but to those who are contentious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evily."]
To all of you then I say —
1. Contemplate, not so much the immediate, as the more remote, consequences of sin —
[Sinful indulgences no doubt bring with them a present gratification ; but it is the part of wisdom to inquire what the ultimate effects of them will be. A man with a cup of poison in his hand would not consider whether its contents were pleasant to his taste, but whether it would not soon be pro- ductive of agonies and death. Now we are told respecting the sinner, that " though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue ; though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth ; yet his meat in his bowels is turned; it is the gall of asps within him2." To the truth of this every soul of man must bear witness : and most of all is the truth of it felt in that land from whence no traveller returns. Is it not madness, then, to purchase any momentary gratification at so vast an expense ; knowing, as we do, that if we repent of it, our sorrows must be proportionably great ; and that, if we repent not of it, they must be infinitely greater to all eternity ? I pray you, Brethren, bear in mind the instruc- tion in my text, and calculate well the evils that will ensue, ere you venture any more to taste forbidden fruit ]
2. Contemplate the provision which God has made
for those who repent them of their sins —
[You have heard that men may suffer for the sins of others. But know, that they may also be benefited by the sufferings of another. Yes, my Brethren, if in Adam you died, in Christ you may be made alive ; and through the suf- ferings of your adorable Lord you may be not only delivered from the sufferings which you yourselves have merited, but may be made partakers of a glory and felicity which you could never otherwise have obtained. If, then, you have been ready to apply to yourselves that proverb, " The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge," now apply to yourselves the converse of it, which is contained in the Gospel ; where you are told, that Christ died, the just for the unjust3;" and that " by his stripes you may be healedb." Wonderful, indeed, is this truth, and well calculated to re- concile us to the loss which we sustained by the first Adam. Yes, know that the Son of the living God " has become a
y Rom. ii. 6 — 9. z Job xx. 12 — 14.
a 1 Pet. iii. 18. b 1 Pet. ii. 24.
23f> JEREMIAH, XXXI. 31—34. [1074.
curse for usc;" and that " God has made him, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we, who had no righteousness, might be made the righteousness of God in himd." O, bear in mind this stupendous mystery, which must for ever silence every murmur against those dispensations which appear to us so dark, and which have given rise to the proverb before us. Know, of a surety, that " if you die, it is for your own ini- quity;" but if ever you be saved, it is for the righteousness of your incarnate God. Rely then on him. Look to him to remedy all that your own iniquities have brought upon you : and thus, where sin has abounded, grace shall much more abound; and as sin hath reigned unto death, so shall grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lorde.]
c Gal. iii. 13. d 2 Cor. v. 21. e Rom. v. 20, 21.