ness of that sinful nature which descends to us from our parents, is as the leprosy, which comes by inheritance, and infects the whole man. We have no ears to hear the word of God, nor eyes to see the wonderous things of his law; but are by nature deaf and blind toward God and all goodness. We have no more ability to praise him, than if we were dumb; neither can we lift up our hands, nor bend our knees in prayer, till he gives us new strength.

Therefore, Jesus Christ, who came to cure our souls of all their infirmities, opened the eyes of the blind; he made the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak; he gave strength to the lame, and even raised the dead, to shew that he gives us a new life.

Let me then, O Lord, receive the bene fit of thy coming. Cure my sick soul of all its infirmities, and call me by thy voice, as thou didst call thy friend Lazarus, to a new life. Restore me to my sight, and my hear ing, that I be not as the hardened Jews, who had eyes and saw not, ears and heard not. Cleanse me from all my sins, even as thou didst cleanse the lepers that cried unto thee; and renew a right spirit within me. Let my faith cry unto thee, and thy power

will at all times be ready to heal and to

save me.

THE QUESTIONS.

Q. How are we to understand the soul?
A. From the senses of the body.

Q. Is there any such a thing as a perfect soul?

A. Never since the fall of Adam.

Q. What then must be done for us?

A. Our souls must be cured.

Q. What then is Jesus Christ?

A. He is the physician of souls.
Q. Why did he cure men's bodies?

A. To shew that he restores their souls.

Q. On whom were the miracles of Christ

and his Apostles wrought?

A. On those only who had faith to be healed.

Q. What follows from thence?

A. That without faith I cannot be saved.

THE TEXTS.

1 Cor. xv. 22. In Adam all die.

Rom. iii. 10. There is none righteous, no

not one.

Matth.

Matth. ix. 35. Jesus went about healing every sickness.

Acts xiv. 9. Perceiving that he had faith to be healed.

Matt. ix. 12. They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick-I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Psal. xli. 4. Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee.

Psal. cxlvi. 8. The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind.

Isa. xxxv. 4. God will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped-then shall the lame man leap, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, &c.

LESSON XV.

THE SAVIOUR AND THE DESTROYER.

AS surely as there is light, so surely is there a God; and as surely as there is dark

ness, so surely is there a whom we call the devil.

spirit of darkness,

It is

It is necessary for

me to know God, by whom I am to be saved; and woe be unto me, if I know not the devil, by whose devices I may be destroyed.

But

But as I cannot see him, (for he is a spirit) I must learn what he is, by the pictures which are given me of his evil nature. He is called the destroyer, and is contrary in every respect to the Saviour.

Jesus Christ is the true light; but he is the prince of darkness; the god of this world, who blindeth men's eyes, that they may not see the truth. My Saviour is a shepherd, who giveth his life for the sheep; but the devil is a lion, who goeth about seeking what he may devour. The one is a lamb, meek and harmless; the other a serpent, full of devices, and more subtile than any beat of the field. The one raises men to life: the other was a murderer from the beginning. The one is my advocate with the Father; suffering and pleading for the pardon of my sins: the other is the accuser of the brethren; first tempting them to fall into sin, and then accusing them that they may fall under the judgment of God. Jesus Christ is the truth; and the devil is the father of lies. And lastly, Jesus Christ is the true God, worshipped by all believers; and the devil is the false god, worshipped under a variety of names by the heathen world,

If I love God and goodness, I shall be like the Saviour; but if my eyes should be blinded,

VOL. XI.

E

then

then I shall be like the destroyer. The children of the devil are like the devil; as the young viper is like the old one. There have always been two sorts of people in the world; the sons of God and the seed of the serpent; and God hath put such enmity between them, as shall last as long as the world doth. Why did the Jews crucify Jesus Chrift; and why did the heathens persecute Christians, and put them cruelly to death; but because they were of their father the devil, and filled with the same spirit of envy and hatred as he is? His name is called Satan, which means an adversary; because he is the adversary of God and man. Peace and quietness are never promoted by him, but opposition and confusion; he soweth the seeds of discord, and stirs up men to tumult and rage, as the stormy wind stirreth up the waves of the sea. He is pleased, when men kill one another with the sword, in carnal war; but more so, when they are set at variance by perverse disputings, which are the wars of the mind, and such as spirits are most fit for.-All true peace is from the God of peace; and all enmity is of the devil, and leads men naturally into his kingdom.

THE