The Spurgeon Series 1857 & 1858. Charles H. Spurgeon

rest for ever. Can you conceive it? could you only think for a moment, of yourself as being in heaven now, what a strange surprise would seize you. You would not so as much say, “What! are these streets of gold? What! are these walls of jasper?” “What, am I here? in white? Am I here, with a crown on my brow? Am I here singing, who was always groaning? What! I praise God who once cursed him? What! me lifting up my voice in his honour? Oh, precious blood that washed me clean! Oh, precious faith that set me free! Oh, precious Spirit that made me repent, else I had been cast away and been in hell! But oh! what wonders! Angels! I am surprised; I am enraptured! Wonder of wonders! Oh! gates of pearls, I long since heard about you! Oh! joys that never fade, I long since heard tell about you! But I am like the Queen of Sheba, the half has not yet been told me. Profusion, oh profusion of bliss! — wonder of wonders! — miracle of miracles! What a world I am in! And oh! that I am here, this is the very best miracle of all!” And yet it is true, it is true; and that is the glory of it. It is true. Come, worm, and prove it; come, pall; come shroud; come, and prove it. Then come wings of faith, come, leap like a seraph; come, eternal ages, come, and you shall prove that there are joys that the eye has not seen, which the ear has not heard, and which only God can reveal to us by his Spirit. Oh! my earnest prayer is, that no one of you may come short of this rest, but that you may enter into it, and enjoy it for ever and ever. God give you his great blessing, for Jesus sake! Amen.

      {a} Ultima Thule was considered by the ancients to be a most distant land, either Norway or the British Isles. They called the Canary Islands the Fortunate Islands. Editor.

      {b} Caravanserai: A kind of inn in Eastern countries where caravans put up, being a large quadrangular building with a spacious court in the middle. OED.

      Elijah’s Appeal To The Undecided

      No. 134-3:217. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, May 31, 1857, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

      How long do you hesitate between two opinions? if the Lord is God, follow him: if Baal, then follow him. {1 Kings 18:21}

      1. It was a day to be remembered, when the multitudes of Israel were assembled at the foot of Carmel, and when the solitary prophet of the Lord came forth to defy the four hundred and fifty priests of the false god. We might look upon that scene with the eye of historical curiosity, and we should find it rich with interest. Instead of so doing, however, we shall look upon it with the eye of attentive consideration, and see whether we cannot be improved by its teachings. We have upon that hill of Carmel and along the plain three kinds of people. We have first the devoted servant of Jehovah, a solitary prophet; we have, on the other hand, the decided servants of the evil one, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal; but the vast mass of that day belonged to a third class — they were those who had not fully determined whether fully to worship Jehovah, the God of their fathers, or Baal, the god of Jezebel. On the one hand, their ancient traditions led them to fear Jehovah, and on the other hand, their interest at court led them to bow before Baal. Many of them, therefore, were secret and half-hearted followers of Jehovah, while they were the public worshippers of Baal. All of them at this juncture were hesitating between two opinions. Elijah does not address his sermon to the priests of Baal; he will have something to say to them by and by, he will preach them horrible sermons in deeds of blood. Nor has he anything to say to those who are the thorough servants of Jehovah, for they are not there; but his discourse is alone directed to those who are hesitating between two opinions.

      2. Now, we have these three classes here this morning. We have, I hope, a very large number who are on Jehovah’s side, who fear God and serve him; we have a number who are on the side of the evil one, who make no profession of religion, and do not observe even the outward symptoms of it; because they are both inwardly and outwardly the servants of the evil one. But the great mass of my hearers belong to the third class — the waverers. Like empty clouds they are driven here and there by the wind; like painted beauties, they lack the freshness of life; they have a name to live and are dead. Procrastinators, double minded men, undecided people, to you I speak this morning — “How long do you hesitate between two opinions?” is the question be answered by God’s Spirit in your hearts, and may you be led to say, “No longer, Lord, do I hesitate; but this day I decide for you, and am your servant for ever!”

      3. Let us proceed at once to the text. Instead of giving the divisions at the commencement, I will mention them one by one as I proceed.

      4. I. First, you will note that the prophet insisted upon the distinction which existed between the worship of Baal and the worship of Jehovah. Most of the people who were before him thought that Jehovah was God, and that Baal was god too; and that for this reason the worship of both was quite consistent. The great mass of them did not reject the God of their fathers wholly, nor did they bow before Baal wholly; but as polytheists, believing in many gods, they thought both Gods might be worshipped, and each of them have a share in their hearts. “No,” said the prophet when he began, “this will not do, these are two opinions, you can never make them one, they are two contradictory things which cannot be combined. I tell you that instead of combining the two, which is impossible, you are hesitating between the two, which makes a vast difference.” “I will build in my house,” said one of them, “an altar for Jehovah here, and an altar for Baal there. I am of one opinion; I believe them both to be God.” “No, no,” said Elijah, “it cannot be so; they are two, and must be two. These things are not one opinion, but two opinions. No, you cannot unite them.” Have I not many here who say, “I am worldly, but I am religious too; I can go to the Music Hall to worship God on Sunday; I went to the Derby the other day: I go, on the one hand, to the place where I can serve my lusts; I am to be met with in every dancing room of every description, and yet at the same time I say my prayers most devoutly. May I not be a good churchman, or a right good dissenter, and a man of the world too? May I not, after all, hold with the hounds as well as run with the hare? May I not love God and serve the devil too — take the pleasure of each of them, and give my heart to neither?” We answer — Not so, they are two opinions; you cannot do it, they are distinct and separate. Note that Antony yoked two lions to his chariot; but there are two lions no man ever yoked together yet — the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the lion of the pit. These can never go together. Two opinions you may hold in politics, perhaps, but then you will be despised by everyone, unless you are of one opinion or the other, and act as an independent man. But two opinions in the matter of soul religion you cannot hold. If God is God, serve him, and do it thoroughly; but if this world be God, serve it, and make no profession of religion. If you are a worldling, and think the things of the world are the best, serve them; devote yourself to them, do not be kept back by conscience; spite your conscience, and run into sin. But remember, if the Lord is your God you cannot have Baal too; you must have one thing or else the other. “No man can serve two masters.” If God is served, he will be a master; and if the devil is served, it will not be long before he will be the master; and “you cannot serve two masters.” Oh! be wise, and do not think that the two can be mingled together. How many a respectable deacon thinks that he can be covetous, and grasping in business, and grind the faces of the poor, and yet be a saint! Oh! liar to God and to man! He is no saint; he is the very chief of sinners! How many a very excellent woman, who is received into church fellowship among the people of God, and thinks herself one of the elect, is to be found full of wrath and bitterness — a slave of mischief and of sin, a tattler, a slanderer, a busybody; entering into other people’s houses, and turning everything like comfort out of the minds of those with whom she comes in contact — and yet she is the servant of God and of the devil too! No, my lady, this will never do; the two never can be served thoroughly. Serve your master, whoever he is. If you do profess to be religious, be so thoroughly; if you make any I profession to be a Christian be one; but if you are no Christian, do not pretend to be. If you love the world, then love it but cast off the mask, and do not be a hypocrite. The double minded man is of all men the most despicable; the follower of Janus, who wears two faces, and who can look with one eye upon the (so-called) Christian world with great delight, and give his subscription to the Tract Society, the Bible Society, and the Missionary Society, but who has another eye over there, with which he looks at the Casino, the Cole Hole Pub, {a}