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044

TIrZ ETÉRNAL DURATION

OF

tDI$C.7CI1'I

language

of

every place,

and

of

every

hour,

will

then

be, awakened,

What

shall

I

do to

be saved?

Whither

shall

I

fly

for

refuge?

O

blessed

Jesus,

receive

me

into

thy protection,

and be thou

my

deliverer.

Give

me

leave to

repeat

this

sort

of expostulation

with

lingering

and delaying

sinners,

òr

with

drowsy and

formal

Christians.

If

you

would set yourselves often

in

the

blaze

of

these everlasting burnings, you would never

satisfy

yourselves with such

cold

faint

wishes,

such

lazy

endea-

vours, such

languid

efforts

of

faith

and

repentance

to es-

cape

this

fiery

indignation

that

shall

never

be

quenched

:

nor

would

you

content

yourselves with

dark

and

doubtful

evidences of your interest

in

the

love

of God, and

the

grace

of

our

Lord

Jesus;

but

you

would

be

day

and

night

busy with

your

own

hearts

in

the most intimate and

careful search after

converting grace and

living

chris-

tianity

:

you

would never be

at

-rest

till you felt

the

new-

nature working

with power and bright evidence

within

you,

that

you might

be

able

to

say,

" We

know

there

is no

condemnation

belongs

to

us,

but that

we

are

-passed

from

death unto

life,"

Let

us

proceed

upon

this

subject,

turning

the discourse

from

ourselves to

our

friends, and

say,

with

what

fervour

of

love,

with

what holy

zeal

and compassion should

we

'labour to

save

our

friends

and

all

that

are

dear

to

us

from this

eternal destruction?

What

words

of

fiery

'terror

shall

we

choose to awaken those

who

slumber on

the

edge

of

endless burnings?

What

language

of

kind

and tender

'passion

shall

we

choose

to

reach their hearts?

What, phrases of melting

pity to hasten

their

escape from

-this

precipice

of

burning ruin, or to pluck

them

as

brands

out of

the

fire

before

it

becomes

unquenchable?

Know-

ing

these

terrors

of

the Lord,

with

what

vehemence

of

zeal should

we

try to persuade

me-n,

our

fellow

-

mortals,

that

they

would

not

venture into

the midst

of

these

miseries, and beseech them

in

the name

of

Christ,

to

be

reconciled

to

God

?

This

was

the practice, and these

the

motives

of

the

great

apostle,

as he

describes them

at

the

latter

end

of

the

fifth

chapter

in his second epistle to

the

Corinthians;

verses

11

2

1.

O,

with what force

of ardent

and active

compassion

-should

ministers

preach

both

the

curses

of

the

law,

and

the

grace

of the

blessed gospel, to

perishing

sinners,

and

4