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.