Should not such declarations as these appal us? Should they not convince us what " a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God ?"]
3. The time for retribution is fast approaching —
[When the cart is already overladen with corn, the heap- ing of sheaves upon it must quickly cease. And when our God is already " pressed under us," so that he can scarcely sustain
4 Dan. iv. 37. u Job ix. 4. x Ps. ix. 17.
v Ps. vii. 11 — 13. z Deut.xxxii.40 — 42. a Ezek.xxi. 15 — 17.
b Ezek. v. 13. c Ezek. xvi. 42. d Isai. i. 24.
e Deut. xxxii. 20.
vol. x. o
any further weight, we may be sure that " the measure of our iniquities is nearly full," and that the hour of vengeance draws nigh. Methinks, God is at this moment saying, in reference to us, " My Spirit shall not strive with them any moref." " To me belongeth vengeance and recompence : their foot shall slide in due time ; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste g." What a mercy is it that there is yet an hour's respite allowed us ! How should we redeem the time ! How should we avail ourselves of the present moment, to flee from the wrath to come ! How should we tremble, lest the order should be already given, not to take us to the granary of heaven, but to cast us into the flames of hell !
" Behold" then, brethren! " behold," what a God you are offending, and in what danger you stand ! One more sheaf perhaps may complete the load : and will you proceed to lay it on ? O cease from your fatal work, and cry to your long- suffering God for mercy ere it be too late !]
Infer —
1. What a burthen ought sin to be to us !
[You have heard what a burthen it is to God ; that he even groans under it, and is weary to bear it. And ought it not to be a burthen to us who have committed it? Ought not we to be " weary and heavy-laden" with a sense of ith? Ought we not to feel it as an insupportable burthen ; " to be troubled for it ; to be bowed down greatly, and to roar for the disquiet- ness of our hearts1?" Turn then to God, ye people; " be afflicted, and mourn, and weep ; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy into heaviness: humble yourselves under the mighty hand of Godk;" " and put your mouths in the dust, if so be there may be hope1."]
2. What obligations do we owe to Jesus Christ !
[Jesus has borne the burthen of our sins, not only as our Creator and Governor, but as our Redeemer. Even in the former view, he has been " grieved at the hardness of our hearts m," and has groaned over usn, and found his burthen almost insupportable0. But, in the latter view, O what has he sustained ? the guilt of all the human race ! the wrath of an avenging God! Go, listen to his cries and agonies in the garden of Gethsemane! See the blood issuing from every pore of his body ! Trace him to Golgotha, and behold him ex- piring on the cross : Ask, What was the cause ? and you will
f Gen. vi. 3. s Deut. xxxii. 35. h Matt. xi. 28.
1 Ps. xxxviii. 4 — 8. k Jam. iv. 9, 10. l Lam. iii. 29.
m Mark iii. 5. « 1 John xi. 38. ° Mark ix. 19.