View source for At last to cheat the devil!

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If God is not your master—the <em>devil </em>will be. If <em>grace </em>does not rule—<em>sin</em> will reign. If <em>Christ </em>is not your all in all—the <em>world </em>will be. It is not as though we could roam abroad in total liberty. We must have a master of one kind or another. <em>And which is best?<br><br> </em>A bounteous, benevolent Benefactor—a merciful, loving, and tender Parent—a kind, forgiving Father and Friend—a tender-hearted, compassionate Redeemer?—<em>OR</em>—A cruel devil, a miserable world, a wicked, vile, abominable heart?<br><br> <em>Which is better? </em>To live under the sweet constraints of the dying love of a dear Redeemer—under gospel influences, gospel principles, gospel promises, and gospel encouragements?—<em>OR—</em>To walk in imagined liberty, with sin in our heart, exercising dominion and mastery there—and binding us in iron chains to the judgment of the great day?<br><br>
Even taking the present life—there is more real pleasure, satisfaction, and solid happiness—in half an hour with God—in sweet union and communion with the Lord of life and glory—in reading His word with a believing heart—in finding access to His sacred presence—in knowing something of the droppings in of His favour and mercy—than in all the delights of sin, all the lusts of the flesh, all the pride of life, and all the amusements that the world has ever devised to kill time and cheat self—thinking, by a death-bed repentance—<strong>at last to cheat the devil!</strong>