The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-05-25
THE RUTLAND GLOBE TUESDAY MORNING. MAY 25 1876
IN THEIR NEGLECT TO OBEY THE DIVINE

IN THEIR NEGLECT TO OBEY THE DIVINE
CALL.
Notwithstanding the DEGREES of Nebucb.
adnezzar, and the admonition of the pro-
phet Break off thy sins by righteousness
and thine iniquities by showing mercy to
the poor that it may be lengthing of thy
tranquility" be still continued to neglect
the divine call and to disobey the heavenly
messenger, until the doom of his continued
rebellion fell upon him In terrible Judge
ment, and he was driven out from the hab-
itatlons of men to dwell with the beasts of
the earth and to eat the herbs of the field
Counsel and warning were alike lost upon
him, and nothing but the scathng judy
ments of God taught him to know and fell
THAT the heavens do rule" lie doubtless
trusted IN his own strength, in the great
ness of his kingdom, in the variety and
power of his own resources, until the storm
of the Divine wrath caused his ediflce to
fall and great was the fall thereof.
So men show that they trust in them
selves by their persistent neglect of the
warnings and Invitations with which God
surrounds them. God calls after them
Turn we, turn we, for why will We die. "
He cries o that thou hadst hardened unto
me then should thy righteousness have
been like river. and thy peace like the
waves of the sea- abundant, full, and ma
| jestic. But warning and invitation are
| alike lost upon many of them; they reject
the counsel of God against themselves ;
they will not listen to his invitations; they
are unsubdued by his exhibitions of COM
| ing wrath. They trust in their own wis
dom; they lean to their own understand
| ing. The severest penalties of the law of
(rOI ToiI fbpp1 thp IL,
vitations of the gospel of Christ, fall un-
needed upon their cars, until wrath comes
upon them to the uttermost that they can.
not escape All this arises from the fact
that they hope in some way to escape the
rebikc of God, without II present attention
to the invitation of his grace. So it is seen
that they have more cOnfdenc5 in them
selves, in their own skill. or success, than
| they have in the cOunsels of Infinite Wis
dom, and they turn away from the voice
of God to walk after the imagnations OF
their own hearts
| How many Of you, my hearers, have
year after year heard the Divine call and
refused to regard it. The law of God has
declared his will, the work of Christ has
exhibited his : wondrous mercy, and
and the sweet invitations of his grace have
Invited you toacquaint yourselves with God
and be at peace, and yet you have been un.
subdued andunreconciled to God, amid them
all Bye and bye the storm of wrath, Sc
long accommodating, shall burst in terrible
devastation, and you shall learn how utterly
insecurei is any trust in you selves that leads
you to live on careless amid the lasting
| judgments of God.
Let us come to consider I'D The euiii
of this trust in ourselves. TINS is scrn IN
| tho 90 nj IN frhat IL IL lir.,,.t al Ia "A
to God.
We surely need enter mo no argumen,
to show that when God speaks it is the
duty.of men to listen and obey. When
the king of Babylon was warned by the
prophet to break off his sins by righteous
ness, his business was at once to have
needed the Divine direction, and set him.
self to fulfill the mandate. If like the
king of Nineych when warned by the
| prophet Jonah, he had proclaimed past
and humbled himself, under the Divine re-
bukc, he might yet have been spared the
terrible judgment God gave him oppor-
tunity to do this. For full year, the
threatened infection was Withheld, and God
waited to be gracious. But no penitence
no reform was seen in the king, and SC
the full measure of wrath was mected out
on his devoted head. His continued i'm.
penitencc and persistence in sin, was d.
rect disregard of the Divine authority, and
SO the refusal of men to repent and obey
the gospel is direct rejection of the claim
of God to their obedience. 1t defies God
1t despises all his counsel and will none
of his reproof. 1t Is an express denial OF
the Divine declarations concerning human
| guilt and ruin. So it ''makes God liar.
9. 1t is disbelief of the threatenngs
of God.
Daniel warned the king, ''Break off thy
sins by righteousness and thine Iniquitles
by showing mercy to the poor if it may
be frightening of thy tranquility" But
warning and advice, and cntreaty were alike
lost upon ACKNOWLEDGMENT. He persisted
| in sin, until he met its terrible retribution.
| He may have reasoned God is merciful and
kind, and surely he will not visit my sins,
| so incousiderable, alike in number and in
magnitude, with such punishment as this
which Belshazzar has foretold then toe
am monarch of an extensive realm, and
enriched with large possessions, surely God
will not deal with me in severity like that
which he inflicts upon ordinary men. So
he disbelieved the Divine threatening and
refused to obey the Divine call.
''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" They sin, and the heav-
ems do not put on blackness, nor are they
lured with the tokens of the Divine dis
pleasure; so they fancy that God shall nev-
er swhet his glittering sword" and that
his "hand shall never take hold on ven-
geance that he may minister vengeance to
his adversaries, and recOmpensc to them
that hate him." They lean to their own
np1prst I'M 1irr apI trnetipu IN fhair
imperfect and erroneous conceptions of
God and his government conclude that they
may sin with comparative impunty, and
elude the stern retribution of the Skies
But sentence deferred is not sentence
repealed, "Sire," said French minister
to his king, God waits long before he
settles, but he settles at last" The Ger
mans have a proverb which says "The
mills of God grind slowly, but they grind
very fine" So ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS found it,
80 all impenilent men shall, sooner or later
learn. He who trusts in himself and turns
away from God, who cries as not this
great Babylon which have built 2" and
rests upon his own morality, his amiable
life, his good name among men, shall at
length be ''driven away in his wicked
ness"
There is one difference between the dis
aster that befell the Babylonish King and
that which impends over unrepentant sim
ners, which is of terrible significance.
The king was restored once again to his
palace and his throne, and at last died sur
rounded by all the pomp of imperial mag
nificence. But he who is cast away of God
shall find no place of repentance, though
he seeks it carefully with tears. The SEN
tence has no limitation, and shall receive
no repeal. God will say because called,
and ye refused, / stretched out my hand,
and no man regarded, therefore will laugh
at your calamity, will mock, when your
fear cometh." One only hope is in repent
ance toward God, aud faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, to day, ere the mercy that we
need, and which many now refuse or neg
lect to implore. is gone, clean gone, for
eyer. "He that being often reprovcd,