NOW, NOW; NOT BY AND BY.

All pay themselves the compliment to think

They, one day, shall not drivel,

The thing they can't but purpose, they postpone.

YOUNG.

A HABIT of procrastination, though common, is very sinful and injurious; it wastes time, one of our most valuable blessings, and is characteristic of a weak and irresolute mind. The tendency towards this habit ought to be scrupulously watched against by all, especially the young, and uniformly and zealously resisted. It is fostered by indulgence, and in all cases realizes the fable of the snake restored to life and animation by the mistaken kindness of the countryman, who was killed by it.

As Solomon taught long ago, in its train follow poverty and want; and when its influence extends to the concerns of the soul, misery, ruin, and death are its awful consequences.

Infidelity and vice have slain their thousands, but Procrastination her tens of thousands. Few individuals can deliberately make up their minds to neglect absolutely_the unspeakably important interests of Eternity-but they defer the consideration till some future period. As the sluggard desires a little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to sleep; so do many of the young, yes, and many of the old, delay from day to day, and from year to year, attention to eternal objects. The language of their conduct is, 'Not now, but by and by;'-to-morrow, but not to-day, whilst the language of God to them is, "To-day ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.-Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation."

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When God and man are so differently minded, it is quite clear that man must be wrong, yea, very far wrong; he is in the opposite direction to that which is right. The first thing, then, is, to make him see and feel that he is wrong; the second, to set him right.-If the reader be conscious to himself that he has been trifling with the concerns of Eternity, acting on the principle of Not now, but by and by,' let him seriously attend to the following considerations.

He has been in this respect guilty of direct disobediencehe has been despising the authority and trampling under foot

the command of God. His command is, "To-DAY, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts," Psal. xcv. 7, 8, with Heb. iii. 7, 15. "Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God," &c. Matth. vi. 33. "Choose ye THIS DAY whom ye will serve," Josh. xxiv. 15. Now, granting that you are honestly intending to hear God's voice, seek his kingdom, and choose him as your Lord and Master, by and by, what have you to say for your present refusal to obey? Are you a father-would the intention, on the part of your child, to attend to your commands, after his amusement was over, satisfy you ? Are you a master-would you be pleased were your servant to reply to your orders, Yes, Sir, I'll do it by and by ?'-And dare you treat the commands of the Most High God, from day to day, and from year to year, in a way that you would deem improper in a fellow-creature to treat yours? Must God's commands be postponed till after you have gratified your inclination for business, amusement, idleness, and indolence? Is it so, that God must wait for man?

Under the

Besides, this conduct is very dangerous. righteous administration of the moral Governor of the universe, there is an inseparable connexion between guilt and danger; and conduct so guilty as that now described, must, of necessity, be most dangerous; yet those who are exposed to this danger, are generally insensible of it.-They please themselves with the thought that it is not immediate; and purposing, at some future "convenient season," to change their conduct, they calculate on escaping the danger. Does not their insensibility to their danger increase it, even as the ignorance of the benighted traveller renders his situation, when approaching a precipice, the more perilous and his destruction the more probable? And how great is the calamity to which procrastination in spiritual things exposes ! How tremendous the precipice over which the man of this character is in danger of falling! How dreadful the issue to him, who is pleasing himself with schemes of future amendment, when God saith, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee!" Who can contemplate his danger of being awakened from his dream of ultimate safety, by experiencing the awful and unalterable consequences of falling into the hands of the living God, and not feel an anxious desire to awaken him, while yet there is hope?

Further, this conduct is not only sinful and dangerous, but very foolish. Is it not preferring the less to the greater -temporal things to spiritual-the body to the soul-time to eternity: and is not this foolish? We are not surprised at

the child who prefers a showy, noisy toy, to a gift of ten times more value,-his age and ignorance account for it; but how foolish is it for full-grown men and women to act on the same principles in reference to matters of eternal moment -and that not ignorantly, but knowingly-avowedly-and pleasing themselves with the intention of acting a wiser part by and by.-Why not now?

The folly of this appears farther, when we advert to the influence of habit. Who has not felt this influence, and the extreme difficulty of giving up indulgences, or relinquishing practices to which he has been accustomed? And is not the man who admits the importance of religion, but who puts off a decided regard to it now, although it be with the honest intention of acting a wiser part by and by, overlooking altogether the influence of habit-does not his conduct proceed upon the principle that his present habits will be weakened by indulgence, and his disinclination removed more easily, after having been longer gratified? And can any supposition be more absurd ? Can any conduct be more preposterous, than that which implies these principles? If the reader has been acting in this way, let him, as a rational man, change his course; let him no longer trifle with the concerns of his soul, no longer overlook the importance of Eternity, but seriously inquire, how matters stand between him and God-What would be his condition were his soul this night required of him! Let him lay to heart the things which belong to his everlasting peace, and flee for refuge to the hope set before him in the gospel; let him, in one word, procrastinate no more; let his maxim no longer be, By and by, but not now; let it be, Now, now, not by and by.' It is, however, of immense importance, that when men are awakened to a sense of the necessity of personal attention to the concerns of their souls, they proceed in this matter in a right way. The enemy of souls seeks to lull men asleep-to banish serious thoughts of eternity-to persuade them to delay attention to spiritual matters, till some future period, but when by any means they are aroused to a sense of their danger, convinced of the unutterable importance of the salvation of their souls-and somewhat suitably affected by the thought of the awful punishment of hell, and the endless happiness of heaven-the object of the arch-enemy is to mislead them, and in this object he is greatly aided by the corrupt tendencies of the heart of man.

It is frequently found in these circumstances, that the individual at first betakes himself to a course of conduct

which ends in disappointment, or, perhaps, what is still more deplorable, leads to a false peace. He endeavours, by some means or other, to work out a righteousness of his own. In some, these attempts wear a very plausible appearance, and not only the individual himself, but others are deceived by them. For the detection and prevention of this, it may not be improper to advert to the manner in which this selfrighteous spirit sometimes appears. One of the most usual forms in which this spirit appears, is in what are called holy and pious resolutions. By these, I mean, resolutions against sin, and in favour of the performance of religious duties. Let not the reader startle, as if it were meant to be insinuated that sin is a light matter-that religious duties may be safely neglected, or that resolutions against the one, and in favour of the other, ought not to be formed: by no means; but that is not the point in hand-we are treating of resolutions formed for the purpose of removing from the conscience a sense of guilt-of procuring the favour, or it may be, perhaps, merely the notice of God-of qualifying the individual, it may be humbly alleged, to come unto Christ for pardon, und to hope in his mercy. Now as to such resolutions, notwithstanding their seemingly humble, pious character; notwithstanding the solemnity with which they may be formed, yea, though under the sanction of vows and oaths, I have no hesitation in saying, that they are but adding sin to sin. I speak not of the self-sufficient spirit, in which they are formed, in a vain confidence of personal strength, but of the self-righteous spirit from which they proceed, and which they so strongly evince-a spirit as diametrically opposed to genuine humility and piety, as darkness is to light. Do they not imply the very essence of spiritual pride? The man is not prepared to take the place of the publican, he is not sufficiently humbled to pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner;" he is at least desirous of taking his station beside the Pharisee, and joining in his devotions, and under the semblance of piety, indulging his self-complacency and pride, thanking God that he is not now as other men, careless as to eternity, and inattentive to the duties of religion. Do not these resolutions, or vows entered into, for the purpose of quieting the conscience, and recommending to the favourable notice of God, imply even a high degree of impiety? Are they not regarded by the man who forms them, as a price in the hand for the favour of God, a consideration which will enable him to bargain with his Maker ?-impious thought! Besides the pride and impiety which this conduct implies,

there is in it a melancholy exhibition of the sin of procrastination. The man will not come to the Saviour now, it is to be by and by-when he shall be better prepared, and somewhat more deserving of acceptance, or have, at least, a better warrant to hope for mercy. If the reader be influenced by such sentiments and feelings, I would say most earnestly and affectionately, renounce them-INSTANTLY renounce them; your eternal salvation depends on your doing so. No man ever has been, or shall be saved, retaining these sentiments. Deceive not yourself with the thought that they discover a becoming humility. You think yourself too bad to come to Christ as you are, but you hope to become more worthy of his regard by and by. Be assured your character is much worse than you imagine;-so bad, that you will never be able to make it much better ;- -so bad, that nothing but the infinitely precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, can atone for your guilt,-nothing but the almighty power and sovereign grace of the Holy Spirit can remove your depravity. And dare you think that you can add to the efficacy of that blood; or that the Spirit of God needs You to make a beginning in this work?

In a matter of eternal moment, in which the salvation or perdition of the soul is involved, it becomes every man who has the Bible in his hand, seriously to examine what saith the Scripture. No man can compensate another for the awful consequences which may arise from wrong counsel in this matter:-no; every man must bear his own burden: examine then for yourself the Scriptures; and may the Lord give you understanding in this deeply interesting and important subject.

You acknowledge yourself a sinner. You know that Jesus Christ died for sinners; but you do not think yourself justified in coming as you are. I say you should come as you are, that is, notwithstanding your guilt, and that without any delay, and I will tell you why. We learn from Scripture, that when Jesus was blamed for receiving into his company some sinners that were thought to be worse than others, he said, "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," Matt. ix. 13. He does not even say, convinced sinners, humbled sinners, as his gracious words are sometimes restricted; but merely sinners. I am come to call sinners to repentance. Does not this warrant you to come to him immediately?

Perhaps you are afraid that he will not receive you as you are. Oh distrust him not! He has said, "Him that cometh