which your great adversary, the Devil, has given, and at the efforts which he has made for your destruction ; and see how I have preserved you in the midst of all ; " from Shittim," where the counsels were given, " to Gilgal," in the very land of your inheritance. Look at these things, and then say, whether thine accusations against me are just; and whether there be any terms too strong wherein to state thy baseness and impiety ?']
To this reply nothing is added. The truths con- tained in it being undeniable, not a word is spoken by way of rejoinder : the righteousness of Jehovah is admitted ; and, by the consent of all parties, we have,
IV. The cause adjudged —
[As in the case before us, so in all cases " will God be justified when he speaketh, and be clear when he is judged"." Brethren, you may now offer your complaints as you please ; and, whilst God is not permitted to be heard, you may have it all your own way : ' You are quite as good as you need to be ; and God is unreasonable in expecting you to be better. The denunciations of his wrath are a mere fallacy : they will never be executed : he would be unjust, if he were to proceed in accordance with them : you have nothing to fear : you act in a very rational and justifiable way, whilst you live to yourselves and to the world, rather than unto him : and whatever he may have said to the contrary, " you shall have peace, though you walk after the imagination of your own hearts0," and trample under foot his holy laws.' Of all this you may be confident, whilst God is not heard : but let him be heard, and even you yourselves shall be judges in your own cause. Let him be heard, and not one of you will have a syllable to offer in your own defence, and much less in crimination of your God. If the man that had not on the wedding-garment was silent (was muzzled, as the word meansp,) much more will you, if you will bring your matters to a trial here ; and, at all events, when standing before the judgment-seat of Christ. Indeed I am persuaded, that the cause between you and your God is already adjudged, even in your own consciences: for, where is there one of you who will venture seriously to arraign the conduct of his God, and not acknowledge, that " God's ways are equal, and that it is his own ways only that are unequal"1?"
Conceiving then the cause terminated, I will offer a few words,
1. In a way of candid appeal —
n Rom. iii. 4. ° Deut. xxix. 19.
P Matt. xxii. 12. <i Ezek. xviii. 25, 29.
1212.1 god's controversy with his people. 321
[Is there one amongst us that will still persist in " charg- ing God foolishly1?" When God asks, " What iniquity have ye found in me, that ye have gone far from me s ? " will any of you venture to accuse him as the cause of your miscarriages? When he further asks, " Have I been a wilderness to Israel ? a land of darkness ? Wherefore say my people, We are lords ; we will come no more unto thee*?" will any one amongst you dare to maintain the charge that is here supposed ? No : you all know that the fault is altogether in yourselves. You know, that God is worthy to be loved and served ; and that to consecrate yourselves to him is " a reasonable service11." You know well, that you can neither substantiate your own accusa- tions against him, nor rebut his accusations against you. I will, therefore, proceed to address you,]
2. In a way of salutary advice —
[Offer not excuses now, which will not avail you in the day of judgment. That time is quickly coming : and then God will be heard, whether ye desire it or not. You will not then have to make jour cause good against a man like yourselves, but against the Omniscient and Almighty God. Cease, then, to determine from your own statements alone. Let God be heard speaking to you in his word. Try your case fairly, ac- cording to that book which you have in your hands, and by which you will be judged in the last dayx. Be candid in weighing both sides of the question, and in giving "judgment according to truth." Then you will surely acknowledge, that by the law you are justly condemned ; and that " God is true, though every man be made a liary." But need you, on that ac- count, despair ? No. " If you have sinned, you have an Advo- cate with the Father, even our Lord Jesus Christ ; who is also the propitiation for your sinsV Put your cause into his hands ; and though condemned by the law, you shall be acquitted by the Gospel : for through this Saviour you shall have all your past " iniquities blotted out," and a righteousness given to you that shall be perfectly commensurate with all the demands of law and justice a. Then, in the presence of the whole assembled universe, shall you stand approved; and " God himself be just in justifying" and rewarding youb. To that day, so terrible to the impenitent and unbelieving sinner, you may look forward with confidence and joy : for though guilty in yourselves, you shall be " accepted in the Beloved0 ;" and, though in your- selves deserving of the heaviest condemnation, you shall receive " a crown of righteousness that fadeth not away."]