mission of some great crime. They discover your weak points; and when once you har bour the evil feeling, or the ungodly thought, the watchful spies so near at hand, while yet you are parleying with the enemy, or sleeping at your post, rush in at the breach and overcome you :

997

"Twas but one little drop of sin

We saw this morning enter in,

And, lo! at eventide the world is drowned.'

6

I spoke just now of the victims' of the devil. There is not such a thing as a helpless victim of Satan. Do not say, then, I would do better if I could; but I cannot help being what I am; it is my fate. It is useless to pretend to resolve, when I have no power, no strength, to keep such resolutions.' You have the power of resistance given you; and you have strength promised to you,-and that a far higher than your own; for we "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us. You may not have used the power, you may have rejected the grace; but do not say you never could have acted differently. Consider a little, if you are tempted to despair, and to yield without a further struggle, what is the fate of those who, having continued wilfully to persevere in sin, are left to their own strength and counsel, and who having ceased to struggle against Satan, are now ranked amongst his followers. Be sure that Satan does not leave them to themselves, and 7 Phil. iv. 13.

let them lead an easy life. Once bound captive to his chariot-wheels, they must follow him to the war, to swell his triumphs, and to help him in his great work of the destruction of souls. He hateth them none the less, because they have deserted from the ranks of the opposing army, or because, while calling themselves soldiers of Christ, they were traitors in the camp. He has no pity on them. He has brought them into captivity,-too willing captives! and he will not let them forget that his service is a hard one, and that his prisoners have no hope of mercy from himself. The gulf which separates them from their own merciful Captain and Saviour widens daily but, perchance, as they are marching far from heaven, with the hireling soldiers of the devil, some war-note from the army of Christ's church militant startles them, some strain of the hymns of victory, some echoes of the loud hosannas fall on their ears, and stay their departing steps. They pause and look across at the army into which, at a great price, they had been admitted. Alas! they have despised the gifts and promises of its King and Captain, and counted as nought that great price, even the ransom of His blood; they have deserted from His banner, thrown aside His badge, and trampled His covenant under foot; and, turning back without a struggle, have rushed into the arms of an enemy, who has only loaded them with chains, and who has given them no gifts of love and glory, no

hope of rest and peace, no promise of happiness, no wages even, but those of sin,—(and “the wages of sin is death,")-the end of whose warfare is destruction and an eternal misery! I do not say that even for them there is no hope. For did not our great Captain suffer to obtain gifts of pardon and grace, even " for the rebellious ?" And God forbid that man should dare to limit His unbounded mercy ! But, at the best, their case is a very sad one. For Satan will not let them go without a struggle far more terrible than any they underwent when they forsook the side of Christ.

This is a fearful picture, my friend. Oh! let us hope it may never represent your state. Only remember that it is not overdrawn, and that such is indeed the state of those who wilfully go on in sin; and remember, too, that whenever you yield to the temptation of the world, the flesh, and the devil, you are in danger of falling into it.

Satan knows you would shudder at first, could you think that you had submitted to be his captive. And so, by all means, he strives to deceive you, so that you shall "call evil good, and good evil," "put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter," think sin no sin, and temptation no temptation. He would deceive you into thinking you could resist him in your own strength, and that had no need of a Saviour's power, you Ps. lxviii. 18.

8 Rom. vi. 23.

1 Isa. v. 20.

no necessity for the Holy Spirit's help. He would even deceive you into denying his own existence. There is no devil,' says "the fool," who" hath said in his heart, There is no God!" and he knows not that he himself is one of the devil's most oppressed and degraded slaves. Do not listen to this arch-deceiver; return ere it is too late, "while it is called to-day;" and, entering the ranks of humble penitents, fight anew the good fight of faith, even though it be through much toil and suffering!

Do you, my friend, pausing awhile amid the hurry and excitement around you, tremble to think of the war that is going on, not only in your own neighbourhood, but within you? Do you hesitate to own who is the leader whom you really follow in this war? whose servant and whose soldier you are?

Turn not back again to the busy scenes of this outer world, until you have forced your heart to give an honest answer to these questions. For on the answer depends your happiness, not only for a few years, but also for eternity. For, mark this, the war, long as it has already been, and fierce as it still continues, is not without an end. And when the end comes, on whose side will you be found? Will Will you be placed on the right hand, or on the left of your Saviour, when, after death, the judgment comes? Will you enter into the joy of His Father and your Father? or will you be condemned to live for ever with

hope of rest and peace, no promise of happiness, no wages even, but those of sin,-(and "the wages of sin is death,"")-the end of whose warfare is destruction and an eternal misery! I do not say that even for them there is no hope. For did not our great Captain suffer to obtain gifts of pardon and grace, even " for the rebellious?" And God forbid that man should dare to limit His unbounded mercy! But, at the best, their case is a very sad one. For Satan will not let them go without a struggle far more terrible than any they underwent when they forsook the side of Christ.

This is a fearful picture, my friend. Oh! let us hope it may never represent your state. Only remember that it is not overdrawn, and that such is indeed the state of those who wilfully go on in sin; and remember, too, that whenever you yield to the temptation of the world, the flesh, and the devil, you are in danger of falling into it.

Satan knows you would shudder at first, could you think that you had submitted to be his captive. And so, by all means, he strives to deceive you, so that you shall "call evil good, and good evil," "put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter," think sin no sin, and temptation no temptation. He would deceive you into thinking you could resist him in your own strength, and that you had no need of a Saviour's power,

9 Rom. vi. 23.

1 Isa. v. 20.

Ps. lxviii. 18.