shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be dammed,” says the Lord. The first requirement, then, is to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” and without complying with this requirement, or taking this step no person can ever take another. There is no reaching the second step without taking the first. Unless the first step is taken, it will eternally stand between any man and the second. This indispensable step was required of, and taken by all who came to God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who spoke through the apostles to the people to lead them to God. Never did one, from the days of the apostles to the present time, get round, or by, this great requirement, and come to God. It is true, that when the Pentecostians and Saul inquired what they should do, they were not commanded to _believe_; but it was not that faith was dispensed with in their cases, or that the Lord had a different method of conversion for them, but for the good reason that they _already believed_, and their faith caused them to inquire what they should do. Acts iii. 19, we find the following requirement laid down: “Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” This requirement was uttered to an assembly that had just witnessed one of the most manifest miracles of the apostles—one which the enemies mentioned shortly after, admitting that it was known to all who dwelt in Jerusalem and that they could not deny it, and at the close of a discourse which they had heard, and which had convinced them that the work was of God. The Holy Spirit, on this occasion, demanded of them to repent, reform, or amend their lives. This demand too, is as wide as the actual sinners among men. In the times of ignorance before the gospel, God did not hold men to a strict account for their sins, “but now he commands all men, everywhere, to _repent_, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness,” Acts xvii. 30-31. Repentance, too, is indispensable. “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Luke xiii. 3. What does the Lord mean by this word, “except”? John iii. 3, he says, “except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.” Two verses after this, he says, “except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God.” Here we have the same word, “except,” again. What does he mean by it? At verse seven, he explains as follows: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, _Ye must be born again_.” _You must repent_ or _perish_, then, is the meaning of the words, “except ye repent, ye shall perish.” Repentance is then required of “all men, everywhere,” and is indispensable—_must be_.