BAXTER'S FIFTY REASONS. 569 Phil. iv. 5. ' The day is at hand ; the time is at hand; the end of all things is at hand,' Rom. xiii. 12. Rev. xxii. 10. 1 Pet. iv. 7. ' Behold,' saith the Lord, ° I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be,' Rev. xxii. 12. And do you, as it were, see the Judge approaching, and damnation hastening on, and yet will you delay? And withal consider, that when it comes, it will be most sore to such as you ; and then what thoughts do you think you shall have of these delays? You are unable to conceive how it will torment your consciences when you see that all your hopes are gone, to think what you have brought yourselves to by your trifling : to feel yourselves in remediless misery and remember how long the remedy was offered you, and you delayed to use it till it was too late. To see that you are for ever shut out of heaven, and remember that you might have bad it as well as others, but you lost it by delay. O then it will come with horror into your mind, How often was I persuaded, and told of this ! how often had I inward motions to return ! how often was I purposed to be holy, and to give up my heart and life to God ! I was even ready to have yielded, but I still delayed, and now it is too late ! Then you shall pay for all your warnings, and all the sermons and motions which you lost. And now having laid you down no less than fifty moving considerations, if it be possible, to save you from these delays, I conclude with this request to you, who- ever you be that read these lines, that you would but consider of all these reasons and then entertain them as they deserve. There is not one of them that you are able to gainsay, much less all of them. If, after the reading of all these, you can yet believe that you have reason to delay, your understandings are forsaken of God ; but if you are forced to confess that you should not delay, what will you do then ? Will you obey God, and your own consciences, or will you not? Will you turn this hour without delay ? Take heed of de- nying it, lest you have never such a motion more. You know not but God, who calls you to it, may be 18 4C
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=