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النشر الإلكتروني

ADDRESS XI.

ALMIGHTY GOD, who wouldest not the death of a sinner, but that he should repent and live, give the ministers of thy grace and stewards of thy mysteries power to turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that, beholding the danger of the wicked and the safety of the faithful, he may be turned from the evil of his ways and look unto thee for salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. -Amen.

The eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.-JOв xi. 20.

MY DEAR FRIENDS-To expose to a wicked man his danger is part of the solemn duty of our sacred office, that if by any means we may turn his thoughts to better things, that the grace of God may yet save him from inevitable destruction. For this purpose we occasionally adopt such texts of Scripture for our admonitions as are calculated to awaken his mind from that dull state of insensibility which sin, and sin only, occasions. Separated from God, his soul can only rest in the uncertain things of the world: it has no connexion beyond this world; and Satan enjoys the delight of seeing it fast going to his abode of sorrow, and, therefore, fills him

with the joys of sin. These are so pleasant, so habitual to his depraved mind, that his eyes cannot look unto good; for he fancies they would fail if they did, and, therefore, he would rather preserve the sight of present things than look with the eye of faith into futurity. He flies from good as if there were more security in evil, and his hopes are lively only in what he terms enjoying life.

But the text would sufficiently settle these points if his consideration could but be given to them as it ought "The eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost."

I. Let us consider in what way the eyes of the wicked shall fail.

II. From what they shall not escape; and,

III. Their hope.

I. It is not meant that the natural eye of the wicked shall fail in the sight of common things more than the eye of a good man. It may be as bright and clear as that of any other man, and may see objects at a distance and quite as far, and comprehend their bearings quite as well-this is not the meaning of the text.

Indeed, the eyes of a good man mourning for his sins are more apt to grow dim with sorrow than those of the impenitent, who " appear to come to no misfortune like other men ;" and we all find that as we grow in years, whether we grow in grace or otherwise, that our natural eyesight fails. But, by the eye of the wicked is meant the desire of the eye-what the eye is looking for so as to give the heart pleasure. "The light of the body is the eye" says Divine Wisdom; because, by the soul within,

the body is illuminated or darkened: "if, therefore, thine eye be single thy whole body is full of light : but, if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. vi. 22).

It is in the desire of the eye that the wicked man's sight shall fail. To understand this, let us look to those things which such a man beholds. A wicked man cannot look up to God: he cannot see God in faith; and, though he may have an undefined terror of one distant day standing before Him, yet he turns his eye from the thought of Him and willingly excludes God therefrom. God is light; and, if the wicked man could admit the light of God into his soul, it would confound the darkness within him and drive it away; but he "loves darkness rather than light, because his deeds are evil."

Consequently, all things which abide in darkness he can look upon with complacency. Hence it is that nothing is so irksome to his soul as to be made to think of God. If he hears God's word he turns from it it denies him the pleasure of his eye-therefore does he hate it. His eye is never single-that is, it is never looking at that one single thing that is needful; it never looks at or to Christ; but is ever lusting after evil things. It is in this sense that our Saviour says to His followers-“If thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee: for it is more profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish than that thy whole body be cast into hell."

This offence of the eye is coveting evil things, commonly called the lust of the eye. The eye desires

to possess what it sees, that it may gratify the pride of the heart. It was this that led Achan, when he beheld the goodly Babylonish garment, to set at defiance the commands of God and to appropriate it to his own use. But how did the eye of the wicked Achan fail? He got the garment-he hid it in his tent: he thought of appearing in splendour among his people, and thus his lust of the eye led him into iniquity. Read his history in the seventh chapter of Joshua, and you will see a lamentable example of the words of my text of how "the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape."

Again: it was the same lust of the eye which led David into adultery and murder, and brought a most dreadful visitation upon himself and his children. "Let, therefore, thine eye be single that your whole body may be full of light. Covet not any evil thing, especially that which God has forbidden which belongs to another; but rather rejoice, if you are able so to do, in the promotion of others' good, that God may bless them for His name's sake. "Enter not then into the path of the wicked (says Solomon), and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not except they have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall" (Prov. iv. 16). "Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right nor to the left: remove thy feet from evil."

II. Let us consider from what the wicked will escape. They shall neither escape destruction nor

punishment. David declares, "That God is angry with the wicked every day ;" and says, "If he turn not, He will whet His sword; He hath bent His bow and made it ready" (Psalm vii. 12).

A wicked man may go on for a long time in his career of folly, and imagine in his heart that all are fools who do not as he does. He may set at defiance the laws of God; and, if he be rich and powerful, may think himself above the attacks of conscience or of men like him whom the Psalmist speaks of in these words "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness (Psalm lii. 17). But all his self-delusion and flattery will come to nought, for "God will suddenly shoot at him with a swift arrow and he shall not escape."

Where, in all the history of man, is it to be found that in the end a wicked man either escaped detection or destruction? I am not speaking of flagrant sins against the laws of the land we live in: these carry a very quick, visible, and open punishment, in the eyes of men, when detected; but I am speaking of these secret sins which men fancy are hidden as well from the eyes of God as from the eyes of men.

In these, however much a man may flatter himself in his abominable wickedness, he may rest assured they will be found out, and God will overtake him when he least expects it, and he shall not escape. "Though they be estranged from the womb, and go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies: though their poison is like the poison of a serpent: though they be like a deaf adder which stoppeth her ear, and refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer, charm

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