Читать книгу Plain Parochial Sermons, preached in the Parish Church of Bolton-le-Moors онлайн

11 страница из 33

Infatuated sinner! thine own conscience accuses thee; thou believest that there will be a world to come, a world of recompence, and yet thou turnest not to prepare for it; pray, when thou fearest; pray, when thou thinkest of these things; cry earnestly to thy Saviour, that he may deliver thee from this “gall of bitterness and this bond of iniquity;” pray for the convincing, converting, life-giving Spirit, that He may “set thine heart at liberty” from the thraldom of sin; and thus enable thee to listen to the call of the gospel, and turn thy feet in earnest to the Redeemer of thy soul. For if thou listenest and turnest not, “dead thou art while thou livest;” and when thou diest, eternally dead; dead to all comfort and happiness for ever; dead in a world of woe.

But if we will (and God grant that we all may) awake and arise, “Christ will assuredly give us light:” “He is the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world;” [18] ready to shine upon every soul, to lighten it in darkness and quicken it in death. Believe in Him, and live in Him, and the clouds of ignorance shall be scattered away; and the drowsiness of the soul shall be cast off; and the cold heart of the natural man shall be warm with life again. In the midst of this world’s temptations and trials, troubles and perplexities, we shall see our way clear, our way to the heavenly Jerusalem; a brightness, the brightness of God’s presence, will be resting upon our souls; the world sees it not, but we shall see and enjoy it every hour: dark things will be made light, and “crooked things will be made straight, and the rough places plain:” we shall be living above the world, for “our life will be hid with Christ in God:” [19] cheerful we shall be when nature is sad: inspirited when nature is languishing; full of praises and thanksgivings when nature is mourning.