Herod, or, Almost But Lost
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The record of Herod shall ever remain as a warning to those who are almost saved. Let us suggest a few others who came close to the door of entrance unto eternal life, and yet were lost.
1. There was Felix as described in Acts 24:24-27.
(1) Felix sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Observe, then, that Felix had a notable preacher to unfold to him the Gospel. Paul led his thousands to Christ. He turned the world of his day upside down with his evangelistic message.
Great preachers, however, cannot suffice to save men. Many of the godless of today have had noble ministers of the Word, They have heard enough Gospel to save a thousand sinners, yea, all sinners who believed; yet they went away still in their sins.
Observe also that Paul had a great text he preached on the faith in Christ. Nothing more than faith, and nothing less than faith. He preached of the righteousness which is by faith, the self-control which is by faith, and the judgment which is upon them that reject the faith.
Nevertheless Felix turned away unsaved.
(2) Felix trembled. When a sinner trembles under the conviction of his evil ways, he is not far from being saved. Trembling, however, is not enough. One may be ever so deeply stirred by the depth of his sin, and ever so deeply burdened and yet be lost.
(3) Felix said, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." In other words Felix said: "Not now by and by." Truly this man was almost saved.
2. There was Agrippa as described in. Acts 26:27-32. This man plainly acknowledged that, with a little more persuasion, Paul might have made him a Christian. Agrip-pa may have spoken with more or less of sarcasm and yet he was, beyond doubt, strangely stirred by Paul's message of life.
The Apostle Paul took it that way, for he said, "I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds."
3. There were the ten cleansed of leprosy, of whom only one returned to give thanks unto God. You may not agree with me, but my thought is that only the one who returned was truly saved; the nine were satisfied with a physical healing, and cared not to follow Jesus in the way.
4. Last, there was Herod. He, too, was almost saved. Mark the words of Mark 6:20 of our study. Here are its positive statements:
1. Herod heard John.
2. Herod heard John gladly.
3. Herod feared John.
4. Herod knew that he was a just man and holy.
5. Herod observed John.
6. Herod did many things.
Remember, all these things are good, but anything short of receiving Christ as personal Saviour and believing on His Name is not salvation. Near salvation is not being saved.
"'Almost persuaded,' now to believe;
'Almost persuaded,' Christ to receive;
"'Almost' cannot avail,
'Almost' is but to fail,
Sad, sad that bitter wail,
'Almost' but lost."
I. JOHN THE BAPTIST'S STRONG CHALLENGE (Mark 6:18)
1. Hear John's challenge to the Pharisees (Matthew 3:7). He said unto them, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" John the Baptist knew the hearts of these men who posed as Israel's spiritual leaders. He knew that they acknowledged no need of fleeing from the wrath to come, for they thought themselves the acme of sainthood.
John was plain and positive in his challenge to them. Of one thing we are certain John never compromised the message which God gave to him, and he never lowered the standard of discipleship.
2. Hear John's challenge to the multitude (Luke 3:7-9). To the multitudes John said: "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father." Then John added, "And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Would that churches of today would be as faithful to God and the truth in accepting members into their fellowship.
3. Hear John's challenge to the soldiers (Luke 3:14). To these men who fought the battles of the State, John said, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages."
Thus it did not matter to whom John spoke he held high the standard of God, and made it mean something to follow the Lord.
4. Hear John's challenge to Herod (Luke 3:19-20). To Herod the tetrarch, John gave the same vital challenge to purity and fidelity to God and man. John reproved Herod for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done.
Some one may say, Why be so hard on so great a man? We reply, Why make it easy for one man more than for another? With God there is no respect of persons. All stand or fall alike in His presence.
II. THE PART OF A WOMAN IN HEROD'S FATEFUL DECISION AGAINST CHRIST (Mark 6:19)
1. The quarrel of Herodias. "Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not." Herodias had stiffened her neck and hardened her heart in her sin. She was determined to have her own way, at all costs.
2. The strategy of Herodias. A wicked woman will bide her time. Vengeance was in her heart, and what she could not do at once by sheer force, she would do by strategy and underhanded scheming. God had evidently given her up to the folly of her own sinful self.
When the ungodly sin against light, and press on to do evil, the Lord will send upon them strong delusions that they may believe a lie and be damned. They move on their way like a mute beast doomed to slaughter.
3. The dancing of Salome. This was the plan of Herodias. She would give a birthday party for Herod. She would congregate the highest estates of the land at her party. She would do the unusual and never-heard-of thing, and send forth her own daughter to dance before the assembled guests. She would make Herod dizzy with pride and glory; and then, when he, according to the custom of kings, should present in a royal way his pledge, "I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom," she would ask the head of John the Baptist in a charger. It all worked out as she had planned.
III. THE WEAKNESS OF A GREAT CHARACTER (Mark 6:26)
1. No chain is stronger than its weakest link. Herod was, indeed, very near to receiving Christ in those days when he heard John, and heard him gladly, and did many things, and observed John. He was almost, but not altogether, persuaded. He came near, but did not enter in.
Is Herodias to be blamed altogether for Herod's placing John in prison? Is she alone to be blamed for Herod's order for John's beheading? She certainly was a party to it all. However, Herod himself was to blame for all that Herod did. He lacked that decisiveness of character which takes a stand against every wind that blows. He was too easily moved by others.
Yes, he did many things; but what were all his good things worth, when in the one vital thing he was a vacillating coward, and a worker of evil?
2. Are there others who have sold out to the devil? Let us not, nevertheless, be too harsh in our judgment of Herod. Many besides Herod have sold out to the devil. The truth is that thousands are fast nearing "eternal damnation" for the simple reason that there was one dominant sin in their lives that they would not give up.
An old gentleman told us that his prayers seemed to strike a stone wall. God would not hear him, nor answer his cry. At once we knew that there was some sin in his heart and life which he was unwilling to yield.
With Herod the sin was a woman; with you it may be something else. You say, "I want to be a Christian, but I cannot." The fact is you are unwilling to turn from some sin that grips you like a vise.
God says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord." It is then that the Lord will have mercy on him. Christ came to save us from our sins, not in or into them. When we come to the Cross, like "Christian" in The Pilgrim's Progress, we must leave our sins at its foot, and follow Jesus.
IV. A MARTYR TO THE WHIMS OF A WOMAN AND THE LUSTS OF A MAN (Mark 6:26-28)
1. Should we keep an evil promise? There are some that would say that Herod, without knowing what would happen, promised Salome anything she wanted to the half of his kingdom, therefore had to keep his word. Thus you may argue, but you are wrong.
Herod should at once have faced the subtlety of Herodias and Salome with a positive, "Nay!" He should have faced the audience and said, "I have been tricked. I am unwilling to sacrifice the head of John the Baptist upon the intrigue and underhanded strategy of my wife."
2. Should we yield to the pressure of a crowd? It was for the sake of the ones at the feast that Herod kept an evil oath. Let us never do anything because of the crowd.
3. The head in a charger. We would not try to picture the gruesome scene. It is too filled with horror and shame. Think only of a great preacher and fearless defender of the truth, a martyr to the whims of an evil woman and a vacillating man.
There is a God in Heaven who will bring all such to judgment. He will avenge His elect on the one hand, and punish the wicked on the other.
There is a great contrast between Herod and John. Herod yielded his convictions and honor at the behest of a woman; John stood fearlessly for the right, and died rather than recant. Thank the Lord for men and for women who, with their blood, have been happy to pay the price of their devotion to truth, and to their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
V. AN AWAKENED CONSCIENCE (Mark 6:14-16)
1. "Be sure your sin will find you out." Did Herod get off easy in this life? We might, perhaps, have thought so, if it were not for the statement in Mark 6:14-16
Jesus Christ was working many mighty miracles. His words, too, were giving Him great fame. His words and deeds were the talk of the land. Some said that Elijah had come; some said that it was some prophet. In Herod's mansion the matter was discussed. Herod said, without hesitancy, that John the Baptist was risen from the dead. His court tried to dissuade him, saying the miracle worker was another; but Herod was firm; he said, "It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead." He knew he had slain innocent blood.
Yes, sin always finds us out. One may try to cover it, but one cannot.
2. "Son, remember." Our minds go to the rich man who died, and in hell lifted up his eyes being in torments. When he appealed to Abraham, across the great gulf, Abraham pronounced those vibrant words, that have rung down through the ages: "Son, remember." To a man, in the old days of Southern history, who had in a fit of anger slain his son, the judge said, "Your sentence is the memory of your deed." Whether his sentence was sufficient, you may decide. However, his conscience never had a moment's rest. He never forgot that last cry of his dying lad.
The only hope of relief is a present coming to the Blood of Christ which takes away our sin, and washes us and makes us whiter than snow.
VI. ASKING THE WICKED FOR GUIDANCE (Mark 6:24)
There is a remarkable statement in this Mark 6:24. It reads: "And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? and she said, The head of John the Baptist."
1. Let us observe the evil effect of a wicked mother. The mother works the weal or the woe of her children. If the mother is evil, how difficult it is for the children to be good.
It is for this reason that someone said, We should begin to train a child with its parents and grandparents, just so.
Here is a mother whose highest ambition is for her son or daughter to shine in a godless and world-centered society. She leads the way, the child follows on. God pity such a child in such a home.
2. Let us ask, Should anyone go to an evil person for advice in moral or spiritual crises? Certainly not. Can the unjust guide the pathway of the just? Can the sinner tell the saint how to act and how to choose? Can a Christian who is carnal, safely guide a Christian who desires to be spiritual?
We might go a bit deeper in this discussion. Can deacons who are worldly themselves, fitly lead a church of God in the ways of righteousness? Can a Sunday School teacher who dances and plays cards or smokes cigarettes, properly teach young boys or girls in the ways of the Lord?
We may even go deeper still. What about a preacher who loves the world, and bows to the worldly whims of his church leaders can such a man stand in the pulpit and tell the lost the way to life, or the saved the way to holiness?
3. Let us note how a girl followed her mother and became a joint murderer with her. What Salome a murderer! Certainly she was a murderer, and a murderer of the greatest man who had been born of woman. She gave the word that cut off his head. In that great assize shall she be guiltless?
Salome, her mother, and Herod shall stand forever with the blood of John the Baptist on their hands.
VII. TELLING THE LORD JESUS ALL ABOUT IT (Mark 6:30-31)
1. The disciples came and told Jesus. That was just what they should have done. He is the One to whom we may take, and to whom we should take, our every care. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."
Let us practice telling Him all. Let the children at school, who are saved, early learn to go to the Lord Jesus with every problem. Tell it all to Him.
It is far best to go and ask the Saviour to help you, and to guide you, than to ask some Herodias her will.
Let the middle-aged, facing the issues of life and of business, take it all to the feet of the Master. Tell Him your home problems, your social problems, your business problems tell Him everything.
Let the aged, as they near the sun-setting of life, go to the One who says, "E'en down to old age will I carry you." Let them bring their burdens, fears, their loneliness, and their heart longings all to Him.
2. Jesus took them apart into a desert place, to rest awhile. He took them away from the crowds that thronged the streets, apart from contact with men, and hid them away in the desert with Himself.
When we are away from the commotion of the city, and out in the deserts, God has some chance of getting into our lives.
It was in the wilderness that God spoke to Israel.
It was in the wilderness that God spoke to Paul, and revealed Himself to Paul in the revelation concerning the Church.
It was in the wilderness, at the backside of the desert, God spoke first of all to Moses, as he turned aside to see the burning bush.
It was in the wilderness, as David fed the sheep that God first came to him with visions of God.
It was in the wilderness, shut up to God, that God appeared unto Jacob as he lay with his head pillowed on a stone.
Yet, not shut in alone,
The Lord is with you there,
He shows to you His face,
And carries all your care.
Shut in your lonely place,
His glories you explore,
You roam in realms of grace
With Him, whom you adore.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Herod's memory quickened his conscience and filled his heart with fear.
Man looks before and after, and has the terrible gift that by anticipation and memory he can prolong * * sadness. The proportion of solid matter needed to color the Irwell is very little in comparison with the whole of the stream. But the current carries it, and half an ounce will stain miles of the turbid stream. Memory and anticipation beat the metal thin, and make it cover an enormous space. And the misery is that, somehow, we have better memories for sad hours than for joyful ones; and it is easier to get accustomed to "blessings," as we call them, and to lose the poignancy of their sweetness because they become familiar, than it is to apply the same process to our sorrows, and thus to take the edge off them. The rose's prickles are left in the flesh longer than its fragrance lives in the nostrils, or its hue in the eye.* * So it comes to be a piece of very homely, well-worn, and yet always needful, practical counsel to try not to magnify and prolong grief, nor to minimize and abbreviate gladness. We can make our lives, to our own thinking, very much what we will. We cannot directly regulate our emotions, but we can regulate them, because it is in our own power to determine which aspect of our life we shall by preference contemplate. Alexander Maclaren.