TEXT: "_And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And
the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself
hast decided it._"--1 Kings 20:40.
There is a very striking incident connected with this text. The great
battle is raging, a certain important prisoner has been taken, and if
you read between the lines you seem to know that upon him depend many
of the issues of war. His skill in leading the enemy had been
marvelous, his courage in the thick of the fight striking; and now he
is a prisoner. The king puts him in the keeping of a Jewish soldier,
saying, "Guard this man; if he escapes thy life shall be demanded for
his." It is possible that they gave an extra pull to the thongs that
bound the enemy and the guard was left alone with him. It is an
important duty he has to perform. His life hangs in the balance. He
must have been impressed with it. But, as we read on between the
lines, strange as it may seem, he becomes negligent, his bow is laid
down and his spear is left standing against the tent. He becomes
hungry and takes a few small cakes to eat, he is weary and lies down to
doze and sleep. Suddenly there is a snap and a bound, and the guard
arouses himself just in time to see his prisoner dash into the thicket,
and he is gone. Now the king requires the prisoner at the guard's
hand. Terror-stricken, he falls upon his face to cry aloud in the
words of the text, "And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was
gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be;
thyself hast decided it."
It is my purpose to show in this illustration that God is always
placing opportunities within our grasp. In a sense they are bound, for
they may be made to do our will if we rightly use them. And it is also
my purpose to show that as saint and sinner alike we have permitted
opportunities to slip away while we doze in weariness or give attention
to matters of less importance. God save us all from the expression,
"It might have been," when it is too late, for even God himself cannot
reverse the wheels of time and bring back the lost opportunity. We see
this all about us. I hold in my hands a piece of cold iron. I cannot
bend it; if I put it in the fire it becomes pliant; if I take it out it
is cold again. There is a point in time, however, where it is bent as
easily as a piece of paper.
Years ago our nation sent astronomers to Africa to witness the transit
of Venus. Preparation for this great sight had been going on for
months. There was a critical moment when the sun, Venus and the earth
were all in line. Every astronomer knew that at that moment his eye
must be at the smaller end of the glass if he would see the planet go
flying past the larger end. If he should miss that moment no power on
earth could bring the planet back again. The world is full of these
moments.
Galileo studied the eye of an ox and beheld the principle of the lens.
Watts [Transcriber's note: Watt?] looked at the teakettle lid as it was
lifted by steam, Columbus saw the wind's direction and knew there was
land not far away. The difference between these men, to whom the world
is indebted, and many others is this, that they have looked at the
oxen's eyes and have been unmoved, have allowed the teakettle to boil
without making an impression upon them, and the wind to blow without
leading them to any shore. The opportunity for greatness is gone.
There is not a person in the world but to whom at some time a great
opportunity has been given, and for the use or abuse of it we shall be
called to a strict account.
I
These opportunities for doing good come to the one who is a Christian.
First: I would not preach to others what I did not first preach to
myself, but there are many of us as ministers like Chalmers, who was
one day visiting an old man seventy-two years of age, apparently in
perfect health. They talked together about everything but Christ. The
minister was inclined to speak about his soul, but did not. Before
morning the old man was dead. Dr. Chalmers returned to the house,
called all the old man's household about him, and offered the most
touching apology and prayer. He spent the entire day in the woods,
saying, "If I had been faithful this might not have been." I have no
question but God would say, "So shall thy judgment be."
Second: You who are Christian workers have failed. A Christian
merchant was told that there was a certain man with whom he had traded
for years to whom he had never spoken about his soul. "I will speak
the next time I see him," he said, but he never came, for while he was
busy here and there the man was gone from him. Before he came again
death met him. So shall his judgment be.
Third: You who are parents have failed. Years ago a young Scotchman
from Fife, in Scotland, was leaving home. He was not an active
Christian. His mother went with him to the turn of the road and said,
"Now, Robert, there is one thing you must promise before you go."
"No," said the lad, "I will not promise until I know." "But it will
not be difficult," said his mother. "Then I will promise," he said.
And she said, "Every night before you lie down to sleep read a chapter
and pray." He did not want to promise it, but he did. Who was that
Robert? It was Robert Moffat, the great missionary, who, when he came
into the Kingdom, brought almost a continent in after him. Many a
mother has lost her opportunity to speak to her boy, and she has lost
it because she has not lived as a mother should who would help her boy.
So shall her judgment be.