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shall live." Nor are we to give up hearing Christ after we have found life in him; we are to continue still learning of him. We shall never grow so wise that we do not need him for a teacher. We shall never be so experienced that we can find our own way, and no longer require him as a guide. We shall have to keep on hearing him when our locks are grey, and our age is reverend; when we are on the banks of Jordan, and our feet almost tread the hallowed soil of the border land; even then, brethren, we must still hear him. And after we have passed across the river his voice will greet us. We shall for ever hear him in the upper skies. The great matter, however-great because it presses so heavily on our present interest and our future destiny-is that we hear him now. To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years." May we have grace to hear him now. If we do not hear him now speaking with the voice of mercy, to-morrow we may hear him say, "I never knew you." It would be a terrible hearing that, "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity!" The thunder of those dreadful words will be everlasting. May God, of his infinite grace, save us from hearing the dreary sentence of the Judge by enabling us to hear now the cheery welcome of the Saviour.

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And do you not think, dear friends, it would be well that believers should have a special time for hearing Christ every day? Might you not mark off a quarter of an hour in the day for hearing what God the Lord

shall speak? In the middle of London, amidst all the din of traffic, the sweetest chimes cannot be heard, they are drowned. But that same music, when other sounds are hushed, will be extremely pleasant. We have the rush and crash of the world in our ears nearly all the day; if we want to hear Christ's voice, we must get alone sometimes, and sit in silence. Our Puritan forefathers, who were mighty men of God, owed much of the strength of their character to the time that they could afford for uninterrupted devotion. They would have an hour, some of them when they rose, others of them more, for reading the Scriptures and prayer. After that, family prayer was a service to which a full measure of time was allotted, it was not got over in a hurry with them. And then at eventide, and many of them during the middle of the day, devoted portions of time to meditation and worship. There was system in their habit of hearing Christ. Now, it is obvious, I think, that we should be neglecting our duty, many of us, were we to take hours in that way (for the time is not our own), yet those who have time at their own disposal could not occupy it better. But, at any rate, we must jealously guard a little time each day for trading with heaven. It is the best commerce a man can engage in; it brings in the richest treasure. He will be poor who does not set apart some time in which he can listen to the voice of Christ, by searching the Scriptures, by drawing near to God, by watching and prayer. I would stir you up to diligence in this matter, dear friends. Even the public prayer-meetings should be second to private intercessions. “This ought ye

to have done," I would say of the prayer-meeting, "not

to have left the other undone." Both should be regarded, for oftentimes in the morning, if one can get a text of Scripture and put it under the tongue, it will keep the mouth sweet, and the breath sweet, and the heart sweet all the day long. And at night, when one is weary, it gives calmness to our slumbers, and even makes our dreams pleasant, if we can get a kiss from the lips of the spouse in some joyful promise, some precious portion of the Word of God. "Hear ye him," my brethren. "Hear ye him." The Lord unstop your ears to hear, O ye that have never heard him. that have heard him often, may ye hear him yet more frequently and more familiarly, till he shall say unto you, "Come up hither," and you shall enter finally into his joy.

And ye

Perilous Procrastination.

“He lingered.”—Genesis xix. 16.

OT was highly favoured. In the midst of a general destruction angels were sent to take care of him. He had received a warning which many had not heard, and he had felt the terror that warning should excite, while some who had heard the tidings little heeded their imminent moment. Lot stood in the condition of one who knew that he must leave the city, for it was about to be destroyed, who intended to leave it, who was just about to take his departure, but who, nevertheless, hesitated a little, halted awhile, avoided hurry, protracted his stay with some attachment to the place where he had dwelt, and so, in the face of danger, he delayed; being slow to move when fully aware that judgment was swift to overtake;— "he lingered." I believe Lot to be in this respect the exact counterpart of a great many hearers of the gospel. They understand that the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness of men; they know that the dreadful penalties will be soon enforced; they are well aware of the way of escape; they have

resolved to follow that way; and they intend to do so very soon. Yet for a long time they have halted on the verge of decision, almost persuaded to be Christians. Strong as their resolution to become followers of the Saviour seems at times to be, unhappily they stop short, they linger still in their old condition, halting between two opinions. To such persons I propose to address a few words of exhortation this evening. First of all, to expostulate with you personally upon matters that concern yourselves; then to speak to you about other people in whom you are interested, for I have the full conviction that the man who lingers puts others in danger as well as himself, just as Lot's lingering was hazardous to his daughters and to his wife; and lastly, to commend the means which I trust God will use, similar to those which he used with Lot, that some angelic hand or some providential force may lay hold upon the lingerer, that he may be brought out from the City of Destruction and made to flee for help to Christ the Lord.

I. I must begin by speaking to the person who is lingering himself. I should like to be looked upon, just now, less as a preacher than as a friend who is talking to the lingering one, the one almost decided-talking to him in the most familiar tones, but at the same time with the most earnest purpose. There are certain thoughts which have been and are still fermenting in my soul. I have heard that a conclave was held in pandemonium. In the lower regions Satan had called together all the devils who showed him allegiance, and he said to them, "I want one of you to go forth as a lying spirit from this place to deceive many. The

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