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entirely believed in; for will the blind man stir a foot, if he believe those who tell him that he is upon the brink of a precipice; or the inexperienced child touch the flame, if he believe the nurse who tells him it will burn?

To bring this point still nearer to ourselves, let each of us examine our own heart, and in honest dealing with our conscience see, whether our own errors, whatever they be, whether they be in our judgment, in our temper, in our way and manner of life-let us see if they may not very easily be traced up to the want of real belief in the great truths of the Gospel.

Are we, for instance, in the higher walks of life, among those who have to give a future

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account of ten talents? Then let us ask ourselves, whether we believe that God is on high, watching all that we do; that He has Himself placed us under Him to administer to His glory, and the spiritual and temporal good of our fellow-creatures; that for the discharge or the neglect of every duty which power or influence of any kind has given us, God will hereafter bring us into judgment? If all this be really believed, is it possible that the solemn trust reposed in us, could be wilfully abused?

Are we parents? Then let us ask ourselves whether we really believe that those little

ones, whom God hath given to us, will probably be happy or miserable in eternity, according as we ourselves teach and manage them, even in the very infancy of their days; according as their young minds are accustomed or not, to strict and consistent obedience; to a progressive conquest of the sad and selfish principle of mere animal life, according to the great rules of the religion of Jesus Christ? If we really believe that all these duties are commanded in the Word of God to every parent and manager of children, is it possible that we should ever so indulge our own feelings, in cruel indulgence to the wayward fancies of our child, as to assist the great enemy of souls in making our little ones his easy prey in so drawing out and strengthening the mere animal feelings, the fallen tendencies of our own offspring, as to render them in the end, "vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction"? If we really believe the great truths of the Gospel as applicable to our own children, their natural proneness to sin, their many spiritual enemies, their future account at the general judgment, should we, in love to their bodies, rather than their souls, neglect their eternal interests, in the forbidden gratification of self-indulgence and ill-judged kindness?

Are we rich in the world, or masters and

mistresses of families? And do we neglect our servants' spiritual happiness, and the temporal and eternal wants of our poorer brethren in Christ? We then cannot really believe that the great Master of us all, our Lord Jesus Christ, takes what is done or neglected on their account as matter of special inquiry, an injury done unto Himself, and that He will examine and punish it at a future day.

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"Are we servants and labourers, or poor and low in the world, and do we neglect our various duties, break the laws of God and man, swear, lie, steal, break the Sabbath day, and care no more for our souls, than if we had no souls to be saved? We then cannot really believe that God keeps account of all our thoughts, words, and actions, and that for these things He will bring us into judgment.

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Thus, in every instance, if we honestly apply the general principle to our own condition, and find that we neglect known duties, or commit wilful sin, we may be certain that our faith in the promises and the threatenings of almighty God is little more than a name, and that, as yet, we do not really believe them to be true.

To make this a practical lesson, let each put some such questions as these to his own conscience. Do I shew my belief of a judgment to come, by now making preparation

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for it? How do I spend my time, the days, the hours, the minutes of my allotted portion? What are my daily habits; what is my temper, what my disposition? Are my daily habits such as shew that I live to redeem the time? Is my temper such as manifests the fruits of the Holy Spirit, righteousness, peace, and joy?" Is my disposition such as enables me, through God's grace, "to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God;" to love God with all my heart, and my neighbour as myself?

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If, to questions such as these, conscience give a painful answer, and condemn us of wilful guilt, then let us look well into ourselves, and see whether the root of the evil be not in the want of faith in believing those solemn truths which God has revealed. We do not understand, or we do not cultivate, or we do not apply true faith in God, and in what He hath said; and our course, in consequence, is inconsistent, unsettled, and unsatisfactory. We remain among those who are neither wise, nor good, nor happy.

Let us then be persuaded to give this consideration the thought which it deserves. If our lives thus shew that our faith is weak, we' must pray, as the Apostles did, for Christ to increase it, and then use His own appointed means. We must read, mark, learn, and in

wardly digest the Holy Word of God; we must make religion the rule of life; and not, as some profess to do, reserve religion for what are called the great events of life-such as deep distress, and times of peculiar temptation and difficulty. Our whole life is made up of little things, small incidents, circumstances not always much marked: yet, for all these, how we have managed them, how we have behaved ourselves under them, we must give account at the judgment.

We have now seen that one great cause of imperfect obedience among the professed disciples of Jesus Christ, is the want of real belief in what God has revealed. To our own experience and observation the whole must be left as matter of argument; to our own conscience it must also be left as matter of practical usefulness. Let us commune frequently with our own heart, and see whether much, of what each may have too much cause to lament in his own daily conduct, do not arise from the want of real belief. So striving to profit by what we hear, God's Holy Word will lead us to a better faith, and, consequently, to a holier keeping of His commandments. To no one will the Word of God, which after all must be the rule of our faith, ever long remain a sealed book, if he hear and read it with earnest prayer, with humility, and with

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