There is no peace saith my God to the wicked. . 218 [PREACHED AT THE MAGDALEN HOSPITAL, ON SUN- I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the [PREACHED AT THE ASYLUM FOR FEMALE ORPHANS, SERMON I. LUKE xii. 20. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? THE holy Scriptures exhibit two different methods, of reasoning with sinners, with a view to reclaim them. The first displays the vileness and abomination of sin, and by showing its real deformity, renders it an object of detestation: the other method goes to prove that it is contrary to reason and common sense; and to show, that while the only true. wisdom is to be found in obedience to the precepts of the gospel, the lowest degree of folly consists in vice and irreligion. Wicked ness, in all its forms, is necessarily an object of hatred to the true Christian: but the case is different with the world in general; it is by no means easy to persuade the man of pleasure, that those sins which seem congenial to his nature, and agreeable to his inclination, ought to be held in abhorrence. And since, upon men of this stamp, contempt has often a more powerful influence than severe and stern rebuke, the sacred writings occasionally adopt the second method, and endeavour to convince them of the folly of sin. Thus, both in the Psalms of David and in the Proverbs of Solomon, we find the term fool frequently used as synonymous with sinner. In the former we are told, that "the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God:"1 and in the latter, that "the great God that formed all things, both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors. The same method of instruction is pursued by our Saviour: we find him continually reproving the Pharisees for their blindness and folly; 1 Ps. xiv. 1; liii. 1. 2 Prov. xxvi. 10. |