you; and it will be your own fault if you do not possess it. Your solicitude is not therefore directed

to an unattainable object.

6. Salvation has been obtained by multitudes, and why may it not be obtained by you? Millions in heaven are already saved; myriads more are on the road to salvation. God is still as willing, and Christ is still as able to save you as he was them: why, then, should not you be saved?

A.

7. And then what a blessing is salvation! blessing that includes all the riches of grace, and all the greater riches of glory; deliverance from sin, death, and hell; the possession of pardon, peace, holiness, and heaven; a blessing, in short, immense, infinite, everlasting: which occupied the mind of Deity from eternity, was procured by the Son of God upon the cross, and which will fill eternity with its happiness. Oh, how little, how insignificant, how contemptible, is the highest object of human ambition, to say nothing of the lower matters of men's desires, compared with salvation! Riches, rank, fame, honours, are but as the small dust of the balance, when compared with the "salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." Who that pretends to the least regard to his own happiness would not "What shall I do to be saved?"

say,

8. The circumstances in which you are placed for obtaining this blessing, are partly favourable, and partly unfavourable. The love of God is infinite; the merit of Christ is infinite; the power of the Holy Spirit is infinite: Jehovah is willing and waiting to save you; Christ invites; all things are ready, and the grace of God offered for your conversion. On the other hand, you have a corrupt heart, and are placed in a world where every thing seems to combine to draw off

your attention from salvation, and to cause you to neglect it. Satan is busy to blind your mind; the world, to fill your imagination and heart with other objects, so that even the "righteous are scarcely saved." You

cannot quit the world, and go into monasteries and convents, but must seek the salvation of your soul amidst the engrossing cares of this busy and troublesome world; where anxiety about the body is so liable to put away anxiety about the soul, and things seen and temporal are likely to withdraw the attention from things that are unseen and eternal. Oh, how difficult it is to pay just enough regard to present things, and yet not too much! How difficult to attend properly to the affairs both of earth and heaven; to be busy for two worlds at once! These circumstances may well excite your solicitude.

Anxiety, then, deep anxiety about salvation, is the most reasonable thing in the world; and we feel almost ready to ask, Can that man have a soul, or know that he has one, who is careless about its eternal happiness? Is he a man or a brute? Is he in the exercise of his reason, or is he a maniac? Ever walking on the edge of the precipice that hangs over the bottomless pit, and not anxious about salvation ! Oh, fatal, awful, destructive indifference! Cherish, then, your solicitude. You must be anxious, you ought to be so, you cannot be saved without it; for no man ever was, or ever will be. The salvation of a lost soul is such a stupendous deliverance, such an infinitely momentous concern, that it is impossible, in the very nature of things, it should be bestowed on any one who is not in earnest to obtain it. This is the very end of your existence, the purpose for which God created you. Apart from this, you are an enigma in creation; a mystery in nature. Why has God given you faculties which seem to point to eternity,

and desires which go destined for it? you

end of life get what

forward to it, if he has not Eternal salvation is the great lose this, you

will, if you

you

you

have lost the purpose of existence. Could you obtain all the wealth of the globe; could rise to the possession of universal empire; could you, by the most splendid discoveries in science, or the most useful inventions in art, or the most magnificent achievements in literature, fill the earth with the fame of your exploits, and send down your name with honour to the latest ages of time, still, if you lost the salvation of your soul, you would have lived in vain. Whatever you may gain, life will be a lost adventure, if you do not gain salvation. The condition of the poorest creature that ever yet obtained eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, although he had but a mere glimmering of intellect, just enough of understanding to apprehend the nature of repentance ; although he lived out his days amidst the most squalid poverty and repulsive scenes; although he was unknown even among the poor; and although, when he died, was buried in the pauper's grave, on which no tear was ever shed; is infinitely to be preferred to that of the most successful merchant, the greatest conqueror, the profoundest philosopher, or the sublimest poet, that ever existed, if he lived and died without salvation. The lowest place in heaven is infinitely to be preferred to the highest place on earth. Go on, then, to urge the question, "What shall I do to be saved?" Let no one turn off your attention from this matter. As long as you covet this, your eye, and heart, and hope, are fixed on the sublimest object in the universe; and when officious, but ignorant friends would persuade you that you are too anxious, point them to the bottomless pit, and ask them if any one

can be too anxious to escape its torments? Point them to heaven, and ask them if any one can be too anxious to obtain its glories? Point them to eternity, and ask them if any one can be too anxious to secure immortal life? Point them to the cross of Christ, and ask them if any one can be too anxious to secure the object for which he died?

RELIGIOUS

CHAPTER II.

IMPRESSIONS, AND THE UNSPEAKABLE

IMPORTANCE OF RETAINING AND DEEPENING THEM.

AWAKENED and anxious sinner, your present situation is a most momentous one. You are in the crisis of your religious history and of your eternal destiny. No tongue can tell, no pen describe the importance of your present circumstances. You are just arousing from your long slumber of sin and spiritual death, and will now either rise up and run the race that is set before you, or will soon sink back. again (as those are likely to do who are a little disturbed) into a deeper sleep than ever. The Spirit of God is striving with you, and either you will yield to his suggestions, and give yourself up to be led by his gracious influence, or you will grieve him by resistance and neglect, and cause him to depart. God is drawing you with the cords of love; Christ is saying, Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." The Spirit is striving with you. Yield to these silken bands; open to that gracious Saviour; grieve

66

not, quench not the motions of that Divine Spirit. Salvation is come near, and heaven is opening to your soul. Remember, you may quench the Spirit, not only by direct resistance, but by careless neglect. Do not, I beseech you, be insensible to your situation. A single conviction ought not to be treated with indifference, nor a single impression be overlooked. You cannot long remain as you now are; your convictions will soon end either in conversion or in greater indifference; like the blossoms of spring, they will soon set in fruit, or fall to the ground. Should your present solicitude diminish, it will soon subside altogether; and if it subside, it may probably never be revived. It is a most dangerous thing to tamper or trifle with convictions of sin, and religious impressions. If, then, you would not lose your present feelings, take the following advice:

1. Admit the possibility of losing them. Do not presume that it is impossible for you to relapse. Let there be no approach to the vain-glorious, selfconfident temper of the apostle Peter, who said, Although all should be offended, yet will not I." Nothing is more common than mere transient devotions. The character of Pliable, in the "Pilgrim's Progress," is one of every day's occurrence. There are very few that hear the gospel, who are not, at one time or other, the subject of religious impressions. Multitudes, who are lifting up their eyes in torment, are looking back upon lost impressions. Do not conclude that, because you are now so concerned about salvation, you must be saved. Oh no. Many that read these pages under deep solicitude, will add to the number of backsliders. Self-confidence will be sure to end in confusion; while self-diffidence is the way to stand. 2. Dread the idea of relapsing into indifference.