happiness. But does the boldest shiner dare affirm that he knotvs it shall be well with him ? His conscience would in- stantly revolt at such falsehood and blasphemy. Let those then, that fear not God, stand self-condemned. Let them flee unto their God and Saviour with penitence and faith. Let them so live as to preserve the testimony of a good conscience. And then, however enlarged their expectations of good may be, they shall never be disappointed".]
1 Isai. xlv. 17.
Eccl. ix. 3. The heart of the sons of men is full of evil; and madness is in their heart while they live ; and after that, they go to the dead.
IF we look only on the surface of things, we shall think that all things come alike to all, since all are subject to the same afflictions, and go down to the grave in their appointed season. But the righteous, however afflicted, " are in the hands of God%" who ordereth and overruleth every thing for their good ; whereas the wicked, however prosperous, are left to run their career of sin, till they fall into the pit of everlasting destruction. The state and end of unre- generated men are awfully declared in the words before us ; wherein is depicted,
I. Their wickedness —
[" The hearts of unregenerate men are full of evil." Every species of filthiness, whether fleshly or spiritual ^ abounds within them*'. They have not a faculty either of body or soul that is not defiled with sin"^. So full of iniquity are they, that there is no good within them^. And this is the state, not of a few only, but of every child of man, till he has been renewed by the Holy Spirit^.]
II. Their madness —
[It may well be expected that creatures so depraved should manifest their depravity in the whole of their conduct. And in truth they do so : for they are even mad. They four contempt upon the greatest good. Can any thing be compared
aver.l. iJ 2Cor. vii. 1. = Rom. i. 29— 31. dRom. iii.lO — 18. ^ Gen. vi. 5. Rom. vii. 18. *" John iii. G. Tit. iii. 3. Jer. xvii. 9.
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with the salvation of the soul? And do they not disregard this ? And is not such conduct madness ? They also disregard the greatest of all evils, the wrath of God. And would not this be madness, if there were only a bare possibility of their falling vmder his everlasting displeasure ? How much more then, when it is as certain, as that there is a God ! More- over, they continue in this state, for the most part, " as long as they live." If they acted only through ignorance, or were drawn aside for a little time by temptation, or if they turned from this way, as soon as they came to the full exercise of their reason, yea, if they rectified their conduct as soon as their own consciences condemned it, they would have some sha- dow of an excuse. But, when they persist, against light and knowledge, against warnings and judgments, yea, against their own vows and resolutions, what is it but madness itself? Let a man act in such a way with respect to the things of this world, and no one will hesitate a moment to pronounce him mad^.]
III. Their misery —
[How pleasant soever the ways of ungodly men appear, they will soon terminate in death '\ But the righteous also must go the grave : no doubt therefore it is another death that is here spoken of, even " the second death in the lake that burnetii with hre and brimstone." This is affirmed by God in the strongest manner ' ; and, however disbelieved by those whom it most concerns, it shall assuredly be found true at the last. Yea, we have even now the consciences of men attesting this awful truth: and if we should say, that the ungodly, after such a life, should "go to" heaveyi, instead of to " the dead," though they might be wicked enough to wish it, they would not be mad enough to believe it. They have a presentiment, in spite of all their reasonings to the contrary, that "their end shall be according to their works ^."]