ed myself to the time of Christ's coming, but not only
then, but at all times and under all circumstances, as all parts of the
Bible inform us, obedience to the light we possess is the way to gain
more light. In the words of Wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, "I love
them that love Me, and those that seek Me early shall find Me. . . . I
lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of
judgment[28]." Or, in the still more authoritative words of Christ
Himself, "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also
in much[29];" and, "He that hath, to him shall be given[30]."

Now let us see some of the consequences which follow from this great
Scripture truth.

1. First of all, we see the hopelessness of waiting for any sudden
change of heart, if we are at present living in sin. Far more persons
deceive themselves by some such vain expectation than at first sight
may appear. That there are even many irreligious men, who, from
hearing the false doctrines now so common, and receiving general
impressions from them, look forward for a possible day when God will
change their hearts by His own mere power, in spite of themselves, and
who thus get rid of the troublesome thought that now they are in a
state of fearful peril; who say they can do nothing till His time
comes, while still they acknowledge themselves to be far from Him; even
this I believe to be a fact, strange and gross as the self-deception
may appear to be. And others, too, many more, doubtless, are there
who, not thinking themselves far from Him, but, on the contrary, high
in His favour, still, by a dreadful deceit of Satan, are led to be
indolent and languid in their obedience to His commandments, from a
pretence that they can do nothing of themselves, and must wait for the
successive motions of God's grace to excite them to action. The utmost
these persons do is to talk of religion, when they ought to be up and
active, and waiting for the Blessed Spirit of Christ by obeying God's
will. "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light[31]." This is the exhortation. And doubtless to
all those who live a self-indulgent life, however they veil their
self-indulgence from themselves by a notion of their superior religious
knowledge, and by their faculty of speaking fluently in Scripture
language, to all such the word of life says, "Be not deceived; God is
not mooted," He tries the heart, and disdains the