as those of Israel in the wilderness, can he not supply them*'? Search the annals of the world, and find one, if you can, " who ever sought his face in vain^" ]
4. Will it not, hereafter, be to you a ground of bitter self-reproach, if you neglect to seek him ?
[Our Lord will surely say to you at the last day, " How often would I have gathered you, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye ivould 7iof^ ! " The ftiult is all your own : " ye ivouldnot come to me, that ye might have life\" And the conviction of this will be the bitterest ingredient of that cup which shall then be given you to drink to all eternity.]
Assured that you cannot but have felt the force of this appeal, I will,
II. Found upon it some suitable advice — What shall I say ? Seek the Lord :
1. With understanding —
[You must seek God as reconciled to you in Christ Jesus ^. In Himself he is " a consuming fire '." It is in Christ alone that any sinner in the universe can gain access to him™ — ■ ]
2. With earnestness —
[It is not by any formal services that you can hope to succeed. You must " not only seek but strive °." " The king- dom of heaven suiFereth violence ; and the violent must take it by force"" ]
3. With speed —
[There may come a time, even in this life, when God may give you over to a reprobate mind, and heaven may be shut
against you for everP At all events, death may quickly
terminate all your hopes. In the eternal world, however loudly you may cry, you will " not be able to obtain one drop of water to cool your tongue."]
4. With constancy —
[To the latest hour of your life must you continue to seek help from God, as much as at the present moment. If at any period you draw back from him, you will " draw back imto perdition 'I." You must not " be weary in well-doing;" for " he only who endures to the end shall be saved '^."]
f Ps. Ixxviii. 12—16. Eph. iii. 20. e Isai. xlv. 19.
i> Matt, xxiii. 37. ' John v. 40. i^ 2 Cor. v. 19 — 21.
1 Heb. xii. 29. »« John xiv. G. Heb. x. 19—22.
n Luke xiii. 24. ° Matt. xi. 12.
P Ps. Ixxxi. 10 — 12. Rom. i. 28. Isai. Iv. G.
1 Heb. X. 38, 39. ^ Matt. x. 22.