yourselves to Christ. You must be Christ's now, if you would be his hereafter: and if you will not give . yourselves up to him, you must " die in your sins." I know how averse we are to believe this. Of the thousands that die around us daily, we never entertain a thought whether they died in their sins or not? It seems to us a matter of course, that a person dying goes to a state of happiness : and if a doubt were expressed in relation to the happiness of any one connected with us, we should resent it as the grossest insult. But, I pray you, brethren, whatever charity ye exercise towards others, be careful not to deceive yourselves. Others you may well " leave to their own Master :" but respecting yourselves let no doubt be suffered to remain. Call to mind the descrip- tion we have before given of a saving faith, and examine yourselves by it. This is the advice of the Apostle Paul : " Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith ; prove your own selves"." Let your state be ever so good, you can suffer no loss by self-examination : the gold sustains no injury by being tried by the touchstone : nor can ye, if true believers, by the strictest scrutiny. I entreat you, therefore, to " prove your own selves: so shall you have rejoicing in yourselves alone, and not in the delusive testimony of others0."]
2. A consideration of the doom that awaits the unbelieving soul —
[Doubtless, such a consideration must be painful. But yet, how much better were it to reflect on that doom, whilst by timely penitence it may be averted, than to sustain it through the endless ages of eternity. Reflect, I pray you, what it is to die in your sins ? Think what your state would have been at this very hour, if you, by disease or accident, had been taken unprepared into the presence of your God ? Ask yourselves, Whether at this moment you have any scrip- tural ground to believe that your sins have been blotted out ; and that, if you were removed hence this very night, your transition would be from a world of vanity to a world of bliss ? Think of the unhappy souls that are now gone beyond the reach of mercy ; the hearers of our Lord, for instance, who would not regard his warnings, but turned them into ridicule: Would they, think ye, make light of such warnings now, if for a few short hours they could be restored to your state? Ah ! think how soon their state may become yours ! Methinks the very possibility of such an event is enough to make you tremble. " To-day, then, whilst it is called to-day, harden not your hearts, lest you provoke God to swear, in his wrath, that you shall never enter into his rest."]
n 2 Cor. xiii. .'5. ° Gal. vi. 4.