Ezekiel 18:31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit… Imagine yourselves amidst Alpine scenery. Yonder is a broad road which leads to the edge of a precipice — the precipice overhangs a deep dark gulf. Out of the broad road there is a path — a narrow path winding about among the rocks — difficult of ascent, but terminating in a region of Eden-like beauty. A band of travellers, thoughtless and light-hearted, are pressing along the highway, and nearing the edge of the abyss. There are barriers set up — there are beacons raised — there are warnings given — there are guides close by earnestly advising them to turn aside, and climb up the narrow footpath. But while a few are persuaded to do so, the multitude, in spite of all which is done to prevent it, press onwards and reach the edge, and fall over, one by one, into the yawning depth — and even their ruin does not suffice to warn their followers. The rest rush to the awful margin, and sink into that enormous grave! You say this is unparalleled folly. No, not unparalleled. Folly equal — nay, greater — is commonly displayed by the children of men. I. THE NATURE OF YOUR RUIN. 1. It is the death of pleasure — the end of all delight — the putting out of the last taper of enjoyment, so that nothing is left but deep, dense darkness — the quenching of all those vain joys (the only joys the ungodly can ever know of) which are likened in Scripture to the crackling of thorns under the pot. 2. It is the death of hope. Everlasting punishment! It cannot mean that after a while the soul, cleansed by penal fires, shall recover its purity. It cannot mean that out of the depths of hell it shall mount up to heaven. 3. It is the death of love. "Hateful and hating one another," are words which will apply more emphatically to the future than the present state of sinners — that is the most tremendous condition to which creatures can be reduced. To that depth of wretchedness unsaved sinners will be hereafter reduced. 4. It involves exclusion from heaven, from that world of which Scripture gives us such bright and attractive visions: from "our Father's house"; from "the city of habitation"; from "the temple of God and the Lamb"; from "paradise"; from "the tree, and from the fountain of life"; from those regions where "there is no curse — neither shall there be any more pain." 5. It involves exclusion from the society of the really great and good, God's true nobility, "the innumerable company of angels"; the great cloud of witnesses; "the church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven"; "the spirits of the just made perfect"; "the glorious company, of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of martyrs." 6. It involves exclusion from the Father of an infinite Majesty"; "from His holy, true, and everlasting Son"; "the King of glory"; "also the Holy Ghost the Comforter"; "Depart from Me." II. THE AUTHOR OF YOUR RUIN. The fact of the sinner's self-destruction is apparent from — 1. The character of God. He is a God of truth and justice. Would this be true if the final destruction of the sinner depended not on himself, but was the result of an arbitrary and irresistible decree? if immortal souls were the helpless and hapless victims of an iron-handed destiny? But God is merciful as well as just. To suppose after this that any man's eternal destruction does not lie at his own door — but is the consequence of the Divine will arbitrarily exercised is monstrous. 2. The character of the Gospel. Look at the Babe of Bethlehem, and the Man of Sorrows — at Him who wept over Jerusalem — at the agonised Sufferer in the Garden — at the Crucified One. 3. The character of man. There is a conscience in man. Conscience would have no meaning if man were not free, if his actions were not free, his determinations free, his thoughts free. 4. The character of his future condition. That condition will be a condition of punishment. What does punishment imply? Guilt. The righteous may be oppressed, afflicted, persecuted, but they cannot be punished; only the guilty can be punished. That which God calls punishment, which the Bible calls punishment, must come as the fruit of sin, the offspring of guilt. Therefore, the sinner must incur it himself. III. THE REASON OF YOUR RUIN. Most of you, in reply to the question of the text — Why will ye die? — would have to say, Because we love the pleasures of the world more than the joys of eternal life; because we desire the approbation of men more than the honour that cometh from God; because we covet the possession of earth more than the inheritance of heaven; because we are addicted to the ways of sin, and are not disposed to break off our evil habits; because we have been living in impenitence and unbelief, and have no mind to change our course. Thus you destroy yourselves for the sake of the world, for the sake of sin. The guilt, folly, shame, and ignominy of the suicide belong to you. To destroy oneself is considered so monstrous an act that the man who commits it is generally pronounced insane. When not insane, when the case is brought in felo de se, the miserable mortal is treated even in death as an outlaw, and his remains are cast forth with every circumstance of dishonour and disgrace, as no longer within the pale of humanity. In the great inquest of the Last Day, the finally impenitent will come under a verdict of wilful insanity; will be regarded as having acted the part of the madman, with all the culpability of the voluntary self-assassin, and will therefore be cast beyond the bounds of the holy city, flung into the pit of Gehenna, to mingle with the refuse of the universe. (John Stoughton.) Parallel Verses KJV: Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? |
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