“Ye fools, when will ye be wise? Ps. xciv, 8.
The Scripture stigmatizes the sinner as a fool. He may be rich, he may be learned, he may fill an honorable station in the world, but so long as he neglects the one thing needful, he is called a fool. Wisdom consists in fixing upon a worthy end, a pursuing it in the most prudent and judicious way. A wise man thinks of his soul, and seeks above everything else its salvation. He thinks of the wrath of God, and endeavors by all means to escape it. He thinks of a crown of glory, and sets his heart upon obtaining it. He sees that glorifying God is his highest honor, and secures his greatest happiness; and therefore he makes that the grand end of his life. But the multitude, alas ! the multitude overlook, or despise, or treat these things with contempt. They live as if self-gratification were the end of their creation, as if earth were their eternal dwelling place, and as if glorifying God were no business of theirs. Looking at men in general, one would be ready to conclude, if we were to judge by their conduct, that they had no souls to be saved or lost, —as if there were no hell to escape or heaven to obtain, —as if there were no crown of glory to be won or crown of shame to be avoided. Surely the Scriptures are right in designating such men fools; for fools, the greatest fools, they must be. Should the eye of a worldly man or woman light upon this page, God asks thee the question, “When will you be wise?” When will you begin to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness? When will you come to Jesus, and be saved from wrath by Him? When will you begin to lay up for yourself treasure in heaven? When will you prepare for death, judgment, and eternity?
“O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” Deut. xxxii, 29
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald Dec. 10, 1861