3. An inveterate aversion to holiness —
[To a formal and external righteousness many are not at all averse; they rather love it, as a substitute for spiritual obedience. But bring to their view the requisitions of God's law, and they cry out against them, as unreasonably severe, yea, as utterly impracticable and absurd. Our Lord himself informs us, that this is the true source of their rejection of his word : " They love darkness rather than light : they even hate the light, and will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved." No wonder that they cry, " Doth he not speak
f 1 Cor. i. 18, 23. and ii. 14. « Ps. x. 5.
parables? " when they are determined beforehand not to under- stand the plainest declarations.]
Before any determine thus to reject the messages of Heaven, it will be well for them to consider,
III. What consequences must ensue from this treat- ment of them —
Certainly,
1. All the ends of our ministry among them must be defeated —
[It is in vain to speak to those who will not hear : the invitations, the promises, the threatenings of Scripture can be of no avail to those who will not acknowledge the authority of God in them. What a melancholy reflection is this, that God should send ambassadors to men with messages of peace and love, and that men should " make light of them," and recom- pense with hatred and contempt every effort that is made for their salvation. Well might Paul " have continual heaviness and sorrow in his heart," when he reflected on the state of such persons, and that, instead of having to present them to God as his joy and crown, he should have to appear as a swift witness against them in the day of judgment.]
2. Their guilt and condemnation must be greatly
aggravated —
[No man leaves the house of God as he came into it : the ordinance which he has attended has either brought him nearer to heaven, or prepared him more as fuel for the fire of hell. If the word be not " a savour of life unto life, it is a savour of death unto death." Our blessed Lord told his hearers, that "if he had never come and spoken unto them, they would comparatively have had no sin :" but that in consequence of their rejection of his proffered mercies, " the state of Sodom and Gomorrha would be more tolerable in the day of judg- ment than theirs." In like manner we must say to our hearers, that every opportunity of instruction which they have enjoyed is a talent to be accounted for ; and that their hiding of it in a napkin will be a ground of their condemnation11.]
Application —
[And now what account must we carry to our God con- cerning you ? He has sent us to deliver his messages ; and he will require of us some account of the manner in which they have been received amongst you. And what shall we say? Must we not, in reference to the greater part of you, say,
h John iii. 19.