Judgment near at hand. By Charles
Simeon. Deuteronomy 32 verses 32 through
35. Their vine comes from the vine
of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are
filled with poison and their clusters with bitterness. Their
wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.
Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults? It
is mine to avenge, I will repay. In due time their foot will slip,
their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.
Tenderness and fidelity are by no means incompatible. Nothing
could exceed the tenderness of our blessed Lord who wept over
those who were just about to imbrew their hands in his blood.
Yet, when occasion called for it, he spoke with great severity,
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the damnation
of hell? Matthew 23 verse 33 In like manner, Jehovah, in the
chapter before us, while he declares that, a fire was kindled in his
anger against his people, and that it should burn to the lowest
hell, verse 22, takes up this lamentation over them. If only
they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end
will be, verse 29. But as, notwithstanding all his
remonstrances, they still continued to bring forth nothing but, grapes
of Gaul and clusters of Gomorrah, he warns them, that their iniquities
were remembered by him in order to a future judgment, and that
their merited calamities were near at hand. But to us, also, are the words
no less applicable than to them, for we, also, are a disobedient
people, and have but too much reason to expect the judgments
of God upon us. I observe, then, 1. That our sins are treasured up
before God in order to a future judgment. This is stated to us in way of
appeal, have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my
vaults? Deuteronomy 32 verse 34, We cannot
doubt but that God notes all our wickedness, and records it
in the book of his remembrance, Malachi 3 verse 16, Of this Job
was well convinced, when he said, My transgression is sealed up
in a bag, and you sew up my iniquity, Job 14 verse 17 Alas, what a
mass of iniquity is there contained! Call to mind the sins of early
infancy, for not one of them is overlooked by God. Then view the evils of childhood
and of youth, alas, how numerous! Even as the sands upon the seashore
for multitude. Then go on to the period of maturer
age, when, instead of improving our enlarged faculties in the
service of our God, we have debased them the more in the service
of sin and Satan. Go on to the present hour. Take
all the actions, words, and thoughts of every successive day, and
test them by the standard of God's holy law, and then see
what loads of guilt we have contracted, and what volumes of indictment
are ready at any hour to be brought forth against us, especially
if we bear in remembrance our impenitence, which so greatly
provokes God to anger, and our contempt of His gospel, that
stupendous effort of His love and mercy for the saving of our
souls from death. If we reflect on these, I say,
we cannot but see what a fearful account we have to give to our
offended God. How soon we shall have, filled
up the measure of our iniquities, God alone knows. But this accumulation
of our guilt none of us can deny, and this certainty of retribution
none of us can doubt. In addition to this, I must say. 2. that the appointed time for giving
up our account is hastening on apace. Our foot, we are told, shall
slide in due time, and the day of our calamity is at hand, truly,
we are set in slippery places, and are liable to be cast down
into destruction in a moment. Psalm 73 verses 18 through 19,
persons walking upon the ice, or on the glacier of mountainous
countries, feel the force of this observation, and endeavor
to guard with all possible care against their danger. But we
do not see our danger, notwithstanding it is in fact not less imminent
than theirs. Millions of dangers encompass
us around, and numerous instances occur of people summoned into
eternity without a moment's warning. The time for every man's death
is fixed by God, and how near it may be at hand, no one can
reckon. But the instant it is arrived,
whether we are prepared or unprepared, away we are hurried to the judgment
seat of Christ, and, if unprepared, we are cast into the very depths
of hell. I know that people are ready
to say, but God is merciful, true, but I answer, that, to
him belongs vengeance also, yes, and this is as essential to his
character as mercy. Hence, in the epistle to the
Hebrews, my text is cited with peculiar emphasis, we know him
who has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense. Says
the Lord, and to this it is added, it is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10 verse 30 through
31. Now, I ask, shall this perfection
of the Deity be dispensed with in order to give us safety in
our sins? It cannot be. A hatred of sin,
and a determination to punish it, are essential to the nature
of Jehovah, and he can as soon cease to exist, as he can cease
to act worthy of his proper character. You cannot but know, brethren,
that multitudes are hurried daily into the presence of their God,
without any regard to their state of preparation to meet Him, and
there is no reason why you should not be taken just as they were.
They were saying, Peace and safety, and then came sudden destruction
upon them, as travel upon a woman with child. 1 Thessalonians 5
verse 3, And the more secure you are in your own apprehension,
The more reason there is to fear that you shall be called away
in like manner, and that, that solemn day shall overtake you,
as a thief. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 4. This consideration is very particularly
urged upon you by the prophet Hosea, the guilt of Ephraim is
stored up, his sins are kept on record. Pains as of a woman
in childbirth come to him. Hosea 13 verse 12, it matters
not whether you are young or old, or whether in health or
sickness, the judge stands at the door. And at the instant
ordained by him, into his presence must you go, to give an account
of all that you have ever done, whether it is good or evil. and truth compels me to declare,
three, that it is owing to the forbearance of God alone that
every one of us has not long since fallen into hell. Who among us has not deserved
the wrath of God? Who among us may not call to
mind some moment, when God, so to speak, might have cut us off
to display in us His righteous indignation? And if He had summoned
us hence, who could have withstood His mandate, or prolonged His
life one single hour? We have been in the hands of
God, hanging, as it were, over the bottomless pit, and suspended
only by a single thread, which, if let loose or cut, would have
conveyed us at once to everlasting misery. And many times has God
been tempted, so to speak, to let go of His hold, but our blessed
Saviour has interceded for us. and prevail to obtain for us
a respite from our destined misery, if by any means we might be led
to avert it by penitence and faith in him. All has been ready
for our ruin long ago. Topheth has long been prepared,
it has been made ready for the king. Its fire-pit has been made
deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood, the breath
of the Lord, like a stream of burning sulphur, sets it ablaze,
Isaiah 30 verse 33, Yes, the unquenchable fire has long since
been kindled, and nothing has prevented our ruin but the forbearance
of our God, who, in the midst of all our provocations, has
yet waited to be gracious unto us. It is to His sovereign grace
alone we owe it, that we are not at this instant in the condition
of millions, who never lived so long as we, or sinned so much
against God as we, and were altogether as likely to live as we. But,
others have been taken, and we are left, if perhaps we may yet
repent of our sins, and flee for refuge to the hope that is
set before us. I cannot conclude this solemn
subject without addressing a few words. 1. To those who are yet indulging
in carnal security. What have you been doing all
your days, but treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath?
Romans 2 verse 5, You do not plan to go to hell, I know. Neither
did those who are already in hell. They planned, each in his
own way, to do something that might bring them to heaven. One
intended to repent, another to amend, another perhaps to embrace
the gospel. But death seized them before
they had found time to carry their designs into effect. Just so, you also design to get
into the way that leads to heaven. But tell me, when did you form
this plan? Long ago it floated carelessly
upon your mind, and here have you been, years and years, without
ever carrying it into effect. Tell me, then, I beg you, when
do you intend to carry it into effect? As to any serious purpose
and endeavor, it is still as far off as at any period of your
lives, and therefore there is reason to fear that your good
designs will terminate, as those of millions do, in utter miscarriage,
and that in you will be verified what the psalmist has said, upon
the wicked, God will rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and a horrible
tempest, this shall be the portion of their cup. Psalm 11 verse
6 You may be assured that God will
not always bear with you, that, on the contrary, your judgment
lingers not, and your damnation slumbers not. 2 Peter 2 verse
3, The axe at this very moment lies at the root of the tree,
ready to cut you down. Luke 3 verse 9, And God alone
knows whether another offer of mercy shall be ever made to you.
O that you may know, every one of you, in this your day, the
things that belong unto your peace. Luke 19 verse 42 Today,
brethren, while it is called today, harden not your hearts,
but seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while
he is near. Isaiah 55 verse 6 This day, for
every one of you, may be the day of salvation. 2nd Corinthians
6 verse 2, What tomorrow may be, none can tell. I pray God,
it may not prove to you, as no doubt it will to many, the day
of wrath, the day of everlasting damnation. 2. To those who are
desirous of preparing for death and judgment. I am happy to declare unto you,
that, however numerous or heinous your sins may have been, they
may all this very day be blotted out of the book of God's remembrance,
yes, be blotted out as a morning cloud. Isaiah 43 verse 25, Never
more to be seen, never to be remembered against you in judgment,
Hebrews 8 verse 12. The blood of Jesus Christ, we
are told, will cleanse from all sin, 1 John 1 verse 7, So that,
though your sins have been as scarlet or as crimson, they shall
in one instant become as white as snow. Isaiah 1 verse 18. Yes, brethren, if vengeance belongs
unto God, so does mercy also. With the Lord is unfailing love,
and with Him is full redemption. He Himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins. Psalm 130 verse 7 through 8,
Take courage, then, and from the very forbearance you have
already experienced, assure yourselves that God is full of compassion,
slow to anger, and of great kindness, and that if only you come to
Him in His Son's name, you shall never perish, but shall have
eternal life.