1 Kings 20:11
The king of Israel answered, “Tell him: One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off!”
However blinded men are in reference to their own sins, they can easily discern sin in others, and capably declare what true wisdom requires concerning others.
We would certainly not have expected Ahab, of all men, to become a monitor; the dictates of wisdom seem but ill-suited to his lips. But the counsel, which he here gave to the king of Syria, was excellent, and is deserving of all the attention that can be paid to it.
In considering this counsel, it is my intention to point out,
I. The wisdom of Ahab’s counsel.
It may be noticed either,
1. As a political maxim.
The history of all mankind attests the propriety of this advice. In every age there will be found unnumbered instances to prove that “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned, Ecclesiastes 9:11.” The outcome of Benhadad’s boasting, as recorded in the chapter before us, is a remarkable illustration of this truth. So numerous were his forces, that he declared the very dust of Samaria would not suffice for each man to take a handful; yet were they all put to flight by a very small force (the whole of Ahab’s army scarcely exceeding seven thousand men); and not by experienced warriors, but “by the young men of the princes of the provinces,” and those amounting to no more than two hundred and seventy-two, verse 13-21. Whether in public or in private life, undue confidence will be sure to entail on us the most bitter disappointments.
2. As a Christian theorem.
For man to boast of anything that he will do, argues an utter forgetfulness:
of what human nature is, (imbecility itself; 2 Corinthians 3:5.);
of what God is, (the sole Governor of the universe, who “works all things after the counsel of his own will Daniel 4:35; Ephesians 1:11.”);
and of what he himself is; (for who has not, from bitter experience, learned, that “he who trusts in his own heart is a fool! Proverbs 28:26.”)
Indeed, an excessive pride of our own powers is the most ready way to arm God himself against us, and to ensure the defeat of our own purposes, Isaiah 10:13-19; With God on his side, a stripling, with his sling and stone, may overcome a vaunting Goliath, 1 Samuel 17:44-47. But, without God’s assistance, the strongest man on earth can effect nothing, John 15:5; Jeremiah 10:23.
That we may see the practical utility of this advice, I will proceed to mark,
II. The importance of Ahab’s counsel.
It is of special importance,
1. To those who are just entering on their spiritual course.
Persons in this situation are often ready to imagine that their warfare is almost accomplished, when it is, in fact, scarcely yet begun. But, if God, as in the case of Israel coming out of Egypt, Exodus 13:17, keeps off those trials which you are not yet prepared to encounter—then do not think that you have no warfare to maintain. The way to Heaven will not prove to be so easy as you imagine. If you become “a soldier of Jesus Christ,” you must prepare for war, and be ready to “fight the good fight of faith.” Sooner or later, you shall have occasion for all the armor that he has provided for you, Ephesians 6:10-18.
2. To those who are going on victorious.
Satan’s wicked devices are more than can be numbered! He may, and no doubt often does, recede for a time, that he may renew his assaults to greater advantage. See the stratagem of Joshua against the men of Ai, and you will have a just picture of the wiles by which Satan, that subtle serpent, is laboring to destroy you, 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Peter 5:8. Your only safety is in watchfulness and prayer, Mark 14:38.
3. To those who are most advanced in the divine life.
To you, no less than to others, is this counsel of great value.
Did Lot, after withstanding the temptations of Sodom, fall into sin in the cave?
Did David, after all his high attainments, fall into sin?
Did Solomon fall into sin “after the Lord had appeared to him twice?”
Did Peter violate all his proud resolutions?
Did Demas, after his long course of steadfastness, relinquish at last all his professions?
Who, then, are you, that you shall be secure? “Let him who thinks he stands, whoever he is, take heed lest he fall, 1 Corinthians 10:12.” Let him “not be high-minded, but fear Romans 11:20.” “Blessed is the man who fears always, Proverbs 28:14.” If Paul needed to keep his body under control, “lest, after preaching to others, he himself should become a castaway, 1 Corinthians 9:27,” then there is no creature under Heaven to whom the counsel in my text is not altogether suitable and necessary. To all, then, I say, “Look to yourselves, that you lose not the things that you have wrought, but that you receive a full reward, 2 John verse 8.”
Charles Simeon