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of grace, and ascends the throne of judgment it will be of no use to seek for mercy or cry for pardon. His words there will be, "Because I called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh." Then will be fulfilled the words of the prophet, "They refused to hearken, yea, they made their hearts like an adamant stone; therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts." If you refuse mercy, you must have judgment. If you reject an offered pardon, you must suffer the due desert of your sins. Repent therefore, believe on Jesus, and so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Once more-it may be the last time

Jesus invites you to him, and offers to save you. Shall it be said, and said of you now, "YE WOULD NOT?" If so, who can say a word against sending you to hell; will not your damnation be just? Can you honestly object to it? On what ground? You would not be saved, when Jesus was willing to save you, and there was no alternative, but to let you perish in your sins. In hell, throughout eternity, you will only reep the JUST DESERT OF YOUR DEEDS. "The wages of sin is death."

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Should it be according to thy mind ?" JOB XXXIV. 33.

POOR Job found his trial too great for his patience, and he complained, he fretted himself, he reflected on God's dealings with him, and stumbled at the dispensations of Divine Providence. How often, how very often, we do the same! We complain, when we ought to be grateful; we fret, when we ought to praise. We reflect on God's ways when we ought to condemn ourselves; and we stumble at providences when we ought to be resting on the promises. Complain! What can a sinner have to complain of who is out of hell? Fret! What can a believer have to fret about whose heaven is secure? Reflect on God's dealings! What, when all his ways are mercy and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies ? Stumble at providences! What should stumble us, who are assured that all things shall work together for our good? With such conduct God may well be displeased. For such conduct God may well chastise us. But he condescends to reason with us.

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appeals to our sense of right. He makes us reprove and correct ourselves. He asks us by Elihu, "Should it be just as you fancy, ought I to consult your whims, SHOULD IT

BE ACCORDING TO THY MIND ?"

To what does this apply? To God's dealings with us as individuals. Should the Most High consult us before he gives, or takes, works, or suspends his operations? Are we to be consulted as to the way in which he will lead us home, or the means by which he will prepare us for the joys which are at his right hand? If the Lord promises to do us good by all things is he to consult us as to how he shall work, or by whom, or by what he shall accomplish his purposes ? It will apply, also, to God's dealings with others. It may be our friends, or our foes; our relatives, or strangers; the Church, or the world. God has taken the management of the world, and every individual in it; of the Church, and every believer that composes it, into his own hand. He says, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. I will work, and who shall hinder me?" Yea, who has a right to question him, or to find fault with him? Friend, do you claim such a right? From whence did you derive it? How do you vindicate it ? Things may be done that baffles your reason, perplexes your mind, confounds your judg ment, and grieves your spirit, but may they not be right for all that? May they not

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be the wisest and the best? "SHOULD IT BE ACCORDING TO THY MIND ?

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But, WHY? Are you wiser than God? His wisdom is infinite. He is the only wise God, and he displays his wisdom in all he does, and in all he permits to be done. Is it possible that you can fancy yourself capable of devising a wiser plan, or of executing God's plan in a more judicious manner? Are you kinder than God? His loving-kindness to man is declared in his word, proved by his works, and is gloriously displayed in our salvation by his Son. His loving-kindness is great beyond conception, and tender beyond description. Kinder than God! You kinder than God? But if not, "should it be according to your mind ?" Are you holier than God? He is holy in his naturé, and holy in his works. He does nothing but what is strictly just, perfectly right, and calculated to produce the greatest good. If you are not more holy, more just, more righteous than God, "should it be according to thy mind?" Are you better informed than God? Do you know more of the na ture, dispositions, and tendencies of his creatures than he does? Can you see the end from the beginning, and the working of all things to bring about the end, fixed by his wisdom and grace, better than he does? In him dwells all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He knows the whole and every part, the present and the future,

which you do not; your mind is dark, confused, selfish, unsettled, and often undecided; should it then be according to thy

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mind ?"

In order to calm your mind in trouble, to compose your spirits under losses and crosses, remember that God acts in infinite wisdom. His plan, according to which he governs the world, and manages the affairs of every individual, is the perfection of wisdom. It will admit of no improvement. To alter, would be to injure. Whatever God does, he purposed to do; and whatever God purposed to do, is infinitely wise and good. God's motives are just and gracious. God always has a reason for what he does, though he may not reveal it; and he is prompted to do what he does by justice and grace. He is just to all, but gloriously gracious to his own people. Whatever God has purposed to do, or permit, is worthy of himself. We often act unworthily, and repent of doing it, feeling ashamed of it; but God never does anything, or permits anything, that is unworthy of his nature and character. We may not see this now, for his work is not finished, his plan is not fully carried out, and until it is, "it is the glory of God to conceal a thing." But he has told us for our comfort, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."

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