Perceiving therefore, by sad experience, his own deplorable condition, he is represented as being moved with a feeling of pity for his brethren: his first anxiety, indeed, was naturally for himself—for some alleviation, at least, of the wretchedness of his fate; but when he was informed that such desire was fruitless, that even the assuagement of his pain was impossible, that there was no means of conveying even a drop of water to cool the thirst upon his tongue, that the great gulf was finally and irremoveably fixed, he then hoped that something might be done for his brethren who were still surviving; they had not yet passed the boundary of life and grace; and therefore he entreats that, while the far-spent day was shining upon them, Lazarus might be despatched from his abode of bliss, to warn them of the untimely end to which they were hastening; and induce them effectually to repent before “the night should come, in which no man can work.” [117a]
Abraham’s answer is, “they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.” A messenger from the court of heaven could tell them nothing new; they are already acquainted with their duty and the consequences of neglecting it: Jehovah has revealed unto them His blessed will, and clearly made known what is required of them, “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God.” [117b] His covenant with their fathers, and the promulgation of His law, have been attested by a series of signal miracles, which they do not pretend to dispute; and in every page of their history are recorded God’s promised blessings to the good, and the execution of His vengeance upon the evil; and, therefore, in as far as knowledge is concerned, they have all the intelligence that can be desired.
But the wretched man, in the agony of his own feelings, and the earnest desire to preserve his family from such woe, still pursues his request. “Nay, father Abraham;” but, though they have neglected the ordinary calls of heaven, assuredly, if so astonishing an admonition were granted to them, as that of one risen from the dead, they would be thereby persuaded to repent. Then follows the answer of the text, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” And thus the conference ended.
From this conclusion of the parables two important observations may be drawn first, that if men fail to be convinced and converted, to be led to their God and their duty, by those sufficient means of grace which are already vouchsafed to them, they would not be likely to yield to any extraordinary means; and, secondly, that no such additional means are to be expected.
1. In all cases of spiritual and practical unbelief, in all cases where the declarations of the Almighty are disregarded, the fault lies not so much in the understanding as in the heart. The revelations of heaven are at variance with those interests and pursuits, which the heart is inclined and resolved to retain; and on this account, and by this means, the mind is prejudiced and set against such revelations, and they are not fully and implicitly believed. They call men to the love and practice of holiness, to which our degenerate nature is averse; the pleasures of sin are preferred, and the voice of God is unheeded: they teach us, that all earthly objects and possessions, in themselves, are vain, and call us to prepare for an everlasting inheritance above; the sensual and worldly-minded think and feel, that “it is good for them to be here,” and are not disposed to place their affections upon the promise of an hereafter. We none of us professedly disbelieve the revelation of heaven, any more than the brethren of the rich man did; and therefore I need not stay to argue the point on that ground. The doctrine before us is this, that men, professing to believe, to have received abundant evidence of the truth, and yet refusing to act upon that belief, would not be induced so to act, by any violent appeal to their senses or natural powers, even though it were the work of a divine interposition in their behalf.
What do we believe? That, after this life, which experience tells us must soon terminate, and which may, at any moment, be unexpectedly and suddenly brought to a close, we shall immediately enter upon another and an eternal state of being; and that our condition, in the endless life to come, will be happy or miserable, according to the manner in which we have passed our short pilgrimage upon earth, whether in a belief of the gospel or in unbelief; in obedience or disobedience; in holiness or sin. Now, if we really and vitally believe these truths, their importance is so striking, that nothing could possibly suggest to the mind a weightier consideration. And if these truths be only superficially credited, it must be owing to some corrupt and perverted affections, which throw a veil over the understanding, and render it proof against all moral means of conviction. Perhaps some strange and startling occurrence, such as the re-appearance of a friend from the dead, might forcibly affect the imagination for a time; and, filling us with alarm and apprehension, might fill us also with vehement resolutions of amendment: but the imagination is a weak principle to build upon; the impressions it receives are commonly very transient; they gradually wear away on the presentation of fresh images, in our commerce with the world: and if there be not a solid spiritual conviction, in the mind and heart, of the awful realities of an hereafter, if the conviction does not rest upon the divine evidence accorded by the Spirit and the word of God, the effects of sudden surprise or consternation will soon vanish away; the latent dispositions of the soul will break forth again; the old habits, of recklessness and evil, be reassumed; the world again victorious.
For the truth of these things, I appeal, if not to yourselves, (as in many instances, I reasonably may) but if not, to those around you. How many examples have occurred, within the compass of your own experience, of extraordinary visitations having produced but a very short-lived influence upon the heart and character? How often have we seen the careless awakened by an alarming sickness, by an approach of the king of terrors, (which can hardly be supposed less convincing than an angel from heaven, or a spirit from the blest), and yet awakened only to return, on the removal of danger, to the slumbers of insensibility and sin. The solemn promises, which the terrified sinner made to his friends, his minister, and his God, were but the offspring of fear; the creatures of imagination; born only for the moment; soon disappearing, when the crisis was past.
And when the stroke of death has actually fallen upon a relative or friend, we have sometimes seen it overwhelm the soul of a heedless survivor, and bring him to himself, to serious thought and repentance; he began to sit loose to the remaining interests of life; he looked with anxiety to the world unknown, and formed resolutions of devoting his years to a constant provision for futurity; but all to no ultimate purpose; the subject had sued for his attention before, and been rejected. When his affections have had time to cool, he finds that no new importance has really been given to the truth; the evidences of it rest as they did; others have lost friends as well as he; it is the common lot of mortality; and he cannot keep alive the impression for ever; the world must be attended to; and one object after another continues to gain an ascendancy, till his new-born hopes and fears are extinct; till his principles and conduct and views return to their old level, from which they will in future become the more difficult to be raised.
It is unnecessary for me to insist, that this is no ideal picture, drawn for the mere occasion of placing the subject in a strong light; your own acquaintance with the world may furnish you with living resemblances of it; and it is unhappily the lot of Christian Ministers, who have more frequent opportunity of witnessing such impressions, to observe, in the end, their repeated and lamentable failure; to perceive how far they fall short of lasting conviction and salvation.
Well, therefore, in the affectionate and faithful discharge of our duty, may we call upon our hearers to weigh, in the dispassioned hours of health and tranquillity, the nature and the moment of those divine truths, which the gospel clearly reveals unto man; to judge rightly and truly of their everlasting import; and to embrace them, from the undeniable evidence already presented, with all the heart and all the soul. We call, however, upon our hearers, not as if the vital impression depended upon themselves alone, upon the exercise of their own judgment or the workings of their own conscience. We call upon them to pray for, and be guided by, the mighty operation of the Spirit of God: He is ever ready to enlighten and instruct and quicken and determine them; giving us His grace, “that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.” [125] Listen to His teaching; obey His godly motions; follow up the convictions which He brings to the mind and heart. Light enough is perpetually given, to guide you into all truth; live in the light; walk in the light.