TO A "SOUND' CONVERSION. 451 drive you towards hell, if they cannot draw you. All these enemies you must conquer, or you are lost. And is it not time for a man, in so much danger, to consider of them, that he may 'know how to escape ? and for one that is encompassed about with such diffi- culties, to consider how he may well go through them ? What abundance of things have you to consider of! Of all your life past,: of the relations you have born, and how you have performed the duties of those rela- tions : of the time you have had, and how you have spent it: of the means you have had, and what you have received by them: of the present state of your souls, your sins, your miseries, your hopes, and the duties that are incumbent on you, in order to your recovery: of the temptations to be encountered with, and the graces that are daily to be exercised and con- firmed. Should not a man bethink himself with all possible care, and consider, and a hundred times con- sider, that bath all this to do, or be undone for ever? You have much to know, and much to do, receive, and suffer, that bath difficulty joined with necessity. Were it necessary, and not hard, the facility might draw you to make light of it ; and were it hard, and not necessary, the difficulty might more discourage you than the matter might excite you : but it mustbe done, or you must be shut out of heaven, and lie in hell for it world without end. And yet there are so many difficulties in the way, I think it is time to Iook about you, and seriously consider. 12. To conclude : Consideration would prevent a world of misery, which else will make you consider when it is too late. It must be a principal means of your salvation, if ever you be saved. If God have so much mercy for you, he will make you consider, and set your sins in order before you. He will set before you a crucified Christ, and tell you, that this your sins have done ; and make you think of the reason of his sufferings, and what there is in sin that could require it; and what it is to rebel against the Lord, and run yourselves into the consuming fire. Now your thoughts æ;
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