My Year with Spurgeon #20

Elijah's Appeal to the Undecided
Charles Spurgeon
1857
1 Kings 18:21

First, you will note that the prophet insisted upon the distinction which existed between the worship of Baal and the worship of Jehovah. Most of the people who were before him thought that Jehovah was God, and that Baal was god too, and that for this reason the worship of both was quite consistent. The great mass of them did not reject the God of their fathers wholly, nor did they bow before Baal wholly; but as polythiests, believing in many gods, they thought both Gods might be worshipped and each of them have a share in their hearts. “No,” said the prophet when he began, “this will not do, these are two opinions, you can never make them one they are two contradictory things which cannot be combined.

Serve your master, whoever he be. If you do profess to be religious, be so thoroughly, if you make any I profession to be a Christian be one, but if you are no Christian, do not pretend to be.

Men’'s opinions are not such things as we imagine. It is generally said now-a-days, that all opinions are right, and if a man shall honestly hold his convictions, he is, without doubt, right. Not so; truth is not changed by our opinions, a thing is either true or false of itself, and it is neither made true nor false by our views of it. It is for us therefore, to judge carefully, and not to think that any opinion will do.

Besides, opinions have influence upon the conduct, and if a man have a wrong opinion, he will, most likely, in some way or other, have wrong conduct, for the two usually go together.

I know that none of you will ever decide for God'’s gospel, unless God decide you; and I tell you that you must either be decided by the descent of the fire of his Spirit into your hearts now, or else in the day of judgment. Oh! which shall it be? Oh! that the prayer might be put up by the thousand lips that are here: “Lord, decide me now by the fire of thy Spirit; oh I let thy Spirit descend into my heart, to burn up the bullock, that I may be a whole burnt offering to God; to burn up the wood and the stones of my sin; to burn up the very dust of worldliness; ah, and to lick up the water of my impiety, which now lieth in the trenches, and my cold indifference, that seek to put out the sacrifice.”

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible