33. Ruins.

But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. - II Chronicles 28:23.

Narrate the actual circumstances. Ahaz turned away from Jehovah to serve the gods of Damascus, because Syria enjoyed prosperity. "For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of, him, and of all Israel." The consequent introduction of false deities and defilement of the worship of God became the ruin of Ahaz and his kingdom.

We fear lest this should be the ruin of England; for the idols of the Papists and the doctrines of Rome are again being set up in our land. Though no country prospers in which these prevail, yet besotted minds are laboring to restore the gods of the Vatican. This subject deserves many faithful sermons.

I. THE MAN RUINING HIMSELF. Ahaz is the type of many selfdestroyers. "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself" (Hos. 13:9).

· He would be his own master. This ruined the prodigal, and will ruin millions more.

· He was high-handed in sin. "He walked in the way of the kings of Israel" (2 Kings 16:3-4). This is a race to ruin.

· He lavished treasure upon it. He spent much but gained little. Profligacy and many other wrong ways are expensive and ruinous.

· He defied chastisement. "In the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord" (2 Chron. 28:22). This defiance of correction leads to sure ruin.

· He was exceedingly clever, and curried favor with the great. He made a copy of a classic altar, and sent it home. More men perish through being too clever than by being simple.

· He was a man of taste. He admired the antique, and the esthetic in religion.

· He had officials to back him. "Urijah, the priest, built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus" (2 Kings 16:11 ). Bad ministers are terrible destroyers.

· He imitated prosperous sinners. The king of Assyria became his type. This is ruinous conduct.

· He abandoned all worship of God." "He shut up the doors of the house of the Lord" (verse 24). This is the climax of rebellion, and the seal of ruin. But he did not prosper; the false gods were the ruin of him.

II. THE MAN IN RUINS. We leave Ahaz to think of some around us.

· The man becomes eaten up with secret vice. A rotting ruin haunted by bats and owls, and foul creatures of the night.

· The man of drinking habits, not fit for society, a brute, a fiend.

· The man of evil company and foul speech: likely to be soon in prison, or an outcast.

· The man of unbelieving notions and blasphemous conversation, lost to God, to goodness, and moral sense.

· All around us we see such spiritual ruins.

· Turned from holy uses to be moldering wastes. The man is ruined in:

· Peace, character, usefulness, prospects. Worst of all, he is himself a ruin, and will be so for ever.

· A ruin suggests many reflections.

· What it was! What it might have been!

· What it is! What it will be!

· Meditations among ruins may be useful to those who are inclined to repeat the experiment of Ahaz.

III. OTHERS RUINED WITH HIM. "They were the ruin of him, and of all Israel."

· Designedly. Some men by example create drunkards, by teaching make infidels, by seduction ruin virtue, by their very presence destroy all that is good in their associates.

· Incidentally; even without intent they spread the contagion of sin. Their irreligion ruins the young, their conduct influences the unsettled, their language inflames the wicked.

· Sin will ruin you, if persisted in.

· Your downfall will drag down others.

· Will you not endeavor to escape from ruin?

· Jesus is the Restorer of the wastes.