirit, soul, and body are the United Kingdom of the Isle of
Man–that kingdom ought to be wholly dedicated to the one God of
Israel! But instead, sin has polluted it, and even where, by God's
Grace, the reigning power of evil has been subdued, sin still intrudes
and seeks to regain the mastery. The great Law of Christian life in
regard to sin within ourselves is, "Take the prophets of Baal; let not
one of them escape." We hold neither truce nor parley with
iniquity–war to the knife against every sin of every sort should be
the constant habit of the Christian man's innermost nature!

I shall, this morning, only speak to the people of God. Let that be
fully understood. I am not addressing myself now to unregenerate
persons, to those who are not Believers in Jesus Christ. I should be
foolish, indeed, if I were to exhort those who are dead in sin to fight
with their sins in the hope of obtaining salvation–for that is not the
way of salvation at all–even were they capable of it! Sinners must
first be led to Christ and find saving Grace in Him by a look of faith!
Faith is the first business, not works. To talk of good works before
the new birth is to disregard the Divine order and put the last first.
It is idle to talk of the duties of a Christian to a man who is not a
Christian.

To you unconverted hearers, the first, and for the present, the only
work of God is that you believe in Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved," for, "he
that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not
shall be damned." I address myself to only those who have believed–and
upon them I would press home the clear, sharp, thorough counsel of the
text. We shall give, first of all, reasons for the slaughter which we
now command. Secondly, arguments for its thoroughness, "let not one
escape." And then, thirdly, truths of practical value will be
mentioned, to help us in carrying out the command.

I. First, then, let us cite some REASONS FOR THE SLAUGHTER which we now
advise. At the outset we remind you that our sins deserve to die, every
one of them, because they are traitors to our God. Once we were
traitors, too, and then we gave our sins a willing shelter. We
conspired against the Majesty of Heaven, and, therefore, our
transgressions were loved and pampered. They were our darlings and we
doted on them.

At this time, Beloved, the case is altered, the Lord Jehovah is our God
and King–we delight in His reign–and our prayer is, "Let the whole
earth be filled with His Glory." Our inbred sins would gladly rob the
Lord of His Glory. Every sin is virtually an attack upon the Throne of
the Most High. It is a treasonable assault upon the crown rights of
Heaven.

He who rebels against the Law of God by his breach of that law
virtually says, "I will not have this Lawmaker to rule over me." It is
not right then, O you children of the kingdom, that sin should be
permitted to assail the Lord through

you! It is not right that souls redeemed by the blood of Jesus, loved
with an everlasting love and made secure of endless favor, should
harbor those black and foul traitors–the sins of the flesh and of the
mind! Let the decree go forth in the power of God the Holy Spirit this
day to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts! Take those
foxes which spoil the vines and let not one of them escape!

Let them be slain, secondly, because they have already done us infinite
evil. In their assault upon God we have already found a master motive
for their overthrow. Let us remember, also, that they have sorely
injured us and our race. My Brethren, what has sin done for us? Can you
point to any advantage or blessing with which it has enriched us? Look
down the roll of history and see if sin is not man's worst enemy. Whose
hot breath blasted Eden, withered all its bowers of bliss and caused
the earth to become barren so that without labor even unto sweat she
will not yield bread for our sustenance? Mark well yon innumerable
graves which cover every plain with hillocks. Who slew all these?

By what gate came Death into the world? Was not Sin the janitor to open
the portal? Hearken at this moment to the shouts of war which in every
age of the world's history have created a horrible din of groans of
dying men and shrieks of flying women. Who first dipped yon flag in
blood and made the air pestilent with carnage? And yonder despotic
throne which has crushed down the multitude and made the lives of many
bitter with hard bondage–who laid its dark foundations and cemented it
with blood? From where came war with its carnage and tyranny with its
sufferings? From where, indeed, but from the sins and lusts of men?

All over the world, if there is hemlock in the furrow and thistles on
the ridge, Sin's hand has sown them broadcast. Sin turned the apples of
Sodom to ashes and the grapes of Gomorrah to gall. The trail of this
serpent, with its horrid slime, has obliterated the footsteps ofjoy!
Before the march of Sin I see the garden of the Lord, and behind it a
desert and a morgue! Stay awhile. No, start not, but come with me. Look
down into the ghastly gloom of Tophet, that abhorred region where dwell
the finally impenitent who died with unforgiven sins upon their heads!
Can you bear to hear their groans and moans of anguish? We will not
attempt to describe the sufferings of spirits driven from their God,
eternally banished from all hope and peace, but we will ask you, O
Brothers and Sisters, who dug yon pit and cast men into it? Who
provides the fuel for that terrible flame, and where gets the worm that
dies not its tooth which never blunts?

Sin has done it all! Sin, the mother of Hell, the fountain of fire to
which we may trace each burning stream. O Sin, it is not right that any
heir from Heaven, redeemed from Hell, should make friends with you!
Shall we fondle the adder, or press the deadly cobra to our bosom? If
it had not been for the Grace of God our sins would have shut us up in
Hell already! And even now they seek to drag us there! Therefore let us
take these enemies of our souls and slay them–let not one escape!

But further, dear Brethren, it is right that every sin should die
through the Grace of God, whether it is pride, or sloth, or
covetousness, or worldliness, or lust, or any other form of evil. It is
right that it should die because it will work us serious mischief if it
is not put to death. Of great sins, as men think them, there is little
need that I speak unto you for you all know how dangerous they are–but
those called little sins are equally to be renounced! To fall by little
and little is a terrible way of falling. A Christian cannot indulge a
known sin and yet walk with God! As soon as we tolerate sin within
ourselves we lose power in prayer. The Scriptures cease to be sweet to
us when sin becomes pleasant. The services of the sanctuary are dull
and lifeless when the heart is fascinated by evil.

No tongue can ever tell what mischief a single sin will do to a
professor–it is like the one worm at the root of Jonah's gourd. Take
David's case–what a change came over the spirit of that man's life
from the moment when he went astray! He reached Heaven, but how
painfully he limped all the way there–and how heavily he groaned at
every step! The songs he wrote before that time are frequently jubilant
and often ring with the crash of the loud sounding cymbals! But after
that the voice of the sweet singer of Israel is hoarse. He touches the
mournful string and supplants the psaltery by the trombone. Sin broke
that eagle wing and dimmed that eagle eye!

Samson is a yet sadder case. Let his shorn locks and blind eyes speak
to us. O Soul, if you would behold your worst enemies, look upon your
sins! If you would see that which can straiten your soul's estate,
bankrupt your heart of joy, shipwreck your assurance and kill your
usefulness, you have only to look upon sin. Can't you see it? Its
scales are bright with many colors, and its eye gleams with
fascination, but its fangs are deadly. As Amalek was the remorseless
foe of Israel, so is sin the pitiless enemy of the Believer. Therefore,
to arms against it! Take all its children and let not one escape!

These reasons might suffice to arouse us to the slaughter. Shall not
traitors die? Shall not those who have compassed our ruin be put far
from us? Shall not these insatiable adversaries who are swifter than
eagles and stronger than lions to injure us–shall not these, I say–be
resisted and overcome? Peace with them is not to be dreamed of! The
Lord and His people shall have war with Amalek from generation to
generation! Let not our heart incline to spare a single sin, but with a
jealousy cruel as the grave let us hunt down these unclean beasts!

I think when Elijah said, "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of
them escape," he derived an argument from the spot where the altar had
so lately stood. By that wondrous spectacle, when bullock, wood, stones
and water were all licked up by heavenly fire, he would plead with them
to serve Jehovah. Surely Elijah would say, "Look you there, the
sacrifice has been accepted by Jehovah. What then? What is the natural
consequence of it but that the enemies of that sacrifice, the setters
up of a rival victim, should at once be slain?"

Brothers and Sisters, you and I have seen the Sacrifice of Calvary–a
sight far more august than that of Carmel. No bullock was there, but
the Son of God made flesh! Your faith has seen Him nailed to the tree.
You have beheld the sufferings of His body and by contemplation you
have gazed upon the agony of His soul. And you know that it "pleased
the Lord to bruise Him. He has put Him to grief." When He made His soul
"a Sacrifice for sin," the flames of Divine justice fell upon the
Victim and now the Sacrifice is finished! Christ has made an accepted
Atonement for all our sin. Will you not draw the inference that from
now on you cannot serve sin? By the blood of Jesus you are under bonds
to hate evil!

These sins necessitated the griefs of Christ–will you indulge them?
For these, your transgressions, your Savior bore the wrath of God–will
you return to them? This would be barbarous ingratitude–can you be
guilty of it? Can you gaze upon the bleeding wounds of Jesus and then
wound Him afresh with sin? Say, Believer, are you justified and yet can
you go back to wanton dalliance with transgression? It cannot be! There
is no more sanctifying spectacle in the world than the sight of the
bloody Sacrifice of Jesus Christ! There is nothing which to the
Christian mind is a more convincing proof that sin must die than the
fact that Jesus died!

Heaven's eternal Darling bleeds and suffers for transgression–then
transgression must die, too! The Cross crucifies sin. The tomb of Jesus
is the sepulcher of our iniquities. By the blood and wounds of Jesus we
are constrained to take the prophets of Baal and let not one escape!
Have your swords ready for their hearts! Up and slay them! Hew them in
pieces, as Samuel hewed Agag before the Lord! The Prophet might have
used another argument which would be sure to agree with them.
"Hearken," he might have said, "you have yourselves confessed that
Jehovah is God. Awestruck by the miracle, you have a second time
repeated the ascription of praise to Jehovah and owned that He is God.
What then? Let these seducers be put down at once."

Such a confession demanded consistent action. The most of you to whom I
speak this morning have avowed that the Lord of holiness is your God.
You have not only said it by joining in the solemn worship of the
sanctuary–and thus declaring it in Psalms and hymns, and by saying
Amen to our prayers–but many of you have avowed your personal faith
before the Church of God. You have come before the assembled Brethren
and you have declared that the Lord is your God and King. Moreover, you
have, in obedience to your Master's command, submitted yourselves to
that symbolic ordinance by which you have declared yourselves to be
dead to the world and buried with the Lord Jesus in Baptism unto death.
Solemnly have you been baptized into His name and in His name have been
raised up from the liquid grave–will you be false to all that this
symbolizes? Is your profession a lie? Was your Baptism a blasphemous
falsehood, a presumptuous intrusion? Let me put it to each heart as I
would put it to my own. Let us have no profession, or else make it
true! And if our profession is true, it certainly demands that sin
should not be pampered but abhorred!

But am I not speaking to Church members who think it consistent with
their profession to do, during the week, what they would not like to
have known today? Are there not some of you who in trade have not clean
hands and yet have been outwardly washed as professors of Christ? It
may be you will come this evening to the Lord's Table wherein you set
forth the Redeemer's death and yet the morsels from Satan's table are
hardly out of your mouths. If your life all the week has been contrary
to the life of Christ, what are you doing among His people on the
Sabbath? If you indulge at home in a passionate spirit, in a proud and
hectoring conversation–if you are dishonest, if your talk is unchaste,
if you practice intoxication or any other unhallowed indulgence of the
flesh–who can clear you from guilt?

You have declared that you worship God, how dare you follow Baal! You
say that you are the servants of Christ, how can you be servants of
Belial, also? Can you link the two together? It must not, cannot be! If
God is God, serve Him with all your heart and mind! But if the world
and sin, after all, are better than the Lord's way, then say so
honestly and take your choice! Be true, I pray you–be always true to
your solemn professions. The Prophet had a claim upon them because he
was undoubtedly under the inspiration of God. He had no need to tell
them so, for they all observed it. The actions of Elijah that day were
very remarkable, and indeed, apart from the fact of his being guided by
God's Spirit, they would have been questionable. But God gave him
certain sacred instincts which stood him in the place of verbal
directions and the man was led beyond himself by a mysterious influence
to which he was pliant and plastic.

When he laughed at the priests of Baal, he did what God would have him
do. When he bowed his knee and cried for the fire, and the fire came,
he was yielding to the Divine impulse which struggled within him. And
so, when he said, "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them
escape," all the people were obedient because they felt that God was
speaking through the man. Now, if there is any voice in the world which
is assuredly Divine, it is that which cries out of the excellent Glory,
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols." "Put off concerning the
former conversation of the old man, which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind." "Abstain
from all appearance of evil." "Be you therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in Heaven is perfect."

This is the intention of Election–He has chosen us that we should be
holy. This is the object of Redemption–He has determined to redeem us
from all iniquity. This is the great end and aim of the Spirit of
God–that we may be His workmanship, created in the image of God.
Holiness is the great requirement and at the same time the great
privilege of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. O Brethren, think not
that these lips speak alone when I say slay the sins that are in you,
let not one escape–it is God that speaks it–and let His voice have
power over your souls!

Again, I think Elijah had a very prevalent argument as he pointed to
the fields around Carmel and to the parched sides of the mountain. Far
as the eye could see there was not a speck of green. Even where the
water-course at other times had supported a narrow line of straggling
vegetation, there was now no trace of rush, or reed, or grass–all
brooks and rivulets were dried up and their banks were desolate. Men
looked with eager gaze but saw no trace of grass for beasts, or corn
for men. With what eloquence could Elijah have pleaded had he cared to
do so! "All this has been brought upon you by your sins! You have
turned aside from God and He has struck you till Lebanon languishes and
Sharon's plains are as the dust of the furnace. If you would remove the
evil, sweep away the cause of it! Slay the traitors who have despoiled
you."

Let me, at this time, point some of you to the barrenness of your
spirits incident upon sin. Remember your loss of fellowship with
Christ, your need of joy in God, your powerlessness in prayer, your
lack of influence for good upon the Church and upon the world? What has
made you barren? There was a time with you, in those young days of your
espousals, when your soul was like the garden of the Lord and the
excellency of Carmel and Sharon were yours. But now, this day, even
though you sit with God's people, you do not enjoy the Word as they do.
And though you pray, it is not prevailing prayer. And when you sing,
the hymns which charmed you once are now monotonous.

The joy has departed from your life. Its verdure and its comeliness are
gone, and why? Have not your secret sins betrayed you? Were they not to
your souls as a moth to a garment–fretting and devouring it? Gray
hairs were here and there upon you and you knew it not, till a
spiritual decay made you totter for weakness. The thieves of sin have,
in the night, broken through and stolen away your jewels and carried
off your choice treasures. If you wish to recover your former state of
bliss, you must at once, with resolution, take these prophets of Baal
and let not one of them escape!

Might not Elijah have said, "Think of your unanswered prayers?" Some of
you have a long file of them. Like the Israelites in Elijah's day who
cried for rain, but no rain came, you have been praying to God for your
children's conversion and they are not converted. You have asked for
spiritual life of a dear friend, and you have not had it. Perhaps the
reason is this–you walk contrary to God, and He is walking contrary to
you. If you will not hear Him, neither will He hear you. He will not
cast you out and let you utterly perish, but He will restrain the
heavens and they shall be as brass above you.

You cannot be a Jacob in prayer if you are an Esau in life! If you are
weak on your knees, your sins have worked the mischief–let them not
escape! Remember, if you will slay the Lord's enemies, He will remove
your barrenness and hear your cries. When the prophets of Baal had
watered the ground with their heart's blood, the Lord deluged the
fields with

rain, but not till then. When we give up sin we shall find our
captivity turned. Put away sin from you and God will visit you.
Christian, purge your way and you shall see Christ's face again!

He has gotten Himself away into His chamber, to see what you will do
when He has left you, and now if you will sigh and cry to Him, He will
return. Above all, if you will say–

"The dearest idol I have known,

Whatever that idol be.

Now will I tear it from its throne,

And worship only You,"

you shall soon have back your Master–and with Him all the dews of His
Spirit–and your soul shall blossom again, and the fruits of joy and
holiness shall be brought forth. Need I argue longer? Is not every
Christian ready to take up the sacrificial knife and slay his
transgressions?

II. Secondly, let me remind you that the text is a very thorough going
one. "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape." Let me
give some ARGUMENTS FOR THIS THOROUGHNESS. I fear there is good need
why I should argue for the thoroughness of the slaughter of sin because
human nature makes desperate attempts to rescue at least one sin. Like
Saul, it cannot bear to kill all the Amalekites–it would save a few of
the better sort. I have heard men very eloquent against drunkenness,
very, and I would not have them less so. But they have not had a word
to say against Sabbath-breaking, or against unbelief, hardness of
heart, pride, or self-righteousness. They would kill the adder and
spare the viper!

Have you not, also, known some who justify the taunt in Hudibras and,
"compound for sins they are inclined to by damning those they have no
mind to." They are ferocious against certain sins and fond of others.
They would not touch arsenic, but poison themselves with prussic acid.
Just as Lot said of Zoar, so do they say, "Is it not a little one?"
Some will avow that they have a constitutional tendency to a sin and
therefore they cannot overcome it. They take out a license to sin and
reckon themselves clear though they indulge in their evil propensity.

Brothers and Sisters, this will never do! Indulgences for sin issued by
the Pope are now rejected–shall we write them out for ourselves? Is
Christ the messenger of sin? I know that some persons feel they are
occasionally excused in the use of bitter language because they are
provoked–but I find no such excuses in the Word of God! In no one
passage do I find a permit for any sin, or a furlough from any duty.
Sin is sin in any case and in any man–and we are not to apologize for
it–but to condemn it!

It is pleaded by some that their father was passionate and they are
passionate–and therefore it runs in their blood. But let them remember
that the Lord must cleanse their blood or they will die in their sin.
Others will say that their constant discontent, moroseness, murmuring
and tendency to quarrel with everybody must be set down to their
infirmity of body. Well, I am not their judge–but the Word of the Lord
judges them–and declares that sin shall not have dominion over the
Believer. Does a sin easily beset us? We are doubly warned to lay it
aside. More Grace is needed and more Grace may be had.

Never suppose that God has given you a license for any sin so that you
may live in it as long as you please. No, but believe that Jesus has
come to save us from our sins. I have received no intimation from the
Lord to deal delicately with any man's sins or to become an apologist
for transgression. My message is that of Elijah, "Take the prophets of
Baal; let not one of them escape." For, observe this–one sin may
result in fatal consequences. "To a child of God?" you ask. I say not
that, but how do we know that you are a child of God? How dare you
think yourself born from above while your heart loves any one sin!

In truth, you may be assured that you are not a child of God if there
is any one sin from which you do not long to be delivered. A child of
God may, for awhile be the captive of sin, but never a lover of sin.
One sin ruined our race! One fruit plucked from the forbidden tree
hurled manhood from its pristine glory! The effect of that one sin has
gone on rankling in our blood through 6,000 years and will go on when
years cease to be counted–destroying men throughout an eternity of
woe–if it is not purged out of them. That is something dreadful to
think of as the result of one sin!

Where one sin does not ruin a Church, see what mischief it causes.
There was only one Achan, but Israel was defeated at Ai and could not
conquer until the accursed thing was discovered and put away. There are
poisons so potent that one drop will envenom the whole body! One leak
in a ship may be sufficient to send it to the bottom! One lone rock may
break

the staunchest timbers of a gallant vessel! Say not that there is no
danger in one sin, but may God grant us Grace to feel that no evil must
be spared!

Then, dear Brothers and Sisters, there is this about it–there never
was one sin, alone, yet. Sins always hunt in packs. See one of these
wolves and you may be certain that a countless company will follow at
its heels. I spoke just now of the sin of Adam in the Garden in taking
forbidden fruit–let me ask, what was the essence of that sin? I think
it would not be difficult to maintain the thesis that it was pride, or
that it was discontent, or that it was lust, or unbelief, or, indeed,
almost any other sin you may like to name! It was a many-sided
transgression–its light resolves itself into all the colors of evil.
That devil's name was legion, "for they are many."

Sin's whole brood may be hatched out of one egg–the first original sin
had all others in its loins. So we must not think of indulging even one
sin, because it will bring seven others more wicked than itself. He who
sports with one sin will soon come to play with more and go from bad to
worse. A thief who cannot get in at the front door because he finds it
locked, tries the back door and the windows–and then finds a little
window so small that it was not fastened because no full-grown man
could enter by it–and therefore he puts a child through it and that is
quite enough, for the little one can unlock the door and let in as many
thieves as he will. So one sin put into the soul and allowed to run
riot there may prepare the heart for transgressions never dreamed of!
Men do not all at once grow abominable–sin works the way for sin and
folly nursed grows into crime.

Dear Brethren, there are Christians who, through a measure of yielding
to some one sin, are all their lifetime subject to bondage. They are
weak in Grace. They are melancholy. They never rejoice in the Lord.
Their characters are doubtful. They are poor examples. They have but
little influence for good. Their usefulness is questionable. Their life
is weak and in all probability their death will be clouded. They will
be saved, but so as by fire. They will get into harbor, but they will
be like a vessel I saw some few days ago after the late gales–they
will have to be tugged in–their masts gone, their sails torn to pieces
so that they cannot realize the blessed word, "So an entrance may be
administered unto you abundantly into the kingdom of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ."

There is one strong reason for thoroughness in searching out sin with
which I will close this point. It is this–there is certainly no sin
that Jesus loves–consequently there is no sin that we should love.
Jesus never smiles on any sin of ours, but for every sin He wept,
groaned, bled and died. Shall His murderers be our favorites? Shall we
harbor those who spat in His dear face and pierced His blessed side? I
think there is no argument so powerful to the Christian as the love of
Christ! If you are a wife, a loving, tender wife, you will do nothing
which would grieve your husband. If you have grown cold in love, that
motive will not sway you. But if your heart is warm and you feel the
love of your espousals, you will need no other law.

Beloved, will you grieve the Lord that bought you? Will you do despite
to Him whose heart bled for you? By all the charms of His matchless
beauty and the flames of His quenchless love, I charge you to be chaste
to your soul's Bridegroom and chase away the wanton rivals which would
steal your heart and defile you. Let Calvary be the Tyburn of your
sins–

"Yes, my Redeemer, they shall die,

My heart has so decreed

Nor will I spare the guilty things

That made my Savior bleed."

III. And now we shall close, in the third place, by mentioning CERTAIN
DOCTRINES WHICH MAY HELP US IN THIS PRACTICAL WORK. While I have been
giving the exhortation to the people of God, I dare say many of you
have been whispering, "Who is sufficient for all this?" That is just
what I wanted you to say and my first inference is this– now we see
how incapable is the natural man of self-salvation and of sin-killing
efforts. Tell him to slay his sins, not he– he will hide them as Rahab
the harlot hid the spies–and let them out again when a quiet time
comes round.

Kill his sins! Not he–they are his Absaloms and he would sooner die
than lose them! The sinner kill sin? Ah, no. There is an old league
between them, a scorn confederacy. The unregenerate will no more
quarrel with sin than bees with honey, or dogs with bones. Sin is the
sunshine in which the sinner, like an insect, dances through his little
hour. "You must be born-again, you must be born-again." All
reformations which do not begin with regeneration are wood, hay and
stubble and will come to an end. All that fallen nature weaves in her
loom will be unraveled. "You must be born-again, you must be
born-again!"

And then, secondly, see how much this work is beyond all human
strength. If I had to slay one sin, how could I do it? To kill sin is
not such easy work–it is hundred-headed and hundred-lived. You think,
"I have overcome that evil," and meanwhile you may hear it laugh at
you. How true is that of pride. A man says, "I will be humbler, I will
pray down my pride," and at last he thinks, "Well, now, I have become
humbler"–a sure sign that he is prouder than ever! A humble man mourns
over his pride daily–it is only a proud man who has any humility to
boast of. But if one sin cannot readily be put to death, what shall we
do with the thousands which haunt us and find such convenient
hiding-places in our old Adam nature? How shall we slay all these? He
that made us must make us again or we shall never be worth a farthing!
He who first of all gave a pure nature to Adam must impart to us the
pure nature of the second Adam or our existence will be a failure. O
God, how weak we are!

But then the third reflection is, behold the power of the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit is God and He has undertaken to make us pure and
perfect! Brethren, He will do it! Blessed be His name, He will do it!
We cannot help Him in it. We cannot do it ourselves–it is absolutely
certain we shall fail if we make the attempt–but He can perfect His
own work. By His Divine power and Godhead He will certainly take these
prophets of Baal within us and slay them till not one survives! Let us
adore the Holy Spirit! Let us love and bless Him. Let us make His
Person the Object of our confidence and the thought of Him one of our
richest delights. The Spirit of God will sanctify you wholly–spirit,
soul and body– and you shall be presented faultless before the
Presence of God, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. What a
comfortable Truth is this to our souls!

The next word is this–dear Brothers and Sisters, let us be very
watchful. Since all these sins must die, let us be constantly watching
for an opportunity to put them to death. They are watching for our
weakening–let us watch for their slaying. Sleeping Christian, you
might be justified in sleeping if the devil would sleep, too, but he
was never known to slumber yet. Sleeping Christian, you might have some
excuse if sin would go to sleep, but sin never sleeps–day and night it
dogs our footsteps. Up, then, in the name of God, and be well motivated
to watch and pray!

And lastly, and I delight to make this a closing note–what admiration
and adoration ought we to give to our Redeemer, the blessed Son of God,
because in Him was no sin! Remember, Brethren, that the Manhood of
Christ was really human. Do not think of your Lord as though He were
not truly Man. Remember, He was tempted in all points like as we are,
but, oh, that word, "yet without sin." The devil sets Him on the high
mountain and bribes Him with a world, but He says, "Get you behind Me
Satan." The devil puts Him on the pinnacle of the Temple and bids Him
cast Himself down, but he will not tempt the Lord his God. Satan
appeals to His hunger and bids Him turn stones to bread, but He will
not take the way of the flesh–He rests on God, knowing that "man lives
not by bread alone."

O blessed Redeemer, Pattern of our spirit, Model to whom we are to be
conformed, we reverence You! Conquering in so many conflicts, coming
forth from every trial victorious, You are glorious, indeed! It is not
ours to open up the whole matter. It is ours to worship, ours to love,
ours to imitate. O God, help us to do so and the glory shall be unto
You forever! Amen.
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To The Thoughtless