f it break he may be
dashed on the rocks below. What shall he do? He looks abroad for help.
At this critical moment a person presents himself at the foot of the
tree, and says, "Let go, let go, and I will catch you." But he is
afraid. He fears that the person may not be able, or may be unwilling to
save him. But the branch continues to break, and destruction is before
him. Meanwhile the kind-hearted person below renews his assurance, "Let
go, let go, confide in me and I'll catch you." At last the person on the
branch becomes satisfied that no other hope remains for him, so he says,
"I'll do as this friend bids me; I'll trust him." He lets go, falls, and
the other catches him. This is _faith_, or in other words it is
_confidence_.

Now the sinner is liable to fall under the wrath of God for the wrong he
has done, and there to perish. He may repent of that wrong, and
repentance is most reasonable, and is, we have seen, required; but
repentance of itself never repairs a wrong. One may repent that he has
killed another, but that does not restore life. One may be sorry that he
has broken God's commands, but that does not repair the dishonor done to
the Divine government. That government must be upheld. How can it be
done? I will tell you how it has been done. Christ consented to take the
sinner's place. On the cross he suffered for and instead of the sinner;
and God has decided that whosoever, being penitent for sin, will confide
in his Son, or trust him, shall be saved.

Sinners are wont to put a high value upon some goodness which they fancy
they possess, or upon good actions which they imagine they have done.
These, they conceive, are sufficient to save them; and sinners generally
feel quite secure. How little concerned, my son, have you been. But
sinners mistake as to their goodness. They are all "dead in trespasses
and sins." They are under condemnation. They are in imminent danger. Any
day they may fall into the hands of an angry God. Sinners under
conviction see this and feel this. The branch of self-righteousness on
which they stand is insufficient to bear them. By-and-by it begins to
give way. When the sinner feels this he cries, "What shall I do? Who
will save me?"

Now Christ is commissioned to save, and when the poor sinner sees that
he is about to perish, and in that state cries for help, Christ comes to
him and says, "Let go all hope in yourself; let go dependence upon every
other thing; trust to me and I wi