180 NOW OR NEVER. the motions of it; turn away fi·om the persons or things that would entice thee. Hate the doors of the harlot and of the ale-house, or the gaming-house; and go not as the "ox to the slaughter, and a'l a bird to the fowler's snare, and as a fool to the correction of the stocks, as if thou knewest not that it is for thy life." Why wilt thou be tasting of the poisoned cup? Wilt thou be sporting with the bait? Hast thou no where to walk or play, but at the brink of ruin? Must not the flesh be crucified, with its" affections and lusts?" Must it not be tamed and mortified, or thy soul condemned? "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Run not therefore as at uncertainty; fight not as one "that beats the air." Seeing this must be done, or thou art undone, delay and dally with sin no longer. Let this be the day; resolve, and resist it with thy might: it must be now or never: when death comes it is too late. 8. Art thou in a declined, fallen state? Decayed in grace? Hast thou lost thy first desires and love? Do thy first works, and do them with thy might. Delay not, but remember from whence thou art fallen. Cry out with Job, "0 that I were as in months past; as in the days when God preserved me! when his candle shined upon my head, and when, by his light, I walked through darkness. As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was on my tabernacle, when the Almighty was yet with me." Return, while thou hast day, lest the night surprise thee. 9. Art thou in the darkness of uncertainty concerning thy conversion, and thy everlasting state? Dost thou not know whether thou art in a state of life or death? And what should become of thee, if this were the day or hour of thy change? If thou art careless in thy uncertainty, and mindest not so great a business, be awakened, and call thy soul to its account; search and examine thy heart and life;
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