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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h4 style="text-align: center">
A Sermon<br>
(No. 3)<br>
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 14, 1855, by the<br>
REV. C. H. SPURGEON<br>
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.<br>
</h4>
<p class="scripture">
"And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold,
if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing
be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes but
shalt not eat thereof"<22> <a onClick="return mV('2Ki', 7, 19);">2Ki 7:19</a>
</p>
<p class="indent">
ONE WISE man may deliver a whole city; one good man may be the
means of safety to a thousand others. The holy ones are "the
salt of the earth," the means of the preservation of the
wicked. Without the godly as a conserve, the race would be
utterly destroyed. In the city of Samaria there was one
righteous man<61>Elisha, the servant of the Lord. Piety was
altogether extinct in the court. The king was a sinner of the
blackest dye, his iniquity was glaring and infamous. Jehoram
walked in the ways of his father Ahab, and made unto himself
false gods. The people of Samaria were fallen like their
monarch: they had gone astray from Jehovah; they had forsaken
the God of Israel; they remembered not the watchword of Jacob,
"The Lord thy God is one God;" and in wicked idolatry they
bowed before the idols of the heathens, and therefore the Lord
of Hosts suffered their enemies to oppress them until the curse
of Ebal was fulfilled in the streets of Samaria, for "the
tender and delicate woman who would not adventure to set the
sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness," had an evil
eye to her own children, and devoured her offspring by reason
of fierce hunger ( <a onClick="return mV('Deu', 28, '56-58');">Deu 28:56-58</a>). In this awful
extremity the one holy man was the medium of salvation. The one
grain of salt preserved the entire city; the one warrior for
God was the means of the deliverance of the whole beleaguered
multitude. For Elisha's sake the Lord sent the promise that the
next day, food which could not be obtained at any price, should
be had at the cheapest possible rate<74>at the very gates of
Samaria. We may picture the joy of the multitude when first the
seer uttered this prediction. They knew him to be a prophet of
the Lord; he had divine credentials; all his past prophecies
had been fulfilled. They knew that he was a man sent of God,
and uttering Jehovah's message. Surely the monarch's eyes would
glisten with delight, and the emaciated multitude would leap
for joy at the prospects of so speedy a release from famine.
"To-morrow," would they shout, "<i>to-morrow</i> our hunger
shall be over, and we shall feast to the full."
</p>
<p class="indent">
However, the lord on whom the king leaned expressed his
disbelief. We hear not that any of the common people, the
plebeians, ever did so; but an aristocrat did it. Strange it
is, that God has seldom chosen the great men of this world.
High places and faith in Christ do seldom well agree. This
great man said, "Impossible!" and, with an insult to the
prophet, he added, "If the Lord should make windows in heaven,
might such a thing be." His sin lay in the fact, that after
repeated seals of Elisha's ministry, he yet disbelieved the
assurances uttered by the prophet on God's behalf. He had,
doubtless, seen the marvelous defeat of Moab; he had been
startled at tidings of the resurrection of the Shunamite's son;
he knew that Elisha had revealed Benhadad's secrets and smitten
his marauding hosts with blindness; he had seen the bands of
Syria decoyed into the heart of Samaria; and he probably knew
the story of the widow, whose oil filled all the vessels, and
redeemed her sons; at all events the cure of Naaman was common
conversation at court; and yet, in the face of all this
accumulated evidence, in the teeth of all these credentials of
the prophet's mission, he yet doubted, and insultingly told him
that heaven must become an open casement, ere the promise could
be performed. Whereupon God pronounced his doom by the mouth of
the man who had just now proclaimed the promise: "thou shalt
see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof." And
providence<63>which always fulfills prophecy, just as the
paper takes the stamp of the type<70>destroyed the man.
Trodden down in the streets of Samaria, he perished at its
gates, beholding the plenty, but tasting not of it. Perhaps his
carriage was haughty, and insulting to the people; or he tried
to restrain their eager rush; or, as we would say, it might
have been by mere accident that he was crushed to death; so
that he saw the prophecy fulfilled, but never lived to enjoy
it. In his case, seeing was believing, but it was not enjoying.
</p>
<p class="indent">
I shall this morning invite your attention to two
things<67>the man's <i>sin</i> and his punishment. Perhaps I
shall say but little of this man, since I have detailed the
circumstances, but I shall discourse upon the sin of unbelief
and the punishment thereof.
</p>
<p class="indent">
I. And first, the SIN. His sin was <i>unbelief.</i> He doubted the promise of God. In
this particular case unbelief took the form of a doubt of the
divine veracity, or a mistrust of God's power. Either he
doubted whether God really meant what he said, or whether it
was within the range of possibility that God should fulfill his
promise. Unbelief hath more phases than the moon, and more
colors than the chameleon. Common people say of the devil, that
he is seen sometimes in one shape, and sometimes in another. I
am sure this is true of Satan's first-born child<6C>unbelief,
for its forms are legion. At one time I see unbelief dressed
out as an angel of light. It calls itself humility, and it
saith, "I would not be presumptuous; I dare not think that God
would pardon me; I am too great a sinner." We call that
humility, and thank God that our friend is in so good a
condition. I do not thank God for any such delusion. It is the
devil dressed as an angel of light; it is unbelief after all.
At other times we detect unbelief in the shape of a doubt of
God's immutability: "The Lord has loved me, but perhaps he will
cast me off to-morrow. He helped me yesterday, and under the
shadows of his wings I trust; but perhaps I shall receive no
help in the next affliction. He may have cast me off; he may be
unmindful of his covenant, and forget to be gracious."
Sometimes this infidelity is embodied in a doubt of God's
power. We see every day new straits, we are involved in a net
of difficulties, and we think "surely the Lord cannot deliver
us." We strive to get rid of our burden, and finding that we
cannot do it, we think God's arm is as short as ours, and his
power as little as human might. A fearful form of unbelief is
that doubt which keeps men from coming to Christ; which leads
the sinner to distrust the ability of Christ to save him, to
doubt the willingness of Jesus to accept so great a
transgressor. But the most hideous of all is the traitor, in
its true colors, blaspheming God, and madly denying his
existence. Infidelity, deism, and atheism, are the ripe fruits
of this pernicious tree; they are the most terrific eruptions
of the volcano of unbelief. Unbelief hath become of full
stature, when quitting the mask and laying aside disguise, it
profanely stalks the earth, uttering the rebellious cry, "No
God," striving in vain to shake the throne of the divinity, by
lifting up its arm against Jehovah, and in its arrogance would
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod,<br>
Re-judge his justice<63>be the god of God."
</p>
<p>
Then truly unbelief has come to its full perfection, and then
you see what it really is, for the least unbelief is of the
same nature as the greatest.
</p>
<p class="indent">
I am astonished, and I am sure you will be, when I tell you
that there are some strange people in the world who do not
believe that unbelief is a sin. Strange people I must call
them, because they are sound in their faith in every other
respect; only, to make the articles of their creed consistent,
as they imagine, they deny that unbelief is sinful. I remember
a young man going into a circle of friends and ministers, who
were disputing whether it was a sin in men that they did not
believe the gospel. Whilst they were discussing it, he said,
"Gentlemen am I in the presence of Christians? Are you
believers in the Bible, or are you not?" They said, "We are
Christians of course." "Then," said he, "does not the Scripture
say, 'of sin, because they believed not on me?' And is it not
the damning sin of sinners, that they do not believe on
Christ?" I could not have thought that persons should be so
fool-hardy as to venture to assert that, "it is no sin for a
sinner not to believe on Christ." I thought that, however far
they might wish to push their sentiments, they would not tell a
lie to uphold the truth, and, in my opinion this is what such
men are really doing. Truth is a strong tower and never
requires to be buttressed with error. God's Word will stand
against all man's devices. I would never invent a sophism to
prove that it is no sin on the part of the ungodly not to
believe, for I am sure it is, when I am taught in the
Scriptures that, "This is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world, and men love darkness rather than light," and
when I read, "He that believeth not is condemned already,
because he believeth not on the Son of God," I affirm, and the
Word declares it, <i>unbelief is a sin.</i> Surely with
rational and unprejudiced persons, it cannot require any
reasoning to prove it. Is it not a sin for a creature to doubt
the word of its Maker? Is it not a crime and an insult to the
Divinity, for me, an atom, a particle of dust, to dare to deny
his words? Is it not the very summit of arrogance and extremity
of pride for a son of Adam to say, even in his heart, "God I
doubt thy grace; God I doubt thy love; God I doubt thy power?"
Oh! sirs believe me, could ye roll all sins into one
mass,<2C>could you take murder, and blasphemy, and lust,
adultery, and fornication, and everything that is vile and
unite them all into one vast globe of black corruption, they
would not equal even then the sin of unbelief. This is the
monarch sin, the quintessence of guilt; the mixture of the
venom of all crimes; the dregs of the wine of Gomorrah; it is
the A1 sin, the master-piece of Satan, the chief work of the
devil.
</p>
<p class="indent">
I shall attempt this morning, for a little while, to shew the
extremely evil nature of the sin of unbelief.
</p>
<p class="indent">
1. And first the sin of unbelief will appear to be
extremely heinous when we remember that <i>it is the parent of
every other iniquity.</i> There is no crime which unbelief will
not beget. I think that the fall of man is very much owing to
it. It was in this point that the devil tempted Eve. He said to
her, "Yea, <i>hath</i> God said, ye shall not eat of every tree
of the garden?" He whispered and insinuated a doubt, "Yea,
<i>hath</i> God said so?" as much as to say, "Are you
<i>quite</i> sure he said so?" It was by means of
unbelief<65>that thin part of the wedge<67>that the other
sin entered; curiosity and the rest followed; she touched the
fruit, and destruction came into this world. Since that time,
unbelief has been the prolific parent of all guilt. An
unbeliever is capable of the vilest crime that ever was
committed. Unbelief, sirs! why it hardened the heart of
Pharaoh<6F>it gave license to the tongue of blaspheming
Rabshaket<65>yea, it became a deicide, and murdered Jesus.
Unbelief!<21>it has sharpened the knife of the suicide! it
has mixed many a cup of poison; thousands it has brought to the
halter; and many to a shameful grave, who have murdered
themselves and rushed with bloody hands before their Creator's
tribunal, because of unbelief. Give me an unbeliever<65>let
me know that he doubts God's word<72>let me know that he
distrusts his promise and his threatening; and with that for a
premise, I will conclude that the man shall, by-and-bye unless
there is amazing restraining power exerted upon him, be guilty
of the foulest and blackest crimes. Ah! this is a Beelzebub
sin; like Beelzebub, it is the leader of all evil spirits. It
is said of Jeroboam that he sinned and made Israel to sin; and
it may be said of unbelief that it not only sins itself, but
makes others sin; it is the egg of all crime, the seed of every
offence; in fact everything that is evil and vile lies couched
in that one word<72>unbelief.
</p>
<p class="indent">
And let me say here, that unbelief in the Christian is of the
self-same nature as unbelief in the sinner. It is not the same
in its final issue, for it will be pardoned in the Christian;
yea it is pardoned: it was laid upon the scapegoat's head of
old: it was blotted out and atoned for; but it is of the same
sinful nature. In fact, if there can be one sin more heinous
than the unbelief of a sinner, it is the unbelief of a saint.
For a saint to doubt God's word<72>for a saint to distrust
God after innumerable instances of his love, after ten thousand
proofs of his mercy, exceeds everything. In a saint, moreover,
unbelief is the root of other sins. When I am perfect in faith,
I shall be perfect in everything else; I should always fulfill
the precept if I always believed the promise. But it is because
my faith is weak, that I sin. Put me in trouble, and if I can
fold my arms and say, "Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide,"
you will not find me using wrong means to escape from it. But
let me be in temporal distress and difficulty; if I distrust
God, what then? Perhaps I shall steal, or do a dishonest act to
get out of the hands of my creditors; or if kept from such a
transgression, I may plunge into excess to drown my anxieties.
Once take away faith, the reins are broken; and who can ride an
unbroken steed without rein or bridle? Like the chariot of the
sun, with Phaeton for its driver, such should we be without
faith. Unbelief is the mother of vice; it is the parent of sin;
and, therefore, I say it is a pestilent evil<69>a master sin.
</p>
<p class="indent">
2. But secondly; <i>unbelief not only begets, but
fosters sin.</i> How is it that men can keep their sin under
the thunders of the Sinai preacher? How is it that, when
Boanerges stands in the pulpit, and, by the grace of God, cries
aloud, "Cursed is every man that keepeth not all the commands
of the law,"<22>how is it that when the sinner hears the
tremendous threatenings of God's justice, still he is hardened,
and walks on in his evil ways? I will tell you; it is because
unbelief of that threatening prevents it from having any effect
upon him. When our sappers and miners go to work around
Sebastopol, they could not work in front of the walls, if they
had not something to keep off the shots; so they raise
earthworks, behind which they can do what they please. So with
the ungodly man. The devil gives him unbelief; he thus puts up
an earthwork, and finds refuge behind it. Ah! sinners, when
once the Holy Ghost knocks down your unbelief<65>when once he
brings home the truth in demonstration and in power, how the
law will work upon your soul. If man did but believe that the
law is holy, that the commandments are holy, just, and good,
how he would be shaken over hell's mouth; there would be no
sitting and sleeping in God's house; no careless hearers; no
going away and straightway forgetting what manner of men ye
are. Oh! once get rid of unbelief, how would ever ball from the
batteries of the law fall upon the sinner, and the slain of the
Lord would be many. Again, how is it that men can hear the
wooing of the cross of Calvary, and yet come not to Christ? How
is it that when we preach about the sufferings of Jesus, and
close up by saying, "yet there is room,"<22>how is it that
when we dwell upon his cross and passion, men are not broken in
their hearts? It is said,
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"Law and terrors do but harden,<br>
All the while they work alone:<br>
But a sense of blood-bought pardon<br>
Will dissolve a heart of stone."
</p>
<p>
Methinks the tale of Calvary is enough to break a rock. Rocks
did rend when they saw Jesus die. Methinks the tragedy of
Golgotha is enough to make a flint gush with tears, and to make
the most hardened wretch weep out his eyes in drops of
penitential love; but yet we tell it you, and repeat it oft,
but who weeps over it? Who cares about it? Sirs, ye sit as
unconcerned as if it did not signify to you. Oh! behold and see
all ye that pass by. Is it nothing to you that Jesus should
die? Ye seem to say "It is nothing." What is the reason?
Because there is unbelief between you and the cross. If there
were not that thick veil between you and the Saviour's eyes,
his looks of love would melt you. But unbelief is the sin which
keeps the power of the gospel from working in the sinner: and
it is not till the Holy Ghost strikes that unbelief out<75>it
is not till the Holy Spirit rends away that infidelity and
takes it altogether down, that we can find the sinner coming to
put his trust in Jesus.
</p>
<p class="indent">
3. But there is a third point. <i>Unbelief disables a
man for the performance of any good work.</i> "Whatsoever is
not of faith is sin," is a great truth in more senses than one.
"Without faith it is impossible to please God." You shall never
hear me say a word against morality; you shall never hear me
say that honesty is not a good thing, or that sobriety is not a
good thing; on the contrary, I would say they are commendable
things; but I will tell you what I will say afterwards<64>I
will tell you that they are just like the cowries of Hindostan;
they may pass current among the Indians, but they will not do
in England; these virtues may be current here below, but not
above. If you have not something better than your own goodness,
you will never get to heaven. Some of the Indian tribes use
little strips of cloth instead of money, and I would not find
fault with them if I lived there; but when I come to England,
strips of cloth will not suffice. So honesty, sobriety, and
such things, may be very good amongst men<65>and the more you
have of them the better. I exhort you, whatsoever things are
lovely and pure, and of good report, have them<65>but they
will not do up there. All these things put together, without
faith, do not please God. Virtues without faith are whitewashed
sins. Obedience without faith, if it is possible, is a gilded
disobedience. Not to believe, nullifies everything. It is the
fly in the ointment; it is the poison in the pot. Without
faith, with all the virtues of purity, with all the benevolence
of philanthropy, with all the kindness of disinterested
sympathy, with all the talents of genius, with all the bravery
of patriotism, and with all the decision of
principle<6C>"without faith it is impossible to please God."
Do you not see then, how bad unbelief is, because it prevents
men from performing good works. Yea, even in Christians
themselves, unbelief disables them. Let me just tell you a
tale<6C>a story of Christ's life. A certain man had an
afflicted son, possessed with an evil spirit. Jesus was up in
Mount Tabor, transfigured; so the father brought his son to the
disciples. What did the disciples do? They said, "Oh, we will
cast him out." They put their hands upon him, and they tried to
do it; but they whispered among themselves and said, "We are
afraid we shall not be able." By-and-by the diseased man began
to froth at the mouth; he foamed and scratched the earth,
clasping it in his paroxysms. The demoniac spirit within him
was alive. The devil was still there. In vain their repeated
exorcism, the evil spirit remained like a lion in his den, nor
could their efforts dislodge him. "Go!" said they; but he went
not. "Away to the pit!" they cried; but he remained immoveable.
The lips of unbelief cannot affright the Evil One, who might
well have said, "Faith I know, Jesus I know, but who are ye? ye
have no faith." If they had faith, as a grain of mustard seed,
they might have cast the devil out; but their faith was gone,
and therefore they could do nothing. Look at poor Peter's case,
too. While he had faith, Peter walked on the waves of the sea.
That was a splendid walk; I almost envy him treading upon the
billows. Why, if Peter's faith had continued, he might have
walked across the Atlantic to America. But presently there came
a billow behind him, and he said, "That will sweep me away;"
and then another before, and he cried out, "That will overwhelm
me;" and he thought<68>how could I be so presumptuous as to
be walking on the top of these waves? Down goes Peter. Faith
was Peter's life-buoy; faith was Peter's charm<72>it kept him
up; but unbelief sent him down. Do you know that you and I, all
our lifetime, will have to walk on the water? A Christian's
life is always walking on water<65>mine is<69>and every
wave would swallow and devour him, but faith makes him stand.
The moment you cease to believe, that moment distress comes in,
and down you go. Oh! wherefore dost thou doubt, then?
</p>
<p class="indent">
Faith fosters every virtue; unbelief murders every one.
Thousands of prayers have been strangled in their infancy by
unbelief. Unbelief has been guilty of infanticide; it has
murdered many an infant petition; many a song of praise that
would have swelled the chorus of the skies, has been stifled by
an unbelieving murmur; many a noble enterprise conceived in the
heart has been blighted ere it could come forth, by unbelief.
Many a man would have been a missionary; would have stood and
preached his Master's gospel boldly; but he had unbelief. Once
make a giant unbelieving, and he becomes a dwarf. Faith is the
Samsonian lock of the Christian; cut it off, and you may put
out his eyes<65>and he can do nothing.
</p>
<p class="indent">
4. Our next remark is<69> <i>unbelief has been
severely punished.</i> Turn you to the Scriptures! I see a
world all fair and beautiful; its mountains laughing in the
sun, and the fields rejoicing in the golden light. I see
maidens dancing, and young men singing. How fair the vision!
But lo! a grave and reverend sire lifts up his hand, and cries,
"A flood is coming to deluge the earth: the fountains of the
great deep will be broken up, and all things will be covered.
See yonder ark! One hundred and twenty years have I toiled with
these my hands to build it; flee there, and you are safe."
"Aha! old man; away with your empty predictions! Aha! let us be
happy while we may! when the flood comes, then we will build an
ark; but there is no flood coming; tell that to fools; we
believe no such things." See the unbelievers pursue their merry
dance. Hark! Unbeliever. Dost thou not hear that rumbling
noise? Earth's bowels have begun to move, her rocky ribs are
strained by dire convulsions from within; lo! they break with
the enormous strain, and forth from between them torrents rush
unknown since God concealed them in the bosom of our world.
Heaven is split in sunder! it rains. Not drops, but clouds
descend. A cataract, like that of old Niagara, rolls from
heaven with mighty noise. Both firmaments, both deeps<70>the
deep below and deep above<76>do clasp their hands. Now
unbelievers, where are you now! There is your last remnant. A
man<61>his wife clasping him round the waist<73>stands on
the last summit that is above the water. See him there? The
water is up to his loins even now. Hear his last shriek! He is
floating<6E>he is drowned. And as Noah looks from the ark he
sees nothing. Nothing! It is a void profound. "Sea monsters
whelp and stable in the palaces of kings." All is overthrown,
covered, drowned. What hath done it? What brought the flood
upon the earth? Unbelief. By faith Noah escaped from the flood.
By unbelief the rest were drowned.
</p>
<p class="indent">
And, oh! do you not know that unbelief kept Moses and Aaron out
of Canaan? They honored not God; they struck the rock when they
ought to have spoken to it. They disbelieved: and therefore the
punishment came upon them, that they should not inherit that
good land, for which they had toiled and labored.
</p>
<p class="indent">
Let me take you where Moses and Aaron dwelt<6C>to the vast
and howling wilderness. We will walk about it for a time; sons
of the weary foot, we will become like the wandering Bedouins,
we will tread the desert for a while. There lies a carcass
whitened in the sun; there another, and there another. What
means these bleached bones? What are these bodies<65>there a
man, and there a woman? What are all these? How came these
corpses here? Surely some grand encampment must have been here
cut off in a single night by a blast, or by bloodshed. Ah; no,
no. Those bones are the bones of Israel; those skeletons are
the old tribes of Jacob. They could not enter because of
unbelief. They trusted not in God. Spies said they could not
conquer the land. Unbelief was the cause of their death. It was
not the Anakims that destroyed Israel; it was not the howling
wilderness which devoured them; it was not the Jordan which
proved a barrier to Canaan; neither Hivite or Jebusite slew
them; it was unbelief alone which kept them out of Canaan. What
a doom to be pronounced on Israel, after forty years of
journeying: they could not enter because of unbelief!
</p>
<p class="indent">
Not to multiply instances, recollect Zechariah. He doubted, and
the angel struck him dumb. His mouth was closed because of
unbelief. But oh! if you would have the worst picture of the
effects of unbelief<65>if you would see how God has punished
it, I must take you to the siege of Jerusalem, that worst
massacre which time has ever seen; when the Romans razed the
walls to the ground, and put the whole of the inhabitants to
the sword, or sold them as slaves in the market-place. Have you
never read of the destruction of Jerusalem, by Titus? Did you
never turn to the tragedy of Masada, when the Jews stabbed each
other rather than fall into the hands of the Romans? Do you not
know, that to this day the Jew walks through the earth a
wanderer, without a home and without a land? He is cut off, as
a branch is cut from a vine; and why? Because of unbelief. Each
time ye see a Jew with a sad and somber countenance<63>each
time ye mark him like a denizen of another land, treading as an
exile in this our country<72>each time ye see him, pause and
say, "Ah! it was unbelief which caused thee to murder Christ,
and now it has driven thee to be a wanderer; and faith
alone<6E>faith in the crucified Nazarene<6E>can fetch thee
back to thy country, and restore it to its ancient grandeur."
Unbelief, you see, has the Cain-mark upon its forehead. God
hates it; God has dealt hard blows upon it: and God will
ultimately crush it. Unbelief dishonors God. Every other crime
touches God's territory; but unbelief aims a blow at his
divinity, impeaches his veracity, denies his goodness,
blasphemes his attributes, maligns his character; therefore,
God of all things, hates first and chiefly, unbelief, wherever
it is.
</p>
<p class="indent">
5. And now to close this point<6E>for I have been
already too long<6E>let me remark that you will observe the
heinous nature of unbelief in this<69>that <i>it is the
damning sin.</i> There is one sin for which Christ never died;
it is the sin against the Holy Ghost. There is one other sin
for which Christ never made atonement. Mention every crime in
the calendar of evil, and I will show you persons who have
found forgiveness for it. But ask me whether the man who died
in unbelief can be saved, and I reply there is no atonement for
that man. There is an atonement made for the unbelief of a
Christian, because it is temporary; but the final
unbelief<65>the unbelief with which men die<69>never was
atoned for. You may turn over this whole Book, and you will
find that there is no atonement for the man who died in
unbelief; there is no mercy for him. Had he been guilty of
every other sin, if he had but believed, he would have been
pardoned; but this is the damning exception<6F>he had no
faith. Devils seize him! O fiends of the pit, drag him downward
to his doom! He is faithless and unbelieving, and such are the
tenants for whom hell was built. It is <i>their</i> portion,
<i>their</i> prison, they are the chief prisoners, the fetters
are marked with their names, and for ever shall they know that,
"he that believeth not shall be damned."
</p>
<h2>
II. This brings us now to conclude with the PUNISHMENT.
</h2>
"Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof."
Listen unbelievers! ye have heard this morning your sin; now
listen to your doom: "Ye shall see it with your eyes, but shalt
not eat thereof." It is so often with God's own saints. When they
are unbelieving, they see the mercy with their eyes, but do not
eat it. Now, here is corn in this land of Egypt; but there are
some of God's saints who come here on the Sabbath, and say, "I do
not know whether the Lord will be with me or not." Some of them
say, "Well, the gospel is preached, but I do not know whether it
will be successful." They are always doubting and fearing. Listen
to them when they get out of the chapel. "Well, did you get a
good meal this morning?" "Nothing for me." Of course not. Ye
could see it with your eyes, but did not eat it, because you had
no faith. If you had come up with faith, you would have had a
morsel. I have found Christians, who have grown so very critical,
that if the whole portion of the meat they are to have, in due
season, is not cut up exactly into square pieces, and put upon
some choice dish of porcelain, they cannot eat it. Then they
ought to go without; and they will have to go without, until they
are brought to their appetites. They will have some affliction,
which will act like quinine upon them: they will be made to eat
by means of bitters in their mouths; they will be put in prison
for a day or two until their appetite returns, and then they will
be glad to eat the most ordinary food, off the most common
platter, or no platter at all. But the real reason why God's
people do not feed under a gospel ministry, is, because they have
not faith. If you believed, if you did but hear one promise, that
would be enough; if you only heard one good thing from the pulpit
here would be food for your soul, for it is not the quantity we
hear, but the quantity we believe, that does us good<6F>it is
that which we receive into our hearts with true and lively faith,
that is our profit.<br>
<br
<p class="indent">
But, let me apply this chiefly to the unconverted. They often
see great works of God done with their eyes, but they do not
eat thereof. A crowd of people have come here this morning to
see with their eyes, but I doubt whether all of them eat. Men
cannot eat with their eyes, for if they could, most would be
well fed. And, spiritually, persons cannot feed simply with
their ears, nor simply with looking at the preacher; and so we
find the majority of our congregations come just to see; "Ah,
let us hear what this babbler would say, this reed shaken in
the wind." But they have no faith; they come, and they see, and
see, and see, and never eat. There is some one in the front
there, who gets converted; and some one down below, who is
called by sovereign grace; some poor sinner is weeping under a
sense of his blood-guiltiness; another is crying for mercy to
God: and another is saying, "Have mercy upon me, a sinner." A
great work is going on in this chapel, but some of you do not
know anything about it; you have no work going on in your
hearts, and why? Because ye think it is impossible; ye think
God is not at work. He has not promised to work for you who do
not honor him. Unbelief makes you sit here in times of revival
and of the outpouring of God's grace, unmoved, uncalled,
unsaved.
</p>
<p class="indent">
But, sirs, the worst fulfillment of this doom is to come! Good
Whitefield used sometimes to lift up both his hands and shout,
as I wish I could shout, but my voice fails me. "The wrath to
come! the wrath to come!" It is not the wrath now you have to
fear, but the wrath to come; and there shall be a doom to come,
when "ye shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat
thereof." Methinks I see the last great day. The last hour of
time has struck. I heard the bell toll its death
knell<6C>time was, eternity is ushered in; the sea is
boiling; the waves are lit up with supernatural splendour. I
see a rainbow<6F>a flying cloud, and on it there is a throne,
and on that throne sits one like unto the Son of Man. I know
him. In his hand he holds a pair of balances; just before him
the books,<2C>the book of life, the book of death, the book
of remembrance. I see his splendour, and I rejoice at it; I
behold his pompous appearance, and I smile with gladness that
he is come to be "admired of all his saints." But there stands
a throng of miserable wretches, crouching in horror to conceal
themselves, and yet looking, for their eyes must look on him
whom they have pierced; but when they look they cry, "Hide me
from the face." What face? "Rocks, hide me from the face." What
face? "The face of Jesus, the man who died, but now is come to
judgment." But ye cannot be hidden from his face; ye must see
it with your eyes: but ye will not sit on the right hand,
dressed in robes of grandeur; and when the triumphal procession
of Jesus in the clouds shall come, ye shall not march in it; ye
shall see it, but ye shall not be there. Oh! methinks I see it
now, the mighty Saviour in his chariot, riding on the rainbow
to heaven. See how his mighty coursers make the sky rattle
while he drives them up heaven's hill. A train girt in white
follow behind him, and at his chariot wheels he drags the
devil, death, and hell. Hark, how they clap their hands. Hark,
how they shout. "Thou hast ascended up on high; thou hast led
captivity captive." Hark, how they chant the solemn lay,
"Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." See the
splendour of their appearance; mark the crown upon their brows;
see their snow-white garments; mark the rapture of their
countenances; hear how their song swells up to heaven while the
Eternal joins therein, saying, "I will rejoice over them with
joy, I will rejoice over them with singing, for I have
betrothed thee unto me in everlasting lovingkindness." But
where are you all the while? Ye can see them up there, but
where are you? Looking at it with your eyes, but you cannot eat
thereof. The marriage banquet is spread; the good old wines of
eternity are broached; they sit down to the feast of the king;
but there are you, miserable, and famishing, and ye cannot eat
thereof. Oh! how ye wring your hands. Might ye but have one
morsel from the table<6C>might ye but be dogs beneath the
table. You shall be a dog in hell, but not a dog in heaven.
</p>
<p class="indent">
But to conclude. Methinks I see thee in some place in hell,
tied to a rock, the vulture of remorse gnawing thy heart; and
up there is Lazarus in Abraham's bosom. You lift up your eyes
and you see who it is. "That is the poor man who lay on my
dunghill, and the dogs licked his sores; there he is in heaven,
while I am cast down. Lazarus<75>yes, it is Lazarus; and I
who was rich in the world of time am here in hell. Father
Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in
water, to cool my tongue." But no! it cannot be; it cannot be.
And whilst you lie there, if there be one thing in hell worse
than another, it will be seeing the saints in heaven. Oh, to
think of seeing my mother in heaven while I am cast out! Oh,
sinner, only think, to see thy brother in heaven<65>he who
was rocked in the selfsame cradle, and played beneath the same
roof-tree<65>yet thou art cast out. And, husband, there is
thy wife in heaven, and thou art amongst the damned. And seest
thou, father! thy child is before the throne; and thou!
accursed of God and accursed of man, art in hell. Oh, the hell
of hells will be to see our friends in heaven, and ourselves
lost. I beseech you, my hearers, by the death of Christ<73>by
his agony and bloody sweat<61>by his cross and
passion<6F>by all that is holy<6C>by all that is sacred in
heaven and earth<74>by all that is solemn in time or
eternity<74>by all that is horrible in hell, or glorious in
heaven<65>by that awful thought, "for ever,"<22>I beseech
you lay these things to heart, and remember that if you are
damned, it will be unbelief that damns you. If you are lost, it
will be because ye believed not on Christ; and if you perish,
this shall be the bitterest drop of gall<6C>that ye did not
trust in the Saviour.
</p>
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