3. Destructive —
[A "refiner's fire" will consume the dross, and "fullers' sope" will destroy the filth, of that to which it is applied: so will our Lord eventually destroy many of those to whom he comes ; He will prove to them no other than " a stumbling-block, and a gin, and a snare*1." When he appeared in the days of his flesh, how many were there that could not " stand" the trial ! their prejudices were excited, their enmity called forth, their hearts hardened, their sins multiplied. Thus it is also in this day : Christ comes, in the preaching of his Gospel, and " sits as a refiner and purifier of silver :" but do all, to whom his word is preached, approve themselves to be pure gold ? Would to God that this were the case ! But, alas ! the greater part shew themselves to be but " reprobate silver," or mere dross ; who, instead of being purified and rendered " meet for their Master's use," are only " as vessels of wrath, fitted for everlasting destruction1."]
Let two questions close this interesting subject —
p 1 Cor. vi. 11. i Isai. viii. 14. * Rom. ix. 22.
1. What reception have you given to Christ since his first coming ?
[Ministers are sent, like John, to prepare his way ; they are " a voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert an highway for our God!" Let me then ask, Are you " seeking this Lord?" Are you " delighting in him as the Messenger of the covenant ? " Do you open your hearts to him as " his temple," and invite "the King of glory to enter in?" Are you welcoming him even under the character of a refiner, and saying, ' Put me, Lord, into any furnace, so that I may but come out of it puri- fied as gold ? " Is it your one desire and endeavour to " offer unto him your offerings in righteousness?" and do the sacri- fices of prayer and praise ascend up daily from the altar of your hearts, inflamed by fire that you have received from heaven ? This, this is the reception which he should meet with ; God grant that he may be thus precious to all our souls !]
2. What preparation have you made for his future advent ?
[It is no less certain that He will come again, than that he has already come. Nor will his advent be less " sudden" than at his first arrival: yea rather, as Noah's flood, it will come wholly unexpected by the world at large s. " But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth ? " That will be a discriminating day indeed : all that have ever lived will have " the counsels of their hearts made manifest;" and the tares shall then be separated from the wheat, and the sheep from the goats. Alas! how will his fire then burn up the ungodly*! and how strict a scrutiny must every one undergo, before he shall be finally approved u! Brethren, are ye ready? Are ye " prepared to meet your God ? " Have ye been so purified from the love of sin, that ye are now " meet for the inheritance of the saints in light?" Are ye so " seeking and delighting in Jesus" now, that ye can give up your account to him with joy and not with grief? O say not, Where is the God of judgment? Think not that he delighteth in any who commit iniquity : but know that " he will come even as a thief in the night ;" and that it is to those only who look for him, that he will appear to their everlasting salvation x.]
s Matt. xxiv. 37 — 39.
* Compare Mai. iv. 1. Nah. i. 6. Rev. vi. 15 — 17.
« 1 Cor. iii. 13, 14. * Heb. ix. 28.