THE APPROACHING DEADLINE (Preached in Kilskeery FPC) "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" Jeremiah 8:20-22. Last week, Kilskeery had its annual Harvest Services. In a day when a large section of the general population has virtually lost all contact with the agricultural way of life, it is important for a spirit of thanksgiving for the continuing harvests be maintained. 1. Life, like the year, has its seasons. God has provided man with a map of time so that he might the better employ himself. 2. All of us need the promptings of deadlines, otherwise there are some things we would never get done. 3. Some things we have a tendency to put off and put off, promising ourselves that we have time enough to get it done. 4. Our text reminds us of the most important deadline of all-- that of our soul's salvation. 5. With the fruits of the earth, there is a summer and a harvest season in which they must be reaped and gathered in. So is it with our souls. The summer time of our lives ought to be spend preparing for the winter of death and judgment. Jeremiah is weeping over his people for they had missed the deadline. Primarily this is a reference to the failure of Egypt to come to Jerusalem's rescue. But there is a gospel application which wish to make. What words of grief and sorrow these are.