whole faith of the church, to bring the victory; and just when help is most needed, (I mean human, for God works by means) the laborers are scattered in various directions, wending their way home. “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasures on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasures, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” XVIII. YOUR FRUIT UNTO HOLINESS. A few years since, I visited the home of my childhood, after an absence of more than twenty years. Imagine my astonishment, as I passed along the way where my weary feet had often trodden in my childhood’s days. A complete transformation had taken place. The wilderness had given way to well cultivated fields. It had truly been made to bud and blossom as the rose. The little log hut, once the home of the pioneer, had given way to stately mansions. The stillness that had formerly reigned in those regions, had passed away; and the hum of husbandry had taken its place. I realized that something had been done to produce this great change. Many a hard blow had been given in felling the trees; much toil in removing the timber, and burning up the underbrush. It then became necessary to introduce the stump machine, that the old stumps and roots might every one be removed from the soil. And then, what a transformation! I thought I saw in this a complete analogy of our natural, depraved condition, and the transforming power of the Holy Ghost. I realized, in _some_ degree, the labor and suffering that had been given to produce these wonderful results. My mind instantly reverted to Gethsemane; to Pilate’s Hall; to Calvary; to the Crucifixion; the precious blood; its all-cleansing power to remove the foulest stains that sin hath made; and blessed be God! to remove all the roots of bitterness connected with our old man, _depravity_! “His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood avails for me.” But then, how are we to avail ourselves of this glorious power? Repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Without repentance, there is no approaching Deity. This must precede all acts of saving faith. Place it just as God has it. Repent and believe the Gospel; and by this we understand godly sorrow, which will lead to a confession of our sins, and a separation from them, and restitution where possible. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from unrighteousness.” Here is the secret of success. Repentance! Repentance! “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth them shall have mercy.”