The Ear Bored With An Awl

DELIVERED BY

C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and
my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him
unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the
doorpost; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he
shall serve him forever." Exodus 21:5, 6.

THE slavery which existed among the ancient Jews was a very different
thing from that which has disgraced humanity in modern times. And it
ought also to be remembered that Moses did not institute slavery in any
shape or fashion. The laws concerning it were made on purpose to
repress it, to confine it within very narrow bounds and, ultimately, to
put an end to it. It was like the law of divorce–Moses authored that
law but he knew that the people were so deeply rooted in it that it
could not be forbidden. And therefore, as Jesus tells us, Moses,
because of the hardness of their hearts, suffered them to put away
their wives. And so, I may say, because of the hardness of their hearts
he suffered them, still, to retain persons in servitude. But he made
the laws very stringent, so as almost to prevent it.

Among other repressive regulations, this was one, that when a slave ran
away from his master it was contrary to law for anyone to assist in
sending him back again. And with such a law as that, you can clearly
see that nobody need remain a slave, since he could run away if he
liked. It was nobody's business–no, it was a sin for anybody–to force
him back again. Now, if a man can go when he likes, his slavery is a
very different thing from that which still curses many parts of the
earth. But the case stood thus and, sometimes persons who were
insolvent, who could not pay, were compelled by the law to give their
services to their creditors for a certain number of years, always
limited, as you see in this case, to six.

A man who had committed theft, instead of putting the country to the
expense of a prison, was sometimes fined for his theft sevenfold. And
if he had no money he was placed in servitude till he had bought
himself free again–an institution not altogether indefensible, I
think–and having a good deal of rough justice about it. Sometimes a
person who was extremely poor would sell his services for the six
years, which are here prescribed, to some wealthy person who was bound
to house him, clothe him and feed him. This is very much like a system
which still exists in some parts of our own country, where a person's
services are hired for the year, with so much nourishment to be given,
and so much of wage.

Well, the law here says that if a man should have sold himself, or by
insolvency should have come to be sold to his master, at the end of six
years he might go free. He was quite free to leave his master's house
and go where he pleased. But it seems that the servitude was so
exceedingly light and, indeed, was so much for the benefit of the
person in it, that frequently men would not go free. They preferred to
continue as they were, servants to their masters. Now, as it was not
desirable that this should often be the case and as, if it were
permitted oppressive masters might sometimes frighten a servant into
such an agreement, the law was made that in such a case the matter must
be brought before the judges.

And before them the man must say plainly–note that word–he must say
it very distinctly and plainly, so that there was no doubt about it,
that it really was his wish not to accept his liberty, but to remain as
he was. And then, after he had stated his desire and given as his
reason that he loved his master–and loved the children and the wife
that he had obtained in his service–his ear was to be pierced against
the door of the house. This ceremony was intended to put a little
difficulty in the way, that he might hesitate and say, "No, I won't
agree to that," and so might, as was most proper, go free.

But if he agreed to that somewhat painful ceremony, and if he declared
before the judges that it was his own act and deed, then he was to
remain the servant of his chosen master as long as he lived. We are
going to use this as a type–and get some moral out of it, by God's
blessing. And the first use is this. Men are by nature the slaves of
sin. Some are the slaves of drunkenness, some of lasciviousness, some
of covetousness, some of sloth–but there are generally times in men's

lives when they have an opportunity of breaking loose. There will
happen Providential changes which take them away from old companions
and so give them a little hope of liberty, or there will come times of
sickness which take them away from temptation and give them
opportunities for thought.

Above all, seasons will occur when conscience is set to work by the
faithful preaching of the Word and when the man pulls himself up and
questions his spirit thus–"Which shall it be? I have been a servant of
the devil, but here is an opportunity of getting free. Shall I give up
this sin? Shall I pray God to give me Divine Grace to break right away
and become a new man–or shall I not?" Such a time may happen to some
sinner here. I pray you, dear Friend, do not slight it, because these
times may not often come. And coming but being willfully refused, they
may never return to you. If you are resolved to be the slave of your
passions, then your passions will, indeed, enslave you. If you are
content to be a slave of the cup, you shall find that the cup will hold
you by its fascinations as fast as captive in fetters of brass.

If you are willing to be the slave of unbelief and of the pleasures of
the flesh, you will find that they will fasten you as with bands of
steel and hold you down forever. There are times when men might get
free. Their prison door is, for the moment, on the latch. "You almost
persuade me to be a Christian," cries Agrippa. Felix trembles and
resolves to hear more of this matter. Many others in the same condition
have been all but free–but they have deliberately preferred to remain
as they were–and the result has been that sin has bored their ear and
from that day forward they have seldom been troubled by conscience.

They have sinned with impunity. The descending scale to Hell has grown
more and more rapid and they have glided down it with ever-increasing
pace. Have I not seen some such, for whom I hoped better things? The
evil spirit went out of them and left them for a while–and oh, if
Divine Grace had come and occupied the house, that evil spirit would
never have returned! But they beckoned back that evil spirit and he
came with seven other devils more wicked than himself– and the last
end of these once hopeful persons has become worse than the first!
Slave of sin, will you be free? Your six years are up tonight! Will you
be free? The Spirit of God will help you to break every chain! The
Redeemer will snap your fetters! Are you ready for liberty?

Or does your heart deliberately choose to abide under the bondage of
Satan? If so, take heed. That awl of habit may bore your ear and then
you will be beyond all hope of reformation–the victim of yourself, the
slave of your sins, the idolater of your own belly–the abject menial
of your own passions. "He that would be free himself must break the
chain," is the old saying. But I will improve it–he that would be free
must cry to Christ to break the chain. But if he would not have it
broken and hugs his bonds, then on his own head will be his blood!
Christian man, the lesson to you is this–since the servants of Satan
love their master so well, how well ought you to love yours? And since
they will cling to his service, even when it brings misery into their
homes, disease into their bodies, aches into their heads, redness into
their eyes and poverty into their purses, oh, can you ever think of
leaving your good and blessed Master, whose yoke is easy and whose
burden is light? If they follow Satan into Hell, surely you may well
say–

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

They are the willing servants of Satan. Be you, with more than equal
ardor, the willing servants of Christ!

Our text reads us a second lesson, namely, this. In the 40th Psalm, in
the sixth verse, you will find the expression used by our Lord, or by
David in prophecy personifying our Lord, "My ear have You opened," or,
"My ear have You dug." Jesus Christ is here, in all probability,
speaking of Himself as being forever, for our sakes, the willing
Servant of God. Let us just dwell on that a moment. Ages ago, long
before the things which are seen had begun to exist, Jesus had entered
into Covenant with His Father that He would become the Servant of
servants for our sakes. All through the long ages He never started back
from that compact. Though the Savior knew the price of pardon was His
blood, His pity never withdrew, for His ear had been pierced.

He had become, for our sakes, the lifelong servant of God. He loved His
spouse, the Church. He loved His dear sons, His children whom He
foresaw when He looked through the future ages–and He would not go out
free. Our insolvency had made us slaves and Christ became a Servant in
our place. When He came to Bethlehem's manger, then it was that His ear
was pierced, indeed, for Paul quotes as a parallel expression–"A body
have You prepared Me." He was bound to God's service when He was found
in fashion as a Man, for then He "became obedient unto death, even the
death of the Cross." When he came to the waters of Baptism at Jordan
and said, "Thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness," then

did He, as it were, go before the judges and say plainly that He loved
the Master, whom He was bound to serve, loved His spouse, the Church,
and loved her little ones–and would, for their sakes, be a Servant
forever.

When He stood foot to foot with Satan in the wilderness, the arch-fiend
offered to Him all the kingdoms of this world–and why did He not
accept them? Because He preferred a Cross to a crown, for His ear was
bored. Afterwards the people, in the height of His popularity, offered
Him a crown, but He hid Himself away from them. And why? Because He
came to suffer, not to reign. His ear was bored for redemption's work
and He was straitened until He had accomplished it. In the Garden, when
the bloody sweat fell from His face and He said, "If it is possible,
let this cup pass from Me," why did He not put away that cup? If it had
pleased Him, He might have applied for 12 legions of angels and they
would have come to the rescue. Why did He not summon that celestial
bodyguard?

Was it not because He had wholly surrendered Himself to the service of
our salvation? Before His judges He might have saved Himself. Why
didn't He? One word when He was before Pilate would have broken the
spell of prophecy, but why, like a sheep before her shearers, was He
dumb? Why did He give His back to the smiters and His cheeks to those
that plucked off His hair? Why did He condescend to die and actually,
upon the Cross, pour out His heart's blood? It was all because He had
undertaken for us, and He would go through with it. His ear was
bored–He could not and He would not leave His dearly beloved Church–

"Yes, said His love, for her I'll go Through all the depths of pain and
woe. And on the Cross will even dare The bitter pangs of death to
bear." He would not accept deliverance though He might have done so.
"He saved others, Himself He could not save."

Now, hear it, you Believers! If Jesus would not go free from His
blessed undertaking, will you ever desire to go free from the service
of His love? Since He pushed onwards till He said, "It is finished,"
will not His love, by God's Holy Spirit, inspire you to push forward
till you can say, "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith"?
Can you go back when Jesus goes before you? Can you think of
retreating? Can desertion or apostasy be regarded by you with any other
feelings than those of abhorrence when you see your Master nailed to
the gallows of Calvary, to bleed to death and then to lie in the cold
grave for your sakes? Will you not say, "Let my ear be bored to His
service, just as His ear was dug for

me"?

Let these observations stand as the preface for our sermon, for my
discourse, though I will try to make it brief, deals with ourselves in
an earnest fashion. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I think I speak for
all of you who love Jesus, when I say–we are willing to undertake,
tonight, perpetual service for Christ. To lead you all to renew your
dedication I shall speak upon our choice of perpetual service and our
reasons for making that choice. And then I shall call you up and try to
pierce your ears with some one of certain sharp awls, which I have here
ready for the purpose.

I. First, let us speak upon our CHOICE OF PERPETUAL SERVICE. The first
thing is we have the power to go free if we will. This is a very
memorable night to me. Pardon my speaking of myself, I cannot help it.
It is exactly 24 years this night that I put on the Lord Jesus Christ
publicly in Baptism, avowing myself to be His servant. And now, at this
present time, I have served Him four times six years and I think He
says to me, "You may go free if you will." In effect He says the same
to every one of you, "You may go free if you will. I will not hold you
in unwilling servitude."

There are plenty of places you can go–there is the world, the flesh
and the devil. For a master you may have either of these three if you
choose. Jesus will not hold you against your will. Do you desire to go
free, Brothers and Sisters, free from the yoke of Jesus? I can only
speak for myself–and you may say, "amen," for yourselves if you wish,
but nothing more. "Blessed be His name," I never wish to be free from
His dear yoke! Rather would I say–

"Oh, to Grace how great a debtor, Daily I'm constrained to be! Let that
Grace, Lord, like a fetter, Bind my willing heart to Thee." I will
speak of Him as I find–I wish to serve Him not another 24 years, but
four and twenty million years! Yes, and forever and forever, for His
yoke is easy and His burden is light. It is said of the Hebrews, "If
they had been mindful of the country from which they came out, they had
opportunity to return." And so have we. But will we return to the land
of destruction? Will we go back unto Perdition? Will we renounce our
Lord? No, by God's Grace it cannot be! We are

bound for the land of Canaan and to Canaan we will go. Wandering hearts
we have, but Divine Grace still holds them fast and our prayer is–

"Prone to wander, Lord, we feel it, Prone to leave the God we love.
Here's our heart, Lord, take and seal it, Seal it from Your courts
above."

Well, then, since we might go free if we would, but wish not to do so,
we are willing to declare before the judges– that is, before the
public here assembled tonight, who shall be our judges–that though
quite able to go free, (we say it plainly and without stammering), we
have not the remotest wish to do so. If the service of Christ has been
a fetter, Lord, put on double fetters! If Your service has been a bond,
Lord, tie us up, hand and foot, for, to us, bondage to You is the only
perfect liberty. Yes, if it must be so, we will say it here–

"'Tis done! The great transaction's done.

Iam my Lord's, and He is mine!

He drew me, and I followed on,

Charmed to obey the voice Divine."

And we will add the words–

"High Heaven that heard the solemn vow,

That voice renewed shall daily hear

Till in life's last hour we bow,

And bless in death a bond so dear." We are willing to say it publicly
and plainly, and we are willing to take the consequences too. Are we?
That is the question! If we mean to be Christ's servants forever, we
must expect to have special troubles such as the world knows nothing
of. The boring of our ear is a special pain, but both ears are ready
for the awl. The Lord's service involves peculiar trials, for He has
told us, "Every branch that bears fruit He purges it."

Are we willing to take the purging? What son is there whom his father
chastens not? Are we willing to take the chastening? Yes, we would
deliberately say, "Whatever it is, we will bear it, so long as the Lord
will keep us and help us to remain faithful." We dare not run away from
His service! Would not, could not–and nothing can drive us to abscond
from His house or His work, for, exulting in persevering Grace, we
venture to say, "Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord?" We will bear the boring of the ear! Perhaps it
will come in the shape of more reproach from men. Some of us have had a
very fair share of that and have been tolerably well abused up till
now, but none of these things move us.

Will there be more cruel mocking between here and Heaven? No doubt
there will! Then let them come and welcome! My solemn personal
declaration at this hour is–

"If on my face for Your dear name Shame and reproach shall be, I'll
hail reproach and welcome shame For You'll remember me."

Do you not say the same, Beloved? Will you not serve Christ without any
conditions, at all hazards? Will you not follow Him through the mire
and through the slough, and up the bleak side of the hill, and along
the crest of the field where the battle rages most fiercely? Yes, that
we will, if but Divine Grace is given–if the Holy Spirit will abide in
us. Do you not desire to follow the Lamb where ever He goes? Do you
shrink from the supreme sacrifice? Do you not long to abide faithful
though all should forsake the Truth? Yes, we desire perpetual servitude
to Christ and to bear whatever that involves. I speak the heart of
every lover of Christ when I say we do not want to serve Christ a
little–we wish to serve Him much–and the more He will give us to do,
the better we shall love Him!

Yes, and the more He will give us to bear for His dear sake, if He will
give us corresponding Grace, the more will we rejoice! That is a great
life which is greatly useful, or greatly suffering, or greatly
laborious for Jesus Christ the Savior. Do you not feel in your inmost
souls that instead of wishing to be set free, you wish to plunge deeper
into this blessed bondage–to bear in your body the marks of the Lord
Jesus–and to be His branded slaves forever? Is not this the perfect
freedom you desire? So, then, there is the first point–our choice of
perpetual service.

II. Now, secondly, OUR REASONS FOR IT. A man ought to have a reason for
so weighty a decision as this. We have served our Master, now, for 24
years and do not want to change, but should like to live with Him and
die with Him and live forever with Him. We speak boldly on a very
weighty business. What reasons can we give for such decided language?
Well, first, we can give some reasons connected with Himself. The
servant in our text who would not accept his liberty, said, "I love my
master." Can we say that? I cannot feel content with merely saying it.
It is true, true, true!

But if I were to begin to talk of how I love Him, or how I ought to
love Him, I should break down altogether tonight. Even now I choke with
emotion. I can feel love in my heart, but my heart is too full for
expression. Oh, what a blessed Master He is! Not love Him? My whole
nature heaves with affection for Him! Who can help but love Him? Look
at His wounds and you must love Him if you have been redeemed. Look at
the great gash which reached His heart, where flowed the water and the
blood to be, for your sin, the double cure! Could you fail to love Him?
I mean Him who died for you and bought you, not with silver and gold,
but with His own pangs and griefs and bloody sweat and death! Leave

Him?

O Savior, let us not be such devils as to leave You, for worse than
demons should we be if we could apostatize from such a sweet Master as
You are. We love our Master, for He has bought us and saved us from the
miseries of Hell. And we love Him because there never was such a
Master, so good, so tender, so royal, so inconceivably lovely, so
altogether glorious! Our Lord is Perfection, itself, and the whole
universe cannot produce His equal. We cannot now praise the stars, for
we have seen the sun. We could not take up with the mean things of
earth, for the Lord of Heaven has looked upon us and one glance of His
eyes has enamored us of Him forever and forever. Want to leave the
service of Jesus? By no means! No such wish crosses our soul.

Beloved, I am sure you have no desire to change Masters, have you? Are
you not abundantly well-pleased with His treatment of you? When a
servant comes up from the country to take a situation in town, if he
goes back to the village, his old friends come round him and they say,
"Well, John, how did you find the service? Did your master treat you
well? Was the work very hard? Were you well-fed and well-clothed?" Now,
Christian people, I am not going to talk for you, but you shall talk
for yourselves to your friends and kinsfolk–answer for yourselves
their various questions. If you can find any fault with Jesus, tell
them of it. Say whether He has ever treated you badly and, if He has,
report it to all the world. Do not allow any to be led into a bad
service if you have found it to be such.

As for me, there was never a worse servant, but never servant had a
better Master than I have! He has borne with my ill manners and treated
me like one of His own family. I have been, at times, a dead weight to
His household, but He has never given me a rough word, "My cup runs
over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life." Tonight I must, even though I may be thought egotistical, speak
of His lovingkindness towards me. Twenty-four years ago I was a lad in
jackets and I walked into the open river on a cold May day to be
baptized into the name of Jesus as timid and timorous a youth as you
well might see.

But when I rose from that water the fear of man was gone from my mind!
I hope never to return. For the first time that night I prayed at the
Prayer Meeting and this tongue has never since ceased to talk of His
dear love–

"Before since by faith I saw the stream His flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming lo ve has been my theme, And shall be tiil I die."

Now see what my Lord has done for me! If anyone had said to me,
"Twenty-four years from this time you will preach to a vast crowd and
will have spiritual children whose number cannot be told," I never
could have believed it! It would have seemed impossible that such a
thing could be! Yet so it is. His right hand has done wonderful things
for me and my heart reverently extols Him. Glory be unto His name
forever and forevermore! Leave my Master? Grant, O glorious Lord, that
no such base and loathsome thought may even alight upon my breast! No,
dear Master, I am Yours forever! Let me kiss Your feet again and be
forever bound to You by new cords of love. Well, my Brothers and
Sisters, the Lord has treated you kindly, has He not? Come, speak for
yourselves! You could rise and tell stories, in their own way, equally
as remarkable as mine and you could wind up, each one, by saying, "I
love my Master. I cannot help but love Him."

The servant in our text, who would not go free, plainly declared that
he loved his wife, so that there are reasons connected not only with
his master, but with those in his master's house, which detain each
servant of Jesus in happy bondage. Beloved, some of us could not leave
Jesus, not only because of what He is, but because of some that are
very dear

to us who are in His service. How could I leave my mother's God? How
could I leave my father's God, my grandfather's God, my
great-grandfather's God? My Brothers and Sisters, how could I leave
your God, to be separated from you, whom I have loved so long, so well?

Husband, tender and affectionate, could you leave your wife's God?
Wife, could you forsake the God of those dear babes in Heaven? They are
resting there on the breast of Jesus and you hope to see them soon–do
you not love Jesus for the sake of those who once nestled in your
bosom? Yes, and it is not merely earthly relationship that binds us
thus, but we love all the people of God because of our relationship in
Christ! Truly we can say of His Church, "Here my best friends, my
kindred dwell." Some of the dearest associations we have ever formed
commenced at the foot of the Cross. Our best friends are those with
whom we go up to the House of God in company. Why, most of the friends
that some of us have on earth we won through our being one in Jesus
Christ! And we mean to stand fast for the grand old cause and the old
Gospel, for the sake not only of Christ but of His people–

"Now, for my friends and brethren's sake, Peace be in you, I'll say And
for the sake of God our Lord I'll seek your good always."

"Because I love my wife and my children," says the man, "I cannot go
out free." And so say we. Besides, let me add, there are some of us who
must keep to Christ because we have children in His family whom we
could not leave–dear ones who first learned of Christ from us. Many in
this place were first led to the Lord by our teaching and by our
prayers. We could not run away from them–their loving prayers hold us
fast! In them the Lord has hold upon us by new ties. You do not find a
woman leaves her husband, as a rule, when there are seven or eight
little children at home. No, and no man can leave Christ who has been
spiritually fruitful–the seals of his ministry seal anew the
indentures which bind him to his Lord. The successful pastor will be
kept faithful. He must stand fast by the Church, and by the Church's
Head, when there are children begotten unto him by the power of the
Holy Spirit through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are reasons, also, why we cannot forsake our Lord which arise out
of ourselves. And the first is that reason which Peter felt to be so
powerful. His Master said, "Will you, also, go away?" Peter answered by
another question. He said, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" Ah, Christian,
there is no way for you but to go straight on to Heaven, for where
would you go? Where else could you go? Some of us are so thoroughly
identified with Jesus and His Gospel that the world would have nothing
to do with us if we were to ask its friendship. We are committed too
much to our Master ever to reckon upon receiving love and friendship
from His foes. We have given the world too many slaps in the face to be
forgiven by it. We have crossed the Rubicon and there remains nothing
for us but victory or death.

Where could a poor wretch hide, who has been a well-known minister of
the Gospel, should he apostatize? Where could he dwell? Should he
journey to the ends of the earth some would remember his name and say,
"When did you last apostatize?" In the remotest regions of the globe
some would jeeringly say to him, "Have you fallen, have you gone
aside?" Where could we go, then? We must cleave to Christ! It is of
necessity we must. And why should we go? Come, Brothers, can you find
any reason why we should leave Jesus Christ? Can you imagine one? As my
imaginative faculty is not strong enough I will not attempt it.

I can see a million reasons for cleaving to Him, but not a presence of
a reason for leaving Him. And when should any who love Him leave Him,
if we must leave Him? Leave Him while we are young? It is then that we
need Him to be the guide of our youth! Leave Him when we are in middle
life? Why, then it is we need Him to help us to bear our cross, lest we
sink under our daily load! Leave Him in old age? Ah, no! It is then we
require Him to cheer our declining hours! Leave Him in life? How could
we live without Him? Leave Him in death? How could we die without Him?
No, we must cling to Him–we must follow Him where ever He goes. These
are a few of the reasons why we would be His servants forever.

III. In the last place, I want to bore your ear. Do you mean to be
bound for life? Christians, do you really mean it? Come, sit down and
count the cost and, if you mean it, come and welcome! There is the
standard! The blood-red Cross waves at the top of it–will you now, in
cool blood, enlist for life? Every man who wishes to desert may go
home. Christ wants no press men. Ho, you volunteers! Come here! We want
you and none but you! The Lord desires no slaves to dishonor His camp.
Cowards, you may go! Double-minded men, you may get to your tents! But
what do you say, you

true Believers? Will you cleave to Him and His cause? Do you leap
forward and say, "Never can we separate from Jesus! We give ourselves
to Him for life, for death, for time, and for eternity. We are His
altogether and forever"?

Come, then, and have your ears bored. And, first, let them be bored
with the sharp awl of the Savior's sufferings. No story wrings a
Christian's heart with such anguish as the griefs and woes of Christ.
We preached, the other morning, upon the crown of thorns, [#1168, THE
CROWN OF THORNS, April 12, 1874] and it was our task to bring before
you the different items of our Savior's griefs. Now, whenever you are
hearing about Him, you ought to say within yourself, "Ah, He is
piercing my ear. He is fastening me to His Cross. He is marking me for
Himself, I cannot forsake my bleeding Lord! His wounds attract me. I
fly to Him afresh. When the world would draw me off from Jesus, I find
a central force drawing me back to His dear heart. I must be Christ's.
His suffering has won me. The bleeding Lamb enthralls me. I am His, by
His Grace, and His forever!"

That is one way of marking the ear. Next, let your ear be fastened by
the Truth of God so that you are determined to hear only the Gospel.
The Gospel ought to monopolize the Believer's ear. Some professors can
hear any stuff in all the world if it is prettily put and so long as
the man is a "clever" man (I think that is the word). When they hear a
preacher of whom they can say, "He is very clever, very clever!" they
appear perfectly satisfied–whether the man's doctrine is good or bad.
Now isn't this foolishness? What does it matter about a man's being
clever? Satan is clever! And every great thief is clever! There is
nothing in cleverness to gain the approval of a spiritual mind.

I pray God to give every one of you an ear that will not hear false
doctrine! I do not think we ought to blame a man who gets up and goes
out of a place of worship when he hears the Truth of God denied. I
think we ought, rather, to commend him! There is a great deal of that
soft, willow-pattern style of man about nowadays. Let a man talk loudly
and prettily, and many hearers will believe anything he says. Dear
Brothers and Sisters, we must have discernment, or we shall be found
aiding and abetting error! "My sheep," says Christ, "hear My voice, and
a stranger they will not follow, for they know not the voice of
strangers."

Now, if you mean to be Christ's forever, you must not allow that ear of
yours to hear bad doctrine! You must take care that, knowing the Truth
of God, you hold to it and renounce every false way. Do not make your
ear a common sewer into which foul doctrine may be poured, in hope that
afterwards Jesus Christ may make it clean again. "Take care what you
hear" is one of the precepts of infinite wisdom–let it not fail to
impress your souls. Furthermore, if you really give yourself to Christ,
you must have your ear opened to hear and obey the whispers of the
Spirit of God so that you yield to His teaching and to His teaching,
only. I am afraid some Christians give their ears to an eminent
preacher and follow him whichever way he goes, very much to their own
injury.

The right thing is to yield to the Spirit of God. Which way the
Scripture goes–that is the way for you to go! And though we, or an
angel from Heaven, preach to you any other Gospel than what this sacred
Book contains–though I trust we may not be accursed if we do it in
ignorance–yet, certainly, you will be accursed if, knowing it to be
wrong, you follow us in preference to following the Lord! Let your ear
be open to the faintest monitions of the Holy Spirit! There would be an
end to all the sects and divisions in the Church if all Christians were
willing to do what the Holy Spirit tells them. Alas, there are many
people who do not want to know too much of the mind of God. What the
Bible says is no great concern of theirs because, perhaps, that may not
say quite the same thing as the Prayer Book–and they had rather not be
disturbed in their minds.

Perhaps the Bible may not confirm all the doctrines of their sect and,
therefore, they leave it unread, for they had rather not be perplexed.
Oh, Brothers and Sisters, let names, parties, Prayer Books, catechisms
and everything else go to the dogs sooner than one word of Jesus be
neglected! Let us give ourselves up to the Spirit of God and to the
teaching of His own Word, for as Christ's servants our ears have been
pierced. Your ear has thus been bored with three awls and none of them
has pained you. Many young women have had their ears pierced–I do not
know whether it hurt them or not. I do not suppose that the operation
described in the text pained the man much, though there was a little
blood lost, perhaps, when the awl went through the lobe of the ear.

I will tell you what some would do with their ears if they were
pierced. I would not do it with mine, but an oriental would be sure to
do it. What would he do? Why, put a ring in it and hang it with
ornaments. When a Christian man has his ears bored to belong to Christ
forever and ever, God will be sure to put a jewel in it for him! And
what jewels ought to hang in the Christian's ear? Why, the jewel of
obedience. Practice the doctrine which your ear has heard! Then there

would follow the diamond ofjoy–the ear which belongs wholly to Jesus
will be sure to be adorned with the jewel of the Spirit, which is joy!
If we give our heart up to Christ He will hang in our ear many costly
gems of knowledge–we shall know the deep things of God when we are
willing to learn them.

The ear being pierced, we shall sit like children at Jesus' feet and
learn of Him–and rubies and emeralds and pearls such as deep-sea
fisheries never knew, shall belong to us! And our ear will be hung with
the priceless gem of "quickness of understanding in the fear of the
Lord." "He wakens me morning by morning. He opened my ear to hear as
the learned." There, too, will hang that precious gem of separation
from the world. The distinguishing mark of, "Holiness unto the Lord,"
will be in the Christian's ear like a precious jewel of inestimable
price. When they were selling the Duke of Brunswick's gems the other
day, they found that ever so many of them were not what they were
supposed to be–he had guarded them with great care and scarcely had
enjoyed a happy hour in the great anxiety for his valuables–and yet
some of them were not worth the keeping!

If you will give yourself to Christ and if your ear is bored, these
precious Graces which I have mentioned will be pearls of exceedingly
great price–such as angels might envy your wearing. There, young
women, put these jewels in your ears and nobody will blame you for
wearing such goodly ornaments. There, good man, you, also, may go with
rings in your ears if these are the rings and these are the gems–and
you will not be thought foppish and singular. May the Lord give them to
you! As you come to the Communion Table, come with this feeling–"I am
going there to renew my covenant. I have been a Christian these many
years. By His Grace I love my Lord better than ever I did and I will,
therefore, dedicate myself to Him again."

And now, you unconverted people, do you think I have spoken the truth?
If my Master had behaved badly to me I would have run away from Him
long ago! I would not stand here to tell you that He was a good Master
if He were not. But, since He is so good, oh that you would say, "I
would like to be in His service." Have you such a desire? Then, dear
Heart, remember His own words, "Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise
cast out." If you are willing to be His, He is willing to have you! He
is so great a Prince that He can maintain an endless company of
servants without embarrassing Himself. There was never a soul that
needed Christ but what Christ needed that soul! Depend upon it, if you
go to Him, He will enroll you among His household retainers and allot
you an honorable portion day by day. Seeking Sinner, believe in Jesus
and live! God grant you Grace for Christ's sake! Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–John 637 HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN
HYMN BOOK"–660, 658, 663.
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