Men of the Bible Part 12

Herod did not want to give up his sin.

Many a man would be willing to enter into the kingdom of G.o.d, if he could do it without giving up sin. People sometimes wonder why Jesus Christ, who lived six hundred years before Mohammed, has got fewer disciples than Mohammed to-day. There is no difficulty in explaining that. A man may become a disciple of Mohammed, and continue to live in the foulest, blackest, deepest sin; but a man cannot be a disciple of Christ without giving up sin. If you are trying to make yourself believe that you can get into the kingdom of G.o.d without renouncing your sin, may G.o.d tear the mask from you! Can Satan persuade you that Herod will be found in the kingdom of G.o.d along with John the Baptist, with the sin of adultery and of murder on his soul?

And now, let me say this to you. If your minister comes to you frankly, tells you of your sin, and warns you faithfully, thank G.o.d for him. He is your best friend; he is a heaven-sent man. But if a minister speaks smooth, oily words to you; tells you it is all right, when you know, and he knows, that it is all wrong, and that you are living in sin, you may be sure that he is a devil-sent man.

I want to say I have a contempt for a preacher that will tone his message down to suit some one in his audience; some Senator, or big man whom he sees present. If the devil can get possession of such a minister and speak through him, he will do the work better than the devil himself. You might be horrified if you knew it was Satan deceiving you, but if a professed minister of Jesus Christ preaches this doctrine and says that G.o.d will make it all right in the end, that though you go on living in sin, it is just the same. Don't be deluded into believing such doctrine--it is as false as any lie that ever came from the pit of h.e.l.l. All the priests and ministers of all the churches cannot save one soul that will not part with sin.

There is an old saying that, "Every man has his price." Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage; pretty cheap, was it not? Ahab sold out for a garden of herbs. Judas sold out for thirty pieces of silver--less than $17 of our money. Pretty cheap, was it not? Herod sold out for adultery.

WHAT IS THE PRICE

that you put upon your soul? You say you do not know. I will tell you. _It is the sin that keeps you from G.o.d_. It may be whisky; there is many a man who will give up the hope of heaven and sell his soul for whisky. It may be adultery; you say:

"Give me the harlot, and I will relinquish heaven with all its glories. I would rather be d.a.m.ned with my sin than saved without it."

What are you selling out for, my friend? You know what it is.

Do you not think it would have been a thousand times better for Herod to-day if he had taken the advice of John the Baptist instead of that vile, adulterous woman? There was Herodias pulling one way, John the other, and Herod was in the balance. It's the same old battle between right and wrong; heaven pulling one way, h.e.l.l the other. Are you going to make the same mistake yourself? We have ten thousand-fold more light than Herod had. He lived on the other side of the cross. The glorious gospel had not shone out as it has done since. Think of the sermons you have heard, of the entreaties addressed to you to become a Christian. Some of you have had G.o.dly mothers who have prayed for you. Many of you have G.o.dly wives who have pleaded with you, and with G.o.d, on your behalf. You have been surrounded with holy influences from year to year, and how often you have been near the kingdom of G.o.d! Yet here you are to-day, further off than ever!

It may be true of you, as it was of Herod, that you hear your preacher gladly. You attend church, you contribute liberally, you do many things. Remember that none of these avail to cleanse your soul from sin. They will not be accepted in the place of what G.o.d demands--repentance and the forsaking of every sin.

A child was once playing with a vase, and put his hand in and could not draw it out again. His father tried to help him, but in vain. At last he said:

"Now, make one more try. Open your fingers out straight, and let me pull your arm."

"Oh, no, papa," said the son, "I'd drop the penny if I opened my fingers like that!"

Of course he couldn't get his hand out when his fist was doubled. He didn't want to give up the penny. Just so with the sinner. He won't cut loose from his sins.

Your path and mine will perhaps never cross again. But if I have any influence with you, I beseech and beg of you to break with sin now, let it cost you what it will. Herod might have been a.s.sociated with Joseph of Arimathea, and with the twelve apostles of the Lamb, if he had taken the advice of John. There might have been a fragrance around his name all these centuries. But alas! when we speak of Herod, we see a sneer on the faces of those who hear us. If one had said to Herod in those days, "Do you know that you are going to silence that great preacher, and have him beheaded?" he would have replied, "Is thy servant a dog that he should do such a thing? I never would take the life of such a man." He would probably have thought he could never do it. Yet it was only a little while after that he had the servant of G.o.d beheaded.

Do you know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ proves either a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death? You sometimes hear people say: "We will go and hear this man preach. If it does us no good, it will do us no harm." Don't you believe it, my friend! Every time you hear the Gospel and reject it, the hardening process goes on. The same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay. The sermon that would have moved you a few years ago would make no impression now. Do you not recall some night when you heard some sermon that shook the foundations of your skepticism and unbelief? But you are indifferent now.

I believe Herod was seven times more a child of h.e.l.l after his conviction had pa.s.sed away than he was before. There is not a true minister of the Gospel who will not say that the hardest people to reach are those who have been impressed, and whose impressions have worn away. It is a good deal easier to commit a sin the second time than it was to commit it the first time, but it is a good deal harder to repent the second time than the first.

If you are near the kingdom of G.o.d now, take the advice of a friend and step into it. Don't be satisfied with just getting near to it.

Christ said to the young ruler, "Thou art not far from the kingdom,"

but he failed to get there. Don't run any risks. Death may overtake you before you have time to carry out your best intentions, if you put off a decision.

It is sad to think that men heard Jesus and Paul, and were moved under their preaching, but were not saved. Judas must many times have come near the kingdom, but he never entered in. I saw it in the army--men who had

ALMOST DECIDED

to become Christians cut down in battle without having taken the step that would have made them sure of eternal life. I confess there is something very sad about it.

In one of the tenement houses in New York city, a doctor was sent for. He came, and found a young man very sick. When he got to the bedside the young man said:

"Doctor, I don't want you to deceive me; I want to know the worst.

Is this illness to prove serious?"

After the doctor had made an examination, he said: "I am sorry to tell you you cannot live out the night."

The young man looked up and said: "Well, then, I have missed it at last!"

"Missed what?"

"I have missed eternal life. I always intended to become a Christian some day, but I thought I had plenty of time, and put it off."

The doctor, who was himself a Christian man, said: "It is not too late. Call on G.o.d for mercy."

"No; I have always had a great contempt for a man who repents when he is dying; he is a miserable coward. If I were not sick I would not have a thought about my soul, and I am not going to insult G.o.d now."

The doctor spent the day with him, read to him out of the Bible, and tried to get him to lay hold of the promises. The young man said he would not call on G.o.d, and in that state of mind he pa.s.sed away.

Just as he was dying the doctor saw his lips moving. He reached down, and all he could hear was the faint whisper:

"_I have missed it at last!_"

Dear friend, make sure that you do not miss eternal life at last.

Will you go with Herod or with John? Bow your head now and say:

"Son of G.o.d, come into this heart of mine. I yield myself to Thee, fully, wholly, unreservedly."

He will come to you, and will not only save you, but will keep you to the end.

THE MAN BORN BLIND AND JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA

There were two extraordinary men living in the city of Jerusalem when Christ was on earth. One of them has come down through history nameless--we do not know who he was; the name of the other is given.

One was not only a beggar, but blind from his birth; the other was one of the rich men of Jerusalem. Yet in the Gospel of John, there is more s.p.a.ce given to this blind beggar than to any other character. The reason why so much has been recorded of this man is because he took his stand for Jesus Christ.

Look at the account given in John ix., beginning at the fifth verse.

In the previous chapter Christ had been telling them that He was the Light of the world, and that if any man would follow Him he should not walk in darkness, but should have the light of life. After making a statement of that kind, Christ often gave

AN EVIDENCE OF THE TRUTH

of what He said by performing some miracle. If He had said He was the Light of the world, He would show them in what way He was the Light of the world. If He had said He was the Life of the world, He would prove Himself to be such by quickening and raising the dead; just as He did, after telling them that He was the Resurrection and the Life, by going to the graveyard of Bethany and calling Lazarus forth. When Lazarus heard the voice of his friend saying, "Lazarus, come forth!" he came forth immediately.

The Son of G.o.d does not ask men to believe Him without a reason for so doing. We need to keep this in mind. You might as well ask a man to see without light or eyes, as to believe without testimony.

He gave them good reason for believing in Him, and proved His Messiahs.h.i.+p and authority. He not only told them that He had the power, but He showed them that He had.

These two men, then, were both at Jerusalem. One held as high a position, and the other as low a position, as any in the city. One was at the top of the social ladder, and the other at the bottom.

And yet they both made a good confession; and one was as acceptable to Jesus as the other.