thus come to view sin; and, though He hates sin with a perfect hatred, yet He pities and loves and waits to save the sinner. He has laid the iniquity of us all on His own beloved Son, for He "bore our sins in His own body on the tree," and now you are bid to "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" with the assurance that then "you shall be saved." Say, therefore

"Me, with all my sins, I cast

On my redeeming Lord."

Is your burden past Unfaithfulness?—Are you conscious that you have in a signal sense been an unprofitable servant? Or, as you review life, have to say

"Nothing but leaves! No gathered sheaves

Of life's fair ripening grain;

We sow our seeds; lo, tares and weeds,
Words, idle words, for earnest deeds;
We reap with toil and pain
Nothing but leaves?

Look you back on years of worldliness, on vows all broken, on duties neglected, on conscious sins indulged, on service rendered without delight and joy, on self permeating even your most sacred exercises, and on anger, sloth, desire, pride, and revenge marring and blotting your whole religious life?

Ab, it is no wonder that your sky is dark, and that your heart is cold and sad; that you are a stranger to Divine peace and joy, and that your burden is heavy. Such a retrospect surely should be a burden to one who has professed to be a follower of Jesus. Yet, granting this, how does the Lord regard you? Does He look on you with the indifference with which you have regarded Him? Or does He regard you with jealous anger? Would He have you continue in this state another week, another day, another hour? No; He would even

Has He not commanded you to love Him with all your heart? Does He not call you to be "free from sin," and "dead indeed unto sin," to "present yourself a living sacrifice," and to "glorify Him with your body and spirit which are His"? His will, therefore, is that you should be holy, and He has made ample provision for this by" the precious blood of Christ," which "cleanseth us from all sin,” and by the power of the Holy Spirit, which He gives to everyone who asks for the gift.

Is it your inquiry-How can I be lifted up from my present state and reach that higher ground of Christian holiness in which the

constant sense of failure and the burden of unfaithfulness will give place to God's own perfect peace and rest and the consciousness of being wholly sanctified? We reply, not certainly by continuing to dwell upon the burdening past, nor by continuing to cry "My leanness, Oh, my leanness"! Nor by setting yourself, in your own strength, however steadfastly, to greater watchfulness, and prayer, and self-denying effort, as if this were the price at which the blessedness was to be obtained. Hundreds of sincere souls have so sought, and have not obtained what they sought, while hundreds more have been deterred from even hoping for such an experience in this life because conscious of not having so sought it. If God only gives this richer blessing of grace on such conditions is it not sanctification by works rather than by faith? And if so, is it possible for us to proclaim such a salvation to be a present blessing within the reach of every child of God now? While watchfulness, prayer, fasting, and earnest effort have their own proper office, and are essential to all who "would live godly in Christ Jesus," they must never be trusted in as affording any ground of merit, either in the outset or the progress of the Christian life, nor prevent us from saying

"In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling."

God's method of lifting us up into a higher and holier life, as His method of justifying the ungodly, is by our simple faith. Just as it is the first duty of an awakened sinner to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for justification, so it is the first duty of a believer, who has by the light of the Holy Spirit been brought to feel his need of a fuller deliverance from sin, to believe with all his heart in Jesus as a present Saviour from all sin, to believe with a faith which yields up all to God, expects all from Him, and receives all in Him, now, even now.*

Now therefore "cast thy burden upon the Lord.”—Trust in Him with all your heart and with all your soul, in the precious blood of Jesus to cleanse you from all sin, and in the power and grace of the Holy Spirit to keep you henceforth, and all your doubts and fears,

"I have continually testified in private and public, That we are sanctified as well as justified by faith. And indeed the one of these great truths does exceedingly illustrate the other. Exactly as we are justified by faith, so are we sanctified by faith. Faith is the condition, and the only condition, of sanctification, exactly as it is of justification. It is the condition; none is sanctified but he that believes; without faith no man is sanctified. And it is the only condition: this alone is sufficient for sanctification. Everyone that believes is sanctified, whatever else he has not. In other words, no man is sanctified till he believes; every man when he believes is sanctified."— Wesley's Sermon on the Seripture Way of Salvation, III., ¶ 3.

all your coldness and deadness, and all your controversy with and opposition to the will of God shall vanish as clouds before the morning sun, while, entering on a new phase of Christian experience, with a heart all consecrated and filled with love, and a will all blended with the holy will of God, your risen soul shall sing

"Anger and sloth, desire and pride,

This moment are subdued,

And cast into the crimson tide
Of my Redeemer's blood."

Is your burden Business Care? -The care which arises from numerous and pressing engagements, from changing markets, from close competition, from serious losses, or from necessary dealings with unreasonable and wicked men? There are few men of business who have not such care, while many, who seek no help from God, are worried out of reason and out of life by the burden of it. This care, it may be, has been to you a constant burden during your waking hours, clouding your brow, driving all joy from your heart, and all light from your eye; and an incubus during your hours of slumber, preventing even balmy sleep from exerting its restoring influences. Is it, however, necessary for you to carry this burden, even granting that your business is large and important? Is it wise to carry such a burden? Is it right for one professing to be a follower of Christ? To these questions we say emphatically-No! It is not necessary; for many followers of Jesus pass daily through greater business pressure than yours without oppressing burdens. It is not wise; for such a burden reduces life to a kind of slavery unspeakably below what a good and beneficent God designs it to be, and, moreover, unfits you for the right discharge of business duty. It is not right; for it is utterly impossible to glorify God in your daily life with such a burden. It will inevitably sour your spirit, make you fretful and morose, and often provoke you to speak unadvisably with your lips, making you rather like a dark lantern than a shining light.

We are to be "diligent in business," and to "provide things honest in the sight of all men." But this may be done in every lawful business, not only without oppressive and burdensome care, but also with the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keeping your heart and mind in the knowledge and love of God." The way to realise this is to cast "all your care upon Him, for He careth for you;" to "cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you." Do you stagger at this? Do you still ask :—Is it possible or me to go through all my daily affairs in freedom from the burden of anxious care? Ah! the very question shows probably that you

are yet ignorant of the true character of God, and of what is your duty and privilege as a child of His. Unless you regard the promises as idle words, as unmeaning phrases, and as misleading and deceptive inducements, you must see that though millions around you themselves carry their daily burden-God calls you to lay your burden down, to cast it upon Him, and to go on your way with a light elastic step, with a calm serene brow, and with a cheerful, happy heart, as free from oppressive care as the lilies which He clothes, and as the sparrows which He watches, and in His bounty feeds.

But are there any living witnesses of this freedom from care by full trust in the Lord? It might suffice to reply: If there was not one in the world, that would not release you from the obligation to be the first. Thank God, however, there are such witnesses, who gladly testify that, after years of burden, they have found the peace and rest which Jesus offers to all who come to Him.

They "live the life of faith"; they take the Lord at His word, not daring to question what He says, and they are sustained from day to day, "kept in perfect peace," hidden as in a covert from the storms of life, and led by a Father's gracious hand, the very touch of which inspires confidence and strength.

Is your burden Family Care?-Like Martha, are you careful and troubled about many things? Is your burden how to provide for those who are dearer than life itself, or how to train them in the way they should go, or how to govern them with the due admixture of firmness and love, or how to bear with their faults and foibles, or how to station them in life? Such cares are natural to all who bear the parental relation; nor would it be any commendation of religion, if it allowed indifference in these things. But while there is a care that is necessary, are we not conscious of often feeling a care which is simply distrust of God? Now it is wisely said :

Will such care benefit your loved ones? Will it not rather hinder than help you to promote their benefit? May it not even shorten your days, and remove you from them, leaving them without your presence and love and oversight? Moreover, will it not present to your children an example of want of confidence in God, and, what may be still more hurtful to them, make you impatient and irritable before them; the opposite of what a Christian parent should be?

Here then is the antidote for such care-The intelligent apprehension of the Fatherhood and infinite goodness of God, and a full trust

in His wisdom, and power, and mercy, and love, which casts every burden upon Him, whose promise is "to us and to our children."

This confidence will not make you less careful to do all that a parent can do; but will rather stimulate and sustain you both to do and to bear aright, while it will yield both to you and yours the most blessed fruits. Honour Him therefore, your own blessed Father in heaven, by abandoning all distracting care for your family, and by placing yourself and them fully in His hands.

"Ah, leave them there,
In thy own Father's hand,
Who holds the steady poles,
And each event controls,
On sea and land:

Ah! leave them there!"

Is your burden Affliction and Pain?-How many bow unhelped beneath this burden. Nor need we wonder, when they reject the proffered help of Him, who in His fatherly dealings uses pain with chastening rod. It is not possible without miraculous intervention to make us insensible to pain; but God has made it possible, even "though the shrinking flesh complain," to "rise superior to our pain," and for us to convert from mere poetry, into sober and blessed fact, the strong language of Wesley :—

"When my sorrows most increase,
Let Thy choicest joys be given,
Jesus come with my distress,
And agony is heaven."

Again and again we have seen this experience realised. The frame has been racked with pain, but the abundant grace supplied have enabled the sufferers to triumph, the fire has forgotten its power to burn, while fervent praises have been victorious over groans and sighs.

Is your burden Bereavement ?-Has the desire of your eyes been taken away at a stroke, or the fairest flower plucked from your little enclosure? Mourn you the loss of a beloved parent, or a true and devoted friend? Do you say :

"My star is fallen from its sphere,

My rose from off its stem is broken ?"

All is dark and gloomy around you, and it seems as if your horizon would never be bright again, and that you must walk softly all your days, and go down to your grave in sorrow. Your wound is deep,

your anguish great; perhaps you are tasting the greatest grief you ever knew, or ever can know on earth. No balm applied by man can soothe and heal your wounded and broken heart, for