We, as Christians, are called upon to serve God and it is a noble and holy
thing to do. Edward Griffin, in the following sermon, encourages and
exhorts
his congregation to serve the Lord God without fail.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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An Exhortation To Serve The Lord
by Edward Griffin
'And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear
the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.' Deut. 10:12.
Complaints are often made against the ministers of Christ that their
preaching is too rigorous and pungent. I sincerely wish that the world
might
once see what discourses the eternal God would himself deliver should he
undertake to preach to men. -What do I say? He has published a volume of
discourses, and they have been more harshly treated than any of the
sermons
of his ministers. The words which I have read were taken from a sermon
which
God delivered in tones of awful grandeur from Mount Sinai, or else through
the medium of Moses. If it seems hard to you to be required 'to fear the
Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and to love him, and to serve the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,' be it
remembered
that the source of this command is not ministers, but God himself. If any
murmur at this, I have no controversy with them; I leave it to be settled
between them and their Maker. Having often preached with little effect
myself, I would now retire and leave the God of Israel to preach to you. I
would stand concealed in humble awe behind him, while he delivers his
heavenly instructions to the people. Sermons are often heard as the words
of
men. It is difficult, to a distressing degree, to produce a realizing
sense
that the truths we preach proceeded from the lips of God. In the present
case I hope this difficulty will not be felt. Had you stood at the foot of
Sinai and heard the trumpet and the thunders, and heard the words of our
text issuing from the thick darkness, you would not have doubted that they
came from God. But they were heard in substance by a million people, who
trembled and fled as these sentiments were poured upon their ears from the
burning mount. And now, after the lapse of more than three thousand years,
it is still as true as ever that they proceeded from the lips of God.
Receive them therefore with as much veneration as though a throne were set
in this house, and the God of glory were seated on it, and these words
were
sounded from his divine lips. And now, my people, what does the Lord your
God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his
ways,
and to love him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and
with
all your soul?
Who obeys this command? A part of my hearers obey it in some degree. They
esteem God above every other object. They consider his glory as their
highest interest, and communion with him as their supreme happiness. They
would sooner forget father and mother than forget him. It is their
greatest
grief that their treacherous hearts are so prone to wander from him. Their
most fervent desires pant after him. And when in a favored hour they find
him whom their 'soul loves,' they hold him fast and will not let him go. I
have no reproaches for these. It is our Master's will that we should speak
kindly to them and encourage them in his name. But are all such? Would to
God all were. But charity herself would blush should we so far profane her
sacred office as to lend her sanction to such an opinion. Charity herself
must fear that in such a congregation as this there are many who have
never
yielded any service to God. Yet in most cases it is difficult to fix the
charge where it ought to lie. So superficial are men's ideas of God's
service, that they often think themselves his servants merely because they
have been baptised, and attend public worship, and are charitable to the
poor, and free from scandalous vices. But there is no service without
love.
'Love is the fulfilling of the law.' 'Good,' you say, 'and I love the
Lord.
I should be very sorry not to love so bountiful and good a God.' Do you
indeed? Do you indeed? Let us see. 'If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him.' 'No man can serve two masters: for either he
will
hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and
despise
the other: you cannot serve God and mammon.' There is no love to God which
is not habitually supreme. For though love enough to give a cup of cold
water constitutes a disciple, none are disciples but those who love Christ
supremely. 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he
cannot be my disciple.'
Supreme love to God will certainly produce self denial for his sake. It
will
habitually avoid every thing which he has forbidden, and obey, not a part,
but all his commands. He that offends 'in one point,' knowingly and
habitually, 'is guilty of all.' Supreme love will seek communion with its
object more than any worldly pleasure. It will pant after him and after
greater conformity to him; it will seek his glory as the highest interest;
it will count him the most desirable portion; it will delight in thinking
of
him more than in any worldly thoughts; it will delight in prayer, -will
renounce the world and idols and cultivate a heavenly mind. Unless we have
that which will produce all these effects, we have no supreme love to God;
and if we have no supreme love, we have no love at all; and if we have no
love, as there is no neutral state, we are his enemies. 'He who is not
with
me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad.' As
humiliating as the thought is, we know that no man is otherwise than God's
enemy until he is born again. 'The carnal mind is enmity against God.'
Hence
it is that so many people who attend public worship and lead regular
lives,
are unmindful of God from day to day, neglect prayer, put eternal things
out
of view, and lose themselves in the eager pursuit of the world. They must
be
conscious, if they will but reflect, that the world engages more of their
care than God or their souls, and is of course their supreme deity. They
must be conscious that the Sabbath is a burden unless devoted to sloth or
amusement,-that prayer is a burden,-that religious society is a
burden,-that
the thoughts of God which sometimes intrude are unwelcome,-that the divine
service is not agreeable to their taste,-that they would rather be
employed
in business or pleasure than in religion, in reading an amusing story than
in searching the Scriptures. Surely such people do not love God. Such
minds
could not be happy in heaven if admitted to the place. They must undergo a
radical change or certainly they can find no happiness beyond the grave.
Ah
Lord God, how many such are to be found among us,-among the dearest
friends
of our hearts. It is distressing to look through our congregations and see
how men neglect God; how they live without him in the world, -live as
though
there were no God. Is there no remedy for our lost brethren? Will nothing
awaken them to their duty and danger? The necessity of making some attempt
to rouse them is so pressing, that I trust Christians will excuse me if I
turn my attention altogether to these. Let them stand by and assist me
with
their prayers, while I attempt to recall from death this interesting
multitude.
Come, my unhappy friends, and let us reason together. Lend your whole
attention while one who hopes he is a friend to both parties, makes an
humble attempt to reconcile you to your Maker. It is not an enemy you
hear;
not one who would needlessly disturb your peace. God knows I wish you
nothing but happiness in time or eternity; and if the present address
might
be the instrument of making you all blest, I should account this the
happiest day of my life. But in what language shall I address you? What
new
arguments shall I set before you? The enemy of God in your breast has
resisted so many sermons, that those who love you are afraid that nothing
will ever avail. O when shall it once be? Would God that this might be the
sermon. But so many better discourses have been lost upon you, that I
tremble for the fate of this. The longer you hear without improvement the
longer you may. Every resisted sermon renders future resistance more easy
and certain. And this very address, unless it softens will harden you;
unless it proves a 'savour of life,' will become a 'savour of
death.'-Shall
I stop or shall I proceed? -I must proceed; but first let me entreat you
to
lift one earnest prayer to God that he would carry the truth home to your
hearts. You may have sometimes complained that your fears, rather than
your
reason, were addressed. You shall have no cause for this complaint now. I
mean to appeal to your understandings and to treat you like rational
beings.
For such indeed you are,-rational beings, endowed with Godlike faculties,
capable of enjoying and adorning the heavenly city; infinitely too
precious
to be lost and devoted to eternal blasphemy and pain.
The great reason of your insensibility is, that under the stupifying
influence of unbelief, you have secretly doubted whether there is a God,
or
if there is, whether you have any thing to do with him or he with you. The
thought has lurked in your heart, that if there is a God, he is so far
from
you, and so unconnected with you, that you have nothing more to do with
him
than with an inhabitant of another planet. You have never conceived that
you
owed him your whole heart and life. But now for God's sake attend.
'What dost thou here, Elijah?' Child of dust, what dost thou here in this
world? Who sent you hither? and for what end? You are conscious that you
did
not create yourself, and your parents know that they did not create you.
It
was God that made you what you are, and put you into a world which he had
richly furnished for your use. Have you nothing to do with him or he with
you? You are absolutely his property, and he is your Lord and Master, and
has a right to you and to the use of all your talents. What was the
precise
end for which he sent you into the world? I wish to draw your attention to
this single point: for I am persuaded that if this one consideration could
be fastened on your mind, you would be convinced that you have neglected
the
great end of your being. Do you imagine that he created you and raised you
so much above the brutes, and put you into a world on which he had
expended
so much labor, that you might wander from him into the regions of
darkness?
That you might seek your happiness out of him, and live in rebellion
against
him? that you might spend your life only in preparing to live in this
transitory state? Or that you might live only to eat and drink? The latter
the brutes are fitted to do; but can you imagine that you have no higher
end
than they? Indulge no such fatal mistake. As God is true, he sent you into
his world for the same end that a master sends a servant into his
vineyard,-to labor for him. The sole reason that you are in this world
rather than not here, is that you may have an opportunity to serve and
enjoy
God. He has sent you into the field abundantly furnished with powers and
means to serve him, and has strictly commanded you to use these talents in
his service. Say not that he is too far above you to be apprehended.
He has brought himself down and spread himself out before you in his works
and word, and it is only to unbelief that he is invisible. As your
Proprietor and Master, he has a right to expect that all your time and
talents, all your wealth and influence, should be consecrated to his
service; that your affections should all be engaged for him; that every
motive and aim should be 'holiness to the Lord;' that 'whether you eat or
drink' or whatsoever you do, you should do all to his glory; that this
should be the general scope of every action and the leading care of every
hour.
Having sent you into his vineyard, he looks after you to see whether you
are
faithful or not. Has he nothing to do with you? His eyes are upon you
every
moment,-upon the very bottom of your heart. They follow you wherever you
go,
and mark you out and contemplate all you do, as though you were the only
object of his attention in the universe. The fixed design for which they
follow you is, to observe whether you perform or neglect the great
business
for which he sent you into the world. Dream not that he is too distant to
concern himself with you; he is 'not far from everyone of us.' He is by
your
side and on the very seat with you this moment. Has he nothing to do with
you? In him you 'live and move and have [your] being.' For so many years
he
has sustained you out of hell, and suffered you to live on his earth and
breathe his air. And why is all this? I beseech you to consider the end
for
which he has done all this for you. Why do you feed and clothe your bond
servant? It is that he may not die but live and labor for you. And what
would you think, if, while living at your expense and sharing your
kindness,
he should altogether neglect your service? Should you assign him his task
for a certain day in the field, and lie behind the hedge and watch him,
and
see him all day long doing nothing but wasting your property, what would
be
your feelings towards that servant? God has sent you into his field,-has
solemnly charged you to be faithful to him,-has supported your life,-has
fed
and clothed you,-and from his invisible seat has kept his eye upon you
through all the day of life; and now the day is drawing to a close, and
you
have not yet begun your work, but have been only marring his estate. And
now
you are about to return from the field with nothing done, to give in your
account to your Master. And what, in the name of eternal justice, will
your
account be? How will your Master receive you? Ah think of it; it will be a
serious hour.
Your Lord and Master, having sent you into his world to serve him,-having
sustained you from year to year, with great expense and care, and kept you
from the eternal pit, for the express purpose that you might live and
labor
for him; has added one mercy more which has astonished heaven and earth.
At
the expense of the life of his own Son he has redeemed you from death. And
why was all this? For no other purpose than that you might yet live and
labor for him. He has given you opportunities for the means of grace,-has
followed you with calls,-has offered to pardon the past if you will only
be
faithful in future,-has waited upon you and labored with you, with so much
pains, for so many years, under so many discouragements, to see if you
would
not at length feel some sincere regrets and return to his service; and
yet,
to the shame of all creation, you refuse to serve him still. These amazing
kindnesses have well entitled him to the name of Father. He is your
Father,
and as such you owe him honor. He is your Redeemer, and as such you owe
him
the tenderest thanks that a grateful heart can render. And have you
nothing
to do with him? Is he so distant and unconnected with you, that you have
no
cause to move a thought towards him? Better to say that the inmost fibre
of
your heart is a stranger and foreigner. Better to sever the bonds of
nature
and turn off your dearest friends as outcasts from your love.
Did your Creator turn you loose into the world, to run wild in pursuit of
your own imaginations, without law or restraint, intending to look no
further after you, but to throw you out from his care? Woe to you if he
had
done this; though this, I fear, you have often wished. But he did no such
thing. His intention was still to follow you with his cares, as beloved
creatures whom his own bands had formed,-to exercise government over
you,-to
establish eternal communion with you,-to lead your desires up to him,-to
fill you with his own sublime happiness, and to make you a part of an
harmonious, blessed, and glorious kingdom. To accomplish these ends he put
you under law,-a law admirably calculated to unite you to him and to
consummate your happiness. As he is infinitely the greatest and best of
beings, whom no man can hate and be happy; who, in order to further an
harmonious kingdom, must be acknowledged as the Head, and must be the
centre
of affection and the great bond of attraction; therefore he has commanded
all his rational creatures to love him supremely. In this he has required
no
more than was his due, and the very least that it was for his honor to
accept. Indeed he has conferred an infinite favor on creatures by making a
law so essential to public order, and pointing out the only way to
individual happiness. The unreasonable will complain of anything, and
murmurs have filled the world because this law requires the heart. But
were
it otherwise,-were God to relinquish his claims on the heart and compound
for outward service only, would it be better then? Could they be happy
here,
could they be happy in heaven, without a holy heart? They had better never
been born than be excused from loving God. Should God give up his law,
still
they are wretches to eternity without love to him. The law enjoins nothing
but what in the nature of things is essential to happiness. Have you
nothing
to do with God or he with you? You have forgotten that you are subjects
under law, bound by all the authority of Jehovah. 'You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart.' This comes to you under the great seal of
heaven. It is the express command of the eternal God. Whatever you may
think
of it, neither the praise nor the blame of making or publishing it belongs
to men. From this moment you must either renounce your Bible, or
understand
that God accounts you rebels for not loving and serving him with all the
heart and soul. He admits no excuse. Your plea that you cannot, is only
pleading guilty. A heart that refuses to love the Creator and Redeemer of
the world, is the very thing for which God condemns you,-is the vilest
rebel
in the universe.
And now have you nothing to do with God or he with you? Know well, my
unhappy hearers, that God will have to do with you through the
interminable
ages of eternity, and on his sovereign pleasure it depends whether you
shall
spend your eternity in heaven or hell. You cannot be disconnected from him
if you would. You are in his hands, and you must remain in his hands to
eternity.
O my dear hearers, my flesh and blood, you have not sufficiently
considered
these things. There is no realizing sense of one of these truths in minds
that can remain at ease in a state of enmity against God. You have not
considered who sent you into the world, and for what end,-who supports
your
lives, and for what end they are supported,-who redeemed you from death,
and
why you were redeemed. You have not considered what God has earnestly
commanded you to do, and what connexion you must have with him to
eternity.
These things you have not considered; but God considers them all. He
indeed
keeps silence, because this is not the state of retribution, but of trial.
He keeps silence, but is angry. He is angry, and he will one day speak. He
will speak in a manner which does not admit of present description, but it
will be such as fully to assert his rights and wipe off the stigma which
his
long silence has occasioned, that he is 'altogether such a one as'
yourselves. He will take account of his servants to whom he committed the
talents. 'Every work [shall be brought] into judgment, with every secret
thing whether it be good or evil.' At the close of all he will command
them
to cast 'the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there will be
weeping
and gnashing of teeth.'
And now what will you say to these things? Has not every word been calmly
addressed to your reason, and been supported by positive declarations from
the Word of God? If then the Bible is not a fable,-if it is the book by
which you will be judged at the last day, your case is such as calls for
immediate attention. God has a very heavy account against you. There is
wrath gone out against you. It behooves you to get the sentence repealed
without delay by deep contrition and application to the blood of
atonement.
Do you think it will answer for you to live any longer idle under the very
eye of your Master? At this late hour ought any more time to be lost? I
wish
I knew what resolutions you are forming. My dear hearers, what do you
intend
to do? What use will you make of this exhortation when you depart? Some, I
fear, will think no more of it until it meets them in judgment. Others may
be impressed for a season and afterwards return to stupidity. But will not
some one be wise enough this once to believe God? O God, if any are
hesitating, interpose and fix their resolves! Nay, let not that thought
arise again, When I have got a little more of the world I will attend. So
thought Felix, but the thought was fatal. A resolution to postpone, is
half
a resolution to die as you are. If it were not so pressing a case, I would
not be so pressing. But you have souls capable of amazing happiness or
amazing woe, and they are now under sentence of eternal death. 'He who
does
not believe is condemned already.' Can a rational being rest in such a
state? You see also what pressing claims your Creator and Redeemer has
upon
you. Most of you would be agonized at the thought of defrauding one of
your
fellow men. But will you be scrupulous to 'render unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's,' and feel no concern to 'render unto God the things
that
are God's?' O that this sentiment might vibrate in your ears and be
deposited at the bottom of your hearts, 'Render unto God the things that
are
God's.' Let every thing sincere in you be stirred up at the names of
Father
and Redeemer, and arouse you to 'render unto God the things that are
God's.'
Then will he no longer frown, but smile upon you as dear children, and our
joy on your account will be full. Amen.
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