Zedekiah–or, the Man Who Cannot Say, “No”

Zedekiah–or, the Man Who Cannot Say, "No"

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 21, 1890.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MARCH
30, 1890.

"Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hands: for the king
is not he that can do anything against you." Jeremiah 38:5.

"PUT not your trust in princes." Zedekiah professed to be a friend to
Jeremiah, but when the princes sought permission to put the Prophet to
death, Zedekiah's friendship was not worth much. He said, "He is in
your hands: for the king is not he that can do anything against you."
Instead of protecting his friend and adviser, he gave him over at once
and left him as a lamb at the mercy of wolves. It seems very natural
for men to trust in men and yet the Scripture warns us that, "Cursed is
the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm." He that makes a
mortal man his confidence will find that his anchor has no grip. Even
good men are but broken reeds and cannot bear the strain of the day of
trouble– while the bad are like sharp spears that prick the man who
dares to lean upon them.

But, if we cannot trust in men, we think that surely we may trust in
princes. If honor were banished from all the rest of the world, it
ought to find a home in the breasts of kings! Great men, noble men, men
of renown, men of high standing–may we not trust in them? Brethren,
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes,"
for princes are but men, and sometimes hardly that. Princes are not
always the truest of men–they are seldom the best of men to trust.
Many have had to say at the end of life what Wolsey is represented as
saying to Sir William Kingston, "Had I but served my God with half the
zeal I served my king, He would not in my age have left me naked to my
enemies." If "uneasy lies the head that wears the crown," certainly
uneasy is the heart which rests on the wearer of a diadem!

Trust in God and you have trusted in the true King, "the King immortal,
invisible." Trust in the Christ of God and you have trusted in the only
Prince who can never falter, fail, or forget. I think that is clearly a
lesson of the text. We all know someone who, to us, is as a prince–let
us not rest too much on a wealthy uncle, or a generous friend, or a
capable patron–but let our trust be in the Lord, alone. Had Jeremiah
been trusting in Zedekiah, he would have been sorrowfully deceived. Yet
this is not the lesson that I am going to teach at this time.

Zedekiah was a gentleman of a sort wonderfully common nowadays. A
good-natured, easy man. His nobles could get anything they liked from
him. He would not act amiss of his own self, but he would follow the
lead of others, wherever that might lead him. He had a great respect
for the Prophet–he liked to visit him and know what message he had
received from God. He did not wish to have it known that he consulted
him, but still he liked to steal away in private and have a talk with
the man of God. He much respected the man so sorrowful and yet so
heroic. But when the princes came round him, though he was an
autocratic king and could have snuffed out those gentlemen at once, yet
half-a-dozen of them, all very glib of speech, most easily persuaded
him.

He did not want to have any bother–he would do anything for a quiet
life. "The king is not he that can do anything against you." As much as
to say–"I cannot say, 'No,' to you, if you wish it. I am sorry–I
think you are wrong, but I will not insist upon my own idea. If you
wish it, although I am a king and perhaps ought not to be so yielding,
yet I so much wish to please everybody that I cannot refuse you
anything. You may take the Prophet and, if you like, you may put him
into a dungeon where he will die. I think you are too hard on a good
man, for whom I have a great respect, but at the same time, gentlemen,
I am not a man that can stand out against you–so take him and do as
you please."

This is that king, Zedekiah–he does not rule, but is ruled by the
princes whom he ought to command. "Oh," says one, "you do not mean to
insinuate that we have any Zedekiahs about now?" I shall not insinuate
anything, but boldly

declare that these soft, molluscous beings make up a large proportion
of the population, and I think it is highly probable that some of them
are here now! I shall be very glad if what I say should make them feel
much ashamed and should cause them to cry to God to give them new
hearts and right spirits!

It shall not be my fault if they do not feel their seat grow hard and
the house grow warm. I would gladly make them pray to God to put some
kind of moral backbone into them so that, when they know the right,
they may stand up for it and may not weakly yield to the persuasions of
those who tempt them. May the Holy Spirit be here to convict men of sin
in this matter!

I. I am going, first of all, to DESCRIBE THE LIKES OF THIS MAN ZEDEKIAH
that I may deal plainly with such. This softness of character takes
different shapes, but it is the same base metal, the same worthless
dross in every case. In some it takes the form of enquiring into what
religion is fashionable when they settle down in a district. They have
a pretty good idea of what the Truth of God is. They were taught it by
their parents. They have read it in God's Word. They have made up their
minds with some distinctness as to what is the correct thing according
to Holy Scripture–but they waive their judgment and prepare to
compromise.

You see, if you want to get on in business, the best thing is to join
with those religious people who are the wealthiest and most
respectable–and the most fashionable. If you have prospered in
business and have saved money, well, the girls want to be married and
the family requires to get into "society," whatever that may mean–so
the best thing is not to enquire, "Who preaches the Gospel in this
district?" But, "Where will it be most for our commercial advantage, or
best for our position in society and most eligible for the girls?
Children of Judas! Thus you soil your Master for 40 pieces of silver
and perhaps for less! Iscariot's tribe is a large one! Not that they
want to be wrong, they would prefer to be right! Not that they wish to
take up with false doctrine, they would much rather take up with right
doctrine, but, you see, they must be "respectable."

Sound doctrine in preference, but good society at any price! They
cannot be expected to go with the poorest and the least educated class
of people, they must be respectable! And so, when they are asked to
worship in a fine architectural building, though they know that it is
not where their souls will profit, they will make no bones about
doctrine or practice, but go at once. By their conduct they say, "I am
by no means so bound up with any religious views as to love anything
for their sake. I am not one that can refuse a kind invitation from
people of fashion." Did you ever meet with such folk? I have met them
frequently. I know that soft fellow, Zedekiah–I have seen him a great
many times and I have no very great liking for him. Is he here before
me? My dear Sir, be not offended with your own portrait!

Another one is of this kind. He is a Christian–at least he hopes that
he is–and, on examining his own heart, he trusts that he is. But he
has never made any profession–he never intends to do so, because, you
see, if you make a profession, then you are distinctly coming out from
the world and declaring yourself to be on the side of Christ and
holiness–and a great deal will be expected of you. This may involve
you in a good deal of trouble. Is there not an easier path than this?
The strait way, the narrow way, is described in the Word of God as,
"the way which leads unto life." But can you not keep as near the way
as possible without going into it? Can you not travel along on the
other side of the hedge?

The grass is very nice there. The primroses are coming up. You can look
over the fence and keep the high road in view so as not to wander far
from the track! Why should you choose an unpopular way which will cost
you many a friendship and a good deal of enjoyable company? If you
openly follow the narrow way you will be pointed at–people will expect
you to be so very careful and so very holy–and this will cost a deal
of painful self-denial. Why should you expose yourself to all that
trouble when there are so many friends on the sheltered side of the
hedge who assure you that their path will lead to the same end?

It is not quite what it ought to be. Still, God is very merciful and
you may hope to come out right in the long run if you are careful to
pick your way and do not get into the worst of the ditches. Is it not
always a good thing to take a short cut? Well, I used to think so once
but now, whenever I am in the country, I always scrupulously avoid
short cuts, for they almost always get you up to your ankles in mud and
often land you further off than you were when you started. And you may
depend upon it that, in this life, the man who thinks that he is not
going to make a profession, but will go to Heaven secretly by the new
cut, will find himself, before long, much farther off from God and
Christ than he ever thought to be!

The way to Heaven, according to Scripture, is, "With the heart man
believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation" and, "What God has joined together let no man put asunder."

It is written, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." The
inward faith and the public avowal of it, must never be divided. Do you
dare to remove even a linchpin from the Gospel chariot? Mind what you
are doing! O you cowards, you think to make a new way to Heaven–to
make the walk more pleasing to your taste and more gratifying to your
pride–but you will ruin your souls! Do you hope to be allowed to sneak
into Heaven by a back door! Take heed to yourselves lest you be
deceived in this! This Zedekiah–I know that he is here tonight–means
to join the Church any time within the next 60 years and he has always
meant that for the last 30 years that I have known him! I wonder
whether he will live till the time comes! I am in great fear about him
and I pray him to consider what is now said and no longer be ashamed of
Christ!

Another form of Zedekiah is not uncommon. It is the man who is on both
sides. A Christian? Yes, by all means! He takes a class in the Sunday
school. "Certainly, Sir. Would you not have me active in the cause of
Christ?" Of course. He talks to others about the necessity of being
found in Christ and of the excellence of Christian endeavor. We like
this young man. But tomorrow night there will be an entertainment of a
loose character and he will be asked to go. Will our virtuous young
gentleman yield to the invitations of his worldly friends? Assuredly he
will, for he is like putty and you can mold him at will! "Well," he
says, "you know we must not be too strict"–and off he goes! Another
time there will be sung, in his presence, a song which is a little
loud–and others laugh and he laughs, too. He says that he did not
quite like it, yet I do not hear any difference between his laugh and
the laugh of others.

He is a gentleman who is, "Hail fellow, well met!" with any company
that he gets into. A most genial man, is he not? He never raises
questions. He is far from squeamish, for that might land him in
difficulties. "The king is not he that can do anything against you"–he
will do everything for you. He holds with the hare. Poor thing, it is a
shame to hunt so timid a creature! But his sympathy is not worth much,
for he runs with the hounds as fast as any dog among them and he would
be glad to get the hare by the nape of the neck if he could do it and
not be seen. Do you not know the gentleman? You know him, but you do
not esteem him. Who could? To me he is a frequent sorrow. God deliver
us from duplicity! Of all things that must be accursed in God's sight,
the chief must be this–to pretend respect to our holy faith and then
to live in constant opposition to it. "If the Lord is God, follow Him:
but if Baal, then follow him," but do not attempt to worship Jehovah
and Baal at the same altar and bring them the same sacrifice, for this
must not be! No man can serve two masters!

Then we have another class of Zedekiahs who are of a better sort, but
none too good. I trust that they wish to be true at heart, but they are
very weak and apt to yield. If they live in a godly family they will be
pleased to be there and they will be happy and develop into something
very good in its way. But if, in the order of Providence, they should
be cast in a family where there is no religion, certainly they will not
attempt to alter the state of things except it be in the mildest
half-hearted manner! The family will still be without religion though
they are there. And if they happen to move to a circle openly opposed
to godliness–well, it will grieve them very much at first and they
will be rather restless. It will not grieve them quite so much,
by-and-by, and after a while they will, themselves, become as much
opposed to the thing they now admire as the rest of the folks.

O dear Friends, we have a number of Christians–I will not condemn
them–but they are very feeble! They give way in the day of temptation.
They cannot stand alone–false doctrine, cleverly spoken–carries them
clean away. These are the prey of wolves in sheep's clothing. They have
no stamina, no backbone, no inward root. Be you not of this sort! Oh,
pray every morning, "Lead us not into temptation," and when you have
breathed that prayer to God, add the other, "But deliver us from the
Evil One." If we must be tempted, let us not fall under the temptation.
In these perilous days we need men who have put on the whole armor of
God! It is not every child that can wear armor. We need men strong in
the Lord and in the power of His might, who, having put on armor, are
not afraid to come to the front of the battle where the arrows fly
thickest–for they know that their armor is mail of proof and will
throw off all the poisoned darts of the enemy.

But alas, we have many whom we love, and for whom we pray, who are so
apt to yield, so ready to give way, that they fall in battle at the
very first assault of the deceiver! They get with persons of cunning
character and commanding mind and they fly like feathers in the wind,
having no power to resist even the breath of a childish foe. Thus I
have

described Zedekiah in four of the forms which he commonly takes. If the
cap fits any one of you, pray wear it! If I have made a photograph of
you, put it in the album of your meditation and look at it till you
loathe your own likeness!

II. Now, very briefly, let me SEARCH OUT THE CAUSE OF THIS ERROR which
spoils the character of Zedekiah.

Maybe we may put our finger on an evil which may be cured by Divine
Grace. It is not always the same in everybody, but with some there is a
general softness of character. I do not say that they have a soft place
in their head! Possibly I may not say the whole truth if I suggest that
they have a soft piece in their heart, but they are altogether
soft–fine material for a potter to work upon. You can cast them into
any shape you choose.

Remember one whom Mr. Bunyan graphically describes. His name was
Pliable. Evangelist and Christian told him about the Celestial City.
"Yes, yes," Pliable said. Oh, yes, he would go to the Celestial City.
Of course he would go to the Celestial City! He liked the idea. It was
a beautiful thing to start for Heaven and Glory and escape from the
City of Destruction which was to be burned up. Of course, he quite
agreed with his friends and he would start with them on pilgrimage. He
went on with his companion, Christian, till they came to the Slough of
Despond. Suddenly in they went, up to their necks in the mire!

Christian made desperate efforts to get out on the farther shore,
nearest to the city that he sought. But Pliable had never reckoned upon
any such floundering–if there was to be a slough, he thought it would
not be so deep as this one– and that the mud would not be quite so
foul. Finding it to be a horrible bog, he turned round and as he was
not very far from the spot at which he entered, he scrambled out on the
side nearest home. And as he climbed the bank, he said that as far as
he was concerned, whoever liked might have the Celestial City, but he
would not venture again into such a slough, even though 50 Celestial
Cities should tempt him before, and 50 Destructions should threaten him
behind!

So we have fluid people like that–nothing in their character is
substantial. I will tell you what has often happened in this
Tabernacle. A man has come into this place and stood in the aisle,
hating the very thought of true religion with a heart like a flint. And
when I have been busy with my hammer, by God's Grace I have come down
on that flint and the flint has gone to pieces in a minute, broken to
shivers! But others are here who are India-rubber men and when I am
hammering they yield to each blow. I can mold them as I please, but
when the sermon is done, they always get back into the old shape. There
is a vast difference between the honest obstinacy of the one and the
trivial submission of the other! Without any gracious yielding of the
heart to the force of Divine Truth, many encourage us for a time, but
deceive us in the end. Zedekiah talks very pleasantly and hopefully,
but betrays those who seek his good, for he is unstable and not to be
depended on.

Another reason for this softness is a selfish love of ease. Sluggards
are by no means an extinct race. Many will pay any tax if they may but
dwell at ease. Beware of this in your personal character! A man says,
"I admit that I ought to have spoken right out and denounced evil."
"Why didn't you?" "Well, I did not want to." The next time that he is
asked to do a wrong thing, he will yield and turn with his company like
a vane in the wind! He knows that he ought to resist, but he does not.
And why not? "Well, you see, I do not like offending people." Lazy,
lazy lover of yourself! That is all it comes to. His wish to please his
fellows is only a phase of his desire to please himself! The coward
wishes to save his precious carcass from trouble and let himself go
sauntering along the road of pleasure without distressing exertion, so
he says, "Yes, Sir. Yes, Sir. Well, yes, Sir," to everybody!

He destroys his soul for the sake of taking things easy. Do I not speak
to a great many here who are of this kind? Some are sharp,
decisive–too sharp, perhaps–but they have minds and mean what they
say. Others are always afraid to speak the truth unless it is popular.
Contending for the Truth of God is a thing they cannot endure, for it
involves too much effort. They are especially afraid to say that little
word, "No," a word which I strongly recommend to every young man. "No"
is one of the most useful words in the world! A man is more than
half-educated when he can say, "No," distinctly. He has not much more
to learn after that. There are great men and wise men, so called, who
cannot say, "No." They say, "N–n–no, perhaps." They get the word out
without meaning it or, possibly, in the middle of their attempt at
saying it, they break down and end with the admission, "I am not one
that can tell you no." Thus they copy Zedekiah when he said, "The king
is not he that can do anything against you." Dear Friends, peace at any
price is peace bought too dearly. Will you fling away your souls, your
Heaven, your all, for the sake of ease? Selfish love of a quiet life,
what a folly you are!

Some others, I must say, are, if possible, even more contemptible than
these. They are cowards. I will not run the risk of being attacked by
an angry hearer, when the sermon is over, for calling him a coward. But
I do believe that such people are about, and that some of them are
here. Men that would face a dragon, or go up to the cannon's mouth, I
have known to be afraid of a woman, or of some idle reprobate whose
opinion was not worth the breath he used in speaking it. You remember
how Peter was terribly put out because a maid said to him, "You, also,
were with Jesus of Galilee"? A maid! What was it to Peter what that
maidservant thought about him? But poor Peter was all in a heat and was
so frightened that he denied that he even knew his Lord! Do not condemn
his weakness, but remember your own! Have not some of you been
frightened by a silly maid, or by a foolish boy? Are there not some
here that have thought about eternal life and would long ago have given
serious consideration to their soul's affairs, but they are afraid
of–well, I will not mention him–you know who it is that you are
afraid of!

And so it is the world over. I have known a man afraid of his daughter!
I have known many more daughters afraid of their fathers! Many a wife
afraid of her husband and some husbands afraid of their wives, their
employers, their brothers, their friends. Soldiers in the barracks are
often fearful of their messmates and workmen down at the shop are
alarmed because there is one sharp fellow in the room who is an infidel
and would give them no peace if they made an avowal of their faith! It
would demean a great many if we were to expose their petty cowardice.
Are you not ashamed of yourselves if it is so?

The bottom of all is, however, that when a man is thus timid about
doing right and can be easily persuaded to do wrong, there is a lack of
the fear of God in him. He that fears God is under no necessity to fear
anybody else. True godliness infuses courage into the heart–in this
respect, also, "perfect love casts out fear." If you have learned to
tremble before the great, almighty, living God, you have ceased to
tremble before a living man! I must correct myself– before a dying
man–for in very truth, life is in God, but man is a creature that will
die and perish like the moth. "Who are you, that you should be afraid
of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as
grass; and forgets the Lord your Maker?"

If we had a sense of God's Presence everywhere, we should not dare
consent to sin, whoever it was that bade us do so. We should be like
the three holy children who stood for God. "Do you see that burning
fiery furnace?" "Yes, we see it, but we also see the living God." "It
shall be heated seven times hotter," said Nebuchadnezzar. "Do you hear
that?" They hear the furious threat of the despot, but they also hear a
voice which Nebuchadnezzar did not hear–the voice of God bidding them
serve Him and strengthening them to do so! I remember in the life of my
dear friend, Mr. Oncken, of Hamburg, when he began to baptize people in
the Alster contrary to the law. He was brought up before the
burgomaster and that worthy magistrate put him in prison several times.

At last Mr. Burgomaster said, "I tell you what it is, Mr. Oncken–the
law must be obeyed. Do you see that little finger of mine? As long as
that little finger will move, I will put you down in your illegal
Baptisms." "Well," said my brave old friend, "Mr. Burgomaster, with all
respect to you, I do see that little finger of yours. But do you see
that great hand of God? I am afraid that you do not see it as I do.
But, as long as that great hand of God is with me, you cannot put me
down." I opened Mr. Oncken's chapel in Hamburg some years afterwards
and I had a most respectable audience gathered together to hear me
preach the Gospel–and in the center of that audience sat the
Burgomaster! He was far more rejoiced to be there than to be carrying
out an oppressive law. His little finger had ceased its movements
against the Baptist and there he sat to show what the power of God's
right arm could do–for he was listening to the Word of God from a
Baptist preacher in a meeting house built by the man whom he had been
called upon to put down!

Oh, why are we afraid of men? Six feet or less of bone, blood and
flesh–and you are afraid of it! Yet, yonder is the eternal God that
fills all things and you are so little afraid of Him that you disobey
Him though He can cast both body and soul into Hell! "I say unto you,"
said Christ, "fear Him." So say I, His unworthy servant! And when you
once fear Him, you will lose the Zedekiah weakness and become strong
for God. But I must not stay. May the good Spirit bless these searching
words!

III. I want, in the next place, to show YOU WHERE THIS KIND OF SOFTNESS
LEADS. When a man is like

Zedekiah, who cannot say anything against the princes, but must let
them have their own way, what comes of it? Certainly nothing that is
good! First, I think that such an easy-going creature dishonors
himself. Does yonder young man confess that he cannot say, "no," that
he must do as he is asked and cannot stand out against even a wicked
request?

Then I am sorry for him. Is he a man? Is he not lowering himself
beneath the dignity of manhood? I do not know, dear Friends, what you
think about the opinions of others, but I have always felt that if I
could keep a good opinion of myself, so far that my conscience could
not accuse me of doing wrong, I was not particularly anxious about what
anybody else's opinion of me might be.

"But," said one to a good man, "if you do that one pleasant thing
nobody will know of it and so you will not be disgraced in the eyes of
anybody." "No," said the good man, "but I should be disgraced in my own
eyes if I did it and I have more respect for my own judgment of myself
than I have for other people's opinion of me." This is not egotism, but
uprightness of heart! The world's poet makes Brutus say, "I had as life
not be, as live to be in awe of such a thing as I myself." What? Creep
and cringe and beg leave to do right and crave permission to believe
the truth and speak it? Ask another man's leave, or some woman's leave
to obey my God? Not I! No, let the worms eat me before it comes to
that! O Sirs, it is a fearful thing for a man to get into that
humiliating state that he has no mind of his own. Call such a creature
a spaniel that must fetch and carry at his lady's bidding–but call him
not a man! He has reduced himself to nothing! From such dishonor, great
Lord, deliver us!

Again, dear Friends, such trimming brings dishonor upon one's position.
Only think of this. "The king–the king," says, "The king is not he
that can do anything against you." And further on we read, "Zedekiah
the king said, I am afraid." Pretty king, that! His kingship was
defiled and his crown was stained when he came into that condition of
bondage! King? Call him "slave!" Yet, remember, this also may apply to
yourself. You, too, may hold a position which you degrade. You are a
father yet you fear your boys and girls! You have no family prayer–you
do not know how your children might like it. You are a father, are you?
Do you obey your own children and call yourself a father?

You are a master, but you never speak to your servants or your
workpeople about religion. You do not know how they might take it! You
are some master! Names are strangely given nowadays–there is not much
that is masterly about you. Poor slave! Is there not many a person in
this world who labors to gain an office and then is afraid to carry it
out? God intended us, when He gave us a position in life, to live
worthy of that position and rightly to exercise the authority and
influence which it brings. Think of a king saying, "I am afraid"–but
that is what the French king said to Bernard Palissy, the potter.

As nearly as I can remember the story, the monarch said, "Palissy, you
must go to mass." "That I never will," said Palissy. "Then I am afraid
that I shall have to give you up to be burnt." "There," said Palissy,
"your majesty could not make me say such a word as that with all the
power you have. I am no king, but only a poor potter, but nobody ever
made me say, 'I am afraid.'" Oh, that fear of men, that dread of
ridicule, that wishing to avoid sarcasm! How it has made a man come
down from the dignity of his office, from the honor of the position
which God has conferred upon him and has made him baser than the
menials about him! Will men never learn to honor themselves and their
position by a dignified resolve to do the right at all costs?

Shall I tell you what this will still further lead to? Well, you will
demean yourself, degrade your position and then the day will probably
come when you will give up all religion. I have seen it actually done.
Yes, I have seen a young man who has been at home almost all that you
could desire–and he has come up to London and dropped into a warehouse
where there was no Christian feeling. At first he has gone to a place
of worship and written home to his mother to tell her the text, as you
are going to do tonight, Mr. John. But after a while he has gone
wandering out for a little excursion on the Sabbath and by-and-by he
has become a ringleader among those who dare to laugh at sacred things!

One has a tower of observation here and sees sad sights perpetually!
Little by little every gracious habit is trampled on through fear of
man. The weak young man slides down, down, down. By easy descents his
life vessel has glided down the rapids with the current, till at last,
he that bade fair for Heaven, shoots over the dread Niagara of
everlasting ruin! I am afraid, young man, that your easy compliance
with bad companions will ultimately lead to your giving up all
religion. I pray you, pause.

Then it will come to your doing injustice to God and good men. The king
did not like it, but he gave Jeremiah over to the cruel princes. "He is
in your hands." You do not believe that you could ever come to treat
God's minister with derision and God's cause with contumely? I think I
hear you say, "Is your servant a dog that he should do this great
thing?" No, if you were a dog you would not do it, but, being something
worse than a dog, if left to yourself, you will do it! If you have not
courage to stand fast, now, and say, "I will serve the Lord," you will
drift and drift till you will

become an enemy of the cause of Christ. If Jeremiah had died in that
dungeon, Zedekiah would have been an accomplice in his murder. So it
has happened with young men and young women who were once, apparently,
godly and inclined to better things–they have gradually gone aside,
through the softness of their character, till they have become foes of
Christ–and have dared defy the God whom they once feared.

At last, it gets to this, that men who trifle with their consciences,
as Zedekiah did, are unable to get any good out of God's Prophets any
more. Zedekiah was well admonished and advised by the Prophet, but
nothing came of it. I am sadly fearful that you, dear Friends, who are
not converted, who have heard me a long time, will soon be unable to
get any blessing out of anything I say. I may even become a savor of
death unto death to you! I am told that the good people in the valley
of Ohio, whose houses have been swept away by the tornado, had a
warning that the storm was coming. The storm drums were out and the
newspapers announced that a great depression was coming their way. They
did not take any notice of that information–it did not seem very
threatening, for they had grown used to paragraphs about the weather.

If it were only once in a year that the weather could be fairly
predicted, we should be needing to buy the Gazette! But now, as we get
it every morning, we do not take any particular or practical notice of
it. These poor Ohio friends, therefore, took no warning and were by no
means prepared for the tornado. Familiarity breeds neglect. People live
close under the big bells of the cathedral and sleep well at night–and
people who have houses where the train passes just under the bedroom
window seldom trouble themselves about the whistling or the rumble, but
sleep right on. You may continue to listen to the earnest warnings
which I endeavor to give and after hearing me for years, your hearing
will come to nothing if you get to be good, easy people, who say, "Yes,
yes, yes," to everything and there let it end.

I endeavor to be earnest and to give striking calls to repentance, but
I fear lest you should grow so used to me that you will take no more
notice of me than of a noise in the street. You may look on the sun
till you become blind and hear the Gospel till you grow deaf to it. God
save you from that and save you at once, on the spot, beyond all fear
of such a calamity! Oh, that the Lord would grant me my request and by
His mighty Grace bring you at once to His Son Jesus!

IV. I will finish with this. I would LABOR TO FREE MEN FROM THIS
COMPLAINT. I would labor to free them from it by the Grace of God.
First, I would say to you, remember, dear Friend, if you continue in
this undecided, yielding condition, you will miss your way altogether.
You must grow firm, for without it you cannot be a Christian. It is
necessary, in order to obey Christ, that you should take up your cross
and follow Him. He will never number you among His disciples if you say
"yes," and yet do, "no"–if you call Him Master and Lord–and yet try
to please the world. "If any man loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him."

You must come out on the Lord's side. The promise is, "Come out from
among them, and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you,
and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." You
cannot be Christians without being decided–without having your minds
made up for righteousness and faith in Christ. Therefore hesitate no
longer. "How long will you halt between two opinions?" How long will
you be in this fluid state, taking no permanent impression? May God
Himself in mercy make you to believe in Christ and become His faithful
followers! May His Holy Spirit work in you to this end!

Christ deserves this. If He died for me, shall not I acknowledge Him as
my Savior? If He has bought me with His precious blood, shall I not
confess my faith in Him? O dear Hearer, if you have learned to stand at
the foot of the Cross and say, "Jesus died for me," I am sure you will
feel that if it cost you a thousand deaths, you must confess your
obligations to Him and declare that, living and dying, you will be His!
Do not make any mistake about it! Whatever you seem to gain in personal
ease by halting and hesitating now, it will dearly cost you in the end.
If a man takes his stand and says, "I am a Christian," it is the best
thing to do in the great battle of life. If you yield a little you will
have to yield more and, having yielded more, you will have to yield
altogether.

If ever the Spirit of God should fetch you out to be clear and decided,
it will be awfully hard work to escape from the nets and traps which
you are creating by your present yielding. To say, "No," however
difficult, is an easier thing than to trifle and hesitate and almost
comply. You lose even when you seem to gain if you let the Tempter have
his way. Do not think, dear Friend, that you are gaining anyone's
esteem by sinful compliances, for you are doing the reverse–you are
lowering yourself before the Philistines. Your example is ruined. Your
influence is destroyed. You are doing harm and not good. The men that
the world thinks most of are the men that stand up, stand straight,
stand firm!

I heard one say of a preacher the other day, "I can hear him with
pleasure, for he is not an echo, but a voice." That is to say, he was
not a mere copyist, a being made to be dragged like a tin kettle at the
tail of a cur–but one who had a mind of his own and dared to express
it! He wins respect who, knowing his mind and having his mind fixed on
Christ and Divine Truth, becomes a voice for Christ and speaks plainly
and boldly! Men despise you otherwise. If you have no manliness, how
can you have any godliness?

And oh, what will it be in the hour of death to lie dying, racked with
pain and then to have conscience whispering, "You were a coward. You
were afraid to come out for Christ. You hid your light under a bushel.
You chose to comply with the temptations of the world"? In that dread
hour, when the death sweat is on your brow, you will have enough to
think of without having remorse to sting you–the remorse of a false
and cowardly heart! Oh, if you can then say, not boastingly, but truly,
"I did follow my Lord. I trusted in Him alone and I did not blush to
confess it"–this, with God's Grace, will make dying to be easy work!

In the next world what must be the doom of the man who was ashamed of
Christ, when the Lord Himself will say, "I am ashamed of him! I am
ashamed of him!" The Lord Jesus is not ashamed of the penitent
drunkard–for He cleanses him. He is not ashamed of the repenting
harlot, but permits her to wash His feet with her tears. But in that
day He will be ashamed of all those who have been ashamed of Him! He
cannot claim us if we deny Him. May God bless this word of mine! I have
not so much preached the Gospel as shown you your need of the Grace of
God to make you decide for Jesus. May that Grace be sought and found at
once, for His dear sake! I have worn out all my strength in pleading
with you. May the Lord Himself take you in hand! Amen.

PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON– Jeremiah 38:1-23.