god's mercy to the vilest sinners.
1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither for- nicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covet- ous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you : hut ye are washed, hut ye are sanctified, hut ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God,
AS long as men retain within them the seeds of their original corruption, so long they will be liable to fall into sin, and consequently they will need to be instigated by every motive that can be adduced.
1958.] god's mercy to the vilest sinners. 167
to persevere in the ways of holiness. Now there are scarcely any stronger incentives to obedience, than a recollection of the inseparable connexion which there is between sin and misery ; and a view of the unspeakable mercies which we ourselves have received at God's hands. It was by these considerations that St. Paul urged the Corinthians to abstain from some practices in which they were engaged, and from others to which they were particularly exposed. They had gone to law with each other even in the Gentile courts, instead of setthng their disputes by arbitration amongst themselves. It is probable too that some among them thought but lightly of the sin of forni- cation ; since the close of the chapter is wholly occu- pied with that subject. His address to them was well adapted to the occasion ; in that it appealed at once to their fears and to their gratitude ; and thus secured the influence of their ingenuous feehngs, as well as of those which were of a more selfish nature.
His words will lead us to shew, I. The awful condition of the ungodly —
Those who live in sin will have no part in the in- heritance of the saints. Though some of the sins specified in this black catalogue are such as cannot be mentioned with dehcacy, or thought of but with horror, yet far the greater part are as common in Christian lands as among the heathen themselves : but, by whatever name men call themselves, they who hve in such sins '' shall never inherit the kingdom of God." The manner in which this declaration is made, calls for our particular attention. Mark,
1. The Appeal —
[The Apostle appeals to our own consciences ; " Know ye not this ?" However ignorant ye be, are ye not well assured in your own minds, that persons Hving, and dying, in the com- mission of any of these sins, must perish ? Does not Scripture, does not reason, does not conscience tell you, that there must be a difference put between the just and unjust in the day of judgment ? ]
2. The Caution —