66 as is merciful; nor to act just as her husband acts, for the Bible cautions us against being righteous over much." These new notions do not at all accord with her views, and these new practices do not commend themselves to her judgment. True, Sam is a very good husband; but so he was before. He pays every one their own; but so he did before. Now there is so much preaching and praying, she has no patience with it. And as to going to church or chapel of week nights, she sees no necessity for that. Poor Mary Jordan is still blind, she sees not her danger, she is dead, she feels not her condition. She prefers the religion of nature to the religion of grace. She approves of morality; but, " to this spirituality, as they call it," she does not understand that, and she has " no wish to." If her husband is right, nearly all the world is wrong; and then what has become of all that have gone before us? It is a great pity people will not leave well alone, and go to heaven in the way their forefathers did before them. Thus she talks. True, she kneels down at family prayer, and goes with her husband to hear the sermons; but it is because she likes peace and quietness. Thus one is taken, and the other left. Sam prays for her, talks to her, and hopes to see a change in her; but she appears to be settled on her lees. She has read of the Swedish lady and her maid, but confesses she cannot understand how a lady could say, WE WANT EVE 66 RYTHING, FOR WE WANTJESUS." Poor thing, she thinks her head must be a little turned, or she must have been brought up like a poor heathen. Thus "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The teaching of the Holy Spirit is necessary, in order that we may see our need of Christ, feel our souls going out after him, and embrace him as the Saviour of poor lost sinners. It was the teaching of the Holy Spirit that led the Swedish lady and her servant, through the means of a religious tract, to see that they wanted everything, while they wanted Jesus; and it was the same Spirit that directed Sam Jordan's eye to the passage of Scripture referred to, applied it to his soul, and ultimately made him a new creature in Christ Jesus. And it was the want of this blessed Spirit's teaching that led Mary Jordan to continue a poor blind Pharisee, resting on her own miserable works, and rejecting the full and free salvation presented in the everlasting gospel. Reader, are you taught of the Spirit? Have you experienced a change similar to Jordan's ? Have you ever felt as the Swedish lady felt ? If not, you need the Holy Spirit, and should seek it in earnest, fervent prayer. have not the Spirit of Christ, you are none of his. If you do not feel your need of Christ, you will never apply to him; and if you do If you not apply to him, you will never be saved by him; and, as there is no other Saviour, if you are not saved by the Lord Jesus, you will be lost for ever. LOST FOR EVER! LÖST FOR EVER! What an awful thought! What a fearful prospect! What a dreadful supposition, for you to be lost, and LOST FOR EVER! Ye that thirst for solid pleasure, Come to him your sins confessing; Who are they that count it folly, Foretaste sweet of future bliss. JUSTIFICATION. THE law of God, under which all men are placed by nature, is holy, just, and good; it requires that our hearts should be pure; that every motive, feeling, thought, word, and action should be holy; that we should love Jehovah with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength;-love him every moment, in every act, under all circumstances, as the infinitely lovely and ever blessed God. It demands that our every thought of God should be in strict accordance with the revelation he has made of himself; our every feeling toward him should be regulated by supreme love, and every action performed as under his eye, with a view to his glory, We must acquiesce in whatever he commands, believe whatever he says, do whatever he bids, and suffer whatever he inflicts, without murmuring or complaining, or we are found transgressors of the law. Nor can this be considered hard, when we remember that the leading features of his character are justice, wisdom, and love; he only requires what is as necessary for our happiness as his own glory. His law is but the amiable and lovely reflection of his own moral likeness; it is perfect love liness requiring love. This law also requires that we love our neighbours as ourselves, and do to them just what we would wish them to do unto us. If we come up to this standard perfectly and constantly, the law will justify us, and we may expect to be accepted of God upon the footing of the law; but if we fail in one point for but one moment, under any circumstances, the law condemns us, and pronounces a curse upon us. Its language is, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them," Gal. iii. 10. This curse includes banishment from the presence of God, association with devils, and everlasting punishment in blackness, darkness, and despair. But we have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Our nature is corrupt, our conversation is impure, and our conduct is unholy. We were born in sin, and have gone astray from the womb, speaking lies. The testimony of God respecting us is, "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no not one. There is no fear of God before their eyes. There is none righteous, no not one," Rom. iii. 10-10. "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth," Gen. viii. 21. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jer. xvii. 9. "From within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, |