" Ah, it was but ALMOST;
and so he had as good have never been a WHIT; he stepped fair
indeed, but yet he stepped short; he was hot while he was at it, but
he was quickly out of wind. O this BUT ALMOST! I tellyou, this BUT
ALMOST lost his soul. Methinks I have seen sometimes how these poor
wretches that get but almost to heaven, how fearfully their almost
and their but almost will torment them in hell; when they shall cry
out in the bitterness of their souls, saying, "Almost a Christian. I
was almost got into the kingdom, almost out of the hands of the
devil, almost out of my sins, almost from under the curse of God;
almost, and that was all; almost, but not altogether. O that I
should be almost at heaven, and should not go quite through!"
Friend, it is a sad thing to sit down before we are in heaven, and
to grow weary before we come to the place of rest; and if it should
be thy case, I am sure thou dost not so run as to obtain.
EVANGELIST. The crown is before you, and it is an incorruptible one;
"So run, that you may obtain it." Some there be that set out for
this crown, and after they have gone far for it, another comes in
and takes it from them: "Hold fast, therefore, that ye have; let no
man take your crown:" you are not yet out of the gunshot of the
devil; "you have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin:" let
the kingdom be always before you, and believe stead-fastly
concerning things that are invisible; let nothing that is on this
side the other world get within you; and, above all, look well to
your own hearts and to the lusts thereof, for they are "deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked:" set your faces like a
flint; you have all power in heaven and earth on your side.
Pages:
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314