wherefore dost thou doubt? O thou of little faith! Let me say to you, Lavinia, as Jesus did to the Ruler of the synagogue, Fear not-only believe -and thou shalt be made whole. When the ancient Israelites in the wilderness were bitten by the fiery serpents, Moses, you remember, was commanded to make a brazen serpent-to set it upon a pole, and to tell every one who was bitten, that if he looked upon it, he should live. Now, if, instead of instantly looking at this serpent, the wounded Israelite had stood reasoning with himself about the malignant nature of his wound, or querying whether the mean of recovery was adapted to the end; or whether a cure might not be effected some other way, he would have paid very dear for his ungrateful hesitancy. The healing of his body was connected with implicit and prompt obedience to the divine command: it was the only method prescribed for relief; and had the command been disregarded, he must inevitably have perished.

Now thus it is, in a spiritual sense, with the soul. It is by nature the subject of moral evil, extremely depraved, and obnoxious to final perdition: and from this perdition there is no possibility of escape, except in the way that infinite mercy has graciously provided. What that way is, we learn from the lips of him who said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; and of whom the brazen serpent was a striking. figure. 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,' said the compassionate Saviour, 'even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life-He that believeth on him is not con

demned but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.' Now this Jesus has, according to his own declaration, been lifted up on the cross, as was the serpent on a pole in the desert; and he is still exhibited in the gospel as crucified- -as the only way of escape from everlasting ruin-as the only medium of human happiness. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.'

But what, it may be asked, is the language of this crucified Saviour to perishing sinners? does it equal the language of Moses? Yes: it is equally benign, and quite as encouraging. Let the trembling soul hear, and rejoice-Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else-Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live-I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirstI am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die Unto me every knee shall bow -every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.'

Such is the encouraging answer given by the

voice of benevolence and of truth to the trembling querist; and nearly similar is the paraphrase of a celebrated writer in replying to the same inquiry. 'Look unto me, wretched ruined transgressors, as the wounded Israelites looked unto the brazen serpent. Look unto me dying on the cross as your victim, and obeying the law as your surety. Not by doing, but by looking and believing; not by your own deeds, but by my works, and my sufferings, be ye saved. This is the mys. terious but certain way of salvation. Thus shall ye be delivered from guilt, rescued from hell, and reconciled to God. Who are invited to partake of this inestimable benefit? All the ends of the earth. People of every nation under heaven; of every station in life; of every condition, and every character, 'not excepting the chiefest of sinners. To me every knee shall bow. Every | soul of man, who desires to inherit eternal life, shall submit to my righteousness, and as an unworthy creature, as an obnoxious criminal, obtain the blessing wholly through my atonement.To me every tongue shall swear. Be man's supposed virtues ever so various, or ever so splendid, all shall be disclaimed, and my worthiness alone shall stand. Renouncing every other trust, they shall repose the confidence of their souls on me alone, and make public confession of this their faith before the world.-Surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. A righteousness without spot, without defect, and in all respects consummate: such as satisfies every requirement of the law, and most thoroughly expiates all my iniquities. Such as renders me completely accepted before my judge, and entitles me to everlasting life.'

Now the sinner whose conscience is burdened with guilt and alarmed with danger, is not to he

sitate-not. to question whether his sins be too many, or too great to be pardoned; because this would tacitly impeach the divine veracity; but to view the exhortation and the promise made to faith-to look instantly to Jesus as the stung Israelite did to the brazen serpent, nothing doubting-viewing him as the only mean appointed for relief, and firmly persuaded, because God hath said it, that whosoever looketh to him, or believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins.

Thus to believe, and thus to act, is to put honour on the head of Jesus-is to view him as a Saviour to treat his atonement as worthy of all acceptation-his blood as cleansing from all sin: and is, in fact, a renunciation of all personal worth as being in any degree the ground of forgiveness. Itis a practical declaration, That in the Lord alone we have righteousness and strength, peace and assurance for ever- -That besides him there is no Saviour.

When the salvation of the soul becomes an object of attention, it is common for unconverted men to ask, as did those that followed Christ in the days of his humiliation, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? The heavenly blessedness is always viewed as the reward of religious and moral duties that either have been, or are to be performed. But the answer to this inquiry then was, and still is; This is the work of God, that we believe on him whom he hath sent. Nor should it ever be forgotten, that the salvation of the gospel is by promise; which promise is made, not to him that worketh; not to him that is less vile than his neighbour, but to faith-to the man, whatever be his character or his conduct, who believeth on him that 'justifieth the ungodly'-To him that shall confess with

his mouth the Lord Jesus, and that shall believe in his heart that God hath raised him from the dead. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' Whosoever therefore shall thus believe, and thus confess, shall, as the Scripture hath said, undoubtedly be saved.

We are apt to forget, or perhaps do not properly consider, that salvation originated in the Sovereign pleasure of God that it is a blessing which might, or might not, have been conferred on the apostate sons of Adam; that it is not in any way connected with the moral qualifications they possess, or the duties they perform, but solely with the work and worth of his own Sun, on whom they have no claim, and which, as a gift, is graciously bestowed on the absolutely unworthy not as meriting mercy, but as deserving eternal ruin. It should also be remembered, that whatever is said concerning this salvation, is to be cordially believed on divine testimony, without the concurrent evidence of our senses; because it is an affair with which they are not conversant of which they can take no cognizánce. The inestimable blessing must also be regarded as all-sufficient for the purposes intended, and as the only mean by which eternal happiness can be enjoyed as free for sinners, without exception of character, and as infallibly connected with faith. He, therefore, that shall see the plague of his own heart-that shall acknowledge it to be deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked-who shall contemplate a life spent in gratifying the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-who shall feel his accumulated guilt as a load that might justly sink him into endless perdition-and who, notwithstanding these apparent discouragements, shall