they shall have filled up the measure of their iniquities ; and the same criterion which we have used in estimating the ripe- ness of nations for judgment, will serve us to judge of the state of individuals. God has told us, that " as fishes are taken in an evil net, and as birds are caught in a snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon theme." Moreover, to impress this the more strongly on our minds, he has represented a man, who, having succeeded in his temporal pursuits, congratulates himself on the prospect of many years of pleasurable enjoyment : and then he addresses that man in terms suited to the occasion; " Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of theef." Here then we see a lively example of the state which is described in our text, and of the visit which the sinner receives from his offended Lord. May this awful representation never be realized in us ! But let us tremble lest it should : for we are taught to expect, that " our Lord will come in a time that we look not for him, and at an hour that we are not aware5:" nay more, we are assured, that, when we begin to say, " I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart, then will God's anger and jealousy smoke against us, and he will blot out our name from under heaven V]
3. To the world at large —
[The precise season of the general judgment is not known to men or angels; nor was Christ himself, as man, informed of it, at least not so informed as to have it within his com- mission to declare it. But we have already seen in what state the world will be at its arrival. They will be expecting the period as little as we at present are. They will have been warned respecting it by the faithful ministers of Christ ; but they will not regard the admonitions that are given them : they will rather scoff, as the antediluvians and the inhabitants of Sodom did, " Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation1. But, in the midst of all their occupations, enjoyments, projects, the trumpet shall sound, and the Judge appear in his glory. This will take place " in a moment, in the twinkling of an eyeV " As the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be1." Alas! in what a condition will millions of the human race be found ! some in the commission of the grossest crimes; some ridiculing the supposed weakness of their faithful
e Eccl. ix. 12. f Luke xii. 45, 46. s Luke xii. 19, 20.
h Deut. xxix. 19, 20. i 2 Pet. hi. 3, 4.
k 1 Cor. xv, 52. I ver. 24.
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