THE FREE MAN IN BONDAGE. 3 66 John B―'s mind was in deep distress on account of sin, humbly bowing before God and submitting himself to the Divine will. This state of mind was manifested in the case of some who heard the apostles preach on the day of Pentecost. "They were pricked in their heart," and inquired, saying, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Acts ii. 37. Such is the disposition of mind the gospel requires. Christ says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Matt. xi. 28. "To this man will I look," saith the Lord, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word," Isa. lxvi. 2. Have you, reader, experienced that state of mind? Have you been led in the agony of conviction to cry to God for mercy ? Have you felt that you were on the brink of ruin, in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity; and has the language of your heart been, "God be merciful to me a sinner?" Perhaps you have heard the gospel for a number of years; and you have hardened your heart against the truth instead of yielding yourself to God. We present you with the case of a poor negro, who hears the gospel for the first time, and yields his heart to the Lord. He is ready to forsake all. He is ready to obey. He at once takes the word of God for his guide. Follow his example. Forsake sin. Give up every hinderance to your salvation. Place yourself wholly under the guidance of God's word. To this you must come if you desire to be saved. It is not what you wish, but it is what God says, that you must do. Attend to his word, and it will guide you in the right and safe way to glory. "The This poor man found peace and hope in believing. Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," was pointed out to him, and he was exhorted to believe in him for salvation. This is the way in which we must all be saved. The gospel says to every one, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," Acts xvi. 31. It is by reliance on the atonement made by our Lord Jesus Christ that we are justified and accepted with God. This blessing is set before you. Then lay hold of it by faith in the blessed Saviour. The result will be a happiness to which you have hitherto been a stranger. The peace of God which passeth all understanding will be shed abroad in your heart. You will exchange the empty pleasures of this world for the solid joys of the religion of Christ. Your conscience and your heart will find rest. John B-felt a deep interest in the salvation of his neighbours. True religion destroys selfishness and expands the heart. He who has found the Saviour desires that all should find him also. He does not wish to enjoy that happiness alone, but would communicate it according to his power to the ends of the earth. selves about their neighbours in matters of religion. Some, it may be, are inviting you to attend a place of worship, others soliciting you to send your children to a sabbath school, whilst some are anxious that all their neighbours should be furnished with a copy of the Holy Scriptures, and others are offering you the loan of religious tracts. They have all one object in view, the salvation of souls. The love of Christ constrains them. They love the Saviour, and they love poor sinners. They are, therefore, using means to spread abroad his fame and to gather sheep into his fold. Did you experience what they experience, you would do as they do. Do not say that they are in better circumstances, or better informed than you, when you see that a poor illiterate negro could do something for the good of souls and the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. If your heart be changed by the Holy Spirit, you also will take an interest in these things. We have shown you the free man in bondage, but we have also shown you that he was delivered from that bondage. He had experienced in early life emancipation from civil bondage, and in more advanced life he experienced emancipation from spiritual bondage. You have had the privilege of being born in a free country, where bodily slavery is unknown; but where, alas! spiritual bondage abounds. If you are still among the captives of Satan, remember that to you is preached the acceptable year of the Lord, and the setting at liberty them that are bound. Accept of this liberty, and you shall be free; free from condemnation, free from the torments of a guilty conscience, free from the fear of death and hell. BURIED in shadows of the night, Give our whole selves, O Lord, to thee. THE RIGHT DECISION. "I Do not think it can be so," said the invalid. He was looking pale and languid, and had evidently been long ill. He was now in his chamber, which he was likely never to leave again; he was not, however, confined to his bed, but was able, as yet, to sit up a part of the day with tolerable comfort. At the time when he uttered the words above recorded, he was leaning with his elbow on a small round table, which had been placed by his side, and on which there lay a Bible. There was but one person in the room with him, and this was not an attendant, but a visitor a kind and Christian visitor, who had been some time in conversation with him, and had succeeded in obtaining at least a degree of thoughtful and serious attention. "I do not think it can be so," said he, directing a somewhat timid and incredulous look towards his visitor. 66 I am, of course, a sinner, but I cannot accuse myself of being so bad as you represent me." 99 66 99 "You will, at least, give me credit for this," said the visitor, "that I do not wish to represent you as worse than you really are." "Surely," replied the sick man, you can have neither interest nor pleasure in doing that; and the trouble you take in visiting me so often is a proof that you are too kind to give me unnecessary pain. But you may be mistaken." "I may," said he; "but as the matter is a very serious one, and one on which it is of infinite importance to ascertain the truth, shall we make a little further inquiry into it?" "By all means," rejoined the invalid; "and may God make me willing to know the truth; for it would be a fearful thing to die, as the Scripture says, with a lie in my right hand.” The serious tone in which this prayer was uttered inspired the pious visitor with hope; he added his hearty Amen to it, and then led the conversation. Visitor. "What, then, is the view that you take of your own character?" Invalid. "I have already admitted that I am a sinner-all men are so; but I cannot see that I am a great sinner. I have been free from profligacy; I have maintained in every way a respectable character; I have also kept to my church, and have at all times been ready to do an act of kindness when it was in my power.' The sick man looked in the face of the visitor as he said this, as if expecting commendation. That gentleman, however, proceeded gravely to reply, "I do not call any of these statements in question. Indeed, in part, I know they are true; but you will admit that they express rather your general recollection than the absolute facts of your life, and that this general recollection has been supplied by a very superficial survey of it. You have not passed your life in review with any very minute or searching scrutiny, have you?" "Why, no," rejoined the invalid; "how can I? There must be much that I have forgotten.” "But there is nothing that God has forgotten, my friend. He will bring every forgotten and every secret thing into judgment. Are you prepared to bring your whole life, in the vividness of a quickened and perfect memory, before his bar ?" "No, sir, I am not. In my whole life there must have been much more sin than I am now conscious of; and perhaps, in my foolish pride, I may have forgotten many of the worst parts of it." "Just so; and are you sure that you form such an estimate of your own character, so far as you are conscious of it, as the judgment of God will confirm?" Invalid. "Will not God acknowledge the excellency of virtue, and approve the keeping of his commandments?" "Undoubtedly; but this raises a question of fact-namely, whether you really have been keeping God's commandments?" The invalid looked surprised, but he made no reply. "I understand your meaning," said his visitor," and I will endeavour to explain myself. You are thinking, no doubt, of what are commonly called the commandments, Honour thy father and mother;' THE RIGHT DECISION. 3 kill,' and others; and you have been accustomed to limit the meaning of these commandments to outward acts. But this is a mistake, of which you must beware. These, and all other specific précepts, belong to a much larger declaration of God's will, the moral law. To show you what the moral law really is, I need only present to you a single passage out of this blessed book:-'Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,' Matt. xxii. 35-40. You see now what the law of God is." "Yes, that is too plain to be misunderstood, and it is certainly as reasonable as it is plain. To love God with all my heart, and my neighbour as myself, is a just rule of duty." "And you cannot say you have lived according to that rule?" "Oh, no; this places the matter in quite a new light. If the question is to be, whom or what I have supremely loved, certainly I cannot say that I have so loved God." Visitor. "I need scarcely, then, direct your attention to any evidences of this state of things?" "No," said the invalid, with a look of sorrow and humiliation; "I am self-condemned. I have, beyond all question, given my heart to the world. I have loved my family and my friends; I have loved my business and my pleasures: but I have not loved God." Tears were now in the sick man's eyes, as he proceeded to say, without waiting for any answer from his friend, "No, I have not loved God. God has not been in all my thoughts; I have made no effort to realize his presence; I have sought no communion with him; I have not made it my business to promote his glory; I have lived without him in the world." "Yet you said just now that you had kept his commandments." "Ah, sir," replied the invalid, covering his face with his hands, and bursting into tears, "how ignorantly I made that assertion! I never thought of them as HIS commandments; love to him was no part of my motives, and his glory was no part of my end. Poor virtues that I boasted so!" he continued; but he now sobbed too violently to be able to proceed further. His friend was moved by this burst of grief, and he would gladly have adverted at once to the consolations of the gospel; but he felt it his duty to see that the wound he had probed should not be slightly healed. After leaving the invalid a few |