soever he shall say unto us :" whatever he may enjoin or forbid, we must never reply, "This is an hard saying;" but must instantly " pluck out the right eye, or cut off the right hand, that has caused us to offend."]
Nor is this merely declared ; it is enforced also by the most awful sanctions —
[God will put a difference between his friends and his enemies, in the last day. They shall all indeed appear before his tribunal ; but " he will separate the goats from the sheep." They, that hear not this great Prophet, shall be taken from among those who have obeyed his voice; "they shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." As Korah and his company were destroyed from among Israel, so shall the disobedient from among the just. It will be of little avail for them to say, I was sober, charita- ble, devout: if they did not hear that Prophet with attention, reverence, joy, and an unreserved submission to his will, their destruction is sure, their doom is sealed. Nor will there be any exception to it in favour of the great and learned : every soul is alike included. Let none reply, God forbid ; for God says, "It shall come to pass;" and " he is not a man that he should lie, or the son of man that he should repent." What madness then is it for any person whatsoever to persist in a neglect of the words of Christ ! O, let us turn to him. Let us sit, with Mary, at his feetk. Let us hear him, and him only. Let us believe on him as " the way, the truth, and the life." Let us " deny ourselves, and take up our cross, and follow him." " So shall we be his true Disciples," and, in due season, experience the accomplishment of that promise, " Where I am, there shall also my servant be1."]
In tins threatening, however, there is a blessed pro- mise implied —
[If the disobedient be destroyed from among the Lord's people, it follows, that the obedient shall not be destroyed; the humble, and sincere follower of Jesus shall never perish. This also extends to all ; " every soul" that shall unfeignedly obey his voice, whatever his past life may have been, shall most assuredly be saved. Unbelief may be ready to make exceptions ; but God says, " It shall come to pass" Nor is this merely an uncertain inference from the text, but an express promise from God himself; " Hear, and your soul shall live"1." Let this encourage us to listen more than ever to the voice of Jesus in his word. Let us read, and
k Luke x. 39. ' John xii. '20. » Isai. lv. 3.