2. With the ungodly —
[These are here designated as " those who deny him." Now there are two ways in which this may be done ; namely, either by an open and avowed rejection of his Gospel p, or by a timid concealment of our convictions. Of the former we shall have no occasion to speak, because it is the latter class only that are referred to in our text ; and because all that we shall have occasion to say respecting the latter, must of necessity be in a yet stronger degree applicable to the former : for, if those who do believe in Christ, but through fear of persecution are deterred from confessing him openly, will be disapproved by him, much more will they who impiously blaspheme his name, and pour contempt upon all the wonders of his love and mercy.
Our Lord requires, that we should confess him openly be- fore men. But there are many, who, " when persecution or tribulation ariseth because of the word, are offended 'i," and dare not face the obloquy, or encounter the perils, that await them. And how will the Lord Jesus Christ deal with them ? Will he take no account of their cowardice ? Will he be satisfied with such a. mode of requiting all his love? No; he will deal with them in the way that they deal with him : " they are ashamed of him ; and he will be ashamed of them, in the day that he shall come in the glory of his Father, and of all his holy angels'^:" " they deny him; and he will deny them^" And this is nothing but what they may rea- sonably expect : for if their love to him is so small, that they will not endure a little shame, or submit to some trifling loss, for his sake, how can they expect to be approved as good and faithful servants ? How can they suppose it possible that they should partake of that felicity which is reserved for those who fought the good fight of faith, and " loved not their lives unto death* ?" This indeed would be unequal : such inequality shall never be found in the judgments of our God: for " they who loved their lives, shall lose them ; and they only who are willing to lose their lives for Christ's sake, shall save them unto life eternal"."]
That no doubts on this subject may rest upon our minds, I will go on to state,
IL The assurance we have that he will proceed according to this rule —
The declarations of God on these subjects do not obtain the credit they deserve —
P 2 Pet. ii. 1. 1 Matt. xiii. 21. ■■ Mark viii. 38.
s Matt. x. 33. t Rev. xii. 11. " Mark viii. 31, 35
2247.1 EQUITY OF god's PROCEDURE. 33
[Many of the godly are apt, through the weakness of their faith, to yield to doubts and fears. When feeling the depth of their corruptions, they think it almost impossible that they should ever be able to subdue them: and, when menaced with heavy trials, they doubt whether they shall ever be able to support them.
The ungodly, on the other hand, boldly question whether God ever can proceed with them according to his word. They do not hesitate to say, that such a procedure would be cruel and unjust. ' If indeed they were to abandon themselves to all manner of wickedness, they might then expect the Divine judgments : but when they can have no gross evils laid to their charge, is it to be supposed that God will punish them to all eternity, merely because they do not (as they ivill call it) make a parade of their religion ? That is nothing but a conceit of enthusiastic zealots : God is too good to act in such a way, or to visit with such unmerited severity what, at the worst, can only be deemed an excess in the exercise of prudence ' ]