Coconut
Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
- Messages
- 4,663
"The SPECIAL CONDUCT naturally expected from those
who are partakers of the peculiar privileges of being the children of
God."
"In the golden age of Rome, if a man were tempted to dishonesty,
he would stand upright, look the tempter in the face, and say to him, "I
am a Roman." He thought that a sufficient reason why he should
neither lie nor cheat. It ought to be ten times more than sufficient
answer to every temptation, for a man to be able to say, "I am a son of
God; shall such a man as I yield to sin?"
I have been astonished in looking though old Roman
history at the wonderful prodigies of
integrity and valour which were produced by idolatry, or rather, which
were produced by patriotism, and that principle which ruled the
Romans, namely, love of fame. And I say it this morning, it is a
shameful thing that ever idolatry should be able to breed better men
than some who profess Christianity. And I think I may stand firmly
while I argue here, that if a Roman, a worshipper of Jupiter or Saturn,
became great or glorious, a Son of God ought to be nobler far.
Look ye, sirs, at Brutus; he has established a republic, he has put down
tyranny, he sits upon the judgment seat; his two sons are brought
before him, they have been traitors to the commonwealth. What will
the father do? He is a man of a loving heart and loves his sons, but
there they stand. Will he execute justice as a judge, or will he prefer his
family to his country? He covers his face for a moment with his hands,
and then looking down at his sons, and finding that the testimony is
complete against them, he says, "Lictors, do your work." They bare
their backs, the rod scourgeth them. "Complete the sentence, lictors;"
and their heads are smitten off in the father's presence. Stern justice
swayed his spirit, and no other feeling could for a single moment make
him turn aside.
Christian men, do you feel this with regard to your sins.
When you have been sitting on the judgment bench; there has been
some favourite sin brought up, and you have, oh, let me blush to say it,
you have wished to spare it, it was so near your heart, you have wished
to let it live, whereas should you not as the son of God have said, "If
my eye offend me, I will pluck it out and cast it from me, if my right
hand offend me, I will cut it off, rather than I should in anything offend
my God." Brutus slays his sons; but some Christians would spare their
sins.
Look again at that noble youth, Mutius Scoevola. He goes into the
tent of King Pyrrhus with the intention to put him to death, because he
is the enemy of his country; he slays the wrong man; Pyrrhus orders
him to be taken captive. A pan of hot coals is blazing in the tent;
Scoevola puts out his right hand and holds it; it crackles in the flame;
the young man flinches not, though his fingers drop away. "There are
400 youths," says he, "in Rome as brave as I am, and that will bear fire
as well; and tyrant," he says "you will surely die."" Yet here are
Christian men, who, if they are a little sneered at, or snubbed, or get
the cold shoulder for Christ's sake, are half ashamed of their
profession, and would go and hide it. And if they are not like Peter--
tempted to curse and swear to escape the blessed imputation--they
would turn the conversation, that they might not suffer for Christ. Oh
for 400 Scoevolas, 400 men who for Christ's sake would burn, not their
right hands, but their bodies, if indeed Christ's name night be glorified,
and sin might be stabbed to the heart.
Or, read you that old legend of
Curtius, the Roman knight. A great gulf had opened in the Forum,
perhaps caused by an earthquake, and the auspices had said that the
chasm could never be filled up, except the most precious thing in Rome
could be cast into it. Curtius puts on his helmet, and his armour,
mounts his horse and leaps into the cleft, which is said to have filled at
once, because courage, valour, and patriotism, were the best things in
Rome. I wonder how many Christians there are who would leap like
that into the cleft. Why, I see you, sirs, if there is a new and perilous
work to be done for Christ, you like to be in the rear rank this time; if
there were something honourable, so that you might ride on with your
well caparisoned steeds in the midst of the dainty ranks ye would do it;
but to leap into certain annihilation for Christ's sake--Oh! heroism,
where is it fled--whither has it gone. Thou Church of God, surely it
must survive in thee; for to whom should it more belong to die and
sacrifice all, than to those who are the sons of God.
Look ye again at Camillus. Camillus had been banished from Rome by false accusations. He was ill-treated, abused, and slandered, and went away to
retirement. Suddenly the Goths, the old enemies of Rome, fell upon the
city. They surrounded it; they were about to sack it, and Camillus was
the only man who could deliver it. Some would have said within
themselves "Let the caitiff nation be cut off. The city has turned me
out; let it rue the day that it ever drove me away." But no, Camillus
gathers together his body of followers, falls upon the Goths, routs them
and enters in triumph into Rome though he was an exile. Oh Christian,
this should ever be your spirit, only in a higher degree. When the
Church rejects you, casts you out, annoys, despises you, still be ready
to defend her, and when you have an ill name even in the lips of God's
people, still stand up for the common cause of Zion, the city of our
solemnities.
Or look you at Cincinnatus. He is chosen Dictator, but as
soon as ever his dictatorship is over he retires to his little farm of three
acres, and goes to his plough, and when he is wanted to be absolute
monarch of Rome he is found at his plough upon his three acres of land
and his little cottage. He served his country, not for himself, but for his
country's sake; and can it be that you will not be poor yet honest for
Christ's sake! Will you descend to the tricks of trade to win money. Ah,
then, the Roman eclipses the Christian. Will you not be satisfied to
serve God though you lose by it; to stand up and be thought an arrant
fool, because you will not learn the wisdom of this world; to be
esteemed a mad fanatic, because you cannot swim with the current.
Can you not do it? Can you not do it? Then again I say to you, "Tell it
not in Gath and publish it not in Askelon, then has a heathen eclipsed a
Christian." May the sons of God be greater than the sons of Romulus.
One other instance let me give you. You have heard of Regulus the
Roman general; he was taken prisoner by Carthagenians, who
anxiously wished for peace. They told him to go home to Rome, and
see if he could not make peace. But his reply was, "No, I trust they will
always be at war with you, for Carthage must be destroyed if Rome is
to prosper." They compelled him, however, to go, exacting from him
this promise, that if the Romans did not make peace he would come
back, and if he came back they would put him to death in the most
horrid manner that ever cruelty could invent. Regulus returns to Rome;
he stands up in the senate and conjures them never to make peace in
Carthage, looks to his wife and children, and tells them that he is going
back to Carthage, and of course the tell him that he need not keep faith
with an enemy. I imagine that he said, "I promised to go back, and
though it is to pangs indescribable, I will return." His wife clings to his
shoulder, his children seek to persuade him; they attend him to the
waters' edge; he sails for Carthage; his death was too horrible to be
described. Never martyr suffered more for Christ than that man
suffered for his word's sake. And shall a Christian man break his
promise? shall a son of God be less true than a Roman or a heathen?
Shall it be, I say, that integrity shall be found in heathen lands and not
be found here? No. May you be holy, harmless, sons of God, without
rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. I used this
argument; I thought it might be a new one; I am sure it is a forcible
one. You cannot imagine, surely, that God is to allow heathens to
eclipse his children. Oh! never let it be so. So live, so act, ye sons of
God, that the world may say of you, "Yes, these men bring forth the
fruits of God; they are like their Father; they honour his name; they are
indeed filled with his grace, for their every word is as true as his oath;
their every act is sincere and upright; their heart is kind, their spirit is
gentle; they are firm but yet they are generous; they are strict in their
integrity, but they are loving in their souls; they are men who, like God,
are full of love; but like him are severely just. They are sternly holy;
they are, like him, ready to forgive, but they can by no means tolerate
iniquity, nor hear that sin should live in their presence." God bless you,
ye sons of God, and may those of you who are strangers to him, be
convinced and converted by this sermon, and seek that power by which
alone you can have your lives fulfilled
-by C. H. SPURGEON
Phi 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
who are partakers of the peculiar privileges of being the children of
God."
"In the golden age of Rome, if a man were tempted to dishonesty,
he would stand upright, look the tempter in the face, and say to him, "I
am a Roman." He thought that a sufficient reason why he should
neither lie nor cheat. It ought to be ten times more than sufficient
answer to every temptation, for a man to be able to say, "I am a son of
God; shall such a man as I yield to sin?"
I have been astonished in looking though old Roman
history at the wonderful prodigies of
integrity and valour which were produced by idolatry, or rather, which
were produced by patriotism, and that principle which ruled the
Romans, namely, love of fame. And I say it this morning, it is a
shameful thing that ever idolatry should be able to breed better men
than some who profess Christianity. And I think I may stand firmly
while I argue here, that if a Roman, a worshipper of Jupiter or Saturn,
became great or glorious, a Son of God ought to be nobler far.
Look ye, sirs, at Brutus; he has established a republic, he has put down
tyranny, he sits upon the judgment seat; his two sons are brought
before him, they have been traitors to the commonwealth. What will
the father do? He is a man of a loving heart and loves his sons, but
there they stand. Will he execute justice as a judge, or will he prefer his
family to his country? He covers his face for a moment with his hands,
and then looking down at his sons, and finding that the testimony is
complete against them, he says, "Lictors, do your work." They bare
their backs, the rod scourgeth them. "Complete the sentence, lictors;"
and their heads are smitten off in the father's presence. Stern justice
swayed his spirit, and no other feeling could for a single moment make
him turn aside.
Christian men, do you feel this with regard to your sins.
When you have been sitting on the judgment bench; there has been
some favourite sin brought up, and you have, oh, let me blush to say it,
you have wished to spare it, it was so near your heart, you have wished
to let it live, whereas should you not as the son of God have said, "If
my eye offend me, I will pluck it out and cast it from me, if my right
hand offend me, I will cut it off, rather than I should in anything offend
my God." Brutus slays his sons; but some Christians would spare their
sins.
Look again at that noble youth, Mutius Scoevola. He goes into the
tent of King Pyrrhus with the intention to put him to death, because he
is the enemy of his country; he slays the wrong man; Pyrrhus orders
him to be taken captive. A pan of hot coals is blazing in the tent;
Scoevola puts out his right hand and holds it; it crackles in the flame;
the young man flinches not, though his fingers drop away. "There are
400 youths," says he, "in Rome as brave as I am, and that will bear fire
as well; and tyrant," he says "you will surely die."" Yet here are
Christian men, who, if they are a little sneered at, or snubbed, or get
the cold shoulder for Christ's sake, are half ashamed of their
profession, and would go and hide it. And if they are not like Peter--
tempted to curse and swear to escape the blessed imputation--they
would turn the conversation, that they might not suffer for Christ. Oh
for 400 Scoevolas, 400 men who for Christ's sake would burn, not their
right hands, but their bodies, if indeed Christ's name night be glorified,
and sin might be stabbed to the heart.
Or, read you that old legend of
Curtius, the Roman knight. A great gulf had opened in the Forum,
perhaps caused by an earthquake, and the auspices had said that the
chasm could never be filled up, except the most precious thing in Rome
could be cast into it. Curtius puts on his helmet, and his armour,
mounts his horse and leaps into the cleft, which is said to have filled at
once, because courage, valour, and patriotism, were the best things in
Rome. I wonder how many Christians there are who would leap like
that into the cleft. Why, I see you, sirs, if there is a new and perilous
work to be done for Christ, you like to be in the rear rank this time; if
there were something honourable, so that you might ride on with your
well caparisoned steeds in the midst of the dainty ranks ye would do it;
but to leap into certain annihilation for Christ's sake--Oh! heroism,
where is it fled--whither has it gone. Thou Church of God, surely it
must survive in thee; for to whom should it more belong to die and
sacrifice all, than to those who are the sons of God.
Look ye again at Camillus. Camillus had been banished from Rome by false accusations. He was ill-treated, abused, and slandered, and went away to
retirement. Suddenly the Goths, the old enemies of Rome, fell upon the
city. They surrounded it; they were about to sack it, and Camillus was
the only man who could deliver it. Some would have said within
themselves "Let the caitiff nation be cut off. The city has turned me
out; let it rue the day that it ever drove me away." But no, Camillus
gathers together his body of followers, falls upon the Goths, routs them
and enters in triumph into Rome though he was an exile. Oh Christian,
this should ever be your spirit, only in a higher degree. When the
Church rejects you, casts you out, annoys, despises you, still be ready
to defend her, and when you have an ill name even in the lips of God's
people, still stand up for the common cause of Zion, the city of our
solemnities.
Or look you at Cincinnatus. He is chosen Dictator, but as
soon as ever his dictatorship is over he retires to his little farm of three
acres, and goes to his plough, and when he is wanted to be absolute
monarch of Rome he is found at his plough upon his three acres of land
and his little cottage. He served his country, not for himself, but for his
country's sake; and can it be that you will not be poor yet honest for
Christ's sake! Will you descend to the tricks of trade to win money. Ah,
then, the Roman eclipses the Christian. Will you not be satisfied to
serve God though you lose by it; to stand up and be thought an arrant
fool, because you will not learn the wisdom of this world; to be
esteemed a mad fanatic, because you cannot swim with the current.
Can you not do it? Can you not do it? Then again I say to you, "Tell it
not in Gath and publish it not in Askelon, then has a heathen eclipsed a
Christian." May the sons of God be greater than the sons of Romulus.
One other instance let me give you. You have heard of Regulus the
Roman general; he was taken prisoner by Carthagenians, who
anxiously wished for peace. They told him to go home to Rome, and
see if he could not make peace. But his reply was, "No, I trust they will
always be at war with you, for Carthage must be destroyed if Rome is
to prosper." They compelled him, however, to go, exacting from him
this promise, that if the Romans did not make peace he would come
back, and if he came back they would put him to death in the most
horrid manner that ever cruelty could invent. Regulus returns to Rome;
he stands up in the senate and conjures them never to make peace in
Carthage, looks to his wife and children, and tells them that he is going
back to Carthage, and of course the tell him that he need not keep faith
with an enemy. I imagine that he said, "I promised to go back, and
though it is to pangs indescribable, I will return." His wife clings to his
shoulder, his children seek to persuade him; they attend him to the
waters' edge; he sails for Carthage; his death was too horrible to be
described. Never martyr suffered more for Christ than that man
suffered for his word's sake. And shall a Christian man break his
promise? shall a son of God be less true than a Roman or a heathen?
Shall it be, I say, that integrity shall be found in heathen lands and not
be found here? No. May you be holy, harmless, sons of God, without
rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. I used this
argument; I thought it might be a new one; I am sure it is a forcible
one. You cannot imagine, surely, that God is to allow heathens to
eclipse his children. Oh! never let it be so. So live, so act, ye sons of
God, that the world may say of you, "Yes, these men bring forth the
fruits of God; they are like their Father; they honour his name; they are
indeed filled with his grace, for their every word is as true as his oath;
their every act is sincere and upright; their heart is kind, their spirit is
gentle; they are firm but yet they are generous; they are strict in their
integrity, but they are loving in their souls; they are men who, like God,
are full of love; but like him are severely just. They are sternly holy;
they are, like him, ready to forgive, but they can by no means tolerate
iniquity, nor hear that sin should live in their presence." God bless you,
ye sons of God, and may those of you who are strangers to him, be
convinced and converted by this sermon, and seek that power by which
alone you can have your lives fulfilled
-by C. H. SPURGEON
Phi 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
