may be. Well says Quesnel, " Whatever measures good men take, they will never escape the censures of the world. The best way is not to be concerned at them.'' After all, what saith the Scripture .^ " The carnal mind is enmity against God."' " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." (Rom. viii. 7. 1 Cor. ii. 14.) This is the explanation of the whole matter.
The second part of these verses shows us the exceeding wickedness of wilful impenitence. Our Lord declares that it shall be " more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, in the day of judgment," than for those towns where people had heard His sermons, and seen His miracles, but not repented.
There is something very solemn in this saying. Let us look at it well. Let us think for a moment what dark, idolatrous, immoral, profligate places Tyre and Sidon must have been. Let us call to mind the unspeak- able wickedness of Sodom. Let us remember that the cities named by our Lord, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, were probably no worse than other Jewish towns, and at all events, were far better than Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom. And then let us observe, that the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, are to be in the lowest hell, because they heard the Gospel, and yet did not repent — because they had great religious advantages, and did not use them. How awful this sounds !
Surely these words ought to make the ears of every one tingle, who hears the Gospel regularly, and yet remains unconverted. How great is the guilt of such a man before God ! How great the danger in which he daily
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stands ? Moral, and decent, and respectable as his life may be, he is actually more guilty than an idolatrous Tyrian or Sidonian, or a miserable inhabitant of Sodom. They had no sj^iritual light : he has, and neglects it. — They heard no Gosj)el ; he hears, but does not obey it. — Their hearts might have been softened, if they had enjoyed his privileges. Tyre and Sidon " would have repented." Sodom " would have remained until this day." His heart under the full blaze of the Grospel re- mains hard and unmoved. — There is but one painful conclusion to be drawn. His guilt will be found greater than their's at the last day. Most true is the remark of an English bishop, " Among all the aggravations of our sins, there is none more heinous than the frequent hear- ing of our duty."
May we all think often about Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum ! Let us settle it in our minds that it will never do to be content with merely hearing and liking the Gospel, We must go furtber than this. We must actually " repent and be converted." We must actually lay hold on Christ, and become one with Him. Till then we are in awful danger. It will prove more tolerable to have lived in Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, than to have heard the Gospel in England, and at last died unconverted.