that night; he kept thinking of what he had heard. When the Holy Ghost is dealing with a man"s conscience, very often sleep departs from him. Herod cannot get this wilderness preacher and his message out of his mind. The truth had reached his soul; it echoed and re -echoed within him: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
He says:
"I went out to-day to hear for the Roman Government; I think I will go to-morrow and hear for myself."
So he goes back again and again. My text says that he heard him gladly, that he observed him, and feared him, knowing that he was a just man and a holy. He must have known down in his heart that John was
A HEAVEN-SENT MESSENGER.
Had you gone into the palace in those days, you would have heard Herod talking of n.o.body but John the Baptist. He would say to his a.s.sociates:
"Have you been out into the desert to hear this strange preacher?"
"No; have you?"
"Yes."
"What! you, the Roman Governor, going to hear this unordained preacher?"
"Yes, I have been quite often. I would rather hear him than any man I ever knew. He does not talk like the regular preachers. I never heard any one who had such influence over me."
You would have thought that Herod was a very hopeful subject. "He did many things." Perhaps he stopped swearing. He may have stopped gambling and getting drunk. A wonderful change seemed to have pa.s.sed over him. Perhaps he ceased from taking bribes for a time; we catch him at it afterwards, but just then he refrained from it. He became quite virtuous in certain directions. It really looked as if he were near the kingdom of heaven.
I can imagine that one day, as John stands preaching, the truth is going home to the hearts and consciences of the people, and the powers of another world are falling upon them, one of John"s disciples stands near Herod"s chariot, and sees the tears in the eyes of the Roman Governor. At the close of the service he goes to John and says:
"I stood close to Herod today, and no one seemed more impressed. I could see the tears coming, and he had to brush them away to keep them from falling."
Have you ever seen a man in a religious meeting trying to keep the tears back? You noticed that his forehead seemed to itch, and he put up his hand; you may know what it means--he wants to conceal the fact that the tears are there. He thinks it is a weakness. It is no weakness to get drunk and abuse your family, but it is weakness to shed tears. So this disciple of John may have noticed that Herod put his hand to his brow a number of times; he did not wish his soldiers, or those standing near, to observe that he was weeping.
The disciple says to John:
"It looks as if he were coming near the kingdom. I believe you will have him as an inquirer very soon."
When a man enjoys hearing such a preacher, it certainly seems a hopeful sign.
Herod might have been present that day when Christ was baptized. Was there ever a man lifted so near to heaven as Herod must have been if he were present on that occasion? I see John standing surrounded by a great throng of people who are hanging on his words. The eyes of the preacher, that never had quailed before, suddenly began to look strange. He turned pale and seemed to draw back as though something wonderful had happened, and right in the middle of a sentence he ceased to speak. If I were suddenly to grow pale, and stop speaking, you would ask:
"Has death crept onto the platform? Is the tongue of the speaker palsied?"
There must have been quite a commotion among the audience when John stopped. The eyes of the Baptist were fixed upon a Stranger who pushed His way through the crowd, and coming up to the preacher, requested to be baptized. That was a common occurrence; it had happened day after day for weeks past. John listened to the Stranger"s words, but instead of going at once to the Jordan and baptizing Him, he said:
"I need to be baptized of Thee!"
What a thrill of excitement must have shot through the audience! I can hear one whispering to another:
"I believe that is the Messiah!"
Yes, it was the long-looked-for One, for whose appearing the nation had been waiting these thousands of years. From the time G.o.d had made the promise to Adam, away back in Eden, every true Israelite had been looking for the Messiah; and there He was in their midst!
He insisted that John should baptize Him, and the forerunner recognized His authority as Master, took Him to the Jordan, and baptized Him. As He came up from the water, lo! the heavens opened, and the Spirit of G.o.d in the form of a dove descended and rested on Him. When Noah sent forth the dove from the Ark, it could find no resting-place; but now the Son of G.o.d had come to do the will of G.o.d, and the dove found its resting-place upon Him. The Holy Ghost had found a home. Now G.o.d broke the silence of four thousand years.
There came a voice from heaven, and Herod may have heard it if he was there that day:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Even if he had not witnessed this scene and heard the voice, he must have heard about it; for the thing was not done in a corner. There were thousands to witness it, and the news must have been taken to every corner of the land.
Yet Herod, living in such times, and hearing such a preacher, missed the kingdom of heaven at last. He did many things because he feared John. Had he feared G.o.d he would have done everything. "He did many things"; but there was one thing he would not do--
HE WOULD NOT GIVE UP ONE DARLING SIN.
The longer I preach, the more I am convinced that that is what keeps men out of the kingdom of G.o.d. John knew about Herod"s private life, and warned him plainly.
If those compromising Christians of whom I have spoken had been near John, one of them would have said:
"Look here, John, it is reported that Herod is very anxious about his soul, and is asking what he must do to be saved. Let me give you some advice; don"t touch on Herod"s secret sin. He is living with his brother"s wife, but don"t you say anything about it, for he won"t stand it. He has the whole Roman Government behind him, and if you allude to that matter it will be more than your life is worth.
You have a good chance with Herod; he is afraid of you. Only be careful, and don"t go too far, or he will have your head off."
There are those who are willing enough that you should preach about the sins of other people, so long as you do not come home to them.
My wife was once teaching my little boy a Sabbath-school lesson; she was telling him to notice how sin grows till it becomes habit. The little fellow thought it was coming too close to him, so he colored up, and finally said:
"Mamma, I think you are getting a good way from the subject."
John was a preacher of this uncompromising kind, for he drove the message right home. I do not know when or how the two were brought together at that time, but John kept nothing back; he boldly said:
"Herod, it is not lawful for thee to have thy brother"s wife."
The man was breaking the law of G.o.d, and living in the cursed sin of adultery. Thank G.o.d, John did not spare him! It cost the preacher his head, but the Lord had got his heart, and he did not care what became of his head. We read that Herod feared John, but John did not fear Herod.
I want to say that I do not know of a quicker way to h.e.l.l than by the way of adultery. Let no one flatter himself that he is going into the kingdom of G.o.d who does not repent of this sin in sackcloth and ashes. My friend, do you think G.o.d will never bring you into judgment? Does not the Bible say that no adulterer shall inherit the kingdom of G.o.d?
Do you think John the Baptist would have been a true friend of Herod if he had spared him, and had covered up his sin? Was it not a true sign that John loved him when he warned him, and told him he must quit his sin? Herod had before done many things, and heard John gladly; but he did not like him then. It is one thing to hear a man preach down other people"s sins. Men will say, "That is splendid,"
and will want all their friends to go and hear the preacher. But let him touch on their individual sin as John did, and declare (as Nathan did to David), "Thou art the man," and they say, "I do not like that." The preacher has touched a sore place.
When a man has broken his arm, the surgeon must find out the exact spot where the fracture is. He feels along and presses gently with his fingers.
"Is it there?"
"No"
"Is it there?"
"No."
Presently, when the surgeon touches another spot, "Ouch!" says the man.
He has found the broken part, and it hurts. John placed his finger on the diseased spot, and Herod winced under it. He put his hand right on it:
"Herod, it is not lawful for thee to have thy brother Philip"s wife!"