1. The person whom he neglects to warn, will perish —
[If through the sloth or treachery of the sentinels a camp be surprised at midnight, nothing but confusion and ruin can ensue. Thus, if a person appointed to warn the wicked, neg- lect to do so, the wicked will continue regardless of their im- pending doom, till it is too late to avert it. And when the hour of vengeance is come, it will be to no purpose to say, " I was not aware of my danger; my minister has betrayed me." No ; the wicked have means of information within their own reach, independent of their ministers ; and they have secret intimations in their own consciences that they ought to repent: and therefore they must take the consequences of their own wickedness ; " they must die in their iniquity." How awful is
* ver. 14—16.
this effect of one minister's supineness ! Alas ! that hundreds, and perhaps thousands, should perish eternally, when, if he had warned them faithfully, they might have been saved for ever !]
2. He himself also will be dealt with as the author of that sinner's destruction —
[As a sentinel who, by neglecting to give notice of the enemy's approach, occasioned the overthrow of the army to which he belonged, would be chargeable with all the conse- quences of his neglect, so will the blood of all that perish through the minister's neglect " be required at his hand." •When they shall all stand before God, he will ask of the minister, Why didst thou not warn that man, and him, and him, and him ? It will be to no purpose to say, " Lord, he was rich, and I was afraid of his displeasure ; " or, " Lord, he was poor, and I overlooked him;" or, " Lord, I was so en- gaged in business or pleasure, that I never thought about the souls committed to my charge." No: he must answer for every soul that perishes through his means, and must sink ten-fold deeper into the bottomless abyss than the most guilty of the people whom he has neglected and betrayed.]
Application —
[After stating these reasons for ministerial fidelity, we need make no apology for " warning the wicked from their way : " or rather, we need apologize for not using far greater plainness of speech that we have ever yet done.
Hear then, ye wicked, with solemn awe, the voice of God to you. " O thou wicked drunkard, thou shalt surely die !" " O thou wicked whoremonger, thou shalt surely die!" " O thou wicked swearer, or sabbath-breaker, thou shalt surely die ! " Is there any one here that, though free from gross sins, lives in a neglect of secret prayer; " O thou wicked man, thou shalt surely die e ! "
But while we declare these things, we would not be un- mindful of the compassion which is expressed in the very mode in which God has denounced his judgments ; " O thou wicked man ! " This seems to intimate, that God is grieved for the misery of the wicked, even while he declares the doom that awaits them. So would we be; and the rather, because we ourselves are involved in the same condemnation, if we do not repent and turn to God.
O then, brethren, whether ye have committed gross sins or not, remember that ye all need to humble yourselves be- fore God as condemned sinners: ye all need to wash in the
e This may be easily extended to the formalist, the hypocritical professor, &c.