Herod was one of those who gave not God the glory: he was for having the
glory himself. Those of us who preach had better be aware that when the
people praise us we may fall into Herod's sin, and take God's glory to
ourselves. This is a dangerous game to play, and many a man has been
eaten by the worm of envy and shame because he allowed the people to make
an idol of him, until they saw another bigger idol than himself. Nor was
this all. Some preachers have gone where the worm dieth not, because
they gave not God the glory.
Better far be in jail for Jesus than sitting on a throne, if we are not
on the right side. If you are one of God's friends, fear nothing; but if
you are one of His foes, you do well to fear everything, for you might,
like Herod, have to sink from magnificence to loathsomeness, and know
death before you die.
LIV. THE FAN.
MATTHEW iii. 12.
Do you think John the Baptist knew anything about it? Do you think he
was capable of understanding and appreciating Jesus Christ? Because if
so, Jesus Christ has two sides. There is the barn for the wheat, and
there is a _fire for the chaff_. And Jesus Christ is the great Destroyer
as well as the great Saviour. The same voice that says, "Come to Me all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," shall say
some day, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."
Yes, Jesus Christ is the great Destroyer. Now this is the age of the
fan. In all times of history there has never been a time like this, when
God puts things to the test, and proves them; and everything in this
world to-day is on its trial, and if it is not sixteen ounces to the
pound it will go. I do not care whether it is a king's crown, a bishop's
mitre, or a parson's white tie, it will have to go if it is not right.
"Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor."
Where is Babylon? The greatest heap of dirt in the world is Babylon!
Where is Spain--Spain, that used to make Englishmen tremble? It is
nothing; it does not count; it is not put as a cypher in the world's sum.
What is Napoleon? Eh! what is Napoleon? The last of the Napoleons died
under the hand of a savage when he was where he had no business to be,
burning his lips with other folks' broth. The grandest bit of human
nature in this world, a few years ago, was the Emperor who has just gone
to heaven. The grandest man I ever saw. I never saw what God Almighty
could make of flesh and blood until I saw him. And he has left behind
him a man with one arm; the other arm is a sword-arm. The Emperor
Frederick said that he wanted to live for peace. I wish our princes were
more like him. I have been told that I must not say anything about the
Prince of Wales. I say "God save the Queen"; she is the best monarch
that ever sat on the throne. God bless her, and may she live longer than
any of them ever have done. And I say, "God save the Prince of Wales,"
for racehorses will not save him; gambling will not save him. The man
that is to come to the throne owns racehorses; he has a horse called
"Mischief," and it is well called. Why must I keep silent when I see the
first man in the realm encouraging that which is ruining our young men,
and sometimes sending them to a felon's prison? I believe a limited
monarchy is the best form of government that can be found for England,
but the English crown is on its trial, and if it is not wheat, there are
dark days in store for England. I want to see the present style of
government, and I want a man on the throne that _is_ a man, and not one
that is trying as hard as he can to set such an example as will send the
country to hell. I would like the chance of saying it to his face. You
can tell people what I have said. Let us thank God that the fan is in
the hand of Jesus Christ.
You cannot keep Methodism from the action of the fan. It has got to be
tried, and everything in Methodism that is not wheat will go into the
fire, and serve it right. Everything must be sown, and must grow and
bear its fruit, and be gathered, and then winnowed; and the chaff must go
into the fire. The Methodist pulpit is not an exception to it. If I
cannot interest people I have no right to be paid for it. If I cannot
get the people to come and hear me, and if I do not go and look after
them in their homes, I have no right to draw the money for doing it. And
no preacher has the right to think that people should come and hear him
if he cannot preach--he has no right. I am tired out when I think of the
things that put themselves where they have no right.
The whole Christian Church to-day has got to come under the fan; and
there will be some wonderful changes before all your heads are grey. The
grandest thing is that Jesus Christ holds the fan.
The class-meeting is on its trial.
I do not believe in a class-leader that does not lead, that is not first.
I do not believe in a man's right to be counted a leader because his name
is at the top of the book. I know classes, and you know classes, where,
if you have a revival, and get twenty new members in the class, they will
attend it about once or twice, and after that, if you rub the cypher out,
that will stand for the increase. That "leader" is guaranteed to lose
everybody that is in his class, except two or three dear people, and they
can keep the meeting on for an hour; and be as dreary as--well, I will
not say _all_ that is in my mind. You see, some people would say it is
no business of mine. But no man has a right to be a leader if he cannot
keep a meeting all alive. If a man can get a class of 150 to 200 people
to listen to him when he speaks, that is the man to lead. You must not
sacrifice the new-born babes. I do not know what the Committee that has
been sitting on "the class meeting" thought about it, but depend upon it,
it will have to come under the fan. I know places where a man's name is
kept on the class-book because he condescends to pay the minister for his
ticket whenever he calls, and where another man is taken off that cannot
afford it. Why, John Bunyan would have called that damnable!
The chaff is no good. You may plant chaff in the best land that ever
was, and you will not get anything. That which is of no use must go into
the fire.
The Sunday-school is on its trial. Yes! even in Lancashire. The biggest
Sunday-school system is here in this county. What is the result? What
has it to show, compared with the amount of patient, faithful work that
has been done? Do you not think that in some places the result is all
chaff? The Sunday-school is fast becoming the grandest entertainment
agency in existence, and places that were built for the teaching of God's
Word are now places for entertainment, better than any theatre, because
they cost nothing. I saw in Leeds, the other Sunday, that in a certain
Sunday-school "there will be a _sacred drama_ rendered." It was not a
Methodist School. But I know schools where they have "niggers," with
blackened faces and banjos. The "nigger troupe of such-and-such a
school!" What do you think John Wesley would say if he came to life
again? He would drive them out, as Christ drove out those men from the
Temple, "with a whip of"--well! I do not think they would be such "small
cords" either.
Now the Sunday-school, "the greatest thing of this age," the grandest
thing that the Church has seen in the last hundred years, is on its
trial: and if we do not mind it will go with the chaff into the
unquenchable fire. We cannot play into the devil's hands without getting
what he will get some day. Now I am talking here to you to-day for the
last time. There will be no services here until after the Conference.
There may be some poor, unsaved man here. God can make wheat out of
chaff. He can! He will if you will come to Him. He will change your
life, and you that are nothing worth, He can make you fit for heavenly
thrones.
Listen to this letter. The man that wrote it was a football player. He
was in the Bolton Wanderers, in its day a crack club. He was also a
singer in the choir. And he came to a chapel where I was conducting a
mission; and this little word got hold of him. It was not any great
thing that was said; for it is sometimes "on boards and broken pieces of
the ship that they come to land." This poor lad heard me say this:--"You
singers!"--I did not know he was there--"You singers! If you die out of
Christ, when you get into the bottomless pit, some of the wicked spirits
will come to torment you: 'Sing us a solo!'" It got him on his knees. He
became penitent, and through giving his heart to God he is an evangelist
in that town now. He was only chaff, though a wonderful player in the
field; and he that used to say, "Play up, Jim!" has grown into a man, and
the devil hates him now! He writes:--"I feel drawn out to write to you.
Many souls are being saved nearly every day. A man got saved some weeks
back; and we went to see how he was going on. He first came to the
mission, and although convinced of his wicked life, he refused the offer
of mercy. Not being able to rest, he again found his way to the mission-
hall, and there he found the Saviour. A few weeks passed, and I went to
find him out. When we got there, they asked us in. I did not see a
picture on the wall, only a few almanacks; but they had some bonny
children, and the floor was very clean, and the fireplace bright. They
had not many friends coming to see them. The father, having changed his
pit clothes, came downstairs. He said, 'My wife used to pray when I
married her, but I broke her up.' And then, pointing to the five
children, he said, 'Thank God! Instead of being cursed to-night, they
will all kneel down! The eldest girl is thirteen, and next Saturday I
have got money to buy her a new frock, and on the Sunday she shall go to
the Sunday school for the first time. Sometimes I pick up one of the
children, and say, 'God bless thee, my child; thou wilt not have to fetch
me from the ale-house any more!' After he had told us of his changed
life, we all knelt down and thanked God. Last night his wife went home
rejoicing in the Gospel.--Your son in the Gospel, JAMES ATHERTON."
That poor man was chaff. And you, wherever you are, you may be just
about to be carried away. Cry to God! This is my last word--Poor chaff,
cry to God! And He will make thee wheat that shall command a rare price.
WE CAN WORK ONLY WHILE IT
IS DAY, AND NONE KNOW WHO HAS
THE SHORTEST DAY!
LV. "THE KING KISSED BARZILLAI."
2 SAM. xix. 39.
And no wonder, for David could appreciate a real man when he saw him, and
so does David's Lord.