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 WHAT CAN I DO? 
 
 THIS is a question that is often asked by those on when* 
 the matter of personal religion is pressed, and al- 
 though sometimes asked in a spirit of ev; sion, is frequent- 
 ly asked in sincerity. We propose to answer this ques- 
 tion, and to show some things at least tint may be done to 
 • secure eternal life. 
 
 Before specifying those things, it may be proper to say, 
 that none of them are necessary prerequisites to a believ- 
 ing reception of Christ. It is the duty y£ every one wao. 
 hears the gospel to receive it at once, aci without del«y, 
 or qualification, to accept the Savicur just as he is offered, 
 without waiting for. any more feeling, any more conviction. 
 T)f sin, any more preparation of heart, or any better stato 
 of soul than when there is an honest desire to be say 3d " 
 from sin in its guilt and •pollution. To mppose that it is 
 needful to wait for any protracted preparation, any wash- 
 ing of the outer scales of the leprosy before coining to the 
 great physician, is to contradict the w lole tenor of the 
 gospel, which calls on the sinner to come to repentance, on 
 the sick to eome to the Physician, on tha heavy-laden to 
 come to the relieving hand that can give them rest. But 
 as there are some who say, " We know not how to come 
 to Christ, we find no real of active interest in our hearts 
 on this subject, our judgments are convinced but our 
 hearts are utterly unmoved, and yet we are willing to dq 
 whatever may be done to awake a deeper interest in our 
 bosoms, and bring us to the point of a si icere and hearty 
 surrender to Christ, if we only knew wlat we could dc." 
 "We will try to meet this desire, and to s] ecify to such per^ 
 cons some things that they can do, an<i if tbey are not 
 mistaken in this view of their feelings, they will be willing 
 
'1 * WHAT CAN I DO I 
 
 to do these things, and the doing of them will either impel 
 them farther forward towards the cross, or show them that 
 there is some wedge of gold or Babylonish garment, that 
 is hidden beneath the tent. 
 
 1 You can beg hi to consider the question of personal re- 
 ligion. It is the want of consideration that causes much 
 of the indifference you feel on the subject, Have you ever 
 given it one hour of serious reflection ? Have you ever 
 retired to your room and there carefully, thought on this 
 matter, in the presence of God, and with a sense of his 
 omniscient scrutiny 1 Have you not rather banished it 
 from your thoughts, and tried to avoid what would pro- 
 duce serious reflection 'I Have you not been afraid to go 
 alone, and face to face, with an unseen, but all-seeing God, 
 gaze on this high and awful question ? This then you Can 
 do. You can retire to-day, 'or to-night, to some private 
 place, and there think of the fact that you are a sinner,, 
 that you are making God your enemy every day, that yofi 
 are standing in a path that for six thousand years has been 
 sWept by the whirlwind of his wrath, that this awful tem- 
 pest may be unloosed at any moment, that there is nothing 
 .between you and the bottomless abyss but a thin partition ' 
 that' may give way in an instant by disease or accident, 
 that you are hanging all the concerns ©f eternity on a mere 
 perhaps, and that thousands have perished by doing just 
 what you are doing now. You can think of Calvary- — - 
 why Jesus suffered, why you can treat those sufferings so 
 lightly, why you think so little of a Saviour's blood, and 
 how fearful a thing it must be to have that blood lying ne- 
 glected a-t your feet. Will you consider this matter not 
 once, but again, and again, unfcil you feel that you are in 
 danger and must have a deliverer? 
 
 2. Yo i can pray. Yon say that you cannot regenerate 
 yourself, or change by any direct act your affections ; that 
 God alone can do these things. Has not God said that he 
 is willing to do them for all who desire it? If you really 
 desire these things, you can pray for them, for prayer is 
 only the offering up of our desires to God for things agree- 
 able to his will, in the name of Christ Jesus. Then as 
 you ponder, you may pray, and at least say, " God be 
 
what CA« I DO : o 
 
 merciful to me a winner," and if this prayer is sincerely 
 offered, you have tire. assurance of actual fact in regard 
 to the certainty with which it will be answered. 
 
 3. You can read. You have the Bible. Read the 51st 
 Psalm ; the 53rd and 55th of Isaiah ; the 12th to 16th 
 chapters of Luke ; the 3d chapter of John ; the 4th and 
 5th of 2d Corinthians, or similar portions of Scripture, 
 which may readily be found. You can get religious books, 
 such as James's or Henry's Anxious Inquirer, the Great 
 Question, the Way of Life, Baxter's Call, the Memoirs of 
 McChjeyne, Henry Martyn, or some of the many excellent 
 'works so easily accessible by the distributing agencies of 
 
 sligioufi literature. Read them daily, and keep your 
 soul thus in contact with the great facts of religion. Do* 
 this every day. 
 
 4. You can avoid what will di sipate serious reflection. 
 Yuu know what this is by experience, for you have sought 
 it in various forms. Thi the things, the reading, 
 and talking, and acting, that are unfriendly to religious 
 
 1:1, you know better than any one can tell you, and 
 things you can avoid, and thus fence in th# soil to 
 some extent from the fowls that piek up the seed. 
 
 5. You can seek the means of instruction. ^ You can go 
 to your pastor, or some Christian friend and ask him to ex- 
 plain the way of salvation to you. You would do so with 
 your physician if your body was disordered, why not with 
 your spiritual physician when your soul is disordered? 
 You can not only attend church on the Sabbath, but you 
 can attend the weekly lecture and prayer-meeting The 
 very reason that make's you shrink from attending these 
 meetings is the reason that should take you there, if you 
 are in earnest in what you say. *' Then shall ye seek me 
 and find me when ye shall search for me s with all your 
 heart." 
 
 6. You can resolve to abandon all that is sinful. You 
 will find your real dtfji-culty here. You love sin, in some 
 form, this is the reanreason of >our difficulty in coming to 
 Christ. Now you must choose between sin and salvation. 
 If you are unwilling to give up your hold of the one, you 
 must give up your hope of the other. If you would know 
 
4 WKAT £AN 1 DO .' 
 
 your sins Lake up the Decalogue, or Gal. v : 10 — 28, or 
 Col. iii : 5 — 15, or similar portions of God's word, and 
 you will readily discover them. But you do not need even 
 these special inquiries. You know them already. Are 
 you willing to endeavor, from- this time, to abandon them, 
 as far as in you lies ? 
 
 7. You can resolve to begin the discharge of every known 
 duty. You know what God requires of man. This he 
 requires of every one, and hence of .you, and he requires 
 it of you now. Your secret feeling is that these duties are 
 obligatory only on a Christian. But this is a mistake. 
 They rest on all, and a Christian is only trying to do, 
 what is binding on every one, and you among the rest. 
 You ought to do these duties, whether you are a Christian 
 or not The proof that you are willing to be a Christian 
 will be found in the fact that you are willing to begin the 
 discharge of these duties. If unwilling, you do not desire 
 really to be a child of God ; if willing, begin them now, 
 for they are binding on you now; you are a rebellious 
 ohikl, but still a child, and bound to do all the duties of a. 
 child, a$d if you wish to return to your Father, that wish 
 will be manifested by beginning to obey him as a child, 
 Here again is the second great test of your sincerity. 
 
 8 }'ou can m thcn try to look to Jesus for pard n, f r 
 strength, for holiness, for happiness, and for eternal life. 
 You can try to believe that Jesus will do as he has pro- 
 mised to do, save those who strive honestly to trust and 
 obey. him. Is it not strange that this should require any 
 effort? Then try these things, and as you take one step, 
 you will see more readily how and when to tak£ another. 
 
 *..» 
 
 RICHMOND, VAI 
 PRE-9BTTERIAN COMMITTER Of PUBIJGATIO? 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
 P H 8.5