Vers. 24--30.-Left to their doom. Broad and encouraging as are the promises of Divine grace, if we forget the darker facts of life we shall be deluded into a false security ; for nothing could be more unreasonable than to suppose that the mercy of God takes no account of moral considerations. Legally our sovereign is vested with an unfettered right of pardoning every criminal, but principles of justice and public order put great restraints upon the exercise of such a right. Bald representations uf prayer as a means for securing immediate deliverance from trouble, and especially as fl. sure door of escape from the consequences of sin, are as false as they are shallow. It is most important that we should know under what circumstances God will reject the prayer of his troubled children and leave them to their doom. I. AN OBSTINATE REJECTION OF Gon's INVITATIONS AND COUNSELS, No word is here said of the great mass of the heathen world, who have never heard the fu 1I declaration of God's will. Clearly it is implied that such men do not come un<lc,· the same condemnation as that of the persons immediately referred to, For the special accusation is based on the rejection of the overtures of grace, which must have been known to have been refused. The guilt of this rejection may be measured in two directions. I. By the character of the Divine voice. (I) It was an invitation, not a mere declaration of truth. "I have called." (2) It was a persuading. "I have stretched out my hand." (3) lt was a warning. " Counsel" and " reproof" are referred to. The sin was plainly demonstrated, the danger clearly revealed. To reject such a Divine message is no slight error. 2. By the character of the rejection itself. (1) It was an obstinate refusal. There was no indecision. But, practically, not to decide to obey the voice of God is to decide to rebel against him. (2) It was an insulting indifference. "No man regarded." They refused, and went on their own ways, tu their farms and merchandise and plea.sure, without further thought. II. A CRY FOR DELIVERANCE FROM TROUBLE WITHOUT REPENTANCE OF SIN, The simple ingratitude of sin would be no barrier to the full exercise of God's pardon in Christ if it were hated and repented of, for" he is able to save to the uttermost," etc. But without repentance the smallest sin cannot be forgiven. And repentance is not the mere feeling of distress at the consequence of sin-every sane and sentient being would have that feeling; nor is it a mere regret that the wrong thing was done now its horrible fruits are ripening. It must be a hearty abhorrence of the wickednesH itself, and a genuine desire to do nothing of the kind in the future. The dying sinner who is appalled at his future prospects, and shrieks for deliverance from the powers of hell, will not be heard, but will be left to his fate, and most reasonably so, if he has experienced no moral change, and feels no compunctions of conscience, but would do all his vile deeds over again if only he could ensure himself against the just penal ties of them. III. AN ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE FROM THE INEVITABLE. The earthly consequences of sin are many of them fixed immutably by laws of nature. Prayer will not hen! the shattered constitution of the drunkard, nor restore the squandered fortune of the spend- thrift, nor recover the lost reputation of the thief. No doubt many spiritual conse- quences of sin are also inevitnble, and, though God may pardon the sinner, he will take vengeance 011 his devices. But when there is true penitence and trust in the mercy of God, the incidence of the calamity iR shifted, though the calamity itself is not altered, so that it comes as wholesome chastisement, and is then not laughed at by the Divine wisdom, but graciously overruled for the discipline of the penitent. Ver. 31.-Punishment the natural fruit of sin. '!'he punishment of sin is not an arbitrary penalty, but a natural consequence. It follows by laws of nature. It need~ no executioner. '!'he sin works out its own cioom. This thought may be rc~arded from two points of view. From the standpoint of nature it is a proof that Divino justice does not abrogate, but works through natural laws. From the spiritual. sido it is an evidence that God has planted his moral laws in the very constitution of the world. 22 THE PROVERBS. [oH, l, 1-33,
1_. Sm BE~Rs FRUIT. _Nothing re~lly perishes. peeds live on in their consequences. Enl Js not simply negative; there JS a terribly active and even vital power in it. Its vitality may be of a diseased, destructive order, like that of the cancer that grows and. spreads to the death of the body in which it is imbedded; hut it is none the less, vigorous and enduring. II. 'l'HE FRUIT OF SIN HAS A. NATURAL .AFFINITY TO THJi: -STOCK FROM WHICH IT SPRINGS. The consequences of a sin have an inherent resemblance to the sin. As the Beatitudes are specially related to the graces they crown, so the curses of evil have close relations to particular forms of evil. Each sin bears its own fruit. Hatred pro-rnkes hatred; selfishness leads to isolation; falsehood engenders distrust. III. THE FRUIT OF SIN IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL. we are free to sow the seed or .to refrain; we are not free to arrest the growth of the tree.- A deed once done is not only irretrievable, but it passes out of our power while it lives on to work out perpetual consequences. It may become a Frankenstein, horribly tyr11Unizing over its creator. IV. THE FRUIT OF SIN MUST BI!: EATEN BY THE SINNER. It will come back to him' when it is ripe. There may be a long interval between the sowina of the seed and the gathering of the fruit, but the sower will have to devour the ha;vest. Herein is the peculiar. horror of the doom of sin .. Though a_ man would fa.in forget the past, it returns m the dreadful resemblance 1t bears to its consequences, now fully developed and revealed in true colours. Nauseous and poisonous, it must not only be witnessed, but ea.ten. He will have to receive it in his own life, in most close and intimate union wit-h himself. • . CONCLUSION. 1. Let us beware of the thoughtless sowing which must lead to so fearful a. harvest. 2. Let us lay hold of the hope of re11emption in Christ through which our sins may be buried in the depths of the sea. _