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came home last night, sir, from Brighton. He had been out all day. I looked for a Bible, sir, but there is not one in the house; I hope you have got one with you." "Oh," I said, "a Bible would be of no use to him now. If he could understand me I could tell him the way of salvation in the very words of Holy Scripture." I spoke to him, but he gave me no answer. I spoke again; still there was no reply. All sense had fled. I stood a few minutes gazing at his face, till I perceived he was dead. His soul had departed. That man in his lifetime had been wont to jeer at me. In strong language he had often denounced me as a hypocrite. Yet he was

no sooner smitten with the darts of death than he sought my presence and my counsel, feeling no doubt in his heart that I was a servant of God, though he did not care to own it with his lips. There I stood, unable to help him. Promptly as I had responded to his call, what could I do, but look at his corpse, and go home again. He had, when too late, sighed for the ministry of reconciliation, sought to enter in, but he was not able. There was no space left him then for repentance; he had wasted the opportunity. Therefore I pray and beseech you, my dear hearers, by the near approach of death-it may be much nearer than you think-give earnest heed to these things. I look round on this building, and note the pews and sittings from which hearers, whose faces were once familiar to us, have gone-some to glory, some I know not where. God knoweth. Oh, let not the next removal, if it be yours, vacate the seat of a scoffer or of a neglecter, or of one who, having been touched in his conscience, silenced the secret monitor and would

not turn. As the Lord liveth you must turn or burn ; you must either repent or be ruined for ever. May God give you wisdom to choose the better part.

It appears from Scripture that even after death there will be some who will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. I do not attempt to explain what I cannot understand, but I find the Master represents those on the left hand asking a question,-"When saw we thee hungry, and fed thee not?" as if they had some glimmering hope that the sentence upon them might be reversed. And I read in another place of those who will come and knock at the door, and say, "Lord, Lord, open to us." But the Master of the house, having already risen up and shut to the door, will answer, "Verily, I say unto you, I know you not." Is there, then, such a thing as prayer in hell? When the soul has passed out of the body without hope, will it seek for hope hereafter? Perhaps so. Did not the rich man pray to Abraham to send Lazarus? It is but natural to expect that as they doubted God's promises on earth, they may doubt God's threatenings in hell, and may hope, peradventure, that there will be a way of escape. They will seek, they will seek, but they shall not be able, not able to enter heaven. They said they were not able on earth; they shall find they are not able in hell. Non possumus is the sinner's cry. "We are not able to leave our sins; we are not able to believe; we are not able to be serious; we are not able to be prayerful;" and then, how it will be thrown back into their teeth! not able to enter heaven; not able to escape from torment; not able to live; not able to die; not able because the gate of heaven admits no

sinner who has not been washed in the Redeemer's blood. Back with you, sir! You would not come to the fountain, you would not wash. Back with you. You are not able, not able because heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people, and you never thought of preparation. Away with you, sir! How can you enter when you are not prepared? Heaven is a place for which a fitness is needed. Men cannot enjoy that which would be contrary to their natures. Away with you, sirs! You could not enjoy heaven if you were admitted, for you are not changed in heart. Away with you ! What do you linger? do you cry? do you pray? do you weep? do you entreat? Away with you! Nay, the angels shall sweep you away, for is it not writtenYou yourselves shall be thrust out-unceremoniously driven and scourged away from the gate of glory because you would not come to the gate of grace? These are terrible things to utter. I well might shrink from speaking thus, were it not that fidelity to your souls makes such demands that I must ring the warning. If ye die without faith in Christ, behold, there is a gulf fixed between you and heaven. I do not know what that means, but I know what idea it gives to me and should give to you. Between heaven and hell there is no traffic. None ever passed from hell to heaven.

"There are no acts of pardon passed

In the cold grave to which we haste;
But darkness, death, and long despair
Reign in eternal silence there."

They would fain pass the gulf-were it fire they would be glad to pass it; were it full of torments, many and manifold as a Spanish Inquisition could invent, they

would be glad to bear them; could they but hope to cross the gulf. But no, the voice is heard-an angel's voice: "He that is filthy, let him be filthy still; he that is unjust, let him be unjust still." The wax has cooled ; you cannot alter the impression. The die is cast; you cannot remould it. The tree has fallen; there it lies. I wish I could speak now in words that should burn their way right into your inmost hearts. Alas! I cannot! I must, however, just repeat the text again, and leave it with you. Many shall seek in that dread day to enter, but shall not be able. Oh, enter then, enter ye! Enter now, while yet the gate stands open wide, and mercy bids you come! Make haste to enter while yet the avenging angel lingers, and the angel of mercy stands with outstretched arms and cries: "Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely." May God, the ever-blessed Spirit, without whom no warning can be effectual, and no invitation can be attractive, sweetly constrain you to trust Christ to-night. Here is the gospel in a few words. Jesus suffered the wrath and torment we justly merited. He doubtless bore the penalty of your transgressions, if so be you penitently believe in his sacrifice. When you trust in him for pardon, 'tis proof your sins were laid on him for judgment. You are, therefore, a forgiven man, a pardoned woman; you are saved-saved for ever. If you have a simple, child-like trust, you may go home, singing for joy of heart, knowing that you have already entered the strait gate, and before you lay grace on earth and glory in heaven. May God bless you richly, and may you adore him gratefully, for his dear name's sake. Amen.

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"I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord: I will keep thy statutes. I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies." Psalm cxix. 145, 146.

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HE fear of punishment leads many people to think about their sins, and a dread of hell in the future fills the retrospect of their past life with gloom and remorse. This is natural. It may happen to any one, as it has happened to tens of thousands, that the peril has

haunted them till at length the penalty has overtaken them. Although they have been constantly terrified with a sense of the Divine wrath, they have never penitently looked to the Divine mercy. Thus they have continued to despond, and they have gone on to despair, and that utter desperation has curdled into a bitter remorse, which has been the forecast of their eternal torment. But it appears to me that there is a work of grace in the heart where there is a fear of sin rather than a fear of hell,-where the desire of the soul is not so much to escape from the punishment as to escape from the guilt which is the cause of the punishment. What thief, what murderer, when he has been

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