charge, but, suddenly recollecting, he called to the driver to wait for a moment, and, having handed in the letter to Dr. -was sur A- - away they went! The Doctor opened it,prised, but interested; went on earnestly reading "Serious Thoughts on Eternity." Long ere his journey ended, the words of that silent messenger entered his heart. The Spirit of God opened his eyes; he saw, he felt the awakening power of the Redeemer's appeal-"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" His whole spirit was now arrested by the infinite importance of being truly prepared for ETERNITY! He arrived at the gay city on the Saturday; and saw the rapidly increasing equipages,-the crowds of the fashionable world, bent on pleasure, pouring in to attend the amusements of the following week; but he heeded them not. His mind was now arrested by prospects infinitely superior. Next day he remained with his family at the hotel, reading earnestly to them the little tract which had so deeply impressed his own mind. Then he announced to them his determination at once to return home, and cheerfully forego the pleasures for which they had travelled so many miles, which he assured them were altogether unworthy of their immortal souls. Thus, through the wondrous grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the once gay worldling had indeed become a new creature. From thenceforward old things passed away, and all things became new. But one year afterwards, and Dr. A. was on his death-bed, not in alarm, but rejoicing in prospect of eternal glory! To one standing near his dying couch, he exclaimed, "I know not the blessed instrument of my conversion; but I date my eternal salvation, under God, to A TRACT FROM AN UNKNOWN FRIEND, ENCLOSED IN AN ENVELOPE, handed to me in a stage coach, just a year ago, when leaving the town of P. After Dr. A's happy death, inquiries were at once instituted at the depository in that town; and by these means the christian merchant came to know that the bread of life which, in prayerful dependence on the blessing of the Holy Spirit, he had cast upon the waters, was now found after many days! He gave God all the glory. Thus, you will perceive, that the one single object for which these little remembrancers of your eternal interests have been addressed to you has been, as in the case of Dr. A- that your immortal soul, if not already reconciled to God through faith in the blood of atonement, may be saved, and saved now. Truly they have been accompanied with prayer for the enrich ing blessing of the Holy Spirit. Has this great end then been, or may not hush the voice of conscience, refuse the warnings Some of the mountains on the continent of Europe are so high as to enable the traveller on their summits (when the atmosphere is clear) to look to an almost incredible distance to an extent of territory embracing large portions of several kingdoms, and combining in one view much that is grand, beautiful, sublime! But though these mountains were a thousand times loftier than they are, they would dwindle into ant-hills, yea, into nothing, before the exalted ground of holy scripture, on which we are individually commanded by God to stand-that, in the light of His Spirit, we may behold at one awful glance (as far at least as our limited vision will enable us) TIME and ETERNITY, and the infallible bearings of the one on the other. truly stand in spirit on this lofty vantage ground without perceiving that he and every human being are advancing to eternity with inconceivable rapidity;-that not a day has passed in which his soul has not become more and more divinely capacitated for HEAVEN, or self-prepared for HELL? Who can In this point of view, how great is the consolation to him who truly lives to God-constrained by the love of Christ—that whatever be his trials, all the powers of nature are ever, under God, hastening him forward to the regions of immortal glory, where not a pang of suffering shall enter, nor a wave of trouble cross his peaceful breast ;-where sorrow, sin, partings, change, shall be for ever unknown! And, as he leaves this world, and THE ENGLISH MONTHLY TRACT SOCIETY, 27, RED LION SQUARE LONDON. crosses the threshold of heaven, how utterly insignificant, in retrospect, will appear all the earthly comforts, all the conveniences of life, to which he once attached so much importance ! How light and momentary all his past sorrows and Like the waters of the brook, they have now passed trials! away! Thus the life of every human being on earth (let his circumstances be what they may) is awfully sublime, when it is viewed as the first spring of an everlasting existence, the germination of an immortal being. For the events of our individual history may be so trifling, in regard to their bearings on this world, as to be unworthy of record or remembrance; and yet, when they are viewed in reference to the immortal spirit, and to their eternal consequences, the smallest of them has an importance which exceeds the limits of our powers to estimate or comprehend! Even He, who cannot lie or exaggerate, and who shall be the final Judge of the quick and the dead, declared, during his ministry on earth, that a single word, idly spoken, shall effect, to an extent known only to himself, the final decisions regarding that soul at the last day. Matt. xii. 36. No mind in the world can perfectly lay hold of this revelation. The very conception that the momentary acts, thoughts, and feelings of this life are constantly touching springs which shall for ever respond in happiness or woe, is overwhelming! And yet nothing is more distinctly declared in scripture than these causes, with their determinate results. There it is revealed that every item of human history is registered in the records of another world, and is reacting even now on our immortal capacity for joy or sorrow! Whatever, then, be our natural character-let it be repeated -there is thus going on in our souls an incessant preparation for our final abode. Every cherished thought or feeling, every action, leaves behind its corresponding impression, and weakens or strengthens our habitual character. And, at the last day, we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that the collective ultimate effect of our lives may bear witness, for or against us, before an assembled world, to the truth of the awful books out of which we shall be judged. Then it shall appear whether or not we loved and followed the Saviour,-to what extent we were conformed to his moral image,—or whether we belonged to Satan, the prince of this world! The awful verdict will then be proclaimed before all,—and from it there will be no appeal! On this awful subject, it is to be feared, there is much, very much prevailing practical delusion and self-deception, even amongst the majority of professing Christians at this day. More or less blinded by sin, and by the idolatrous love of creatures, and by their eager desire for gain or pleasure, they too often forget the tremendous issues of every day in the reckoning of eternity, and heedlessly rush on. But such shall inevitably find-that he who sows the wind shall "REAP THE WHIRLWIND;" -that the dreadful harvest sooner or later must commence, and have no termination. For God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. It is not enough that we theoretically know these great topics. They are of no practical value to us except they be habitually realized; and they cannot be so realized except they be frequently remembered and engrafted on our minds by the Holy Spirit. Multitudes of young and old have these awful truths proclaimed to them from sabbath to sabbath, and yet are practically ignorant of them. Why is it so? Why does the light shine into darkness, and the darkness comprehend it not? Because the heart or disposition is most frequently the pioneer of the judgment, or the veil which shrouds it from the admission of unwelcome truth. The deliberate love of sin fearfully blinds the understanding. And because these truths are not calmly, steadily, earnestly contemplated, according to their importance, how, then, can they permanently affect the mind? The mind is so constituted that it can only be affected by any object or truth as it is steadily kept in view; and it is only in these circumstances, that any one has reason to expect the divine blessing. For " 'if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasure; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God," Prov. ii. 3-5. Let us then, through the grace of God, ever keep in remembrance that we are the possessors of immortal spirits, spirits that will expand for ever under the sunbeams of the Sun of Righteousness, or-sink for ever into the blackness of darkness; and that we are kept here in existence, amid innumerable dangers, for a day—a day of grace, that we may be delivered from sin, and trained and educated for the employments and glories of eternity! For these ends the Son of God died; for these ends the Spirit of God is given, the means of grace afforded, and all the events of Providence directed. And when we are not living for these great ends, we are frustrating by our folly the very hope of our existence ! We lose our souls,-our time,-our eternity! But who will, who can fulfil the end of his being, and at length reach the realms of eternal glory, but he who has discovered the pearl of great price, the love of God in the gift of an infinitely precious Saviour; and who, believing that the Son of God died to save him from sin and all its consequences, has exclaimed from the depths of his heart, "I will arise and go to my Father." For he who has thus arisen and gone to his Heavenly Father, and found in the encircling of his arms an everlasting rest, has thereby received the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide, to strengthen, to perfect him in holiness. He is thus infinitely rich, unspeakably blessed, whatever be the trials or afflictions of this life. For he has received a free pardon through the blood of Christ, to meet all his former condemnations; peace, to still all the alarms of conscience; life to his dead soul; and a hope that will never make him ashamed! Will death terminate or lessen his enjoyments ? No, verily; it only brings him to their fountain head, and enables him to drink for evermore of the rivers of pleasure at God's right hand. But no sooner does the convert taste the sweetness of true religion in the knowledge of the Saviour, then his heart expands to others. He at once responds to the words of his Saviour, "Freely ye have received, freely give !" Oh! why are many professors of religion so cold to the best interests of their fellow-creatures; so unwilling to make sacrifices of time, of money, or of labour, to promote, under God, their salvation? Why is SELF, and its paltry interests, permitted to drink up their sympathies and compassions for a perishing world, and to arrest their noblest exertions for the eternal recovery of the lost? Ah! it is to be feared, the reason is, they have never visited the cross of Christ as perishing sinners for themselves, nor ever truly seen the Lamb of God bleeding for their own deliverance from destruction. For had they done so, they would have been constrained by the mercies of God to offer themselves to Christ as a living sacrifice; they would in some degree have sympathised with Paul in his admirable defence, when he had been, by some, charged with going too far in his fervour, exertions, and sacrifices for the good of souls. "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them, and rose again," 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. Do you then, christian reader, desire more and more to follow this illustrious example; to live now as you would wish to have done when your head reclines on a dying pillow? |