lieveth in the name of the Son of God should know that he " hath eternal life." (John i. 12; iii. 36; vi. 47; xi. 26, 27; xx. 31: 1 John v. 13.) I was then, according to the Divine declaration, able to draw the conclusion that I had eternal life, since I had the happiness of believing in the name of the Son of God. From that day I have possessed peace, and have endeavoured to render to God the obedience he requires from his children, among whom he tells me in his word I am classed.

Old Man. Sir, I am amazed to hear you; for all you tell me is so simple and powerful, and at the same time so opposed to all that I have imagined until now, that it appears I have misunderstood every part of my religion.

Traveller. I do not doubt that you have done so. I know how it has been with you, from my own experience; and I do not hesitate to say, that until now you have only seen in Jesus an aid, although you have called him a Saviour.

Old Man. I beg your pardon. I have never thought or said any thing than what I still say, before this holy cross, that Jesus is the Saviour, and that there is no other.

Traveller. Amen. May his Name be eternally blessed! But to say it and confess it with the lips is very little, if the mind does not comprehend, and, above all, if the heart does not believe it.

Old Man. But I assure you, my dear sir, that I believe it with all my heart and before the Eternal Creator of heaven and earth I confess the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; but in particular I declare that I believe in Jesus, the Son of God and the Saviour of the world.

Traveller. Well, then, what meaning do you give to the word Saviour, since to believe in Jesus as a Saviour has not prevented you from seeking to save yourself? That is very insufficient security, in my opinion, which leaves the debtor in fear of imprisonment.

Old Man. But....I believe that Jesus is a Saviour....because he has saved our souls by his death upon the cross, provided we do, on our side, all that he has commanded us in his word and by the church.

Traveller. But, my dear sir, pay attention to your own words. The Saviour, you say, has saved us by his death, "provided we do all that he commands:" that is, according to your opinion, he has saved those who yet will not be saved until they shall have fulfilled certain conditions. But is that possible? Can it be, for example, that my debt has been paid this morning by a benefactor, and yet remain undischarged until I shall have offered my friend some token of gratitude?

The old man was struck by this remark, and said to me, smiling, Well, here again I have committed an error. You see how great has been my ignorance.

I gravely replied, That is a very great and dangerous error which divests the Lord Jesus of his quality of Saviour, and which regards him only as an aid who depends upon the good-will of man to be of any assistance to him. Yes, that is very fatal ignorance which destroys the gift of God, and only considers it as an offer which the first refusal will render useless.

Old Man. Pray how so? When, and how, have I thus denied the Saviour, or lessened his merits?

Traveller. Ah, sir! I do not judge or accuse you: I only say that there is no error more fatal than that which looks on the Son of God as only a secondary deliverer, who must be propitiated by moral dispositions or offerings and this is certainly the error you were just now supporting.

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Old Man. Pray point it out to me; for if I have done so, as I have before said, it is through ignorance.

Traveller. God declares two things respecting salvation: one, that it is a gift; and the other, that this gift is in his Son (1 John v. 11).

This salvation consists of redemption from eternal wrath, and the possession of a blessed immortality. These two invaluable benefits proceed from Jesus Christ: in Him is remission of sins and everlasting life.

Redemption from sin, life, felicity, and glory, have been obtained for us by Jesus Christ. His was not an imperfect work: he did not save by halves, but finished and completed the salvation which he took upon himself to accomplish. Accordingly, the Holy Scriptures call him the "propitiation for sin; "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world:" and they declare that he "maketh reconciliation for the sins of the people;" and that "by one offering" upon the cross "he perfected for ever them that are sanctified," and those who were given to him by the Father." (Rom. iii. 24; 1 John ii. 2; John i. 29; Heb. i. 3 ; ii. 17; x. 10-14: John xvii. 2; Isa. liii. 8, &c.)

The church also declares, that "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us;" that he " was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities," and that with his stripes we are healed;" and that thus the church "has been washed and cleansed." (Gal. iii. 13; Isa. liii. 1—6, 8; Eph. v. 23-27.) This is the language of the church; and the word of God, both in the Prophets, and in the Epistles and Revelations which follow them, brings clearly to light this truth, that the Lord Jesus has accomplished, by himself, the entire salvation of his dear sheep, whose sins he has borne in his own body upon an ignominious cross similar to this, and that he has delivered them for ever from the condemnation which they must otherwise have endured.

Old Man. If it be thus, I perceive again that I have until now formed a very false notion as to the Saviour's work; for I certainly never understood that the salvation of the church had been completed by the death of the Son of God.

Traveller. What, then, was exactly your idea upon this point?

Old Man. As I have already stated, I always believed that the Saviour by his sacrifice had taken away original sin, and that he had opened to us a door of salvation: that is to say, that by his death he took away that curse which prevented man from approaching to God, and thus procured for us the acceptance of those works which were to merit salvation.

Traveller. Oh, sir, how limited were your ideas as to the gift of God in Jesus Christ! To what would this salvation, this grace of God, be reduced, if its greatest extent was to permit man to save himself! What a small degree of power you have ascribed to the love of God towards his people; and at what a vile price you have estimated that blood which the only begotten Son of the Father shed upon the cross! You see, all its efficacy is limited, according to you, to an assistance, an aid, which the disdain and pride of the sinner would render useless. Oh, what a mean Saviour is that which you have imagined! Or, rather, into what a mere semblance of salvation have you not changed the offering of the Lamb, and with what contempt have you not covered His sufferings and death! Had I not just reason to tell you that you spoke of the Son of God as a secondary deliverer, who depended upon man's good-will to procure for him, or rather to assist him to procure, a salvation which man, after all, was to accomplish for himself?

CHAPTER IX.

The Old Man at length comprehends what is meant by a Saviour.

The old man continued silent. He was considering what I had just said, and he had not heard it in vain. What love! he exclaimed with

much devotion: what Divine compassion! What an amazing, what an adorable redemption! Ah! I see it now: I have never understood until this day the sacrifice of the Saviour. Oh, how far I have been from it! Alas, what ignorance, what hardness of heart, have I not betrayed ! Yes, continued I, how limited are our understandings when they are engaged in the contemplation of such mercy! If the king had descended from his throne for us, and had given his life upon a scaffold in order to save ours, we could comprehend and should extol such benevolence: we should delight in praising it; and we should take great care not to limit so great a benefit to a conditional favour, to a kindness which our own merit must support and render efficacious. But if we are speaking of God, and of the love which He has testified for us in Jesus; of the expiatory sacrifice of the Saviour; of the gift of eternal life which he offers us in himself; our understandings become immediately darkened-we no longer wish to understand and our hearts and minds emulously endeavour to dispute with God his sovereign mercy; to contract, and if it were possible to annihilate, the grace of God and the gift which it contains.

Old Man. You say, then, if I have rightly understood you, that Jesus, `in being sacrificed upon the cross, endured all that curse which his church would have had to endure if it had not been saved.

Traveller. That, sir, is the truth; and it is also that feature in the doctrine of grace which distinguishes it from a thousand false religions which only deceive and ruin mankind. The children of God, being taught by the word and Spirit of the Lord, believe that Jesus is a Saviour, and not merely an aid. They believe that the Father has given his only Son to redeem his church completely and for ever; and that the Son, to accomplish the will of his Father, has, by a great mystery, united himself to his church; that he has borne the chastisement which it had merited; and that he has quickened it in himself by the powerful agency of the Holy Spirit.

True faith, then, believes that Jesus is really a Saviour. False faith, on the contrary, rejects this truth, and only sees in the sacrifice of the Son of God a martyrdom, or a conditional oblation, to which sinners must add their own offerings, or at least their good desires, to render it available to save them.

Old Man. I comprehend now. Yes, I comprehend what the cross of Christ is, and what the sacrifice he offered thereon. Jesus was one with his church he bore its sins upon himself, and saved it; yes, saved it indeed, by suffering the curse which it had deserved. Oh how different a character does this give to Jesus and his cruel death!

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Traveller. Do you now believe? Do you see that God does not save by halves; and that salvation is not a dubious work, depending upon the disposition of man to complete it?

No, no, replied the old man, with feeling; the grace of God is not inferior to that of an earthly monarch: when a king pardons, the criminal no longer pleads his cause, or is in fear of the scaffold.

This is why, sir, I continued in a serious tone, you should believe what God tells you of his grace, and not oppose to it your works, alms, or practices.

CHAPTER X.

No one can believe in the Saviour without renouncing himself.

I did not address this reproach to the old man in vain. He continued silent: his eyes were cast down, and he appeared to be in deep reflection. I did not interrupt him; and it was not until some minutes had elapsed that he said to me, in a calm tone: I have, then, denied the cross at the very time I was worshipping it. I rejected the salvation of the Saviour

and his grace, by the very means which I used to obtain them. In what darkness have I not lived, and to what disquietude have I thereby subjected my soul! And all this, I perceive, arose from pride; yes, from esteem for myself, and in order to have some merit in the sight of God. Oh! I am quite astonished at my folly!

Traveller. The idea of completing a work begun by the Almighty, and of pretending to add something to the sacrifice of the Son of God, is indeed a great error. It is also a strange contradiction in terms to call Jesus a Saviour, and at the same time to make a thousand efforts to divest him of this character, by labouring to gain this salvation for yourself-that is to say, to save yourself.

Old Man, with devotion. It is, then, to Him only who was sacrificed upon the cross, that my soul must look to find rest! It is, then, to the mercy of the Saviour I must repair, and it is at His feet that I must throw down the arms of my pride and my vain pretensions. What a new thing this is to me! What an entire giving up of my works and all my labours! Traveller. Yes, it is a giving up, a total renunciation of our errors that the grace of God requires. Here the debtor, having nothing to pay, gives in his account and confesses his ruin, before he looks for a security. It is that which is already lost, that the Saviour came to seek and to save; and not simply that which has strayed, or is in danger of being lost. Now that person does not consider himself lost, who advances to meet Jesus, shewing him good dispositions and sacrifices, and saying, "Thou canst not refuse me an heavenly inheritance; for here is its value, or nearly so."

Old Man. I have, then, laboured for nothing! What a discovery! For you would be astonished were I to relate to you what I have done, or wished to do, in order to procure pardon-that pardon which God gives; yes, which he gives for the sake of his holy Son Jesus. Fool that I was, I substituted my fatigues, privations, austerities, and a thousand ceremonies and labours, for the love of Christ, and my vain delusions for the blood which he shed upon this cross! Oh what secret unbelief existed in my devotions! how profane was my piety!

Traveller. Certainly, if the king saves a criminal from death by giving up his own son to die upon a scaffold, the criminal who is saved by such grace would be very incredulous, or shew great folly, if he began to fast and to weep in order to obtain this blessing.

Old Man. How many thousand Christians commit this fault. Truly I begin to fear for the danger they run, and which, alas! is increased in proportion as their devotions and Pharisaism increase. Oh! what a universal contempt for salvation! What disdain is shewn by all, towards the work and sacrifice of the Redeemer, who, to save themselves-yes, to save themselves-take endless precautions, and engage in a continual round of readings, prayers, observances, and ceremonies! What a total ignorance of the grace of God, and of the perfect love of his Son!

Traveller. Say also what proud resistance to the Holy Spirit: for it is thus that in all ages He has been provoked by man's unbelief.

The people of Israel resisted Him in the desert by their idolatry: they again resisted Him in the land of promise, by refusing to hearken to the words of the prophets; and the most devout zealots among that nation again resisted Him when the Son himself, being come from the bosom of the Father, declared to them that eternal life is a gift which no human work can merit, or assist in procuring.

In our day it is the same thing. Jesus is announced, preached, and crucified, as it were, before the eyes of men. He is described such as he is; as a Saviour, having in himself the fulness of salvation. The messengers whom he has sent throughout the world proclaim aloud: "Him hath CHRIST. OBSERV. APP.

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God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, neither is there salvation through any other; that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin; that he was once offered to bear the sins of many; and that he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." This proclamation is published, written, multiplied, and posted up every where; signs and monuments call it to mind; a cross such as this repeats it without ceasing: it is heard, listened to; people pretend to believe it; but at the same time they trifle with it, and annihilate it, by inventing and undertaking works which they substitute for the sacrifice of the Saviour, or at least consider that they will make up what is wanting in it!

And it is thus that churches denominated Christian, that families, entire nations, do despite to the Spirit of Truth, by despising his testimony, and draw upon themselves the terrible judgment which the Lord causes to overwhelm unbelievers,-to abandon them to their hardness of heart, and to leave them in the many-folded net of their vain doctrines, which are only, saith the Saviour, "the commandments of men."

CHAPTER XI.

How difficult it is for Man to rely on the Word of God!

The more I thus bore testimony to the fulness of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, and to the free gift of salvation which the Father has bestowed in his well-beloved Son, the more attentive the old man became, and the greater the joy he expressed in the contemplation of such a benefit. It was easy to perceive the progress which the truth of salvation through grace made in his mind, and how it was by degrees dispersing his errors and doubts.

But still I was anxious to know if this truth, in which alone there is life, had had access to his heart, or only to his understanding. I spoke to him therefore of his great age, of the uncertainty of life, of the solemn entrance of the soul into eternity; and I asked him if he should receive with joy a sudden summons to quit this world. Ah, sir! replied he, rather mournfully, an old man, satisfied as he ought to be with the duration of life, is yet surrounded with delusions; and it is not without a struggle that one can consent to relinquish the light of day and the breath of life. A very superior power is necessary to overcome this resistance; and the hand which disunites such ties must certainly be much more powerful than that of resignation or philosophy. But, added he, looking down, and in an agitated tone of voice, I trust that Power is no longer unknown to me, and that the hand of a heavenly and omnipotent Guide has already taken mine, and commenced my deliverance.

There were still doubts remaining in his mind, as, reader, you may perceive. If the gift of salvation was discerned and contemplated, yet it was not laid hold of and possessed. For it is not thus that faith expresses itself. Faith believes a testimony, and affirms that in it she reposes; faith likewise is rejoiced when this testimony is a message of peace.

A countryman who, having received a title of nobility, is to leave his cottage to enter into the palace of a king whom he loves, in quitting his poor and lowly roof neither sighs after the long-established habits formed in the cottage, nor from uncertainty as to enjoying the dignity with which he is invested, nor from a doubt as to the kind reception which the monarch will give him. He has received his letters patent; he believes them; and, trusting in this testimony, he cheerfully bids adieu to his fields and his rustic habiliments, and hastens with confidence to the dwelling where abundance, repose, and honour will be lavished upon him. And if such is the assurance of a man who relies upon the testimony of his fellow mortal, why did the old man who was speaking to me shew this sadness and un