rase, VI.] THE VAIN REFUGE OF. SINNERS. 441 is the case of sinners in that day, when they are driven to this last extremity, to seek help from the rocks and the mountains ?" It is the last, but the fruitless refuge of a frighted and perishing creature : The rocks and mountains refuse to help them ; they will not crush to death those wretches, whom thejustice ofGod hasdoomed to a painful immortality, nor will they conceal, or shelter those obsti- nate rebels, whom the Son of God has raised out of their graves, to be exposed to public shame and punishment. Those high and hollow rocks, those dismal dens and ca- verns dark as midnight, those deep and gloomy retreats of melancholy and sorrow, which they shunned with utmost aversion, and could hardly bear to thinkof them without horror, here on earth, are now become their only retreat and shelter ; but it is a very vain and hope- less one. " When I see such awful appearances in nature, huge and lofty rocks hanging over my head, and at every step ofmy approach, they seem to nod upon me with over whelming ruin, when my curiosity searches far into their hollow clefts, their dark and deep cavernsof solitude and desolation, methinks while I stand amongst them, I can hardly think myself in safety, and, at best, they give a sort of solemn and dreadful delight : Let me improve the scene to religious purposes, and raise a divine medita- tion. Am I one of those wretches, who shall call to these huge impending rocks to fall upon me? Am I that guilty and miserable creature, who shall entreat these mountains to cover me from hirn that sits on the throne, and the Lamb ? Am I prepared to meet the countenance of the blessed Jesus, the judge in that day? Have I such an acquaintance with the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, such a holy faith in his meditation, such a sincere love to him, and such an unfeigned repen- tance of all my sins, that I can look upon him as my friend and my refuge, and a friend infinitely better than rocks and mountains, for he not only screens we from the divine anger, but introduces me into the Father's love, and places me in his blissful presence for ever ? Reflection V. " What hideous and everlasting mischief is contained in the nature of sin, especially sin against the gospel of Christ, against the methods ofgrace, and the of fers ofsalvation, which exposes creatures to such extreme
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