for the days come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, &c.-Luke xix. 41-43; Matt. xxiii. 37, 38.

I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work.John ix. 4; Rom. xiii. 11, 12.

A little while is the light with you: walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.-John xii. 35.

God, &c. hath made of one blood all nations of men, &c. and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, &c. The times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every where to repent.-Acts

xvii. 24-30.

And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now, &c. the night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, &c.-Rom. xiii. 11, 12.

This I say, brethren, the time is short; it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none, &c.-1 Cor. vii. 29.

So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery, is temperate in all things: now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.1 Cor. ix. 24, 25.

Behold, now is the accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation.2 Cor. vi. 2; Isa. xlix. 8.

When it pleased God, &c. to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up, &c.—Gal. i. 15

are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.—Eph. v. 14. 16, 17; Col. iv. 5.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.-Phil. ii. 12.

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead: not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend, &c. this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark, &c. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded. Phil. iii. 11-16.

Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation, &c. wherefore I was grieved, &c. so I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.Heb.iii. 7-11; Ps. xcv.7; Heb.iv.7.

And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end; that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.Heb. vi. 11, 12; 1 Cor. xv. 58.

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us; and let us run with patience the race that is set before us: looking unto Jesus, &c.-Heb. xii. 1—3.

Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow: for what is your life? It is even a vapour, &c. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that.-James iv. 13–15.

If ye call on the Father, &c. pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.-1 Pet. i. 17.

That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will of God, for the time past of our life may suf

fice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles.-1 Pet. iv. 2, 3.

Giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue, &c. wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.2 Pet. i. 5-7. 10.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, &c. -2 Pet. iii. 14.

I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, &c.-Rev. ii. 21, 22.

And the angel, &c. sware, &c. that there should be time no longer.-Rev. x. 5, 6.

The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time.-Rev.

xii. 12.

CHAPTER XLVI.

SIGNS OF THE LAST TIMES; OR, END OF THE WORLD.

MANY shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many: and ye shall hear of wars, &c. because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness, &c. As the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of man be, &c. They were eating, &c. Matt. xxiv. 5-7. 12. 14. 37, 38.

That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.-2 Thess. ii. 3, &c.

In the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their ownselves, &c.-2 Tim. iii. 1-4.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days, scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? &c.-2 Pet. iii. 3, &c.

CHAPTER XLVII.

ENCOURAGEMENTS TO HOPE IN, AND CRY TO GOD, WHEN OUR CASE SEEMS DESPERATE, AND AT THE LOWEST

EBB.

MOSES said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. -Exod. xxxii. 30.

The Lord shall repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, &c.-Deut. xxxii. 36.

Ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel; peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.— 1 Sam. vi. 5.

And Jonathan said, &c. Come and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.-1 Sam. xiv. 6.

While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?2 Sam. xii. 22.

Let him alone, and let him curse, &c. it may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.-2 Sam. xvi. 11, 12.

Why sit we here until we die? If we say we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now, therefore, come and let us fall into the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. -2 Kings vii. 3, &c.

This is a day of trouble, &c. it may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, &c. and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore, lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.-2 Kings xix. 3, 4.

We have trespassed against our

God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Now, therefore, let us make a covenant with our God, to put away all the wives, &c.-Ezra x. 2, 3.

O my God, I cry in the day time, and thou hearest not, &c. be not far from me, &c.-Ps. xxii. 2-12.

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth, &c. He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.-Lam. iii. 27. 29.

Israel said, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts, &c. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.-Ezek. Xxxvii. 11-13.

O king, &c. break off thy sins by righteousness, &c. if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity, (or healing of thine error.)-Dan. iv. 27. Rend your heart, &c. who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him? &c.-Joel ii. 13, 14.

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate; it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.-Amos v. 15.

The ship was like to be broken, &c. Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay, and was fast asleep; and the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, &c. Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.-Jonah i. 4-6.

Jonah (when in the fish's belly) said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple, &c. when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.-Jonah ii. 1-4. 7.

Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one

from his evil way, &c. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?-Jonah iii. 8-10.

Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek, &c.

It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.-Zeph. ii. 3.

The woman who had had the bloody issue twelve years, and had spent much upon physicians to no purpose, came and touched Christ, and was healed.-Luke viii. 43-48; John v. 5-9.

The woman of Canaan, though Christ answered her roughly, cried still, and prevailed.-Mark vii. 26, &c.

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee: for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.-Acts viii. 22, 23.

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.— 2 Tim. ii. 25, 26.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

GOD IS NOT REGARDLESS OF THE FIRST ESSAYS AND INSTANCES OF HUMILIATION, BUT FREQUENTLY COMMENDS AND REQUITES THEM.

HE only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.-1 Kings xiv. 13.

Ahab, &c. rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, &c. and went softly, &c. Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days.— 1 Kings xxi. 27-29.

Jehu commended and rewarded for his zeal, in executing the judgments of God upon Ahab's house.-2 Kings x. 30.