whose hands were lifted up in murderous wrath, whose hearts were boiling over with malice and fury? Oh! how infinitely more dreadful to be shut up for ever, with none but such companions, "where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched!" And that, without any hope of escape.

My poor fellow-creature, what a condition you are in! You have broken the laws of a just and holy God; you are in danger of being sent to that awful place, of which I have been speaking.

of

This is a dreadful case; and, oh! if I could not tell you a way of escape, I would not trouble you before your time by speaking of the misery that awaits you. But, blessed be God, there is mercy with him. I have found it. You may find it. My heart leaps for joy while I write-There is SALVATION for me, there is SALVATION for you, there is SALVATION for all who will accept it.

66

Let me then call your attention, secondly, to SALVATION. What is it? It is escape; it is safety. This," says the awakened sinner, " is what I want. I have broken the law of God; I deserve hell; how shall I escape? I am in danger of perishing; how shall I be saved ?" If you are in earnest in asking these questions, read on; before you read on, stop for a moment and pray, for Christ's sake, give me the Holy Spirit, that I the way of salvation.'

or rather “O God,

may learn

To make this most important subject plain to you, I must put you in mind, that when God made the world, he made man good. Adam and Eve were holy, and therefore happy. The devil tempted them to break the law, which God had given as a trial of their obedience. They ate the forbidden fruit. Sin entered into their hearts, and death into their nature. The curse of God's wrath lighted upon them. In. consequence, every child of Adam's race has been born with a wicked heart, inclined to sin. This wicked nature leads man away from God, and from all that is good. God is a God of mercy. He saw the dreadful consequences of sin. He devised a plan to save even his rebellious creatures from the punishment which they had brought upon themselves. But how could this be done without some amends being made to his offended justice? Man could make no amends. The justice of God called for his punishment. In this difficulty there was One mighty to sa Jesus Christ,

the well beloved Son of God, undertook to bear the punishment that man deserved. He left his dwelling-place in heaven. He laid aside his glorious crown. He with

"He

drew from the company of those blessed angels who stood around his throne, and he came down to earth to save his sinful creatures. He humbled himself to take our nature. He took on him the form of a servant. He became a man of sorrows. He suffered hunger, and thirst, and weaniness. He exposed himself to pain and sickness. was despised and rejected of men." He was betrayed by a false friend, and forsaken by his disciples. He was delivered into the hands of his enemies to be tormented, scourged, buffetted, and spit upon. He was crucified, he died, he was buried. He arose again, and ascended into heaven, having bought our salvation with his blood.

Now the mercy of God is displayed, his justice satisfied. Now he can forgive the sinner, because Christ has borne the punishment of sin. In Christ Jesus, therefore, there is salvation. Come unto God by him. Ask God for his sake to save you. He will. He has promised. He would be unfaithful to his word if he refused a repenting sinner who comes in the name of Jesus. He never yet has refused such an one. Be assured he never will. Make trial of him now. Pray to him with all your heart, in the name of Jesus; believe on him, and then you will know better than any one can tell you, what is salvation.

But, as I said at the beginning of this little book, pardon is only a part of salvation: Jesus bought our pardon with his blood. But he bought for us another precious gift, without which our pardon would do us no good. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit. You can do nothing without his help. You cannot rightly feel your sin, or accept of salvation, unless he teach you. You will then, perhaps, say, Why, all you have told me goes for nothing, if I still want more. By no means. The gift of God's Spirit is as free to you as his pardon. Both were bought by Christ for your use and comfort. Ask not only for the forgiveness of your past sins, but for the Holy Spirit to change your heart, and to enable you to love and serve God as those ought to do who have received his pardon and have a good hope of heaven. We greatly need this power from above to change our hearts. We must be thoroughly changed before we can be what we ought to be Every desire, every

thought, every word ought to be holy. This cannot be without God's almighty grace. Pray often and earnestly for this grace. Do not leave off in despair because you do not seem to improve as fast as you wish. Continue to seek God's grace by prayer and in the diligent use of all the means of grace that he puts within your reach. Though it is quite true that "without Christ you can do nothing," it is equally true that you "can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth you." This was St. Paul's experience of old. It is the experience of all God's faithful people now. It will be your experience if you walk in their steps, and come unto God by Christ for the pardon of your sins and the sanctification of your soul; and then, when you die, what a rich portion will be yours! You will be taken from a world of trial, to live for ever in that blessed place where there is no sin, no sorrow, no death. There you will enjoy the company of the holy angels, and of Christ's redeemed people, who have entered into their rest. And, more than all-oh, glorious thought! there you will see your Lord and Saviour face to face!

And now, my friend, I will take my leave of you. If you despise the words that you have read-which your conscience and the Bible will tell you are true wordsbeware that you perish not everlastingly! You may never have another warning, if you neglect this. These pages will rise up as a witness against you at the last day. If you will not repent, you must stand before Christ's judgment seat with all your sins on your own head; and it will then be too late to seek for salvation.

London: Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES, Duke-street, Lambeth, for the RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY; and sold at the Depository, 56, Paternoster-row; by J. NISBET, 21, Berners-street, Oxford-strect 3 and by other Booksellers.

[Price 2s. 4d. per 100.]

Considerable Allowance to Subscribers and Booksellers.

DIALOGUE 1.-THE TREASURE DESCRIBED.

THOMAS.-WELL, neighbour-what! at your Bible again! I will venture to say no miser pores over his treasure more than you do over that book.

Joseph. And I will venture to say no miser ever had such a treasure as I have here.

Thomas.-If that is true, Joe, I would begin to look into it too; for I am sure times are hard enough; and it would be a fine thing indeed to have a treasure to go to, when wages are low, and the shelves empty; but I must confess, when I look into my Bible, I find none of these treasures.

Joseph.-I can easily believe that, Tom; for, if you did, I will venture to say, you would look into it a little oftener than you do. If somebody were to put a five pound note between every page of your Bible, there would not be so many leaves there which have seldom or never been opened. THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, INSTITUTED 1799: DEPOSITORY, 56, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

Thomas. True enough, neighbour: but whatever you make of your Bible, I must say I find nothing all through mine that is worth a five pound note to me; no, nor half that: and yet, I think, I make as much of it as most of my neighbours do. I very often look at the Bible on sundays; and if I am ill, or laid by from work, I take it up a bit then: but I have not been any the richer for it yet, Joseph.-What should you think of yourself, Tom, if, when you had eaten your sunday's dinner, you felt no inclination to eat again all the week after ?

Thomas.-Think! why, I should think myself in a poor way to be sure; and I should feel pretty certain that my sunday's dinner had not agreed with me, if I had no stomach for any thing after. I have known what it is to be ill, Joe, and to have no wish even for the best food; but I could never feel satisfied that I was getting better till I had something of an appetite; and I should think my disorder dangerous indeed, if I could not take any thing for a whole week. But how came you to talk about dinner and eating, when we were speaking about the Bible? That is not like you.

Joseph.-Perhaps, Tom, you will find it more like me than you expected, when you see what I am driving at. I suppose you will agree that you have a soul, as well as a body; and that the soul, being a spirit, can only feed upon spiritual things. The holy scriptures, and the precious Saviour of whom they speak, are the support, the food, the spiritual bread, on which a living soul feeds. Now, then, you will understand why I asked you if a dinner once a week would satisfy you. A soul, in a healthy state, requires daily bread as much as a body does; and what shall we think then of the health of that soul, which can go a whole week without any desire to feed on the bread of life?

Thomas.-Well, if you come to that, neighbour, I must tell you that I should not feel very starving if I did