{Now any foolish excuse will satisfy us : but how will our conduct appear in that day? Methinks our self-reproach will be the bitterest ingredient in that cup of bitterness which we shall have to drink for ever.]
But let lis not close the subject without reflecting on what is evidently implied in it —
1. The woe which awaits those who embrace not the Gospel —
[If we are bound to preach it, no doubt you also are bound to receive it with all humility of mind, and with the gratitude which such tidings call for at your hands. You must not think that you have discharged your duty, when you have merely heard the word : you must receive it as the word of God to your souls : you must embrace it, as suited to your necessities, and sufficient for your wants. You must contem- plate it, and rely upon it, and glory in it, and get your souls poured, as it were, into the very mould of the Gospel ; that so it may have its perfect work upon you. This you must do : and if you do it not, it will prove to you, " not a savour of life unto life, but a savour of death" to your heavier condemnation. Remember, then, your own responsibility: and, whilst you pray for your minister, that he may be found faithful, be exceeding urgent with God in prayer, that the word ye hear may take eifect, and prove the power of God to the salvation of your souls.]
2. The blessedness of those who discharge their ministry aright —
[They may meet with much opposition from an ungodly world : but they are truly happy, in the hope that *' they shall both save themselves and those who hear them." Sweet is the thought which a faithful minister has in looking forward to the time of meeting his people at the judgment-seat of Christ. The sight of many whom he shall then have to present to God as his spiritual children, saying, " Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me;" and the pi'ospect, that, to all eternity, he shall have them as " his joy and crown of rejoicing" before his God ; say, is not this delightful ? Will not this be a rich reward for all his labours, and for all that he had suffered in the discharge of his high office ? Yes, verily, if he had died a thousand deaths for them, this would be an abundant re- compence : and this blessedness assuredly awaits the laborious minister, the faithful servant of his God'\]
a If this were the subject of an Ordination or Visitation Sermon, here, of course, would be the place for encouraging ministers to labour diligently in their high and holy calling.