THE WORST POVERTY. 275 him every moment, and with all their heart; and that, besides all their other sins, the neglect of loving God raises up a dark catalogue of omissions sufficient to condemn. Having never seen their sins, they have never felt their need of a Saviour, and never desired to possess him; hence their indifference and insensibility. Some have no certainty of possessing Christ. They profess to be on the side of Christ, but they are always seeking for comfort and happiness in themselves, instead of from Christ; hence they realize not the invaluable possession. And some think they have him, while they have him not. Such are all they who, having worldly means, will part with none for Christ, to support and extend his gospel. Such are all they who are without love to Christ and love to Christians. They are to blame for it.—Christ is brought nigh them in the gospel, yet they refuse or delay to take possession of him. "God so loved the world that he gave"-what a gift!"his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Is not this all that every sinner needs; and what more could God do for him? Every one has the power of choosing or refusing this Saviour. "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." Who would not be ambitious of the commendation which Christ gave to Mary? "Thou hast chosen that good part which shall not be taken from thee." He that is without Christ is therefore responsible and blameable. "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." "If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it." Their state is one of death.-"Hath not life." They are destitute of spiritual life, and when their animal life ends, all their enjoyments end, and their misery begins. They are under a sentence of condemnation already, and 276 THE WORST POVERTY. that sentence may be executed in a moment, when all will be lost. They are in danger of the second death, whose chains of everlasting darkness, whose unquenchable fire, and whose never-dying worm are prepared to complete their misery. As sinners they are guilty; as rejectors of Christ they are doubly guilty; and double crimes will merit and receive a double curse. Oh, who can form an estimate of eternal death? Those without Christ will be ever dying, and yet never dead. Reader, as there is but a step between thy soul and Christ, so there is but a step between thy soul and hell. JUNE 16. The Grand Alternative. "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live."-Deut. xxx. 19. HERE we have objects of choice-the duty of choosingthe effect of choosing-and the effect of neglecting. The objects of choice.-"Life and death, blessing and cursing." We must choose between life and death, or the way of life and the way of death. The way of life is Christ, faith in him, love to him, and obedience to his commandments. This way is made known to us in the Scriptures, it is open to all, and kind invitations encourage us to enter on it. The way of death is the way of sin, or the neglect of the way of life. Christ believed in, is life, eternal life. Christ neglected, is death, eternal death. We must choose between blessing and cursing. Blessing includes the friendship and approbation of God; cursing includes his frown, and his awful sentence of condemnation ready to be inflicted. Thus, life and death, heaven and hell, are set before us. THE GRAND ALTERNATIVE. 277 The duty of choosing.-"Choose life." We have the power and the liberty of choice. Life will not be forced upon us, neither need we expect to be saved by a miracle. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. Thus God throws the responsibility upon us; and if we neglect or refuse, we must bear the blame for ever. If ever this choice is to be To-morrow you may be made, it ought to be made now. insensible or dead. To-morrow your sins will be more numerous, your heart will be harder, your guilt will be deeper than to-day, and your day of grace may be ended. The effect of choosing will be life spiritual, certain, eternal; and life not only to the believer himself, but to his seed. A good man's influence does not die when he dies; and every believer has hope of his children as well as of himself. "Thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Reader, there is but a step between thee and life. Choose Christ, and thou shalt live. If ever thou art to have a turning-point in the history of thy soul, why not now? If ever thou art to have a starting-point for heaven, why not now? If ever thy seed are to be blessed after thee, why should not the germ of the blessing be secured now? The effect of neglecting.-God keeps a book of remembrance, and a record will this day be made of your refusal or delay to make your choice. Will you suffer it to be recorded that you have this day crucified the Son of God afresh? This record will witness against you in future; yea, the earth, the heavens, the pages of this book, and all good men may witness against you. No, they never will; for Christ is mine. Life, for which he wrestled and died, is mine; and heaven, which he hath prepared for all his followers, is mine. 278 THE MARK OF DELIVERANCE. JUNE 17. The Mark of Deliberance. "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof."-Ezek. ix. 4. THIS is the language of judgment spoken by the Lord Jesus. The six men commissioned to destroy were probably angels; and the man clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side, was probably an archangel. Contemplate some abominations meriting judgments. There are sins of commission. The Sabbath, instead of being sanctified, is made a day of pleasure: drunkenness, gaming, and profane swearing are extensively prevalent; and covetousness in legion forms is the idol-god of thousands. There are sins of omission. The word of God is left unopened, the ordinances of religion are neglected, and providential warnings are disregarded. There are sins of hypocrisy. Many give external countenance to religion, who are strangers to its power; many make religion a cloak to secure their own selfish ends; and many profess to hold the truth, but hold it in unrighteousness. Some are deeply grieved with these abominations.—“They sigh and cry for them." Deeply convinced of their own sinfulness, they have repented in dust and ashes, and are using all possible means to suppress the abominations prevailing around them. By earnest efforts, by willing contributions, by holy example, and by importunate prayer, they are endeavouring to diminish the heap of human misery, and add to the heap of human happiness. They not only sigh and weep in secret, but they cry unto God to make bare his holy arm, that the wickedness of the wicked may come to an end. Thus did Lot, whose righteous soul was vexed at the great wickedness of Sodom; thus did Jeremiah, who wept day and night for the sin THE MARK OF DELIVERANCE. 279 and the slain of his countrymen; and thus did David, when rivers of water ran down from his eyes, because men kept not God's law. How such are distinguished.-"Set a mark upon their foreheads." Christ knows and owns all his people: Though despised, and hated, and persecuted by the wicked, he approves of their attachment and faithfulness to his cause. "The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish." He makes a noted difference between them and the wicked. They are marked as on the Lord's side, have an assurance of his favour, and feel certain that his judgments shall not injure them. They are marked to guide the destroyers. The houses of the Israelites were marked with the blood of the Paschal lamb, when the angel of death slew the first-born of the Egyptians; and when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, not one Christian perished within its walls. JUNE 18. Christ made Sin for Us. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."-2 Cor. v. 21. HERE are Christ's character-Christ's work-and the important design. Christ's character." He knew no sin." He knew no original sin or innate depravity; being holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He knew no actual sin, and this is proved by his own testimony: "Which of you convinceth me of sin ?" by the testimony of friends: "He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth;" and by the testimony of enemies: Pilate said, "I find no fault in him;" Pilate's wife called him "a just man ;" the centurion called him "a righteous man ;" and the wicked |