S MANY ADVANTAGES ARE IMPROVED to urpose for which they have been bestowed. met herriar and distinguished are the privileges which we in this day, and in this land. We live in a day rend auch light; and, blessed be God, of increasing on and piety. We live in a protestant country, and have the Bible richly diffused among us. We do wc,nough thank God for being born in such an age, Ssuch a country, and that we are spared a combat many prejudices of birth, custom, and example, ed to beh our forefathers sustained, and others still sustain. Mais true, that some have to struggle through great and full culties, before they are brought to see the truth as hearer be in Jesus: if grace has enabled us to do so, we ARE THE be only the more cause for gratitude. But there are THEY ltitudes who neglect all these advantages, and who therefore have a worse doom hereafter than Sodom Gomorrah. To have been led by divine grace to e glory of ze the golden opportunity for eternal life, is a blessThe for which we shall thank God through eternity. he best was not any wisdom in the Christian, more than in ATE ug and thers; it was, God's mercy, and the teaching of his Gospel Dirit, that made all the difference. This wonderfully tisfy ouhances the blessing, and for this our song shall ployed a vell the heavenly chorus hereafter, with endless joy about, nd gratitude. squande HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT bread, RUTHS IS ENLARGED. It is not merely the readrng of good books, or hearing of good sermons, from that worldly motives, and in a worldly spirit, that increases Mivine knowledge. The teaching of God's Spirit is and heeessary for this end; and that teaching is freely Id har bestowed in a due regard to the preaching of the word. How blessed is it to be thus divinely instructed! 'Aîl ruin. H salvation, as the riches of divine wisdom, planned before time began, effected by the only-begotten Son of God, rescuing us from eternal perdition, and restoring us to heaven, and then say whether it be possible for a creature to cast greater contempt on God, than to prefer the perishing vanities of a fleeting world, and carelessly to disregard, and slight, and make light of the most wonderful display of divine wisdom and love manifested in the Gospel. O the blindness, hardness, and darkness of our carnal hearts! We profess to believe these things, and yet disregard nothing more. How tremendous will be that great day, when God shall enter into account with those who persevere in this neglect they shall awaken to their true condition, and he shall say to them-Behold! ye despisers, and wonder, and perish! "Shall," says one, "the Son of God shed his blood in vain? Shall he suffer, and bleed, and die, for a thing of nought? Is it nothing unto you that he should undergo all these things? Can it be a matter of such small concern, that you will scarce make enquiry after it? Ah! be assured that these things are not so, and God grant that you may see this ere it be too late." You may be blinded even while life is spared. It is an awful declaration that we sometimes see exemplified, respecting those who dislike divine truth, and therefore neglect it, that because they received not the love of the truth-God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Our first fall from holiness ́and happiness arose from not listening to the voice of God; and all our subsequent falls, and the final and irreversible ruin of the wicked, arise from the same disregard of his word. THE GUILT OF THOSE WHO NEGLECT SALVATION IS IMMENSE! It was a great sin in the Jews to disobey the voice of God spoken by Moses. It was a still greater sin in a subsequent generation, after the example and punishment of their forefathers, to despise and misuse the prophets. It was a still farther aggravation of iniquity, beyond all this, after all God's former dealings, and when the nation had been carried into captivity for refusing to hear the prophets, to reject the chief Prophet, our Lord Jesus Christ, and his Apostles. They filled up the measure of their fathers... so that, our Lord said to them, upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth. They sinned, after all the warnings of so many generations: If I had "not come, says our Lord again, they had not had sin, (not to that extent;) but now they have no cloke for their sin. O Christian reader! how tremendously accumulated is the guilt of those, in these last days, who, after the experience of so many ages, and with such a cloud of witnesses, still neglect so great a salvation! THEIR RUIN SHALL BE SUDDEN AND IRRETRIEVABLE! How shall they escape? the expression intimates that the day of wrath will be to the wicked both unexpected and inevitable. They would gladly fly away, but flight from the Divine Presence is vain and impossible. They would gladly hide themselves in the lowest depths, and be covered by hills and mountains, but still God is there. That omnipresence which is the highest joy of his servants, is the sum of all terror to his enemies. Do they attempt to justify themselves? O how vain! Every disregarded minister, every broken sabbath, every neglected Bible, is a witness against them. The very dust shaken off the feet of the despised minister is a testimony against them. Mark vi, 11. God has declared that it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear his Son shall be destroyti from among the people. Acts iii, 23. God has made known his final purpose-They refused to hear ®! words; therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon them. which they shall not be able to escape. Jer. xi, 10,11. THEY LIE UNDER THE CURSE OF THE LAW: how shall they escape its penalty? They are not like the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upes it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it i dressed, and receiveth blessing from God; but, are like that which beareth thorns and briars, and is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. Heb. vi, 7. Where God bestows great advantages, he expects corresponding fruitfulness; (Isa. v, 1-7.) and if there be no fruit, a double curse rests there. The law denounces wrath and perdition against the transgressor. They have transgressed times without number. I what refuge can they trust? Will ungodly companions help them? no: they equally need help. Will Satan's power shield them? they preferred his service; will he protect them? no: he is in himself punished; he shares the curse, and, as far as joy can enter his malignant heart, he rejoices in their ruin. Can the holy angels, or any of the saints assist? no: they can do, they choose to do, nothing but what God approves. Do they now look to Christ? O grievous ruin! it is too late! Their once-neglected Saviour is now their righteous judge. They despised his salvation, and loved sinful pleasures better than Him who died for them. The neglected Gospel furnishes another aggravation of their ruin. . THEY WILL BE CONDEMNED AT THE FINAL JUDGMENT. In the day of trial, God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing. How shall Isa. v, 14 rests the d his serv punished, an the b they ca pproves ! it is w their r and lores For them Iggravat THE FO ill bring They SHALL ENDURE ETERNAL WRATH! It is an awful question put by our Lord, How can ye escape the damnation of hell? Who can reverse the terrible sentence? When once it is passed, it is irreversible. It is justly merited. They were told of their danger. They heard that it was so great a danger, that the Son of God himself came down from heaven to avert it, and yet they carelessly slept, or rashly squandered away the precious hours of life in which they might have obtained it, and procrastinated, day after day, month after 1 if |
