word, the warnings of his providence, the threatenings of his laws. All these pass by them "as the idle wind which they regard not," and they confirm themselves in the persuasion, that they shall have peace though they walk after the imaginations of their own evil hearts. Hear then, once more, ye despisers, a little plain truth it may be the last time before some of you "go to your long account.” : You have within your bosoms and carry about with you, just such a faculty, with the same sleepless observation, the same power of recollection and reproach, the same capacity of inexpressible horror, as that which inflicted its punishment upon Judas Iscariot. If, then, you are resolved to persevere in your rebellion against God, why then you must go on, and, if you can, abide the consequences. The day of reckoning will come; it is at hand; it is very near; when all restraints shall be removed from off thy conscience, and all its sensibilities sharpened, and thou shalt feel what it is to grapple with its might and its vengeance. Now thy communion is with the matter of thy sin, which fills thee with intoxicating joys; then, when the vision of truth shall make thee sober, it shall be with the guilt of thy sin. Then conscience arises in his majesty to do the work of God's vicegerent. The moment he begins, the stoutest heart trembles. With a precision there is no evading; a determination which can neither be repelled nor postponed; severe integrity which no promises can bribe, and no pleadings mollify, he sets thy sins in order before thy face; not an aggravation nor a circumstance forgotten; excuses and apologies are at an end; every mask is stripped off; the laughter of fools yields no relief; thou must look upon thy sins as disembodied spirits look at them; as the ministering angels who have been their witnesses always looked at them; as they are seen in the light of Jehovah's countenance. Thou art now where thou canst not shuffle; under the power of that eye which penetrates thy being, and annihilates the consideration of everything but itself and thy own crimes. Profaned Sabbaths; the despised Bible; the neglected sanctuary; lost opportunities; abused mercies-ridiculed convictions-crowd in upon thy mind. As they pass by thee in slow and solemn procession, the hand of each presses thine heart like a millstone. Each one utters in a tone of coming vengeance, "Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!" Thus circumstanced, conscience overcomes the love of life, and what is often more than life, of reputation. It rips up and discloses sins which had not been suspected, and would never have been known. To be disgraced or honored before men cannot command a thought. Equally unable to endure or escape its terrors, he sinks into despair. What aileth thee, thou man of boasting? Is this the son of successful sin? This the gay and gallant youth who laughed at the simplicity of his serious friends, at the fables of the Bible, and the croakings of a faithful ministry? What is become of thy courage? Where is that pleasantry with which thou usedest to sport with that bug-bear, conscience? Ah, he has no reply! He has other employment than to attend to his pitiable figure in the eyes of men. He has fallen into the hands of the living God! It is the hour of the Lord's vengeance! He has nothing but the shriek of despair. The mountains and the rocks flee from the face of his Judge. What shall he do? His profit lost; pleasures lost; fame lost; soul lost; God himself has nothing to do but to punish him. Oh, may some of you say, oh that one from the world of spirits, that some good angel, would interpose to show to men their peril, and reclaim them from their folly! what are you wishing? They have more than apparitions of the dead; more than an angel voice; more than if he were to rend asunder the curtains of death, and to make visible the secrets of the eternal world. More sure than all this, more close and powerful is the warning of God's word. In accents more terrible than the thunder that shakes the heavens ; more gentle than the dew-drop upon the springing herb; more tender than a mother's love, does he remonstrate with the rashness of sinners. Hear ye despisers, and wonder and perish! Look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth! As I live, saith Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the sinner. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Judah? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. Now is the day of the divine forbearance! Now does God wait to be gracious. Now he pleads forcibly, plainly, loudly. Then To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Do you shudder at such an interview as has been exhibited with your own consciences? We proclaim the only method of escape, by having sprinkled upon them the precious blood of Christ, that they may be purged from dead works to serve the living God. |