The Broken Fence

From the sluggard’s neglected vineyard and its broken stone wall comes a solemn lesson— consider carefully how spiritual neglect, weakened principles, and delayed repentance leave the soul exposed to creeping ruin.

“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction.” Proverbs 24:30–32 (ESV) This slothful man did no harm to his fellow men: he was not a thief, nor a ruffian, nor a meddler in other men’s business. He did not trouble himself about other men’s concerns, for he did not even attend to his own—it required too much effort. He was not openly vicious; he had not have enough energy for that. He liked to take things easily. He always let well enough alone, and, for that matter, he let ill alone too, as the nettles and thistles in his garden plainly proved.

What was the use of disturbing himself? It would all be the same a hundred years from now; and so he took things as they came. He was not a bad man, so some said of him; and yet, perhaps, it will be found at last that there is no worse man in the world than the man who is not good. In some respects he is not good enough to be bad; he has not enough strength of character to serve either God or Baal. He simply serves himself, worshiping his own ease and adoring his own comfort.

Yet he always meant to be right. Dear me! he was not going to sleep much longer; he would only have forty winks more, and then he would be at his work and show you what he could do. One of these days he meant to be thoroughly earnest and make up for lost time. The time never actually came for him to begin, but it was always coming. He always meant to repent, but he went on in his sin. He meant to believe, but he died an unbeliever. He meant to be a Christian, but he lived without Christ. He halted between two opinions because he would not trouble himself to decide; and so he perished through delay.

This picture of the slothful man and his garden and field overgrown with nettles and weeds represents many a man who has professed to be a Christian, but who has become slothful in the things of God. Spiritual life has withered in him. He has backslidden. He has come down from healthy spiritual energy into listlessness and indifference to the things of God. While things have gone wrong within his heart, and all sorts of mischiefs have entered him, grown up, and taken root in him, mischief is also taking place outwardly in his daily conduct. The stone wall that guarded his character is broken down, and he lies open to every evil. Upon this point we will now meditate: “the stone wall thereof was broken down.”

Come, then, let us walk with Solomon, and stand with him, and consider, and receive instruction while we look at this broken-down fence. When we have examined it, let us consider the consequences of broken-down walls; and then, in the last place, let us try to rouse up this sluggard so that his wall may yet be repaired. If this slothful person should be one of ourselves, may God’s infinite mercy rouse us before this ruined wall has let in a herd of prowling vices.

I. Let Us Look at This Broken Fence In the beginning it was a very good fence, for it was a stone wall. Fields are often surrounded with wooden fences that soon decay, or with hedges that may easily have gaps made in them; but this was a stone wall. Such walls are very common in the East, and also in some of our own counties where stone is plentiful. It was solid protection to begin with, and it securely enclosed the little estate that had fallen into such bad hands. The man had a field for farming, and another strip of land for a vineyard or garden. It was fertile soil, for it produced thorns and nettles in abundance; and where these grow, better things can grow as well. Yet the idler took no care of his property, but allowed the wall to fall into disrepair, and in many places to be completely broken down.

Let me mention some of the stone walls that men allow to crumble when they backslide. In many cases, sound principles were instilled in youth, but these are forgotten. What a blessing Christian education is. Our parents, both by instruction and example, taught many of us what is pure, honorable, and of good repute. We saw in their lives how to live. They opened the Word of God before us, and taught us what is right toward God and toward men. They prayed for us, and they prayed with us, until the things of God surrounded us and enclosed us like a stone wall.

We have never been able to rid ourselves of those early impressions. Even in times of wandering, before we knew the Lord savingly, those truths had a healthy influence over us. We were restrained when we would have done evil. We were helped when we were struggling toward Christ. It is very sad when people allow these first principles to be shaken and removed like stones falling from a boundary wall. Young people begin by speaking lightly of the old-fashioned ways of their parents.

Soon it is not merely the old-fashioned aspect they despise, but the ways themselves. They seek other company, and from that company they learn nothing but evil. They seek pleasure in places that would horrify their parents. This leads to worse. If they do not bring their father’s gray hairs down with sorrow to the grave, it is no credit to them.

I have known young men, who truly were Christians, sadly backslide because they were persuaded to modify, conceal, or alter those holy principles in which they were trained from their mother’s knee. It is a great calamity when professing believers become unstable and are carried about with every wind of doctrine. It shows weakness of mind and unsoundness of heart when we can trifle with those serious and sacred truths that were watered with a mother’s tears and upheld by a father’s faithful life.

“I am your servant, the son of your maidservant” (Psalm 116:16, ESV). David felt it to be both an honor and a sacred bond that he was the son of one who was called God’s servant.

Take care, you who have received Christian training, that you do not trifle with it. “My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.

Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.” (Proverbs 6:20–21, ESV) Protection of character is also found in solid doctrine. This too is a strong stone wall. Many among us have been taught the gospel of the grace of God and have learned it well, so that they are able to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Happy are those whose religion rests upon clear knowledge of eternal truth.

A religion that is all excitement and little instruction may serve for a time; but for lifelong strength there must be knowledge of those great doctrines that are foundational to the gospel. I tremble when I hear of a man giving up, one by one, the vital truths of the gospel and boasting of his liberality. I hear him say, “These are my views, but others have a right to theirs.” That is proper when speaking of mere opinions; but we may not speak so of truth revealed by God. That truth is one and unchanging, and all are bound to receive it. It is not your personal view of truth that saves you, but truth itself as God has revealed it, embraced by faith.

I will gladly give up my way of stating a doctrine, but not the doctrine itself. One man may express it this way, another in a different way; but the truth itself must never be surrendered. The spirit of the Broad School robs us of certainty. I would ask some of its leaders whether they believe that anything taught in Scripture is worth dying for, and whether the martyrs were fools for giving their lives for what might be merely opinions. This broad-church spirit breaks down stone walls. It lets in the devil and all his company, and it will do immeasurable harm to the church of God if it is not resisted. A loose state of belief damages any man’s soul.

We are not bigots; yet we would be none the worse if we lived so faithfully that men called us such. I met a man recently who was accused of bigotry, and I said, “Give me your hand. I like to meet with bigots now and then. They are becoming rare, and the material they are made of is so strong that if there were more of it we might see more men among us and fewer creatures without backbone.”

Lately we have seen few men with backbone; most have been like jellyfish. There was a time when I would have said, “Be liberal and cast-off narrowness.” Now I must say, “Be steadfast in the truth.” The faith once delivered to the saints is more precious to me now that it is called narrow, for I am tired of that breadth which comes from broken hedges.

There are fixed truths and definite certainties of faith, and woe to you if you allow these stone walls to crumble. I fear that the slothful are many, and that future generations may lament the carelessness applauded in this negligent age.

Another fence often neglected is that of godly habits already formed. The sluggard lets this wall fall into ruin. Let me mention some important safeguards of life and character.

One is the habit of secret prayer. Private prayer should be regularly offered, at least morning and evening. We cannot do without set times of drawing near to God. To look into the face of man without first looking into the face of God is dangerous. To go into the world without committing your heart to God is to leave it open to every spiritual intruder. At night, to go to bed like animals into their stall, without thanking God for the mercies of the day, is shameful. The evening sacrifice should be offered as surely as we enjoy the evening fire. We should place ourselves beneath the wings of the Preserver of men.

It is said, “We can pray at all times.” That is true; but I fear those who do not pray at stated times seldom pray at all. Those who pray regularly are most likely to pray continually. Spiritual life does not thrive on rigid formalism, but since life always takes some outward form, we should care for its outward habits as well as its inward power. Never allow large gaps in the wall of habitual private prayer.

I go further. There is great protective power in family prayer, and I am deeply grieved that many Christian families neglect it. There was a time when Romanism could make little progress in England because it offered only a shadow of what Christian homes already possessed in substance.

“Do you hear that bell in the morning?”

“What is it for?”

“To go to church to pray.” The Puritan replied, “I have no need to go there. I have gathered my children. We have read Scripture, prayed, and sung God’s praise. We have a church in our house.” The evening bell rang again. It was for vespers. But he had already held his evening worship around his own table, with the large Bible as its chief ornament. They said there could be no service without a priest. He answered that every godly man should be a priest in his own home.

Thus the saints resisted priest craft and preserved the faith from generation to generation.

Household devotion and the pulpit are, under God, the stone walls of Protestantism. My prayer is that these walls may not be broken down.

Another protective fence is the weeknight service. When people abandon weeknight meetings, the power of their religion declines. I do not speak of those providentially hindered by sickness, work, or duty. Exceptions exist. I speak of those who could attend but choose not to. When someone says, “Sunday sermons are enough for me. I do not want prayer meetings or lectures,” it shows a lack of appetite for the Word, and that is a bad sign. If you build a fence around Sunday and leave the rest of the week exposed, Satan’s cattle will enter and cause great destruction.

Take care also to maintain the wall of Bible reading and of Christian conversation. Associate with the godly. Commune with God. By the Spirit’s blessing, you will maintain a strong fence against temptation. Otherwise, temptations will enter the fields of your soul and consume all the good fruit. Many have found great protection for the field of daily life in the stone wall of a public profession of faith. I am speaking to you who are true believers, and you know that it has often been a strong safeguard to be openly known and recognized as a follower of Jesus.

I have never regretted—and I never shall regret—the day when I walked to the little River Lark in Cambridgeshire and was there buried with Christ in baptism. In doing so, I acted contrary to the opinions of all my respected friends; but having read the Greek Testament for myself, I felt bound to be immersed upon a profession of my faith, and so I was. By that act I declared to the world, “I am dead to you, and buried to you in Christ, and I hope from this time forward to walk in newness of life.”

That day, by God’s grace, I followed the strategy of a general who intended to fight until he conquered, and therefore burned his boats so there could be no retreat. I believe that a solemn confession of Christ before men is like a thorn hedge, keeping a man within bounds and keeping away those who would draw him aside. Of course, it is only a hedge, and it is useless if it surrounds a field of weeds; but when wheat is growing, a hedge is of great importance.

You who imagine that you can belong to the Lord and yet lie open like common ground are greatly mistaken. You ought to be distinct from the world and obey the voice that says, “Come out from among them, and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17, ESV).

The promise of salvation is to the one who believes in the heart and confesses with the mouth (Romans 10:9–10). Say boldly, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15, ESV). By such a confession you step onto the King’s highway and place yourself under the protection of the Lord of pilgrims, and he will care for you.

Often, when you might otherwise hesitate, you will say, “The vows of the Lord are upon me; how can I draw back?” Therefore I urge you: set up the stone wall and maintain it. If at any point it has been thrown down, build it up again. Let it be evident by your conduct and conversation that you are a follower of Jesus and not ashamed to be known as such.

Hold firmly to your religious principles like true men and women. Do not turn aside for the sake of gain or social respectability. Do not allow wealth to break down your wall. I have known some who made a wide gap to let their carriage pass through, and to welcome wealthy worldlings into their company for the sake of their status. Those who forsake principle to please men will eventually be lightly esteemed; but the one who is faithful will receive honor from God. Guard this hedge of steadfast adherence to the faith, and you will find great blessing in it.

There is yet another stone wall to mention: firmness of character. Our holy faith teaches a person to be decisive for Christ and resolute in removing sinful habits. “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away” (Matthew 5:29, ESV). It does not say to cover it with a patch.

“If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away” (Matthew 5:30, ESV). It does not say to put it in a sling. True religion is thorough. It says, “Touch no unclean thing” (2 Corinthians 6:17, ESV).

But many are so idle in the ways of God that they have no firmness of their own. Evil companions tempt them, and they cannot say, “No.” They need a stone wall made of repeated refusals. Here are the stones: “No. No. No.” Dare to be different. Resolve to cling closely to Christ. Make a firm determination to allow nothing in your life—however profitable or pleasurable—if it would dishonor the name of Jesus. Be unwavering in truth, unyielding in holiness, immovable in honesty, steadfast in kindness, and fixed in uprightness. If God’s grace builds such a hedge around you, even Satan will recognize it and say, “Have you not put a hedge around him?” (Job 1:10, ESV).

I have kept you long enough looking over the wall. Let me now invite you inside and consider the consequences of a broken-down fence.

First, the boundary disappears. The lines of separation once maintained by sound principles, godly habits, open confession, and firm resolve are gone. Now the question arises: is this man a Christian or not? The fence has fallen so far that he no longer knows what belongs to the Lord and what lies open as common ground. He does not know whether he himself is part of the King’s domain or merely wasteland under the world’s rule.

This happens when fences are not maintained. If that man had lived near to God, walked in integrity, and enjoyed the rich presence of the Spirit in holy living and patient waiting, he would know exactly where the boundary lies. He would know whether his land belonged to the parish of All-Saints, to No-Man’s-Land, or to the territory where Satan rules.

I heard of a dear elderly saint who, near death, was assaulted by Satan. She gently waved her finger and said, “Chosen! Chosen! Chosen!” She knew she was chosen, and she remembered the words, “The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you” (Zechariah 3:2, ESV). When the wall stands firm around the field, we can resist the devil and say, “Leave the Lord’s property alone. I belong to Christ, not to you.” To speak like this, you must mend the fences carefully, so that the boundary is clear and you can declare, “Trespassers, beware.” Yield not an inch to the enemy. Raise the wall higher when he attempts to climb it. May he never find a gap through which to enter.

Second, when the wall falls, protection is lost. When a man’s heart is unfenced, his thoughts wander across the mountains of vanity. Like sheep, thoughts must be enclosed, or they will stray.

David said, “I hate vain thoughts” (Psalm 119:113, ESV). Slothful men have plenty of them, for unless every gap is stopped and every gate secured, vain thoughts will rush in. Holy reflections, comforting meditations, devout longings, and gracious fellowship with God will disappear if we lazily allow the wall to crumble.

As good things depart, bad things enter. When the wall is down, every passerby sees an invitation.

The gate is open, and in they come. Are there fruits? They pluck them. They roam as if in a public park and pry into every corner. Is there a private place in your heart for Jesus alone? Satan and the world will invade it. Why should we be surprised? Every stray animal tramples and spoils more than it consumes when gaps are wide open. So too, every kind of evil desire and imagination feeds upon an unguarded soul.

It is useless to pray, “Lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13, ESV), if you deliberately walk toward it. God will not lead you into temptation, but you may lead yourself. If you expose yourself to evil influences, you grieve the Spirit of God, and he may leave you to reap the results of your folly. Would it not be wiser to repair the fence at once?

There is yet another consequence: the land itself may be lost. In England, a broken wall does not remove ownership; but in Palestine, fields on hillsides were held in place by terraced walls. When those walls collapsed, the soil slipped away, terrace by terrace, and vines and trees went with it.

Then rains washed the soil away entirely, leaving only barren rock.

So it is spiritually. A man may neglect himself and the things of God—becoming careless about doctrine and holy living—until his power for good is gone. His mind, heart, and strength seem to disappear. The prophet said, “Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense” (Hosea 7:11, ESV).

Many are such silly doves. The man who trifles with religion trifles with his soul and soon becomes incapable of serious thought or useful service.

Therefore, stand firm in this evil day. When religious thought slides like mud into the Dead Sea of unbelief, build solid walls around your life, faith, and character. “Stand therefore” (Ephesians 6:14, ESV), and having done all, still stand. May the Holy Spirit root and establish you, so that you do not cast away your confidence, “which has a great reward” (Hebrews 10:35, ESV).

Lastly, let me try to wake the sluggard. It is time to rise. The sun has already dried the dew. You ask for “a little more sleep.” If you sleep a little longer, you may not wake until you lift up your eyes in another world. Rise now. Leap from your bed before it becomes your grave.

Look at your heart. Neglect has allowed sins to grow like weeds. You have neglected God and Christ until you have become worldly, careless, indifferent. Some of you once bore the sacred name; now you resemble the world. Examine the results of your neglected walls. Compare yourself with diligent believers—poor and uneducated perhaps—who serve Christ faithfully. With all your gifts and opportunities, you have become an unprofitable servant. Is it not time to stir yourself?

Consider others who once intended to wake later. Some have fallen into open sin and dishonored Christ. They only went a little farther than you. Your heart is much the same. Under similar temptation, you might fall as they did. A slothful professor is ready for anything. A lazy heart is tinder for the devil’s sparks.

Remember the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Will he find you sleeping? Remember the judgment. What excuse will you offer for wasted time and unused talents, when the Master returns?

And you, my unconverted friend, if you drift through life without concern for your soul, you will surely be lost. “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

(1 Peter 4:18, ESV). Salvation is entirely of grace; but grace does not produce laziness or indifference. It produces energy, zeal, fervency, persistence, and self-denial.

May God grant us the indwelling of his Holy Spirit, that all may be set in order, sins uprooted from the heart, and the whole person guarded by sanctifying grace from the destroyers that lurk near every low wall. O Lord, in mercy remember us. Fence us by your power. Keep us from sloth that would expose us to evil, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.