Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 21:31

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 21:31. Who shall declare his way to his face? — But while the wicked is in power, who shall dare to tell him to his face what his true character is? or, who shall dare to repay him the evil he has done? As such a person cannot have his punishment in this life, he must have it in another; and for this the day of wrath - the day of judgment, is prepared.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Job’s reply to Zophar (21:1-34)

There are two main reasons for Job’s impatient speech. One is the frustration of arguing with a person whom he cannot see or hear. The other is the constant pain that torments him. If the friends can understand this and stop their mockery for a moment, Job will answer Zophar’s statement calmly (21:1-6). The wicked are not always swiftly destroyed as Zophar claims. Many enjoy long lives of peace, prosperity and happiness (7-13). The wicked fight against God yet prosper; Job hates wickedness yet suffers (14-16).
How often, asks Job, do the wicked suffer all the terrible judgments that the three friends have detailed (17-18)? The friends may reply that the children will reap the fruits of the parents’ sins. If this is so, says Job, it still means that the wicked themselves are not punished. They do not worry about what happens to others after they die (19-21). It is wrong to try to make God’s actions fit human theories, especially when those theories are contradicted by the plain realities of life (22). The fact is that all people, good and bad alike, suffer the unwelcome fate of death. This shows that sufferings and misfortunes are not an indication of a person’s goodness or wickedness (23-26).
The friends say that calamity will come upon the house of the wicked (27-28), but anyone who observes events around him knows this is not always true (29-31). Some of the wicked have impressive funerals, where crowds of people attend to pay them honour (32-33). The friends are not being honest when they quote those examples that support their theories but ignore others (34).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE CONTRADICTS HIS FRIENDS' THEORY

"Behold, I know your thoughts, And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me. For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt? Have ye not asked wayfaring men? And do ye not know their evidences, That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity? That they are led forth to the day of wrath? Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he hath done? Yet shall he be borne to the grave, And men shall keep watch over the tomb. The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, And all men shall draw after him. How then comfort ye me in vain, Seeing in your answers there remaineth only falsehood?"

"Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices wherewith ye would wrong me" "I see you are disposed to maintain your position… You say the wicked are overwhelmed with calamities; and, from this, you infer that I am wicked."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), op. cit., p. 357.

"Where is the house of the prince" "The context here requires us to understand `the prince' as a reference to a wicked ruler."Ibid. The second clause is their inference that even his palace shall be destroyed.

The next two or three verses are somewhat ambiguous, and scholars read them differently; but we paraphrase Job's reply to his friend's argument which he here anticipated.

How could you say a thing like that? Ask anyone who has traveled, and knows the way of the world, what happens to an evil ruler. The evil flatterers that surround him would not dare accuse him of any wrong-doing; and when he dies, his body will be ceremoniously carried to a magnificent tomb; a monument will be erected, and an honor guard will stand by the grave!

"Who shall declare his way to his face… repay him what he hath done" Job's knowledge of what goes on in the houses of rulers was perfect. The answer to the question raised here is: "Nobody, but nobody, would dare suggest to any ancient ruler that he was anything less than absolutely perfect." It is nothing less than astounding that Job's friends were either ignorant of this, or pretended to be ignorant. "None would dare oppose a wicked ruler to his face for fear of the consequences."<25a> "Wicked rulers are not only spared by God but left unrebuked by men."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 190.

"In your answers there remaineth only falsehood" "All that Job's friends say was but a dishonest attempt to prove him wicked."Ibid., p. 191. This may appear as a harsh judgment to some; but it should never be forgotten that, in this astounding narrative, Job's friends were cardinal agents of Satan himself, determined to destroy one of the noblest men who ever lived.

The discerning reader knows what is going on here. "Job is not wicked, or stubborn, or arrogant. He is honest and tenacious. From the very depth of a suffering body and a distressed mind, he cries out for understanding,"Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 202. still trusting God, in spite of the blind stupidity and/or evil intent of his friends. Job is still perplexed by the mysteries of God's dealing with men; "But, by now, the reader knows that such enigmas do not prevent Job from trusting in his inexplicable God."R. B. Sweet Publishing Company, No. 216, p. 47.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Who shall declare his way to his face? - That is, the face of the wicked. Who shall dare to rise up and openly charge him with his guilt? The idea is, that none would dare to do it, and that, therefore, the wicked man was not punished according to his character here, and was reserved to a day of future wrath.

And who shall repay him what he hath done? - The meaning is, that many wicked people lived without being punished for their sins. No one was able to recompense them for the evil which they had done, and consequently they lived in security and prosperity. Such were the tyrants and conquerors, who had made the world desolate.

Smith's Bible Commentary

By Chuck Smith

This time shall we turn to the book of Job, chapter 21.

Zophar has just concluded in chapter 20 his second speech in which, again, he sort of just gives some of the traditions and quotes some of the proverbs that are common, and sort of reiterating some of his accusations against Job. "Knowest not this of old, since man was placed on the earth" ( Job 20:4 ). "You see, don't you know that man has known this forever?" Going back to some of the old proverbs and so forth.

"That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?" ( Job 20:5 ) This is just some of the old proverbs. "The triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the hypocrite is for a moment." And then the insinuations there is that Job actually is a wicked man and that he is a hypocrite. And then he makes accusations against Job in verse Job 21:19 : "Because he has oppressed and forsaken the poor, because he has violently taken away a house which he built it not." In other words, he made a foreclosure against some poor people. And so, concluding in verse Job 21:29 : "This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him from God." That is the calamity and the destruction that will come upon him for doing these wicked things.

So Job answered and said, Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. And allow me that I may speak; and after I have spoken, just mock on ( Job 21:1-3 ).

Job has just really had it with these guys and he's not really very kind in his remarks to them anymore. But I can sort of understand Job's position. They just...he's looking for sympathy; he's looking for understanding. He doesn't have it. They just are convinced in their minds that Job is a wicked, ungodly man. Though they can't point it out to him, though he's challenged them to, "point out my wickedness," they can't do it. Yet they're convinced of this fact. Job cannot convince them otherwise.

And so let me speak and then after I have spoken, go ahead and mock on.

As for me, is my complaint to man? if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? Go ahead, mark me, be astonished, put your hand over your mouth. Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling takes hold on my flesh ( Job 21:4-6 ).

Now, Job shows the fallacy of the whole arguments that they're putting against him, because the arguments are this: That the righteous prosper. If you're really a righteous man, you'll be prosperous, that it just follows. And that if you are wicked, then calamity is sure to come, thus any calamity that comes into your life is a sure sign of wickedness. And any prosperity is a sure sign of righteousness. This is the basic fallacious philosophy.

Now in the New Testament we find this same philosophy is spoken against. As those who think that godliness is a way to gain, or it's a way to prosperity. That is spoken of in the New Testament, it says, "from such turn away" ( 1 Timothy 6:5 ), those that say living a godly life is a way to be prosperous. So Job is putting down their whole philosophy by just pointing out basic facts, and it is this:

Why do the wicked live, become old, yea, they are mighty in power? Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casts not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock, their children dance. They take the timbrel, the harp, rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave ( Job 21:7-13 ).

In other words, they do not have a prolonged suffering at the time of death. They live, their children are happy, their children are in the dances, and so forth. They are the wicked, they seem to be prosperous and then they die suddenly rather than having a long suffering, lingering kind of a death.

Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; we don't desire the knowledge of your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? ( Job 21:14-15 )

In other words, they scorn God. They shun God. They say, "Hey, why should I serve God? Look, I'm happy. I've got everything I want. Why do I need God? You know, God can take a walk as far as I'm concerned. I don't need Him. I'm doing fine." And so this is, Job pointed out, this is the way the wicked are. Now you say the wicked are cut down, the wicked are cursed, the wicked, you know, are cut off and all. But wait a minute, that's not my observation. Wicked people oftentimes prosper, prosper abundantly. In fact, in the seventy-third Psalm, this was a situation that almost caused the psalmist to stumble.

If you want to turn for a moment to Psalms 73:1-28 , you'll see that the psalmist was observing much the same things as Job here concerning the wicked, as he declares, "Truly God is good to Israel, and all those that are of a clean heart" ( Psalms 73:1 ). In other words, he starts out with a basic, foundational truth. I know this: God is good. I know that. It's important that you know that. It's important that you have certain foundational truths upon which you stand. Upon which you can fall back, because you're not going to always understand why certain things have happened to you. You're not going to understand that. So whenever you come up against something you don't understand, you must fall back on what you do understand, certain foundational truths. And this is one: God is good. I know that. But, the psalmist said, "I know God is good."

But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped. I was envious of the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: [Much the same thing, they don't go through prolonged periods of suffering before they die. They seem to die quickly without a lot of suffering.] their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than their heart could wish. They are corrupt, they speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore his people return hither: and the waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they said, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches ( Psalms 73:2-12 ).

Now, you see, the psalmist is observing much the same as Job. That wicked people oftentimes prosper. In fact, sometimes they prosper abundantly. Job said, "Their children grow up before them. They don't have any trouble. Their bulls gender. Their cows, you know, caste their calves and they don't die. They're prospered. They're blessed. And they're cursing God. They say, 'Why do I need God. I don't need God. I'm happy. I'm satisfied.'"

And the psalmist is observing much the same thing and he said, "It almost wiped me out. It almost caused me to trip up when I saw this." It drew him to false conclusions. He said, "I've cleansed my heart in vain. I've washed my hands in innocency. For all the time I am plagued. I'm chastened" ( Psalms 73:13-14 ).

"It doesn't pay to try and serve God. The wicked have it so good, and here I'm trying to do what's right and I'm in trouble all the time. I'm plagued. Everything's going wrong. You know, I can't pay my bills, and all. And it doesn't pay to serve God." It is really sort of the suggestion here.

"When I thought to know this," he said, "it was too painful for me. Until I went into the sanctuary of the Lord, and then I saw their end" ( Psalms 73:16-17 ). You see, our problem is that our vision oftentimes is too narrow. We see only that which is seen and it will cause you to trip up. I can't understand the disparities of life. I don't understand why wicked people oftentimes prosper and why godly people oftentimes suffer. There are disparities that I don't understand. I know that God is good. I know that God is righteous. I know that God is fair. But I don't know why good, godly people have to suffer. I don't know why ungodly people who really curse God, who want nothing to do with God, are so oftentimes very prosperous, seemingly always in excellent health, never seeming to have problems. "Until I went into the sanctuary of the Lord. I was almost wiped out. I almost... it almost caused my foot to slip. I was almost gone." What did he discover in the sanctuary of the Lord? He discovered, then, the end result. "Then I saw their end." You see, I see now on out beyond. I see the eternity and the long-term view. And when I look out beyond just today and tomorrow, and I look into eternity and I see the end of the wicked, then I am no longer envious of the wicked. How could I be envious of the wicked who are cast into hell? "Surely you have set them in slippery places," the psalmist said. "They shall go down in a moment" ( Psalms 73:18 ). So I can't be envious of them any longer when I see the end result.

Now this is what coming into the sanctuary of the God should always be, a broadening experience for you. Because we do get battered about many times in our worldly relationships, on the job, in school and so forth, and we come in dragging Sunday morning, battered and bruised by the contact with that alien world out there, because actually we are strangers and pilgrims here. We are living in an alien world. It's alien to God. Alienated from God. And if you're living a life in fellowship with God, you find yourself in an alien world. And we come into the sanctuary of God, but it should always be a place where God broadens our whole perspective. And I begin to measure things not by, "Oh, what a rough week," but I begin to measure things by eternity. It won't be long. Life is so short. I'll soon be with Him in the glories of His kingdom. Oh, how fortunate I am to know Him. How fortunate I am that He loves me and He has chosen me as His child and I am going to dwell with Him forever and ever. You see, you get the long-term; you get released from this narrow little perspective that so often develops in the world. And the broadened perspective as we come into the sanctuary of God.

So Job now is talking from the narrow perspective. We often do this when we're hurting, when we're suffering. He's looking at the wicked like the psalmist did and he sees their prosperity and it's completely putting down the arguments of his friends. He is putting them down. They are not true. The things that they are saying are not true. The hypocrite isn't cut off; the wicked aren't cast aside. They oftentimes are very prosperous indeed and seem to have no problem at all. And this is what Job is pointing out as he shows the fallacy of the arguments that these men are giving to him.

Now Job begins to look down the road, verse Job 21:17 :

How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. They are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away ( Job 21:17-18 ).

I wonder if, when David wrote the first Psalm, he was not acquainted with the book of Job. Do you remember what he said concerning the wicked? "Are not so, but as the chaff which the wind driveth away" ( Psalms 1:4 ). And here he's borrowing actually this phrase out of Job. David was probably very familiar with this book.

God lays up his iniquity for his children: he rewards him, and he shall know it. His eyes shall see his destruction, he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty ( Job 21:19-20 ).

Now Job said,

Are you going to teach God knowledge? seeing he judges those that are high. One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. His breasts are full of milk, his bones are moistened with marrow. Another dies in the bitterness of his soul, and never eats with pleasure ( Job 21:22-25 ).

Now why the difference? We don't know. Why is it that some men die in fullness and some die in poverty? Some die in pain and sorrow. Some are cut off quickly. Why does that happen?

They shall lie down alike in the dust, the worms shall cover them. Behold, I know your thoughts, and devices which you wrongfully imagine against me. For you say, Where is the house of the prince? And where are the dwelling places of the wicked? Have you not asked them that go by the way? and do you not know their tokens ( Job 21:26-29 ),

He said, "You learned your philosophy from wayfarers, from strangers, from people in the streets."

That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath ( Job 21:30 ).

In other words, God will judge them. That is true. But not necessarily in this life.

Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him for what he has done? Yet shall he be brought to the grave, he shall remain in his tomb. The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. How then do you comfort me in vain, seeing in your answers there's an inconsistency? ( Job 21:31-34 )

How can you comfort me with these kinds of arguments when they're not really consistent? When they're not really logical? When they don't stand up to reality? "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

6. Job’s second reply to Zophar ch. 21

After the first cycle of speeches, Job responded to a point each of his friends had made, namely, that God consistently blesses the righteous and blasts the unrighteous. After this second cycle of speeches, Job again replied to a point each accuser had made: that the wicked suffer destruction in this life.

"This speech is unusual for Job on several counts. It is the only one in which he confines his remarks to his friends and does not fall into either a soliloquy or a prayer. The time has come to demolish their position. Secondly, in making this counter-attack, Job reviews a lot of the preceding discussion, so that many cross-references can be found to what has already been said. These are a valuable guide to interpretation when they can be discovered. Thirdly, by quoting their words and refuting them, Job comes nearer to formal debate. While his words are still quite emotional, there is less invective in them." [Note: Andersen, p. 198.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The lifelong prosperity of some wicked 21:27-34

By urging his friends to ask travelers (Job 21:29), Job was accusing them of holding a provincial viewpoint, one formed out of limited exposure to life.

"If Job’s friends inquired of well-traveled people, they would learn that in every part of the world, wicked people seem to escape the calamities that fall on the righteous." [Note: Ibid.]

Though some writers have taken Job 21:31 as a quotation of the view of Job’s friends, it is probably Job’s own view. "The day" is probably a reference to the final time God will judge the wicked.

This speech explains Job’s position, which certainly squares with reality better than the one his adversaries advocated. Frequently the wicked do prosper throughout their lives. God does not always cut off evil people prematurely. For example, even though Manasseh was Judah’s worst king, he reigned the longest. Even through Mussolini and Hitler died violent deaths, Lenin and Stalin died in their own beds as old men. Furthermore, "All that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). Job accused his friends of being wrong.

At the end of this second cycle, the advantage in the debate was obviously with Job. Any objective observer of what was going on at that city dump would have had to admit that Job’s arguments made more sense than those of his three friends.

"If you want to be an encouragement to hurting people, try to see things through their eyes. Be humble enough to admit that there might be other points of view." [Note: Ibid., p. 47.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Who shall declare his way to his face?.... Jarchi and Aben Ezra think that Job here returns to God, and speaks of him, as in

Job 21:22; signifying that no man can or ought to presume to charge the ways of God in his providence with inequality or injustice, in sparing the wicked now, and reserving them to wrath and destruction hereafter; since he is a sovereign Being, and does what he pleases, and none can hinder him, nor ought any to say to him, what dost thou? nor does he give an account of his matters to the children of men; but this respects the wicked man, and describes his state and condition in this life, as being possessed of such wealth and riches, and living in such grandeur and splendour, and advanced to such places of honour and glory, as to be above the reproof of men; though his way, his course of life, is a very wicked one, and he ought to be told to his face the evil of his way, and the danger he is exposed to by it, and what will be the sad consequence of it; his relations and friends, his neighbours and acquaintance, should labour to convince him of his evil, and reprove him to his face, and endeavour to reclaim him from it; but how few are there that have courage and faithfulness enough to do this, since they are sure to incur his displeasure and hatred, and run the risk of their lives, as John the Baptist lost his for his faithfulness in reproving Herod to his face, for taking to him his brother Philip's wife? Matthew 14:3;

and who shall repay him [what] he hath done? bring him to an account for his crimes, and to just punishment for them; who will venture to bring a charge against him, or enter an action at law, bring him before a court of judicature, and prosecute him, and get judgment passed upon him? as such a man is above all reproof for his sins, he is out of the reach of punishment for them; he lives with impunity, none can punish him but God; and being lifted up with his greatness, he neither fears God nor regards man.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.   28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?   29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,   30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.   31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?   32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.   33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.   34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

      In these verses,

      I. Job opposes the opinion of his friends, which he saw they still adhered to, that the wicked are sure to fall into such visible and remarkable ruin as Job had now fallen into, and none but the wicked, upon which principle they condemned Job as a wicked man. "I know your thoughts," says Job (Job 21:27; Job 21:27); "I know you will not agree with me; for your judgments are tinctured and biassed by your piques and prejudices against me, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against my comfort and honour: and how can such men be convinced?" Job's friends were ready to say, in answer to his discourse concerning the prosperity of the wicked, "Where is the house of the prince?Job 21:28; Job 21:28. Where is Job's house, or the house of his eldest son, in which his children were feasting? Enquire into the circumstances of Job's house and family, and then ask, Where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? and compare them together, and you will soon see that Job's house is in the same predicament with the houses of tyrants and oppressors, and may therefore conclude that doubtless he was such a one."

      II. He lays down his own judgment to the contrary, and, for proof of it, appeals to the sentiments and observations of all mankind. So confident is he that he is in the right that he is willing to refer the cause to the next man that comes by (Job 21:29; Job 21:29): "Have you not asked those that go by the way--any indifferent person, any that will answer you? I say not, as Eliphaz (Job 5:1; Job 5:1), to which of the saints, but to which of the children of men will you turn? Turn to which you will, and you will find them all of my mind, that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, according to the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, Jude 1:14. Do you not know the tokens of this truth, which all that have made any observations upon the providences of God concerning mankind in this world can furnish you with?" Now,

      1. What is it that Job here asserts? Two things:-- (1.) That impenitent sinners will certainly be punished in the other world, and, usually, their punishment is put off until then. (2.) That therefore we are not to think it strange if they prosper greatly in this world and fall under no visible token of God's wrath. Therefore they are spared now, because they are to be punished then; therefore the workers of iniquity flourish, that they may be destroyed for ever,Psalms 92:7. The sinner is here supposed, [1.] To live in a great deal of power, so as to be not only the terror of the mighty in the land of the living (Ezekiel 32:27), but the terror of the wise and good too, whom he keeps in such awe that none dares declare his way to his face,Job 21:31; Job 21:31. None will take the liberty to reprove him, to tell him of the wickedness of his way, and what will be in the end thereof; so that he sins securely, and is not made to know either shame or fear. The prosperity of fools destroys them, by setting them (in their own conceit) above reproofs, by which they might be brought to that repentance which alone will prevent their ruin. Those are marked for destruction that are let alone in sin, Hosea 4:17. And, if none dares declare his way to his face, much less dare any repay him what he has done and make him refund what he has obtained by injustice. He is one of those great flies which break through the cobwebs of the law, that hold only the little ones. This emboldens sinners in their sinful ways that they can brow-beat justice and make it afraid to meddle with them. But there is a day coming when those shall be told of their faults who now would not bear to hear of them, those shall have their sins set in order before them, and their way declared to their face, to their everlasting confusion, who would not have it done here, to their conviction, and those who would not repay the wrongs they had done shall have them repaid to them. [2.] To die, and be buried in a great deal of pomp and magnificence, Job 21:32; Job 21:33. There is no remedy; he must die; that is the lot of all men; but every thing you can think of shall be done to take off the reproach of death. First, He shall have a splendid funeral--a poor thing for any man to be proud of the prospect of; yet with some it passes for a mighty thing. Well, he shall be brought to the grave in state, surrounded with all the honours of the heralds' office and all the respect his friends can then pay to his remains. The rich man died, and was buried, but no mention is made of the poor man's burial, Luke 16:22. Secondly, He shall have a stately monument erected over him. He shall remain in the tomb with a Hic jacet--Here lies, over him, and a large encomium. Perhaps it is meant of the embalming of his body to preserve it, which was a piece of honour anciently done by the Egyptians to their great men. He shall watch in the tomb (so the word is), shall abide solitary and quiet there, as a watchman in his tower. Thirdly, The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; there shall be as much done as can be with rich odours to take off the noisomeness of the grave, as by lamps to set aside the darkness of it, which perhaps was referred to in the foregoing phrase of watching in the tomb. But it is all a jest; what is the light, or what the perfume, to a man that is dead? Fourthly, It shall be alleged, for the lessening of the disgrace of death, that it is the common lot: He has only yielded to fate, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. Note, Death is the way of all the earth: when we are to cross that darksome valley we must consider, 1. That there are innumerable before us; it is a tracked road, which may help to take off the terror of it. To die is ire ad plures--to go to the great majority. 2. That every man shall draw after us. As there is a plain track before, so there is a long train behind; we are neither the first nor the last that pass through that dark entry. Every one must go in his own order, the order appointed of God.

      2. From all this Job infers the impertinency of their discourses, Job 21:34; Job 21:34. (1.) Their foundation is rotten, and they went upon a wrong hypothesis: "In your answers there remains falsehood; what you have said stands not only unproved but disproved, and lies under such an imputation of falsehood as you cannot clear it from." (2.) Their building was therefore weak and tottering: "You comfort me in vain. All you have said gives me no relief; you tell me that I shall prosper again if I turn to God, but you go upon this presumption, that piety shall certainly be crowned with prosperity, which is false; and therefore how can your inference from it yield me any comfort?" Note, Where there is not truth there is little comfort to be expected.

Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible

Not Now, But Hereafter!

September the 22nd, 1861

"Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?" Job 21:29-31 .

The sermon which I preached two Lord's days ago upon the accidents, has caused considerable consternation among pious people with weak heads. Their idea that an calamities are judgments, is so inveterate a prejudice, and so favourite a dogma, that our exposure of its absurdity is, in their opinion, eminently calculated to encourage sin and quiet the consciences of offenders. Now, I feel quite at ease in this matter, and am confident that I have done service to our great cause, even though the timid should be alarmed, and the superstitious should be annoyed. Our gracious God and Father has seen fit to give us a whole book of the Bible upon the subject; the main drift of the Book of Job is to prove that temporal afflictions are not evidences of the Lord's displeasure, and I beg the modern Bildads and Zophars to reconsider their position, lest they too should be found to be "speaking wickedly for God, and talking deceitfully for him." Job 13:7 . In my very soul I feel that if evil days shall come upon me, it poverty, desertion, and disease should place me upon Job's dunghill, I shall point to that sermon with pleasure, and say to those who will tell me that God is angry with me, and has judged me to be unworthy, "Nay, ye know not what ye say, for the judgment is not passed already, nor is this the field of execution; neither disease, nor bereavements, nor poverty, can prove a man to be wicked, nor do they even hint that the chosen are divided from the hearts of Christ." O my beloved friends, settle it in your hearts that men are not to be judged according to their present circumstances, and learn like David to understand their end. It will save you from writing bitter things against yourselves in the time of trouble, and prevent your scanning the works of Providence, and measuring the infinite by line and plummet. It is mainly my business, today, to deal with those who may wickedly continue in sin because their judgment tarries. If the Lord does not in this world visit the urn godly with stripes, this is but the surer evidence that in the world to come there is a solemn retribution for the impenitent. If the affliction which is here accorded to men be not the punishment of sin, we turn to Scripture and discover what that punishment will be, and we are soon informed that it is something far heavier than any calamities which occur in this life, something infinitely more tremendous than the most disastrous accident, the most shocking mutilation, or the most painful death. I know that there be some in these days who are like those in the time of the royal preacher, of whom he said, "because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Should I be addressing some this morning who have found a stupid quiet for their consciences in the fact that God does not here usually visit men's sins upon their heads, let me put it to them whether such peace is reasonable. There is a city which has revolted. A great king has threatened them with entire destruction for the revolt. He does not, in hurried passion, send against them a handful of soldiers to inflict instant and petty chastisement, he waits awhile, and marshals all his hosts, till every battalion has been put in array, till every mighty man has girded on his armor. Fools! will ye draw consolation from the delay of your destroyer? Will ye say, because he has not ridden forth against you on the very day of your rebellion that therefore this is a time of revelry and mirth? Nay, rather, inasmuch as he is gathering his hosts for the battle, let it cause you to tremble, for he shall break down your walls, and give your whole company to the sword. Imagine yourselves voyagers, far out upon the sea. A black cloud darkens in the sky, you say you fear not the cloud because it is not at present pouring forth the rain-flood. But that is the reason why ye should fear it, for the cloud is waiting until it grows and spreads, till under the wing of darkness the egg of cloud has been hatched into the black screaming eagle of the storm. See you, the clouds are hurrying from east and west, mustering for the strife! Mark you not the sea heaving heavily in sympathy with heaven's convulsions? Behold how all the dread artillery of heaven is gathering up for one tremendous shock. Fools! do ye say ye will not fear because the thundercloud has not yet burst, because as yet the breath of wind has not transformed itself into the blast of hurricane? It is gathering, sirs, congregating its forces and accumulating its fury, and the longer that it gathers, the more terrible shall be the moment when it bursts upon your devoted heads. And so to-day, God's clouds that float in the sky, the calamities of Providence, are not pouring on you the tempest of wrath; but is this a reason why ye should be at peace? Nay! the clouds are gathering, every sin is adding to the mass, every day of God's long-suffering is covering heaven in blacker sable, every moment that he spares he does but prepare to punish in more tremendous force; and dread and direful shall be the day, when at last omnipotence itself shall come to the assistance of outraged justice, and you shall feel that God is God as much in punishing sin, as in the making of the worlds. It was a fable of the old Jewish rabbis, that when the angel Gabriel flew he used both wings, because he always came with good tidings; but that when Michael flew, bearing God's sword to smite through the loins of king", he always flew with one wing. But Michael arrives as surely at his destined goal as Gabriel himself. The feet of the avenging deities may seem to be shod with lead for tardiness, and their tread may be as noiseless as wool, but they are as sure as the feet of mercy. I know, when God comes to bless, the axles of his chariot are hot with speed, and his steeds are white with foam, and when he comes to curse he travels slowly, with many a sigh, for he willeth not the death of any, but had rather "that he should turn unto him and live;" but remember, in judgment he comes in all his might, and he shall be discovered to be not less a God when he smiteth than when he giveth the kisses of his lips, and lifts the pardoned sinner into acceptance and favor. We shall now deal with the sorrowful topic of the punishment of sin in the world to come. I have preached less upon this subject than almost upon any other, and yet always is it thrown in our teeth that we delight to dwell upon these horrors. I never come to this subject without the deepest distress of heart, and God alone shall know how many tears it costs these eyes when I have to deal out as God's faithful ambassador the thunders of his law. I delight to preach of Calvary, and of divine love, and of grace unsearchable. But this theme is to me the burden of the Lord, we must not, we dare not keep it back; fidelity to conscience, truthfulness to God, love to the souls of men, constrains us to make this a part of our ministry, not keeping back any part of the price. I shall divide the discourse this morning into three parts, first, I shall speak of the punishment of sin, by way of affirmation, or prove that it must be so; secondly, by way of explanation, of what kind and nature this punishment must be; and then, thirdly, by way of expostulation, pleading with those who are yet in the land of mercy, that they would hasten to the voice of wisdom, and that God's grace may turn them from the error of their ways. I. First, then, by wag of affirmation THERE MUST BE A PUNISHMENT FOR SIN. Job says, that this is a truth so written upon the very nature of man, that even those who go by the way, the ignorant traveler and wayfarer, dares not for a moment deny that such is the case. "Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens?" And truly it is so. If there be one intuitive truth which man perceives without need of argument, it is that sin deserves to be punished, and since sin in not punished here, it fellows that the punishment must be endured in the world to come. Let us, however, very briefly, review the argument. Sin must be punished from the very nature of God. God is; if God is God, he must be just. You can no more separate the idea of justice from the idea of God, than you can omniscience, or omnipresence, or omnipotence. To suppose of a God who was not omnipotent, is to make a supposition which is contradictory in its terms; for the term "God" includes that thought. And to suppose an unjust God, is to imagine an absurdity, you have used, I repeat it, contradictory terms; justice is included in the very thought of God. See how the oppressed always recognize this. The slave who has long been trampled under the feet of a tyrannical master, with his back fresh from the gory lash, lifts up his eye to God the avenger, for he feels instinctively that God must be just. Nationalities who have made appeals to arms, but have been subdued again to serfdom, at last in their despair cry out to God, for this is the bottom of man's thoughts, and the one which is sure to come forth when pain has emptied out his lighter notions, that God doth execute righteousness and judgment "for all that are oppressed." So, too, when man would aver a thing to be true he calls upon God to be his witness, because in his innermost nature he feels that God will be a just and impartial witness. If he thought not so, it would be ridiculous to call upon God to witness to his asseveration. Note how the tearful eye, the groaning mind, the bursting heart, all turn instinctively to the Judge of all the earth. Man feels that God must be just. But how just? How just, if crowned beads that do injustice shall go unpunished? How just, if the adulterer, the thief, the liar, and the hypocrite unpunished here, should go unpunished in the world to come. Where is thy justice, God, if this world be all? We say, "Alas for love if, thou were an end nought beyond, O earth!" and we may add, alas, for justice too; for where could it live, where could it dwell, unless there were a world to come, in which God will right the wrongs, and avenge himself upon an who have trampled on his laws. Not only does his very nature show this, but those acts of God, which are recorded in Revelation, prove incontestably that he will by no means spare the guilty. There have been judgment. I am not now appealing to the crotchets and opinions of ill-judging man, but to the inspired chronicles, for I will quote those judgments alone which the Word of God calls such. Adam sinned. 'Twas but the touching of an apple; Eden was blasted, Adam was exiled. The world sinned; they ate, they drank, they married, and were given in marriage; they forgot the Most High. The fountains of the great deep gave forth their floods; the cisterns of heaven emptied out their cataracts. All the world was drowned; and the last shriek of the strong swimmer yielding at last to universal death, told out to us that God is just. Look across to the allies of the plain. When they had wholly given themselves up to unnatural lusts, God rained fire and brimstone out of heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrha. And when he did so, what did he but write in letters of fire this word "God is just, he furiously avengeth and terribly punisheth sin." Behold, too, Pharaoh and all his hosts drowned in the Red Sea. For what purpose was Pharaoh but that God might show forth his power in him might prove to the world that there were vessels of wrath, and that God knew how to fill them to the brim, and break them as with a rod of iron. Look to Palestine, and behold its kings put to death by the sword of the Lord and his servant Joshua. What means a land stained in blood? It meaneth this, that the race had offended much against heaven; and God, that man might have some glimpses of his terrible justice, declared that he would root out the races of Canaan, and would have war with Amalek from generation to generation. It is impossible to reconcile Old Testament history with the effeminate notion of neological divinity, that God is only a universal Father, but not a governor and a judge. If these gentlemen will quietly read some of those awful passages in the Old Testament, they cannot unless they should deny the inspiration of the passage, or attempt to tone down in meaning they cannot but confess that they see there far less a loving parent than a God dressed in arms, of whom we may say, "The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is his name. Thy right hand, O Lord, thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces thine enemies." A God without justice is what this modern church is seeking after. These new doctrines would fashion a deity destitute of those sublime attributes, which keep the world in awe, and command for him the reverence of his creatures. This brings me to my third argument. Not only do the nature and the acts of God prove that he will punish sin, but the very necessities of the world demand it. Imagine the contrary. Put in all our Christian pulpits men who should teach to sinners that there is no punishment for sin. Let them say to them, "What you suffer here is to be looked upon as God's judgment on your offense; but there is no world to come in which your sins will be visited upon your heads." Friends, you may at once advise the government to multiply the number of our jails tenfold. If there be no punishment for sin in another world, if it be so light and trifling an offense that the little sufferings of this life are sufficient atonement for it, then you have thrown up the floodgates which have hitherto dammed up the overflowing floods; you will soon see society swept from its moorings, there will be no possibility that men will seek to be honest, when they find that honesty or dishonesty are terms which have but a trifling difference between them. If sin be so slight a thing, men will think virtue to be a slight thing too, and if there be so little punishment for crime, they will soon think that there can be but little reason for virtue, and where will be our commonwealths, and our social compacts? The best lawgivers, however amiably disposed they may be, find that they must back up their laws with penalties. A state which should be founded upon laws without penalties could not last a week, or if it lasted, you would find that while the laws would be disregarded there would be more death and more suffering than there had been before. When was the guillotine most at work, but when there was loudest boast of liberty, and men's living without law. When would there be the most of murder, but when there should no more be heard the threat of condemnation, and when they who were assassins might be permitted to go abroad untouched. There must be punishment for the world's own good, to say nothing of the nature of God, which for its dignity and holiness necessarily demands that very offense and transgression should receive its just recompense of reward. But further, I affirm the punishment of sin from the atonement of Christ. Friends, if there be no necessity that sin should be punished, why did Jesus die? Why, Father, didst thou send thy only begotten and well-beloved Son, and lay upon him the iniquities of us an? Was he needed for an example? He might have been our example without dying, in fact if this were all, virtue, crowned and glorified, might have been quite as noble an incentive to goodness, as virtue mocked and crucified. He was needed that he might take our sins, and having taken our sins, it became absolutely necessary that Jesus Christ should die. In the death of Christ, if sin must not necessarily be punished, I see nothing but the death of a martyr, like James, or Peter, or Polycarp, the death of a man murdered for being better than his fellows. And why do we make this fuss and noise about salvation by the death of Christ if that be all. Why has the Christian church existed to be a false witness, to testify to a fiction? Why has her blood been shed these many centuries, to maintain that the blood of Jesus Christ taketh away the sin of the world, if the sin could he taken away without punishment? The wounds of Christ have no meaning, his precious blood has no value, his thorn-crowned head is not worthy of worship, nor is his death worthy of daily ministry, unless it be that he suffered "the just for the unjust to bring us to God;" God in Christ punished the sins of his people; and if he did it in Christ, unpardoned sinner, rest assured he will do it in you. If the imputed sins of Christ brought him the agonies of Gethsemane, what will your sins bring you? If guilt that was not his own brought him an exceeding heaviness, "even unto death," what will your sins bring you, sins remember which are your own? "He that spared not his own Son" wilt never spare rebels. He who did not spare his Son a single lash or a single stroke, will certainly make no exemption in your favor, if you live and die impenitent and reject the gospel of Christ. Besides, my dear friends, permit me to say that those who think that sin is not to be punished, are generally the worst of men. Men hate hell for the reason that murderers hate the gallows. The miscreant Youngman, who was executed on the top of yonder gaol, informed the chaplain that he objected on principle to all capital punishment, an objection natural enough when it was his own inevitable doom. They who dissent from the doctrine of divine justice, are interested in forming that opinion; the wish is father to the thought, they would have their sin unpunished, they hope it may be, and then they say it will be. You will not hear a thief's objection to a policeman; you do not imagine that a criminal's objection to a judge is very valid, and the sinner's objection to hell lies only here, that he will not repent, and he therefore fears the dread certainty that he shall be punished. Besides even these worst of men, who pretend not to believe, do believe. Their fears betray the secret conviction of their consciences, and on their dying beds, or in a storm, whenever they have thought they were about to see with their own eyes the stern realities of eternity, their fears have proved them to be as strong believers as those who profess the faith. Infidelity is not honest. It may profess to be, but it is not. I think that our judges are right in not accepting the oath of an infidel. It is not possible that he should be honest in the notion that there is no God. When God is around him in every leaf, in every tree, and in every star in the sky; it is not possible that a man should be honest when he calls himself an atheist. Nor do we believe that any man can speak the dictates of his inmost heart, when he says that sin will never be punished, and that he may sin with impunity. His conscience gives him the lie, he knows it must be so, and that God will visit his offenses upon his head. I shall not enlarge further, except to say in gathering up the thoughts, impenitent sinner, be thou sure of this; there shall not a sin of thine fall to the ground unremembered, "For every idle word that thou shall speak God will bring thee into judgment," how much more for every blasphemous word and for every rebellious act. Do not wrap thyself up in the delusive thought that sin will escape unpunished. Even if it should be so, then the Christian is as well off as you are, but since righteousness will be laid to the line, and judgment to the plummet, what will become of you? Be wise before it is too late. Believe to-day what you will find out to be a fact ere long. God has revealed it to you, his revelation has tokens and signs which prove its divine origin. Believe what He has revealed; do not say in your heart "I never will believe there is a hell unless one should come from it." Do you not see, that if one should come from it then you would not believe at all, because you would say, "If one person came from hell, then another may, and I may myself." It would take away all your dread of future punishment if any spirit should come back from it, and therefore it is you that you should not have that be given you. Yet methinks the shrieks of dying sinners, the cries which some of you have heard coming up from the death beds of blasphemers, ought to be enough evidence that there is a world to come whereof we speak, and that there are terrors of the law which are happily concealed to-day from your eyes and from your ears, but which you may soon know, and know far better than the best words can teach you, by your own feelings, by your own everlasting despair, and banishment from God. II. I turn now to the second portion of the discourse: THE NATURE OF THIS PUNISHMENT by way of explanation. How will God punish sin? The text says, "The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction, they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." The old Puritanic preachers, such men as Alleyne, who wrote the "Alarm," and others of his class always gave a very cross picture of the world to come. They could never represent it except by brimstone flames, and dancing fiends, and such like horrors. They were conscientious in the drawing of the picture, and to them the terrors of the Lord gross, corporeal, unscriptural ideas of hell, but rather let us feel that it is a great mystery, concerning which we must rather follow Scripture than imagination. The first punishment which will be executed upon man for his sins, will be punishment to his soul. The soul leaves the body, the body is here enclosed in the coffin, rotting in the tomb; the disembodied spirit will appear before its God. It will then know at once what its future destination shall be. The great assize will not then have been held, the Judge will not have officially pronounced the sentence, but the soul anticipating the sentence will antidote its execution. Memory will begin to reflect upon past sins, past mercies unimproved, past opportunities neglected, and past offenses which have long been forgotten. Then the conscience will begin to thunder. "Thou didst this wantonly," saith Conscience. "Thou didst it against light and knowledge, thou didst despise Christ, thou didst neglect the day of mercy, thou hast been a suicide, thou hast destroyed thyself." Then the fears will come in, the fears of the day of judgment, when the body shall be reunited with the soul. And those fears will sting the man with thoughts like these. "What wilt thou say when He comes to judge thee? How will thou bear the eyes of Him that shall read thee through and through? Now thou knowest that what was preached to thee on earth is true. Thou art no infidel now. Now the truth is not kept out of thy soul by the dulness of thy fleshly body; thou seest thou knowest it. What will become of thee when earth shall pass away and heaven shall shake, and hell shall gape to receive its prey?" So the spirit shall be virtually in hell before the body goes there. This shall be the first punishment of sin. Then, when the day predestined shall have come, the trump of the archangel shall ring through the aid the trump this time of the second resurrection for the dead in Christ shall have already risen, and have reigned with Christ upon the earth. Then rings the elation note that wakes the dead. They start up, and the soul returns to its old house, the body. Then it receives its sentence. It is brought forth as the text says, "to the day of wrath," it had been reserved in chains before, in blackness and darkness, it is now brought forth to receive the sentence, that the body may begin its hell. Then, mark you, beyond a doubt, for we cannot understand Scripture, and especially the words of Christ without it, the body shall have pains meet for its offenses. Your members were servants of your lusts, they shall be partakers of the wage of your soul the feet that carried you in the paths of sin, shall tread the fiery road, the eyes which gazed with lustful glance, shall now be made to weep the scalding tear, the teeth which ministered to your gluttony, shall now gnash for pain, the tongues which talked so exceeding proudly against God, shall be "tormented in this flame." There shall be certainly a punishment for the body as well as for the soul, for what else did Christ mean when he said, "Fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." I shall not enlarge upon what sort of punishment this will be, suffice me to say, that whatever it is, it will be just. The sinner in hell shall not endure one iota more than he deserves, he shall have the due reward of his deeds no more. God is not unjust to punish men arbitrarily, I know of no arbitrary condemnation. There is no such thing as sovereign damnation; it will be justice inflexible, I grant you, but yet not such as shall pass the bounds of due and right desert. God will give to man only the harvest of his own deeds. He sowed the wind, and he shall reap the whirlwind. You shall not have the consolation in hell of saying that you did not deserve it, for in hell you will be made to feel, "I brought this on myself, I destroyed myself, it is true I am in pain, but I am the father of my own pains; I planted the tree which yields the bitter fruit, I digged about it and I watered it, I did the work, I labored, and this is my wages;" and you will have to feel there and then, that in every pang that rends the heart God is infinitely just. And then, whatever the pain may be, we know that while it is just, it will be terrible. Whose are those awful words, "He shall burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire! "Is this the language of Moses? No, of Christ. It is a remarkable fact, that the most frightful descriptions of punishment, of another world are from the lips of the Savior. Had Peter spoken them, you would have said Peter was harsh in spirit. It was the Master spake them. He who wept over Jerusalem said, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment;" he spoke of "burning up the chaff;" he spoke of "binding hand and foot and giving them up to the tormentors." In the compass of revelation there are no words so grim and terrible in their awful suggestiveness, as the words of Him "who went about doing good," and wept and cried, "Come unto me, and ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And we know, again that this punishment will be eternal. This is the very pith of it. There were no hell, if it were not eternal, full the hope of an end would be the end of fear. If there could be an end to hell at any time, there would be an end to it at once, for no man would feel that desperate despair, if there were a hope that it should come to a close. But it is eternity, eternity, eternity, that makes punishment bad. This is the bell which tolls the funeral of every hope eternity, eternity, eternity. To sail across a sea of fire for ever, never reaching a haven; to sink, but never reach the bottom, or to rise to heights of greater agony, and never reach the summit. Oh, brethren, brethren, it is not the wrath of God in this world that you have so much to fear, the wrath's to come, the wrath's to come. And it is not the wrath that the soul shall be filled with when it has been there a thousand years, it is the wrath's to come. They will go on sinning and God will go on averaging, they will go on blaspheming and they shall go on gnawing their tongues, they shall go on hating God and they shall go on feeling his anger, they shall go from bad to worse in character, and doubtless from ball to worse in agony. O God, help us to escape from this awful thing the wrath, the wrath to come! III. I close now by offering SOME FEW WORDS OF EXPOSTULATION. You will kindly look at the thirty-first verse. He says "Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done!" Now there are many men who think they shall come off soot free, because in this life there are none who will dare to mention their sins to their face. The covetous man is very seldom rebuked for his covetousness. If a man lives an unclean life, he does not usually read books which would prick his conscience. If a man acts dishonorably in his trade, if another should tell him of it, he would be exceedingly insulted. It is true a faithful minister will often make men feel uneasy in their sins, for he will be led by God's direction to give such a description of the offenses and of the punishment, that he will make sinners tremble in their shoes. But still are there not some among you here to-day who can sin with both your hands, and there is no Elijah to say, "Thou art the man. "You have none to meet you in Naboth's vineyard, and say to you, "Hast thou killed and taken possession? "There is perhaps hardly a "still small voice:" there used to be one. The agonizing face of your wife when first you had forsaken the way of virtue; the ghastly look of your mother as you were bringing down her grey hairs with sorrow to the grave, the sorrowful gaze of your little children when first their father became a drunkard, these were still voices to you, but they are hushed now. When God gives you up, then indeed your damnation slumbereth not. But remember, however cheaply you can sin now, God will not fear insulting you; he will bring your sins to your remembrance and there shall be no consideration of your dignity. He vein not consult your feelings, he will not look upon you as a great one; he will bring your sins to remembrance in no courtly phrases and in no polished terms. You shall find that the lips of Justice know not how to make distinctions between you and the basest menial whom once you despised. Now, if a man should speak your character it would be libel; but when God speaks it, you shall not threaten him. What thinkest thou that he will fear and tremble before thee? Who art thou, O man, that the lips of the Eternal God should be silent about thee? Who art thou that he should fail to draw thy character in black or crimson hues? He will convict thee to thy face, and thou shalt be utterly unable to plead guiltless of thy sins. And then the text says "Who shall repay him? "Ah! there is no hand which dares repay you now; you have gone unpunished yet. No law can touch you, you say; ah! but there is a law divulge which overrides the law that is human; and if the arm of human justice be too short, the arm of God is as long as it is strong, and he will reach you, and to the last jot and little pay you your due reward. You shall not escape, even in the slightest degree. No pleas and prayers, no tears and excuses, shall have any avail with him, but till justice shall have had its uttermost farthing, thou shalt by no means come out thence. And now, sinner, why wilt thou dare the wrath of God? Why wilt thou run this fearful risk? Why wilt thou make thy bed in hell? Why wilt thou dwell in everlasting burnings? Is it wise, or art thou mad, and is thy reason gone? Have I preached to you a bugbear and a fable? if so, go thy way and sin. But oh! if it be true and it must be, unless you are prepared to reject that precious book and the very name of Christian if it be true! Soul, I pray thee let me feel for thee, if thou wilt not feel for thyself. Why dash thyself upon the point of Jehovah's javelin? Why destroy thyself against the bosses of his buckler? What can there be that makes thee so in love with ruin? Why wilt thou hug the grave, and embrace destruction? Soul, again I say, art thou mad? art thou mad? art thou mad? May the Lord teach thee reason, and may he help thee to flee to the only refuge where a sinner may find mercy. I shall close when I have tried to set out the way of Mercy. I have read in the old Histories of England, that Edward the Second, one of our kings, was exceedingly enraged against one of his courtiers; being out hunting one day, he threatened the courtier with the severest punishment. There was a river between them at the time, and the courtier thinking that he was perfectly safe, ventured to offer some jeering remark upon the king telling him that at any rate he would not be likely to chastise him until he got at him. The king feeling his anger hot within him, told him that the water should not long divide them, leaped into the middle of the stream, and with some difficulty gained the other side. The courtier in great alarm fled in terror, and the king pursued him with might and main, spurring his horse to the utmost. Nor did his anger cease; he carried his drawn sword in his hand with the intention of killing him. At last the courtier, seeing that there was no hope for any escape, knelt down upon the grass, and laying bare his neck, said, "I heartily deserve to die, mercy, King! mercy! "He sent back his sword into the scabbard in a moment, and said, "Whilst you sought to escape me I determined to destroy you, but when I see you humble at my feet I freely forgive you." Even so is it with the King of heaven. Sinners, ye say there is this life between you and God, ah! but how soon will the white horse of Justice pass the stream, and then flee, flee as you may today, he will surely overtake you. He now is swift to destroy, let it be yours on your knees to make confession of your sin and say, "I deserve thy wrath, Great King, I deserve thy wrath," and if to this thou art enabled to add the plea of the precious blood of Christ, the sword of Justice will return into its scabbard, and he will say, "I am just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly." For Jesus died, and inasmuch as Jesus Christ has died, Justice is satisfied on the account of all believers. Go thy way, thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee. "What must I do to saved?" saith one. This is all thou hast to do, and this the Holy Spirit will work in thee. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all thine heart." "What is that?" say you. "I believe him to be divine; I believe that he is able to save." That will not save you, there must be something more than that. "What then?" "Believe in him," carry out practically your belief that he is able to save by trusting yourself in his hands. To exhibit again an old picture which has often been used, there is a child in a burning house, hanging from the upper window. A strong man stands beneath and offers to catch him, if he will but drop from yonder hot window sill to which he still clings. "Drop, my child," saith he, "I will catch you." The child believes the strength of his preserver; that does not save him. He trusts to the strength, he lets go his hold and falls, is caught and is preserved, that is faith. Let go your hold of your good works, your good thoughts, and all else, and tried in Christ. He never did let one soul dash itself to earth yet, that did but fall into his hands. Oh! for grace for every one of us to say in the words of Watts,

"A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On Christ's kind arms I fall; He is my strength and righteousness, My Jesus and my all."