our souls for a worthy reception of the Divine mercies, and for a suitable improvement of them. Though therefore it cannot atone for sin, or merit any thing at the hands of God, it is indispensably necessary ; and, if we do not repent, we must for ever remain in the snare of the devil, and the gates of heaven will assuredly be closed against usa. The declaration in our text will certainly be fulfilled : and sooner shall heaven and earth pass away, than one jot or tittle of it ever fail. Know ye then, that whatever is implied in the " perishing" of an immortal soul, must be the portion of every impenitent sinner ]
2. Universal —
[There are authors, of no mean name, who have endea- voured to prove that there are some who need not to repent. Because our Lord says, " I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance ;" and, that " there is more joy among the angels over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance;" they imagine, there is a class of persons whose natures are so pure, and their conduct so blameless, as not to have given any occasion for re- pentance. But the former of these passages relates to those who thought themselves righteous, and who, from a conceit of their being " whole," despised the proffered aid of a physicianb : the latter evidently refers to those who have already been con- verted to God, and are as sheep living in the fold of Christ. Such persons are considered as secure, whilst those who are unconverted are in most imminent danger : and, as the recovery of a lost sheep affords more sensible pleasure to its owner, than the possession of a hundred that have not strayed ; so the angels are filled with pre-eminent joy at the conversion of one, whom they had considered as in a lost and perishing condition0. That these passages cannot be understood as sanctioning the idea that there are any persons so good as not to need repent- ance, must be evident to every one who considers what the Scriptures elsewhere speak respecting the universal state of man. St. Paul collects a multitude of texts, to prove that " there is none righteous, no not one : that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God : and that therefore every mouth must be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
a 2 Tim. ii. 25, 26.
b See Matt. ix. 12, 13. It might be interpreted of those who were renewed and made righteous by the Holy Spirit. But the former sense is more agreeable to the context.
e See Luke xv. 7. If this be interpreted as though it referred to sheep that have never strayed, it must then mean that they have not strayed to such an extent as others. But the other interpretation is far preferable.