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ing out cruelty; see him there accomplishing what none but he could perform, and bearing a load of human guilt and sorrow, more vast and dreadful than any tongue can tell. See this, and learn the value of your soul more strongly than a whole creation could represent it to you. The creation is worthless, compared with its glorious Maker; but its Maker bled for us. O, that I could, with the earnestness of a dying man, urge upon you the worth of a soul ransomed by such a price! A soul lost is more than a world destroyed. Compared with this loss, the destruction of this vast world will be a trifle. Never did its Creator assume human nature, and die for its preservation from the final flames; but O, a spirit, an immortal spirit, a spirit for which Jesus died, if this is lost, what ruin, what misery is this! You gaze upon a dying world, and, engaged with its trifles, perhaps forget the immortal visitant within, forget that you have a soul which shall outlive the grasp of death, the bounds of time; but, O, forget its worth no more! Well might you wonder that such a treasure should inhabit a little piece of breathing clay. And can it be to you a matter of little moment, whether your immortal soul be saved or lost? Can you treat this as a thing of small importance, when the great God has stooped so low, and resigned so much, to open for you a way to happiness. He has withheld nothing that was needed to save you. No higher, nobler gift did heaven itself contain, than what he gave. Can you, will you, any longer treat that salvation with indifference, which the Son of God freely offers you, and which he purchased for you at the expense of

FROM CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS,

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O!

his throne, his happiness, and his life? danger, very, very, very dreadful, from which such a Saviour came to relieve us! O blessed, blessed salvation; which was obtained at so dear a rate! O precious, invaluably precious souls, for which such a price was paid! Such a sonl is yours. You have one, for which the Son of God in torture died, and heaven lost its bright inhabitant. Such is the value which God has set upon your soul; but, my young friend, how have you valued it? Perhaps, if poor, you have laboured earnestly for to-morrow's bread, but never spent an hour's care on your immortal spirit; or, perhaps, if in casier circumstances, you have followed dress, gaiety, and pleasure, careless what became of your soul in that dreadful eternity, to which it hastes. O, act this wretched part no longer; but now make carly piety your choice! Let not the blessed God be so anxious for your everlasting welfare, and you as careless of it.

§ 8. As thus, in the most affecting manner,

the Father and the Son have declared the valuc of the soul; so also, my young friend, learn the same, from all which the blessed Spirit does for the salvation of sinful men. He strives with them. It is by his light that they discern the Father and the Son. Has not he exerted his power in your heart? Have not you felt those convictions of sin and folly, those devout impressions, and salutary desires, which really came from above? Has not the still small voice within, as it were, said to you, "Turn to God; forsake the world; your ways lead to misery, they will be bitterness in the end; trust in Christ and be happy." Have not you banished the warning,

118 FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT'S CARE,

and quenched the holy thoughts and desires, thus given you from above? Yet has he left you? Has not your conscience been alarmed; and these sacred impressions repeated again and again? Why does the blessed Spirit thus strive with you? Why did he not take your first repulse, and leave you for ever? Why has he followed you with these salutary warnings? You did not seek them. Why has he made your heart at times almost begin to melt? Why let you feel the sting of sin? Why alarmed you at your situation? Why showed you your danger? Why induced you at times, if you would go no further, yet to wish you were a Christian ? To wish that you were like some that you perhaps know? Why has the blessed Spirit bestowed all this care on a poor, thoughtless, ungrateful creature, whose heart has been shut against his gentle influence? Why, my young friend, but because he wishes you well for ever? God would not have you perish. Shall angels, shall the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, all, all be filled with concern for the welfare of your soul, and will you slight that soul yourself?

§ 9. If, to all this evidence of the worth of your soul, I add more, it shall be, that even the malice of devils may teach you the value of your soul. You are taught, in the word of God, that Satan walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. You are assured that he comes and takes away the seed sown in the careless heart; and that we have to wrestle with the rulers of the darkness of this world. The word of God represents his power as great; his influence is extensive; his devices are many. Ephes. vi. 12.

1 Peter, v. 8.

Matt. xiii. 19.

FROM SATAN'S MALICE

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Some he tempts to presumption, others to despair; and in a thousand different ways strives to keep the sons of men fast in his hellish chains.* But though the devil is a fallen and infernal spirit, you have no reason to doubt that he was once one of an exalted rank. He knows what heaven is, for he has lost it; he knows what immortality is, for he is doomed to it; and his artifices, his assaults, his watchfulness, his activity, in the dreadful work of destruction, prove how highly he values the immortal soul. It is a prize which he thinks worth his care and labour. No watchfulness seems to him too much for the accomplishment of its ruin. Though you may be inactive, he is activity itself. Though you may be negligent and slothful, in seeking the salvation of your soul, he is watchful and diligent in seeking its destruction.

A PRAYER IMPLORING A DEEPER SENSE OF THE VALUE OF THE SOUL, WITH A DEVOUT COMMITTAL OF IT TO THE SAVIOUR'S CARE.

O thou Almighty Father of Spirits, by thee this curious mortal frame of mine was formed, and from thee my immortal spirit came. Thou didst create man to bear more of the image of thyself, than any besides of these thy lower works. Thou didst breathe into him the breath of life, by which he became a living soul; while all thy other creatures here, are the creatures of a day. From thee have I received a soul, that must live through an eternity, as lasting as thy

own.

I know, O Lord, that it is appointed unto all men once to die; and I, ere long, must sink

*The young reader is recommended to read Brookes's Precious Remedies against Satan's Devices, a truly excellent little work.

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PRAYER FOR A DEEPER

beneath the stroke of death. These hands will forget to labour. These eyes will need the cheering light of day no more. This tongue will be silent. This heart will be filled with fear or love no longer. These limbs will become cold in death; none on earth will be concerned with me, nor I with them; but the worm will crawl and feed upon this flesh of mine, or corruption consume it, "till not one wretched trace remains resembling me!" But, O my God! that soul which thou hast made the tenant of this dying frame, must defy the power of death; must spring forward into new and unknown scenes; must behold the glories or terrors of the invisible world; while eternity, vast, boundless, joyful, or dreadful eternity, becomes the only limit of my suffering or happiness. With this prospect before me, let me prize my soul as a treasure, compared with which all the treasures of a thousand worlds were emptier than a bauble and lighter than vanity. O, let me feel its worth as I shall do on the bed of death! O, let me know its value as they have done who gladly bore prisons, and flames, and martyrdom, in every dreadful form, that they might but keep their immortal spirits safe beneath their Redeemer's care; and who thought all their sorrows well repaid, by landing on the peaceful shore of heaven! O, let me feel the value of my immortal soul, as they have done who trifled with theirs, till their day of grace was gone; and who then, in confusion, agony, and horror, bewailed their dreadful sin! Lord, may I learn from the joyful or sad experience of others, not to slight thy love! Thou hast cared for my eternal welfare, nd thought no sacrifice too costly when the