what "weeping" under the load of his misery ! what "wail- ing " on account of his folly, in having so wasted his day of grace ! and what " gnashing of teeth," with unprofitable exe- crations against his avenging God ! Such is the danger to which the unconverted man is every moment exposed. At his most joyous feasts, this sword is suspended over him by a single hair ; which cut or rent asunder, he is instantly consigned to endless woe. Whether the transgressor think of it or not, this is his state ; and a miserable state it is : and if he awake not out of it before death shall seize him, it were better for him that he had never been born.]
Improvement —
1. How desirable is the conversion of the soul to
God!
[Compare the state of a converted soul with that which has been before described. The saint, doubtless, has his trials, as well as the ungodly man ; but in him, so far as it prevails, religion makes a most essential difference : " it frees him from the law of sin and death p ;" and he finds all its ways to be the ways of pleasantness and peace i. " If men consulted only their happiness in this life, they would devote themselves to God, whose service is perfect freedom : but if they take eternity into the account, they will confess him to be the only happy man, who enjoys the Divine favour and looks forward with con- fidence to a participation of the Divine glory.]
2. How infatuated are they who delay to seek it !
[Truly, if men were conscious of their danger in an un- converted state, they could no more sleep than they could in a ship that was on fire, or on a rafter on which they were making their escape to land. I pray you, beloved, consider the shortness and uncertainty of time ! Consider how every day's continuance in sin operates to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, to harden your own hearts, to confirm your evil habits, to accumulate your load of guilt, and to augment the misery that awaits you. O ! will you delay to turn unto your God ? Will you delay one single hour ? What if your soul be required of you this very night, and your doom be fixed without a hope or possibility of change for ever ? I beseech you, to-day, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts ; but " repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions ; so iniquity shall not be your ruin."]
P Rom. viii. 2. <J Prov. iii. 17.