There 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”; 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 a 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,” 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 paramount[2] 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 fain[3] 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 levity[4] 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 a re 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 So-and-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 methodistical[7] 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 . ” 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.

The last point is to be the resolute question, “What have I to do any more with idols?” Let us put it this way, “What have I to do any more with them? I have had enough to do with them. What have my sins done for me already?” Brothers and sisters, look at what sin has done for us and all our race. It made that beautiful Eden, which was our garden of delight, to be a wilderness and made us to be the children of toil and sorrow. What has sin done for us? It has stripped us of our beauty, it has put us away from God, it has set the flaming cherubim with the drawn sword to keep us back from coming near to God as long as we live in sin. Sin has wounded us, spoiled us, killed us, corrupted us. Sin has brought disease into the world and digged the grave and bred the worm. O sin, thou art the mother of all the griefs and groans and sighs and tears that ever befell men and women in this world. O wretched sin, what have we to do any more with thee? We have had more than enough of thee.

And have not you and I personally had quite enough to do with our idols? I had enough to do with my self-righteousness, I do boldly say; for, oh, how I loathe to think that I should ever have been such a fool as to think that there was anything good in me—to think that I could ever have dreamed of coming before God with a righteousness of my own. Oh, how I abhor the thought! God forbid for one single moment that I should ever be other than ashamed of having boasted in aught that I could do or feel or be. Do you not feel yourselves humiliated at the remembrance of such pride and presumption? What have you to do any more with the idol of righteous self? Nothing. We can never bow down before that any more.

With regard to other idols, have you not smarted enough about them? The convert who was once a drunkard will say, “I have had enough to do with the cup of intoxication. Who hath woe? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine. The men of strength to mingle strong drink” (Pro 23:29, 30; Isa 5:22). The wine-bibber has had enough to do with that. He has paid heavy smart money, and now he has done with rioting and excess forever. The man who has plunged into vice will often have to say, “It has injured me in body, mind, and estate. What more can I have to do with it?” “Ah,” said one to me the other day, “when I lived in sin it was so expensive to me that it will take me years to recover what I have wasted upon the devil and myself. I am not the man for the service of God that I should have been if it had not been for that.” Ah, we have all had enough of it—more than enough of it. There is no cup of sin, however sweet it was in the day of our unregeneracy[8], but we feel that we want no more of it, not even with all its beaded bubbles sparkling on the brim when it moveth itself aright. We are sick of it—sick to the death and the very name of it causes nausea in our soul. What have I to do any more with idols, when I consider what idols have done for me?

But there is another view of it. “What have I to do any more with idols?” Do you see, and can you bear to look upon, that strange sight yonder: three gibbets set upon a hill and on the center one a wondrous man in fearful agony nailed to the cross. If you look at Him you will see that there is such a mixture of majesty in His misery that you discover Him at once to be your Lord. Lo, it is the Bridegroom of your soul, your heart's best Beloved, and He is nailed up there like a felon gibbeted[9] to die. Who nailed Him there? Who nailed Him there, I say? Where is the hammer? Whence came the nails? Who nailed Him there? And the answer is—our idols nailed Him there: our sins pierced His heart! Ah, then, what have I to do any more with them. If I had a favorite knife and with it a murderer had killed my wife, do you think I would use it at my table or carry it about with me? Away with the accursed thing! How I should loathe the very sight of it. And sin has murdered Christ! Our idols have put our Lord to death! Stand at the foot of the cross and see His murdered, mangled body, bleeding with its five great wounds, and you will say, “What have I to do any more with idols?” The vinegar and gall, the bloody sweat and death pangs have divorced my soul from all its ancient loves and wedded my heart for ever to the Well-beloved, even the King of kings. “What have I to do any more with idols?” Nothing separates a man from sin like a sense of the love and the sufferings of Jesus. Redeeming grace and dying love these ring the death-knells of our lusts and idols.

Now, you may recollect again that we must have no more to do with idols, for the same sins which put our Lord to death will put us to death if they can. O child of God, you never sin without injuring yourself. The smallest sin that ever creeps into your heart is a robber seeking to kill and to destroy. You never profited by sin and never can. No, it is poison, deadly poison to your spirit. Do not, therefore, tolerate it for an instant. What have you to do with it? You know it is to be evil, only evil, and that continually. You know that it injures your faith, destroys your enjoyment, withers up your peace, weakens you in prayer, prevents your example being beneficial to others; and for all these reasons what have you to do any more with idols?

Within a few months some of us will be in heaven, perhaps within a few weeks. What have we to do with idols? Even while we are here the Lord has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ. What have we to do any more with idols? This day are we accepted in the Beloved, the elect of God justified by faith with our names written on the palms of Jesus' hands. What have we to do any more with idols? Truly the question answers itself. We have nothing to do with them except to loathe them, and whenever they are set up in our hearts even for a moment to break them down by the power of the Eternal Spirit.

Now beloved, if God has wrought a great work in you and changed your hearts so that the idols you once worshipped you now detest, I would ask you to keep away from the idols all you can. If you have nothing to do with them do not go into the places where they are had in honor. “What have I to do any m o re with idols?” If I knew that a street was infected with small-pox I should not go out of my way to ride down it. I had rather go round about to avoid the plague. Let it be so with your once darling sin. Get as far away from it as you can, even as you would keep clear of a leper. You have nothing more to do with idols, therefore do not enter their temples or make a league with their worshippers. Keep as far off from sin as ever you can. If you have learned to say, “What have I to do any more with idols?” avoid the very appearance of evil and all those communications which corrupt good manners. The ale-house, the dancing saloon, and the theater are not for you. I loathe to hear Christian people say, “What do you think of this and that foolish amusement?”

Well, my dear friend, if you enjoy anything that has any filth in it, I question whether you know anything about the love of God at all. You remember Rowland Hill's[10] observation to the person who said he liked to go the theater. The person said, “Well, you know, Mr. Hill, I am a member of the church, but I do not go often, I only go once or twice a year, just for a treat.” “Ah,” said Mr. Hill, “you are worse a great deal than I thought you were. Suppose it were reported commonly that Mr. Hill fed on carrion and was very fond of eating rotten meat. And suppose somebody came to me and said 'I hear, Mr. Hill, that you are very fond of eating carrion.' 'Oh, no,' I say, 'Not at all. I do not regularly feed on it; I only eat a dish of it once or twice a year for a treat!' Then everybody would say, ' You are fonder of it than we thought. For if poor creatures have to eat it every day because they cannot get anything better, their taste is not so vitiated[11] a s yours who turn away from wholesome food, and find rottenness to be a dainty dish.'” If you can find your pleasure and delight where sin of the worst kind is always very near at hand, where religion would be out of place, and where Christ your Master could not be expected to come, you have not learned to say with Ephraim, “What have I to do any more with idols?”

Run away from anything which has the least taint of sin, and may God help you so to do even to the end. Is this in order that you may be saved? God forbid! I am only speaking to you who are saved already. If you are not saved, the first thing is to have a renewed heart by faith in Jesus Christ, and after that we lay no bondage on you, and exact no tax from you by way of duty, but it will be your joy, your delight, your privilege, to keep near to your Master and to say, “What have I to do any more with idols?” God bless you for Christ's sake.

1 tacit – not spoken; implied.
2 paramount – one that has 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.
8 unregeneracy – an unrenewed heart, not born of God's Spirit.
9 gibbeted – hanged upon a gallows and left as a spectacle.
10 Rowland Hill (1744-1833) – Anglican preacher who ministered at Surrey Chapel in Southwark, London. An aristocratic convert to Evangelicalism and an enthusiastic champion of itinerant preaching. Often quoted by Charles Spurgeon.
11 vitiated – corrupted; debased.

Delivered at The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.