There are few warnings in Scripture more solemn than that which heads
this page. The Lord Jesus Christ says to us, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
Lot’s wife was a professor of religion; her husband was a ‘righteous
man’ (2 Peter 2:8). She left Sodom with him on the day when Sodom
was destroyed; she looked back towards the city from behind her
husband, against God’s express command; she was struck dead at once,
and turned into a pillar of salt. And the Lord Jesus Christ holds her up
as a beacon to His church; He says, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
It is a solemn warning, when we think of the person Jesus names. He
does not bid us remember Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or Sarah or
Hannah or Ruth. No, He singles out one whose soul was lost for ever.
He cries to us, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
It is a solemn warning, when we consider the subject Jesus is upon.
He is speaking of His own second coming to judge the world; He is
describing the awful state of unreadiness in which many will be found.
The last days are on His mind, when He says, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
It is a solemn warning, when we think of the person who gives it.
The Lord Jesus is full of love, mercy and compassion; He is one who
will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. He could
weep over unbelieving Jerusalem, and pray for the men that crucified
Him; yet even He thinks it good to remind us of lost souls. Even He
says, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
It is a solemn warning, when we think of the persons to whom it was
first given. The Lord Jesus was speaking to His disciples; He was not
addressing the scribes and Pharisees, who hated Him, but Peter, James
and John, and many others who loved Him; yet even to them He thinks
it good to address a caution. Even to them He says, ‘Remember Lot’s
wife.’
It is a solemn warning, when we consider the manner in which it was
given. He does not merely say, ‘Beware of following, take heed of
imitating, do not be like Lot’s wife.’ He uses a different word: He says,
‘Remember.’ He speaks as if we were all in danger of forgetting the
subject; He stirs up our lazy memories; He bids us keep the case before
our minds. He cries, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
I propose to examine the lessons which Lot’s wife is meant to teach
us. I am sure that her history is full of useful instruction to the church.
The last days are upon us; the second coming of the Lord Jesus draws
nigh; the danger of worldliness is yearly increasing in the church. Let us
be provided with safeguards and antidotes against the disease that is
around us and, not least, let us become familiar with the story of Lot’s
wife.
There are three things which I shall do in order to bring the subject
before our minds in order.
1. I will speak of the religious privileges which Lot’s wife enjoyed.
2. I will speak of the sin which Lot’s wife committed.
3. I will speak of the judgement which God inflicted upon her.
1. The religious privileges which Lot's wife enjoyed
I will first speak of the religious privileges which Lot’s wife enjoyed.
In the days of Abraham and Lot, true saving religion was scarce upon
earth: there were no Bibles, no ministers, no churches, no tracts, no
missionaries. The knowledge of God was confined to a few favoured
families; the greater part of the inhabitants of the world were living in
darkness, ignorance, superstition and sin. Not one in a hundred perhaps
had such good example, such spiritual society, such clear knowledge,
such plain warnings as Lot’s wife. Compared with millions of her fellow
creatures in her time, Lot’s wife was a favoured woman.
She had a godly man for her husband; she had Abraham, the father
of the faithful, for her uncle by marriage. The faith, the knowledge and
the prayers of these two righteous men could have been no secret to
her. It is impossible that she could have dwelt in tents with them for
any length of time, without knowing whose they were and whom they
served. Religion with them was no mere formal business; it was the
ruling principle of their lives and the mainspring of all their actions. All
this Lot’s wife must have seen and known. This was no small privilege.
When Abram first received the promises, it is probable Lot’s wife was
there. When he built his altar by his tent between Hai and Bethel, it is
probable she was there. When her husband was taken captive by
Chedorlaomer, and delivered by God’s interference, she was there.
When Melchizedek, king of Salem, came forth to meet Abraham with
bread and wine, she was there. When the angels came to Sodom and
warned her husband to flee, she saw them; when they took them by the
hand and led them out of the city, she was one of those whom they
helped to escape. Once more, I say, these were no small privileges.
Yet what good effect had all these privileges on the heart of Lot’s
wife? None at all. Notwithstanding all her opportunities and means of
grace, notwithstanding all her special warnings and messages from
heaven, she lived and died graceless, godless, impenitent and
unbelieving. The eyes of her understanding were never opened; her
conscience was never really aroused and quickened; her will was never
really brought into a state of obedience to God; her affections were
never really set upon things above. The form of religion which she had
was kept up for fashion’s sake and not from feeling; it was a cloak worn
for the sake of pleasing her company, but not from any sense of its
value. She did as others did around her in Lot’s house; she conformed
to her husband’s ways; she made no opposition to his religion; she
allowed herself to be passively towed along in his wake; but all this time
her heart was wrong in the sight of God. The world was in her heart,
and her heart was in the world. In this state she lived, and in this state
she died.
In all this there is much to be learned: I see a lesson here which is of
the deepest importance in the present day. You live in times when there
are many persons just like Lot’s wife; come and hear the lesson which
her case is meant to teach.
Learn, then, that the mere possession of religious privileges will save
no one’s soul. You may have spiritual advantages of every description;
you may live in the full sunshine of the richest opportunities and means
of grace; you may enjoy the best of preaching and the choicest
instruction; you may dwell in the midst of light, knowledge, holiness and good
company. All this may be, and yet you yourself may remain
unconverted, and at last be lost for ever.
I dare say this doctrine sounds hard to some readers. I know that
many fancy they want nothing but religious privileges in order to
become decided Christians. They are not what they ought to be at
present, they allow; but their position is so hard, they plead, and their
difficulties are so many. Give them a godly husband or a godly wife,
give them godly companions, or a godly master, give them the
preaching of the gospel, give them privileges, and then they would walk
with God.
It is all a mistake. It is an entire delusion. It requires something more
than privileges to save souls. Joab was David’s captain; Gehazi was
Elisha’s servant; Demas was Paul’s companion; Judas Iscariot was
Christ’s disciple, and Lot had a worldly unbelieving wife. These all died
in their sins. They went down to the pit in spite of knowledge,
warnings and opportunities, and they all teach us that it is not
privileges alone that men need. They need the grace of the Holy Ghost.
Let us value religious privileges, but let us not rest entirely upon
them. Let us desire to have the benefit of them in all our movements in
life, but let us not put them in the place of Christ. Let us use them
thankfully, if God grants them to us, but let us take care that they
produce some fruit in our heart and life. If they do not do good, they
often do positive harm: they sear the conscience, they increase
responsibility, they aggravate condemnation. The same fire which melts the
wax hardens the clay; the same sun which makes the living tree grow,
dries up the dead tree, and prepares it for burning. Nothing so hardens
the heart of man as a barren familiarity with sacred things. Once more I
say, it is not privileges alone which make people Christians, but the
grace of the Holy Ghost. Without that no man will ever be saved.
I ask the members of evangelical congregations, in the present day,
to mark well what I am saying. You go to Mr A’s, or Mr B's church; you
think him an excellent preacher; you delight in his sermons; you cannot
hear anyone else with the same comfort; you have learned many things
since you attended his ministry; you consider it a great privilege to be
one of his hearers! All this is very good. It is a privilege. I should be
thankful if ministers like yours were multiplied a thousandfold. But
after all, what have you got in your heart? Have you yet received the
Holy Ghost? If not, you are no better than Lot’s wife.
I ask the servants of religious families to mark well what I am saying.
It is a great privilege to live in a house where the fear of God reigns. It is
a privilege to hear family prayers morning and evening, to hear the
Word of God regularly expounded, to have a quiet Sunday, and to be
able always to go to church. These are the things that you ought to seek
after when you try to get a situation; these are the things which make a
really good place. High wages and light work will never make up for a
constant round of worldliness, sabbath-breaking and sin. But take heed
that you do not rest content with these things; do not suppose because
you have all these spiritual advantages that you will of course go to
heaven. You must have grace in your own heart, as well as attend
family prayers. If not, you are at present no better than Lot’s wife.
I ask the children of religious parents to mark well what I am saying.
It is the highest privilege to be the child of a godly father and mother,
and to be brought up in the midst of many prayers. It is a blessed thing
indeed to be taught the gospel from our earliest infancy, and to hear of
sin and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and holiness and heaven from the
first moment we can remember anything. But, oh, take heed that you
do not remain barren and unfruitful in the sunshine of all these
privileges; beware lest your heart remains hard, impenitent and worldly,
notwithstanding the many advantages you enjoy. You cannot enter the
kingdom of God on the credit of your parents’ religion. You must eat
the bread of life for yourself, and have the witness of the Spirit in your
own heart. You must have repentance of your own, faith of your own
and sanctification of your own. If not, you are no better than Lot’s
wife.
I pray God that all professing Christians, in these days, may lay these
things to heart. May we never forget that privileges alone cannot save
us. Light and knowledge and faithful preaching and abundant means of
grace and the company of holy people are all great blessings and
advantages. Happy are they that have them! But, after all, there is one
thing without which privileges are useless: that one thing is the grace of
the Holy Ghost. Lot’s wife had many privileges; but Lot’s wife had no
grace.
2. The sin which Lot's wife committed
I will next speak of the sin which Lot’s wife committed.
The history of her sin is given by the Holy Ghost in few and simple
words: ‘She looked back from behind her husband, and she became a
pillar of salt.’ We are told no more than this. There is a naked
solemnity about the history. The sum and substance of her
transgression lies in these three words: ‘She looked back.’
Does that sin seem small in the eyes of any reader of this paper?
Does the fault of Lot's wife appear a trifling one to be visited with such
a punishment? This is the feeling, I dare say, that rises in some hearts.
Give me your attention while I reason with you on the subject. There
was far more in that look than strikes you at first sight: it implied far
more than it expressed. Listen, and you shall hear.
a. That look was a little thing, but it revealed the true character of
Lot's wife. Little things will often show the state of a man’s mind even
better than great ones, and little symptoms are often the signs of deadly
and incurable diseases. The apple that Eve ate was a little thing, but it
proved that she had fallen from innocence and become a sinner. A
crack in an arch seems a little thing, but it proves that the foundation is
giving way, and the whole fabric is unsafe. A little cough in a morning
seems an unimportant ailment, but it is often an evidence of failing in
the constitution, and leads on to decline, consumption and death. A
straw may show which way the wind blows, and one look may show
the rotten condition of a sinner’s heart (Matt. 5:28).
b. That look was a little thing, but it told of disobedience in Lot’s
wife. The command of the angel was straight and unmistakable: ‘Look
not behind thee’ (Gen. 19:17). This command Lot’s wife refused to
obey. But the Holy Ghost says that ‘to obey is better than sacrifice’,
and that ‘rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft’ (1 Sam. 15:22, 23). When
God speaks plainly by His Word, or by His messengers, man’s duty is
clear.
c. That look was a little thing, but it told of proud unbelief in Lot’s
wife. She seemed to doubt whether God was really going to destroy
Sodom: she appeared not to believe there was any danger, or any need
for such a hasty flight. But without faith it is impossible to please God
(Heb. 11:6). The moment a man begins to think he knows better than
God, and that God does not mean anything when He threatens, his soul
is in great danger. When we cannot see the reason of God’s dealings, our
duty is to hold our peace and believe.
d. That look was a little thing, but it told of secret love of the world
in Lot’s wife. Her heart was in Sodom, though her body was outside.
She had left her affections behind when she fled from her home. Her
eye turned to the place where her treasure was, as the compass needle
turns to the pole. And this was the crowning point of her sin. ‘The
friendship of the world is enmity with God’ (James 4:4). ‘If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him’ (1 John 2:15).
I ask the special attention of my readers to this part of our subject.
I believe it to be the part to which the Lord Jesus particularly intends
to direct our minds. I believe He would have us observe that Lot’s wife
was lost by looking back to the world. Her profession was at one time
fair and specious, but she never really gave up the world. She seemed at
one time in the road to safety, but even then the lowest and deepest
thoughts of her heart were for the world. The immense danger of
worldliness is the grand lesson which the Lord Jesus means us to learn.
Oh, that we may all have an eye to see and a heart to understand!
I believe there never was a time when warnings against worldliness
were so much needed by the church of Christ as they are at the present
day. Every age is said to have its own peculiar epidemic disease; the
epidemic disease to which the souls of Christians are liable just now is
the love of the world. It is a pestilence that walketh in darkness, and a
sickness that destroyeth at noonday. It ‘hath cast down many
wounded; yea, many strong men have been wounded by it’. I would
fain raise a warning voice, and try to arouse the slumbering consciences
of all who make a profession of religion. I would fain cry aloud,
‘Remember the sin of Lot’s wife.’ She was no murderess, no adulteress,
no thief; but she was a professor of religion, and she looked back.
There are thousands of baptized persons in our churches who are
proof against immorality and infidelity, and yet fall victims to the love
of the world. There are thousands who run well for a season, and seem
to bid fair to reach heaven, but by and by give up the race, and turn
their backs on Christ altogether. And what has stopped them? Have
they found the Bible not true? Have they found the Lord Jesus fail to
keep His word? No, not at all. But they have caught the epidemic
disease: they are infected with the love of this world. I appeal to every
true-hearted evangelical minister who reads this paper: I ask him to look
round his congregation. I appeal to every old-established Christian: I ask
him to look round the circle of his acquaintance. I am sure that I am
speaking the truth. I am sure that it is high time to remember the sin of Lot’s wife.
a. How many children of religious families begin well and end ill! In
the days of their childhood they seem full of religion. They can repeat
texts and hymns in abundance; they have spiritual feelings and
convictions of sin; they profess love to the Lord Jesus and desires after
heaven; they take pleasure in going to church and hearing sermons; they
say things which are treasured up by their fond parents as indications of
grace; they do things which make relations say, ‘What manner of child
will this be?’ But, alas, how often their goodness vanishes like the
morning cloud, and like the dew that passes away! The boy becomes a
young man, and cares for nothing but amusements, field sports,
revelling and excess. The girl becomes a young woman, and cares for
nothing but dress, gay company, novel reading and excitement. Where
is the spirituality which once appeared to promise so fair? It is all gone;
it is buried; it is overflowed by the love of the world. They walk in the
steps of Lot’s wife. They look back.
b. How many married people do well in religion to all appearance,
until their children begin to grow up, and then they fall away! In the
early years of their married life they seem to follow Christ diligently,
and to witness a good confession. They regularly attend the preaching
of the gospel; they are fruitful in good works; they are never seen in
vain and dissipated society. Their faith and practice are both sound, and
walk hand in hand. But, alas, how often a spiritual blight comes over
the household when a young family begins to grow up, and sons and
daughters have to be brought forward in life. A leaven of worldliness
begins to appear in their habits, dress, entertainments and employment
of time. They are no longer strict about the company they keep and the
places they visit. Where is the decided line of separation which they
once observed? Where is the unswerving abstinence from worldly
amusements which once marked their course? It is all forgotten. It is all
laid aside, like an old almanac. A change has come over them: the
spirit of the world has taken possession of their hearts. They walk in
the steps of Lot’s wife. They look back.
c. How many young women seem to love decided religion until they
are twenty or twenty-one, and then lose all! Up to this time of their life
their conduct in religious matters is all that could be desired. They
keep up habits of private prayer; they read their Bibles diligently; they
visit the poor, when they have opportunity; they teach in Sunday
schools, when there is an opening; they minister to the temporal and
spiritual wants of the poor; they like religious friends; they love to talk
on religious subjects; they write’ letters full of religious expressions and
religious experience. But, alas, how often they prove unstable as water,
and are ruined by the love of the world! Little by little they fall away
and lose their first love. Little by little the ‘things seen’ push out of
their minds the ‘things unseen’ and, like the plague of locusts, eat up
every green thing in their souls. Step by step they go back from the
decided position they once took up. They cease to be jealous about
sound doctrine; they pretend to find out that it is ‘uncharitable’ to think
one person has more religion than another; they discover it is ‘exclusive’
to attempt any separation from the customs of society. By and by they
give their affections to some man who makes no pretence to decided
religion. At last they end by giving up the last remnant of their own
Christianity, and becoming thorough children of the world. They walk
in the steps of Lot’s wife. They look back.
d. How many communicants in our churches were at one time
zealous and earnest professors, and have now become torpid, formal
and cold! Time was when none seemed so much alive in religion as they
were; none were so diligent in their attendance on the means of grace;
none were so anxious to promote the cause of the gospel, and so ready
for every good work; none were so thankful for spiritual instruction;
none were apparently so desirous to grow in grace. But now, alas,
everything seems altered! The ‘love of other things’ has taken possession of
their hearts, and choked the good seed of the Word. The money of the
world, the rewards of the world, the literature of the world, the
honours of the world, have now the first place in their affections. Talk
to them, and you will find no response about spiritual things. Mark
their daily conduct, and you will see no zeal about the kingdom of
God. A religion they have indeed, but it is living religion no more. The
spring of their former Christianity is dried up and gone; the fire of the
spiritual machine is quenched and cold; earth has put out the flame
which once burned so brightly. They have walked in the steps of Lot’s
wife. They have looked back.
e. How many clergymen work hard in their profession for a few
years, and then become lazy and indolent from the love of this present
world! At the outset of their ministry they seem willing to spend and
be spent for Christ; they are instant in season and out of season; their
preaching is lively and their churches are filled. Their congregations are
well looked after; cottage lectures, prayer meetings, house-to-house
visitation, are their weekly delight. But, alas, how often after
‘beginning in the Spirit’ they end ‘in the flesh’ and, like Samson, are shorn
of their strength in the lap of that Delilah, the world! They are
preferred to some rich living; they marry a worldly wife; they are
puffed up with pride and neglect study and prayer. A nipping frost cuts
off the spiritual blossoms which once bade so fair. Their preaching loses
its unction and power; their weekday work becomes less and less; the
society they mix in becomes less select; the tone of their conversation
becomes more earthly. They cease to disregard the opinion of man;
they imbibe a morbid fear of ‘extreme views’, and are filled with a
cautious dread of giving offence. And at last the man who at one time
seemed likely to be a real successor of the apostles and a good soldier
of Christ, settles down on his lees as a clerical gardener, farmer, or diner
out, by whom nobody is offended and nobody is saved. His church
becomes half empty; his influence dwindles away; the world has bound
him hand and foot. He has walked in the steps of Lot’s wife. He has
looked back.1
It is sad to write of these things, but it is far more sad to see them.
It is sad to observe how professing Christians can blind their
consciences by specious arguments on this subject, and can defend positive
worldliness by talking of the ‘duties of their station’, the ‘courtesies of
life’ and the necessity of having a ‘cheerful religion’.
It is sad to see how many a gallant ship launches forth on the voyage
of life with every prospect of success and, springing this leak of
worldliness, goes down with all her freight in full view of the harbour of
safety. It is saddest of all to observe how many flatter themselves it is
all right with their souls when it is all wrong, by reason of this love of
the world. Grey hairs are here and there upon them, and they know it
not. They began with Jacob and David and Peter and they are likely to
end with Esau and Saul and Judas Iscariot. They began with Ruth and
Hannah and Mary and Persis and they are likely to end with Lot’s wife.
Beware of a half-hearted religion. Beware of following Christ from
any secondary motive, to please relations and friends, to keep in with
the custom of the place or family in which you reside, to appear
respectable and have the reputation of being religious. Follow Christ for
His own sake, if you follow Him at all. Be thorough, be real, be honest,
be sound, be whole-hearted. If you have any religion at all, let your
religion be real. See that you do not sin the sin of Lot’s wife.
Beware of ever supposing that you may go too far in religion, and of
secretly trying to keep in with the world. I want no reader of this paper
to become a hermit, a monk or a nun: I wish every one to do his real
duty in that state of life to which he is called. But I do urge on every
professing Christian who wishes to be happy the immense importance
of making no compromise between God and the world. Do not try to
drive a hard bargain, as if you wanted to give Christ as little of your
heart as possible, and to keep as much as possible of the things of this
life. Beware lest you overreach yourself, and end by losing all. Love
Christ with all your heart and mind and soul and strength. Seek first the
kingdom of God, and believe that then all other things shall be added to
you. Take heed that you do not prove a copy of the character John
Bunyan draws, Mr Facing-both-ways. For your happiness’ sake, for
your usefulness’ sake, for your safety’s sake, for your soul’s sake,
beware of the sin of Lot’s wife. Oh, it is a solemn saying of our Lord
Jesus: ‘No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is
fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:62).
3. The judgement which God inflicted upon her
I will now speak, in the last place, of the punishment which God
inflicted on Lot’s wife.
The Scripture describes her end in few and simple words. It is
written that ‘she looked back and became a pillar of salt’. A miracle was
wrought to execute God’s judgement on this guilty woman. The same
almighty hand which first gave her life, took that life away in the
twinkling of an eye. From living flesh and blood she was turned into a
pillar of salt.
That was a fearful end for a soul to come to! To die at any time is a
solemn thing. To die amid kind friends and relations, to die calmly and
quietly in one’s bed, to die with the prayers of godly men still sounding
in your ears, to die with a good hope through grace in the full assurance
of salvation, leaning on the Lord Jesus, buoyed up by gospel promises,
to die even so, I say, is a serious business. But to die suddenly and in a
moment, in the very act of sin, to die in full health and strength, to die
by the direct interposition of an angry God — this is fearful indeed. Yet
this was the end of Lot’s wife. I cannot blame the Prayer Book litany,
as some do, for retaining this petition: ‘From sudden death, good Lord,
deliver us.’
That was a hopeless end for a soul to come to! There are cases where
one hopes, as it were, against hope, about the souls of those we see go
down to the grave. We try to persuade ourselves that our poor departed
brother or sister may have repented unto salvation at the last moment,
and laid hold on the hem of Christ’s garment at the eleventh hour. We
call to mind God’s mercies; we remember the Spirit's power; we think
on the case of the penitent thief; we whisper to ourselves, that saving
work may have gone on even on that dying bed which the dying person
had not strength to tell. But there is an end of all such hopes when a
person is suddenly cut down in the very act of sin. Charity itself can say
nothing when the soul has been summoned away in the very midst of
wickedness, without even a moment’s time for thought or prayer. Such
was the end of Lot’s wife. It was a hopeless end. She went to hell.
But it is good for us all to mark these things. It is good to be
reminded that God can punish sharply those who sin wilfully, and that
great privileges misused bring down great wrath on the soul. Pharaoh
saw all the miracles which Moses worked; Korah, Dathan and Abiram
had heard God speaking from Mount Sinai; Hophni and Phinehas were
sons of God’s high priest; Saul lived in the full light of Samuel’s
ministry; Ahab was often warned by Elijah the prophet; Absalom
enjoyed the privilege of being one of David’s children; Belshazzar had
Daniel the prophet hard by his door; Ananias and Sapphira joined the
church in the days when the apostles were working miracles; Judas
Iscariot was a chosen companion of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. But
they all sinned with a high hand against light and knowledge and they
were all suddenly destroyed without remedy. They had no time or
space for repentance. As they lived, so they died; as they were, they
hurried away to meet God. They went with all their sins upon them,
unpardoned, unrenewed and utterly unfit for heaven. And being dead
they yet speak. They tell us, like Lot’s wife, that it is a perilous thing to
sin against light, that God hates sin, and that there is a hell.
I feel constrained to speak freely to my readers on the subject of
hell. Suffer me to use the opportunity which the end of Lot’s wife
affords. I believe the time is come when it is a positive duty to speak
plainly about the reality and eternity of hell. A flood of false doctrine
has lately broken in upon us. Men are beginning to tell us that God is
too merciful to punish souls for ever, that there is a love of God lower
even than hell, and that all mankind, however wicked and ungodly
some of them may be, will sooner or later be saved. We are invited to
leave the old paths of apostolic Christianity. We are told that the views
of our fathers about hell, and the devil, and punishment, are obsolete
and old-fashioned. We are to embrace what is called a ‘kinder theology’,
and treat hell as a pagan fable, or a bugbear to frighten children and
fools. Against such false teaching I desire, for one, to protest. Painful,
sorrowful, distressing as the controversy may be, we must not blink it,
or refuse to look the subject in the face. I, for one, am resolved to
maintain the old position, and to assert the reality and eternity of hell.
Believe me, this is no mere speculative question. It is not to be
classed with disputes about liturgies and church government. It is not to
be ranked with mysterious problems, like the meaning of Ezekiel’s
temple or the symbols of Revelation. It is a question which lies at the
very foundation of the whole gospel. The moral attributes of God, His
justice, His holiness, His purity, are all involved in it. The necessity of
personal faith in Christ, and the sanctification of the Spirit, are all at
stake. Once let the old doctrine about hell be overthrown, and the
whole system of Christianity is unsettled, unscrewed, unpinned and
thrown into disorder.
Believe me, the question is not one in which we are obliged to fall
back on the theories and inventions of man. The Scripture has spoken
plainly and fully on the subject of hell. I hold it to be impossible to
deal honestly with the Bible, and to avoid the conclusions to which it
will lead us on this point. If words mean anything, there is such a place
as hell. If texts are to be interpreted fairly, there are those who will be
cast into it. If language has any sense belonging to it, hell is for ever. I
believe that the man who finds arguments for evading the evidence of
the Bible on this question has arrived at a state of mind in which
reasoning is useless. For my own part, it seems just as easy to argue that
we do not exist, as to argue that the Bible does not teach the reality
and eternity of hell.
a. Settle it firmly in your mind, that the same Bible which teaches
that God in mercy and compassion sent Christ to die for sinners, does
also teach that God hates sin and must, from His very nature, punish all
who cleave to sin or refuse the salvation He has provided. The very
same chapter which declares, ‘God so loved the world,’ declares also,
that ‘the wrath of God abideth on the unbeliever (John 3:16, 36). The
very same gospel which is launched into the earth with the blessed
tidings, ‘He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,’ proclaims in
the same breath, ‘He that believeth not shall be damned’ (Mark 16:16).
b. Settle it firmly in your mind that God has given us proof upon
proof in the Bible that He will punish the hardened and unbelieving,
and that He can take vengeance on His enemies, as well as show mercy
on the penitent. The drowning of the old world by the flood, the
burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, the overthrow of Pharaoh and all his
host in the Red Sea, the judgement on Korah, Dathan and Abiram, the
utter destruction of the seven nations of Canaan — all teach the same
awful truth. They are all given to us as beacons and signs and warnings,
that we may not provoke God. They are all meant to lift up the comer
of the curtain which hangs over things to come, and to remind us that
there is such a thing as the wrath of God. They all tell us plainly that
‘the wicked shall be turned into hell’ (Ps. 9:17).
c. Settle it firmly in your mind that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
has spoken most plainly about the reality and eternity of hell. The
parable of the rich man and Lazarus contains things which should make
men tremble. But it does not stand alone. No lips have used so many
words to express the awfulness of hell, as the lips of Him who spake as
never man spake, and who said, ‘The word which ye hear is not Mine,
but the Father’s which sent Me’ (John 14:24). Hell, hell fire, the
damnation of hell, eternal damnation, the resurrection of damnation,
everlasting fire, the place of torment, destruction, outer darkness, the worm
that never dies, the fire that is not quenched, the place of weeping,
wailing and gnashing of teeth, everlasting punishment — these, these are
the words which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself employs. Away with the
miserable nonsense which people talk in this day, who tell us that the
ministers of the gospel should never speak of hell! They only show their
own ignorance, or their own dishonesty, when they talk in such a
manner. No man can honestly read the four Gospels and fail to see that
he who would follow the example of Christ must speak of hell.
d. Settle it, lastly, in your mind that the comforting ideas which the
Scripture gives us of heaven are at an end, if we once deny the reality
nr eternity of hell. Is there no future separate abode for those
who die wicked and ungodly? Are all men after death to be mingled
together in one confused multitude? Why, then, heaven will be no
heaven at all! It is utterly impossible for two to dwell happily together
except they be agreed. Is there to be a time when the term of hell and
punishment will be over? Are the wicked after ages of misery to be
admitted into heaven? Why, then, the need of the sanctification of the
Spirit is cast aside and despised! I read that men can be sanctified and
made meet for heaven on earth: I read nothing of any sanctification in
hell. Away with such baseless and unscriptural theories! The eternity
of hell is as clearly affirmed in the Bible as the eternity of heaven. Once
allow that hell is not eternal, and you may as well say that God and
heaven are not eternal. The same Greek word which is used in the
expression ‘everlasting punishment’ is the word that is used by the Lord
Jesus in the expression ‘life eternal’, and by St Paul, in the expression
‘everlasting God’ (Matt. 25:46; Rom. 16:26).
I know that all this sounds dreadful in many ears. I do not wonder.
But the only question we have to settle is this: ‘Is it scriptural?’ Is it
true? I maintain firmly that it is so; and I maintain that professing
Christians ought to be often reminded that they may be lost and go to
hell.
I know that it is easy to deny all plain teaching about hell, and to
make it odious by invidious names. I have often heard of
‘narrowminded views’, and ‘old-fashioned notions’, and ‘brimstone theology’,
and the like. I have often been told that ‘broad’ views are wanted in the
present day. I wish to be as broad as the Bible, neither less nor more.
I say that he is the narrow-minded theologian, who pares down such
parts of the Bible as the natural heart dislikes, and rejects any portion
of the counsel of God.
God knows that I never speak of hell without pain and sorrow. I
would gladly offer the salvation of the gospel to the very chief of
sinners. I would willingly say to the vilest and most profligate of
mankind on his deathbed, ‘Repent, and believe on Jesus, and thou
shalt be saved.’ But God forbid that I should ever keep back from
mortal man that Scripture reveals a hell as well as heaven, and that the
gospel teaches that men maybe lost as well as saved. The watchman
who keeps silence, when he sees a fire, is guilty of gross neglect; the
doctor who tells us we are getting well when we are dying, is a false
friend, and the minister who keeps back hell from his people in his
sermons is neither a faithful nor a charitable man.
Where is the charity of keeping back any portion of God’s truth? He
is the kindest friend who tells me the whole extent of my danger.
Where is the use of hiding the future from the impenitent and the
ungodly? Surely it is like helping the devil, if we do not tell them
plainly that, ‘The soul that sinneth shall surely die.’ Who knows but the
wretched carelessness of many baptized persons arises from this, that
they have never been told plainly of hell? Who can tell but thousands
might be converted, if ministers would urge them more faithfully to
flee from the wrath to come? Verily, I fear we are many of us guilty in
this matter; there is a morbid tenderness among us which is not the
tenderness of Christ. We have spoken of mercy, but not of judgement;
we have preached many sermons about heaven, but few about hell; we
have been carried away by the wretched fear of being thought ‘low,
vulgar and fanatical’. We have forgotten that He who judgeth us is the
Lord, and that the man who teaches the same doctrine that Christ
taught cannot be wrong.
If you would ever be a healthy scriptural Christian, I entreat you to
give hell a place in your theology. Establish it in your mind as a fixed
principle, that God is a God of judgement, as well as of mercy, and that
the same everlasting counsels, which laid the foundation of the bliss of
heaven, have also laid the foundation of the misery of hell. Keep in full
view of your mind that all who die unpardoned and unrenewed are
utterly unfit for the presence of God and must be lost for ever. They
are not capable of enjoying heaven; they could not be happy there.
They must go to their own place: and that place is hell. Oh, it is a great
thing in these days of unbelief to believe the whole Bible!
If you would ever be a healthy and scriptural Christian, I entreat you
to beware of any ministry which does not plainly teach the reality and
eternity of hell. Such a ministry may be soothing and pleasant, but it is
far more likely to lull you to sleep than to lead you to Christ, or build
you up in the faith. It is impossible to leave out any portion of God's
truth without spoiling the whole. That preaching is sadly defective
which dwells exclusively on the mercies of God and the joys of heaven,
and never sets forth the terrors of the Lord and the miseries of hell. It
may be popular, but it is not scriptural; it may amuse and gratify, but it
will not save. Give me the preaching which keeps back nothing that
God has revealed. You may call it stern and harsh; you may tell us that
to frighten people is not the way to do them good. But you are
forgetting that the grand object of the gospel is to persuade men to ‘flee
from the wrath to come’, and that it is vain to expect men to flee unless
they are afraid. Well would it be for many professing Christians if they
were more afraid about their souls than they now are!
If you desire to be a healthy Christian, consider often what your
own end will be. Will it be happiness, or will it be misery? Will it be the
death of the righteous, or will it be a death without hope, like that of
Lot’s wife? You cannot live always; there must be an end one day. The
last sermon will one day be heard; the last prayer will one day be
prayed; the last chapter in the Bible will one day be read; meaning,
wishing, hoping, intending, resolving, doubting, hesitating — all will at
length be over. You will have to leave this world and to stand before a
holy God. Oh, that you would be wise! Oh, that you would consider
your latter end!
You cannot trifle for ever: a time will come when you must be
serious. You cannot put off your soul’s concerns for ever: a day will
come when you must have a reckoning with God. You cannot be
always singing and dancing and eating and drinking and dressing and
reading and laughing and jesting and scheming and planning and
moneymaking. The summer insects cannot always sport in the sunshine. The
cold chilly evening will come at last and stop their sport for ever. So
will it be with you. You may put off religion now and refuse the counsel
of God’s ministers; but the cool of the day is drawing on, when God
will come down to speak with you. And what will your end be? Will it
be a hopeless one, like that of Lot’s wife?
I beseech you, by the mercies of God, to look this question fairly in
the face. I entreat you not to stifle conscience by vague hopes of God's
mercy, while your heart cleaves to the world. I implore you not to
drown convictions by childish fancies about God’s love, while your
daily ways and habits show plainly that ‘the love of the Father is not in
you’. There is mercy in God, like a river, but it is for the penitent
believer in Christ Jesus. There is a love in God towards sinners which is
unspeakable and unsearchable, but it is for those who hear Christ’s
voice and follow Him. Seek to have an interest in that love. Break off
every known sin; come out boldly from the world; cry mightily to God
in prayer; cast yourself wholly and unreservedly on the Lord Jesus for
time and eternity; lay aside every weight. Cling to nothing, however
dear, which interferes with your soul’s salvation; give up everything,
however precious, which comes between you and heaven. This old
shipwrecked world is fast sinking beneath your feet; the one thing needful
is to have a place in the lifeboat and get safe to shore. Give diligence to
make your calling and election sure. Whatever happens to your house
and property, see that you make sure of heaven. Oh, better a million
times be laughed at and thought extreme in this world, than go down to
hell from the midst of the congregation, and end like Lot’s wife!
And now, let me conclude this paper by offering to all who read it a
few questions to impress the subject on their consciences. You have
seen the history of Lot’s wife — her privileges, her sin and her end. You
have been told of the uselessness of privileges without the gift of the
Holy Ghost, of the danger of worldliness and of the reality of hell. Suffer
me to wind up all by a few direct appeals to your own heart. In a day of
so much light and knowledge and profession, I desire to set up a beacon
to preserve souls from shipwreck. I would fain moor a buoy in the
channel of all spiritual voyagers and paint upon it, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’
a. Are you careless about the second advent of Christ? Alas, many
are! They live like the men of Sodom and the men of Noah’s day: they
eat and drink and plant and build and marry and are given in marriage
and behave as if Christ was never going to return. If you are such an
one, I say to you this day, ‘Take care: remember Lot’s wife.’
b. Are you lukewarm, and cold in your Christianity? Alas, many
are! They try to serve two masters: they labour to keep friends both
with God and mammon. They strive to be a kind of spiritual bat,
neither one thing nor the other: not quite a thoroughgoing Christian,
but not quite men of the world. If you are such an one, I say to you
this day, ‘Take care: remember Lot’s wife.’
c. Are you halting between two opinions, and disposed to go back
to the world? Alas, many are! They are afraid of the cross; they secretly
dislike the trouble and reproach of decided religion. They are weary of
the wilderness and the manna and would fain return to Egypt, if they
could. If you are such an one, I say to you this day, ‘Take care:
remember Lot’s wife.’
d. Are you secretly cherishing. some besetting sin? Alas, many are!
They go far in a profession of religion; they do many things that are
right, and are very like the people of God. But there is always some
darling evil habit, which they cannot tear from their heart. Hidden
worldliness or covetousness or lust sticks to them like their skin. They
are willing to see all their idols broken, but this one. If you are such an
one, I say to you this day, ‘Take care: remember Lot’s wife.’
e. Are you trifling with little sins? Alas many are! They hold the
great essential doctrines of the gospel. They keep clear of all gross
profligacy, or open breach of God's law, but they are painfully careless
about little inconsistencies, and painfully ready to make excuses for
them. ‘It is only a little temper, or a little levity, or a little
thoughtlessness, or a little forgetfulness,’ they tell us, ‘God does not take
account of such little matters. We are none of us perfect; God will never
require it.’ If you are such an one, I say to you this day, ‘Take care:
remember Lot’s wife.’
f. Are you resting on religious privileges? Alas, many do! They
enjoy the opportunity of hearing the gospel regularly preached, and of
attending many ordinances, and means of grace, and they settle down
on their lees. They seem to be rich, and increased with goods, and have
need of nothing’ (Rev. 3:17); while they have neither faith, nor grace,
nor spiritual-mindedness, nor meetness for heaven. If you are such an
one, I say to you this day, ‘Take care: remember Lot’s wife.’
g. Are you trusting to your religious knowledge? Alas, many do!
They are not ignorant, as other men: they know the difference between
true doctrine and false. They can dispute, they can reason, they can
argue, they can quote texts; but all this time they are not converted,
and they are yet dead in trespasses and sins. If you are such an one, I
say to you this day, ‘Take care: remember Lot’s wife.’
h. Are you making some profession of religion, and yet clinging to
the world? Alas, many do! They aim at being thought Christians. They
like the credit of being serious, steady, proper, regular church-going
people; yet all the while their dress, their tastes, their companions, their
entertainments tell plainly they are of the world. If you are such an
one, I say to you this day, ‘Take care: remember Lot’s wife.’
i. Are you trusting that you will have a deathbed repentance? Alas,
many do so! They know they are not what they ought to be: they are
not yet born again, and fit to die. But they flatter themselves that when
their last illness comes they shall have time to repent and lay hold on
Christ, and go out of the world pardoned, sanctified and meet for
heaven. They forget that people often die very suddenly, and that as
they live they generally die. If you are such an one, I say to you this
day, ‘Take care: remember Lot’s wife.’
j. Do you belong to an evangelical congregation? Many do and, alas,
go no further! They hear the truth Sunday after Sunday, and remain as
hard as the nether millstone. Sermon after sermon sounds in their ears.
Month after month they are invited to repent, to believe, to come to
Christ and to be saved. Year after year passes away, and they are not
changed. They keep their seat under the teaching of a favourite minister
and they also keep their favourite sins. If you are such an one, I say to
you this day, ‘Take care: remember Lot’s wife.’
Oh, may these solemn words of our Lord Jesus Christ be deeply graven
on all our hearts! May they awaken us when we feel sleepy, revive us
when we feel dead, sharpen us when we feel dull, warm us when we feel
cold! May they prove a spur to quicken us when we are falling back,
and a bridle to check us when we are turning aside! May they be a
shield to defend us when Satan casts a subtle temptation at our heart,
and a sword to fight with, when he says boldly, ‘Give up Christ, come
back to the world, and follow me!’ Oh, may we say, in such hours of
trial, ‘Soul, remember thy Saviour’s warning! Soul, soul, hast thou
forgotten His words? Soul, soul, remember Lot’s wife!’