merciful and kind it is in God to give such warnings! Oh! you need them; yes, you need them much. If you love your own souls, and if you wish to escape everlasting burnings, do not despise God's warning word; for they who live and die despising it," shall be destroyed." III. God's threatening word.—What does God do when he threatens ? He tells the rebellious hardened sinner, that if he lives and dies in his iniquity and rebellion, he will punish him with a heavy punishment in the lowest hell. Why does God threaten? He does it in mercy, that the poor thoughtless sinner may be aroused to see his sin and danger. It is that he may be persuaded to forsake his sins and live. Let us now look at some of God's threatenings. He says, Exod. xxxiv. 7, "I will by no means clear the guilty;" that is, I will show no mercy to those who live and die despising my mercy. There is another threatening in Psal. xi. 6: "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup." A great divine* calls God's threatenings a fence placed around the mouth of hell, to prevent poor sinners from falling in." Dear children, remember that hardened sinners who despise God's threatening word break through the fence; and, if mercy prevent not, they must be destroyed. 66 - IV. God's reproving voice. To reprove, is to tell one of his faults. It is to tell him how guilty he is on account of his sins. It is to tell him he is offending God. It is to tell him that he deserves God's wrath. God reproves all kinds of sinners in his word. Sabbath-breakers, liars, swearers, prayerless persons, disobedient to parents, are all reproved. Young friends, it is most dangerous to despise God's reproving word. Hear what God says of those who despise his reproving word. Prov. xv. 10, "He that hateth reproof shall die." May this sink deep into your hearts. He says farther, Prov. xxix. 1, "He, that being often reproved * President Davies. hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." Oh, may this sink deep into your hearts! V. God's calling voice.-God calls on poor sinners in his word. He calls mercifully; he calls earnestly; he calls constantly; he calls patiently. Jesus calls on young sinners to become his scholars. He says, Matt. xi. 29, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart." Jesus calls upon them to obey him and serve him, and says, “Take upon you my yoke, which is easy, and my burden, which is light." Matt. xi. 29, 30. He calls upon them to escape from hell, saying, "Escape for your life." Gen. xix. 17. He calls upon them to flee to heaven. He calls on them to " lay aside every weight, and to run the race set before them;" that is, the race which leads to heaven. Heb. xii. 1, 2. How infinitely merciful are these calls! But remember, it is no light matter to despise them; for those who despise them, and who die despising them, must be destroyed. Think on what God says of those who despise his calling word, and then despise it no more for ever. Prov. i. 24-26: "Because I called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would have none of my reproof: I will also laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh." Young friends, may the Holy Spirit deeply affect your hearts with the solemn truth, that "they who despise God's calling word must be destroyed!" VI. God's promising word.-The Bible is full of precious promises. Have you not often wondered, after the sun has set, when you have looked upward to the skies, and seen the myriads of lovely twinkling stars? Indeed, they are wonderful. But I can tell you something far more wonderful, and far more delightful. What is it? It is the multitudes of precious promises, shining in all their loveliness upon the pages of Scripture. And, indeed, they well deserve to be called precious. "They are more precious than jewels, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to them." Let us now look at some of these pro Blessed are those They seek Jesus. live with him for mises. The following is a most beautiful promise to little children. Prov. viii. 17, "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me." children who believe this promise. They are saved. They are saved. And they shall ever in heaven. But multitudes who have despised this promise have been destroyed. Oh, may this not be your doom! Let us look at another delightful promise. It is in our dear Saviour's Sermon on the Mount. Matth. vii. 7, 8, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, re ceiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." Oh what a blessed, what a precious promise is this. There are many dear children in heaven who believed this promise. They laid hold of it with the hand of faith. And, when they died, they were conveyed to heaven, where they shall be happy for ever and ever. But, alas! alas! there are many, yes, multitudes in hell, who despised this promising word, and now they are receiving the reward of their unbelief. They are destroyed. That is, their hopes and their happiness are destroyed; yes, destroyed for ever. God forbid that this should be your sin, to despise Christ's promising word! God forbid that this should be your doom, to be destroyed! Beloved children, lay hold on these precious promises. By faith believe them. Then grace will be your portion here, and glory your inheritance hereafter. Lastly, God's inviting word.-The blessings of salvation are compared to a feast. "Regeneration, pardon, a place in God's family, holiness, and grace," are the blessings of salvation. They are a feast, a rich, an abundant, and a delicious feast, provided for the soul. Jesus has provided the feast. And he sends his ministers, holy parents, and the pious instructors of the rising race, to invite, in his name, young children and young sinners to come and partake of this feast. You have an account of this feast in Prov. ix. There, ministers are sent forth to deliver invitations in the name of Wisdom, (that is, in the name of Christ,) to little children and all, to come and partake of this rich, this noble feast. And what do they say when delivering the invitation? They say this: "Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.” Blessed, blessed invitation! To you, young friends, this invitation is most assuredly delivered. If you receive it, if you partake by faith of the Gospel feast,that is, receive Jesus and his salvation,-you shall obtain at death the joys of heaven. But the truth must be told: they who die refusing and despising these invitations of mercy, shall be destroyed! Oh may the following lines sink deep into all your hearts !— "Let every mortal ear attend, The trumpet of the Gospel sounds "Ho! all ye hungry starving souls A soul-reviving feast, And bids your longing appetites The rich provision taste. "Ho! ye that pant for living streams, Here you may quench your raging thirst "Rivers of love and mercy here Salvation in abundance flows, THIS bird is only mentioned on one occasion in Scripture by name. Both Matthew and Luke introduce it into their Gospels, but the occasion is the same; namely, when our Saviour looked upon Jerusalem, and wept over it. He thought on four things connected with that city-her unequalled privileges, the astonishing deliverances God had accomplished in her behalf, and the unparalleled calamities and desolations which awaited her. When he thought of all this, he wept over her, and gave vent to the following mournful exclamation: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which were sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a HEN gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! But now your house is left unto you desolate !" Matth. xxiii. 37, 38. |