receive in the power of the Holy Ghost into her heart what there was of his own truth in the teaching she had been listening to; though, from her desire apparently to have it thus sifted by Himself before she fully received it, she had not seemed at first so ready as some others to profit by it.

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When she was dying, she asked her father, "Is this death?" He told her it was: on which she said, "O how delightful!" for the dear Lord as the good Shepherd was carrying her as his lamb safely in his bosom (Is. xl. 11), according to his promise, through the valley of the shadow of death, fearing no evil (Ps. xxiii. 4).

O may you, dear reader, ask the same loving Lord to give you the same grace-his grace, his own grace, and at his own hand; and then whatever there may be of his truth in this book, or whatever you may read or hear of it in any other way, will be blessed by Him to you, in the same fulness of blessing, both for life and for death, as that Christian teacher's instruction, or at least whatever there was of his truth in it, to that dear girl.

"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour" (Is. xliii. 1–3).

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Ps. xxiii. 4).

CHAPTER XVII.

BENFFIT OF HEARING ABOUT CONVERSION.

Come and hear ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.-Ps. lxvi. 16.

BUT it may be said, that if conversion is needed now as much as in the early days of the Gospel, yet is speaking about it the way to bring it about?

Is it not by hearing about our Lord Jesus Christ and believing in Him (Rom. x. 9, 17), and not by hearing about, and believing in conversion, that souls are saved?

And if so, why then make a book mainly about conversion, instead of being content with the multitude of excellent ones that tell of the Lord Jesus Christ?

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Is there not even danger, that instead of being helpful, it may be positively hurtful to some dear souls beginning to be awakened to their need of salvation, by turning them off from simply seeking the knowledge of Christ and of salvation in Him, according to the word, "Look unto me and be ye saved" (Is. xlv. 22); " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found" (Is. lv. 6); and leading them a Will-of-thewisp chase after some imagination of their own, a picture they have painted for themselves in their own minds of this, to them unknown thing, which they hear others speaking of by its name of Conversion; just as a man blind from his birth has an

imaginary picture in his own mind of some wonderful thing, to him unknown, which he hears others speaking of by its name of Light?

Yes, conversion is brought about by coming to our Lord Jesus Christ and believing in Him according to his own word, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John xiv. 6); and without this a man might study conversion for a hundred years if he lived so long, and believe in it as firmly as any man ever believed in anything, and yet never be converted.

But though the mere hearing about it cannot of itself convert anyone, but we must leave that to Him whom God has "exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" (Acts v. 31), yet it may be to the Lord Jesus in the individual soul what John the Baptist was to Him in Israel, the messenger sent before his face to prepare his way before him (Malachi iii. 1; Mark i. 2), a voice crying in the wilderness of the unconverted heart, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (Is. xl. 3).

And thus dear souls, still unconverted, by hearing about the conversion of others, and especially about their happiness in the converted state, their joy and peace in believing, may be led to see their want and danger, and thus be prepared to value and obey the teaching which tells them of Christ, as indeed just the Saviour whom they need.

BUNYAN AWAKENED BY HEARING ABOUT

CONVERSION.

Bunyan has described how, in a part of his experience alluded to in a former chapter, by hear

ing about conversion he was awakened out of the sleep of death into which the devil had lulled him, in his self-righteous reformation, in his second false conversion.

"I thought," he says, "no man in England could please God better than I. But poor wretch as I was, I was all this while ignorant of Jesus Christ, and going about to establish my own righteousness, and had perished therein, had not God mercy showed me more of my state by nature.

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"But upon a day, the good providence of God called me to Bedford to work at my calling; and in one of the streets of that town I came where there were three or four poor women sitting at a door in the sun, talking about the things of God; and being now willing to hear their discourse, I drew near to hear what they said, for I was now a brisk talker of myself in the matters of religion.

"But I may say that I heard but understood not, for they were far above out of my reach. Their talk was about a new birth, the work of God in their hearts, as also how they were convinced of their miserable state by nature. They talked how God had visited their souls with his love in the Lord Jesus, and with what words and promises they had been refreshed, comforted, and supported against the temptations of the devil. Moreover they reasoned of the suggestions and temptations of Satan in particular, and told to each other by what means they had been afflicted, and how they were borne up under his assaults. They also discoursed of their own wretchedness of heart, and of their own unbelief; and did contemn, slight, and abhor their own righteousness as filthy and insufficient to do them any good.

"And methought they spake as if joy did make

them speak: they spake with such pleasantness of Christian language, and with such appearance of grace in all they said, that they were to me as if they had found a new world; as if they were a people that dwelt alone, and were not to be reckoned among their neighbours (Num. xxiii. 9).

"At this I felt my own heart began to shake, and mistrust my condition to be nought. For I saw that in all my thoughts about religion and salvation, the new birth did never enter my mind. Neither knew I the comfort of the word and promise, nor the deceitfulness and treachery of my own wicked heart. As for the secret thoughts, I took no notice of them. Neither did I understand what Satan's temptations were, nor how they were to be withstood and resisted.

"Thus therefore when I had heard and considered what they said, I left them and went about my employment again, but their talk and discourse went with me. Also my heart would tarry with them, for I was greatly affected with their words, both because by them I was convinced that I wanted the true tokens of a truly godly man, and also because by them I was convinced of the happy and blessed condition of him that was such a one."

BUT IS IT GOOD TO GIVE PARTICULARS OF

CONVERSIONS?

But it may still be said, and indeed, I know that many earnest Christians do say this in substance, that admitting the benefit of speaking in general terms about conversion and the happiness of the converted state, yet is there not danger in bringing particular cases of conversion, with all their peculiar circumstances, before the unconverted, that they may be fancying as they read, that they must feel, in