Nor can he whose vineyard, whose profession is covered over with
these nettles and thorns of iniquity, escape being afflicted with
them in his conscience; for, as they cover the face of his vineyard
through his sloth now, so will they cover the face of his conscience
in the day of judgment. For profession and conscience cannot be
separated long: if a man then shall make profession without
conscience of God's honor in his conversation, his profession and
conscience will meet in the day of his visitation. Nor will he whose
condition this shall be, be able to ward off the guilt and sting of
a slothful and bad conversation from covering the face of his
conscience, by retaining in his profession the name of Jesus Christ;
for naming and professing the name of Christ will, instead of
salving such a conscience, put venom, sting, and keenness into those
nettles and thorns that then shall be spread over the face of such
consciences. I beseech you, consider this, namely, that the man that
professeth the name of Christ and yet liveth a wicked life, is the
greatest enemy that God has in the world, and consequently one that
God will most eminently set his face against.
THE FRUITLESS PROFESSOR.
Barren-fig-tree, thou art not licensed by thy profession, nor by the
Lord of the vineyard, to bear these clusters of Gomorrah; neither
shall the vineyard, nor thy being crowded among the trees there,
shelter thee from the sight of the eye of God.
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