us for refusing to our Maker what we concede to our fellow-worms : " A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master : if I then be a father, where is mine honour? if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of Hosts."
We shall more easily enter into this idea, if we sup- pose a child or servant of our own fulfilling his duties with some considerable care to others, but violating all which he owed to us. If his attention to others were adduced in vindication of his neglect of us, should we not argue in the very same way that Jehovah does in the text ? Should we be satisfied with his serving others, when he withheld his services from us? Should we not insist upon our superior title to his regards ? Should we not represent the violations of his duty to us as more heinous, in pro- portion to the right which was vested in us by virtue of our relation to him ? When he told us of what he did for others, should we not say, " But where is my honour? where is my fear?" Should we not consider his conduct as in the highest degree insolent and contemptuous, when we ourselves, who had an ex- clusive, or at least a superior, claim to his affection, were particularly selected as objects of his neglect ? There can be no doubt : and therefore we may be well assured, that the very pleas which we are apt to urge in extenuation of our guilt, will one day be adduced as the greatest aggravations of it.
Permit me now to ask a question or two, in re- ference to the foregoing subject. Supposing that God should now call us to account, as certainly he will ere long, and ask, What proofs we have given of our allegiance to him ? What proofs have we to adduce ? Can we appeal to the heart-searching God, that we have indeed respected his authority, that we have habitually conducted ourselves towards him as faithful servants and obedient children ? Let us exa- mine well our own hearts : let us not be hasty to conclude that all is well : it is easy to deceive our- selves ; but we cannot possibly deceive God. Every act of our lives has been registered in the book of
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his remembrance ; and we shall be judged, not by the partial verdict of our own self-love, but by the unerring testimony of truth itself. And if it be proved that our allegiance to God amounted to no more than " saying, Lord! Lord! without doing the things- which he commanded," our Judge will pronounce upon us that awful sentence, " Depart from me ; I never knew you, ye workers of iniquity ! "
We cannot however conclude this subject, without suggesting some consolatory considerations —
To those who are conscious of having neglected God.
Our God and Father does not instantly disinherit the rebellious child, or exclude for ever the disobedient servant : Onesimus may yet return, through the me- diation of his heavenly Sponsor ; and the Prodigal may yet be feasted on the fatted calf. Only let us confess our sins, and turn to God with humiliation and contrition ; and we shall soon find, that " he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness." Let us, like the penitents under the law, lay our hands upon the head of our Great Sacrifice, and transfer our guilt to Him, who taketh away the sins of the world. Then shall we have no cause to fear the displeasure of an angry God : our iniquities shall be forgiven, and our sins be covered : and though unworthy in ourselves to obtain the smallest mercy, we shall be dealt with, not as servants merely, but as sons, and be made partakers of an everlasting inheritance.