Words of Warning

For Those Wavering Between Belief and Unbelief

Charles H. Spurgeon

• Publisher: Aneko Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781622455003
• eBook ISBN: 9781622455010
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

He that believes in the Son has eternal life, and he that does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3: 36)This book, Words of Warning, is an analysis of people and the gospel of Christ. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Charles H. Spurgeon sheds light on the many ways people may refuse to come to Christ, but he also shines a brilliant light on how we can be saved. Unsaved or wavering individuals will be convicted, and if they allow it, they will be led to Christ. Sincere Christians will be happy and blessed as they consider the great salvation with which they have been saved. Whether or not we look to Jesus Christ for salvation is the single most important determination we must make during our lifetime. Countless books have been written addressing just about every imaginable self-help topic. Other books are written solely for entertainment. Some of these books are okay in their own right, but what good are they to the reader if he is lost in the end? Why do we spend so much time even with good things, but neglect the great? Not one thing we can do during our seventy or eighty years on earth amounts to anything if we are not in Christ. What we do for Christ is everlasting, and by claiming our salvation in Him, we have an exceedingly bright future.

Chapter 15

Wavering Between Two Opinions

Most of the people prior to Elijah thought that Jehovah was God, and that Baal was god, too. For this reason, the worship of both was quite consistent. The great majority of people did not reject the God of their fathers wholly, nor did they bow before Baal wholly. As polytheists, believing in many gods, they thought both gods could be worshipped, and each could have a share in their hearts.

“No,” said the prophet when he began, “this will not do; these are two different positions. You can never make them one. They are two contradictory things which cannot be combined. Instead of combining the two, which is impossible, you are wavering between the two, which makes a vast difference.”

“I will build in my house,” said one of them, “an altar for Jehovah here, and an altar for Baal there. I am of one position. I believe them both to be God.”

“No, no,” said Elijah, “it cannot be so. They are two, and they must be two. These things are not one, but two distinct positions. You cannot unite them.”

Many say, “I am worldly, but I am religious, too. I can go worship God on Sunday. I can also go to the races any other time. I go, on the one hand, to the place where I can serve my lusts, and I am met with entertainment in every room of every description. At the same time, I say my prayers most devoutly. Is it not possible to be a good Christian and a man of the world, too? Can I not hold with the hounds as well as run with the hare? May I not love God and serve the devil, too, taking pleasure from each of them, while giving my heart to neither?”

We answer, “No. They are two positions. You cannot do it, because they are distinct and separate.”

Mark Antony yoked two lions to his chariot, but there are two lions which no man has ever yoked together: the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the lion of the pit. These can never go together. You can hold two opinions in politics, perhaps, but you will be despised by everybody unless you are of one opinion or the other and act as an independent person. However, you cannot hold two opinions in the matter of your soul and Christianity. If God is God, serve Him and serve Him fully. If this world is god, serve it and do not claim to be a Christian.

If you think the things of the world are the best, serve them; devote yourself to them, grieve your conscience, and run into sin. But remember, if the Lord is your God, you cannot have Baal too. You must have one thing or the other. No one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). If you serve God, He is your master. If you serve the devil, he will be your master, and you cannot serve two masters.

Be wise and do not think that the two can be mingled together. Many a respectable deacon thinks that he can be covetous and greedy in business and try to take advantage of the poor, and still be a saint. He is a liar to God and to man! He is no saint. He is the very chief of sinners.

Many a very excellent woman is received into church fellowship among the people of God and thinks herself one of the elect, but is found full of wrath and bitterness. She is a slave of mischief and sin, a tattler, a slanderer, and a busybody. She enters into other people’s houses and turns everything like comfort out of the minds of those with whom she comes in contact. Still she believes that she is the servant of God and of the devil, too! No, my lady, this will not work. The two can never be served completely. Serve your master, whoever he is. If you do profess to be a Christian, be so completely. If you are not a Christian, do not pretend to be. If you love the world, then love it, but cast off your mask and do not be a hypocrite.

The double-minded person is the most despicable of all people. He is the follower of Janus, who wears two faces. He can look with one eye upon the (so-called) Christian world with great delight, and donate a little money to the Tract Society, the Bible Society, and the Missionary Society, but he has another eye over there, with which he looks at the casino, the pub, and other pleasures, which I do not care to mention, but which some may know more of than I wish to know. Such a person is worse than the most corrupt, in the opinion of anyone who knows how to judge. He might not seem worse in his open character, but he really is worse, because he is not honest enough to go through with what he professes.

Tom Loker, in Uncle Tom, was pretty near the mark when he shut the mouth of Haley, the slaveholder, who professed religion, with the following common-sense remark: “I can stand most any talk of yours, but your pious talk – that kills me right up. After all, what’s the odds between me and you? ’Tain’t that you care one bit more or have a bit more feelin’ – it’s clean, sheer, dog meanness, wanting to cheat the devil and save your own skin; don’t I see through it? And your getting religious, as you call it, after all, is a deal too mean for me. Run up a bill with the devil all your life, and then sneak out when pay time comes.”

How many do the same every day in London, in England, and everywhere else! They try to serve both masters, but it cannot be. The two things cannot be reconciled. God and greedy gain, Christ and Belial – these never can meet. There can never be an agreement between them, and they can never be brought into unity. Why would you even want to do so? Two opinions, said the prophet. He would not allow any of his hearers to profess to worship both. And Elijah came near unto all the people and said, How long shall ye halt between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word (1 Kings 18:21).

It was a day to be remembered when the multitudes of Israel were assembled at the foot of Carmel, and the solitary prophet of the Lord came forward to defy the four hundred and fifty priests of the false god. We could look upon that scene with the eye of historical curiosity, and we would find it rich with interest. Instead of doing that, however, we will look at it with the eye of attentive consideration and see if we cannot improve our lives by its teachings.

There are three kinds of people upon that hill of Carmel and along the plain. First, we have the devoted servant of Jehovah, a solitary prophet. On the other hand, we have the decided servants of the evil one – the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. However, the great majority of people that day belonged to a third group. They were those who had not fully determined whether to worship Jehovah – the God of their fathers, or Baal – the god of Jezebel.

On the one hand, their ancient traditions led them to fear Jehovah, and on the other hand, their interest in pleasing their leaders and keeping their positions led them to bow before Baal. Therefore, many of them were secret and half-hearted followers of Jehovah, but public worshippers of Baal. All of them at this time were wavering, or halting...

Table of contents

• Contents
• The Great World Prison and the Liberator
• The Only Salvation
• Those Who Do Not Take Warning
• How to Get Saving Faith
• Running for a Purpose
• The Course of the Wicked
• Coming to Christ
• The Gospel Feast
• Warnings to Certain Sinners
• Christ the Son of Man
• The Great Remedy
• The Kiss of Reconciliation
• Though One Rose from the Dead
• The Castle of Self
• Wavering Between Two Opinions