Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons Psalm 142:4 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I. WHAT IT IS TO CARE FOR THE SOULS OF OTHERS. 1. A deep and heartfelt conviction of its worth. The soul is spiritual in its nature, noble in its capacities, and eternal in its duration. 2. A deep and thorough sense of the danger to which it is exposed. 3. Tender solicitude for its welfare. 4. Zealous exertion for their salvation. II. ON WHOM THIS DUTY DEVOLVES. 1. On the heads of families. 2. On all the members of the Church. 3. Pre-eminently on ministers. III. THE GREAT EVIL OF NEGLECTING THIS DUTY. 1. It is cruel. A man would be considered cruel who saw one of the "beasts that perish" in danger, and did not attempt its rescue. He is cruel who, having it in his power to relieve the necessitous, or save the perishing, does not do it. But the cruelty of the man who, knowing the danger of souls, does not care for them, is beyond expression. 2. It is ungrateful. If others had not cared for us, we must have perished. 3. It is criminal. 4. It is fatal. Fatal to those who are perishing, and fatal to those who have a name to live; fatal to all genuine piety, fatal to all ardent love to the Saviour's cause, fatal to zealous exertions for ethers, but especially fatal to our own souls. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.) Parallel Verses KJV: I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. |
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