Psalm 95:7-8 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if you will hear his voice,… I would press the importance, the necessity, of immediately becoming religious — I. BECAUSE OF THE SHORTNESS AND UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. You are mortal; it is appointed to all men once to die. You are frail, and may die soon and suddenly. You stake your soul without any equivalent; for if life should be spared you gain nothing; but should it be cut short, you lose all, you are ruined for eternity. II. BECAUSE YOU CANNOT PROPERLY, OR EVEN LAWFULLY, PROMISE TO GIVE WHAT IS NOT YOUR OWN. To-morrow is not yours; and it is yet uncertain whether it ever will be. To-day is the only time which you can properly give to God. III. BECAUSE IF YOU DEFER THE COMMENCEMENT OF A RELIGIOUS LIFE, THOUGH BUT TILL TO-MORROW, YOU MUST HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AGAINST THE VOICE OF GOD. God commands and exhorts you to commence a religious life immediately. If you do not comply, you must refuse, for there is no medium. If you disobey, you must assign some excuse to justify your disobedience, or your consciences will reproach you and render you uneasy; if no plausible excuse occurs, you will seek one; if none can readily be found, you will invent one. This tends most powerfully to harden the heart. IV. IF YOU DO NOT COMMENCE A RELIGIOUS LIFE TO-DAY, THERE IS GREAT REASON TO FEAR THAT YOU WILL NEVER COMMENCE IT. The very causes which induce you to defer its commencement render it highly improbable that you will ever become religious. Every day's delay will render it more difficult. V. BECAUSE, AFTER A TIME, GOD CEASES TO STRIVE WITH SINNERS AND TO AFFORD THEM THE ASSISTANCE OF HIS GRACE. He gives them up to a blinded mind, a seared conscience, and a hard heart. Thus He dealt with the old world; the wicked sons of Eli; the Jews in the time of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9,10); and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in our Saviour's time (Luke 19:41, 42). VI. BECAUSE YOU ARE, WHILE YOU DELAY, CONSTANTLY MAKING WORK FOR REPENTANCE; YOU ARE DOING WHAT YOU MEAN TO BE SORRY FOR; YOU ARE BUILDING UP TO-DAY WHAT YOU MEAN TO THROW DOWN TO-MORROW. How irrational and absurd is this! I will not now hear God's voice, but I mean to mourn, to be grieved for it hereafter. Could you say this to your fellow-creatures without blushing? VII. BECAUSE IT IS THE EXPRESS COMMAND OF GOD. "God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." And the Holy Ghost saith, Obey God's command, hear His voice to-day, and do not harden your hearts against it. Dare any of you trample on a known command of God? (E. Payson, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, |
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