Sermon 960. Iconoclast

(No. 960)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 13, 1870,

BY C. H. SPURGEON

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"He removed the high places, and broke the images, and cut down the groves, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moseshad made; for until those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it. And he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in theLord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." 2 Kings 18:4,5.

THE First Commandment instructs us that there is but one God, who alone is to be worshipped. And the Second Commandment teachesthat no attempt is to be made to represent the Lord, neither are we to bow down before any form of sacred similitude. "Youshall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them." The two commandments thusmake a full sweep of idolatry. We are not to worship any other god. We are not to worship the true God by the use of representativesymbols. He is a Spirit and is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and not by the use of visible imagery.

It seems clear that the human mind, since the Fall, finds it hard to keep to this. All over the world men set up images andidols-not at first with the view of worshipping the wood or stone-but with the intention of being helped to worship the Deityby having some outward symbol of his presence. After awhile the evil heart falls into something even more debasing, and theimage itself is adored. Even the people of God, the children of Israel, who so peculiarly enjoyed the Lord's Presence in theirmidst, and who were taught to worship Him by Lawgivers and Prophets inspired of the Most High could not keep to pure and spiritualworship.

Though their weakness was somewhat helped to the understanding of the Truth of God by a system of types, they were not contentwith these because they contained no similitude of God. The religion of pious Jews was mainly spiritual, for only at the oneappointed spot at Jerusalem was sacrifice allowed, and there the sacred vessels of ceremonial worship were in secret placesand seldom, if ever, seen by the people. A worship so little outward was too spiritual for unregener-ate Israel. The peoplewanted an outward ritual for other places beside Jerusalem. And wherever there was a rock or lofty hill, there they put upan altar to God, and it was called one of the "high places" of the land.

Wherever a grove of ancient trees could be discovered, they set that apart, also. To the true God, mark you-but still withoutDivine sanction, and contrary to His Law, seeing that He had not appointed that there should be any groves or places sacredto Himself except the one chosen spot at Mount Zion. Then they came to the use of teraphim, symbolical forms, statues, "images,"as our English translation puts it. Not that they actually worshipped these as God, but used them, as they said, to help themto worship God.

This was all contrary to the Divine Law, and led to a forgetfulness of God Himself, robbing Him of His worship and givingit to dumb idols. As soon as good Hezekiah had come to the throne and taken possession of its power, he set to work to cutdown all the groves, to break the images, and as far as he could, as governor of the land, to bring back Israel to her allegianceto the great invisible Jehovah-and to the spiritual worship in which He delights-restraining the outward worship with sacrificeand offering to the one temple at Jerusalem.

Among the various objects of Israel's degenerate worship was one which it would have seemed natural even for a reformer tospare. It was the famous serpent of brass which had been made by Moses in the wilderness, and had been lifted up upon a pole.By looking to it thousands had been cured of the poisonous bites of fiery serpents. This had been carefully preserved, butseeing that it had become an object of superstitious reverence, Hezekiah destroyed it. According to

some, he ground it to powder, and he called it by an opprobrious epithet, Nehushtan. The margin has the translation, "a pieceof brass."

It might be read, "filth," or "verdigris," or "a piece of copper." The king gave it a name which would show that he protestedagainst the idolatrous reverence shown to it. Although it was an interesting memorial, it must be utterly destroyed becauseit presented a temptation to idolatry. Here, if ever in this world was a relic of high antiquity, of undoubted authenticity-arelic which had seen its hundreds of years about which there was no question as to its being indisputably the very serpentwhich Moses made. And it was moreover a relic which had formerly possessed miraculous power-for in the wilderness the lookingat it had saved the dying.

Yet it must be broken in pieces, because Israel burned incense to it. Away with it, it is a defiled thing! Call it by an illname! Dash it to atoms-make Israel to despise it and to forget it. If the bronze serpent is put to a wrong use and made intoan idol, it must not be spared. Put the piece of verdigris away. Let the coppery reptile be ground to powder if it is onceset up as a rival to Jehovah, or as a sharer in the veneration which is due to Him only.

This leads me to the following remark. After all, our reformers acted well, and after a Scriptural model when they pouredcontempt upon the idols of Rome, and made a mockery of her saints, relics, images, masses, and priests. They were more thanjustified in exposing the idolatries of Popery and subjecting the objects formerly reverenced to the utmost contempt. Therewas a deep meaning in their breaking of crosses, and the burning of holy crucifixes. The white linen of priestly vestmentsserved well for undergarments for the poor, and altar stones made admirable backs for stoves. But this meant more than utility-itwas a protest against superstition.

Holy water vats were in those practical times frequently given to the country people to be turned into troughs for swine.The little altar bells which had formerly been rung at the elevation of the host were hung around horses' necks, and the boxwhich contained the detestable mockery of our incarnate God, which the Papists most adored, was broken in pieces. No contemptcould be greater than these idols deserved! The iconoclasts of that age did not go one bit too far. I could wish they hadbeen even less lenient than they were, and that not a single thing ever worshipped by man had been spared for a moment.

Call it God? Then break it up, though art itself perish with it! Adore it as a holy thing? Then away with it, though it ismade of gold and inlaid with gems! What God abhors, what His anger smokes against-is not for us to spare from motives of tendernessto other people's feelings, or because the canons of taste would say, "Let the idol be preserved."

Our sires, the Nonconformists, when they left the State-created religion to maintain a spiritual worship and gathered themselvestogether as the servants of God, did well in bearing their protest against the less glaring idolatries of their age. In theirday, as now, there existed the very common idolatry of superstitious reverence of buildings. Certain piles of stone, brick,and timber are regarded as holy places. It is thought that inside certain walls God is more peculiarly present than outside,where the trees are growing and the birds singing.

Our forefathers protested against this by never calling their buildings Churches. They knew they could not be. They knew thatChurches mean companies of faithful men and women. They called the places of their usual worship "meeting houses." That iswhat they were, and nothing more. The veneration of building materials, pulpits, altars, pews, cushions, tables, candlesticks,organs, cups, plates, etc., is sheer, clear idolatry.

"Worship God" is a command which needs to be spoken in these days in tones of thunder. There is none holy save the Lord. "Godthat made the world and all things there, seeing that He is Lord of Heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands.Neither is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He gives to all life, and breath, and allthings." Hear the Lord's own words-"Heaven is My Throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will you build Me? says theLord: or what is the place of My rest? Has not My hand made all these things?"

Our sires also stood out against another idolatry which still survives in England-namely, the observing of days and months.Certain days are set apart as holy and observed with great reverence by those calling themselves Christians. Not content withthe Sunday as the day appointed of God for His worship, they have, like Israel of old when under legal bondage, new moons,and appointed feasts for which they claim great respect, but to which none whatever is due. Our sires said, "This is not ofScripture, therefore it is of man, therefore it is will-worship, and idolatrous."

And they showed their contempt of the commandments of men by an open disregard of holy days. And we shall do well in thisrespect and in all others to maintain their pure testimony. Whenever we see superstition in any shape, we

must not flatter the folly, but according to our ability act the iconoclast's part and denounce it. In this matter too manydo the work of the Lord deceitfully, and bow in the house of Rimmon, instead of maintaining inviolate the spiritual worshipof the great I AM.

But let this suffice on such themes, we have other thoughts in our minds. I intend, this morning, first to apportion a shareof image-breaking work to Believers. And, secondly, we shall prescribe another form of this same work for seeking souls.

I. We have much IDOL-BREAKING FOR CHRISTIANS TO DO. There is much to be done in the Church of God. But there is much moreto be done in our own hearts. First of all, there is much idol-breaking to be done in the Church of God. Let me mention someof the things against which you and I must always bear our personal and earnest protest. We are all too apt as Christiansto place some degree of reliance upon men whom God in His infinite mercy raises up to be leaders in the Christian Church.

1. We ought to be thankful for the Paul who plants so well, and the Apollos who waters so ably. We are never to look withcontempt or with slighting upon those precious gifts which Christ received when He ascended up on high, and which He continuesto give to His Church, namely, Apostles, teachers, preachers, Evangelists, and the like. A man is more precious than a wedgeof the gold of Ophir. When God gives a man to the Church fitted for her enlargement, for her establishment, and her confirmation,He gives to her one of the richest blessings of the Covenant of Grace.

But the danger is lest we place the man in the wrong position, and look to him not only with the respect which is due to himas God's ambassador, but with some degree of-I must call it so-superstitious reliance upon his authority and ability. Brethren,we have discarded saints-we abhor the idea of worshipping them, and yet by slow degrees we may gradually fall into canonization,and virtually set up among ourselves another set of saints. Is it not true that some almost worship St. Calvin, and St. Luther?Beyond their teachings they cannot go.

Over others St. John Wesley, or St. Charles Simeon sway an awe-commanding scepter. And to far more, the minister under whomthey sit, and whose teachings they constantly receive, is the reason and basis of their faith. I am afraid that some of theconversions worked in the Christian Church are rather the work of the preacher than of the Spirit of God. And therefore whenthe minister who was the instrument of them happens to be removed, the faith which was built upon the wisdom or the earnestnessof man is removed, too.

The point I want to bring you to is this-receive the Truth of God from us if we give it to you purely, and are truly God'smouth to you-but accept it not because we say it is so. Go to the fountainhead of Truth-search the Scriptures for yourselves-andsee whether these things are so. Let nothing be to you a spiritual Truth of God unless it is taught of the Spirit of God inthe Scriptures. Do not be content to hear with the outer ear and say, "That is true, for such-and-such a man of God has saidit." Ask to hear with the heart so as to feel, "That is true, for God has said it in His Word, and His Holy Spirit has alsowritten it over again in my consciousness and experience."

We must get beyond men, or else we shall be very babes in Divine Grace. If we overvalue the blessings which God gives us inour teachers and preachers, He may remove them from us. We are to exalt not the pipes but the fountainhead. Not the windowsbut the sun must we thank for light. Not the basket which holds the food or the lad who brings the loaves and fishes mustwe reverence, but the Divine Master who blesses and multiplies the bread and feeds the multitude. To Jesus must all adoringeyes be turned, and to the Holy Spirit, the Revealer of the Truth, and to our Father who is in Heaven. And we must receivethe Gospel not as the word of man, but as it is in Truth, the Word of God. Love the ministers of Christ, but fall not intothat form of bronze serpent worship which will degrade you into the servants of men.

In the Christian Church there is, I am afraid, at this moment, too much exaltation of talent and dependence upon education.I mean especially in reference to ministers. I do not believe that a man of God who is called constantly to preach to thesame people can be too thoroughly educated. Neither do I believe that the highest degree of mental culture should be any injuryto the Christian minister, but rather should be very helpful to him. By all means let the religious teacher intermeddle withall knowledge, let him give himself unto reading and be able mentally as well as spiritually to take the lead.

But, O Church of God, never set up human learning in the place of the Eternal Spirit, for "it is not by might nor by power,but by My Spirit, says the Lord." The great wonders of Apostolic times were mainly worked by men who were illiterate in theworld's judgment. They had been taught of Christ and so had received a noble education. But in classical

studies and in philosophical speculations they were but little versed, with the exception of the Apostle Paul, and he camenot with excellency of speech or of wisdom. Yet the Apostles and their followers preached with such power that the world soonfelt their presence.

On the slabs of stone which mark the burial places of the early Christians in the catacombs of Rome, the inscriptions arenearly all ill spelt, many of them have here a letter in Greek and there a letter in Latin. Grammar is forgotten, and orthographyis violated-a proof that the early Christians who thus commemorated the martyred dead were many of them uneducated persons-butfor all that they crushed the wisdom of the sages and smote the gods of classic lands. They smote Jupiter and Saturn untilthey were broken in pieces, and Venus and Diana fell from their seats of power.

Their conquests were not by the learning of the schools. That hindered them-the Gnostic heresy, the heresy of pretended knowledgehindered, but never helped the Church of God. Even thus at this hour the culture so much vaunted in certain places is opposedto the simplicity of the Gospel. Therefore I say we do not despise true learning, but we dare not depend upon it. We believethat God can bless and does bless thousands by very simple and humble testimonies. We are none of us to hold our tongues forChrist, because we cannot speak as the learned.

We are none of us to refuse the Lord's message to ourselves because it is spoken by an unlettered messenger. We are not toselect our pastors simply because of their talents and acquirements. We must regard their unction. We must look at their call,and see whether the Spirit of God is with them. If not, we shall make learning to be our bronze serpent, and it will needto be broken in pieces. Just the same also may be said of human eloquence. It is a good thing when a man can speak well, andHis Words flow from his soul like a torrent, sweeping everything before them. It is good when his heart burns and flasheswith a Divine enthusiasm when he speaks what he believes and feels to be of the weightiest importance.

But after all, conversions worked by carnal rhetoric, what are they? Conversions worked by human logic, what are they? "Thatwhich is born of the flesh is flesh." Let the men speak well-the Truth of God ought to be delivered in the best of sentences.But the most noble language ever uttered by man never convinced a soul of sin, or bound up a wounded conscience, or raiseda sinner from his death in sin. We must in prayer cry for the Spirit of God, and all our confidence must be placed in Him.For oratory is but a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal if the Holy Spirit is not there.

Continuing our remarks with regard to the Christian Church, I will further remark that much superstition may require to bebroken down among us in reference to a rigid adhesion to certain modes of Christian service. We have tried to propagate theTruth of God in a certain way, and the Lord has blessed us in it-and therefore we venerate the mode and the plan, and forgetthat the Holy Spirit is a free Spirit. There are persons in our Churches who object very seriously to any attempt to do goodin a way which they have not seen tried before. For them custom has all the force of authority- the traditions of the fathersare their Law.

Bold measures of evangelization shock them as innovations, as if anything could be an innovation where all is free! I knowDissenting congregations which are as conservative of their do-nothing plans as if they had received them directly from Heaven.Their life is fossilized! Their order is funereal. Their orthodoxy is sepulchral. "As it was in the beginning, is now, andever shall be, world without end, Amen," seems to be the chant of many good, but mistaken Christians among us who cannot thinka thing ought to be done if it never has been done.

If there is anything clear in the teaching of our Lord and His Apostles, it is this-that we are not under Law, rubric, andtradition-but are brought into the liberty of the children of God, so that we are led by the Spirit, and in the service ofGod are not to hunt for precedents or wait for regulations, but follow the great principles of the Word, and the guidanceof the Spirit, and "by any means save some."

I have known Brethren frightened at open-air preaching, and yet what sort of preaching was there in Christ's days but open-airpreaching? I have known others quite alarmed at the idea of Christ's name being mentioned in a place that had been put tocommoner uses, as if in the olden times Christ could have been preached anywhere if it had been necessary to have a placeconsecrated to Christian worship! There is a class of persons who object to every holy project for evangelization, howeverright and judicious, if it happens to be novel-and they will continue to object till the work has been long in action-andhas placed itself beyond fear of their opposition or need of their assistance.

We shall degenerate into a race of Scribes and Pharisees if we give way to this spirit. We shall again be slaves to traditions,legends, and old wives' fables, as bad as those which polluted Judaism. In the name of everything that is Christlike, awaywith all that checks the vital action of the body of Christ! Fetters are none the less burdensome for being an-

tique. Let the bronze serpent be broken if it becomes a barrier to the onward progress of the Cross. If any endeavor to forceupon us the yoke of habit, let us resist them in the spirit of Paul, who, speaking of those who came in privately to spy outhis liberty in Christ Jesus that they might bring him into bondage, declares "to whom we gave place by subjection, no, notfor an hour."

So it is with the forms of Divine worship. I have frequently, especially in our country Churches, met with the most determinedprotests against the most trivial alteration of the routine of their worship. You must sing at such a time, for they alwayshave sung at such a point in the service. You must pray at such a moment-they always have prayed at that part of the worship.And if you can keep to the same quantity of minutes usually occupied, so much the better. The whole service, though not ina book-for our sturdy Brethren would rise in revolt against the use of a book-yet is quite as stereotyped as if it were takenfrom the Common Prayer.

Now I believe that in public worship we should do well to be bound by no human rules, and constrained by no stereotyped order.I like, and we have often done it, to have an interval of silence sometimes. Why not? Why should it be all vocal worship?And why not begin with the sermon occasionally? You who come in late would probably mend your manners in such a case. Andthen why should we not sing when we have been accustomed to pray, and pray when we have been accustomed to sing?

We are under the dispensation of the Spirit, and as far as I know, the Spirit of God has not inspired those cards which Isee sometimes nailed up in pulpits-"begin with short prayer, sing, read, pray, preach," and so on. A legality of form is growingup among us, and I enter my heart's protest against it. Not that you and I may have been affected by this dissenting ritualism,but practices good in themselves are to be protested against if they gender to bondage, for the Spirit of God goes where Hewishes, and if we worship God according to His guidance, the worship cannot invariably take the same form.

2. Thus we have done a little image-breaking in the Church. Now let us turn to the temple of our own hearts, and we shallfind much work to be done there, too. Beloved Brothers and Sisters, exercise self-examination now for the next five minutesor so. How about your present position as a Christian? You feel, probably, after ten, twelve, twenty, or thirty years of profession,very considerably in advance of what you were when you first came to Christ. Do you feel that you are? You can now see theimprudence of your early zeal, and you can look down with unmeasured pity upon those young people who know so little aboutthe road to Heaven-of which you know so much. And who have so little strength, of which you now have a very considerable share.Who are so little aware of the devices of Satan, against which you guard yourself so ably.

Dear brother, are you thus really congratulating yourself upon your advanced position? Are you? Then permit a little image-breakingthere-for rest assured if we, any of us, come to put much value upon our attainments we shall be very near to sliding intoself-confidence, carnal security, and I know not what of mischievous pride. Beloved, are you stronger than you were? But doesyour strength lie anywhere else than where it used to lie-in Christ? Are you wiser than you were? But have you any wisdomexcept that Christ is made unto you wisdom? Do you really think that twenty years' experience has changed your corruptions?That your passions have become extinct, that your tendencies to sin are not so strong as they were? That, in fact, you haveless need to watch, less need to depend simply upon the merit of Christ and the work of His Spirit? Do you think so? Do Youthink so?

"Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." I have heard that more horses fall at the bottom of a hill than almostanywhere else, and I know that more professors make shipwreck towards the close of life than at any other time. As I haveoften told you, the falls recorded in the Old and New Testament are the falls, not of young men in the heat of passion, butof old or middle-aged men. Lot was no boy when he disgraced himself. David was no young man when he transgressed with Bathsheba.Peter was no child when he denied his Lord. These were men of experience and knowledge and attainments.

Your attainments, my Brothers and Sisters? Oh, brave word for a poor thing! Your attainments? Your attainments, poor Sinner?Apart from what you have in Christ, how absurd the language! Better still to say, "Having nothing and yet possessing all things,God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Do I, then, despise Christian attainments? Byno manner of means, only when they are idolized and hide the Savior-then I call them Ne-hushtan-and would gladly break themin pieces.

Again, dear Brothers and Sisters, it may be that you are enjoying very near fellowship with Christ. How delightful it is whenyou know by assurance that you are the Beloved's and that the Beloved is yours. When all doubts and fears have fled away andyou are walking in the light of His countenance! When we are in such a condition we are like Peter, and would gladly buildthree tabernacles, for we say, "Master, it is good to be here." But we must mind lest we elevate our enjoyments into the placeof our Master. We may even make our communion with Christ an idol, by putting it before Christ Himself.

I am not saved and safe because I am greatly rejoicing. Not my enjoyment, but Jesus saves me! He alone saves me. If my communionwere interrupted, I should still be secure in Him, and because now I enjoy it sweetly, it does not add to my actual securityor acceptance before God. An old Puritan quaintly says, "suppose a loving husband were to give to his wife many rings andjewels out of love to her, and she should come to think so highly of the love-tokens that she sat and looked at them, andadmired them, and forgot her husband?" Would He not be rather inclined to take these things away to turn her love once againto himself? So with our Graces and our enjoyments. If we think too much of them the iconoclastic hammer will come in, andthese things will vanish because they have provoked the Lord to jealousy.

Further, we have a little more work to do. You have, and you thank God for it, some good friends in this world, dear Friends,Christian friends, reliable friends. Hold them fast. But it is not always easy to keep these friends where they should be.There is a text that might save us a thousand sorrows if we thought more of it-"Cursed is the man that trusts in man, andmakes flesh his arm. But blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is." And there is another textof the same tone-"Cease you from man whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted

of?"

Friendship, by all means, and confidence in those who deserve it, by all means-but pass not the bound which God has set-thinknot that to be immutable which is but clay. And fancy not that to be faithful which is but flesh. Changing circumstances havechanged many hearts, and altered positions and conditions have made sad havoc among friendships which seemed to be eternal.Lean on your friends, but not with all your weight. Trust and be confident as you may, but let your inmost reliance, yourdeepest faith lean on that arm which you cannot see, but which arm, nevertheless, upholds the universe!

Now a word that may cut more keenly still, and it concerns our dear relationships in the family circle. The last thing I shoulddo is to speak against the love that is due to husband, and wife, and child, and Brethren. Christianity fosters all the domesticloves. We love none the less our dear ones below because our heart still loves our Savior above all. But, Beloved, there issuch a thing as putting child or wife or husband into Jesus' place. The beloved one was meant to be loved, but not to be worshipped.That little gem was given to be prized, but not to be valued beyond the Pearl of Great Price.

Beware of desecrating your earthly love into idolatry-rather consecrate it by seeking God's glory in it, and it shall be wellwith you. If you are a child of God, whatever idol you worship, God's great hammer will be lifted up against it. You willlose the child, or it may live to prove your curse. You will lose the love you think so precious, or you may have it, butit will lead you astray. Beloved, I know there is work to be done in many of our hearts in this respect.

And so there is yet further to do in the pursuits of our minds. I do not see why a Christian man should not have for a pursuitthe attainment of eminence in learning, proficiency in science, or success in business. If he does not do so he is not likelyto distinguish himself, and there can be no reason why a Christian should be always in the rear. But these lawful worldlyaims must be kept in their place and be subservient to higher ends, or else what is right in itself will get to be wrong throughbeing put in the wrong place.

You may pursue that branch of knowledge, young man, but seek first the kingdom of God. Do you desire to be an artist and rankwith Landseer and Millais? I would not discourage you for a moment. In the skillful use of that pencil may you rise to thehighest position in your art. But for all that, do not worship the palette-do not bow down before the outspread canvas-thereis something better to live for than to paint. Student, I do not wonder at your desire to excel. Why should not Christianmen be first in all departments of learning?

But after all, there are higher objects than zoology, geology, mechanics, or astronomy. Do then, I pray you, guard againstputting anything where Christ should be. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Ever God first, and then therest that you may glorify God by what ability or influence you have obtained by His Grace. I charge you

look to this on pain of seeing idols broken, and aspirations destroyed. Thus have we gone into the temple of your hearts,and used the hammer a little there.

II. Now I desire for awhile to speak with those who ARE SEEKERS OF JESUS. There is some idol-breaking to be done for them.I pray God the Holy Spirit to do it. The way of salvation lies in coming to Christ, in trusting in Jesus Christ alone. Whyis it that so many refuse to do this and remain in the border land of desire unsaved? Many think that they ought to be muchbetter than they are-they have faults to be corrected, their minds are in a wrong condition, they must be put right-they aretrying to do this with the intention when they feel better to put their trust in Jesus.

O that my hammer might smash all that to pieces! My Friend, you ought to be better, your mind ought to be in a better state.I grant all that. But if you put this improvement of yours in the place of the work of Christ, you are going the sure wayto destruction. Your righteousness is not what is needed, but Christ's righteousness. And if you conceive that you must fityourself for Him, you know not the Gospel. Come to Jesus as you are.

Your conscious sinfulness and imperfections will but enable you to prize His perfection and His power to save. Do not lookto yourself for a part of your salvation. If you do, I must call your goodness, "Nehushtan," and compare it to dross and dung!Look to Jesus, and Jesus only-all else will deceive you. See how He carried sin, and was punished for it, and how His righteousnessavails with the Father, and look not to any preparations or fitness which you may conceive to be in yourself.

With some the Nehushtan which they set up is their sense of sin. Either they do not feel their need of Christ as they ought,or else they do feel their need, and therefore think they are in a fair condition. Now, believe me, you often misunderstandthe promises of Christ. That matchless promise, "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden," is thought to be apromise made to those who labor and are heavy laden. My Brethren, the promise is not made to laboring nor to being heavy laden."What is it made to?" you ask. The promise is made to coming to Christ.

"Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." You may be weary and heavy laden as long as you will, but you will not get restby laboring. It is coming to Christ that gives rest. Do not think that feeling your need of Christ is salvation. It is comingto Christ, depending, relying upon Him alone, that brings you to the blessing. Do not delay, then. The most proper sense ofsin, though it may be commendable as the bronze serpent-if you rest in it-it must be broken in pieces, for it is an antichrist.

Many persons are resting in their fear of self-deception. "I would gladly trust in Christ," says one, "but I am so afraidof being self-deceived." And do you think that your being afraid of presumption is a better thing than believing God's testimonyconcerning His Son? You must think so, or else you would not keep it in preference to believing. To believe in Jesus Christ-thatis, to rest upon God's own Son who was put to death because our sin was laid upon Him- to believe in Him simply with a childishconfidence is the way of salvation. But you prefer not to do it on the ground that you are afraid of being self-deceived!You prefer tarrying in a state of caution to advancing to faith. Away with your idolized bronze serpent-away with it! Giveup the fear or keep it, which you will, but come to Jesus!

Many of you, I am afraid, are resting in sermon hearing. "I shall get good one of these days," says one, "I am always at theTabernacle, or always at my Church," or, "I go to hear a good Gospel preacher, and I shall get a blessing." What? Do you thinksalvation comes through merely hearing sermons? Ah, Sirs, responsibility comes when the Gospel is honestly preached, but nothingmore, unless you believe the message which you hear. Faith is the vital point, the coming to Jesus. I pour ridicule on sermonhearing, and sermon preaching, too, if you look to this as the groundwork of salvation. It is not the poor trumpet that makesthe jubilee-it does but proclaim it. O that you would obtain the liberty which the trumpet proclaims!

But some of you may say, "I not only hear sermons, but I read the Bible regularly!" Yes, and I commend you for it, but ifyou imagine you are in a good and proper state because you are a Bible reader, I must tell you that as an unbeliever you arecondemned already, and, while reading the Bible, that very Bible itself condemns you! Go on with the reading of it-I am inhopes that you may get beyond that, to be a believer in Jesus. But as long as you are not a believer in Jesus, you may readyour Bible as much as ever you will-it will not-cannot save you.

What does our Savior say? He says (so I read the original), "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternallife, and they are they that testify of Me. But you will not come unto Me that you may have life." A great

many in His days studied the Scriptures, but would not believe in Him. You may be lost with a knowledge of Scripture as wellas without it, if you tarry in the letter and go not to the Spirit of the Word.

There are others who are making an idol of brass out of their prayers. "I am not saved," says one, "I have not trusted Christ,but I do pray." Neither do I find fault with your prayers any more than I have a right to find fault with the bronze serpentin its place. but if you suppose you will be saved by praying, you are greatly mistaken. He that will not be saved by theCross shall never be saved by his closet. He that will not be saved by Christ's wounds, shall not find salvation by his owngroans and tears. There on the Cross is all your hope, Sinner, and if you will not have it, there is no other. No, thoughyou hardened your knees with kneeling and blinded your eyes with weeping, you would find no gate of Heaven and no hope ofmercy but in the crucified Savior. Fly to Jesus and you are saved! Keep from Jesus and your prayers do but insult the Savior,for you place them in His place. I must break up these things-they are idols if they hide the Cross of Jesus.

And so, to close, it is with all the unbelieving reasoning and rebellious considering which some people so abound with, seekersof Christ will, some of them, continually start new difficulties. If you solve one doubt they get another. If you solve that,they invent a third. Their doubts, and reasonings, and questions are like an endless chain-pull up one link and it bringsup another. Their suspicions are like a chain of dredging buckets that come up all full of mire, and over they go and emptythemselves but to come up full again.

There is no comforting them! Their soul refuses to be comforted. If one tenth part of the ingenuity they use in rebellingagainst the command of God, which bids them believe, were used in simply investigating what they are told to believe, theywould come to faith, and be saved from their doubts. Do you think you are wise in trying to discover reasons why you shouldbe damned? I can hardly conceive of a man in the condemned cell-and that is where every unbeliever is-trying to find out reasonswhy he should not be pardoned. There lies the pardon before him, and he is perversely searching the whole treasury of logicto find out arguments against his pardon, and reasons for his execution.

You fool! Will you perish through your reasonings? Sinner, let me say to you-let your artful doubts and reasonings be nailedto yonder tree where Jesus died. Crucify them. You suspect too much, you consider too much, you question too much. Here itis-receive it as a little child receives his father's word-"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputingtheir trespasses unto them." "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." "Whosoever believes in Himis not condemned."

"He that has the Son of God has life." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." For, "He that believesand is baptized shall be saved. But he that believes not shall be damned." Here is all simplicity! Do not mystify it. Hereall is clear as noonday! Do not shut out the light. God grant you Grace to break up these idols of yours, and take your Saviornow, for Jesus' sake. Amen.