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MEDITATION VIII.

MARK i. 15.

The time is fulfilled: and the kingdom of God is at hand :—Repent ye―

MED. WHEN the sinner is overtaken in his VIII. fault, when the prisoner is bound in

fetters for his crime, when the penitent sees in all its magnitude the offence which hath brought tears into his eyes, and an heavy weight into his heart, to each of these the time is indeed fulfilled. And happy is it for them that the time is come before the day of grace be past, and the hour of final retribution be at hand. The Saviour wept over devoted. Jerusalem. He weeps,

but with other tears, over you, ye pe- MED. nitent and broken hearts! He sees VIII. you, striving, in his Spirit, to work out your salvation, and blesses the pious endeavour. He found you sick, and he will leave you whole. You presented yourselves before him as "miserable, "and wretched, and poor, and blind, " and naked;" He will reverse your feelings, through the abundance of his mercy, and accept you redeemed to God by his own blood; "He will

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strengthen the weak hands, and con"firm the feeble knees; He will say "to them that are of a fearful heart, "be strong, fear not; for behold your "God will come-He will come and

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save you: then the eyes of the blind "shall be opened, and the ears of the "deaf shall be unstopped; then shall "the lame man leap as an hart, "and the tongue of the dumb shall

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sing; and the ransomed of the Lord "shall return and come to Zion with

songs and everlasting joy upon their

VIII.

MED. "heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away *."

I am the more encouraged in offering comfort and consolation to such penitents, as I cannot but imagine them deeply impressed by the awfulness of their situation, regarding this world as a vale of corrupt principle, and consequently of corrupt practice; and looking forward with confidence to the next, as the only refuge of a reformed mind, and the consummation of all moral happiness. I would not indeed so far degrade human nature, as to overshade the picture of the first works of creation, which the Almighty made and pronounced good; but I would bring before your eyes the devastation which sin has occasioned by the fall of man, and the chaos of all good principle which universally prevails. I would inform you in plain

* Is. xxxv. 3, 4, &c.

language, that you are partakers of MED. that corruption, and that "the thoughts VIII. "of your hearts are only evil conti

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nually." But this I would not do by a representation which might discourage you from an attempt at reformation, or drive you to despair by an unnecessary aggravation of your condition. No. Though the road you have to travel be both narrow and difficult, a way is still left for the redeemed to enter in. "Come unto me all ye who "labour and are heavy laden †. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us "ward, not willing that any should

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perish, but all should come to re

pentance ‡." Receive then this call: not as if all men shall finally be saved, whatever their condition. God promises no such thing. On the contrary, he guards against it in every line" of

* Gen. vi. 5. +Matt. ii. 28. 2 Pet. iii. 9,

MED. Revelation.

He reproves those ProVIII. phets that speak smooth things. He demands only truth: and that truth reiterates" the soul that sinnetlı, it shall "die." But the goodness of God manifests itself in the recovery of man. "I have no pleasure in the death of "him that dieth, saith the Lord God, "wherefore turn yourselves, and live " ye*.”

How must this divine declaration, and warm expostulation, vibrate in your hearts, if ye have one grain of feeling for your souls! Turn from the world, in its worst sense: turn to God, in the best and most valuable interpretation of the expression. The time is fulfilled :-all your past scenes of transgression and sin have vanished awaytheir fatal consequences only remain. The time is fulfilled: ye are taken in the snare-ye cannot now flee from punishment. With resigned hearts,

* Ezek. xviii. 32.

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