Prov. 8:17
It is told of the great Hannibal that when he could have taken Rome he would not, and when he would have taken it, he could not.
Is not this the case with many souls? When their hearts are tender and the Lord Jesus is easily found, they harden their hearts against Him. Then when they near the end and should be resting in His love, He "has no beauty that they should desire Him." When they may have mercy, they do not prize it; and when they cry for mercy, like the rich man "tormented in this flame" in Luke 16:24, they cannot obtain it. He that in his youth reckons it too early to be converted may at last find that he has scorned the only way to be saved. "After death, the judgment"
"Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with His stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee." Job 36:18. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Heb. 2:3.