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THE SWALLOWED BIBLE.

lowed a Bible?" "Think, father!" said I, "why I think that he has indeed swallowed a Bible; for the word of God seems like meat and drink to him."

Oh that the blessed book of truth were meat and drink to us all! Oh that we had all swallowed a Bible, for then we should find it, not bitter like the little book eaten by John in the Revelation, but sweeter than honey and the honey-comb.

AN ENEMY.

WHETHER you are a poor man, or a poor woman, getting your bread by the sweat of your brow, or aged and infirm, living in a cottage, let me remind you that you have AN ENEMY!

Be upon your guard; for unless you are so every moment of your time, depend upon it, he will do you an injury.

This enemy is not in another country, nor at a distance from you; he does not live in one place while you dwell in another. He is in the same dwelling, occupies the same chamber, and is indeed your most intimate acquaintance.

If he would attack you openly, you might resist him in many ways, you might ask others to assist you, or you might get out of his way; but these things you cannot do; for, though he is such an enemy, he contrives to persuade you that he is your best friend! He has abused the confidence you have put in him. He has led you into evil, he has deceived you, he has robbed you, and placed poison in your basket and in your

store. In short, there is hardly any bad deed which he has not, at one time or other, either done, or persuaded you to do.

Now this enemy is, as I said before, the nearest acquaintance that you have. It is not your father, nor your mother, nor your sister, nor your brother, but a part of yourself-It is your own heart.

Think for a moment of the deceit this enemy has practised against you. He has persuaded you to disobey God's will, that you might indulge in your own; to seek for happiness in sin, which never yet failed to produce sorrow; to set your affections on a poor perishing world that is passing away, and leave unsought that eternal inheritance which is in heaven. Truly, "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jer. xvii. 9.

Think how this enemy has robbed you of your peace of mind, by prevailing on you to commit iniquity; for sinners are always unhappy. "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked," Isa. lvii. 20, 21.

Think how he has poisoned your enjoyments, by depriving you of the comfort of God's promises in Christ Jesus, by bringing you into a state of condemnation; for "the soul that sinneth, it shall

die," Ezek. xviii. 4. How many fears and forebodings has he brought upon you of God's displeasure and eternal wrath! If you have never thought on these things, think of them now.

Should you be in doubt, whether the heart is so wicked as I have represented it to be, hear what the word of God says about it, that word which cannot lie: "From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man," Mark vii. 21-23.

This picture, frightful as it is, is faithfully drawn, and is, indeed, enough to terrify any one who looks upon it.

And can you, after all this, consider your heart as a friend, unless it be changed? If you can, you must be content to endure all the miseries it will bring upon you. "Be sure your sin will find you out," Numb. xxxii. 23.

But if you are convinced that your heart is evil, and not to be trusted, (he that trusteth his heart is a fool,) why then hasten to Him who alone can restrain the unruly wills and affections of sinful men. Go unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinner's Friend, and pray, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit

within me," Psa. li. 10; and be assured that your prayer will be heard. God has promised to those who seek his grace, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh," Ezek. xxxvi. 26. This is the promise of God, and not a jot or tittle of his promises shall fail: for they are yea and amen in Jesus Christ.

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