The Anxious Inquirer

’ 0 that I knew -Rliere I might find him.” — Job, xxiii 5.

We will say nothing at this time concerning Job — we will leave the patriarch out of the question, and take these Avorclrf as the exclamation forced from the aching heart of a sinner when he finds that he is lost on account of sin, and can only be saved by Christ, “O that I knew where I might find hira” — “my Saviour — that I might be saved by his love and blood!” There are some who tell us that a man can, if he pleases, in one moment obtain peace with God and joy in the Holy Ghost. Such persons may know something of religion m their own hearts; but I think they are not competent to be judges of others. God may have given them some peace through believing, and brought them immediately hito a state of joy; he may have given them some repentance for sin, and then given them quickly to rejoice in Jesus; but I believe that, in many more cases, God begins by breaking the iron heart in pieces, and often makes a delay of days, of weeks, and of months, before he heals the heart which he has woinided, and gives life to the spirit which he has killed. Many of God’s people have been, even for years, seeking peace, and finding none; they have known their sins, they have been permitted to feel their guilt, and yet, notwithstanding that they have sought earnestly with tears, they have not attained to a knowledge of their justification by faith in Christ. Such was the case with John Bunyan; for many a dreary month he walked She earth desolate, and said he knew himself to be lost without Christ; on his bended knees, with tears pouring like gliowers from his eyes, he sought mercy but he found none. Terrible words haunted him continually; dreadful of Sciipliiro were quoted in his ears; and be found no ionso- (ation, until afterward God was pleased to appear to him in all the plenitude of grace, and give him to cast himself on the Saviour.

I think there may be some here who have been for some time under the hand of God — some who have been brought so far toward heaven as to know this, that they are undone unless Chi ist shall save “them. I may be addressing some who have begun to pi’ay; many a time the walls of their chamber have listened to their supplication; not once, nor twice, nor fifty times, but very often have they bent their knee in agonizing prayer: and yet up to this moment, so far as their own feelings are concerned, their prayers are unanswered, Christ has not smiled upon them, they have not received the application of his precious blood, and mayhap they are sayhig at this hour, “I am ready to give up all in despair; he said he would receive all that came to him, and he has apparently reiected me.” Take heart, O mourner! I have a sweet message to thee; and I pray the Lord that thou mayest find Christ on the spot where thou art now standing or sitting, and rejoice in a pardon bought with blood,

I shall now proceed to consider the case of a man who is awakened, who is seeking Christ, but who at ])resent has not, in his own apprehension, found him. First, I shall notice some hopeful signs in this mcui?s case, secondly, I shall try to give some reasons lohy it is that a gracious God delays an ansioer to prayer in the case of penitent sinners, and then, thirdly, I shall close up by giving some brief and suitable advice to those ifjho have been seeking Christy but have up to the present time found it a hopeless search.

I. Fii-st, then, I notice, there are some very hopeful stgns in the case of the man who has been seeking Christ, though he may not have found him.

And taking the text for a ground-work, we notice as one hopeful sign, that the man has otily one object, and that is Christ. “O that I knew where I might find him!” The worldling’s cry is, “Who will show us any good; this good, that good, or any other good — fifty kinds of good: who will show us these?” But the piickened sinner knows ot only g2 THE ANXIOCS jy.’iUIKKK.

one good. ‘O that I knew where I niiuht find rnMl”

Wjien the .s!nr.er is truly awakened to feel his ixnlh, if you

could pour the gold of India at his feet, he would say, ‘’Take

it away: I want to find in>.r.” If you could then give him all

the joys and delights of the flesh, he would tell you he had

tried all these, and they but cloyed upon his appetite. His

only crj is, “C) that I knew where I might find uiJi!”

“These -will never satisfy;

Give me Christ or else I die.”

It is a blessed thing for a man when he lias brought his de s-ires into a focus. When a man has fifty diflferent desires, his heart resembles a pool of water, which is spread over a marsh, breeding miasma and pestilence; but when all his desires are brought into one channel, his heart becomes like a river of pure water, I’unning along and fertilizing the fields. Ilajipy if the man who hath one desire, if that one desire is set on Christ, though it may not yet have been realized. If it be his desire it is a blessed sign of the divine work within him. Such a man will never be content with mere ordinances. Other men will go up to God’s house, and when they’ have heard the scr mon, they will be satisfied; but not so this man; he will say, ‘’ O that I knew where I miorht find him!” His neisfhbor

C7 CD

who heai-s the sermon will be satisfied; but this man will say, “I want more than that; I want to find Christ in it.” Another man will go to the sacramental table; he will eat the bread and drink the wine, and that will be enough for him he will be contented with it. But the quickened sinner will say, “No bread, no wine will satisfy me; I v>’ant Christ; I must have him; mere ordinances are of no use to me; I want not the Saviour’s clothes: I want himself; do not offer me these; you offer me the empty pitcher while I am dying of thirst; give me water, water, or I die. It is this I ‘ant.” As we have it here in the text, “O that I knew where I might find him!”

Is this thy condition, my friend, at this moment? Hast thou but one desire, and is that after Christ? Then, as the Lord liveth, thou ‘art not far from the kinglom of heaven. Hast tlpou but oni wish in thy heart, and that one wish that

THE ANXIOUS INQUlKHrt. 93

thou mayest be washed from all thy sins in Jesus’ blood? Canst thou really say, “I would give all I have to be a Chris*- tian; I would give up every thing I have and hope for, if 1 might but feel that I have an interest in the person and Geath of Christ?” Then, poor soul, despite all thy fears, be of good cheer; the Lord loveth thee, and thou shalt come out into tlaylight soon, and rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ triakes men free.

There is another hopeful sign; not only that the man has only one desire, but that it is an intense one. Hear the text ao-ain! “O that I knew where I might find him!” There is an “O” here: there is an intensity of desire. There are some men who are mighty religious, but their religion is never more than skin deep only, it never goes into their heart; they can talk it finely, but they never feel it; it does not well up rVom the heart, and that is a bad spring that only comes from the lip; it is the true spring froiu the inmost heail of man that can send forth living water. But this character is no liypoorite: he means what he says. Other men will say, •’ Yes, I should like to be a Christian; I should like to be pardon3d; I should like to be foi’given.” And so they would; but they would like to go on in sin too. They would like to be saved; yes, but they would like to live in sin; they would like to hold with the hare and run with the hounds. They have no desire whatever to give up their sins. They would like to be pardoned for all their past transgressions, and then go on just the same as before. Their wish is of no use, because it is so superficial. But when the sinner is really quickened, there is nothing superficial in him then. It is, “O that I knew where I might find him!” coming from his very heart. Art thou in that position, my friend? Is thy sigh a real one? Is thy groan no mere fancy, but a real groan from the heart? Is that tear which steals down thy cheek a rea,l tear, which comes from the grief of thy spirit? I think I hear you saying, “Sir, if you knew me you would not ask me that question, for my friends say I am misei-able day after day, an 3 so indeed I am. I go to mv chamber there, in the lean to, zA the top of the house, and often do I cry to God; ay, sir, I cry in such a style, I .vould not ha e any one hear mc; I cry with groans and tears, that I may be brought near to God, I do mean what I say.” Then, beloved, thou shalt be saved; so sure as it is a real emotion of thy heart, God will not let thee perish. Never was there a sinner whose inmost htart cried to God, who was not loved of God; never was tnere one who desired with all his might to be saved, and whose Boul groaned out that desire in hearty prayer, who was c-ast ‘»i’ay. His mercy may tarry, but it shall come. Pray on sxill; he will hear thee at last, and thou shalt yet “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

But notice again, that in the text there is an admission of ignorance, which is also a very hopeful sign. “O that I hiewP* Many people think they know every thing, and consequently know nothing. I think it is Seneca who says, “Many, a man would have been a wise man, if he had not thought himself so; if he had but known himself to have been a fool, he would have become wise.” The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance. He can not learn aright who has not first been taught that he knows nothing. A sense of ignorance is a very excellent sign of grace. It is a singular thing, that every man thinks himself qualified to be a doctor of divinity; a man who knows nothing of any other science, thinks he must understand this perfectly; and, alas! alas! for those who think they know so much about God’s things, and have never been taught of God! Man’s school is not God’s school. A man may go to all the colleges in creation, and know as little of theology when he comes out as when he went into them. It is a good thing for a man to feel that he is only beginning to learn, and to be willing to submit his heart to the teaching of God’s Spirit, that he may be guided in every thing by him. He that knoweth every thing need not think hhnself a Christian; he that boasteth that he can understand all mysteries needeth to fear. But the quickened soul says, “Teach thou me.” We become little children when God begins to deal with us. Before, we were big, tall men and women, and so Avise; but when he begins to deal with us, he cuts us down to the stature of children, and we are put on tm form of humility, to learn the true lessons of wisdom, and then we are taught the great things of God. Happy art thoa.

0 man, if thou knowest Lliyself to know nothing. If God hath emptied thee of thy carnal wisdom, he will fill thee with heavenly; if he hath taught thee thine ignorance, he will teach thee his wisdom, and bring thee to himself; and if thou art taught to reje(;t all thy knowings and findings-out, God will certainly reveal himself to thee.

There is one more hopeful sign in my text that I must taqW’ tion. It is this: that the person I have spoken of is quite careless where it is he finds Christy so that he does find him. Do you know, beloved, that people when they feel their sins, are the worst people in the world to stick up for sects? Other men can fight with broad-swords against their fellow-creatures; but a poor awakened sinner says, “Lord, I will meet thee anywhere.” When we are whole-hearted, and have never felt our sins, we are the most respectable religionists in the world; we venerate every nail in the church door, and every woixl in the Book, and think so much of it, that we would not have any one difier from us — we would cut him off at once; but A’hen we feel our sins we say, “Lord, if I could find thee anywhere, I would be glad; it I could find thee at the Baptist meeting-house, if I could find thee in the Independent chapel,

1 should be glad enough to go there. I have always attended. lai’ge, handsome church; but if I could find thee in that little despised meeting-house, I should be glad to go there; though it would be degrading my rank and respectability, there would I go to find my Saviour.” Others think they would rather not have Christ, if Christ goes anywhere except to their own church; they must keep to their own sect, and can by ho means overstep the line. It is a marvelous thing, but I believe I only speak the experience of many, when I say that there are very few of you were brought to know, the Lord where you were in the habit of attending. You have attended there perhaps since; but it was not your fiither’s church, not the church of the place where you were born and bred, but some other church, into which you strayed for a time, and where the arrows stuck tost in the heart of the King’s enetmes. I know it was so with me; I never thouo-ht of ffoinii: to the despised chapel where I was first brought to know the ^jord, but it s’iOwed so hard that I could not go to a more re-

9G THE ANXIOUS INQUIllEK.

spec table place, so I was obliged to go to the little meeting; and when I got in, the preacher read his text — “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” It was a blessed text, and blessedly applied: but if there had been any stickling as to going into places, I should not have been there. The awakened sinner says, “0 that I knew where I might find mm! Only let me know where; let the minister of it be the most despised in the world, I will go and hear him; let the sact to which he belongs be the most calunmiated and slandered, there I will be found seeking him. If I can but tiud Christ, I will be content to find him anywhere.” If divers can go into the deeps to bring up pearls, we should nol be ashamed sometimes to dive deep to bring up precious jewels. Men will do any thing to get gold; they will work in the most muddy streams, or under the most scorching sun: surely, then, we ought not to mind how much we stoop, if we find that which is more precious than gold and silver, even “Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Is this also thy feeling? Then, beloved, I have not only a hope of thee, but I have a certainty of thee. If thou art brought to cry out, in all the senses I have mentioned- “O that I knew where I might find him!” then assuredly the Lord hath begun a good work in fheoi, and he will carry it on even unto the end.

II. But now, for the secpnd point, I shall endeavok to

v«VE SOME REASONS WHY A GRACIOUS GOD DELAYS AN AN-SWER TO THE PRAYERS OF PENITENT SINNERS. Mcthiuks I

hear some one savins:, “How is it that God does not give a man comfort as soon as he repents? Why is it that the Lord Viakes some o’ his people wait in bondage till he gives them liberty V

In the first place, it is to display Ms own sovereignty. Ali that is a word that i-s not often mentioned in pulpits. Divin sovereignty is a veiy unfashionable doctrine. Few people care to hear of a God who doeth as he pleaseth, and is absolute monarch over man; who knoweth of no law but his own absolute will, which is always the will to do that which 18 right, to do good to those whom he hath ordained unto cter nal life, and to scatter mercy lavislily ujwjn all ci’eatures. Bui we do assert, that there is such a tiling as divine sovereignty and more especially in the work of salvation. God sf<id thus ‘’ If I gave to all men peace as soon as they asked for it, they would bein to think they had a right to it. Now, I will make some of them wait, so that they may see that the mercy is absolutely in my hand, and that if I choose to withheld it altogether I might do so most justly; and I will make men pee that it is a gift of ray free grace, and not of their deserv mg.” In some of our squr.res, where they are anxious to keep the right of way, yoy know they sometimes shut the gates, not because they would inconvenience us, but because they would preserve the right of way, and let the public see that although they let them through, yet they have no right of way, and might be excluded if the proprietors pleased. So with God: he says, “Man, if I save thee, it is entirely of my will and pleasure; my grace I give, not because thou deservest it, for then it were no grace at all; but I give it to the most undeserving of men, that I may keep my claim to it.” And I take it that this is the best way of proving God’s soveignty, namely, his making delay between penitence and faith, or between penitence and that faith, which brings peace with God and joy in the Holy Ghost. I think this is one very important reason.

But there is another. God sometimes defeyeth manifesting his forgiving mercy to them, in order that they may find out some secret sin. There is something hidden in their hearts which they do not know of They come to God confessing their sins, and they think they have made a clean breast of all their transgressions. “Nay,” saith God, “I will not give yoa pardon yet, or I will not apply it to your conscience yet: there is a sin you have not yet discovered;” and he sets the heart searching itself again, till Jerusalem is searched as with candles, and lo, there is some sin dragged out from the cornei in which it was hidden. Conscience says, “I never knew this sin before; I never felt it as a sin; Lord, I repent.” “Ah,” Baith the mighty Maker, “now I have proved thee and tried thee, and found out this dross, I will sj)eak to thee the word of consolation and comfort.” Art thou, then, a mourner, eeekmg rest, and not finding it? I beseech thee, look into thine heart once more. Perhaps there is some hidden lust

QS T!1K A.NXIO’JS IN^UIKKU.

there, some secret sin. Look within once more; turn tha traitor out. Then will God come and dwell in thy soul, ana give unto thee the “peace that passeth all unierstanding.”

Another reason is, that he may make vs more useful in after life. A man is never made thoroughly useful unless he haa suffering. I do not think there is much done by a man who is not a sutferino; man. We must first suffer in our heads and hearts the things we preach, or we shall never preach them with effect; and if we are private Christians we can never be of use to our fellow men, unless we have passed through somewhat the same trials they have had to endure. So God make a Bome of his people wait a long time before he gives them the manifestation of their pardon, in order that they may comfort others in after days. “I need thee to be a consolation to others; therefore I will make thee full of grief, and dru-jken with wormwood, so that when thou shalt in after years raeet with the mourner, thou mayest say to him, I have suffer/d the same and endured the same.” And there are none so iit to comfort others, as those who have once needed comfort chemselves. Then take heart. Perhaps the Lord designs tte’j for a great work. He is keeping thee low in bondage, and doubt, and fear, that he may bring thee out more clearly, and if.ake thy light like the light of seven days, and bring forth thy righteousness “clear as the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners.” Wait, then, for God designs good to thee, and good to others through thee, by this delay.

But it often arises not so much from God as from ourselves. It is ignorance of the loay of salvation which keeps many a man longer in doubt than he would be, if he knew more of it. I do not hesitate to affirm, that one of the hardest thing’s for a sinner to understand is the way of salvation. It seems the plainest thing in all the woi’ld; nothing appears more easy than, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” But when the sinner is led to feel himself a sinner, lie finds it not so easy to understand as he thought. We tell a man that, with all their blackness, sinners are to be pardoned; that, with all their sins, they are to be forgiven freely for Christ’s Hake. “But,” says the man when he feels himself to be black.” do you mean to tell me that I am to be made whiter tliaa

IlIK ANXIOUS Il^CiUIKEK.

snow? Do you mean to tell me that I who am lost am. to he savd, not through any thing I do, or hope to do, but purely thiough what another did?” He can hardly heliove it possible; he will have it, he must do something; he must do this, or that, or the other, to help Christ; and the hardest thing ic the world is to bring a man to see that salvation is of the Lord alone, and not at all of himself; that it is God’s free and perfect gift, which leaves nothing of ours to be added to it, but is given to us to cover us completely, from head to foot without any thing of our own. Men will conceive what God would not have them conceive, and they will not I’cceivethat which God would have them embrace. You know, it may be very easy to talk of certain cures, and to read of them. We may say ‘• Such and such a medicine is very eftective, and will work such and such a cure;” but when we are sick ourselves, we are often very dubious of the medicine, and if, having taken draught after draught of it, we find it does not cure us, perhaps we are brought to think, that though it may cure others, it can not cure us, because there has been such delay in the operation of it. So the yjoor soul thinks of the gospel, “Certainly it can not heal me;” and then he misunderstands the nature of the sacred medicine altogether, and begins to take the law instead of the gospel. Now the law never saved any yet, though it has condemned full many in its time, and will condemn us all, unless we have the gospel. If any man here should be in doubt on account of ignorance, let rae, as plainly as I can, state the gospel. I believe it to be wrapt up in one word — Substitution. I have always considei-ed, with Luther and Calvin, that the sum and substance of the gospel lies in that word. Substitution, Christ standing in the stead of man. If I understand the gospel, it is this: I deserve to be lost and ruined; the only reason why I should not be damned is this, that Christ was punished in my stead, and there is no need to execute a sentence twice for sin. On the other hand, I know I can not enter heaven, unless I have a perfect righteousness; I am absolutely certain I shall never have one of my own, foi I find I sin every day; but then Christ had a perfect righteousness, and he said,” There, take my garment, put it on; you shall stand before God as if you were Christ, and I will lOO TUK ANXIOLB IN^UIKKR.

stand Ijefore God as if I had been the shiner; I will sulfer m the sinner’s stead, and you shall be rewai-ded foi- works which you did not do, but which Christ did for yon.” I think the whole substance of salvation lies in the thought, that Christ stood in the place of man. The prisoner is in the dock; ho is about to be taken away for death; he deserves to die; he has been a mighty criminal. Jiut before he is taken away, the judge asks whether there is any possible plan whereby that prisoner’s life can be syared. Up rises one who is pure and perfect himself, and has known no sin, and by the allowance of the judge, for that is ne<’essary, he steps into the dock, and snys, ‘•’ Consider me to be the prisoner; pass the sentence on me, and let me die. Gentlemen of the coui-t,” says he, “consider the prisoner to be myself I have fought for my country; I have dared, and deserved well of it; reward him as if he had done good, and punish me as if I had committed the sin.” You say, “Such a thing could not occur in an earthly court of law.” Ay, but it has ha]»pened in God’s court of law. In the great court of King’s Bench, whei-e God is Judge of all, it lias happened. The Saviour said, “The sinnei deserves to die; let me die in his stead, and let him be clothed ni my righteousness.” To illustrate this, I will give you two instances. One is that of an ancient king, who passed a law against a ci’irao, and the punishment of the crime was, that any one who committed it should have both his eyes put out. His own son committed the crime. The king, as a strict judge, said, “I can not alter the law; I have said that the loss of eyes shall be the penalty; take out one of mine and one of his.” So, you see, he strictly carried out the law; but at the same time he was able to Iiave mercy in part upon his son. But in the case of Christ we must go a little further. Re did not say “Exact half the penalty of me, and half of the sinner:” he said, “Put both my eyes out; nail me to the tree; let mc die; let me take all the guilt awny, and then the sinner may go free.” We have heai’d of another case, that of two Drothers, one of whom had been a great ci-iminal, and was about to die, when his brother, coming into court, decorated with medals, and having many wounds upon mm, rose up to yw;uy with the judg”, that he would have mercy on the crimi

Dal for his sake. Then he begrn to strip himself and show his scars — how here and there on his big l)road bi-east he had received saber cuts in defense of his country. “By these wounds,” he said — and he lifted up one arm, the other having been cut aA ay — “by these my woundu, and the sufferings I have endured for my country, I beseech thee, have mercy oa him.” For his brother’s sake the criminal was allowed to escape the punishment that was hanging over his head. It was even ro with Christ. “The sinner,” he said, “deserves to die; then I will die in his stead. He deserves not to enter heaven, for he has not kept the law; but I have kept the law for him, he shall have my righteousness, and I will take his sin; and so the just shall die for the unjust, to bring him to God.” I have thus run away irom the subject somewhat, in order to clear up any ignorance that might exist in the minds of some of my hearers, as to this essential jjoint of the gospel plan.

HI. And now I am to give some advice to those who have

BEEN SEEKING ClIRIST, AND WHO HAVE NEVER FOUND HIM, IIOW THEY MAY FIND HIM.

In the first place, let me say, Go lohere^H’T Christ goes. The sick man knew that Christ M’ent to Bethesda, and therp ho lay. If Christ were to walk this earth again, and heal the eick, all the sick people would inquire, Where does Christ walk to-moriow?” and as soon as they found out where he would take his walks abroad, there they would be lying thick on the pavement, in the hope that as he passed by he would heal them. Go uj), then, to Christ’s house: it is <diere he meets with his people. Read his Word: it is there he Messes them, by applying sweet promises to them. Keep to the ordinances: do not neglect tLem. Christ comes to Bethesda pool: lie by the water. If you can not put in your foot, be wL^re Christ comes. You know, Thomas did not get the blessing, for he was not there -when Jesus came. Be not away from the housa of God; so that when he passes by he may haply look en thee, and say, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.”

And whatever you do, when Christ passes by, cnj afUr hbn with all your might; never be satisfied until you dc itiak*^ nim hear; and if he frown on yon seemingly, for the momr-^’* do not be stoppe 1 or stayed. If you are a little stirred by a sermon, pray over it; do not lose the auspicious moment. Il you hear any thing read which gives you some hope, lift up your heart in prayer at once; when the wind blows, then should the sails be set up; and it may happen that God may give you grace to cross the harbor’s mouth, and you may find the haven inside, the haven of pei’petual rest. There was a man, you know, who was born blind, and who wanted to have hiteight. As he sat by the road-side one day, he heard that Jesus passed by, and when he heai’d that, he cried after him, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.” The people wanted to hear Christ pi-eacli, so they hushed the poor man; but he cried again, “Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” The Son of David turned not his head; he did not look upon the man, but continued his discourse; but still the man shouted, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!” And then Jesus stopped. The disciples I’an to the poor man, and said, “Be siill, trouble not the Master.” But he cried so much the more, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” And Jesus at last said, “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” He said, “Lord, that I m.iy receive my sight.” He received it, and “went on his way rejoicing.” Now, your doubts say, “Hush! do not pray any more;” Satan says, “Be still; do not cry any more.” Tell your doubts and fears, and the demon too, that you will give Christ no rest till he turns his eyes upon you in love, and heals your diseases. Cry aloud unto him, O thou awakened sinner, when he passes by.

The next piece of advice I would give you is this: think very much of Christ. No way that I know of will get you faith in Christ so well as thinking of him. I would advise you, conscience-stricken sinner, to spend an hour in meditation on Christ. You do not want to spend an hour in meditation on yourself; you will get very little good from that; you may know beforehand that there is no hope for you in yourself. But spend an h )ur in meditation on Christ. Go, beloved, to ihy closet, and sit down in that chamber of yours; picture him in tin garden; think you see him there, sweating “great drops of blood, falling down to the ground.” Then picture him standing in Pilate’s hall; think you see him with his hands bound, his back pouiing down rivers of goro; then follow him till you see him coming to the hill, Calvary; think you see him hurled baclcward, and nailed to the tree; then let your imagination, or rather your faith, bring before you the cross lifted up, and dashed into its socket, when every bone of Christ was p.it out of joint. Look at him; look at his thorn-crown, and see the beaded drops of blood trickling down his cheek.

“See from his head, hLs hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingling down.”

1 know of no means, imdei- (xod, so proritable for getting faith, as thoughts of Christ; for while you are looking at him you will say, “Blessed Jesus, didst thou die? Surely, my soul, his death is sufiicient for thee.” He is able to save mito the uttermost all those who trust in him. You may think of a doctrine for eve)’, and get no good from it, if you are not already saved; but think of the person of Christ, and that will give you faith. Take him everywhere, wherever you go, and try to meditate on him in your leisure moments, and then he will reveal himself to you, and give you peace. Ah! that is the point where we feel that none of us have enough of Christ, not even the best of Christians. I went into a friend’s house one day, and he sald to me, as a sort of hint, I suppose, “I have Known so and so these tliiity years, without hearing any thing of his I’eligion.” Said I, “You will not know me thirty minutes without hearing something of mine.” It is a fact, that many Christian people spend their Sunday afternoons in talking about common-place subjects, and Jesus Christ is scarcely ever mentioned. As lor the poor ungodly world, of course they neither say nor think any thing of him. But O, thou that knowest thyself to be a sinner, despise not the Man of sorrows! Let his bleeding hands drop on thee; look thou on his pierced side; and, looking, thou shalt live; for, remember, it is only by looking to Christ we shall live, not by doing any thing ourselves. We must venture on Christ, and venture wholly or else we never can be saved.

And this brings me to close up by saying to every awakened sinner, if you would have peace with God, and have it now venture on Christ. It is hardly fair to say venture, f:r it is no lot TUE ANXIOUS INQUIRER.

venture; lliere is not a grain of hap-hazard in it; it is quite safe. He that trusteth himself to Christ need never fear “But,” you will say, “how am I to ti’ust Christ? “VVhut dc you mean by trusting in Christ V” Why, I mean just what 1 say. Fully rely upon what Christ did, as the way of salvation. Yow know the negro, when he was asked how he believed, said, “Massa, dis is how I believe; I fall flat down on d« j’”omise; I can’t fall no lower.” He had ju.st a light idea about believing. Believing is falling down on Christ, and .uoking to him to hold you up. Or, to illustrate it by an anecdote which I have often told: a boy at sea, who was veiy fond of climbing to the mast-head, one day climbed to the main-truck, and could not get down again. The sea was very rough, and it was seen that in a little while the boy would fall on the deck, and be dashed to pieces. His father saw but one way of saving his life. Seizing a speaking-trumpet, he cried out, “Boy, the next time the ship lurches, you fall into the sea.” The next time the ship lurched the boy looked down, and, not much liking the idea of throwing himself into the sea, still held to the mast. The father, who saw that the boy’s strength would soon fail him, took a gun in his hand, and cried out, “Boy, if you do not drop into the sea the next time the ship lurches, I’ll shoot you!” The boy knew hi? father meant it, and the next time the ship lurched he leaped into the sea. It seemed like certain destruction, but out went a dozen brawny arms, and he was saved. The sinner, in the midst of the storm, thinks he must cling to the mast of his good works, and so be saved. Says the gospel, “Let go your good works, and drop into the ocean of Go<l’s love.” “No,” says the sinner, “it is a long way between me and God’s love; I must perish if I trust to that; I must have some other I’eliance.” “If you have any other reliance than that, you are ost. ‘Then comes the thundering law, and declares to the sinner, that unless he gives up every dependence, he will ii-e lost. And then comes the happy moment, when the sinner sf.ys, “Dear Lord, I give up all ray dependence, and cast niy. self on thee; I take thee, Jesus, to be my one object in life, my only trust, the refuge of my soul.” Can any of you say that in your hearts? I know there are some of you who can

But are there any who could not say it when they oame here, but who can say it now? O, I would rejoice if one such were brought Ij God, I am conscious that 1 haye not preached to you as I could desii-e; but if one such has been brought to believe and trus’’; in the Saviour, it is enough; God will be glorified.

But alas! for such of you as will go away and say, “The man has talked about salvation, but what matters it to us?” Yes, go your way; you can afford to laugh to-day at God and his gospel; but, remember, men can not afford to scofi’ at boats when they are in a storm, although they may be on land. Death is after you, and will soon seize you; y<mi- pulse must soon cease to beat; strong as yon are now, your bones are not of brass, nor your ribs of steel; you must lie on your lowly pallet, and there breathe out your last; or, if you be ever so rich, you must die on your cuitained beds, and must depart from all your enjoyment into everlasting punishment. You will find it hard work to laugh at Chritst then; you will find it dreadful work to scoff at religion then, in that day when d(!ath gets hold of you. I think I could almost stand by yov and say, “Laugh now, scolFer.” “Ah!” you would say, “1 find it different it’om what I supposed; I can not laugh now — death is near me.” Take warning, then, before death comes! take warning! He must be a poor ignorant man who does not insure his house before it is on fire; and he must be a fool of all fools, who thinks it unnecessary to seek the salvation of his soul till he comes to the last moment, and is in peril of his life. May God give you thought and consideration, so that you may be led to flee from sin, and fly to heaven; and may God the everlasthig Father give you what I can not — give you his 3;race, which saveth the soul, and maketh sinners into saints, and landeth them in heaven. I can only close by repeating the words of the gospel — “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.” Havbig said this, if I had said no more, I should have preached Christ’s gospel to you. The Lord give you understanding m all things, and help you to believe; for Jesus Christ’s sake!