fare of the soul depends upon the correctness of the decision. If the choice should fall upon the world, he who makes it, makes the world his God, his portion, and his reward; and when the 'world passeth away, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth,' he will share the lot of all earthly things; and having made a decision essentially erroneous, that decision will determine his fate through the ceaseless ages of eternity. We know that Orphah chose her country Moab, and the society of her ungodly and heathen associates. The history is silent as it regards her destiny; but had her views been subsequently altered, we should have heard of so important an occurrence. In all probability, for we well know the influence of evil society and example, she returned to her false Gods, and perished amongst those against whom the anger of God was terribly poured out. was an awful example of a defective choice. Ruth, on the contrary, chose the God of Israel. In the providence of God she became distinguished as among the earthly ancestors of the great Messiah; and the blessings in life and in death which she enjoyed, and in eternity which she now enjoys,

Hers

testifies to the truth of the proposition, that upon the choice, correctly made, depends the salvation of the soul.

It is unquestionably true that religion calls for extraordinary self-denial. What is meant on this subject, will be clearly seen by a very little examination of the circumstances of the history. Never was an individual placed in a situation of greater difficulty, or more trying to flesh and blood, than was the heroine of our story. In her determination to follow Naomi to the land of Israel, and to become a true servant of the living God, Ruth was compelled to burst asunder the most endearing natural ties which had been left her in her widowed condition. In the language of Scripture, she had to 'forget her own kindred and her father's house;' and, added to this, she was about to become a wanderer and a stranger, and upon her she knew would devolve the cares of an aged, feeble, sorrow-worn mother-in-law. And all this for the sake of religion. Here is the example of self-denial worthy of admiration. We are aware that in the judgment of the world, as society is at present constituted, Ruth would be considered by many as a most unjustifi

able fanatic; and many who would not judge her quite so harshly, would be apt to form erroneous estimates, and perhaps be disposed to ask the question-Was all this sacrifice and self-denial necessary? We will anticipate some questions which may serve as a specimen of worldly casuistry. Might not Ruth have retained her religion, and yet remained among her relations in the land of Moab? Why did she not show some attachment to her mother as well as to her mother-in-law? Why did she leave her parents with a determination never to return, that she might go to a land which she knew not? Did she not, then, with all her firmness to her religious principles, forget a part of her duty? These are very specious questions, and they are put in all their force, and with all their plausibility. But the answer is ready. To some of them we may say, she may have lost her father and mother, and then her strongest obligations were broken. easy matter for persons who are not fully animated by religious principles, to judge correctly as to the motives of others; and to many it would be unintelligible, were we to write of that holy jealousy

But we waive this. It is not an

which a believer will exercise over his heart, lest he be drawn away from his allegiance to God. This itself is a sufficient answer, were persons in general qualified to understand the merits of that answer. But there are answers to these questions perfectly level to the comprehensions of all. In the first place, Ruth must have known that, had she returned to her own country, she would have been exposed to very grievous temptations on the subject of religion. Had she returned to live in her heathen mother's house, she would have daily seen the homage rendered to the false gods of the Moabites, and doubtless would have been solicited to join in the practice of those abominable idolatries which she had once in principle renounced. added to this, as children were under the absolute controul of parental authority, she might have been given in marriage to a worshipper of Chemosh, god of the Moabites, and the difficulties of her situation been almost infinitely increased. With a becoming humility, she appears to have judged herself as but little prepared to encounter the temptations to which she would have been continually exposed, in the residence either of a heathen mother or a

And

heathen husband.

These are reasons which enter

fully into the justification of her conduct; and it shows in her the influence of that religion which had been taught her by the spirit of the Lord, for without that spirit, so self-denying, so disinterested, so devoted a conduct could not have been pursued.

In this enlightened age of the world, and in this country, so highly favoured of God as to religious privileges, we are not compelled to forsake our father's house, and our relations and friends, for the sake of religion. For, generally, religion is tolerated, if not always approved; and though the declaration of our Saviour is true, that frequently a man's greatest foes are they of his own household,' yet so well is religious liberty understood, that no outward persecutions or restraints are permitted. But in a spiritual sense, the same principle which animated Ruth, must find its appropriate place in our bosoms, and fit us for the emergency, should it be called into exercise. Would we be the true disciples of a crucified Redeemer, we must be ready, if the case require it, to give up every thing sooner than to sacrifice the everlasting salvation of our souls. Religion must not stand second