with all your occasions; let nothing put it utterly out of your minds; make it familiar unto you, and you will beat Satan out of that strong hold: "Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman." Prov. vii. 4. However, shake yourselves out of this dust, destruction lies at the door.

It is the language of the heart of some, that if they give up themselves unto a compliance with this exhortation, and go seriously about this duty, they must relinquish and renounce all their lusts and pleasures, yea, much of their converse and society wherein they find so much present satisfaction, as that they know not how to part with them. If they might retain their old ways, at least some of them, it were another matter, but this total relinquishment of all is very severe.

We can here use no condescension, no compliance, with respect unto any sin or lust; we have no commission to grant that request of Lot, "Is it not a little one?" Let it be spared; nor to come to Naaman's terms, "God be merciful to me in this thing, in all others I will be obedient." We must here be peremptory with you, whatever be the event; if you are discouraged by it, we cannot help it. We cannot encourage you to come to Christ, with the hope of indulgence unto any one sin whatever. I speak not this, as though you could at once absolutely and perfectly leave all sin in the root and branches of it; but only you are to do it in heart and resolution, engaging into an universal mortification of all sin, as by grace from above you shall be enabled; but your choice must be absolute, without reserves, as to love, interest, and design; God or the world, Christ or Belial, holiness or sin; there are no medium, no terms of composition: "And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord A mighty." 2 Cor. vi. 15-18.

It will be said by some, that they do not see that those who profess to be believers, are so much better than themselves, that you need to press them so earnestly to so great a change; they know not why they should not be accounted believers already, as well as others. I shall in a few words, as well as I am able, lay this stumbling-block out of the way, though I confess at this day it is weighty and cumbersome. And I say,

1. Among them that profess themselves to be believers, there are many false, corrupt hypocrites, and it is no wonder that, on various occasions, they lay the stumblingblock of their iniquities before the face of others; but they shall bear their own burden.

2. It is acknowledged, and lamented, that some who have reason to be judged true believers, yet, through their unmortified pride, or covetousness, or carelessness in their conversation, or vain attire, and conformity to the world, or forwardness, do give just occasion of offence. We confess that God is displeased herewith; Christ and the Gospel dishonoured; and many that are weak and wounded are discouraged. But as for you, this is not your rule; this is not proposed to you, but that word only is so, that will never fail you.

3. The world doth not know, nor is able to make a right judgment of believers: nor do you, for it is the spiritual man alone that discerneth the things of God. Their infirmities are visible to all, their graces invisible; the King's daughter is glorious within. And when you are able to make a right judgment of them, you will desire no greater advancement than to be of their society. Psalm xvi. 3.

These few instances of the pretences wherewith unbelief covers its deformity, and hides that destruction wherewith it is accompanied, may suffice to our present purpose; they are multiplied in the minds of men, impregnated by the suggestions of Satan on their darkness and folly. A little spiritual wisdom will rend the veil of them all, and expose unbelief acting in enmity against Christ under them.

END.

heed that your souls do not live too much on any of the satisfactions of the world; that your affections be not set upon them in too high a degree; that you make them not your idols, lest you be left helpless and miserable; for they cannot follow you into the world of souls: they are the things of time, and have no place in eternity. "The end of all things is at hand, therefore be ye sober." Be ye moderate in every enjoyment on earth, and prepare to part with all, when the Angel pronounces that "time shall be no longer." His sentence puts an end to every earthly joy, and every mortal hope.

The end of time!-Then closes the season of conversion. We come into the world ignorant, and are naturally prone to sin. The image of God is lost, and life is the only space allotted for its recovery. If we die without a change, we must remain for ever unholy. Oh! what awakening inquiries does the thought suggest! Am I renewed by the Holy. Spirit? What are my delights, and my desires? Is my heart a temple of God, or the seat of sin? How short the term during which these inquiries are to be resolved!

The end of time !-Then the means of restoring us to the enjoyment of God will be withdrawn. We live here as in a state of banishment; we cannot behold him as he is; yet he has not utterly forsaken us. He spreads a table in this desert; he proclaims himself merciful, and ready to forgive. He saith, "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." Prophets and Apostles, though dead, yet speak to us. They describe a Mediator who gave himself a ransom for us; that, believing in him, we might have life through his name." His ministers are still sent as ambassadors, beseeching us to be reconciled to God, and assuring us that with open arms he stands ready to receive us. Shall we slight their invitations, and thus pour contempt on their divine Master? The loss will soon appear to be all our own, and irrecoverable; for the sound of pardon reaches not beyond the limits of this world. Now the blessed God comes to the door of our hearts, as if to plead for admittance; he invites us to return and confess our sins, that he may forgive them. Harden not your hearts, lest, when the Angel lifts up his hand to announce the end of time,

The Lord, himself, in vengeance drest,
Should lift his hand, and swear

"You that despised my promised rest,
"Shall have no portion there."

The end of time !-Then shall the sinner's heart give up its last hope. None are completely miserable before death. Indeed, the vilest men are often the most full of mirth. But it will not be always so; their joy will be turned into heaviness. Imagine the Judge on his throne, calling you to answer these inquiries at his bar: "What have you done with all the time of your life in yonder world? You spent there, some, twenty; some, forty; some, seventy years; and I gave you this time with a thousand opportunities and means of grace and salvation. What have you done with them all? How many Sabbaths did I afford? How many sermons have you heard? How many seasons did I give you for prayer and retirement, and converse with God and your own souls? Did you improve time well? Did you pray? Did you converse with your souls, and with God? Or did you suffer time to slide away in a thousand follies, and neglect the one thing needful ?" What if your consciences should plead guilty? Who knows the keenness of that agony with which you will cry out, "Oh, wretched man that I am! God hath spoken to me by a parent, by a minister, and by his written word; I have neglected these, and ruined my soul!" Awful subject! let us muse thereon, while there is yet a hope for mercy.

Time shall end!-How valuable, then, while it lasts, particularly to the unprepared! Every hour you live is a merciful respite. Go forth and meet your offended Sovereign. "Seek him while he may be found; call upon him while he is near. "" Go in the name of Jesus, plead his. righteousness, his death, his intercession, and say, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

Time shall end!-Oh! the strange folly and madness of those who are afraid of the end of time, whenever they think of it; and yet who know not what to do with their time, as it runs off daily and hourly! They find not their souls ready for death; and yet they live, from year to year, without any further preparation for dying; they waste their hours of leisure in mere trifling; they lose their seasons of grace, their means and opportunities of salvation, in a thoughtless and shameful manner, as though they had