In January, 1762,[78] he delivered a discourse upon the words, “Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life;” in which he described “four classes of sinners who will not come to Christ that they might have life;” and proved “that unbelief, or not coming to Christ for life, is the most abominable and damning of all sins.” One brief extract on the latter point must suffice:— “Unbelief is a sin of so deep a dye that the devils in hell cannot commit the like. Our Saviour never prayed, wept, bled, and died for devils. He never said to them, ‘Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life.’ They can never be so madly ungrateful as to slight a Saviour. Mercy never wooed their stubborn, proud hearts as it does ours. They have abused grace, it is true, but they never trampled mercy underfoot. This more than diabolical sin is reserved for thee, careless sinner. Now thou hearest Christ compassionately say in the text, ‘Ye will not come unto Me,’ and thou remainest unmoved; but the time cometh when Jesus, who meekly entreats, shall sternly curse; when He who in tender patience says, ‘Ye will not come unto Me,’ shall thunder in righteous vengeance, ‘Depart from Me, ye cursed; depart unto the second death,—the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ In vain wilt thou plead then as thou dost now, ‘Lord, I am no adulterer; I am no extortioner; I used to eat at Thy table; I was baptized in Thy name; I was a true churchman; there are many worse than I am.’ This will not admit thee into the kingdom of Christ. His answer will be, ‘I know you not; you never came to Me for life.’” Footnote 78: _Methodist Magazine_, 1821, p. 651. Plain preaching such as this was not likely to please the easy-going Pharisees of the age in which Fletcher lived, any more than it is likely to be popular among the same class of people at the present day. To utter such truths required courage then; and it requires courage now. Fletcher, one of the gentlest of human beings, possessed this courage. No doubt there were many occasions when his sermons were full of the richest comfort to those who had truly repented, and unfeignedly believed Christ’s holy Gospel; but he never failed faithfully to fulfil an Old Testament commission, binding upon the ministers of God throughout all time: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isa. lviii. 1). At the risk of wearying the reader, further extracts must be given, exemplifying Fletcher’s fearless fidelity. On January 4, 1762, England declared war against Spain; and, a few days after, proclamations were issued for a general fast to be observed in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, in the month of March.[79] Fletcher, as a loyal Churchman, preached on this occasion;[80] his text was Ezek. xxxiii. 7–9. After a few preliminary remarks respecting the king’s “pious proclamation,” he proceeds to say,—