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Isaiau xlvii. 3.—I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee

as a man.

In this chapter is foretold the sudden and awful destruction of Babylon. She had said in the pride and stoutness of her heart, "I am, and none else beside me: I shall be a lady for ever: I shall not sit as a widow; neither shall I know the loss of children." She trusted in the multitude of her counsellors, in the greatness of her wealth and power, and in the terror of her name. Long time had Jehovah borne with her idolatries, and with her insolent defiance of his arm. But now he was about to display the glory of his power, and the terrors of his justice, by casting her down from the pinnacle of prosperity, and making her utterly desolate. Wearied out with her profligacy and sorceries, with her horrible impiety and cruelties; he would soon stir up all his wrath for her destruction: and thus he addressed her in the text; I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.

God

Little did Babylon think with whom she now had to contend. himself was about to meet her, not in the vain confidence of a man, not with an arm of flesh, not with the sword and battle-axe; but he was coming with the power that made the worlds; to throw down her walls in his fury, and to make her pleasant places the habitation of dragons. This was no empty threat. It was carried into full and fearful execution. Babylon was suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy. All her pride was brought down as in a moment. Her mighty men were dismayed, and melted away. Her riches were given to the winds. Her princely merchants were scattered. Her children went into captivity: and so entire was her destruction, that for many ages past, it has been a matter of uncertainty, where her proud palaces and battlements stood.

Thus has it fared, also, with the overgrown pride, and wealth, and power, and wickedness, of other nations; and thus will it fare, sooner or later, with all, who, like Babylon, Tyre, Carthage, and Rome, exalt themselves

against Him who sitteth in the heavens. Thus also will it fare, at last, with every impenitent sinner. There is a time of vengeance, as well as of mercy; a day of punishment, as well as a day of salvation. God will not always wait upon his enemies, saying, "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?" but will at length whet his glittering sword, and his hand will take hold on judgment. He will not always stand by and see his power defied, his grace despised, his law trampled under foot, his gospel treated with indifference, his Son rejected, and his Spirit resisted. He will, when his patience is exhausted, clothe himself with vengeance: he will meet his enemies, but not as a man. This is a very interesting and solemn thought, which it will be my object to illustrate in the present discourse. 1. When men are about to meet their enemies, it is generally their policy to keep up the show of peace and friendship as long as they can; and to make their preparations secretly, so that when they strike, the blow may fall without warning,-without affording any time for escape. But it is not in this manner that God meets his enemies. He gives them warning upon warning. All his preparations and approaches are made in the clear light of day. Nothing that he intends to do, in the way of punishment, is concealed from those who are exposed to his righteous displeasure. He tells them, that he is angry with them every. day he commands them to throw down their arms, and submit to mercy. He charges his ministers to cry in their ears, "Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." No poor sinner, as he sinks in the blackness of despair, will be able to say, "God has deceived. me: I thought I was safe: He never told me that he was angry: He spoke complacently: O that I had been warned: O that my danger had been pointed out; then would I have fled from it; then would I have made peace with God, and avoided this place of torment." No, my friends, the sinner will never be able to plead his excuse in such language as this. His own conscience will testify against him, that he was warned, but would not hear.

2. God does not meet his enemies in vengeance, till he has tried every means to recover and reclaim them. The crime of rebellion is commonly visited, by earthly rulers, with immediate and condign punishment. They do not, when they have power to punish, permit their authority to be contemned, month after month, and year after year, still employing new arguments, threatenings and entreaties, to reclaim their revolted subjects. They gird on the sword at once, and the rebellion is crushed.

Now, how differently from all this, does God deal with his sinful and rebellious creatures. With what patience does he bear with them. With what compassion does he warn them. With what meltings of mercy does he invite them to return to their allegiance. How slow is he to anger; how ready to pardon; how reluctant to punish. "O my people, what have I done unto thee? wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me," “Hear. O heavens, and give ear, Q earth; for the Lord

out.

hath spoken, I have nourished, and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me." "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?" "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim ?" "To-day, even to-day, after so long a time, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Such is the language of forbearance and entreaty, in which God calls upon sinners to repent, that his anger may be turned away, and their sins be blotted And what could he say more? Was ever such patience manifested, slighted, and finally exhausted? What other sovereign ever waited upon rebels in this manner? When did ever insulted and abused majesty manifest such reluctance to punish?—such amazing forbearance ? 3. God never meets his enemies in vengeance, without a just and sufficient cause. Men are capricious and vindictive: they often take fire at the most trifling provocation; and when they have power to punish, they exercise it upon the guiltless, or they punish the guilty with unreasonable severity. But it is not so with Jehovah. Sinners have given him the greatest reason to be angry: they richly deserve all that he has threatened; for what have they not done?-They have taken side with his grand adversary; they have insulted his majesty, and despised his authority: they have revolted from him, and they refuse to return to their allegiance: they have slighted his bounty, set at nought his counsel, and despised his reproofs they have turned away from the cross with contempt, or at least with indifference: have stopped their ears, and hardened their hearts. These things sinners have done, and He kept silence. And what more, to provoke the Majesty of heaven, could they have done, short of aspiring to the throne itself? Is not here sufficient to excite God's holy displeasure? Is it any slight offence which wakes up his fearful indignation? Will not his throne be guiltless, when he cometh to execute vengeance upon his enemies, and to reward them that hate him?

4. It often happens that men, when they go forth to meet and punish their enemies, are actuated by private resentment. They seek the gratification of the worst of passions; they thirst for blood; and will not be pacified, till they have attained their object. But it is far otherwise that God meets even his most incorrigible enemies. His anger is infinitely removed from that which burns in the breasts of his fallen creatures. He has no private resentment to gratify, no by-ends to answer. He acts as a moral governor; as guardian of the interests of the universe. He punishes, not for the sake of inflicting misery, but to vindicate that law on which the well-being of worlds depends. He punishes the guilty, to deter others from the like revolt, and to insure the safety and happiness of obedient subjects. Infinite benevolence is as much concerned in

punishing the guilty, as it is in rewarding the obedient. It is true, that punishment is his "strange work." He pities, even when he strikes; and would spare the criminal, if the highest good of his kingdom would permit. Thus, instead of exulting over his enemies in the hour of their destruction, having waited upon them with long forbearance, he still manifests his infinite benevolence, when he visits their transgressions with his vengeance.

5. When a man goes out to face his enemy, the result of the meeting is often extremely doubtful: he may utterly fail of his object; he may perish in the dreadful ambush, almost at his own door: or he may, when far advanced, be defeated, and driven back in disgrace, and find it impossible to defend himself, even on his own ground: or, if successful at first, the tide of victory may turn against him and, instead of taking his enemy captive, he may himself be led into captivity. Such are the chances of war, when

one king goes forth to measure his sword with another.

But it is not thus that God will meet impenitent sinners. O no: if there was any hope of resisting his arm, the thought of meeting him would not be so dreadful. But when "the great day of his wrath is come, who shall be able to stand?" "What is the stubble before the flame?-what the chaff before the whirlwind ?"—what the resistance of an insect to a falling rock? O think, who it is, that will one day come out in vengeance to meet and crush all his enemies! "He taketh up the isles as a very little thing:" "He standeth and measureth the earth: he beholdeth and driveth asunder the nations." "Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth, but wo unto him that striveth with his Maker." As all resistance will be perfectly hope. less, so it will be impossible to fly from his avenging arm. The wings of the morning, or of thought, would here be of no avail: for even with these, it would take a whole eternity to flee from God's presence.

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6. Men sometimes change their minds when they go forth to meet. their enemies and then they spare those whom they meant to destroy. But "God is of one mind, and who can turn him?" As he is always in earnest when he threatens, and never comes out in wrath till infinite patience is exhausted-so when he does meet his enemies, it is with an unalterable determination to crush them. No one ever yet escaped by a change of the divine purpose; none ever will. What God threatens to-day, he will not revoke to-morrow. For "hath he said, and will he not do it ?--hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?" His threatenings, indeed, as well as his promises, are conditional. But these conditions have their limits: they must be complied with in time: they do not reach a step into eternity. The sinner must repent; the rebel must submit unconditionally in the present world. He must embrace the Savior before his term of probation expires. If he does not, God

will meet him in vengeance, and will in no case turn his wrath into mercy 7. Men sometimes, when they undertake to crush an enemy, leave the work unfinished. They do not take away all his strength. In time

he may perhaps revive, and find himself in a condition to take the field with better prospect of success. But it is not thus that God will deal with his enemies. What he does, he will do once for all. Wherever vengeance strikes, the blow will be fatal. Whom God undertakes to crush, nothing can save. However haughty the rebel may be while the lightning sleeps, he will be instantly blasted by its thunder.

Lastly; after an earthly prince has subdued his rebellious subjects, and laid them under his high displeasure, he may be moved by their entreaties and sufferings, to release them from prison, and restore them to favor. But God will never show favor in another world, to those who refuse submission to him in this, and die with arms in their hands. "Behold now is the accepted time." But when God shall have cast the impenitent into hell, the last ray of light will be extinguished for ever. No tears, no supplications, will then avail. Instead of mercy's sweet voice to cherish some faint and far distant hope, they will hear the insulted Majesty of heaven say, "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof: therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their ⚫wn devices." What would not the rich man have given for deliverance from the raging flame? or even for a drop of water to cool his tongue? But no; he had enjoyed all his good things; he had sinned away his day of grace; and there was a great gulf fixed. Thus it will be with every sinner, who dies impenitent-who dies without faith in Christ; as the Savior himself declares: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Yes, my friends, there is "a fire which shall never be quenched," there is a "worm that never dies." Into that fire will every incorrigible enemy of God be cast; the eternal gnawings of that worm every such enemy will feel.

And is it thus, my dying fellow sinners, that God will meet and destroy them that hate him? Is he in earnest when he says, "I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man?" Will he certainly execute his threatenings? Will sinners find it impossible either to resist or to escape? O who can conceive, what rending agonies wait on the single word vengeance! The anger of an earthly monarch is sometimes terrible; and how much more his vengeance! But what is that to the vengeance of the King of kings! The one is but the indignation of a dying worm, -the other the consuming wrath of

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