No. 87. 
 
 A WORD OF WARNING FOR THE SICK 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 It is bad to be sick, worse to be sinful, and worst of all to 
 be impenitent. Sin is a disease, a moral disease, a disease 
 of the inner man. What sickness is to the body, sin is to 
 the soul. 1 1 is the worst of all maladies, more loathsome 
 than the leprosy, more painful than the gout, more stupify- 
 ing than paralysis, more maddening than fever, more fatal 
 than consumption 1 , and more dreadful than all these com- 
 bined. Other diseases are arrested by the tomb ; but sin 
 kills beyond the tomb — destroys both soul and body in hell. 
 Matt. 10, 28. 
 
 You, my friend, are infected with this fearful malady. 
 You inherited it from your parents. You were shapen in 
 iniquity, and in sin did your mother conceive you. Psa. 57, 
 5. You belong to a degenerate, corrupt race, to a world 
 lying in sin. Eph. Z, 1 ; 1 John, 5, 19. The symptoms of 
 your moral disease are numerous and unmistakable. Pro- 
 fanity, drunkenness,, lewdness, dishonesty^ lying, murder, 
 and such vices, are clear signs that the disease, not only 
 exists, but is raging. But there are other marks of it equal- 
 ly potent and decisive. The Word of Gad is the spiritual 
 food which he has furnished for the nourishment and growth 
 of his children. 1 Peter, 2, 2. ' A lack of appetite for this 
 food is an alarming symptom of moral disorder. Not tQ der 
 
aire the "sincere milk of the word," betokens a heart es- 
 tranged from God, and a taste vitiated by sin. Prayer is 
 the healthful breathing of a child of God. If it is neglected 
 or performed in a heartless, formal manner, the proof of a 
 serious moral disease is unquestionable. The prayerless 
 soul is dead in trespasses and sins. As a general emacia- 
 tion and feebleness of the body are certain symptoms of its 
 disease, so a' habitual neglect of religious privileges and 
 duties furnish positive evidence of an unhealthy and perilous 
 condition of the soul. And now, my friend, examine your- 
 self, deal faithfully with your soul. Do you not find in your 
 conduct, words, inclinations, and thoughts, proofs of your 
 moral disease ? Does not conscience testify that you are 
 estranged from God, enslaved by ycur lusts, and degraded 
 by your evil habits? I may apply to you the words of the 
 prophet, in a sense different from that in which he used 
 them, "The whole head is sick ; and the whole heart faint. 
 From the sole- of the foot even unto the head there is no 
 soundness in it ; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying 
 sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither 
 mollified with ointment." A conviction that you are dis- 
 eased is indispensable to your healing. " They that be 
 whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." As 
 only the man that is conscious of his disease, consults. a 
 medical adviser, so only they that are convinced of their 
 sinfulness, guilt and danger, seek the aid of the Physician 
 of souls. I ask again, my friend, are you not diseased ? 
 Are you prepared for death, judgment and eternity? Do 
 you not, impenitent man, bear plain marks of a moral mal- 
 ady — the fearful tokens of a coming perdition ? 
 
 God has employed appropriate means for the cure of your 
 moral sickness. It may be that you were nursed in the lap 
 of piety ; even taught in your infancy to lisp the name of 
 Jesus, and to seek his mercy, were brought up in the. nur- 
 ture and admonition of the Lord ; and were led to the fami- 
 ly altar, morning and evening, to present to God your sac- 
 rifices of prayer and praise. To you every successive sab- 
 bath brought its sacred associations aud its precious privi- 
 
leges. In the Sunday School you were (aught to read the 
 Scriptures, and its life-giving doctrine was instilled into 
 your susceptible minds. Or, if you were not so highly fa- 
 vored in jour childhood, you have, at least, enjoyed many 
 opportunities of hearing the gospel preached, and of seeing 
 its happy effects on those who embrace it. Your christian- 
 (riends have cherished a tender concern for your salvation, 
 have prayed for you, and have warned "you of your danger, 
 and urged you to flee to Christ, with all the fervor of love, 
 arid all the eloquence of tears. God's providential dealings 
 have concurred With the ministrations of His gospel in 
 pressing you to attend to your salvation. "The riches of 
 His goodness, and torbearanee and long s-ufTering," were 
 designed, as they were adapted, to lead you to repentance ; 
 and his judgments were sent to warn, arouse and save you. 
 Rom. 2,' 4; Isa. 26, 9. 
 
 All the means that God has employed for your conversion 
 have proved unavailing. You may have been, in some de- 
 gree, convinced of the truth of Christianity, and of its trans- 
 cendent importance; may have been impressed with your 
 danger and with your need of mercy ; may have been 
 almost persuaded to be a christian ; and may, like Herod 
 when he heard John the Baptist, have done "many things," 
 (Mark, 6, 20); but still you are impenitent, and enslaved by 
 sin. Your goodness, like the morning cloud or the early 
 de,w has passed away, leaving you more insensible, and 
 more firmly set in your course of folly and sin, than you 
 were before. Your good resolutions and solemn vows have 
 been broken, and are either forgotten, or are remembered 
 with shame. It is of the Lord's mercy that you have not 
 been consumed. There are many, no doubt, this moment 
 in perdition less corrupt and guilty than you are. 
 
 But God, my friend, has not yet given you up. He still 
 waits to be gracious, still employs means for your conver- 
 sion. "Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth 
 trouble spring out of the ground/' but sent of God, always 
 in wisdom, and frequently in mercy. God has brought this 
 sickness upon you. Far from home, and home comforts, 
 
and dear kindred, and sanctuary privileges, which once you 
 prized so lightly, among strangers, and surrounded with 
 the sick and dying, you are now tortured with disease, and 
 • loomed to pass wearisome and anxious days and nights. 
 !t is a sore trial, and deeply do I sympathize with you in it. 
 But this sickness, I trust, is not unto death, but for the 
 dory of God. It is a pause in your career of though tful- 
 nes's, dissipation and vice. God is calling you anew to re- 
 pentance and salvation. It is a great pity that you did not 
 attend to the interests of your soul while you enjoyed health 
 md rengious opportunities. It is a great mercy that God 
 did not call you to judgment while your heart was cheering 
 you in the days of your youth, and you were walking in the 
 ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes. Ec'cl. 11, 
 9. It is a great mercy that you may on your sick couch, 
 tmd in your feebleness, and amid the groans and eonfusion 
 of a hospital, obtain salvation. The Scriptures record one 
 instance of late conversion, that no sinner need to despair 
 of salvation ; and they record butone, that no sinner should 
 [(resume to defer his repentance. The dying thief stands 
 as a solitary trophy of grace, in the inspired history of the 
 church, a plea alike against despair and against presump- 
 tion. Sickness is not without its religious advantages. It? 
 lulls the storm of passion, bridles the unholy lusts, suspends (JJ J 
 the course of sin, strips the world of its delusive charms, QD 
 a ffords time for reflection, quickens the benumbed consciene, QC 
 gives glimpses of a coming eternity, and a righteous judg- 
 ment, and teaches the necessity of divine mercy. Many 
 have attributed their conversion, through grace, to sickness. 
 In health and prosperity, they were gay, thoughtless, stout- 
 hearted, and far from righteousness; but on the bed of 
 'angor and pain, they considered their ways, and turned to 
 God. 
 
 What will be the effect of this sickness on you, my friend, 
 remains to be seen. You may slight this kind warning as 
 you have the twice ten thousand mercies, of your past life. 
 You may grow harder and more determined in sin, in pro- 
 portion as God employs meaus for your salvation. This 
 
affliction, suited to quicken you to reflection, and lead you 
 to the cross, may be-- perverted to the increase of your cor- 
 ruption and guilt. This bodily suffering that you endure 
 may be but the precursor of the pangs of " the eternal 
 death." But I hope better things of you though 1 tli'us 
 write. Calling to remembrance your neglected privileges, 
 your broken vows, and your multiplied sins, considering 
 the value and peril of your soul, and your brief and uncer- 
 tain day of grace, you will, it is to Jbe hoped, pay instant, 
 earnest, attention to the. business of salvation. 
 
 It you would be a Christian, the first requisite is decision 
 of purpose. Whatever else you may have, you cannot be 
 saved without this. Indecision is one of the greatest bar- 
 riers to the salvation of sinners. Many are convinced that 
 it is their duty and interest to be Christians, and make fit- 
 ful, feeble efforts to follow their conviction ; but, lacking a 
 deep and settled purpose, they fall short of the prize. If, 
 my friend, you would be saved, your mind must be fully 
 made up, at any sacrifice, and through any difficulty and 
 peril, to secure thegreat deliverance. An object so glorious 
 may well challenge all the resolution,' firmness and energy 
 of which you are susceptible. 
 
 " What if the gospel bid you strive, 
 With flesh, and sense, and sin.? 
 
 The prize is most divinely bright 
 That you are called to win." 
 
 You cannot succeed in any difficult earthly enterprise 
 without a firm purpose; but "mountains are levelled and 
 gulfs are bridged, by this invincible spirit. If this disposi- 
 tion is needful in secular, much more in religious pursuits. 
 He that would enter in at the sti*ait or difficult gate must 
 strive or agonize. Lukexiii, 24. "No man having put hie 
 hand to the plough, and looking back is fit for the 
 kingdom of God. Luke, ix, 62. I would entreat you then 
 by the value of jspur soul, by the love of Christ, by the 
 bloody sacrifice of the cross, and by the solemnities of judg- 
 
raent and of eternity, to make up your mind, byGod'shelp, 
 that you will become a Christian, or die in the attempt- 
 But be sure, my friend, that you do not stop short' of the 
 cross. There is neither help nor hope for any sinner but in 
 the cross. Whatever you may do, or suffer, or purpose, all 
 will be unavailing, and worse than unavailing, if you do 
 not come to Christ. Neither tears, prayers, vows, alms, 
 penances, profession, nor martyrdom, nor all these com- 
 bined, can save a soul. " None but Jesus can do helpless 
 sinners good;" and he can do them good. His blood can 
 cleanse them from sin, his love can cheer them, his wisdom 
 can guide them, his power can support them under every 
 burden, and his grace can crown them with glory. "It 
 hath pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should 
 dwell." A bleeging, dying Christ is the only comfort of a 
 sin-stricken world. But in order that you may share in the 
 benefits that Christ bestows, you must receive Him as your 
 Prophet, Priest and King. Faith, which is equivalent to 
 coming to Christ or receiving him, is the condition on which 
 God bestows eternal life, and all the blessings requisite to 
 its enjoyment, on sinners. "Jesus said Unto the Jews, I 
 am the bread of life : he that cometh to me shall never 
 hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.' 7 
 John, vi, 35. 
 
 Do you, ray friend, fear to commit your soul to the hands 
 of Jesus? I am not surprised that you should be ready to 
 despair of salvation. When you consider with how high a 
 hand you h,ave sinned against God, through how many 
 years you have persisted in your rebellion, under what ag- 
 gravating circumstances you have maintained the.unnatural 
 conflict, and the fatal influence of your example upon your 
 fellow beings, it is not strange that your guilt should seem 
 to transcend the efficacy of the Kedeemer's blood, and the 
 riches of His forgiving grace. When we contemplate God 
 as a hply, just and sin-avenging Judge, terror not hope 
 fills our minds, punishment not pardon is what we expect. 
 He is not only a just God but a Saviour; and you, pollu- 
 ted, guilty, miserable sinner, need not despair of salvation. 
 
7 
 
 Your guilt is great, greater than you have ever conceived: 
 but it does not exceed the cleansing power of Christ's blood. 
 Your soul is triple dyed in sin, but the blood of Christ can 
 wash out its deepest stains. The words of the Apostle John 
 are fraught with everlasting consolation and encoui'agenient 
 to sin-burdened and desponding souls, "The blood of Jesus 
 Christ, God's Son cleanseth us from all sin." Christ is not 
 only able to save to the uttermost them that come unto 
 God by Him, but he is ready to receive the coming sinner, 
 without delay, and without upbraiding. " All that the 
 Father giveth me," he says, •' shall come to me ; and him 
 that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. John vi, 37. 
 
 It only remains that I should urge you, my sick friend, 
 to come to Jesus. Suppose your sickness should prove fa- 
 tal. I trust it will not, but it may. At any rate the day 
 cannot be very re:note when disease, or old age, or some 
 casualty will bring you to your end. And what a fearful 
 thing it is to die without the hope of the gospel. You would 
 better never have been born, or been born in a heathen land, 
 or born a beast, than to live and die in sin. You are not 
 prepared for death, and you know it. You would not die 
 in your present state for ten thousand worlds ; and yet you 
 are pursuing a course, which, if you persist in it, must ter- 
 minate in an eternity of bitter regrets, unutterable woe, un- 
 availing lamentations, and black despair. Is it wise, is it 
 not madnesss in the extreme, to hazard your eternal well- 
 being on the chance of your recovery from sickness ? 
 
 Suppose your sickness, as I hope maybe the case, should 
 not end in dea^h, but that your health should be restored, 
 and long years of prosperity should be allotted to you ! 
 For this exemption from death you will be indebted to the 
 forflearance and tender mercy of God. And will you, dare 
 you, requite the divine goodness with the base ingratitude 
 of perverting it into a motive for continuing in sin ? Perish 
 the the thought! If this sickness should be the means ol 
 your conversion, you will have cause of eternal gratitude 
 to God. You will number this affliction, though now so 
 bitter and so depressing, among the most cherished bless- 
 
ings of your life. The gloomy hospital, the wearisome 
 couch, the loneliness of your condition, and, it may be, 
 this little tract, associated with your reflection, penitence, 
 prayer and hope, will be classed with your most precious 
 memorials. You will come forth from your affliction, with 
 renewed vigor and fresh hope, better fitted to bear the ills, 
 fulffllthe responsibilities, and eu joy the blessings of life. 
 You will be a better soldier, more patient under discipline 
 in the camp, and more courageous amid the dangers of the 
 battle field. When the war closes, if Grod should preserve 
 your life, you- will return to your home to be a blessing to 
 your family, an ornament to society, and a pillar in . the 
 church of God. Blessings will attend you through all the 
 joui"ney of life. Useful labors will fill up the measure of 
 your days, and peace will be the nightly pillow for your 
 head. You will finish your course with joy, have an abun- 
 dant entrance ministered you into the everlasting kingdom 
 of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and receive the 
 crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
 Judge, shall give you in that-day. May God grant you Ihi- 
 mercy for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.