life eternal, endless blessedness, hea- the world on which he lives, and not ven ! Secondly, permit me to direct your attention to a consideration of ourselves as intellectual beings. We are not only to live for ever, but we are to live for ever intellectually. The sun, the tree, the rock, the pyramid, exist, but not as we do, neither as we shall do: they have a body as have we, but we have a mind also, which they have not. only so, but actually determines by parallax and triangle, the sizes and distances of the heavenly bodies;—of the sun, which no man's foot has ever yet trod. He mingles harmless ingredients, and combines them into a terrible agency, against which the strongest battlements are not proof, and which blows up the very "rocks of the mountains." The most deadly poisons are converted by him into the most valuable auxiliaries to medicine, and to the arts of life. heart. And this leads me, thirdly, to direct your attention to a consideration of ourselves as sinful beings. Even in man's present condition, which is a fallen condition, what vast and astonishing powers does the human In these and in a thousand other intellect possess! A man, measuring instances, is the capacity of the human but a few feet in height, and weighing intellect perceived. But, alas! all but a few stones, binds with his fetters these gifts and powers of mind, are the stupendous elephant-rears build-existent in connection with a sinful ings hundreds of times his own height and thousands of times his own bulk; he descends into the bowels of the earth, and excavates for miles beneath its surface, and procures from thence materials, with which he constructs engines, and with the vapour of boiling water in machines which he forms, propels his fellow-creatures thousands of miles across trackless oceans, and against winds and tides; or, on the land he speeds them on their courses, with greater velocity in long journeys than the wings of the bird or of the wind. The lightning, also, conveys his messages along the magic wire, and becomes the swift accuser of the murderer and marauder to the ends of the earth. He chronicles his sayings and the history of his times, mysteriously on leaves of paper that fade not for hundreds of years, and without speech or company, holds converse with the collective wisdom of ages past and present. His intellect contrives accurately to measure the proportions of The works of God are pure: there is no flaw, no defect, no spot upon his works. At creation man was created pure and holy. When the Lord made our first parents, and placed them in the garden of Eden, behold, they were very good. There was no cloud to separate man from his God until man sinned; but when Adam and Eve disobeyed the command of their Creator, a change, a dark change, a fearful change, a corrupting change came over their nature; they became the owners of a disposition contrary to the ways of God, in thought, in word, and in deed. The evil passions of their fallen hearts, soon developed awful effects in themselves and in their children; they had one son murdered, and one son a murderer. As the rolling clouds of the mists of winter steal over the lovely gardens, and verdant groves, and plea sant prospects of nature, and shed a chill on all; so did sin roll over our world, and the very ground was cursed for man's sake. The land, which had never produced amiss, now produced briars and weeds. The rose which before was all lovely, had now a thorn. The earth was cursed for man's sake. There is much of beauty and glory in its varied productions of trees, and herbs, and fruits, and flowers, but there is much unequivocally to mark a curse. Some land is too dry, and some too wet; it is only by hard toil and unceasing diligence, that the husbandman can prevent the abundance of noisome and useless weeds from choking his crops, and depriving them of the nourishment of the soil; the clouds send down the hail, and often in a few hours destroy the promise of abundant harvest; the winds lay the standing corn, and it never rises or ripens. The lightnings descend from the clouds, and fire the gathered garner, destroying both man and beast; the sky refuses rain, and the produce of the earth is withered and dies; the ground opens, and with horrid roarings swallows up mighty cities in the earthquake; the sea rises into fury, and shatters and sinks the gallant ships that sail on the waters; the hurricanes and tornadoes destroy in a moment the works of years. Yes, we are fallen beings, and we dwell in a fallen world. Who does not feel the influence of evil propensities, dispositions, and passions?-and who does not feel that he is tied and bound with the chains of his sin? None obtain victory over sin, but those whose hearts have been changed, and who have felt the power of godliness, who have learned to fly to Christ for aid "as the bird flees to her mountain,” (Psalm xi.) when the world, the flesh, and the devil, tempt to sin. None obtain victory over sin but those who have learned to "watch and pray, that they enter not into temp. tation," Mark xiv. We have been speaking of the withering of hopes by death; this leads me in the fourth and last place, to direct your attention to the know. ledge of ourselves as dying beings. This is another bitter fruit of the apostacy of our first parents. Through their transgression, not only have we become sinful beings, but we have become dying beings; "sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so that death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Rom. v. We are dying beings; in the words of Scripture, "We must all needs die, and are as water spilt upon the ground which cannot be gathered," Sam. xiv. I had lately a Bible nearly three hundred years old placed in my hands, and I could not help remarking as a solemn thought, that of all the millions of human beings who were alive on this earth's surface, when that book was printed, of them all, the kings and the princes who then sat on the thrones of the earth, the nobles, the most celebrated geniuses, and wits, and beauties; the richest and the poorest; the most learned, and the most unlearned, of them all, there was not one but had returned to dust and to clay! Such is the lot of man. "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death; and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it," Eccles. viii. We are dying beings. I have thus briefly, so far as the limited space I could occupy would permit me, directed your attention, dear reader, to the knowledge of ourselves as-Immortal Beings,-Intellectual Beings,-Sinful Beings, and as Dying Beings. I And having done so, I claim the privilege of my exalted calling, to inquire earnestly how you are affected by the survey. I ask you solemnly, in the name of God, what is your condition? Have you truly repented of your sins?-are you converted? was visiting a poor sick man lately, who said, "he could not see he was a sinner, he had never to his knowledge done wrong." I read to him the commandments of God in the 20th chapter of Exodus; he owned he was a Sabbath-breaker. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, in many things we all offend. (Rom. iii.) The most hardened sinner, when he comes to stand face to face before the Son of God at the day of judgment, will be stripped of his brazen forehead. He may tell his fellow-man he is not a sinner, but he will not say so beneath the piercing eye of his Judge, Rev. vi. 13-17. I was visiting a poor sick woman, how different her case; she was convinced she was a sinner, and in danger of perishing in hell. "I have been laying here," said she, "for weeks, and my sins press heavy upon me; I am unfit for heaven." She could not see how so just and holy a being as God could forgive her sins. I explained to her "that Christ died for our sins, John xix.; 1 Pet. ii.; Gal. i.; Titus ii. "She had heard so," she said, "but she never understood the subject." At last I said, as I have many hundred times, "Suppose you owed a debt which you could not pay, and suppose a good friend paid your debt for you, you would be exonerated, you would be free; now consider the Son of God, he agreed to bear the punishment due to our sins; being omnipotent he could bear it: and the weight of the punishment due to the sins of the whole race of man was summed up and he bore it all," Isa. liii.; Luke xxii.; Matt. xxvii. I shall not soon forget how that poor woman raised herself in her bed, and praised the name of God with a loud voice. She saw the way of escape, and had cast her soul upon the mercy of Christ, and the load of guilt and misery which had weighed her down for weeks had in a moment fled before faith in the Redeemer, Acts xvi.; Gal. ii. The time during which men may obtain mercy draws to a close; the unconverted may truly say, Woe unto us, for the day goeth away, the shadows of the evening are stretched out," Jer. vi. Could the lost souls in hell come back to earth, and have but one half-hour's probation again, what burning prayers would they pray for forgiveness of their sins! But their doom is sealed. Solemn, oh! solemn thought! reader, it cries with a voice of thunder in the ears that will hear, and the voice that it utters is this "PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD." In conclusion, therefore, let me exhort you to build every hope for mercy upon Christ, "the only name given under heaven amongst men by which we can be saved;" and let me remind you, that if ever you are saved from the power of sin in this world, and from its punishment both here and hereafter, it must be by trusting in the Son of God, who has suffered the punishment of sinners himself, rather than leave us to eternal punishment without a remedy. Reader, woe to you if the sun rises on you prayerless; woe to you, if his going down finds you prayerless still! Thus situate, unless you could prove that Divine Redeemer to be mistaken who never erred, to whom imperfection of judgment belongs not, the appalling truth remains, that you are in danger of hell fire, Matt. xviii. CONVERSION, REAL AND AP PARENT. ment to some who lived in hope, and died without alarm, yet wake to torment, Matt. vii. 22. It is difficult to guard the careless against self-deception, without terrifying some of Christ's lambs; but a tender concern for the welfare of both classes requires that ministers exhibit, and that Christians ponder, the nature and evidences of true piety. By this, the erring may be saved from being lulled into fatal security, while the earnest inquiry of the true convert will only lead to a firmer conviction, and a stronger assurance of peace with God. By what standard must we try ourselves? Not by our own notions of religion. They are fluctuating, often incorrect, and never reliable as a foundation for hope in life or in death. Not by the suggestions of our own hearts. They are "deceitful above all things;" "he that trusteth to his own heart is a fool." Not by the common opinions of the world on religion. They are variable, contradictory, and almost sure to Is it possible to know whether we are real Christians? There is no imaginable reason why we should not. We have commands to "show diligence to the full assurance of hope," Heb. vi. 11; instructions how to attain it, 1 John v. 13; iii. 19; examples of it, 2 Cor. i. 22; 2 Tim. i. 12; and prayers for it, Rom. xv. 18. It is, then, both a privilege and a duty. But is it not possible to be mistaken in be wrong. The mind of God and the our judgments of ourselves? True Chris-imaginations which men devise and tians may sometimes question their own piety. Their doubts are like rank weeds, which, though they may show a good soil, are always an incumbrance. Another and more serious liability to deception is, that persons often imagine themselves to be pious without any just grounds. The Bible speaks of such cases: Job viii. 13; xi. 20; xxvii. 8; Deut. xxix. 19, 20; Psa. xxxvi. 2; Prov. xxx. 12; Rev. iii. 17. God warns us against being deceived: 1 Cor. iii. 18; 2 Cor. xiii. 5; Gal. vi. 4; James i. 22; Heb. xii. 15. It would seem that even to the end of life this delusion may last; that the day of judgment will be a day of disappoint- GOD. adopt seldom agree. Not even by the experience of professors of religion. Their experience may be spurious, as well as ours; it may be defective in important points; or if not, we may resemble them in mere circumstantial particulars, and fail in the very things essential; or we may be unlike them in very many respects, and yet be true Christians. At any rate, resemblance to the experience of others can afford no sure, invariable, and permanent hold for the anchor of our hope. THE ONLY STANDARD, THE DIVINELY APPOINTED STANDARD BY WHICH TO TRY OURSELVES, IS THE WORD OF It alone is the same for each, and an unerring guide to all in every age, neither demanding too much nor too little. It offers tests, provided by God for this express purpose, whereby we may know that we have passed from death unto life. By it we must be judged at the last day. Let us, then, weigh ourselves in God's balances now, and carefully consider the following SCRIPTURAL TESTS OF GENUINE CONVERSION. I. Have I heartfelt sorrow for sin, and a deep sense of the need of grace? "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit," Psa. xxxiv. 18; li. 17; cxxxviii. 6; cxlvii. 3; Isa. lvii. 15; lxvi. 2; Ezek. xxxvi. 31; Luke xviii. 9-14. II. Am I distressed at the sinfulness of others, and anxious for their salvation? "Rivers of water run down my eyes, because they keep not thy law," Psa. cxix. 136, 53, 158; Jer. xiii. 17; Ezek. ix. 4-6; Dan. xii. 3; James v. 20. III. Have I confessed Christ? "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father in heaven," Matt. x. 32, 33; Mark viii. 38; Rom, x. 9, 10; 1 John iv. 15; 2 Tim. ii. 12. IV. Are my habitual feelings and views of Divine things changed for the better? "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new," 2 Cor. v. 17; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27; John ix. 25; Rom. v. 1, 5, 11; xiv. 17; Gal. v. 22, 23; Phil. iv. 7; Col. i. 21. V. Can I abandon the world, and the love of it, for Christ's sake? "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him," 1 John ii. 15; Psa. lxxxiv. 10; Matt. vi. 21, 24; x. 37, 38; xvi. 24; John xvii. 14; Heb. xi. 25; James i. 27; iv. 4. VI. Do I heartily and unreservedly yield for the present, and purpose for the future, obedience to all the commands of Christ? "Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments," 1 John ii. 3; Psa. xv. 1—5; cxix. 6, 60, 93; Matt. vii. 16—27; xii. 50; John xiv. 21-23; xv. 10, 14; Rom. ii. 6, 7; 1 John ii. 4, 5; iii. 3, 24. VII. Do I cultivate a peaceable and forgiving temper ? "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses," Matt. vi. 14, 15; vi. 9; xviii. 35; Heb. xii. 14; James iii. 14-17. VIII. Do I love the people of God, and delight in their company? "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren," 1 John iii. 13; Psa. cxix. 63; Mal. iii. 16, 17; John xiii. 35; 1 John ii. 10, 14: iv. 7, 20. IX. Do I love Christ, and trust in him alone? "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls," 1 Pet. i. 8, 9; Jer. xvii. 5; John v. 24; 1 Pet. ii. 7; 1 John v. 1, 10; Phil. iii. 8-10. X. Do I love the Word of God? "I delight in the law of God after the inward man," Rom. vii. 22; Psa. i. 2; cxix. 67, 128, 140; 1 Pet. ii. 2, 3. Permit me to press affectionately upon your attention these suggestions. Consider also the following thoughts: 1. Subjects of inquiry so important |