[Still will lie have many conflicts with his in-dwelling cor- ruptions ; and be constrained, at times, to cry, " O wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me?"' Satan, too,
that great and subtle adversary of God and man, will doubtless assault him with all manner of temptations ; insomuch, that, if
God were not to uphold him, he could never stand — ■
Nor will he find light difficulties even from his fellow-creatures, who will exert themselves to the uttermost, both by fraud and violence, to obstruct his way ]
But, in the midst of all, his heart will be stayed
upon the Lord —
[" I will trust, and not be afraid," is the continued lan- guage of his soul. He knows in whom he has believed; and that his God is " able to keep that which he has committed to him ; " yea, and pledged also, to " save to the uttermost all that come to him in his Son's name." Hence he says, " The Lord is my strength and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom then shall I be afraid'^?" "If God be for me, who can be against me?" Thus is " his heart fixed, trusting in the Lord ; " and he goes forth to his daily conflicts assured of victory, yea, assured that he shall be " more than conqueror through him that loved him."]
And now let me,
1. Take up a lamentation over those who liave
never yet seen this day —
[How many of us are there who are not even sensible that God is angry with them, or that, consequently, have never cried to him in earnest to turn away his displeasure ? Let each consult the records of his own heart, and say whether this be not his unhappy condition ? Yes, verily, there are many amongst us, it is to be feared, who have never, in their whole lives, shed one tear for their sins, nor ever uttered one cry to God for the remission of them. And what must I say to you ? I have no wish to lay upon you more guilt than you have con- tracted: but you all are sinners before God, and as sinners, are obnoxious to his wrath. You all therefore need to repent of your sins, and to implore mercy at the hands of your offended God, in the name and through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ : and if you have not done this in sincerity and truth, you are at this moment " under condemnation, and the wrath of God abideth on you'." As to the consolations of God's Spirit, you are as much strangers to them as if no such bless- ings ever were vouchsafed to mortal man. Were you to hear one speaking of the manifestations of God's presence to his soul,
1 Ps. xxvii. 1. i John iii. 18, 36.