Our Father's claim
I. GOD CLAIMS NOTHING LESS THAN THE HEART.
1. Some offer belief of the intellect. It is well to understand truth and to believe in that which is revealed about God. We may give many thoughts to God; but these, without the heart, will not satisfy him.
2. Some offer external service. This is claimed by God, but only as the fruit of a loving heart. Given in hard, mechanical work, without love or devotion, it is worthless in the sight of God.
3. Some offer money, sacrifices, worship. All such things are acceptable only as growing out of the heart. In heartless worshippers these are but mockery; and are rejected by God.
4. God's true children must give their hearts. They must give themselves, their inmost being, their very lives, thoughts, affections, desires.
II. THE HEART IS CLAIMED BY GOD ABOVE ALL.
1. The world tries to claim it. Some men are enchained in its fascinations, and so withdrawn from God.
2. Sin endeavours to ensnare it. If it is not a divine possession, it will be held by sin. It cannot be detached. It will be given to evil if not to God.
3. Self hopes to hold it. In selfishness men would retain their hearts, their love and devotion, for their own interests. Yet in doing so their hearts harden, shrink, and perish.
4. God has the supreme claim on the heart. We must not be satisfied with devotion to the Church or with good will towards men. The first duty is to love the Lord our God with all our heart. He mast be first.
III. THE HEART MUST BE WHOLLY GIVEN TO GOD. We must not be content to love God half-heartedly. We must give our heart to God, and give it wholly, if we would satisfy his claim.
1. Give it in affection. This means a supreme surrender of our heart's love to God.
2. Give it in devotion. God expects loyal service, not merely the adoration of the lips or the work of the hands, but the consecration of the very soul and life and being to him.
3. Give it in trust. If one truly gives his heart to God, it is put in a safe place, to be guarded from harm and sin. God is the safest treasury for man's most precious treasure. When the heart is entrusted to God, he will not betray it; its affection and devotion will lead it not to desire evil; it will be in a sanctuary amid the storms and battles of life.
IV. GOD CLAIMS THE HEART OF HIS SON BECAUSE HE IS A FATHER. This is a family claim. The call, My son, justifies the claim, "Give me thine heart."
1. The claim rests on the obligation of the filial tie. A young man may freely choose or refuse a particular person to be his friend. But he is not thus free in regard to his father. He owes duty and love to a father. God is represented by Malachi as saying, "A son honoreth his father … if then I be a Father, where is mine honour?" (Malachi 1:6).
2. The claim is strengthened by the love of God. He is a good Father; he does not ask his son to do what he has not done himself. God first gives his heart to his child, and then seeks the child's heart in return.
V. THE HEART MUST BE GIVEN VOLUNTARILY TO GOD. God is Lord of all, and he has a right to enforce universal obedience. But he cares not for loveless, compulsory service. Therefore he condescends to wait for willing devotion, and to ask for the heart of his son.
1. Perhaps the heart is not yet given to God. God seeks what he has not received.
2. The heart can only be given by decision of will. We shall remain away from God unless we decide to respond to the call of our Father, and freely offer him our hearts.
The danger of strong drink
I. IT IS TERRIBLY FASCINATING.
1. It is beautiful to the eye. The wine sparkles in the cup.
2. It is palatable. Though children at first shudder at it, as at some unnatural product, the early dislike is easily surmounted, and then nothing can be more attractive.
3. It is exhilarating. It gives pleasurable excitement, stimulates jaded energies, enlivens conversation, drowns sorrow, and promises still larger enjoyments.
4. It is recommended by social influences. Good fellowship seems to go with the use of strong drink. In some circles to decline it appears unsociable.
II. IT IS FEARFULLY DANGEROUS. The mischief is not seen at first. It is "at last" that "it biteth like a serpent" Hence its snake-like deception, as welt as the deadliness of its venom. But this venom is so deadly that all need to be warned against its fatal consequences. It bites in many places; e.g.:
1. The purse. Money runs out like water, business fails, the home is wrecked and broken up as the effect of this serpent-bite of strong drink.
2. The health. The firm hand becomes palsied, the bright eye dimmed, and the strong body diseased when this venom of intoxication is in the blood.
3. The mental powers. The brain is weakened with the body. Thought is paralyzed or reduced to inanity. The lawyer, the doctor, the scholar, lose the faculties necessary for their avocations.
4. The moral nature. The one sin of intemperance too often debauches the conscience and prepares the way for other sins (see Proverbs 23:33).
5. Reputation. The drunkard loses his character. His good name vanishes in smoke when this deadly serpent lays hold of him.
6. Soul life. This, too, is poisoned and slain. Religion is wrecked. The drunkard cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
III. IT SHOULD BE UTTERLY SHUNNED. It is urged that all these indisputably evil things only come from drinking to excess. They are the results of the abuse, not of the use of strong drink. Men should be wise enough to take warning, and not to go to excess with what, used in moderation, is perfectly harmless. This was not the opinion of the wisest man. He not only urged his reader to refrain from excess; he would have him not even look at the fascinating cup, lest he should be ensnared by its snake-like charms. Many things concur to demand this extra caution.
1. The terrible extent and evil of intemperance. This is no small failing, but a national vice, and a source of wide and awful wretchedness. As no ordinary enemy has to be faced, so no ordinary means will secure us against it.
2. The insidious nature of the temptation. It works by slow degrees. At first it appears to be harmless. The fatal steps lead down slowly and without a shock of surprise, till it is too late to return. It is best to hold back at first.
3. The needlessness of the strong drink. Except in particular conditions of weakness and illness, it is not required. To renounce it is not to sacrifice any really good thing.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON