TO stand up in the place of Jehovah, and to declare his word to men, is so awful and arduous an office, that the greatest of all the Apostles was constrained to say, "Who is sufficient for these things?" But, if it be so arduous under any, even the most favourable, circum- stances, what must it be when we are called to utter such solemn and weighty truths as those which we have just heard ? We would never forget that the word of God is delivered in terms that are broad and general ; and that the modification of those terms, or the application of them to all the different cir- cumstances that may occur, requires much caution.
much wisdom^ much discretion, lest, by too strong an enforcement of them, we " make the heart of the righteous sad ;" or, by too lax an application of them, we make void the declarations of Heaven, and deceive men to their eternal ruin. May God enable us to discriminate aright, whilst, with a just mixture of tenderness and fidelity, we call your attention to the Tide of Christ's ijrocedure with his jjeople in the last day ; which rule is here stated, vindicated, confirmed.
See it,
I. Stated —
The Lord Jesus requires that we confess him before men —
[It is not a mere assent to his religion, as true, that he requires : he calls us to embrace it with our whole hearts, and to let all men see our attachment to Him who is the founder of it. We must never be ashamed to acknowledge, that all our hope of acceptance with God is founded on his meritorious atonement ; and that from Him, even from the fulness which God has treasured up for us in Him, we receive all the grace and all the strength whereby we are enabled to fulfil his will. We must avowedly take his word as the exclusive rule of our conduct ; and not be afraid to declare, that the same is obli- gatory upon every soul of man. We must be as lights in a dark world : and must so walk, that all men may read in our conduct, as in a written epistle, what is the whole of his will concerning us^ On no account are we to " put our light under a bed, or under a bushel; but to set it on a candlestick," that all may see it, and be enlightened by it. No consideration whatever should induce us to " deny him " in any wise. If shame, or loss, or suffering, attach to a confession of him, we must not yield to intimidation, or be prevailed upon, for a single moment, to dissemble our attachment to him. Our love to him must be paramount to every personal consideration ; and our zeal for his honour be sufficient to bear us up under all the trials and difficulties which we can be exposed to for his sake.]
According as we approve ourselves to him in this respect, will be his conduct towards us in the day of judgment —
[Those who have confessed him in this world, he will then confess before his heavenly Father. ' These,' he will say, ' were my disciples indeed : they knew their duty to me ;
^ 2 Cor. iii. 2, 3.
1346.] Christ's procedure in the last day. 329
and they fulfilled it. I saw the trials to which they were called for my sake, and the fortitude with which they encountered all their difficulties ; and therefore I say to them in thy presence, and before the whole assembled universe, " Well done, good and faithful servants ; enter ye into the joy of your Lord." '
But widely different will be his conduct towards those who have denied him. They will come before him, perhaps with confidence, claiming him as their Lord, whom they have served and honoured : but he will say to them, " ' Depart from me ; I never knew you," never approved you, in the midst of all your professions of regard for me^. Father, I deny their title to the name of my disciples : I disclaim all interest in them, all connexion with them : " they were ashamed of me, and I am ashamed of them :" and my sentence respecting every one of them is, that they " depart accursed, into everlasting fire, pre- pared for the devil and his angels.' "]