SERMON XVIII.

EXPOSTULATION WITH CARELESS SINNE RS.

JONAH, I. 6.

What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God; if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

THE circumstances, which occasioned this address, are as extraordinary as the address itself is striking. The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah obeyed not the command. Alarmed at the difficulties of the office imposed on him, he refused to execute it, and foolishly thought, by escaping into another country, to hide himself from the Lord, and to avoid any further commissions of a similar kind. He rose up to fleeunto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship

going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. The folly and impiety of this proceeding must excite our astonishment. Can a man hide himself from the Almighty? Did any one ever harden himself against God, and prosper? The Lord soon convinced his rebellious servant of the vanity of his presumptuous attempt by means, which might at once chastise his disobedience, and recall him to his duty. For he sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was likely to he broken. Jonah, in his criminal endeavour to avoid an imaginary difficulty, had exposed himself to real danger. The ship in which he had embarked was in the most imminent peril. The storm increased to an unusual height, so as to baffle the skill of the mariners. Almost despairing of safety, they had but one course to pursue. They cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares, that were in the ship, into the sea to lighten it of them. In the moment of danger the most senseless and ignorant will endeavour to pray: while at the prospect of death men will readily part with every thing, which they before esteemed most valuable, to save their lives. But where in this extremity is Jonah? Doubtless, struck with remorse, and trembling with terror, he is

praying to his God. Doubtless, regarding the storm as a minister of Divine vengeance, he is bewailing his guilty flight, and supplicating mercy. No. More stupid far than these idolaters, he is gone down into the sides of the ship, and lies there fast asleep. Behold, my brethren, a striking proof of the dreadful nature and the destructive tendency of sin. See how it hardens the heart, deadens the conscience, and renders the sinner insensible of the danger, which threatens to overwhelm him. Exposed every instant to impending death, under the just displeasure of the Almighty, in the very act of disobedience, can Jonah sleep? Well may the affrighted ship-master, though he knows but a small part of the circumstances of his passenger's case, well may he express his astonishment at this instance of hardened un

concern. Well may he reprove the unfeeling prophet in the animated language of the text, What meanest thou, O sleeper? "Is this a "time to lie at ease and take thy rest? Death

stares thee in the face, every moment may be thy last. Shake off thy unseasonable "drowsiness. Arise, call upon thy God, if so "be be that God will think upon us that we pe"rish not.'

Such were the circumstances, which occasioned this address. But is Jonah the only person, to whom the reproof is applicable?

Alas! There are numbers in the world, there are some, it is to be feared, in every congregation, to whom it may with equal propriety be addressed. Every impenitent and careless sinner, every person, who is thoughtless and inactive about the concerns of his soul, resembles Jonah. Like the deluded prophet, he is sleeping on the brink of eternal ruin. To every such person then we may exclaim, in the language of the text, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God.

In making this application of the passage, I shall begin with more particularly describing the persons, whom I purpose afterwards to address.

Sleep is a state of inactivity, of insensibility, of security. Such is the state of thousands with respect to their souls. Some we discover plunged into the most aweful unconcern as to their spiritual interests. At every point they are impenetrable. The most alarming providences, the most signal judgements, occurring in their sight, perhaps within their houses, are insufficient to rouse them from their senseless stupor. Incessantly occupied in the things of the present life, in amassing or in spending money, they live as if they were no better than the brutes, which perish. Happy would it be for them, if they could perish like

the brutes. But there is a Judgement-Seat, before which they must one day stand, and answer for their criminal indifference to the things of God. O that they would now feel the value of their souls, before it shall be too late to feel it! That they would now bestow upon eternal things some portion of that activity and watchfulness, which they employ` in worldly concerns! Is wealth their aim?. Is pleasure their pursuit? Here they are watchful and diligent enough. Every opportunity of furthering their favourite object is eagerly sought, and carefully improved. Is their property invaded? Is their pleasure abridged? Here they can feel; here they can betray the keenest sensibility. But God. and eternity, and the care of their souls, are subjects which affect them not. - My brethren, in characters of this description see. Jonah sleeping in the storm.

But there are other persons, to whom also the resemblance may be applied: persons, who, though not equally hardened with those already mentioned, yet are no less justly liable to the charge of sleeping on the brink of eternity. They are not so ignorant and senseless as not occasionally to think of death and judgement, of heaven and hell: and there are times, in which they experience some secret misgivings as to their safety. But such unwelcome

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