Luke 9:61-62 And another also said, Lord, I will follow you; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.… — "Lord, I will follow Thee: but." I. First, here comes a man who says, "Lord, I will follow Thee; but I WANT A LITTLE MORE ENJOYMENT OUT OF LIFE BEFORE I BECOME A CHRISTIAN." His notion is that religion is decidedly a melancholy affair, and that from the moment that he becomes a follower of Christ, he must bid adieu to all merriment and pleasure. Secretary Walsingham, an eminent statesman in the time of Queen Elizabeth, in the latter period of his life, retired to a quiet spot in the country. Some of his former gay associates came to him, and made the remark that he was now growing melancholy. "Not melancholy," replied he, "but serious." The mistake of those frivolous courtiers is precisely the mistake made by thousands, that of confounding seriousness with melancholy. The deepest joy is serious, and being serious is stable. Away with the notion that the pleasures of the world are denied to a believer! II. The next objector comes forward and says, "Lord, I would follow Thee; but THE NATURE OF MY BUSINESS PREVENTS ME." When Adam Clarke was a young man, his employer once bid him stretch short measure to make it enough; but his reply was, "Sir, I can't do it; my conscience won't allow me." He lost his situation, but God found him another. It never pays in the long run to have God against you. It all depends on how your money comes to you, Whether it is better to have it or to want it. Be sure of this, that character and a good conscience are the best capital. III. Number three starts up, and, in loud and self-asserting tones, proclaims that he has a mind to be religious, but DOES NOT FIND THAT CHRISTIANS ARE ANY BETTER TITAN OTHER PEOPLE. This is a polite way of hinting that they are possibly a little worse. I met with a case in point only the other day. I was visiting in the same house with a man who had been under deep religious impressions, and was " almost persuaded," but he had been repelled by the conduct of certain persons who bore the Christian name. "They were the most unprincipled fellows I ever knew, and their religion disgraced everything they touched." Stop, my friend; say, their hypocrisy disgraced everything they touched." To speak the truth, it was not their religion, but their want of religion, that made them the rogues and scamps they were. IV. "I would be a Christian," says another, "but YOU KNOW ALL THESE THINGS ARE MATTERS OF MERE SPECULATION. WE CANNOT ARRIVE AT CERTAINTY ON THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION." The objection is plausible, but it is shallow and insufficient. 1. The evidence in favour of Christianity is far stronger than that demanded in respect to other matters which you daily accept, and in which great interests are involved. 2. That evidence furnishes the fullest demonstration of which the nature of the subject admits. V. I am only to name another objection, and it is perhaps the most insidious and fatal" of all. "Lord, I will follow Thee; but — THERE IS NO HURRY; THERE IS TIME ENOUGH." Remember, a resolution like that, though it quiets conscience, is worth nothing. (J. T. Davidson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. |
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