صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

SERMON VIII.

FORGETFULNESS OF GOD WILL BE VISITED WITH EVERLASTING MISERY.

[ocr errors]

PSALM ix. 17. 、

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God.

THAT the bold and habitual offender against the laws of the Gospel shall meet ⚫ with everlasting punishment, among the devil and his angels, is a truth which many are ready to admit, who do not consider with sufficient attention the other declaration delivered in the text, that eternal destruction will fall upon the head of those also who forget God-who, without being guilty of open and gross sins, yet live on, from day to day, unmindful of Him who called them into existence, and who has bestowed upon them all that they possess. This text then addresses itself to

the careless, as well as the wicked; and while it bids the latter "turn away from his wickedness, to do that which is lawful and right," it warns the former to bear in mind, that our time is a talent entrusted to each by God, for which he will require an account; and that the question will be, not whether we have been busy in the ways of this world, but whether we have been careful to do our duty, as the servants of Jesus Christ, in that state of life, unto which God has been pleased to call

us.

Now this is an enquiry which it becomes all to make, as they value peace of mind and a good conscience upon earth, and as they hope for everlasting happiness in heaven.

To judge properly upon this subject, we must put out of our minds the conduct of others, for this will be likely to lead us astray. Some will say, "I live as well, and do my duty as regularly, as my neighbours, and therefore I have no reason to fear." But you must remember, that you will be judged, not according to the actions of others, but according to your own ac

tions. God has plainly made known what he expects of each; and each, therefore, will have to answer for his own conduct: it will be no excuse that others have been, for instance, careless of any thing but pre sent enjoyment, or present profit; it will be to no purpose that any one shall say, "If I have thought but little, or not at all, of another life, there are others who have thought as little of it." The answer would be, Your business has been to look to yourselves, and leave others to that righteous Judge, who will deal to them that measure which they have deserved.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Now this is a subject which cannot be too earnestly pressed on the conscience of all Christians; for men are much inclined to fix their attention on the objects immediately before them, and to fancy, that while their neighbours do the same thing they are safe, especially if they see some, who, not content with neglecting their Maker, set him, as it were, at defiance, by a daring course of open and shameless guilt.

[ocr errors]

But as there will be different degrees of reward-for we cannot suppose that the

Christian, who in a humble station does his best, will have a recompense in heaven equal to that which is laid up for St. Paul and the other apostles, and which they will receive at the day of judgment-so we may suppose, that there will be likewise different degrees of punishment; that the heaviest will fall on the most hardened and greatest sinner; but that, a punishment which will effectually shut them out from the presence of God, and doom them to a place of torment, will be pronounced on those who "forget God."

When we speak here of forgetting God, we must not be understood to mean those only who think not at all of God, but those also who do not bear in mind, that his eye is constantly upon them, and that he requires them to have him habitually in

a

This point is fully established by St. Paul; "One star differeth from another star in glory.

So

also is the resurrection of the dead," 1 Cor. xv. 41, 42. On the other hand, we are told by Christ, "that the servant who knew not his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with few stripes; while he who knew it, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes," Luke xii. 47, 48.

« السابقةمتابعة »