~~p^ Conf Pam 12mo #575 
 
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[tor THE SOLMDRS.] No. 29. 
 
 MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT ALWAYS SJRlVl 
 
 EY REV. J. It. FOWI.ES, OF S. C. 
 
 There is a period in the life of man, to which if he live in 
 a state of perverseness and impenitence, his cup of iniquity 
 will be full ; and to him " there remaineth no more sacrifice 
 for sin, but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indig- 
 nation." There is Borne series of rebellious 
 which, when committed, constituted a point beyond which no 
 ray of mercy will ever reach him. 
 
 So perverse and so sinful is the lieart'of man. that, left to 
 himself, perdition will ensue. So bent is he. on transgression, 
 so alienated from God and holiness, that unless God induces 
 him, by the aid of Iris Spirit, to forsake and rebent of sin, he 
 will persist in iniquity, and perish. That soul from whom the 
 Spirit has taken his final flight, ie 
 
 This truth is taught explicitly in the word of God. "My 
 Spirit shall not always strive with man." " My people would 
 not hearken to my voice, so I gave them up unto their own 
 hearts' lusts; and they walked in their own counsels.'' 
 Though they cry unto me, 1 will not hearken unto them:" 
 "Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host 
 of heaven." "For this cause God gave them up unto vile 
 affections." " For this cause God shall sCnd tinshr stroifg 
 delusion, that they should be*Hve a lie; that (hey all might 
 be damned who believe not t\m truth, but have pleasure in 
 unrighteousness. " "Ephraim is joined to his idols; let him 
 alone." They rebelled and vexed the Holy Spirit ; therefore 
 he was turned to be their enemy and fought against him." 
 Thus the word of tie Lord establishes the truth, that there 
 is a period somewhere in the progress of man through this 
 world, to which if he live in rebellion against his Maker, 
 God's forbearance and mercy will be extended to him no 
 longer; beyond which the Spirit of the Lord is ''turned to 
 be his enemy, and lights against him ;" beyond which his 
 damnation is sealed. 
 
I MY .SPIRIT SHALL NOT ALWAYS STRIVE. 
 
 The sinner knows not at any moment, whether he ftfcvc 
 already passed the line which .separates the land of hope, from 
 the land of despair; whether it lies i'ar in the region of the 
 future, or whether he stand on its verge. God has fixed this 
 line, hut to none other has he revealed where it lies. The 
 impenitent trangressor goes onward in life at the hazard, and 
 under the imminent peril, at eaeh step, of passing the hound* 
 of the region ot hope and barring on himself e tern all) the 
 doors of the kingdom of heaven. The next immoral act, for 
 aught that ia revealed, may he the .act which nils to overflow- 
 ing the cup of his iniquity. A vessel nearly filled may run over 
 by adding another drop. Though the sin may not he of so 
 deep a dye as a series of others of which he has been guilty, 
 yet this added to the long catalogue of his former crimes, may 
 close his probation. This as the last crowning act of rebell- 
 ion, may seal his doom. 
 
 A benevolent father may for ever disinherit his son forisome 
 seemingly venial act of transgression. This act is the occa- 
 sion, net the cause of his disinheritance. A long series of re- 
 bellious acts may have evinced a spirit of irreconcilable aver- 
 sion and hostility to the parent. Repeated persuasions and 
 reproof have been tried, but hestiil continues in his wayward 
 course. Repeated acts of disobedience, enhance his guilt, 
 The father now determines to execute his. threatening on occa- 
 sion of the next transgression, The son persists ; he commits 
 an act, not perhaps as glaringly vicious as some which have 
 preceded it, butstill evincing aspirt of insubordination. The 
 lather fulfils his threatening, and disinherits him for ever. 
 
 So God on the occasion of some seemingly venial sin — but 
 be it remembered, no sin is small-- may determine to dry up 
 the fountain of his mercy; when the sinner eries, not to 
 hearken ; to " laugh at his calamity, and mock when his 
 fear c^mi-th." May, refusal on the part of the sinner to com- 
 ply now with the call of mercy, and yield his heart to God, 
 may he the act, which when connected with the heinous sins 
 already noted in the great book of remembrance, Jehovah 
 determines to make the occasion of his Spirit's final flight, ami 
 of the sealed perdition of the soul. 
 
 Go, stand by the death- bed of the aged, obdurate sinner ; 
 watch his restless and impure spirit, which is about to be yield- 
 ed into the hands of him wdio gave it He writhes, it is true 
 under bodily torture, but this bears no contrast with the in- 
 
MY SPlRIl SftALI SOI ALWAYS STRTVF. 
 
 ward fire. Despair is depicted in \n< countenance. \i^ al- 
 ternately eupplicatee arid blasphemes his Maker. He already 
 experiences the gnawings of "the worm that dieth not," and 
 of "the lire t.hat is notqiicnched." His doom is S'aSett, But 
 when' Perhaps not in his dying hour. In the mind of God, 
 it. may be his present despair and iuture torments are connec- 
 ted with some distant scene In the past, where, as he was 
 seated under the droppings of the sanctuary, listened to the 
 proclamation of the gospel, heard ihe chums of God in Christ 
 enforced thought of duty and the yielding of his heart — he 
 deferred obedience to the Spirit's dictates to a mote convent 
 en t season; and the heavenly messenger, thus grieved and 
 mocked, took his final flight. 
 
 Reader, the brevity and uncertainty of life are not the only in- 
 ducements to immediate repentance. 
 
 True, this lite is "a vapor, that appeareth for a little time 
 and then vanisheth away. " It is a.s " the flower of the grass 
 which before the burning heat of the sun, withereth." It is 
 indeed, when raoet protracted, but a short period to employ 
 in winning a crown of glory. Its uncertainty, too — for who 
 knowcth he shall see to-morrow? — is forcibly presented in 
 the Scriptures, to wean from sin and draw toduty now. But 
 with nil these warnings sounding in hia ears, under the delu- 
 sions of sin, man practically views this world as his eternal 
 home. He feels and rejoices in his present health and vigor, 
 and thinks not that his body will soon die. 
 
 Yet mark, impenitent fellow-man, God's grace is sovereign. 
 Though your life be protracted to the end of the world; 
 Though you were assured by God you should not die until 
 " the. heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the 
 elements shall melt with fervent heat," it becomes you not 
 to defer repentance to a future day. 
 
 The inspired truth, " Mow is the accepted time, behold, 
 now is the day of salvation," receives not all its solemnity 
 and f >rce from the brevity and uncertainty of life. It has 
 another and more fearful import: "My Spirit, shall not al- 
 ways strive with man." The Holy Spirit may "turn to be 
 thine enemy and fight against thee.*' The mandate may go 
 forth, "H« is joined to his idols; let him alone." Then, 
 like the barren fig-tree, you will be cut down while yet you 
 stand. In a world of hope, you will be in despair; in tho 
 
4 MY SPXJaXT SHALL NOT ALWAYS STRIVE. 
 
 midst of life, you will be in death ; on this side the grave, 
 you will yet be in hell. 
 
 Suffer "me, then, affectionately, but honestly, to remind 
 you that your state id fearfully critical and dangerous. 
 Snares are .-beneath your feet. While remaining in impeni- 
 tence, you go onward, not knowing but the next step your dam-, 
 nation will be certain —irretrievable. Fellow-man, stay your 
 feet. Take not the fatal stop. It may be you are on the 
 verge of that line, beyond which all is darkness, despair and 
 death. The pressing calls of God, by his providence, his 
 word, and his preached gospel, to repent, you have rejected. 
 When aroused to the consideration of duty, you have heed- 
 lessly postponed its claims, and relapsed into listlessness and 
 sin. Days speed away ; Sabbath succeeds Sabbath ; year 
 after year is numbered with the past — and you are still the 
 enemy ol God. The time will come, if you persist, when by 
 some act of transgression, you will eternally mar the prospect 
 of your salvation. May not the present be that critical mo- 
 ment, and your next act the act which will destroy your soul? 
 May not the act be your neglecting now the offer of mercy ? 
 
 I shrink from the possibility of being made the instrument 
 of your ruin ; but this very warning, rejected, may seal your 
 doom. Oh, I beseech yon, in Christ's stead, suffer it not to 
 pass unimproved, adding despair to doubt, and endless death 
 to death. 
 
 The message is, "God in Christ Jesus is reconciling the 
 world unto himself." The command has gone forth from 
 God to all men everywhere, "Repent." The command to 
 thee, fellow-sinner, is, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," 
 and the promise is, "Thou shalt be saved." But the fearful 
 alternative made known by God, immutably true, is, " If 
 thou believcst not, thou shalt be damned." Embrace the 
 offer of salvation now, lest it prove your last opportunity — 
 lest God lift his hand and swear, " You shall not enter into 
 my rest." After his irrevocable word is passed, your awful 
 doom may indeed excite the compassion of Cod; he may 
 lament over you, as over Jerusalem, " that thou hadst 
 known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong to 
 thy peace;" yet it will be no less certain, " they are hid from 
 thine eyes." Your doom will then be sealed. Your soul 
 lost — lost for eternity. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
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