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SINNERS IN A FEARFUL CONFLICT.

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O tell me, ye neglecters of the Gospel, ye infidels and ye atheists, who despise the Son of God, why is it that ye thus treat him with contempt, or seek to destroy his kingdom! To me, as I gaze upon him, he appears altogether lovely, infinitely desirable. Language fails me when I would express his excellence. I am utterly lost in my admiration of his character. I would exchange worlds for his approving smile. I can only fall at his feet, and, in the very depths of humility, cry out, "Let thy kingdom come, and thy glory fill the universe." Alas! I know it too well; your neglect of the Gospel comes from your sin; your contempt of the Son of God is the overflowing gall of a wicked heart.

Well, if you persevere in such conduct, you will soon find yourselves engaged in a fearful conflict. The oncesuffering victim of Calvary is not to be set at nought with impunity. All good men and angels are on his side. The laws of creation are but the decrees of his will. All power is given to him in heaven and in earth. Such is the being whom you dare neglect, or treat with vile contempt. If you will not submit to him, you must conquer him, or be crushed, for he has sworn not to leave a single enemy unsubdued. Could you trample the sun and stars under your feet, command the myriads of heaven, and hurl the Deity from his throne, there would be some hope for you as a rebel. Then, as the savage Nero looked out upon the conflagration of Rome, or the haughty Marius sat alone on the ruins of Carthage, you might contemplate the conflagration of a world, and sit alone amidst the ruins of the universe. But hast thou an arm like God? Canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

You fly from the lion and the tiger; you are struck with

awe at the mighty waterfall, or the broad ocean, or the wide landscape around you and far beneath your feet. You hide your face from the vivid lightning; you turn pale at the crashing thunder, and sink down in terror as the tornado sweeps along the earth. How then can you stand before the Son of God? How will you bear the frown of him who speaks, and it is done; who commands, and it stands fast!

"Poor sinners, little do you think
With whom you have to do.”

He whom you thus neglect or despise is not to be lightly so treated. Persisting in such conduct, you must, as he himself has told you, be crushed by him. To do so is voluntarily to throw yourselves beneath his car, or the broad wheels of the universe. Here you will receive injury, and what an injury, what a loss;—and one too which you can ill afford to sustain! For your souls are poor and needy. Life to them is also very desirable, and death, such a death, very terrible. But judge ye from whence the injury comes. Decide for yourselves, whether Jesus and his Father's throne will not remain for ever guiltless of your blood.

Here I drop the subject, and leave my readers to their own reflections. Some will think I have expressed myself with severity; but is it possible in such a case to be severe beyond the truth? What can be more unreasonable than the treatment which Jesus Christ receives from a majority of the human race? And his Gospel being true, how infinitely dangerous to perseveringly regard it with indifference or contempt? The remarks forced themselves upon me, as I was drawing my views of the Saviour and his doctrines to a close. I could

THE WATER OF LIFE, HERE, HEREAFTER.

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not forbear throwing out a few hints for the infidel and the atheist to digest, should they ever run their eyes over these pages. The train of thought under the fourth head, a little further developed, is one which, years since, saved me from the abyss of religious scepticism, and may, with the blessing of God, prove as beneficial to some others.

God grant, however, my young friends, that in your case they may for ever be uncalled for. Fain would I have you choose the direct road to the kingdom of heaven, rather than the one that lies through the wilderness of scepticism and infidelity, passing along the borders of hell. I have therefore taken you by the hand, and endeavoured to lead you to the sacred fountain. We have been down together by short excursions into the humble vale where it gushes forth. We have stooped to drink of the living water in all its purity. We have walked through green pastures along the banks of its flowing stream: we have smelt the fragrance of the trees that grow there, and reposed ourselves in the cooling shade. Have you heartily been with me in these excursions, tasted of the living water, and enjoyed the pasture, the fragrance, and the shade? You will then hereafter remember the place, and as the panting hart returns to its favourite brook and wonted vale, return to this fountain and valley, as those of all others in which you most delight. Here you will be found taking your morning walks, and indulging your evening meditations, and here you will rejoice to spend the hallowed hours of the Lord's-day. In all the varying scenes of life, whether of sorrow or of joy, you will find it a place of most delightful retirement and repose. In short, here you will pass your days until you are removed from it, and placed in the rich valley, watered by the

broad river of life, where your Redeemer and all his redeemed dwell.

And do you find the sacred fountain sweet and refreshing to your thirsty soul, even in the little valley where it is to be found in this world? What then will it be to have full access to the broad river of God, hard by where it flows forth from his throne, to walk the green pastures there, and partake of the immortal fruit? How delightful the city watered by such a river; how salubrious the air of such a clime; how sweet the fragrance of its groves!

Press onward, my young friends, in your knowledge of the word of God, and as you grow in years, make yourselves more and more acquainted with the Bible, the Gospel in particular, and the life and doctrines of Jesus Christ; and soon this fragrant grove, this salubrious air, this delightful clime, and these living waters themselves, shall all be yours. You shall then be for ever freed from sin, and sorrow, and death, and have holiness and peace and everlasting bliss.

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