perish."
Have you faith in God and in his word? then let unshaken confidence in
Jesus Christ his son and our Savior become the great principle and
impulse of action, rise up in the dignity of true manhood or womanhood
and obey the gospel and live. It is hard to conceive of a darker, deeper
chasm than that which would be made by the absence of this great
principle and impulse of action which has formed thousands of characters
in the image of the Redeemer.

Let no one suppose that the obligation to live a Christian life is a
light one. Holiness is the highest attainment of a rational soul; it is
the greatest good within the reach of man; it is the greatest good in
the universe. Seek this, it is most sublime and excellent; seek to be
virtuous and holy that your hearts may be won and subdued by the power
of His own word. "Purify your souls in obeying the truth." There is
nothing in the universe that can be a substitute for purity or holiness,
it is an indispensable qualification for the heavenly world. O, when
will men _understand_ and _realize_ that nothing possesses importance
compared with this which relates to God and eternity. Never was there
stronger evidence of folly than that man presents who chooses this world
for his portion. If tears could quench the fires of torment they would
be quenched at the remembrance of the folly which preferred this world's
goods to the salvation of the soul. There is nothing upon earth that
hurts the true-hearted, energetic Christian like the indifference with
which those who have hope toward God are directing their way toward that
"exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

In a short time we shall pass through the tomb. To-day we are floating
upon the stream, to-morrow we may be floating upon the ocean of
eternity. Another step and we have entered on the world of retribution,
but what retribution is it? Is it the world of peace and joy? or is it
the region of tribulation and anguish? "To those who by patient
continuance in _well-doing_, seek for glory and honor and
immortality--eternal life. But to those who are contentious and obey not
the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation
and anguish, upon every soul of man that doth evil." Is it not a
melancholy state of being to be gliding down the stream of time under
the fearful uncertainty whether we will land in the realms of bliss or
the regions of anguish? You may be happy without power above your
fellows, w