threatenings, it cannot be that theii should ever be executed, because such a procedure would be inconsistent with the Divine perfections, and an act of injustice towards man. If the pro- mises of God be the object to which our attention is turned, they are too great, and too good to be performed ; or at least, that they are not intended for such sinners as we. Besides, they are so far out of our sight, as to have, in our conceptions, little or no reality, in comparison of the objects of time and sense. Other sins we excuse as acts of frailty : but this we justify, as an act of wisdom.]
But, how subtle soever our unbelief may be, the word of God will discover and condemn it —
[The word of God is so comprehensive, that there is not in the whole creation a thought or purpose that does not come within its range"^: and it is so minute, that there is not the slightest " imagination of a thought," of which it does not take cognizance. It is spiritual, even as the Author of it himself is spiritual ; and, when it is brought home with power to the soul, it convinces a man of sins of which he had before not the least conception^. As by a chemical process the constituent parts of material bodies may be discovered, so by the applica- tion of the word to our souls in the last day will every thought be decompounded, as it were, and its every particle of good or evil be disclosed'. The fire that will try us will search the inmost recesses of the soul, and determine, with infallible precision, the quality of the most latent imagination there". Of this we have an earnest in the events which happened to the Jews in conse- quence of their unbelief. Thus God addresses them by the Prophet Zechariah : " our fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, do they live for ever ? But my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take Jiold of your fathers ? and they returned and said, Like as the Lord of Hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us^." And the very same confession will, assi^redly, be made in the last day by the most confident unbeliever in the universe: " His sin shall surely find him out^ ;" and it shall then be seen, " whose word shall stand, God's or his^." The counsels of every heart shall then be made manifest^;" and God be justified before the whole universe in the sentence that he shall pass^]
From hence we may see —
I Ps. cxix. 96. " Rom. vii. 9, 14. * John xii. 48.
" 1 Cor. iii. 13. ^ Zech. i. 5, 6. y Numb, xxxii. 23.
z Jer. xliv. 28. » 1 Cor. iv. b.
b Ps. 11. 4. with Rom. iii. 4.
2284.1 WORD OF GOD QUICK AND POWERFUL. 20f)
1. How attentive we should be to the word of God —
[Would we but inspect it with humility and care, it would be as a glass to reflect our own image, in a way that nothing else can do*^. And, is it not madness to neglect the opportunity it affords us of learning our true character, and of ascertaining, before hand, the sentence of our Judge 'i To what purpose is it to deceive our own souls ? Will that word be altered? Will any other standard be brought forward whereby to esti- mate our state ? Or shall we be able either to dispute its testimony, or avert its sentence? Dear brethren, remember the description given of it in our text : think how unavailing all your pleas and excuses will be, when its voice shall be raised against you : and now, ere it be too late, take it as a light to search all the secret corners of your hearts'*, and to guide your feet into the way of peace.]