Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 417
“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion.” Amos 6:1. IN itself considered it is no ill thing to be at ease. No, it is a great blessing to be at ease in Zion in the healthy sense and meaning of that word. Is it not one of the invitations of Christ—“Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest?” Is not this one of the promises made to the believer—“His soul shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherit the earth”? (Psa. 25:13). Is not this the privilege which is accorded to the Church of God, in the words of Isaiah—“Your eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation”? (Isa. 33:20). And still more in the prophecy of Jeremiah 46:27—“Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease and none shall make him afraid!”
To have perfect quietness in Christ is indeed a privilege which only belongs to those who have entered into that which is within the veil! Oh to enter into our rest! For “they that have believed do enter into rest.” They have found in the finished work of Christ enough for their soul’s repose. They see in the faithfulness and power of God enough support for the future whatever troubles it may bring. They see in the precious blood of Christ sufficient atonement for the past whatever its sins may have been. And in communion and fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, abundant joy for the present whatever may be its trials, its difficulties its straits, or its fears.
It is a blessed thing then, understanding the word “ease” in its good sense, to be at ease in Zion. So good a thing that it is denied to the wicked, for “the wicked are like the troubled sea which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” And of the wicked it may be said, “And among these nations shall you find no ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest. But the Lord shall give you there a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind” (Deut. 28:65). Oh beloved Brothers and Sisters, it is a thing worth praying for and worth striving after, that our spirit may have perfect rest.
The kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus is King of Salem and Prince of Peace, “and the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever” (Isa. 32:17). Peace, peace to you, you troubled one. In the world you shall have tribulation, but in Christ you shall have peace.
But it seems there is also another sense in which the word “ease” may be used, for the text says, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion.” This is a carnal ease, a fleshly security. It is not the confidence of a man who is pardoned but the ease of a hardened wretch who has learned to despise the gallows. It is not the assurance of one who is on the rock, but the ease of a senseless drunkard whose house is tottering from its sandy foundations and yet he riots at full speed. It is not the calm of a soul at peace with God but the ease of a madman, who, because he has hidden his sin from his own eyes, thinks he has concealed it from God.
It is the ease and peace of one who has grown callous, hardened, brutalized, stupid, sullen and careless. One who has begun a sleep which God grant may soon be broken or else it will surely bring him where he shall make his bed in Hell.
As I know there are many in this congregation who are at ease in Zion—I shall not draw the bow at a venture this morning, but in the name of God shall aim straight at the heart. I shall first of all—laboring all the morning long as God’s servant to wake up those that are at ease in Zion—try to wake them by calling out their names—for that is said to be an admirable method of waking sleeping men.
Secondly, by shedding a light upon their eyes, for there are many who can sleep in the night who will not sleep so comfortably in the day. And then, thirdly, by sounding the trumpet in their ears. Yes and such a trumpet that if God the Holy Spirit is here, it shall sound like the blast of the archangel and make them quiver with fright even if they turn not unto God. But all these things will fail unless the Holy Spirit who quickens those that are dead in trespasses and sins, shall be present to wake and to save these sleepers.
1. First, in order to the arousing of the many that are at ease in Zion, we will CALL OUT THEIR NAMES—which are to be found in the chapter before us.
The name of the first sleeper in Zion is Presumptuous. His character is described in the first verse—“They trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came.” Alas, proud Heart, you come to this house and you go from it quite content and easy because you say to yourself, “I am rich and increased in goods and have need of nothing.” “Let the drunkard tremble,” you say, “/have always been moral. Let the dishonest bow their heads, I have always walked in integrity before men.”