had for long been astonished at me that I did not speak to him about his soul.  B. traced his conversion to the singing of ’The sands of time are sinking’ in this church last summer.  C. was spoken to by a room-mate.  D. was to be married, and she died.  Of E. I have great hope.  F., were she anywhere but at home, I would have great hopes of her,’—­and so on.  But, then, when a minister takes boldness to turn over the pages of his young communicants’ roll for half a lifetime—­ah me, ah me!  What was I doing to let that so promising communicant go so far astray, and I never to go after him?  And that other.  And that other.  And that other.  Till we can read no more.  O God of mercy, when Thou inquirest after blood, let me be hidden in the cleft of that Rock so deeply cleft for unwatchful ministers!

4.  And then, as Dr. Joseph Parker says, who says everything so plainly and so powerfully:  ’There is pastoral preaching as well as pastoral visitation.  There is pastoral preaching; rich revelation of divine truth; high, elevating treatment of the Christian mysteries; and he is the pastor to me who does not come to my house to drink and smoke and gossip and show his littleness, but who, out of a rich experience, meets me with God’s word at every turn of my life, and speaks the something to me that I just at that moment want.’  Let us not have less pastoral visitation in the time to come, but let us have more and more of such pastoral preaching.

5.  But, my brethren, it is time for you, as John said to the elect lady and her children, to look to yourselves.  The salvation of your soul is precious, and its salvation is such a task, such a battle, such a danger, and such a risk, that it will take all that your most watchful minister can do, and all that you can do yourself, and all that God can do for you, and yet your soul will scarcely be saved after all.  You do not know what salvation is nor what it costs.  You will not be saved in your sleep.  You will not waken up at the last day and find yourself saved by the grace of God and you not know it.  You will know it to your bitter cost before your soul is saved from sin and death.  You and your minister too.  And therefore it is that He Who is to judge your soul at last says to you, as much as He says it to any of His ministers, Watch!  What I say unto one I say unto all, Watch.  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  Look to yourself, then, sinner.  In Christ’s name, look to yourself and watch yourself.  You have no enemy to fear but yourself.  No one can hurt a hair of your head but yourself.  Have you found that out?  Have you found yourself out?  Do you ever look in the direction of your own heart?  Have you begun to watch what goes on in your own heart?  What is it to you what goes on in the world around you compared with what goes on in the world within you?  Look, then, to yourself.  Watch, above all watching, yourself.  Watch what it is that