Charles H. Spurgeon

Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? —Hosea 14:8

Here is in our text an implied confession. Ephraim shall say, “What have I to do any more with idols?” “Any more with idols?” Then, Ephraim, you have had a good deal to do with idols up till now? “Ay,” saith he with the tears in his eyes, “that I have.” Hypocrites mean less than their language expresses, but true penitents mean much more than their bare words can convey. The confession of the text is all the more hearty because it is tacit,¹ and as it were, slips out unintentionally.

Attend earnestly, dear hearers, for perhaps some of you may be worshipping idols now. We will go into the temple of your heart and see whether we can find a false god there. I go into one heart, and, as I look up, I see a gigantic idol; it is gilded all over and clothed in shining robes. Its eyes seem to be jewels, and its forehead is “as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires” (Song 5:14). It is a very lovely idol to look upon. Come not too close, do not examine too severely, nor so much as dream of looking inside the hollow sham. Within it you will find all manner of rottenness and filthiness, but the outside of the idol is adorned with the greatest art and skill, and you may even become enamored of it as you stand and gaze upon it.

What is its name? Its name is self-righteousness. Well do I remember when I used to worship this image which my own hands had made, till one morning my god had his head broken off, and by-and-by I found his hands were gone, and soon I found that the worm was devouring it, and my god that I worshipped and trusted in turned out to be a heap of dross and dung, whereas I had thought it to be a mass of solid gold, with eyes of diamonds. Alas, there are many men to whom no such revelation has been given. Their idol is still in first-rate condition. True, perhaps, at Christmas-time it gets a little out of order, and they feel that they did not quite behave as they ought when the bottle went round so freely, but they have called in the goldsmith to overlay the idol with new gold and gild the chipped places afresh. Have they not been to church since then? Did they not go on Christmas morning to a place of worship and make it all right? Have they not repeated extra prayers and given a little more away in charity? So they have furbished their god up again, and he looks very respectable. Ah, it is easy to tinker him up, my brethren, until the ark of the Lord comes in, and then all the smiths in the world cannot keep this god erect.

If the gospel of Jesus Christ once enters into the soul, then, straightway, this wonderful god begins to bow himself, and, like Dagon, who was broken before the ark of the Lord, self-righteousness is dashed to pieces. But there are thousands all over this world who worship this god, and I will tell you how they pray to it. They say, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are” (Luk 18:11), and so on, not exactly in the Pharisee’s language, but after the same style. “Lord, I thank thee that I pay everybody twenty shillings in the pound, and have brought up my children respectably. God, I thank thee that I have been a regular churchgoing or chapel-going man all my life. God, I thank thee that I am not a swearer, nor yet a drunkard, nor anything of that kind. I am far better than most people; and if I do not get to heaven it will be very bad for my neighbors, for they are not half as good as I am.” In this manner is this monstrous deity adored. I am not speaking of what is done in Hindustan, but of an idolatry very fashionable in England. The god of self-righteousness is lord paramount² in millions of hearts. Oh, that every worshipper of that god may be led to say, “What have I to do any more with this abominable idol?”…

Others have some other darling sin. I need not mention all; in fact I could not, for the cheek of modesty would tingle, if we were to mention certain of the vices which men and women feel that they could not cease from. They would fain³ be saved in their sins, not from their sins. They would worship God after a fashion, but the first place must be given to this darling lust of theirs. O sir, I care not what idol it is, but if there is anything in this world that thou lovest better than Christ, thou canst never see the face of God with joy. If there is any sin that thou wouldst persevere in, I beseech thee change thy mind about it and cut it off, though it be a right hand and pluck it out though it be a right eye. It were better for thee to enter into life maimed and with one eye than having both hands and both eyes to be cast into hell fire. Darling sins must be abjured if Christ is to be enjoyed…

In some men’s hearts I see the love of pleasure. That god is seated on the throne of many hearts. They are overcome not so much by the grosser sins as by their natural levity⁴ and trifling.⁵ They cannot think; they do not want to think. They say they are “dull” if they have to be quiet for awhile. They like to be always amused, gratified, excited…But to be a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of God is to be dead while you live…

Some…have set up unlawful attachments. They form connections which are forbidden by the Word of God. For instance, I have known some who profess to be Christians—God knows whether they ever were or not—who have put altogether out of court the command of our Lord not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers and have followed the dictates of the flesh by joining in marriage with the ungodly. It is a dreadful thing to be married to one from whom you know you must be soon separated for ever, one who loves not God, and therefore can never be your companion in heaven. If that is your case already, your prayers should day and night go up to heaven for the partner of your bosom that he or she may be brought to Christ. But for any young person willfully to form such a tie is to set up an idol in the place of God. Weeping and wailing will come of it ere long…Any form of love which divides the heart from Jesus is idolatry…

A great number of persons worship an idol called the praise of men. They speak after this fashion, “Oh, yes, you are right enough, but you see I could not do it.” Well, why not? “Why, I do not know what my uncle would say about it, or I could not tell how my wife would like it. I am not sure how my grandfather might be pleased with me.” The fear of relatives and the dread of public opinion hold many in mental and moral bondage, and the fear of men holds many more. I pity those who dare not do what they believe to be right. It seems to me to be the grandest of all liberties, the liberty wherewith Christ makes us free, the liberty to do and dare anything which conscience commands in His name. But numbers of people have to ask other people to allow them to breathe, to allow them to think, to allow them to believe anything; and there is nothing they are so frightened of as Mrs. Grundy. The little society in which they live is all in all to them. What will Soand-so think of it? The working man dares not go to a place of worship because the carpenters in the shop would be down upon him. The men that work with him would be saying to him, “Halloa!⁶ What, are you one of those methodistical⁷ fellows?”

Many men who are six feet high are cowards and are afraid of some little body half their height. They are afraid that some worthless fellow would make a joke at their expense and to be joked at seems to be something dreadful. O poor souls! Poor souls!…We are alive after all the assaults which were made upon us and not much the worse for them; and so will you be, too, dear friends, if you have the heart and the courage to do and dare for the Lord Jesus Christ. This idol of the fear of man devours thousands of souls. This is a bloodthirsty idol, as cruel as any of the idols of the Hindus—this “fear of man [which] bringeth a snare” (Pro 29:25). Some of you know that you are altogether mean in spirit and dare not do what you know you ought to do, for fear somebody or other should make a remark about how strange and how odd you are. God help you to have done with that idol…

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Delivered at The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892): Influential Baptist minister in England. History’s most widely read preacher (apart from those found in Scripture). Today, there is available more material written by Spurgeon than by any other Christian author, living or dead. Born at Kelvedon, Essex.

1. tacit – not spoken; implied.
2. paramount – having the highest rank, power, or authority.
3. fain – gladly; willingly.
4. levity – lack of seriousness; lightness of manner or speech.
5. trifling – acting or talking without being earnest or without seriousness.
6. halloa – a shout to catch someone’s attention.
7. methodistical – taken from “Methodist,” used in those days as an insult or jibe against one who lived in strict observance of religious duties.

Courtesy of Chapel Library