world to come. Alas ! what disappointment will they one day experience"1! What will it avail them to "have had a name to live, while they were really dead?" or to have " cried, Lord, Lord ! while they departed not from iniquity ? " The pains they have taken to keep up a profession will all be lost. Nothing will remain to them but shame and confusion of face.]
From the seed which they sow, we may easily per- ceive, II. What they may expect to reap —
" A whirlwind " is a figure used to represent extra- ordinary calamities." And such is the harvest which they will reap in due season. Their calamities will be,
1. Sudden —
[The corn ripens gradually for the sickle, and its fate is foreseen ; but the destruction of the ungodly cometh suddenly and at an instant. They indeed have many warnings from all which they see around them ; but they put the evil day far from them, and think it will never come °. Thus it was with the whole world before the Deluge. Though Noah preached to them for many years, they would not regard him ; and were taken by surprise at last, as much as if no notice had been given them.p Thus also it will be with all who reject the Gospel salvation. Solomon has expressly declared it in refer- ence to those who sow discord q. And St. Paul has asserted it respecting all that live in a neglect of Godr.]
2. Irresistible —
[Sinners of every description can withstand the word spoken by their fellow-creatures s ; but they will not be able to resist God when he shall call them into judgment. Then, if the whole universe should enter into a confederacy to protect one sinner, they would fail in their attempt*. There is not any thing more irresistible to man, in some climates, than a whirlwind. Yet far less power shall the ungodly have to avert the wrath of God. They will be carried to destruction as the chaff before the windu; and call in vain to the rocks to fall upon them, or the hills to cover them*.]
3. Tremendous —
[Nothing can be conceived more dreadful than the de- solation made by whirlwinds. Yet this suggests a very
m Matt. xxv. 11, 12. n Prov. i. 27. ° 2 Pet. iii. 4.
P Matt. xxiv. 38, 39. i Prov. vi. 14, 15. r 1 Thess. v. 2, 3.
s Ezek. xx. 49. l Prov. xi. 21. u Ps. i. 4, 5. x Rev. vi. 15—17.
11(35.] men's disregard of the gospel. 103
inadequate idea of the ruin that will come on the ungodly. The raining of fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrha must have been exceedingly terrible. But even that was light, when compared with the vials of God's wrath which will be poured out upon the ungodly world. Who can comprehend the full import of that threatening in the Psalms >'? Who can form a just idea of the judgment denounced by Isaiah2 — I May we never experience such dreadful calamities ! May we trem- ble at the apprehension of them, and seek shelter in Christ3!]
Infer —
1. How earnest should we be in redeeming time!
[The present hours are given us that we may sow for eternity. Every action, word and thought is as seed that will spring up hereafter. According to what we sow now, we shall reap at the last dayb. Every moment increases our " treasure of wrath," or our "weight of glory." How should we be affected with this consideration ! Let us lay it to heart, and " walk, not as fools, but as wise menc." And let that just expostulation shame us to a sense of duty d—.]
2. How blessed are they who are living to God !
[There is not a work which they perform for him that will not be rewarded. God would esteem himself unjust, if he made them no recompencee. However small and insignificant the service be, it shall not be forgotten f. Some perhaps may complain, that they cannot do any thing for God, and, that they can only weep for their unprofitableness. But the sighs and tears of the contrite are "precious seed." They will spring up to a glorious and abundant harvests Let the hum- ble then go on "sowing in tears till they reap in joy." Let them persist in their labour, assured that it shall not be in vainh.]