III. How great their folly!
[The seventy Disciples were especially commanded to testify to those who rejected them, that the contempt which they manifested for their message did not at all invalidate the truth or importance of it : " Notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come unto you." Thus must we say to those who disregard the Gospel : " Your unbelief cannot make the faith of God of none effect." If your neglect of the Gospel could set aside its authority, so that you should stand excused for your disobedience to it, your folly would not be so great: but you cannot alter one single word in it: Christ will still be the only Saviour of the world, though you should pour ever so much contempt upon him : and faith in his name will be the only means of obtaining an interest in him, though you should dispute ever so much against it : and that declara- tion, " He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned," will be carried into execution, however you may complain of its harshness and severity. The ridicule and contempt poured on Noah whilst building the ark, did not at all affect the truth of his warnings : the flood came precisely as he had foretold, and swept away all the inhabitants of the earth. And so will it be in the day of judgment : the Gospel will prove true, and its sanctions will be executed, " whether men will hear it or whether they forbear." What folly and madness then is it to trifle thus with the words of life ! Com- mon sense, methinks, should lead men to consider what they hear, and to search the Scriptures daily whether these things be so. If they can disprove the truth of the Gospel, well : let them then despise it if they please : but if they cannot disprove it, let them obey it ; and that not in a partial and formal man- ner, but unreservedly, and with their whole hearts.]
IV. How pitiable their condition !
[Could we behold the present state of those who once inhabited Sodom and Gomorrha ; could we see their weeping, their wailing, their gnashing of teeth, how would our bowels yearn over them ! Yet, grievous as their condition is, it is more tolerable than that which is prepared for the despisers of the Gospel. This is not declared once, but often ; and that, too, by him who will assign to all their proper doom. Say, then, whether we should not be filled with pity towards the thoughtless, deceived, and deceiving world? Suppose them enjoying all that earth can give ; yet, with such prospects before them, who must not regard them as objects of the ten- derest compassion ? Behold a man just about to be racked upon the wheel, or to be burned on a slow consuming fire ; give him what you will preparatory to his sufferings, you cannot but view him with most heartfelt grief. Thus then should we