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to him who gave himself a ransom for all, while time remains, and "kiss the Son" and delay not, from this day, to seek him with the whole heart.

We have considered the horrors of hell-1st, in the view of the soul's total want of God-2d, of its positive punishments-3d, of its friendless state, and-4th, of its having sinned away the most precious of all remedies. But the most killing circumstance remains to be considered.

This misery is ETERNAL. It would alleviate the sense of woe, if the man could think, after suffering as many years as there are blades of grass, and sands on the sea shore, and stars in the firmament added together, he might then come from the place of torment. But the torment, after all, STILL TO BEGIN! Who can tell, indeed, what it is to " dwell in everlasting burning!" Shall we be told, that such and such great names are of another opinion, and deem hell torments not to be eternal! Will their reasonings help out of hell those who once find themselves there? What is the way to settle this matter? Surely mere reasoning on the mercy of God, set in opposition to his other perfections, must be an impious boldness. Do men consider that the justice and purity of God is as infinite as his mercy? and especially that Reason must be here an impudent caviller, taking upon her what is vastly unbecoming? For the Scripture revelation of the eternity of future torments is so plain, and so void of, even any thing like, hints to the contrary, that I suppose were it not for this imagined contrariety to reason, men would never have pretended to bring any thing from Scripture against the doctrine.

Let several chapters towards the end of Revelations, and particularly the solemn declaration in the last chapter, "he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still," be well considered. This representation takes away all idea of any change after this life taking place in the state, or on the hearts of men, and the eternal punishment of the wicked will appear as true and real as the happiness of the righteous. Read the latter part of the ninth chapter of St. Mark's Gospel. Three times our Lord says, "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Read his account of the last judgment " These shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal." On this scriptural ground I rest the matter. May we all here, be in fear for ourselves, and flee from the wrath to come.

SERMON II.

THE GAIN OF THE WHOLE WORLD, NO

COMPENSATION

FOR THE LOSS OF THE SOUL.

Mark viii. 36, 37.

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

To balance the account fairly, a man should, as I observed, weigh on the one hand what it is to lose the soul, and on the other what it is to gain the whole world. The first has been attempted; and though the description of the ruin of the soul in hell has been faint indeed, and much disproportioned to the subject, yet enough has been said to show it dreadful beyond all powers of description, and a loss not to be repaired by any advantages which the world can give. Let us now observe a little,

What it is to " gain the whole world."-Suppose, then, the god of this world, the devil, to take you up, as he did our Lord, into an exceeding high mountain, and to show you "all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them," and to say, what he had the power to make good, "all this will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." -He has the power of deceiving the nations, and he engages them to worship him in effect, when their hearts are overcome with the love of this world.Let the gain of the whole world, I say, pass in review, and what is there in it all, that should move the affections of men? Solomon has long since pronounced the whole to be "vanity and vexation of spirit." And who had more wisdom, more riches, more power of commanding all sorts of pleasures than Solomon? Yet he was well nigh brought to despair; nay, he "hated life" itself. The reason is, the world has not in its best state of things any real happiness to give; the immortal soul famishes amidst its richest abundance, and finds no suitable sustenance and support.

Let young persons, whose hearts are easily smitten with the gay appearances of pleasure, before they have had any experience of the world, be assured that the world has nothing but emptiness, nothing to fill the soul. Let them ask any who have lived fifty or sixty years, if they ever found any substantial happiness in it, and even those who have been the most prosperous, and who have moved in the most easy spheres of life, will own, if at all honest to their own feelings, will own, the world has disappointed them: it never gave them that, in enjoyment, which it promised, in expectation; even though every thing succeeded to their wish. Let a man dictate the terms to Satan, in this case, and ask a long life, health, beauty, agreeable friends, riches, honours, pleasures, and knowledge. Let him stipulate for whatever his very heart could wish, and he would experience the whole to be vanity and

vexation of spirit. For every temporal blessing that can be desired to make life happy and honourable was Solomon's, for a long season, though not from Satan, but from God.

There is an uneasy void in the heart, which is not filled up by all that the world can give. " Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it," says God. Yes, in the knowledge of him is life and joy. This is the true happiness of man; the kingdom of God within; which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and which even much affliction does not take away. "There be many that say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." There is "gladness in the heart, more than when their corn, and wine, and oil increased."

Let young persons be persuaded to attend to this. God's favour and Holy Spirit can give them real bliss, even with all worldly things against them. But the most prosperous and the most pleasurable of worldly things will not give them it, if they be void of God within. And as our Lord has decided the case, " Ye cannot serve God and mammon," one of the two masters must be uppermost; and if mammon, they cannot be happy. Let them seek for the wisdom of God to determine them aright. For whatever experience a man has of this world's vanity, unless he has a taste of what is better, he will still follow it. And though in following the world, and giving it your heart, instead of God, you do not directly fall down before the devil, and worship him, yet surely you do worship him in effect. You serve his kingdom: he is "the spirit

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