2. False Professors
They feared the Lord, and served their own gods. (2
Kings 17:33)
When the ten tribes of Israel were carried away captive
by the king
of Assyria, their places were supplied with strangers
of different
idolatrous nations, who knew nothing of the religion of
the Jews. Very
soon the wild beasts increased in the country, and the
lions destroyed
multitudes of the people, and they thought it was
because they did not
know the god of the country, and had therefore
ignorantly
transgressed his religion, and offended him, and he had
sent the lions
among them as a punishment. So they applied to the
king, who told
them to get one of the priests of the Israelites to
teach them the
manner of the god of the land.
They took this advice,
and obtained
one of the priests to come to Bethel and teach them the
religious
ceremonies and modes of worship that had been practiced
there. And
he taught them to fear Jehovah, as the God of that
country. But still
they did not receive him as the only God. They feared
him; that is, they
feared his anger and his judgments, and to avert these,
they
performed the prescribed rites. But they
"served" their own gods. They
kept up their idolatrous worship, and this was what
they loved and
preferred, though they felt obliged to pay some
reverence to Jehovah,
as the God of that country. There are still multitudes
of persons,
professing to fear God, and perhaps possessing a
certain kind of the
fear of the Lord, who, nevertheless, serve their own
gods they have
other things to which their hearts are supremely
devoted, and other
objects in which they mainly put their trust.
There are, as you know, two kinds of fear. There is
that fear of the
Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, which is founded
in love. There
is also a slavish fear, which is a mere dread of evil,
and is purely
selfish. This is the kind of fear which is possessed by
those people
spoken of in the text. They were afraid Jehovah would
send his
judgments upon them, if they did not perform certain
rites and this was
the motive they had for paying him worship. Those who
have this fear
are supremely selfish, and while they profess to
reverence Jehovah,
have other gods whom they love and serve.
There are several classes of persons to whom this is
applicable, and
my object tonight is to describe some of them, in such
a way, that
those of you here, who possess this character, may know
yourselves,
and may see how it is that your neighbors know you and
understand
your real characters.
To serve a person is to be obedient to the will and
devoted to the
interests of that individual. It is not properly called
serving where only
certain acts are performed, without entering into the
service of the
person; but to serve, is to make it a business to do
the will and
promote the interest of the person. To serve God is to
make religion
the main business of life. It is to devote one's self,
heart, life, powers,
time, influence, and all, to promote the interests of
God, to build up the
kingdom of God, and to advance the glory of God.
Who
are they who,
while they profess to fear the Lord, serve their own
gods?
1. I answer, first, all those of you who have not heartily
and practically
renounced the ownership of your possessions, and given
them up to
God.
It is self-evident that if you have not done this, you
are not serving
God. Suppose a gentleman were to employ a clerk to take
care of his
store, and suppose the clerk were to continue to attend
to his own
business, and when asked to do what is necessary for
his employer,
who pays him his wages, he should reply,
"I really have so much business of my own to
attend to, that I have no
time to do these things;" would not everybody cry
out against such a
servant, and say he was not serving his employer at
all, his time is not
his own, it is paid for, and he but served himself? So
where a man has
not renounced the ownership of himself, not only in
thought, but
practically, he has not taken the first lesson in
religion. He is not
serving the Lord, but serving his own gods.
2. That man who does not make the business in which he
is engaged
a part of his religion, does not serve God. You hear a man say, sometimes, I am so much engaged all
day in the
world, or in worldly business, that I have not time to
serve God. He
thinks he serves God a little while in the morning, and
then attends to
his worldly business. That man, you may rely on it,
left his religion
where he said his prayers. He is willing, perhaps, to
give God the time
before breakfast, before he gets ready to go to his own
business; but
as soon as that is over, away he goes to his own work.
He fears the
Lord enough, perhaps, to go through his prayers night
and morning,
but he serves his own gods. That man's religion is the
laughing stock
of hell! He prays very devoutly, and then, instead of
engaging in his
business for God, he is serving himself. No doubt the
idols are well
satisfied with the arrangement, but God is wholly
displeased.
3. But again: Those of you are serving your own gods,
who devote to
Jehovah that which costs you little or nothing.
There are many who make religion consist in certain
acts of piety that
do not interfere with their selfishness. You pray in
the morning in your
family, because you can do it then very conveniently,
but do not suffer
the service of Jehovah to interfere with the service of
your gods, or to
stand in the way of your getting rich, or enjoying the
world. The gods
you serve make no complaint of being slighted or
neglected for the
service of Jehovah.
4. All that class are serving their own gods, who
suppose that the six
days of the week belong to themselves, and that the
Sabbath only is
God's day.
There are multitudes who suppose that the week is man's
time, and
the Sabbath only God's, and that they have a right to
do their own
work during the week, and to serve themselves, and
promote their
own interests, if they will only keep the Sabbath
strictly, and serve God
on the Sabbath. For instance: a celebrated preacher, in
illustrating the
wickedness of breaking the Sabbath, used this
illustration "Suppose
a man, having seven dollars in his pocket, should meet
a beggar in
great distress, and give him six dollars, keeping only
one for himself;
and the beggar, seeing that he retained one dollar,
should return and
rob him of that; would not every heart despise his
baseness?" You see
it embodies this idea that it is very ungrateful to
break the Sabbath
since God has given to men six days for their own, to
serve
themselves, and only reserved the Sabbath to himself,
and to rob God
of the seventh day is base ingratitude.
You that do this do not serve God at all. If you are
selfish during the
week, you are selfish altogether. To suppose you had
any real piety
would imply that you were converted every Sabbath and
unconverted
every Monday. If a man would serve himself all the week
and really
posses religion on the Sabbath, he requires to be
converted for it. But
is this the idea of the Sabbath, that it is a day to
serve God in
exclusive of other days? Is God in need of your
services on the
Sabbath to keep his work on?
God requires all your services as much on the six days
as on the
Sabbath, only he has appropriated the Sabbath to
peculiar duties, and
required its observance as a day of rest from bodily
toil and from those
fatiguing cares and labors that concern the present
world. But because
God uses means in accomplishing his purposes, and men
have bodies
as well as souls, and the gospel is to be spread and
sustained by the
things of this world, therefore God requires you to
work all the six days
at your secular employments. But it is all for his
service, as much as
the worship of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is no more
given for the
service of God than Monday. You have no more right to
serve
yourselves on Monday than you have on the Sabbath. If
any of you
have thus considered the matter, and imagined that the
six days of the
week were your own time, it shows that you are
supremely selfish. I
beg of you not to consider that in prayer and on the
Sabbath you are
serving God at all, if the rest of the time you are
considered as serving
yourself. You have never known the radical principle of
serving the
Lord.
5. Those are serving themselves, or their own gods, who
will not make
any sacrifices of personal ease and comfort in
religion.
For instance, there are multitudes who object to free
churches on this
ground, that they require a sacrifice of personal
gratification. They talk
like this: "We wish to sit with our
families;" or, "We want our seats
cushioned," or "We always like to sit in the
same place." They admit
that free churches are necessary, in order to make the
gospel
accessible to the thousands that are going to hell in
this city. But they
cannot make these little sacrifices, to throw open the
doors of God's
house to this mass of impenitent sinners.
These little things often indicate most clearly the
state of men's hearts.
Suppose your servant were to say, "I cannot do
this," or "I cannot do
that," because it interferes with his personal
ease and comfort. He
cannot do this because he likes to sit on a cushion and
work. Or he
cannot do that because it would separate him from his
family an hour
and a half. What! is that doing service? When a man
enters into
service he gives up his ease and comfort for the
interest and at the will
of his employer. Is it true that any man is supremely
devoted to the
service of God, when he shows that his own ease and
comfort are
dearer than the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and that he
would sooner
sacrifice the salvation of sinners than sit on a hard
seat, or be
separated from his family an hour or two?
6. Those are serving their own gods, who give their
time and money,
when they do give, grudgingly, by constraint, and not
of a ready mind,
and with a cheerful heart.
What would you think of your servant, if you had to dun
or drive him all
the time, to do anything for your interest? Would you
not say he was
an eye-servant? How many people there are, who when
they do
anything on account of religion, do it grudgingly. If
they do anything,
it comes hard. If you go to one of these characters,
and want his time
or his money for any religious object it is difficult
to get him engaged.
It seems to go across the grain and is not easy or
natural. It is plain he
does not consider the interests of Christ's kingdom the
same with his
own. He may make a show of fearing the Lord, but he
"serves" some
other gods of his own.
7. Those who are always ready to ask how little they
may do for
religion rather than how much they may do, are serving
their own
gods.
There are multitudes of persons who seem always to ask
how little
they can get along with in what they do for God.
You hear such a man making up his accounts of profit
and loss "So
much made this year then so much it costs for charity
so much
obliged to give for religion." (OBLIGED to give
for the interests of
religion!) "and so much lost by fire, and so much
by bad debts," and
so on is that man serving God? It is a simple matter of
fact that you
have never set your hearts on the object of promoting
religion in the
world. If you had, you would ask, How much can I do for
this object
and for that? Cannot I do so much or so much or so
much?
8. They who are laying up wealth for their families, to
elevate and
aggrandize them, are serving gods of their own, and not
Jehovah.
Those who are thus aiming to elevate their own families
into a different
sphere, by laying up wealth for them, show that they
have some other
object to live for than bringing this world under the
authority of Jesus
Christ. They have other gods to serve. They may pretend
to fear the
Lord, but they "serve" their own gods.
9. Those who are making it their object to accumulate
so much
property that they can retire from business and live at
ease, are
serving their own gods.
There are many persons who profess to be the servants
of God, but
are eagerly engaged in gathering property, and
calculating to retire to
their country seat by-and-by, and live at their ease.
What do you
mean? Has God given you a right to a perpetual Sabbath,
as soon as
you have made so much money? Did God tell you, when you
professed to enter his service, to work hard so many
years, and then
you might have a perpetual holiday? Did he promise to
excuse you
after that from making the most of your time and
talents, and let you
live at ease the rest of your days? If your thoughts
are set upon this
notion, I tell you, you are not serving God but your
own selfishness
and sloth.
10. Those persons are serving their own gods who would
sooner
gratify their appetites than deny themselves things
that are
unnecessary, or even hurtful, for the sake of doing
good.
You find persons that greatly love things that do them
no good, and
others even form an artificial appetite for the thing
positively
loathsome, and after it they will go, and no arguments
will prevail upon
them to abandon it for the sake of doing good. Are such
persons
absorbed in the service of God? Certainly not. Will
they sacrifice their
lives for the kingdom of God? Why you cannot make them
even give
up a quid of tobacco! a weed that is injurious to
health and loathsome
to society; they cannot give it up, were it to save a
soul from death!
Who does not see that selfishness predominates in such
persons? It
shows the astonishing strength of selfishness. You
often see the
strength of selfishness showing itself in some such
little thing more
than in things that are greater. The real state of a
man's mind stands
out, that self-gratification is the law of his life, so
strongly, that it
will not give place, even in a trifle, to those great
interests, for which
he ought to be willing to lay down his life.
11. Those persons who are most readily moved to action
by appeals
to their own selfish interests, show that they are
serving their own
gods.
You see what motive influences such a man. Suppose I
wish to get
him to subscribe for building a church, what must I
urge? Why, I must
show how it will improve the value of his property, or
advance his
party, or gratify his selfishness in some other way. If
he is more
excited by these motives, than he is by a desire to
save perishing
souls and advance the kingdom of Christ, you see that
he has never
given himself up to serve the Lord. He is still serving
himself.
He is more influenced by his selfish interests than by
all those
benevolent principles on which all religion turns. The
character of a
true servant of God is right opposite to this.
Take the case of two servants, one devoted to his
master's interests,
and the other having no conscience or concern but to
secure his
wages. Go to one, and he throws into the shade all
personal
considerations, and enlists with heart and soul in
achieving the object.
The other will not act unless you present some selfish
motive; unless
you say, "Do so, and I will raise your wages or
set you up in business,"
or the like. Is there not a radical difference between
these two
servants? Is not this an illustration of what actually
takes place in our
churches? Propose a plan of doing good that will cost
nothing, and
they will all go for it. But propose a plan which is
going to affect their
personal interest to cost money, or take up time in a
busy season,
and you will see they begin to divide. Some hesitate;
some doubt;
some raise objections; and some resolutely refuse. Some
enlist at
once, because they see it will do great good. Others
stand back till you
devise some means to excite their selfishness in its
favor. What
causes the difference? Some of them are serving their
own gods.
12. Those are of this character, who are more
interested in other
subjects than in religion.
If you find them more ready to talk on other subjects;
more easily
excited by them, more awake to learn the news, they are
serving their
own gods. What multitudes are more excited by the bank
question, or
the question about war, or about the fire, or anything
of a worldly
nature, than about revivals, missions, or anything
connected with the
interests of religion. You find them all engaged about
politics or
speculation; but if you bring up the subject of
religion, ah, they are
afraid of excitement! and talk about animal feeling!
Showing that
religion is not the subject that is nearest their
hearts. A man is always
most easily excited on that subject that lies nearest
his heart. Bring
that up, and he is interested. When you can talk early
and late about
the news and other worldly topics, and when you cannot
possibly be
interested in the subject of religion, you know that
your heart is not in
it; and if you pretend to be a servant of God, you are
a hypocrite.
13. When persons are more jealous for their own fame
than for God's
glory, it shows that they live for themselves, and
serve their own gods.
You see a man more vexed or grieved by what is said
against him
than against God; whom does he serve who is his God,
himself or
Jehovah? There is a minister thrown into a fever
because somebody
has said a word derogatory to his scholarship, or his
dignity, or his
infallibility, while he is as cool as ice at all the
indignities thrown upon
the blessed God. Is that man a follower of Paul,
willing to be
considered a fool for the cause of Christ? Did that man
ever take the
first lesson in religion? If he had, he would rejoice
to have his name
cast out as evil for the cause of religion. No, he is
not serving God; he
is serving his own gods.
14. Those are serving their own gods, who are not make
salvation of
souls the great and leading object of their lives.
The end of all religious institutions, that which gives
value to them all,
is the salvation of sinners. The end for which Christ
lives, and for
which he has left his church in the world, is the
salvation of sinners.
This is the business which God sets his servants about,
and if any
man be not doing this, as his business as the leading
and main
object of his life, he is not serving Jehovah, he is
serving his own
gods.
15. Those who are doing but little for God, or who
bring but little to
pass for God, cannot properly be said to serve him.
Suppose you ask a professed servant of God. "What
are you doing for
God? Are you bringing anything to pass? Are you
instrumental in the
conversion of any sinners?
Are you making impressions in favor of religion, or
helping forward the
cause of Christ? "He replies," Why I do not
know have a hope; I
sometimes think I do love God; but I do not know that I
am doing any
thing in particular at present." Is that man
serving God! Or is he
serving his own gods? "I talk to sinners some
times," he says, "but
they do not seem to feel much." Then YOU do not
feel. If your heart
be not in it, no wonder you cannot make sinners feel.
Whereas, if you
do your duty, with your heart in the work, sinners
cannot help feeling.
16. Those who seek for happiness in religion, rather
than for
usefulness, are serving their own gods.
Their religion is entirely selfish. They want to enjoy
religion, and are all
the while inquiring how they can get happy frames of
mind, and how
they can be pleasurably excited in religious exercises.
And they will go
only to such meetings, and sit only under such
preaching, as will make
them happy; never asking the question whether that is
the way to do
the most good or not. Now, suppose your servant should
do so, and
be constantly contriving how to enjoy himself, and if
he thought he
could be most happy in the parlor, stretched on the
sofa, with a pillow
of down under his head, and another servant to fan him,
refusing to do
the work which you set him about, and which your
interest urgently
requires; instead of manifesting a desire to work for
you, and a
solicitude for your interest, and a willingness to lay
himself out with all
his powers in your service, he wants only to be happy!
It is just so with
those professed servants of Jehovah, who want to do
nothing but sit
on their handsome cushion, and have their minister feed
them. Instead
of seeking how to do good, they are only seeking to be
happy. Their
daily prayer is not, like that of the converted Saul of
Tarsus, "Lord what
wilt thou have me to do?" but, "Lord, tell me
how I can be happy." Is
that the spirit of Jesus Christ? No, he said, "I
delight to do thy will. O
God." Is that the spirit of the apostle Paul? No,
he threw of his upper
garments at once, and made his arms bare foot the field
of labor.
17. Those who make their own salvation their supreme
object in
religion, are serving their own gods.
There are multitudes in the church, who show by their
conduct, and
even avow in their language, that their leading object
is to secure their
own salvation, and their grand determination is to get
their own souls
planted on the firm battlements of the heavenly
Jerusalem, and walk
the golden fields of Canaan above. If the Bible is not
in error all such
characters will go to hell. Their religion is pure
selfishness. And "he
that will save his life shall lose it, and he that will
lose his life for my
sake, shall save it."
REMARKS
1. See why so little is accomplished in the world for
Jesus Christ.
It is because there are so few that do anything for it.
It is because
Jesus Christ has so few real servants in the world. How
many
professors do you suppose there are in this church, or
in your whole
acquaintance, that are really at work for God, and
making a business
of religion, and laying themselves out to advance the
kingdom of
Christ? The reason why religion advances no faster is,
that there are
so few to advance it, and so many to hinder it. You see
a parcel of
people at a fire, trying to get out the goods of a
store.
Some are determined to get out the goods, but the rest
are not
engaged about it, and they divert their attention by
talking about other
things, or positively hinder them by finding fault with
their way of doing
it, or by holding them back. So it is in the church.
Those who are
desirous of doing the work are greatly hindered by the
backwardness,
the cavils, and the positive resistance of the rest.
2. See why so few Christians have the spirit of prayer.
How can they
have the spirit of prayer? What should God give them
the spirit of
prayer for? Suppose a man engaged in his worldly
schemes, and that
God should give that man the spirit of prayer. Of
course he would pray
for that which lies nearest his heart; that is, for
success in his worldly
schemes, to serve his own gods with. Will God give him
the spirit of
prayer for such purpose? Never. Let him go to his own
gods for a
spirit of prayer, out let him not expect Jehovah to
bestow the spirit of
prayer, while he is serving his own gods.
3. You see that there are a multitude of professors, of
religion that
have not begun to be religious yet.
Said a man to one of them, Do you feel that your
property and your
business are all God's, and do you hold and manage them
for God?
"O, no," said he, "I have not got so far
as that yet." Not got so far as
that! That man had been a professor of religion for
years, and yet had
not got so far as to consider his property, and
business, and all that he
had, as belonging to God! No doubt he was serving his
own gods. For
I insist upon it, that this is the very beginning of
religion. What is
conversion, but turning from the service of the world
to the service of
God? And yet this man had not found out that he was
God's servant.
And he seemed to think he was getting a great way in
religion, to feel
that all he had was the Lord's.
4. It is great dishonesty for persons to profess to
serve the Lord, and
yet in reality serve themselves.
You who are performing religious duties from selfish
motives are in
reality trying to make God your servant. If your own
interest be the
supreme object, all your religious services are only
desires to induce
God to promote your interests. Why do you pray, or keep
the Sabbath,
or give your property for religious objects? You
answer, "For the sake
of promoting my own salvation." Indeed! Not to
glorify God, but to get
to heaven! Do not you think the devil would do all
that, if he thought he
could gain his end by it and be a devil still? The
highest style of
selfishness must be to get God with all his attributes,
enlisted in the
service of your mighty self.
And now, my hearers, where are you all? Are you serving
Jehovah, or
are you serving your own gods? How have you been doing
these six
months that I have been absent? Have you done anything
for God?
Have you been living as servants of God? Is Satan's
kingdom
weakened by what you have done? Could you say now,
"Come with
me, and I will show you this and that sinner converted,
or this and that
backslider reclaimed, or this and that weak saint
strengthened and
aided?"
Could you bring living witnesses of what
you have done in the
service of God? Or would your answer be, "I have
been to meeting
regularly on the Sabbath, and heard a great deal of
good preaching,
and I have generally attended the prayer meetings, and
we had some
precious meetings, and I have prayed in my family, and
twice or thrice
a day in my closet, and read the Bible." And in
all that you have been
merely passive, as to anything done for God. You have
feared the
Lord, and served your own gods.
"Yes, but I have sold so many goods, and made so
much money, of
which I intend to give a tenth to the missionary
cause." Who hath
required this at your hand, instead of saving souls?
Going to send the
gospel to the heathen, and letting sinners right under
your own eyes
go down to hell! Be not deceived. If you loved souls,
in you were
engaged to serve God, you would think of souls here,
and do the work
of God here. What should we think of a missionary going
to the
heathen, who had never said a word to sinners around
him at home?
Does he love souls? There is burlesque in the idea of
sending such a
man to the heathen.
The man that will do nothing at home is not fit to go
to the heathen.
And he that pretends to be getting money for missions
while he will not
try to save sinners here, is an outrageous hypocrite.
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