displeasure shall be cast into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone s.
It is asked, Who they are that shall then suffer the ven- geance of eternal fire ? We answer, The proud contemners of God's law, and they who " go about to establish their own righteousness" instead of submitting to the righteousness of God ; and they who think religion vain and unprofitable11 ; yea, moreover, all who commit any kind of wickedness knowingly, deliberately, and habitually, all, I say, without exception, shall be as stubble to the consuming fire1
And shall we not take warning, when we know that the day is coming, and that every hour brings it nearer and nearer? O " let it not overtake us as a thief!" Our forbearing to reflect upon it cannot delay its approach, or mitigate its terrors. Be persuaded to prepare for it, that, instead of dreading, you may welcome, its arrival.]
We turn with pleasure from this awful subject to contemplate the latter part of the text, wherein we have,
II. A promise to the righteous —
Whatever distant reference there may be in these words to the deliverance of the Christians from Jeru- salem, when, according to our Lord's instructions, they took advantage of the retreat of the Roman army, to flee out of it to Pella, we must certainly look for the accomplishment of the promise principally in the spiritual blessings conveyed by the Messiah.
The Christian character is briefly delineated in contrast with God's enemies —
[The fear of God is often represented as comprising the whole of religion : and indeed, wherever that obtains, pride will be humbled, wickedness banished, and every holy affection
cultivated to the utmostk Let those who have reason
to think themselves under its genuine influence, listen with gratitude to the promise, which God himself addresses to them.]
s Rev. xxi. 8. h Mai. iii. 13, 14.
1 Rom. i. 18. The four distinct characters here enumerated, should be separately and distinctly addressed, and in very pointed terms, as very especially warned by God himself.
k These also, with some distinctness of delineation, should here, in very encouraging terms, be called upon to consider themselves as especially addressed by God.