remedy. Without this belief, this faith, you would never try it, you would neglect it altogether. Your faith therefore becomes the means of saving you.

I remember once to have heard this believing in Christ, most beautifully illustrated in another way. Perhaps the illustration is to be found in some book, but I have not seen it in any.

A man in the course of his travels, becomes benighted ; and at length, losing his way, falls asleep. Awaking just at the dawn of day, he finds himself on the very brink of a precipice. At the moment he is sliding down the last jutting rock, he grasps a bush and hangs by it over the brink. In this dreadful condition it is evident he cannot hang long. A stranger passing by and espying his danger, hastens to a part of the rock not far below him, spreads out his strong arms to receive him, and cries out to him, "You are now safe, if you only let go your bush; for I shall then catch you as you fall.” The man, however, cannot trust to the stranger. He holds on to his bush, which in the mean time begins to give way, and, in a few moments, will certainly leave him to be dashed in pieces upon the rocks below. The stranger pleads with him,

intreats him to trust himself in his arms, and tells him that if he continues thus, his destruction is certain. If the unhappy man perseveres in his distrust, and hangs on to his bush, he perishes. But if he trusts to the words of the stranger, and letting go of it, falls into his arms, he is safe.

So with the sinner,-with us all. Like the man of whom I have just spoken, we are, both by nature and practice, hanging by vain hopes and contrivances of our own, on the brink of a fearful precipice, over everlasting destruction; while Christ, espying our danger, has placed

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himself below, and is calling upon us to let go of them, and fall into his arms. If we continue to hold on to them, they will soon all give way and leave us miserably to perish; but if we put confidence in what Christ tells us, and fall into his arms, we shall be saved.

I hope you have understood these illustrations, and applied them as you ought. And now just think; what greater favour could Christ show you than he has done, in teaching you to believe in him? For of what use would all your knowledge of him be to you, if you should consider nothing that you have learned and know about him as true and good? If you should remain in unbelief, you would neither esteem him, nor govern yourselves by his word; and of course you would not be reformed by him or anything he has said, nor ever become the dear children of God.

If, on the other hand, you believe in Jesus, you will feel sorry for all your past sins, sincerely repent of them, and, resolving to forsake them for ever, fly to Jesus as your Saviour, and just such a Saviour as you need. God will then for his sake forgive all your sins, and fill your hearts with holy joy, or what the Bible calls, peace in believing. You will then listen to all the doctrines which Jesus has taught, as good and true, and delight to follow them. You will then put confidence in him, that he will receive you to himself in heaven, if you continue to love and honour God even to death.

And you will also be grateful. For should a man throw himself into a river, and, plunging to the bottom of the stream, bring you up and save you from drowning, would you ever cease to remember him with gratitude and love? Much more, then, if you truly believe in Jesus, will you also ever feel full of gratitude and love towards him, for

having, by the most agonizing sufferings and death, saved you from such unspeakable sin and misery, and raised to such wonderful happiness and glory.

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See you not, then, what a blessed thing it is to believe in Jesus? He who does so, enjoys all the benefits which Jesus came to procure for us, in this world. By means of the doctrines which the Saviour taught, he will become wise and good He will, by means of him, be rendered lovely and pleasing in the sight of God. He will obtain a peaceful conscience, be delivered from all slavish fears of death, and be made eternally happy.

PRAYER.

Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, be pleased to listen to the confessions and vows of a weak child. I affirm, as thy disciple Peter did, that I believe and acknowledge thee to be Christ, the Son of the living God. Most joyfully will I honour and worship thee, from my youth upwards. With gratitude and confidence will I receive thee, as the teacher and Saviour of the human family, through whom we obtain grace and the forgiveness of our sins, from the Father of all in heaven, if we seriously hate our sins and love what is good, pray in thy name, ground all our hopes of a happy immortality upon thee, obey thy commands, follow the example which thou hast set us, and live and die to thee. Help me, my Lord and God, my Saviour and friend, help me to live according to this confession, and to fulfil these vows, in which I surrender all up to thee for ever. O, take the entire and undivided control of this heart, and lead me on to perfection until death, and then receive me to thyself, with the thousands of thy saints in glory.

THE FEELINGS AND CONDUCT OF A BELIEVER IN JESUS.

It is possible, my young friends, after all I have said, that you will make mistakes upon this subject, and think you are Christians when you are not. Many persons, as we learn from the Bible, have made such mistakes.

You probably remember how there once came a rich young man to Jesus, and said to him, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do to become thy true disciple, and obtain eternal life?" and that Jesus, unquestionably to bring the young man to see how miserable his condition was, if he had nothing but his own goodness to depend upon, and to feel his need of a Saviour, through whom to obtain grace and forgiveness from God, reminded him of the wickedness of all mankind, and told him, that in order to be saved, he must keep the commandments, nor murder, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor bear false witness; but honour his father and mother, and love his neighbour as himself?

This young man thought himself very good, and on hearing the reply of Jesus felt himself in a fair way for heaven; but as soon as the Saviour applied the test of sincerity to his heart, it became evident at once that he was not a Christian. He had only called Christ good Master with his mouth, and did not in reality believe in him as the Saviour.

And you will also remember Jesus tells us, that at the last day, after the righteous have all sat down with him in the kingdom of heaven, many will come to its gate, knocking hard and pleading earnestly for admittance, alleging that they ate and drank in his presence in the world, and

did many wonderful works in his name; but that he will tell them to depart from him, calling them workers of iniquity, and declaring that he never knew them.

It will be very sad for you to find yourselves of this number, and guilty of such a mistake.

It will not be with

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you in the other world as it is in this. pent of any fault of which you have been guilty, and reform; or you can counteract its evil effects, or at least you can obtain forgiveness for it; and besides, in the sorrow it may occasion, you have many sources of comfort.

But there you can repent no more, no, not even if you weep for repentance in bitterness of soul; nor will you there any more be able to prevent the evil effects of what you have done or left undone. You must, without one friend to comfort you, or one smile from your God and Saviour, for ever endure the consequences of all your sins. It is then, surely, of the utmost importance for you to be certain that you are Christians.

Do remember, then, that it is not enough for a Christian, that he calls Jesus, Lord and Saviour. Hear from the mouth of Jesus himself, what is demanded of a true Christian. "Would you," said he to the young man, of whom we have just spoken, "would you be my true disciple, you must part with all you have, giving it away to the poor, and come, follow me."

In another place he has expressed himself in still plainer language. "He who would be my disciple, must love me more than he loves father and mother, and the dearest friends, yea, than his own life,-must, for the sake of religion and piety, he ready at once to give up everything he loves and deems of value in the world, whenever circumstances demand such a sacrifice,-must, from obedience to God, suppress all the wishes and inclinations within him,