THE CLAIMS OF JESUS. 93 would come! Shall Jesus weep, that you might smile; shall Jesus agonize and die, that you might live, and wilt thou not escape to Him for thy life? Escape to the mountain, look not back, neither stay thou in all the plain." Love Him now, or it may be never. 66 What if you comply?—" Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." You shall be blessed as regards the past. God's anger will be turned away from you; all your sins will be forgiven; you shall be received into the holy family of God; you shall be no longer a slave, but a free man; the strength of sin will be gone; the sting of death will be gone; and you shall have a friend to help you in every difficulty. You shall be blessed as regards the future. Sweet peace, holy joy, blessed hope, and expanding love, will fill your soul. You shall be comforted in sorrow, supported in affliction, helped in adversity, cheered in the prospect of death, and the witnesses of your last moments, shall hear no regrets that you had embraced the Saviour in early life. You shall be blessed for ever. Heaven shall be the home of your soul. Your body shall rest in the grave, and the morning of the last day shall witness your joyful resurrection. You shall be acquitted and applauded in the judgment, and received up into glory to be ever with the Lord. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. "And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus."-1 Tim. iii, 15. My young reader, all thy knowledge of religion must be drawn from the Bible, and this text informs thee of the source of thy salvation-the knowledge of thy salvation-and the means of thy salvation. The source of thy salvation is "the Holy Scriptures." The holy Jehovah is their author. They reveal His will for thy instruction and guidance, and they tell thee how thou mayest lead a holy life. All that they contain is true, without any mixture of error. They are pure gold without any alloy. Holy men of God wrote them under divine guidance, being moved thereto by the Holy Ghost. They are designed to make thee and all who read them, holy as God is holy. Sin has defiled thee, but truth, divine truth, sanctifies thy soul and fits it for heaven. Now, whether is reason, thy own reason, or the reason of some other man, or the word of God, and the word of God only, the safest guide to heaven? It cannot be reason either in thyself or others, for it is so changeable, so diversified, and so uncertain, that if thou trustest to it, thou wilt trust to a troubled THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 95 sea, and an unsteady breeze; whereas if thou trustest to the word of God, thou wilt trust to what is certain, infallible, and unchanging. “The word of God liveth and abideth for ever." The Scriptures give the knowledge of thy salvation "They are able to make thee wise unto salvation." This wisdom or knowledge is obtained by reading. The Scriptures ought to be read with deep attention, for it is God that speaks. They ought to be read with a desire to understand them, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" They ought to be read with a fixed determination to practise them. This wisdom is acquired through parental instruction-the teaching of the Sabbath School-and regular attendance on the means of grace. Divine truth thus enjoyed, and rightly improved, will make thee wise unto salvation. The season of youth is the most favourable for becoming wise. "From a child..' Then the heart is not hardened by a long course of sin. Then divine lessons are more easily learned. Then impressions are more easily made, and more likely to be permanent. Then a long course of usefulness to others will begin, which will end only with the end of life. Then thou wilt begin to serve God, and give Him the vigour and not the mere dregs of thy life. "When we devote our youth to God, 'Tis pleasing in His eyes; A flower, when offer'd in the bud, Think now of the means of salvation—"Through faith which is in Christ Jesus." The grand design of the Scriptures is to lead thee to Christ. Dost thou feel the bitterness of sin, the Scriptures tell thee of a remedy? Dost thou believe the Scriptures to be the word of God, and the only fixed standard of duty? It is well; but Bible truth must conduct thy soul to Jesus, and fix it on Him as the only object of saving faith. The Bible is thy chart, which thou must consult in pursuing the voyage of life; but Jesus is the pole star on which thine eye is fixed, that thou mayest safely reach thy destination. The Scriptures reveal to thee the saving truth about Christ's person, and character, and work, but thou must fix thy faith on Himself as the sum and substance of divine truth. If thy faith is thus fixed, thou wilt be united to Christ's person-interested in His work-and a sharer of His blessings. The Holy Scriptures, in the hands of a pious mother, and a pious grandmother, did all this for Timothy, the chosen companion of Paul, and the honoured Evangelist of Ephesus, and, why, youthful reader, may they not do the same thing for thee? Wisdom and knowledge acquired in youth from the Scriptures, are the wings with which we fly to heaven. Seventeenth Sabbath—Morning. READY FOR ACTION. "Lord what wilt thou have me to do."-Acts ix. 6. THIS question comes from one arrested in a career of earnest and daring sin, and manifests a readiness to know and do what is right. What am I to do for myself? What am I to do for others? And why should I do it? What am I to do for myself? I am to acquire a knowledge of religion. This I have in the Bible, which I ought to search with attention, with self-application, and with resolutions to practice what I read. If I belong to a religious family, if I either give or receive religious instruction in a Sabbath class, I ought to prize my privileges and acquire a knowledge of religion. What a blessing that the word of God is not bound, that the food of the soul is abundant and universally accessible! When Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne of England, she set at liberty many prisoners whom bloody Mary had confined for their religion. Having done so, she asked her ministers if there were any others. One of them stepped forward and said, there were five others that ought to be set at liberty. Who are these? asked the Queen. He replied, they are Matthew Mark, Luke, John, and Paul. O how should we value their instructions! I am to believe in the G |