3063. Jotham's Special Honour

A Sermon Published On Thursday, October 24, 1907.

So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. {2Ch 27:6}

1. This is a very exceptional expression which is used here concerning Jotham, who is one of the kings of Judah who are commended as having done what was right in the sight of the Lord. All of them had their faults, yet they were the best monarchs that sat on the throne of Judah; and concerning Jotham it is mentioned as his special honour that he “became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.”

2. I want to draw your attention to this ancient king, and especially to point out to you, first, the special circumstances of Jotham’s life; secondly, the special distinction of his character; and then, thirdly, the special honour of his career. He “became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.”

3. I. So let us begin by considering THE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF JOTHAM’S LIFE.

4. And, to begin with, he was the son of a good father, and I should suppose, from the mention of his mother here, of a good mother too. This is a good beginning for a young man; and yet, notice that, there are many who have been trained in the ways of godliness who have not continued to walk in them. How often does it seem as if children were dead set against the very things which their parents have loved; and although one would almost have expected that they would have gone in the right way, yet, since grace does not run in the blood, we have deplorable proofs of human depravity even in those who can trace a long line of Christian ancestry. However, it was a great advantage to Jotham that he had godly patents; but it would have been no permanent and eternal advantage to him, — it would rather have involved him in greater responsibility without corresponding benefits, if it could not also have been said of him that “he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.”

5. And notice, next, that he did not commit the great fault of his father Uzziah. Uzziah was a good man, — an excellent man in many respects; but, in his latter days, he conceived the idea that he would be a priest as well as a king, and he therefore thrust himself into the place that was meant only for the priests. The priests, in great alarm, hurried into the temple of the Lord, where he had gone to burn incense on the altar of incense, and vehemently protested against his intrusion into their holy office. He was very angry with them; but, suddenly, the deadly leprosy was white on his brow, for God had struck him for his daring intrusion; and the priests thrust him out of the temple so that he might no longer pollute the sanctuary of the Lord; “yes,” we read, “he himself hurried also to go out, because the Lord had struck him.” Now, if a father — and, especially, a professedly godly father, — has committed a great fault, it may be a temptation for his son to fall into the same evil; but, in the case of Jotham, it was not so. He regarded his father’s sin rather as a beacon to warn him away from that rock on which Uzziah’s life had been wrecked; so, when he was put on the throne as vice-regent for his father, and Uzziah had been confined in a separate house as a leper who could not be allowed to mix with his family and his subjects, Jotham took that as a daily lesson for himself, and he walked all the more carefully and humbly before God, preparing his ways, as his father Uzziah had not done on that unfortunate, unhappy day when he went into the temple to offer incense. It is a great mercy for us, when we have seen others sin, if we use their shipwrecks as beacons for ourselves. What fascination should there be in sin? When one bird sees another fall into a snare, we wonder that it should itself be so foolish as to fall into the snare that it can see; yet we have known men, who have seen the sins of their parents, and the resultant sorrow, who have fallen into the same sins themselves. Dear Christian young people, if God has called you by his grace, and you have had professing Christian friends, whose imperfections you could not help seeing, and seeing with sorrow also the evil effects of their wrong-doing do not run into the same courses yourselves, but let the painful circumstances which have happened in your own family lead you all the more carefully, like Jotham, to prepare your ways before the Lord your God.

6. Jotham also was quite a young man when he came into a position of power. For some years, he occupied the place of his father, nominally holding the position of vice-regent, yet really acting as the actual monarch; and now, at the age of twenty-five, we find him sitting on the throne of Judah. How necessary it is, in young people especially, that the heart and the ways should be prepared before the Lord their God! Yet I retract the expression that it is “especially” necessary for young people to do this, for I have lived long enough to observe that the greatest faults that are ever committed by professedly Christian men are not committed by young people. It is most painful to me to remember that the worst cases of backsliding and apostasy that I have ever seen, in this church, have been by old and middle-aged men, — not by young people; for, somehow or other, the young people, if they are truly taught by God, know their weakness, and so they cry to God for help; but it often happens that more experienced people begin to think that they are not likely to fall into the faults and follies of the young; and I do not care how old a man may be — even if seven centuries had passed over his head, — if he began to trust in himself, he would be a fool, and soon he would have a grievous fall. Yes, even if he had lived as long as Methuselah, and all that while had been advancing in the divine life, so that he could even imagine that he had reached perfection, the moment he thought so he would be in imminent danger; and the instant he began to think that he should never fall, he would be the very one, more than all other men, who would be likely to fall into sin. They are the strongest who are the weakest in themselves. They are the richest who know how poor they are apart from God. They have the most grace who know how utterly empty they would be of grace if the Lord should ever withdraw his hand from giving it to them. Growing Christians think nothing of themselves, but full-grown Christians know themselves to be less than nothing. Notwithstanding that there are special dangers associated with youth, and especially with youth placed in a prominent position, here was an example of a young man and a king, and yet, for all that a saint of the right kind, one who “prepared his ways before the Lord his God.” It must be a hard matter to be a king and to be a saint at the same time. The combination has very seldom occurred; and when it has, it has been a prodigious triumph of grace. So young man, if God shall put you into a place of great responsibility, where you will need much grace to keep you from falling, ask him for the necessary grace, and he will give it to you. Do not ask for an eminent position; let your prayer rather be, “Do not lead me into temptation.” An eminent position always has a measure of temptation connected with it, so you are justified in praying to be preserved from it. Still, if the position is one which it is your duty to take, take it, and trust in God’s grace to keep you there in safety. You are just as safe if God has put you on the cross of St. Paul’s Cathedral as you would be on the pavement below, — quite as secure on the top of a mast as you would be in the cabin of the vessel, if God, in his providence, has called you to occupy that position. Only, since there is, in itself, a great danger in the lofty pinnacle, you have all the more reason to ask for the necessary grace that you may carefully prepare your ways before the Lord, so that you may not bring the greater dishonour on his name because of the prominence of the position you are called to occupy. King Jotham was a young man, and a great man; yet, for all that, he was a saintly man.

7. Remember also that he lived in very evil times. The second verse of this chapter tells us that his own people, whom he had to govern, “still acted corruptly”; and the parallel passage, in 2Ki 15:35, says that they “still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.” Their king’s good example was not sufficient to reclaim them from the iniquities in which they had so long indulged. It was a great thing for the nation to have a king who worshipped Jehovah, but it was a sad thing that the people still continued to practise their idolatrous rites in the high places, which they were forbidden to do. It is not an easy thing for a man — even a king — to live above his surroundings, and all men are more or less the creatures of circumstances. They are influenced for good or evil by the people all around them; and most of them mould their consciences according to the consciences of other people with whom they come in contact. Even down to a few years ago, there were undoubtedly good men, in America, who did not think it wrong to buy, and sell, and hold slaves; the general conscience of the people around them was only up to that level, and their own conscience was not sufficiently enlightened to lift them above their surroundings. They did not see that no man has a right to the labours of another man without adequate payment, and that every man has a right to his own liberty. Their conscience had no more light than there was in those who lived all around them. When a man lives in a feverish district, he must have a good sound constitution, and be in vigorous health, if he is not to feel some of the evil influence by which he is surrounded; for, if he does not actually take the fever, there is a feverishness, a lethargy, and a condition of malaise around him, which he would not have felt if he had been in a more healthful and bracing atmosphere. Yet Jotham appears to have been, through divine grace, a man full of spiritual health, although he lived in a land that was spiritually fever-stricken. He dwelt in the midst of people who were corrupt, and yet was himself uncorrupted, “because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.” Some of you, young people, do not know much about this experience, because you live, as it were, in a hothouse, with Christian parents, and with the means of grace all around you. You are like plants in a conservatory; you ought to grow fast. But there are others here, who know what the chilly atmosphere of the world means, and who know only too well that, after they have been communing with God for a little while within these walls, they will have to go where they will hear the voice of blasphemy and profanity, and see a thousand things which grieve their spirits day by day, and hour by hour. If that is the case with you, my friends, you ought, above all others, to prepare your ways before the Lord your God. I charge you, my brethren, if your occupation takes you among ungodly men, — and there are some lawful occupations that will call us where we shall certainly encounter little or nothing that will help us, but much that will hinder us, — you must be careful, more than all men, to keep a diligent watch on yourselves, and to prepare your ways before the Lord your God. Your Lord does not pray the Father to take you out of the world, but he does pray that he will keep you from the evil that is in the world; and in accordance with his prayer, it ought to be the great aim of your life that you may so live as not to be dragged down to the low level of ungodly men, — indeed, and not even down to the level of common Christianity; for the level of ordinary Christianity, at this day, far too closely resembles that of the church in Laodicea, which was so nauseous to the Lord. May you, beloved, be a people separated to God, to walk in holiness before him, and to adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour in all things! But if it is to be so with those of you who are placed in circumstances similar to those of Jotham, king of Judah, you must do as he did, you must prepare your ways before the Lord your God.

8. Once more, just as Jotham’s surroundings at home were bad, so they were a little further afield, for the adjoining kingdom of Israel was utterly polluted with idolatry, and all kinds of evil; and Jotham was obliged, more or less, to feel the influence of that ungodly neighbouring nation. Wherever he looked, he saw very few who prepared their ways before God. Every man went his own way, and sought his own wealth or pleasure, and oppressed the people around him; but Jotham, like — 

             the seraph Abdiel, faithful found

   Among the faithless, faithful only he, — 

“prepared his ways before the Lord his God.” Oh, that such grace as that might be found in abundance in all Christians now, so that they might seek to walk on the right road in God’s name, — not running with the multitude to do evil, but choosing the strait and narrow way which leads to eternal life with strong resolve determining, the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, that, let others do as they wish, as for them and their house, they will serve the Lord, and their ways shall be prepared before him.

9. While there were so many unfavourable circumstances that might have been a hindrance to Jotham, there was one fact that must have been very helpful to him. There were some notable prophets living in Judah in his day. Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah must all have been well known to Jotham; Isaiah wrote the biography of his father Uzziah, for it is said, in the chapter before that from which our text is taken, “Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote.” Jotham therefore knew Isaiah, and I should not wonder if it was one of the greatest helps for the growth of his spiritual life to be able to talk with such a man, so full of light and love, with such a clear foresight of the coming of Christ, and such far-reaching visions of the glory of the blessed gospel-day. I should not wonder if Jotham often got away from the people, and got away from the court, and talked alone with this holy man of God. If he did, it was the natural means which God generally uses for the strengthening of his people. You will be wise, you young Christian professors, if you cultivate Christian companionship. Try to live with those who live with God, and sit at the feet of those who sit at the feet of Christ. God may speak through them to your soul; so give heed to what they say, it may be that, in giving heed to them, you will be listening to the voice of God himself. If God does not lack a messenger to deliver his message, do not let the messenger lack a hearer to receive the message. Rest assured that you will be most likely to grow in grace when you are earnestly and zealously attending the ministry of the Word. The messages of the Lord’s chosen prophets probably greatly strengthened the good resolutions and the deep-seated principles of Jotham, and so helped him to prepare his ways before the Lord his God.

10. This must suffice concerning Jotham’s circumstances; they are certainly instructive and suggestive to us.

11. II. Now, secondly, we are to consider THE SPECIAL DISTINCTION OF JOTHAM’S CHARACTER. It is said that “he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.” What does that sentence mean?

12. Certainly it means, first, that he resolved to do what God told him. He made God’s law, God’s will, to be the rule that was to govern his life. He desired that what he did should be right in the sight of the Lord. He did not trouble about being thought to be right by neighbouring kings; nor was it his chief care to be thought to be right by the people over whom he ruled. He was not ambitious to be regarded as right by the heathen nations that were near him, but he did want to be right in the sight of God. He had selected, as the rule by which he was to regulate his conduct, God’s standard of right, and equity, and truth, and righteousness. Jotham recognised Jehovah as being his God, and he understood that he was bound to obey God, — that the first object of his life ought to be to please him who first gave him life, and who had continued to sustain in him in life. It is a grand thing when a man comes to this decision, — that the rule of his life shall be the will of God, — that, from that day forward, God the Holy Spirit working in him, to will and to do according to God’s good pleasure, he will judge that to be right which God commands, and that to be wrong which God forbids, and that all other rules shall only be rules to him in proportion as they keep in line with this rule; and that, whatever else may be the guide for others, though it may be a matter of custom, or prescription, or law, or example of the highest kind, he will not yield to it.

13. The worst of it is that there are so many who have a number of petty masters whom they try to serve. One says, “I would not do anything that is not customary to people in my position.” Another says, (and this is a great thing with most men) “I should not like to be regarded as eccentric or unfashionable.” Another asks, “What would society say?” — that wonderful tyrant of these latter days. Yet another says, “But my father always did as I am doing,” so putting his father in the place that ought to be occupied by his God. Another says, “But, you know, my practice is in accordance with the Council of such and such a Church”; or, “it is in accordance with the decisions of such and such a Synod”; — as if Councils, or Synods, or anything else had any right to rule over us, except in so far as their regulations are in harmony with the will of the Lord our God. It is grand to feel that you are free from all these fetters, and that you can say, “Oh Lord, I am your servant, you have released my bonds, and no earthly or hellish power can now make my spirit bow down before it. Your will commands me, but no other will does. My knee bows before your omnipotent majesty. With awe and reverence I worship you, and desire to be subservient in all things to your great behests, oh Jehovah; but as for these creatures of yours, what are they that I should fear them? Who are they, — like the moths that swiftly pass away, and the worms that soon perish, — that I should tremble at their frown, or court their smile?” God, and God alone, should be the Christian’s master; and the rule of his conduct should be the will of the Lord alone as revealed in the teaching of this blessed Book. Happy will Christians be, and strong in the Lord will they become, when they get as far as that.

14. But that is not all; that is only the beginning. Jotham had set up the true standard; he desired to do what was right in the sight of the Lord. But the next thing was that he experienced God’s presence, and so acted like a man who was living consciously in God’s presence. According to the text, he “prepared his ways before the Lord his God.” Beloved, do you and I always experience God’s presence in this way? Suppose that, at this very moment, it flashed into your mind that God was looking into your heart, could you say that you are loving and thinking of such things as you would be glad to be loving and thinking about, while you were conscious that God was looking at you? Where have you been today? It is not my place to answer the question for you. Where have you been today? Have you been in such places that you would be glad for God to see you there? Have you been in a strong frame of mind that you would be glad for God to see you in that frame of mind? Have you spoken to others in just that spirit and tone that you would like God to hear? He did hear it, remember; he was there; but would you have done as you have done had you been fully conscious, as you ought to have been, that God was there? You know that you sometimes do things that you would not like others to see you doing; and you are startled when someone finds you acting like that. But should it be so? Should it be so? Of course, I do not mean that any of the ordinary work that any of us are doing is of that character; the work that we are doing around the house or in our business should not be a reason of shame for us. I suddenly came on one of our friends, the other day, just as she was white-washing the front steps. “Oh, dear!” she said, “Mr. Spurgeon, I am sorry you caught me doing this.” “My good woman,” I said, “I hope that, when the Lord comes, he will find me at work about my proper duties, just as I have found you. Never mind about your hands; they are as good to shake as they ever were. Let us go into the house, and have a little talk together.” There is nothing to be ashamed of or to blush at in such work as that; but I should be ashamed, and expect others to blush if I found them cheating, or doing wrong in some other way, or idling their time away, as some do. Ought we not to live as though we were expecting the Lord Jesus Christ to come at any minute, or as if we knew, as we do know, that God sees us and knows all about us every moment?

15. But that is not all that we gather concerning Jotham’s character. He had accepted the right standard, and he had set that standard in the right light; but now he went even further, for he was thoughtfully and carefully considerate. I think that is the gist of the meaning of the expression, “He prepared his ways before the Lord his God.” That is to say, he did not go and live in what I may call a careless, happy-go-lucky, hit-or-miss, all-or-nothing, head-over-heels kind of way of living, as some people do. They rush with desperate haste into the battle of life, and never seem to give time for thought regarding due preparation for the great combat. When any good impulse comes over them, away they go, in the right direction, at such a speed that you would think they were very eminent and zealous saints; but perhaps tomorrow there will be an evil impulse come over them, and they will go just as fast in the wrong direction. They are so easily influenced by outside circumstances that they are turned either way by those who have power over them, and they are as thoughtless for good as they are for evil. They are heedless and reckless, — fine enthusiastic people in their way, but they lack solidity, they are without permanent principles. Like Reuben, being unstable as water, they shall not excel. If a tailor is about to make a suit of clothes, he looks carefully at the cloth before he begins to cut it; but there are some people, who seem to use the scissors without any thought at all; they cut out their life-garment without any forethought. When a man goes into a certain trade, if he hopes to do business, he lays out his plans with considerable forethought, and considers his projects with all proper care. If he is to be a successful man of business, he must exercise forethought; and, in the Christian life, we also need much forethought. There ought to be a mapping out of the day, a mapping out of the year, in fact, a mapping out of life itself, and a serious thinking over every part of it. We should often do much better if we did nothing at all. We should frequently make most progress if we stood quite still. Our common proverb is quite correct, “The more haste, the worse speed.” It would be a wise plan for each one of us to pause for a while to put the hand to the brow, and then to say, “Lord, let me hear a voice behind me saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

16. We need to be led where the path seems most plain. Did not the children of Israel make a great mistake in the case of the Gibeonites, because it seemed very clear that they must have come from a far country? We generally make our worst mistakes in matters which appear to us to be so plain, that we think we do not need direction from God concerning them. If we waited on God in what we regarded as plain and simple matters, if we made that our rule with regard to them, we should be more likely to go right in the more difficult matters. It would be something like the old proverb, “Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.” I mean that, if we always took our simplicities to God, we should be quite sure to take our difficulties to him. I suppose Jotham used, when he was considering a certain course of action, to consider whether he could glorify God by that course of action; and if he thought he could not, he would not take it; and when there was proposed to him any mode of doing a certain thing which had to be done, he looked carefully to see whether it was God’s mode; and if it was not, he would not adopt that method of doing even the right thing, but would do the right thing in the right way.

17. But I think there is even more meaning than this in our text. In order to accomplish this preparation of his ways before the Lord his God, Jotham must have been a man of prayer. He could not have prepared his ways like this anywhere except at the mercy seat. He must have been in the habit of taking his daily troubles to his God, and of seeking guidance from him in his daily difficulties, and of blessing him for his daily mercies. He must have been in constant communion with his God, or else he could not have ordered his ways properly before him.

18. And I should also gather, from our text, that Jotham was a very fearless, calm, collected, quiet-spirited man, who was not easily moved, for I find that the marginal reading is, “He established his ways before the Lord his God.” He was not fickle-minded, carried around by every wind that blew; but having prepared his heart to serve the Lord, God was pleased to give him fixity of heart, so that he was established in the right way. He could say with David, “My heart is fixed, oh God, my heart is fixed”; and the marginal reading to that is “prepared.” “My heart is prepared, oh God.” Jotham was steadfast in the right way. What a grand thing it is, in our daily life, not to be so worried that we are almost driven to distraction, and caused to do foolish things through unwise haste; and what a mercy it is to be kept calm and quiet in our daily walk before the Lord our God! Oh dear friends, seek to be established like this before the Lord; so that, whatever happens to you, your heart shall be so fixed that you shall not be afraid of bad news! You can never have power to move the world unless you have a fixed fulcrum for your lever; but if your heart is fixed on God, you will be able to move the world, but the world will not be able to move you.

19. The real reason why Jotham’s heart was prepared and established before God was because his heart was right with God. And how did his heart get to be right with God? Why, in the same way as yours and mine must, — by being created anew. The heart of man, by nature, whether it is Jotham’s heart or anyone else’s, is a heart of stone; and God’s almighty grace must make it a heart of flesh, or else it always will remain a heart of stone. If there is anything good in any man, it must have been placed there by a supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit. Job rightly said, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.” Who can bring fixity of heart out of an unstable heart like ours? Who can bring the preparation of our ways before God out of a heart that is, by nature, deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked? Jotham earned the commendation in our text because he had been the subject of sovereign grace, and still continued to be so; and if you and I think that we can prepare our ways before the Lord our God without first resorting to the precious blood of Christ for cleansing, and to the Holy Spirit for the renewal of our nature, we shall make a very great mistake. The Lord must first work in us both to will and to do for his good pleasure, and then we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling; but, not until he has worked like this in us can we work it out. {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 820, “Working Out What is Worked In” 811}

20. III. Now, thirdly, we are to notice THE SPECIAL HONOUR OF JOTHAM’S CAREER: “So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.”

21. I should imagine, first, that he was mighty in resolve. It is a grand thing to have a man of resolves, who has a high purpose before him, and who intends to accomplish it. That is the only man who is worthy to be called a man. As for that poor creature who looks like a man, but who does not have any mind or will of his own, who has his ear pulled, first this way, and then that way, whoever likes to pull it, — what is the use of such a creature on the face of the earth? But Jotham was not a man of that kind; he sought counsel from the Lord to know what he ought to do; he judged honestly and carefully, in the sight of God, what was the right thing for him to do; and when he found that out, he put his foot down, and said, “That is the thing that I am going to do.” It was no use for any of his subjects to say to him, “But perhaps that is not a prudent thing for you to do.” He believed that to be right is to be truly prudent. It was no use for any of them to say to Jotham, “But this course of yours may involve us as well as you in serious trouble.” He knew perfectly well that, if right sometimes brings trouble, wrong always brings ten times as much; and whenever doing right does bring trouble, it ought to be the delight of the right-hearted to endure that trouble cheerfully. Jotham was strong in resolution, as a man has a right to be when he knows that his resolution is a right one; and that man, who has prepared his heart and his ways, with a single eye to God’s glory, resolving only to do the right thing whatever may happen, is the man who has a right to say, “I will,” and “I shall”; and he is the man who, in the long run, will be respected by his fellow men.

22. Having ordered his ways before the Lord his God, Jotham had another kind of strength, which is a very valuable one, — he was mighty in faith. He felt this, “I have sincerely desired to glorify God, and to walk in his ways, and I am sure that God will carry me through.” When he felt that it was right for him to fight the king of the Ammonites, he did fight him in no half-hearted manner, because he felt that, if God had told him to fight, God would surely give him the victory. He went to all his work relying on God; and oh, how strong is the man who is mighty in faith! You know that you cannot have faith in God about a thing that you know is wrong. If you have ever so slight a suspicion that you are in the wrong, you cannot trust in God concerning it. It is like a little stone in your shoe, it may not kill you, but you cannot walk with comfort as long as it is there. And a little question — even a very little one — concerning whether you are in the right, cuts the sinews of your strength, and you go limping along, even if you can go at all. If I were speaking to you as a member of a church in which I did not quite believe, if I had to twist my message so as to make it fit the creed that I professed to hold, I should feel wretched. I would not get into such a position as that; I would sooner break stones on the road any day. But when I feel that I have satisfied the requirements of my conscience in all points, and that, if I do err, I do not err wilfully, or with my eyes open about it, then I can speak with confidence, and say, “I know that this is right, and that God will help me through with it. It does not matter at all to me what it involves. If it should bring me to poverty or suffering, or draw down on my head misrepresentation and contempt, it does not matter a bit. Wisdom will be shown to be right by its results. God never did forsake the right yet, and he never will; it must conquer in the long run.” If the follower of the right and the true should have to suffer, it shall be a joy to him, for so he will be all the more a follower of his Lord and Master, and of all the true servants of his God who have gone before.

23. Since Jotham was a mighty man in resolution and in faith, he also became mighty in prayer. You know that you cannot pray to God with power about a thing that you are not certain is right. It is no use for me to ask the Lord to help me in a matter in which there is something that will grieve his Holy Spirit; it must be a case that I can confidently bring before God if I am to secure his help in it. I am sure that some tradespeople could not show the Lord their books; and if they cannot do so, and they are getting into difficulties, who can help them out of them? But when all is straight and honest, and the loss, whatever it may be, is caused by no fault of theirs, or when the accusation that is brought against them is nothing but slander, than they can present their petition to God with a clear conscience, and they may rest assured that he will hear them, and grant their requests. A man becomes mighty in prayer, as well as in resolution and in faith, whose ways are prepared before the Lord his God.

24. And such a man also becomes mighty in action. He does not have that guilty conscience which is the very essence of cowardice. He has gone before God as a sinner, and confessed his guilt; and he has been washed in the precious blood of Jesus, and cleansed from every stain. His heart has been renewed by the Holy Spirit; and although he is not yet perfect, he is perfect in his intention to do the Lord’s will; and feeling that he is right, and that what he is doing is at God’s bidding, he is a terrible man to oppose. He is such a man that no one else shall be able to stand against him all the days of his life. He is of that seed royal that Haman will in vain seek to kill, for Haman will be hanged on the gallows, but Mordecai will be in power in the palace. So if a man has prepared his ways before the Lord his God, he will be mighty in all that he does, and God will be with him.

25. And this, dear friends, will make him mighty against his foes, as Jotham was against the Ammonites. Often, they will not even dare to attack him; for “when a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” They will watch him, and go all around him, as Satan went all around Job, but they will find scarcely anything that they can truthfully say against him. Or if they do oppose him, it will be of no use, for he will live them down, if he does not overcome them in any other way. If they bark at him, he will let them bark, for he knows it is the nature of dogs to do so; and he will go on his way all the same, just as the moon does when the dogs bark at her at night. She never pauses in her course, but still goes shining on her way.

26. If a man’s ways are prepared before the Lord his God, he will be mighty not only against his foes, but he will also be mighty in the midst of his own people. Even though Jotham’s subjects would not follow him in all respects, they respected him, and loved him, and made great lamentation over him when he died. Let me say to you young men, if you want to have influence over your friends, do not take to flattering them, and never try to show them how great your talents are, or to make them believe you are somebody of importance. We have seen plenty of flashes in the pan, but the darkness has been just as great afterwards. Believe me, there is no building up of character, except on sound principles, and there is no building up of influence except on good character. You must seek, God helping you by his Spirit, to prepare and establish your ways before him, and then such influence as you ought to have will come to you. When a man tells me that he is very good, I do not believe it. There are certain people, nowadays, who are writing, and printing, and talking in order to convince us that they are wonderfully holy. I used to think that some of them were so until they said it themselves; but ever since they have said it, I have gravely questioned whether it is true. If anyone whom I met always told me that he was rich, — well, if I had dealings with him in business, I should want him to pay cash for everything; and when a person tells me that he is holy, — well, I trust him as far as I can throw him, and not much farther, for really holy men seldom say anything about their own holiness. They have no need to do so, for it always shows itself. Gold glitters quite enough by itself to show what it is, so there is no need for us to say, “That is gold.” You do not need to say of these lamps, “They are bright.” They say that for themselves by saying nothing, and simply shining.

27. I have been preaching to you about a very wonderful example of a gracious man; I wonder whether everyone here wishes to be like him. I am afraid there are some of you who never try to prepare your ways at all; and as for preparing your ways before the Lord, that idea has never struck you yet. And yet, my dear hearer, what can be so safe a way of living as to live in the love of God? And what can be more unhappy than for a man to be out of sync with the omnipotent Creator, — to feel, every day you live, that you are forgetting God, and are ungrateful to him, and that he is angry with you? I hope that this thought will strike some of you to the heart, and make you miserable until all that is altered; and the way for it to be altered is for you to submit yourself to God by repentance, and by looking to Jesus Christ by faith. May his Holy Spirit lead you to do so now, and then you will begin to live the happiest of lives, for you will be preparing your ways before the Lord your God.

28. May God bless you all for Jesus’ sake! Amen.

The OCR quality of this sermon was poor and contained many spurious comas, italics and corrupted or missing words. Editor.