too that lie is just and powerful ; but his justice will condemn, and his power punish you. Go to him then in this clay of salvation, welcome him in this the accepted time; so shall you, at his second coming, behold his face with joy, and join the choir of heaven in everlasting hallelujahs.]
Zech. ix. 12. Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee.
IF the declarations of God be humiliating, and the denunciations of his vengeance awful, we must ac- knowledge that his invitations and promises afford us all the encouragement we can desire ; inasmuch as they are addressed to persons in those very circum- stances wherein we are. Nor should we be averse to confess the truth of our state, when we see what pro- vision God has made for our happiness and salvation. The words before us lead ms to consider,
I. The persons addressed —
All men, as sinners, are condemned by the law of God, and may therefore be considered as prisoners arrested by divine justice, and sentenced to eternal death. But they who hear the Gospel are " prisoners of hope :"
1. Though they be prisoners, yet they have a
hope —
[Those, who have died in their sins, are utterly without hope, being reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day. But as long as we continue in the world, we need not to despair. The invitations of the Gospel are sent to us ; nor can any thing but an obstinate rejection of divine mercy cut us off from the blessings of salvation. Though we are condemned, and are every hour in danger of having the sentence executed upon us, yet there is a way opened for us to escape, and we may obtain mercy even at the eleventh hour.]
2. There is however but one hope, unto which all are shut upa —
a Gal. iii. 23. K K 2