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eousness of their own, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God; for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.' One man tries to establish a righteousness of his own, out of his reformation; another one, out of his duties; another, out of his painful attempts or painful convictions; as you just now mentioned your own torments of mind. It is evident that you are trying to be righteous before God, through your pain and your attempted penitence. And if you should find any peace of mind in that way, it would only be a deception, not an item of religion in it. You ought to betake yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ, a poor, guilty, undone sinner, to be saved by him alone-saved by grace. You ought to go to him, just as you are, to be washed in his blood, to be clothed in his righteousness, to be sheltered from the thunders of God's eternal law, in the security of his all-sufficient atonement. You ought to flee to Christ, like the man-slayer to the city of refuge before he is cut down by the sword of the avenger of blood. You ought to go instantly, like the prodigal to his father, in all his poverty, starvation, and rags, as well as guilt. You ought to cry, like Peter sinking in the waves, Lord, save me.' But instead of this, you are just looking to yourself, striving to find something, or make something in your own heart, which shall recommend you to God. And in this miserable way you are making salvation a far more difficult matter than God has made it. You have forgotten the free grace of the gospel, the full atonement of Jesus Christ by the sacrifice of himself."

"But," said he, "I can't repent and come to Christ of myself."

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"I certainly never said you could, and never wished you to think you could. In my opinion, God does not wish you to think so. And if you have found out that you cannot repent of yourself, aside from Divine aid, I am glad of it-you have found out an important truth. Most certainly God does not tell you to repent of yourself. He tells that you Christ is exalted to give repentance.' He says to every sinner, Thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help: let him take hold on my strength that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me.' On the ground that they need it, he has promised 'the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.' God never expects you to repent without Divine aid, but with it. He knows you

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are too wicked to do it, that you are without strength, helpless, undone, a lost sinner! And here lies the very heart of your error. You have been trying to repent in a way that God never told you, just by your own powers, instead of trying to get God to have mercy upon you, and save you by his help. You have been looking to the powers within you, instead of looking to the aid above you. You have trusted to yourself, instead of trusting yourself to the grace of Christ. And that is the very reason why you have failed; and now you complain that you cannot repent, while, in reality, you have exactly the same sufficiency as the penitent all around you. What has been their help, may be your help. And the sooner you are driven off from all that self-seeking and self-reliance, the better it will be for you. You are in the double error of undervaluing the character of God, and overvaluing your own. God is more merciful and more gracious than you think him to be. He is more ready to save you. And when he commands you to repent, he does not wish you to forget that all your hope lies in the immediate aid of his Holy Spirit. Nor does he wish you to attempt to dispense with that proffered assistance, by your not believing that you are as utterly helpless as you really are. He does not tell you to rely upon your own shattered strength; but you have done so. And when you have failed, you then turn round and complain that you can't repent. You reject his offered help-the help of the omnipotent Spirit. And for this reason you will be the more criminal if you do not repent. That Divine Spirit is your only hope. If he leaves you to yourself, you are lost-eternally lost! Tread softly, my dear friend. The ground whereon thou standest is holy ground. Let not the Holy Spirit, who presides over the souls here this evening, bear witness against you in the day of the final judgment- Because I have called, and ye refused.' You can repent, just in the way that others repent, just because God is your help. Trust him, and rely upon yourself no longer."

As I was saying these things, he appeared to become much less affected, but much more thoughtful. His tears and his agitations ceased, and he seemed to hang upon my lips, as if he was listening to some new wonder. When I had done, all was hushed as death; and in a deliberate, subdued, and solemn tone, he broke that expressive silence, saying:

"I hope my God will help me."

"Let us pray," said I. And a short prayer, pleading for God's help, closed the meeting.

I afterwards found numerous reasons for believing that that was one of the most profitable religious meetings I ever attended. Among others was the case of my friend, whose expression had drawn me somewhat out of my proposed mode of conducting the exercises of the evening. He became, as he hoped, a true believer. He stated to me the exercises of his mind, his repentance, his faith in Christ, his peace and hope, and his reliance upon the Holy Spirit. His mind appeared to seize upon the great truths of the gospel almost without emotion. He had no ecstacy, no exultation, no joy. He had only peace and hope. He told me that his agitations had all been useless to him; that they were not faith, and did not lead to faith; and that he thought "sinners ought to attend to the calls of God in a believing manner." And when I asked him what had kept him from Christ so long, he replied: "I was trying to make myself better-to have a religion instead of trusting in Christ. What you said to me that night showed me my mistake, and I went home with a deeper sense of my dependence, and a clear view of the free grace of God to sinners through the redemption of Christ."

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"I KNOW IT IS MY DUTY."

A MAN lived on a cliff overhanging the sea. The ground, sloping inland, was protected from the winds that, on the ocean-side, raised frequent and destructive storms. Indeed, to all appearance, no ocean could be near. Having wealth at command, and taking much interest in the adornment of his home, he had made of it a very paradise. Trees, grouped with fine effect, shaded the lawns; flowers and shrubbery bordered the pleasant pathways. The house itself had a most home-like and attractive aspect. Surely might the passer-by say, "How happy the owner of this place must be !"

And in a sense he was happy. Family and social relations were satisfactory. True, he was afflicted with a nearsightedness which prevented his taking any distant view, but he seemed content with what was immediately around him. A friend once offered him an eye-glass that would

open to him a sight of the ocean beyond; but he declined using it, saying that "what he could see on his own place, and inland, was sufficient."

And yet all this time the ocean was wearing, wearing away the base of the cliff on which he dwelt. Its waves were undermining its very foundation. Both tide and storm at times hurried on the work of destruction. Yet he seemed to know it not; or if he heard it spoken of, it made little impression on his mind. Being short-sighted, he did not see the danger.

And he was very self-sufficient. Raised in some respects above his fellow men, he prided himself upon his independence of thought, his intuitive insight, his knowledge of men and things. He seemed to have an indefinite impression that in some way he was not like others; that he could not be exposed to danger common to such as they; that what concerned them was of no account to him. So he lived on, busied with his own affairs, apparently unconscious or heedless of the coming doom.

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But reports of the danger grew thick and fast. The community were aroused. Some of his neighbours on the cliff left all, and took refuge on a sure foundation." Some, alas, delayed too long. The ground crumbled and gave way under them. They were lost. Still he lived on as usual, driving from his mind the anxiety which sometimes came across him as to his safety.

What did his neighbours do for him? His friend warned him from time to time, urging him to use the glass that would show him the ocean that must yet destroy his pleasant home. But this warning was only occasional, for from all meetings of the citizens respecting the danger he held himself aloof. Was he not as good and as wise as they?

Some of the neighbours talked over the matter as to their own duty to him, but hesitated to approach him. They perhaps did not feel the danger to be pressingly imminent. One said, "He has everything so finely arranged, it were a pity to disturb him.” "It is difficult to know whether to approach him on the subject. He is peculiar. Speaking might do more harm than good." "He has known the cliff was not to be relied on since he was a child. He sees that we are afraid to stay on it. Our example speaks louder than words." But while his friends thus lingered, the waves were still working, working, wearing, undermining.

At last a friend bolder than others had a plain talk

with him. He, in return, thanked his friendly visitor, and after further conversation said, with an indifferent tone, as if the thing did not concern him particularly, "Well, I know it is my duty to attend to this matter." "Duty, my friend, duty? duty?" rejoined the other; "do you not see it is the only thing really worth your attention? Certain death and destruction await you and your family if you do not leave all and escape in season."

This parable may serve to illustrate the conduct of men in regard to religion. Men think of it as one among many things that claim their attention. Some pass it by altogether. Some even say, 66 I know it is my duty to attend to it," but being satisfied with this present world, they delay providing for the future. What short-sightedness! Would they but use the eye-glass of faith in the word and promises of God, it would help them to realize how their sands of time are every moment washed away into eternity. It would show that eternity to them threatens to be a bottomless abyss of destruction. It would point them to a sure place of refuge.

Is your own "house built upon the sand," or upon the "Rock of our salvation," the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste;" that is, shall not flee in terror when the Lord shall lay "judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place."

THE RAINBOW,

Gen. ix. 13.

TRIUMPHAL arch that fill'st the sky
When storms prepare to part,

I ask not proud philosophy

To teach me what thou art

Still seems as to my childhood's sight,
A midway station given

For happy spirits to alight

Betwixt the earth and heaven.

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