Horatius Bonar.

We have had little of the mind of Christ. We have come far short of the

example of the Master. We have had little of the grace, the compassion, the

meekness, the lowliness, the love of Jesus. His weeping over Jerusalem is a

feeling in which we have but little heartfelt sympathy. His seeking of the lost is

little imitated by us. His unwearied teaching of the multitudes we shrink from

as too much for flesh and blood. His days of fasting, His nights of watchfulness

and prayer, are not fully realized as models for us to copy. His counting not

His own life dear unto Him that He might glorify the Father and finish the

work given Him to do, is but little remembered by us as the principle on

which we are to act. Yet surely we are to follow His steps; the servant is to

walk where his Master has led the way; the under shepherd is to be what the

Chief Shepherd was. We must not seek rest or ease in a world where He

whom we love had none.

We have been unbelieving. It is unbelief that makes us so cold in our

preaching, so slothful in visiting, and so remiss in all our sacred duties. It is

unbelief that chills our life and straitens our heart. It is unbelief that makes us

handle eternal realities with such irreverence. It is unbelief that makes us

ascend with so light a step into the pulpit to deal with immortal beings about

heaven and hell.

We have not been sincere in our preaching. If we were, could we be so cold, so

prayerless, so inconsistent, so slothful, so worldly, so unlike men whose

business is all about eternity? We must be more in earnest if we would win

souls. We must be more in earnest if we would walk in the footsteps of our

beloved Lord, or if we would fulfill the vows that are upon us. We must be

more in earnest if we would be less than hypocrites. We must be more in

earnest if we would finish our course with joy, and obtain the crown at the

Master's coming. We must work while it is day; the night comes when no man