TO THOSE WHO ARE ANGRY
WITH THEIR GODLY FRIENDS.
NO. 1929
DELIVERED
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
“And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy
countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt
thou not be accepted;
and if thou doest not well, sin lieth
at the door. And unto thee shall
be his desire, and thou shalt
rule over him.” — Genesis 4:6, 7.
SINNERS are not all of the laughing sort:
Cain’s mind was angry, and his
heart was heavy. The short life of the vicious is not always a
merry one.
See, here you have a man who is utterly without God, but he
is not without
sorrow. His countenance has fallen: his looks are sullen: he is a
miserable
man.
There are many ungodly people still in the world who are not happy
in
the condition in which they find themselves. The present does not
content them, and they have no future from which to borrow the
light of
hope. The service of sin is hard to them, and yet they do not quit it for
the
service of the Lord. They are in danger of having two hells — one
in this
life, and another in the world to come.
They have a religion of their own, even as Cain brought an
offering of the
fruit of the ground; but it yields them no comfort, for God has
no respect
to
their offering, and therefore they are displeased about it. The things of
God bring an increase to their inward wretchedness: it was
after a sacrifice
that Cain’s countenance fell. Many unrenewed
hearts quarrel with God at
his
own altar: quarrel by presenting what he never commanded, and then
by
growing wroth because he rejects their will-worship. They attend the
means of grace, but they are not saved nor comforted, and they
do not like
it.
They pray, after a fashion, and they are not heard, and they feel
indignant at the slight. They read the Scriptures, but no cheering
promise is
ever applied to their hearts, and they grow fierce at their failure. They
see
another accepted, as Abel was, and this excites their jealousy,
and envy
gnaws at their heart. They are wroth with God, with their fellow
man, and
with everything about them; their countenance falls, and they are in a
morose mood, which fits them for any cruel word or deed. Can you
not see
their sullen looks?
They would like to have the enjoyments of religion very
much, they would
like to have peace of conscience, they would like to be uplifted beyond all
fear of death, they would like to be as happy as Christian people are; but
they do not want to pay the price, namely, obedience to God by faith in
Jesus Christ. They would willingly bring an offering to God
according to
their own choice and taste, but they do not care to come with “the
lamb”
as
their sacrifice: they cannot accept the atonement made by our Lord’s
laying down his life for us. They wish to have the reward of
obedient faith
while yet they have their own way. They would reap the harvest
without
sowing the seed. They would gather clusters without planting
vines. They
would win the wages without serving, the Master of the vineyard.
But as
this cannot be, and never will be, they are full of bitter feeling. Since
sin
and
sorrow are sure to be, sooner or later, married together, and since only
by
walking in the ways of God can we hope to find peace and rest, they
quarrel with the divine arrangement, grow inwardly miserable, and
show it
by
their sullen looks and growling words.
They are in a bitter state of heart, and it is fair to ask
each one of them,
“Why art thou wroth?” Alas! they
are not angry with themselves, as they
ought to be, but angry with God; and often they are angry with
God’s
chosen, and envious of them, even as Cain was malicious and
vindictive
towards Abel. “Why should my neighbor be saved,
and not I? Why should
my
brother rejoice because he has peace with God, while I cannot get it?
Why should my own sister be converted and sing of heaven,
and I, who
have gone to the same place of worship, and have joined in the same
prayers and hymns, seem to be left out in the cold?” Such
questions might
be
useful to them; but instead of looking into their own hearts to see what
is
wrong there, instead of judging themselves and trying to get right with
God, they inwardly blame the Lord, or the persons whom they
think to be
more favored than themselves. The blessings of grace are to be had by
them; but they refuse to take them, and yet quarrel with those who accept
them. They play the part of the dog in the manger, who could not eat the
hay
himself; and would not let the horses do so. They will not accept
Christ, and yet grumble because others have him.
It is one of the sure signs of the seed of the serpent —
that they will always
be
at enmity with the seed of the woman. This is one of the marks of
distinction between those who walk after the flesh and those who walk
after the spirit; for as Ishmael mocked Isaac, so the child of
the flesh mocks
the
child of promise even to this day. So soon as the two sons born to
Adam were grown up, the great
division was seen: he who was of the
wicked one slew the man who by faith offered a more acceptable
sacrifice.
This division has never ceased, and never will cease, while
the race of man
remains on earth under the reign of God’s long-suffering. By this
shall ye
know to which seed ye belong; whether ye are of those who hate the
righteous, or of those who are hated for Christ’s sake.
Now, I want to call attention to a very gracious fact
connected with this
text; and that is, that, although Cain was in such a bad temper that he was
very wroth, and his countenance fell, yet God, the infinitely gracious One,
came and spoke with him, and reasoned with him patiently. It is wonderful
that God should speak with man at all, considering man’s insignificance.
Did not the Psalmist say, “When I consider thy heavens, the
work of thy
fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is
man,
that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man,
that thou visitest him?”
But for the Lord to speak with sinful man is a far greater
marvel; and for
him
to reason with such a man as Cain, a murderer in heart, and soon to be
a
murderer in deed, impenitent, implacable, presumptuous, blasphemous;
this is a miracle of mercy! Shall the pure and holy God speak with such a
wretch as Cain, who was angry with his brother without just
cause? Why
does he not at once cut him off while yet his hate has not issued in murder,
and
thus at the very beginning show his detestation of envy and malice?
Truly his mercy endureth for
ever. Behold, the Lord comes to Cain with a
question, gives him an opportunity of speaking for himself, and
defending,
if
he can, his state of mind. “Why art thou wroth? and
why is thy
countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt
thou not be accepted? and if
thou doest not well, sin lieth at the
door.”
Yet this is no solitary instance of the condescension of
God: it is the way of
our
God to expostulate with sinners, and to let them produce their strong
reasons, and justify themselves it they can. It is his fashion to
say, “Turn
ye:
turn ye, why will ye die, O house of
of
any, but that they should turn unto him and live. He is greatly patient
and
waiteth to be gracious. God gives none up until they
fatally resolve to
give themselves up, and even then his good Spirit strives with them as long
as
it is possible to do so, consistently with his holiness.
Often to the very gates of death, and up to the very edge
of the bottomless
pit,
his pity follows obstinate sinners, crying still, “Turn ye! Turn ye! Turn
ye!
Why will ye die?” Ay, the angry sinner — the Cain-ite
sinner — the
sinner whose face betrays the anger of his soul, whose heart is
hot with
enmity against God and against his Christ, even he is not left to
die without
divine pleadings which may show him his fault and folly. Still
does the
Lord handle conscience with skill, and arouse thought with
fit enquiries:
“Why art thou wroth? and why is
thy countenance fallen?”
I pray God that he may speak to any among my congregation
who may be
in
this sad and evil condition. I have felt lately that I may have but few
more opportunities of preaching the gospel, and therefore I would try and
speak more solemnly every time I preach, and endeavor to strike
right
home at the heart and conscience, if by any means I may save some. Oh
how
I long to bring men to Jesus! I could gladly lay down my life to save
my
hearers. May the Holy Spirit make my words to be full of force and
holy fire; and may they meet the case of some here present whom I have
never seen before, but whose thoughts are as well known to God
as if they
were printed in a book and laid open before his eyes! Oh that I may be
moved to speak a word which shall fit the case as a glove fits
the hand
which wears it! May it not merely be the voice of man that
speaks to you;
but
may it be clear that God has commissioned his servant to speak to your
hearts, and that by my sermon God himself expostulates with you
even as
he
expostulated with Cain in those ancient times!
Recollect that the case is that of a man who is angry,
angry mainly because
he
cannot get the comforts of religion. He sees his brother enjoying them,
and
he grows wroth with him for that reason. With him, and all like him, I
would reason with kind words.
I. I
shall take the last sentence of the text first: “Unto thee shall be his
desire, and thou shall rule over him.” In these words God argues
with Cain,
and
answers the charge of favoritism which was lurking in his mind. He
tells him, in effect, that NO
DIFFERENCE IS MADE
IN THE ARRANGEMENT
OF
SOCIAL LIFE, BECAUSE
OF THE ARRANGEMENTS
OF GRACE. Notice
that he says to him, “Unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over
him”
— which I understand to mean just this: “Why are you so angry
against Abel? It is true that I have accepted his offering: it is
true that he is
a
righteous man, and you are not; but, for all that, you are his elder
brother, and he looks up to you, his desire is toward you, and you
shall rule
over him. He has not acted otherwise than as a younger brother should act
towards an elder brother, but he has admitted your seniority and
priority.
He has not revolted from you: you rule over him: you are
his master. Why,
then, are you so angry?” Observe this, then — that if a man shall be angry
with his wife because she is a Christian, we may well argue with him —
Why are you thus provoked? Is she
not a loving and obedient wife to you
in
all things, except in this matter touching her God? Is she not all the
better for her religion? I have known a husband meet his wife at
the
Tabernacle door and call her foul names all the way home
for no other
reason than because she joined in the worship of God. Yet she was
all the
more loving, diligent, and patient because of that worship. Here is your
child converted, and you are angry. Are you not unreasonable in
this? You
are
his father, and he yields obedience to you. God has not caused religion
to
alter the natural position of things: your child, your servant, your wife,
all
recognize this, and remain in due subservience to you. For what cause
are
you thus sullen and wroth? Good sir, this is not like a reasonable man.
Be persuaded to let better feelings sway you.
Now, this is an important thing to note, because first of
all it takes away
from governments their excuse for persecution. In the early days of
Christianity, multitudes of Christians were tormented to
death because of
their faith in Jesus. There was no excuse for it, for they had
done no harm
to
the State. Christianity does not come into a nation to break up its
arrangements, or to break down its fabric. All that is good in human
society it preserves and establishes. It snaps no ties of the
family; it
dislocates no bonds of the body politic. There are theories of
socialism and
the
like which lead to anarchy and riot; but it is not so with the mild and
gentle teaching of Jesus Christ, whose every word is love and
patience. He
says, “Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also.” His apostle says — “Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands: husbands, love your wives; children, obey your
parents in all things: servants, obey in all things your masters,
not with
eyeservice as menpleasers: masters, give
unto your servants that which is
just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” Such
precepts as these are no injury to government. Paul was no leader
of
sedition, no destroyer of the rights of property. Caesar needed not
to fear
Christ. Jesus did not covet Caesar’s purple or Caesar’s
throne. Even Herod
needed not to tremble for his princedom, for the child that was
born at
kingdom is not of this world,” said our Lord Jesus, “else would my
servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews.” Now,
inasmuch
as
the religion of Jesus Christ does no hurt to social order, teaches no one
to
be rebellious, takes away from no man his rights, but guards the rights
of
all from the meanest to the greatest, all excuse is taken away from any
government that dares to put out its hand to touch the
to
each disciple of Jesus, the government may be satisfied that he is loyal.
“Thou shalt rule over him” is
certainly true. Christians will cheerfully
submit to all lawful rule and righteous authority. To them it is
a matter of
joy
if they are enabled to lead peaceable lives because the magistrate is a
terror to evildoers. They are a non-resistant, peaceable, quiet
people, who
have from the beginning of the world until now borne burdens and suffered
and
been content to suffer, so that they might but be true to their Master.
They hate tyranny, but they love order: they protest
against oppression, but
they uphold law and justice. Why, then, should they be persecuted? They
ask
nothing from the State by way of pay or patronage; they only ask to be
let
alone, and to be subject to no disability on account of their religion. Let
all
who are in authority, whether as kings or petty magistrates, beware of
wantonly molesting a people who cause them no trouble, lest they be
found
in
this matter to be fighting against God.
That being so in the broad field of national life, it is
just the same if you
bring it down to the little sphere of home. There is no reason
why Cain
should be so angry with Abel because God loves him; for the love
of God
to
Abel does not take away from Cain his right as an elder brother. It does
not
teach Abel to refuse to Cain the rights of his position, nor lead him to
act
rudely and wrongfully to him. No: Abel’s desire is unto Cain, and Cain
rules over him as his elder brother. Why, then, should Cain be
wroth, and
his
countenance fall? My dear friend, if you are angry to-night about the
sovereignty of the grace of God, as seen in the conversion of another,
let
me
ask you what hurt has the grace of God in the heart of the person you
envy done to you? Is your eye evil because God’s eye is good? Have you
suffered in any sense because that other one is saved? You cannot
have
your way if you wish to coerce the envied one into giving up his faith: but
have you a right to your own way? Is it not the privilege of every man to
have his conscience left free to serve God alone? What right have you as an
Englishman to take away liberty from
another? You say, “Why, I think him
very stupid to believe as he does.” Very likely you may think so; but then
your judgment is given you for yourself, not for another, and you must not
become a tyrant and domineer over others. I thought you were a
stickler
for
liberty? And yet you sneer at others because they think for themselves,
or
at least do not think as you do! If religion made men false in their
dealings with others — if it made the servant careless and
indifferent- — if
it
made the husband a tyrant — if it made the wife a tattler and a slattern
— if it turned all relationships
upside-down — there would be some little
reasonableness in the opposition which you offer to it. But if it does
nothing of the kind, why are you wroth? and
why is your countenance
fallen? Why, to me it seems to be a great blessing to a man to
have his
friends converted — a blessing to be desired and prized. Their
conversion
may
do you good, even if you are not converted yourself. Laban
learned by
experience that the Lord blessed him for Jacob’s sake. Look at
Joseph. The
Lord was with him, and we find that wherever Joseph went
others were the
better, because God blessed them through Joseph. A good man in a
house
is
good store to the family. A converted daughter, a praying son, a holy
husband, a gracious wife — why, these are the pillars, the
ornaments, the
buttresses of the house. Godly people roof in the mansion with their
prayers. Who can tell what blessings God gives to unconverted men
because of their converted relatives? I do not doubt that, as
sometimes the
chaff is spared for the sake of the grain which it covers and protects,
so,
often, the lives of ungodly men are spared for the sake of the
children
whom they have to bring up — for the sake of those who have to be
cherished by them for a while. Had it not been for the grief it
would cause
the
mother whom you mock, the Lord might have cut you down, young
man,
long ago. Pity for holy relatives may be the motive for the Lord’s
longsuffering to many rebels. Wherefore be not wroth with the righteous.
I could hope, my angry friend, that God means to give a
greater blessing
still to you — that he means to entice you to heaven by showing
your wife
the
way, or he means to lead you to Christ by that dear child of yours. I
have known parents brought to repentance by the deaths of daughters or of
sons who have died in the faith. I hope you will not have to lose those you
love that you may be brought to Jesus by their dying words. But it may be
so:
it may be so. It will be better for you to yield to their gentle example
while yet they are spared to you, than for you to be smitten to
the heart by
their sickness and death. Oh that the persecuted one may live to
have the
great joy of going to the house of God with father, or walking
with brother
in
the ways of godliness, or bringing the thoughtless sister to seek and find
the
Savior! Why should it not be so? Let us hope for it. At any rate, I do
not
see any cause to be angry because grace has visited your family. To say
the
very least about it, a man who is angry with another for enjoying a
religion which he himself does not care for is a poor specimen of
good
nature. Surely he may allow others to enjoy what he does not
himself
desire. If you do not wish for salvation, why worry yourself
because others
possess it? If you do not mean to serve Christ, at least stand out
of the
road and let other people serve him. There cannot be any gain to you in
kicking against the pricks, by resisting the power of divine
grace. You will
find it hard work in the long run; for the Lord has said that if any shall
offend one of the least of his little ones, it were better for
him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were cast into the
midst
of
the sea. For prudence sake, for your own sake, for reason’s sake, for
freedom’s sake, I pray you be no longer wroth, and let not your
countenance fall. If we cannot agree in matters of religion, let us
not
persecute or think contemptuously one of another.
II. Now
let us advance farther into the text. There is no room for being
angry, for THOUGH
THE DIFFERENCE LIES
FIRST WITH THE
GRACE OF
GOD, YET IT
LIES ALSO WITH
THE MAN’S
OWN SELF. “If thou doest well,
shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the
door.”
First, then, if you are not accepted, and you are angry
because you are not
accepted, is there not a just cause for it? If you do not enjoy the
comforts
of
religion, and you grow envious because you do not, you should cool
your wrathfulness by considering this question — “If thou doest well, shalt
thou not be accepted?” That is to say, will you not be accepted on the
same terms as Abel? You will be accepted in the same way as your brother,
your sister, your child. How is it that the one you envy is full of peace?
It is
because he has come to Jesus and confessed his sin, and trusted
his
Redeemer. If thou doest this, shalt not
thou also be accepted? Has not the
Lord said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out”? If you, too,
come and confess your sin, and trust the Savior, you are as certain to be
accepted as your friend. You are envious because another is full of
joy.
Where did that joy come from but from this — that he came
according to
the
divine command, and rested himself upon the finished work of Christ,
and
gave himself up to be Christ’s servant, and asked for the Holy Spirit to
renew him and lead him into the way of righteousness? That has
been done
according to the faithful promise of God, which is sure to all who
obey the
gospel command. If you come in the same way, and rest on the same
Savior, and yield yourself up to be renewed by the same
Spirit, the Lord
will not refuse you. Put it to the test and see. Try him. Try him, and if he
does refuse you, let me know it; for I am telling everybody that Jesus never
casts out any that come to him, and I must not do so any more if
I find out
that he does reject you or any one else. Come to Jesus confessing your sin
and
trusting in him; and if he does not save you, let me know it, and I will
publish it to the four winds of heaven. We shall be bound to make
it known
that Christ has broken his word, and that his gospel has become of none
effect; for we must on no account cry up a falsehood and lead our
fellow
men
to believe that which is not true. Try the Lord Jesus, I do beseech you;
and
I know what the result will be. You shall find that the gate of mercy
stands wide open for you, and that you will be received as well
as others.
There is no difference in this matter; whosoever calleth upon the name of
the
Lord shall be saved, whosoever will may take of the water of life freely.
Now, is it not much wiser for a man, instead of being angry
with another’s
enjoying the comforts of religion, to seek to enjoy them himself?
Am I
hungry, and angry with another because he has eaten a good meal
when the
same bread stands before me? Then I am foolish and cross-grained. Do I
see
another refreshed at the fountain, and do I stand at the freely flowing
stream and complain? Do I bitterly demand why his lips are moistened
while my mouth is dried up like an oven? What is the use of
being angry
with the neighbor who has quenched his thirst when the same fountain is
free to me? O murmuring friend, why do you not yourself believe? Stoop
and
drink as your friend has done, and you shall be refreshed as he has
been.
If thou doest well — that is, if thou art obedient to the
precious word of
the
gospel — shalt thou not be accepted? “No,” says one, “I
am afraid that
I shall not be.” Who told you so? Your fear is without
scriptural
foundation. “But perhaps my name is not written in the Book of Life.”
Who told you so? Who has climbed up to the secret chamber
of God to
read the mystic roll? Who dares to tell you that your name is not there?
Who knows anything about the secret purposes of God? I
venture to tell
you
this — that if you believe in Jesus Christ, be you who you may, your
name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. “Him that cometh to me,” says
he,
“I will in no wise cast out.” Any “him” that comes in all the
world,
while time shall last, if he does but come to Christ, Christ has
said that he
cannot and will not cast him out. Therefore, come, and you shall
find grace
in
his sight. Instead of being angry with another for believing and rejoicing,
taste for thyself the joys which faith secures. May infinite
grace lead thee to
do
so now!
God’s second word with Cain was, however, “If thou doest
not well, sin
lieth at the door.” That is to say, “If religion does not yield
thee joy as it
does thy brother, what is the reason? Surely sin stops the entrance, as a
stone blocking the doorway. If you cannot gain an entrance to
mercy, it is
because sin, like a huge stone, has been rolled against it, and
remains there.
If the way to God and salvation is, indeed, blocked up, it
is only blocked
up
by your own sin. The door is not locked by a divine decree, nor nailed
up
by any necessity of circumstances, nor barred by any peculiarity of your
case. No, there is neither block, nor bar, nor lock except your sin. Your
sin
lies at the door, and makes you a prisoner, where else you might be free as
air.
I desire to press this point home upon any unconverted persons who
are
somewhat anxious, but yet cannot get peace. A secret something is
keeping you from being accepted as Abel was accepted. I am sure it
is sin
in
one shape or another. May I entreat you to see what that sin is!
Is it unbelief? In most cases unbelief is the damning sin.
You will not
believe God’s word. You reject the testimony of God concerning his
Son
Jesus, and thus you put away from you eternal life. You
say, “I cannot
believe.” But that will not do, for you know that God is true; and
if God be
true how dare you say that you cannot believe him? If, when I stated
solemnly a fact, you told me, “I cannot believe you,” I should
understand
you
to mean that I am a liar. And when you say, “I cannot believe God,”
do
you not know that the English of such an expression is this — you
make God a liar by refusing to believe on his Son? This unbelief is sin
enough — sin enough to destroy you for ever. What higher offense can
there be against any man, much more against God, than to accuse
him of a
lie?
But every person here who does not now believe in Jesus Christ is
guilty of the high profanity and infinite blasphemy of making the
Almighty
God a liar. This is the huge stone which lieth
at the door. May God help
you
to roll it away, by saying, “I will believe; I must believe. God must be
true; the blood of his dear Son must be able to wash away sin. I will trust
in
it now!”
Possibly, however, another form of the same stone of sin
lies at your door
and
keeps you back. Is it impenitence? Are you hardened about, your sin?
Do you refuse to quit it? Is there no sorrow in your heart
to think that you
have broken the divine law, and have lived forgetful of your God? A hard
heart is a great stone to lie in a man’s way; for he who will
not own his sin
and
forsake it is wedded to his own destruction. May God soften your
heart, and help you at once to repent of sin!
Or, is it pride? Are you too big a man to become a
Christian? Are you too
respectable, too wealthy, too polite? Are you too deep a thinker? Do
you
know too much? You could not go and sit down with the humble people
who,
like little children, believe what God tells them. No, no; you have too
much brain for that: have you? Now be honest, and own it. You read the
reviews, and you like a little dash of skepticism in your
literature. You
could not possibly listen to Jesus when he says, “Except ye be
converted,
and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven.” You do not care for such old-fashioned doctrine, for you
are too
much of a philosopher. Well, I have heard of a Spanish monarch who
perished through etiquette: there was too much fire in the grate,
and it was
not
according to state for his majesty to put his chair back from the fire,
and
so he became over-heated, and died in consequence. I would not care
to
lose my soul to gratify my loftiness. Would you? One’s pride may carry
him
far if he is a great fool; but let him not suffer his pride to carry him into
hell, for it certainly will never carry him out again.
Alas! there are some who have
another sin, a hidden sin. I cannot mention
it:
it is a shame even to speak of the things which are done of them in
secret. I have been frequently puzzled to know why certain
persons cannot
attain peace. Do what we may with them they appear to have a tide
of
disquiet for ever ebbing and flowing and casting up mire and dirt.
They
have seemed to be in a fair way to salvation, and yet they have never
reached it: they have been one day near and the next far off. In
one or two
instances I have not discovered the reason why the gospel never
succeeded
with them, till they were dead. When they were gone the sad truth was
revealed which accounted for all their uneasiness; but I will not
tell you
what it was. There was a secret which, if it had been known, would have
made their character abhorrent to those who in ignorance respected them.
Does any man here carry about with him a guilty secret?
Does he persevere
in
shameful acts which he labors to conceal? How can a man hope for
peace while he wars with the laws of morality? What rest can
there be
while solemn vows are broken, and the purest of relationships
are treated
with despite? Nay, while there is any uncleanness about a man, or about a
woman, there cannot be peace with God: such sins must be given
up, or
there cannot be acceptance with the Most High. Would you for a
moment
insinuate that the Lord Jesus died to allow you to sin and yet
escape its
penalty?
We have known persons practice dishonesty in business, and
this has shut
them out from acceptance. Not that they actually pilfer, but they have ways
and
means of calling things by wrong names, and taking fraudulent
advantage. Cheating is called “custom of trade,” and so on. I could
not tell
why
the Lord did not accept certain people when they appeared to be
seeking mercy. I understand it now. How can the Lord be gracious
to one
who
continues in dishonesty? Will he choose thieves to be his friends? If he
will take thieves and make them honest, and so they shall enter his
kingdom; but if we abide in transgression of any sort, when it is
known to
us,
we cannot expect to be accepted. My brethren, to be very plain with
you,
an honest heart and an honest hand must be found in every man who
is
to be justified at the last great day.
Some cannot get peace because they neglect prayer. They do
not ask, or
seek or knock, and so they do not receive, they cannot find, and the door
of
grace is not opened to them. Oh, how can you think that God accepts
you
when you live day after day without prayer?
Not a few harbor enmity in their hearts towards their
brother or neighbor.
O angry hearer, God cannot accept your sacrifice until you
are at peace
with your brother. It cannot be. He might as well have pressed Cain to his
bosom as you, for he that hateth his
brother abideth in death. “Ye know
that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” Go home and be
reconciled. Go home, and forgive your fellow-servant; for if you do
not so
forgive your little debts, the great Lord will not forgive you all
your great
debt. Before you can hope to have peace with God, you must be at peace
with those who have offended you.
Then there are some who keep evil company. They like to
come to the
Tabernacle, or to some other place where the gospel is
preached, and they
hope that they may find Christ; but then they also like a lascivious song.
They relish those silly, coarse, loathsome ditties which
have a touch of
“smut” about them. These are
disgraceful things, and yet certain people roll
them out as choice morsels. While that is the case, can a man hope that
God will accept him? No; it is of no use pretending
anything of the kind.
You and your sins must part, or God and you cannot be
friends. God will
accept us and receive us as penitent sinners, but not so long as
we open the
back door for the devil, and enthrone him in our heart of hearts. If you are
not
accepted, sin lieth at the door, and shuts you out of
present rest and
peace, even as it will ultimately shut you out of heaven.
I think this word of divine expostulation bears another
meaning. “If thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the door.”
That is to say, not only as a stone to
block your way, but as a lion to pounce upon you. It is true
that sin is
hindering you from peace, but it is also true that a greater sin is
lurking at
the
door ready to spring upon you. What a warning this word ought to
have been to Cain! If you are doing ill and God is not accepting you, and
that fact is making you angry, there is a worse sin lying like a couchant
lion
ready to devour you. It was so with Cain. Perhaps at that moment
he had
not
seriously thought of killing his brother. He was angry, but he was not
yet
implacable and malicious. But God said, “There is a sin lying at your
door that will come upon you to your destruction.” May it not be the same
with you, my hearer? What if I were to look steadily in the face of some
undecided person here to-night, and say, “Friend, art thou not
accepted by
God, and art thou angry? A sin is lying at thy door which will be thy ruin.
Thou wilt go on from being a sinner to become a criminal.”
Is Hazael here?
Shall I, like the prophet, look you in the face till my
tears begin to flow at
the
sight of you, and say, “I know what thou wilt do. Thou wilt be a terror
to
all around thee.” You would probably answer me as Hazael
did: “Is thy
servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Many a man
would be
horrified to be told what yet will be the fact in his case. Dreadful
to tell,
men
that have been melted by a sermon have afterwards grown hard
enough to perpetrate crimes that have brought them before the bar
of their
country. Almost converted, almost persuaded, it looked as if a
vista opened
up
before them leading to endless glory and happiness, but in one sad hour
they turned the other way. Like Felix, they waited for a more convenient
season, and their life was henceforth down, down, deeper and
deeper and
deeper, till it ended in the lowest hell. Oh, my dear hearers, I
am always
fearful about those who are so near salvation and yet are not
decided.
Judas who can preach the gospel, Judas who is an apostle,
Judas who can
say,
“Lord, is it I?” — he is the man that at the last
sells his Master: for
though an apostle in appearance he was in heart a traitor, and a
son of
perdition. The raw material for a devil is an angel. The raw
material for the
son
of perdition was an apostle; and the raw material for the most horrible
of
apostates is one who is almost a saint. I say no more than I mean, and
than history can prove. There have usually been splendid traits of character
about men who have been unfit to live. The question has been in
their
minds, “Which shall have the mastery?” and for a while the
result has
trembled in the balance; but when they have decided for evil it has
been
decision with a vengeance. God gave Cain the clearest warning. He
did as
good as say — “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy
countenance fallen?
There is an opportunity for thee. If thou doest well shalt not thou, even
thou, O Cain, be accepted? And if thou doest ill, sin lieth
at the door to
spring upon thee and drag thee down.” Oh that he had been capable
of
taking the caution, and escaping the evil! Be thou warned, O man,
to
whom these words shall come, lest thy last end be worse than the first.
But there is yet another meaning which I must bring out
here, and that is
one
which is held by many critics, though it is questioned by others. I am
content to go with a considerable following, especially of the old
divines,
who
say that the word here used may be rendered, “If thou doest ill, a sinoffering
lieth at the door.” And what a sweet meaning this gives us! God
graciously declares to angry Cain, “Thou canst bring a sin-offering,
as Abel
has
done, and all will be well. Thou canst present a bleeding sacrifice,
typical of the great atonement: a sin-offering lies at the door.”
This should
be
an encouraging assurance to any one who is anxious, and at the same
time greatly afraid that pardon is not possible. My dear friend, why needest
thou grow despondent because another enters heaven? A sin-offering lies
at
thy door also. Thou canst have thy sin forgiven even as his has been
forgiven: come and try for thyself.
“Where can I find Christ?” says one. He standeth
at the door: he waiteth
for
thee. The offering is not far to seek. Thou hast not to climb to heaven
to
bring him down. He has descended. Thou hast not to dive into the
depths to fetch him up. He has risen from the dead. “The word is
nigh thee,
even in thy mouth.” So Paul says. What then? If you would have it for your
own,
and know its virtue, receive it into your soul. “Alas!” cries one, “I am
dying; where is the elixir which will restore me?” In thy mouth. Swallow it.
You have not even to open the box to get out the pill. It
is in thy mouth.
Receive it into your inward parts. Jesus crucified is
freely presented to
thee. All the merit of his death is here at this moment. Accept it. It is
yours.
A sin-offering lieth at the door;
that is to say, the sufferings of Christ, the
atonement of Christ, and the righteousness of Christ, are available
at this
moment. You may have all that Jesus has purchased — have it for
nothing, the free gift of God. Repenting of sin and believing in
Jesus, you
have it all. Eternal salvation is yours if the Holy Spirit has made you
willing
to
have it. “He that believeth on him is not condemned.” Only trust him,
and
the death of Christ is death for you, and the righteousness of Christ is
your righteousness. A sin-offering lieth at the
door. God does, as it were,
say,
“Bring it, I will receive it, and I will receive you, for its sake.”
Do but take Christ by faith, and bring him before God. Say
unto God “My
Father, I have no good works to trust in, but I trust thy
Son. I desire to be
rid
of my sin, and I trust in thee to purify me. I pine to become a new
creature, and I trust in thy Spirit to new-create me. Behold the
bloody
sacrifice offered upon
accept me.” He will do it, dear friend; he will do it. I do not
know that I
can
say any more: I wish that I could have said it better. I would speak
right into your heart. May the Spirit of God so speak! Do not be
angry
because another is saved, but turn your anger on yourself because
you have
not
accepted salvation. Recollect, if you do what other sinners have done,
namely, simply come to Christ, you shall be accepted as they have
been;
and
if you are not accepted, it is your sin that is preventing it. A sin offering
is
waiting to take away that sin. Oh, reject not the priceless boon!
Trifle not with your soul and with your Savior. Do not incur
an eternity of
misery! Do not lose an eternity of bliss! “Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die,
O house of
I wish to have preached? Nothing but the gospel which I
have now
preached for so many years. I wish I had spoken better, but I do
not know
that I could have said more. It these kind pleadings do not touch angry
hearts, neither would they be affected though martyrs rose from the dead.