Bleating Sheep and Lowing Oxen

“And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” — 1 Samuel xv., 14.

THE Amalekites thought they had conquered God, and that he would not carry into execution his threats against them. They had murdered the Israelites 171 battle and out of battle, and left no outrage untried. For four hundred years this had been going on, and they say, “God either dare not punish us, or he has forgotten to do so.” Let us see. Samuel, God’s prophet, tells Saul to go down and slay all the Amalekites, not leaving one of them alive; also to destroy all the beasts in their possession — ox, sheep, camel, and ass. Hark! I hear the tread of two hundred and ten thousand men, with monstrous Saul at their head, ablaze with armor, his shield dangling at his side, holding in his hand a spear, at the waving of which the great host marched or halted. The sound of their feet shaking the earth, seems like the tread of the great God, as, marching in vengeance, he tramples nations into the dust. I see smoke curling against the sky. Now there is a thick cloud of it; and now I see the whole city rising in a chariot of smoke behind steeds of fire. It is Saul that set the city ablaze. The Amalekites and Israelites meet; the trumpets of battle blow peal on peal, and there is a death -hush. Then there is a signal waved; swords cut and hack; javelins ring on shields; arms fall from trunks, and heads roll into the dust. Gasli after gash, the frenzied the gurgling of throttled throats, the cry of pain, the laugh of revenge, the curse hissed between clenched teeth — an army’s death-groan. Stacks of dead on all sides, with eyes unshut and mouths yet grinning vengeance. Huzza for the Israelites! Two hundred and ten thousand men wave their plumes and clap their shields, for the Lord God hath given them the victory.

Yet that victorious army of Israel are conquered by sheep and oxen. God, through the prophet Samuel, told Saul to slay all the Amalekites, and to slay all the beasts in their possession; but Saul, thinking that he knows more than God, saves Agag, the Amalekitish king, and five drove of sheep and a herd of oxen that he can not bear to kill. Saul drives the sheep and oxen down toward home. He has no idea that Samuel, the prophet, will find out that he has saved these sheep and oxen for himself Samuel comes and asks Saul the news from the battle. Saul puts on a solemn face, for there is no one who can look more solemn than your genuine hypocrite, and he says, “I have fulfilled the commandment of the Lord.” Samuel listens, and he hears the drove of sheep a little way off. Saul had no idea the prophet’s ear would be so acute. Samuel says to Saul, “If you have done as God told you, and slain all the Amalekites and all the beasts in their possession, what meaneth the bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Ah, one would have thought that blushes would have consumed the cheek of Saul! No, no! He says the army — not himself, of course, but the army — had saved the sheep and oxen for sacrifice; and then they thought it would be too bad anyhow to kill Agag, the Amalekitish king. Samuel takes the sword and he slashes Agag to pieces; and then he takes the skirt of his coat, in true Oriental style, and rends it in twain, as much as to say, “You, Saul, just like that, shall be torn away from your empire, and torn away from your throne.” In other words, let all the nations of earth hear the story that Saul, by disobeying God, won a flock of sheep but lost a kingdom.

I learn first from this subject that God will expose liy- ‘pocrisy. Here Saul pretends he has fulfilled the divine commission by slaying all the beasts belonging to the Amalekites, and yet at the very moment he is telhng the story, and practicing the delusion, the secret comes out, and the sheep bleat and the oxen bellow.

A hypocrite is one who pretends to be what he is not, or to do what he does not. Saul was only a type of a class. The modern hypocrite looks awfully solemn, whines when he prays, and during his public devotion shows a great deal of the whites of his eyes. He never laughs, or, if he does laugh, he seems sorry for it afterward, as though he had committed some great indiscretion. The first time he gets a chance, he prays twenty minutes in public, and when he exhorts, he seems to imply that all the race are sinners, with one exception, his modesty forbidding the stating who that one is. There are a great many churches that have two or three ecclesiastical Uriah Heeps.

When the fox begins to pray, look out for your chickens. The more genuine religion a man has, the more comfortable he will be; but you may know a religious impostor by the fact that he prides himself on the fact that he is uncomfortable. A man of that kind is of immense damage to the Church of Christ. A ship may outride a hundred storms, and yet a handful of worms in the planks may sink it to the bottom. The Church of God is not so much in danger of the cyclones of trouble and persecution that come upon it as of the vermin of hypocrisy that infests it. Wolves are of no danger to the fold of God unless they look like sheep. Arnold was of more damage to the army than Cornwallis and his hosts. Oh, we can not deceive God with a church certificate! He sees behind the curtain as well as before the curtain; he sees every thing inside out. A man may, through policy, hide his real character; but God will after a while tear open the whited sepulchre and expose the putrefaction. Sunday faces can not save him; long prayers can not save him; psalm-singing and church-going can not save him. God will expose him just as thoroughly as though he branded upon his forehead the word “Hypocrite.” He may think he has been successful in the deception, but at the most unfortunate moment the sheep will bleat and the oxen will bellow.

One of the cruel bishops of olden time was going to excommunicate one of the martyrs, and he began in the usual form — “In the name of God, amen.” “Stop 1” says the martyr, “don’t say, ’ in the name of God!’” Yet how many outrages are practiced under the garb of religion and sanctity! When, in synods and conferences, ministers of the Gospel are about to say something unbrotherly and unkind about a member, they almost always begin by being tremendously pious, the venom of their assault corresponding to the heavenly flavor of the prelude. Standing there, you would think they were ready to go right up into glory, and that nothing kept them down but the weis:ht of their boots and overcoat,

when suddenly the sheep bleat and the oxen bellow.

Oh, my dear friends, let us cultivate simplicity of Christian character! Jesus Christ said, “Unless you become as this little child, you can not enter the kingdom of God.” We may play hypocrite successfully now, but the Lord God will after a while expose our true character. You must know the incident mentioned in the history of Ottacas, who was asked to kneel in the presence of Eandolphus I.; and when before him he refused to do it, but after a while he agreed to come in private when there was nobody in the king’s tent, and then he would kneel down before him and worship; but the servants of the king had arranged it so that by drawing a cord the tent would suddenly drop. Ottacas after a while came in, and supposing he was in entire privacy, knelt before Eandolphus. The servants pulled the cord, the tent dropped, and two armies surrounding looked down on Ottacas kneeling before Eandolphus. If we are really kneeling to the world while we profess to be lowly subjects of Jesus Christ, the tent has already dropped, and all the hosts of heaven are gazing upon our hypocrisy. God’s universe is a very public place, and you can not hide hypocrisy in it.

Going out into a world of delusion and sham, pretend to be no more than you really are. If you have the grace of God, profess it; profess no more than you. have. But I want the world to know that where there is one hypocrite in the Church there are five hundred outside of it, for the reason that the field is larger. There are men in all circles who will bow before you, and who are obsequious in your presence and talk flatteringly, but who all the while in your conversation are digging for bait and angling for imperfections. In your presence they imply that they are every thing friendly, but after a while you find they have the fierceness of a catamount, the slyness of a snake, and the spite of a devil. God will expose such. The gun they load will burst in their own hands; the lies they tell will break their own teeth; and at the very moment they think they have been successful in deceiving you and deceiving the world, the sheep will bleat and the oxen will bellow.

I learn further from this subject how natural it is to try to put off our sins upon other people, Saul was charged with disobeying God. The man says it was not he; he did not save the sheep; the army did it — trying to throw it off on the shoulders of other people. Human nature is the same in all the ages. Adam, confronted with his sin, said, “The woman tempted me, and I did it.” And the woman charged it upon the serpent; and if the serpent could have spoken, it would have charged it upon the devil. I suppose the real state of the case was that Eve was eating the apple, and that Adam saw it, and begged and coaxed until he got a piece of it. I suppose that Adam was just as much to blame as Eve was. You can not throw off the responsibility of any sin upon the shoulders of other people.

Here is a young man who says, “I know I am doing wrong, but I have not had any chance. I had a father who despised God, and a mother who was a disciple of godless fashion. I am not to blame for my sins — it is my bringing up.” Ah no! that young man has been out in the world long enough to see what is right, and to see what is wrong, and in the great day of eternity he can not throw his sins upon his father or mother, but will have to stand for himself and answer before God. You have had a conscience, you have had a Bible, and the influence of the Holy Spirit. Stand for yourself, or fall for yourself.

Here is a business man. He says, “I know I don’t do exactly right in trade, but all the dry-goods men do it, and all the hardware men do this, and I am not responsible.” You can not throw off your sin upon the shoulders of other merchants. God will hold you responsible for what you do, and them responsible for what they do. I want to quote one passage of Scripture for you — I think it is in Proverbs: “If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself; but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.”

I learn further from this subject what God meant by extennination. Saul was told to slay all the Amalekites, and the beasts in their possession. He saves Agag, the Amalekite king, and some of the sheep and oxen. God chastises him for it. God likes nothing done by halves. God will not stay in the soul that is half his and half the devil’s. There may be more sins in our soul than there were Amalekites. We must kill them. Woe unto us if we spare Agag! Here is a Christian. He says, “I will drive out all the Amalekites of sin from my heart. Here is jealousy — down goes that Amalekite. Here is backbiting — down goes that Amalekite;” and what slaughter he makes among his sins, striking right and left! What is that out yonder, lifting up his head? It is Agag — it is worldliness. It is an old sin he can not bear to strike down. It is a darling transgression he can not afford to sacrifice. Oh, my brethren, I appeal this morning for entire consecration! Some of the Presbyterians call it the ‘’ higher life.” The Methodists, I believe, call it “perfection.” I do not care what you call it; without holiness no man shall see the Lord. I know men who are living with their soul in perpetual communion with Christ, and day by day are walking within sight of heaven. How do I know? They tell me so. I believe them. They would not lie about it. Why can not we all have this consecration? Why slay some of the sins in our soul, and leave others to bleat and bellow for our exposure and condemnation. Christ will not stay in the same house with Agag. You must give up Agag, or give up Christ. Jesus says, “All of that heart or none.” Saul slew the poorest of the sheep and the meanest of the oxen, and kept some of the finest and the fattest, and there are Christians who have slain the most unpopular of their transgressions, and saved those which are most respectable. It will not do. Eternal war against all the Amalekites; no mercy for Agag.

I learn farther from this subject that it is vain to try to defraud God. Here Saul thought he had cheated God out of those sheep and oxen; but he lost his crown, he lost his empire. You can not cheat God out of a single farthing. Here is a man who has made ten thousand dollars in fraud. Before he dies every dollar of it will be gone, or it will give him violent unrest. Here is a Christian who has been largely prospered. He has not given to God the proportion that is due in charities and benevolences. God comes to the reckoning, and he takes it all away from you. Do you suppose, if a man has an income of ten thousand dollars, and he gives only five hundred dollars of it to God, that God is going to let

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him keep it? Ko. Do you suppose that if a man have one hundred thousand dollars in capital or in estate, and gives only two thousand of it to the Lord God in a year, that God is going to let him keep any? Or, keeping it, it will curse him to the bone. You can not cheat God. How often it has been that Christian men have had a large estate, and it is gone. The Lord God came into the counting-room and said, “I have allowed you to have all this property for ten, fifteen, or twenty years, and you have not done justice to my poor children. When the beggar called upon you, you hounded him off your steps; when my suffering children appealed to you for help, you had no mercy. I only asked for so much, or so much, but you did not give it to me, and now I will take it all.”

God asks of us one-seventh of our time in the way of Sabbath. Do you suppose we can get an hour of that time successfully away from its true object? No, no. God has demanded one-seventh of your time. If you take one hour of that time that is to be devoted to God’s service, and instead of keeping his Sabbath, use it for the purpose of writing up your accounts or making worldly gains, God will get that hour from you, if he chases you into hell to get it. God says to Jonah, “You go to Nineveh.” He says, “No, I wont. I’ll go to Tarshisb.” He starts for Tarshish. The sea raves, the winds blow, and the ship rocks. Come, ye whales, and take this passenger for Tarshish! No man ever gets to Tarshish “whom God tells to go to Nineveh. The sea would not carry him; it is God’s sea. The winds would not waft him; they are God’s winds. Let a man attempt to do that which God forbids him to do, or to go into a place

where God tells him not to go, the natural world as well as God is against him. The lightnings are ready to strike him, the fires to burn him, the sun to smite him, the waters to drown him, and the earth to swallow him. Those whose princely robes are woven out of heart’s strings; those whose fine houses are built out of skulls; those whose springing fountains are the tears of oppressed nations — have they successfully cheated God? The last day will demonstrate — it will be found out on that day that God vindicated not only his goodness and his niercy but his power to take care of his own rights and the rights of his Church, and the rights of his oppressed children. Come, ye martyred dead, awake! and come up from the dungeons where folded darkness hearsed you, and the chains like cankers peeled loose the skin, and wore off the flesh, and rattled on the marrowless bones. Come, ye martyred dead, from the stakes where you were burned, where the arm uplifted for mercy fell into the ashes, and the cry of pain was drowned in the snapping of the flame and the howling of the mob; from valleys of Piedmont and Smithfield Square, and London Tower, and the Highlands of Scotland. Gather in great procession, and together clap your bony hands, and together stamp your mouldy feet, and let the chains that bound you to dungeons all clank at once, and gather all the flames that burned you in one uplifted arm of fire, and plead for a judgment. Gather all the tears ye ever wept into a lake, and gather all the sighs ye ever breathed into a tempest, until the heaven-piercing chain-clank, and the tempest-sigh, and the thunder-groan, announces to earth and hell and heaven a judgment! a judgment! Oh, on that day God will vindicate his own cause, and vindicate the cause of the troubled and the oppressed! It will be seen in that day that though we may have robbed our fellows, we never have successfully robbed God. My Christian friends, as you go out into the world, exhibit an open-hearted Christian frankness. Do not be hypocritical in any thing; you are never safe if you are. At the most inopportune moment, the sheep will bleat and the oxen bellow. Drive out the last Amalekite of sin from your soul. Have no mercy on Agag. Down with your sins; down with your pride; down with your worldliness. I know you can not achieve this work by your own arm, but Almighty grace is sufficient — that which saved Joseph in the pit; that which delivered Daniel in the den; that which shielded Shadrach in the fire; that which cheered Paul in the shipwreck.