In this however there should be no delay: we ■should all address ourselves to this work,
JL With promptitude and decision —
Next to utter thoughtlessness is the evil of pro- crastination—
[There are none so blind as not to know that they have some occasion for repentance, or so hardened as to have formed a de- termined resolution that they will never repent. All have a faint purpose in their minds, that at some future period they will
repent :
^ Matt. vii. 13, 14. ^ Lam. iii. 40.
^Eccl. xli. 13, Luke x. 42.
repent : but then they put it off at present, in expectation of some '' more convenient season." The young think that they have time enough before them, and that any great attention to religion is unsuited to their age. The busy are so engaged in their several concerns^ that they think they may well l)e excused attending to religion, till a time of greater leisure. Every one finds some ex- cuse for himself, and puts off the evil day, in hopes that some period will arrive when he shall be better disposed to the great work of turning unto God ]
But it is folly and madness to defer this important work —
[// 7mist le done ; or else we inevitably and eternally perish
No man can call an hour his oivn, " We know not
what a day, an hour, a moment, may bring forth : whilst we are looking for days and years to come, God may say, " Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." The difficulty of the work increases daily. The force of habit is exceeding great : and the longer we fulfil the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
the more difficult it will be to mortify and subdue them
li^e are in danger also oj" provoking God to ivithdraw from lis all the assistances of his Spirit. We may " grieve the Holy Spi- rit," yea, may " quench" also his sacred motions. God has said, *' My Spirit shall not alway strive with man :" and if once he say respecting us, *' Let them alone," our doom is sealed as surely as if we were already gone beyond redemption. And how awful is the state of those who are taken unprepared ! What ** weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth" will they experience, cursing their own folly, and vainly wishing it were possible for them to have another opportunity afforded them for working out their salvation ^ !
Say then whether any man should defer one hour this necessary work ! Surely we should '^ make haste, and not delay, to keep God's commandments''."]
That in this great work you may not miscarry,, we would subjoin some useful advice. Cry mightily to God , and seek of him,
1. Impartiality in judging — [Self-love always prompts us to form a favourable estimate of our own conduct. If we search at all, we search rather for excuses than for sins; for grounds of self-approbation, rather than of self-reproach. But what folly is this ! God will form his estimate aright, whether we do or not ; and by his own estimate he will judge us in the last day. Professors of religion, no less than others, are warped by self-love ; and thousands there are
whos&
? Eccl. ix, 10. " See Heb. iii. 7—14.
412 PSALMS, cxix. 68. [423..
whose spirit and conduct are directly at variance with the Gospel, whilst yet they boast of themselves as lights in a dark world
— O search your hearts, as the Jews searched their houses
for leaven, or as you would search a room for jewels which you had lost. You would not hastily shut your eyes, and say, There is no jewel here ; but you would be examining every corner, to find as many as possibly you could ; not content to leave so much as one undiscovered. If such impartiality were once exercised by us in detecting our sins, we should not be far from the kingdom of God.]