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and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son' give me but a place amongst thy children-wash me in the fountain thou hast opened for sin-pardon, for the dear Redeemer's sake, my past ingratitude; take away my load of guilt, and make me an heir of glory, through faith in Jesus Christ thy Son."

I would, therefore, again proclaim to you the glad news, that "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." To you is the word of this salvation sent-to-day, even to-day, "if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart," but "turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon you," even unto our God," and he will abundantly pardon." You cannot tell that you shall be spared during another year of trial: the sentence may already have passed, "Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches ;" and if it be so, a few more returning Sabbaths will end all your means of instruction; the ministers of God will soon cease to warn you of your danger, or to invite you to the Saviour; your Bibles, which perhaps even now are only gathering dust upon your shelves, and these little tracts which are sent to you, will no longer tell you of God's love to a perishing world; the shades of death will close around, and bring you into the presence of that Saviour who now waits to be gracious, but who will then become your impartial Judge!

Language cannot describe the fearful prospect which is before you, so long as you continue in a state of impenitency and obduracy of heart. There is a day of retribution approaching; there is an awful day awaiting the impenitent transgressor. The heavens and the earth shall pass away with a mighty noise, "shrivelling like a parched scroll;" they shall be burnt up with fervent heat; and amidst that terrific scene shall the Son of man descend to judgment. "Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, when they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." "A fiery stream shall issue

and come forth from before him; thousands of thousands shall minister unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand shall stand before him. The judgment shall be set, and the books shall be opened!"

Reader, thou shalt be there! No covering shall be able to veil thee from that dreadful presence! The rocks and the hills cannot hide thee from the glance of his omniscient eye. Then will be unveiled all thy past wickedness before assembled worlds; then the secret recesses of thy soul, which in the days of thy vanity thou didst think were hidden from every eye, shall all be laid open. The mask which thou didst wear before thy fellow-creatures will be removed, and thou shalt stand a deformed and odious spectacle before the bar of thy offended Judge. And what, poor thoughtless sinner, shall be thy plea? Wilt thou then plead the general mercy of God? Wilt thou then urge thy outward morality of conduct? Will all the thousand apologies thou hast made to thyself and to others for thy thoughtlessness and folly, then stand the test of the judgment-seat of Christ? Wilt thou plead thy privileges? "Lord, I have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets." Thy privileges abused shall add to thy condemnation, and thy sentence shall be passed, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

May a stranger, then, affectionately give thee counsel ? Why thus bent upon thy ruin? Why putting away from thee mercy when it is offered? Why delaying to come to the Saviour, when he invites thee near? Why appointing a future time to be happy, whilst the door to happiness is at present open? Thou mayest delay till the door be shut, "and then thou shalt seek to enter in, and shalt not be able!"

THE ENGLISH MONTHLY TRACT SOCIETY,
27, RED LION SQUARE.

J. & W. Rider, Printers, Bartholomew Close, London.

MORALITY NOT HOLINESS.

MORALITY NOT CHRISTIAN HOLINESS.

ALL error, both doctrinal and practical, may be traced up to the universal depravity of human nature; yet error is modified by ten thousand external circumstances which arise from time to time in the progress of events. Hence every age and class of persons is marked by its appropriate and characteristic error; and without entering further into detail, it appears that a prevailing feature in the error of the times is this, a substitution of human morality for evangelical religion, or a mere nominal Christianity for the power of godliness.

Morality, in the vague and popular sense in which it is frequently employed, is too difficult for us to define; the fact is, it is a hack word that means anything, everything, or nothing, according to the ever-changing forms of the fashion which adopts it. We take morality in the fullest signification, to comprehend all those practical duties which by the consent of all, except idiots and atheists, man owes to God and his fellow-creatures. We intend, however, to view it, in the following remarks, in that restricted signification which applies it to all ethics except those which spring purely from evangelical principles: this latter, in order to avoid ambiguity and confusion, we shall denominate Christian holiness.

Morality, then, according to the definition thus given, sets about the performance of its various duties on merely natural principles. Self is the starting point, self the scope, and self the termination of its career. Analyse every system of human ethics that ingenious minds have framed, and you will find, after a wearisome discussion about the nature of good and evil, virtue and vice, that they have no higher motives, object, or end, in all their conduct than the honour, advantage, or gratification of self. This morality makes no reference to the total depravity of human nature, has very

low views of the extent and turpitude of sin; while renewal of the heart, and spiritual influence and assistance from the direct operation of the Holy Ghost, are doctrines which, if known at all, are known only to be ridiculed and despised as the dream of enthusiasts and fanatics. The fear of future punishment, that slavish terror which "has torment," a consciousness of guilt, even where the revealed law of God is not clearly understood, and other equally base and servile principles, goad on the soul, as a planter his negro, to self-righteous efforts. Thus it seeks to obtain the favour of heaven, that is, some supreme but "unknown God," who rules over rational and accountable creatures, and will after death summon them to his tribunal to give an account of their conduct. Whenever the votaries of such a system fail, as they continually do, of reaching even this defective standard of obedience, they endeavour to make compensation by unavailing sighs and tears, by self-inflicted mortifications either of mind or body, and all the other endless devices in the ritual of will-worship, equally imperfect, ridiculous, and vain. Thus morality aims at the accomplishment of its desires, rolling for ever the Sisyphean stone of unattainable duty, yet obliged after innumerable disappointments to soothe its pride with this, its best and only consolation

"I see the good, and I approve it too;

Condemn the wrong, and yet the wrong pursue!"

In the case of those who from living in a Christian country have acquired a general notion of the doctrines of scripture, as merely speculative truths, the morality which they exhibit is of a more specious character, and is frequently mistaken for vital piety. They present on the altar of a sincere and honest heart a sacrifice which they imagine cannot but be acceptable to the Almighty, especially when coupled with the atonement of the good and merciful Redeemer; that is to say, they would establish, by a mixture of their own and the Saviour's merits, a claim, as they suppose, if not on the justice, yet at least on the mercy of God. They profess to believe the Bible, to take it as their rule of life; and they form a great part of the visible church, and share in all her external rights and privileges. They have been baptized, they receive the sacrament. What more can they require? if they are not good Christians, who are? They admire the sacred volume as a most ancient and wonderful book; they are delighted with the history and

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