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I. THE HASTE SO CONSPICUOUS IN MODERN SOCIETY.

1. In what haste men are to accumulate wealth.

2. How eager to gain public recognition.

3. The same spirit of unwise haste has entered into the Christian Church, and exercises there a baneful influence.

II. The haste so conspicuous in modern society ARISES FROM SEVERAL CAUSES.

1. It may spring from ill-regulated ambition. Men are hurried on by impulse and passion, and reason oft yields to desire.

2. There is the haste of rivalry, due to the strain of competition.

3. There is the haste arising from the fear of poverty and the hardships that poverty brings.

III. THE EVIL RESULTS ARE PALPABLE AND GRAVE.

1. The injurious effects physically are very obvious. The imperfect development, the impaired vitality of men are due in no small degree to the restless haste and the rapid pace of life. It has been said that nervous diseases, so common in our time and country, "scarcely exist among barbarians and semi-civilised people, and that the primary cause is civilisation, with all its recent accompaniments, the telegraph, the railway, and the periodical press, which continue to draw each year most severely on the nerves of all classes, and have intensified in ten thousand ways cerebral activity and worry." The same writer adds, "Our fathers in medicine of the last century, if they could be brought from their graves, would have to be told what we mean by nervousness." Doctors would render yet greater service to humanity if they were, at least occasionally, to ascend the pulpit, and taking as their text "Do thyself no harm," discourse to us from the stores of their experienced observation on the manifold and increasing bodily and mental maladies due to the overstrained activity and feverish haste of society.

2. The intellectual evils of haste are also many and serious. Through the ingenious but misleading theories thrown out in haste, with imperfect knowledge, investigators have been diverted from the right track, and discoveries delayed for many years. "Haste slowly" is wise counsel. In this age of doctrinal unrest, a much-needed counsel is: Be slow to part with the old faiths, be cautious in the acceptance of new doctrines. Close not your eyes to the light, but be ready to receive the truth from whatever quarter it may come. Remember, however, that all is not gold that glitters.

3. The moral evils of haste in the conduct of life also deserve earnest consideration.

(1)  The loss of opportunity for religious meditation.

(2)  The developed selfishness due to the ruling spirit of haste.In the common rush for the prizes and pleasures of life, the danger is that every man should think only of himself, and be careless of the claims and comfort of others.Conclusion —

1. Believing in God, you will not tremble for the safety of His ark.

2. You will not be in danger of adopting hastily unspiritual methods of doing Christ's work. Tempted to unbelieving haste in the conduct of religious work, let the example of Jesus be remembered.

(A. Cowe, M. A.)

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KJV: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

WEB: Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily.