gate. There is no heart satisfaction in this world, until ♦^^e believe on Christ. Jesus alone can fill up the empty places of our inward man. Jesus alone can give solid, lasting, enduring happiness. The peace that He imparts is a fountain, which, once set flowing within the soul, flows on to all eternity. Its waters may have their ebbing seasons ; but they are living waters, and they shall never be completely dried.
We should mark, fourthly, the absolute necessity of con- viction of sin before a soul can be converted to God. The Samaritan woman seems to have been comparatively un- moved until our Lord exposed her breach of the seventh commandment. Those heart-searching words, " Go, call thy husband," appear to have pierced her conscience like an arrow. From that moment, however ignorant, she speaks like an earnest, sincere inquirer after truth. And the reason is evident. She felt that her spiritual disease was discovered. For the first time in her life she saw her- self.
To bring thoughtless people to this state of mind should be the principal aim of all teachers and ministers of the Gospel. They should carefully copy their Master's ex- ample in this place. Till men and women are brought to feel their sinfulness and need, no real good is ever done to their souls. Till a sinner sees himself as God sees him, he will continue careless, trilling, and unmoved. By all means we must labour to convince the unconverted man of sin, to prick his conscience, l;0 open his eyes, to show him himself. To this end we must expound the length arid breadth of God's holy law. To this end we must cien ounce every practice contrary to that law, however fashionable and customary. This is the only way to do good. Never does a soul value the Gospel medicine until it feels its disease. Never does a man see any beauty in C3hri§t as a Saviour, until he discovers that he is himself
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a lost and ruiued sinner. Ignorance of sin is invariably attended by neglect of Christ.
We should mark, fifthly, the uselessness of any religion which only consists of formality. The Samaritan woman, when awakened to spiritual concern, started questions about the comparative merits of the Samaritan and Jewish modes of w^orshipping God. Our Lord tells her that true and acceptable worship depends not on the place in which it is offered, but on the state of the wor- shipper's heart. He declares, " The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this place nor at Jerusalem worship the Father." He adds that " the true worshippers shall wor- ship in spirit and in truth."
The principle contained in these sentences can never be loo strongly impressed on j^rofessing Christians. We are all naturally inclined to make religion a mere matter of out- ward forms and ceremonies, and to attach an excessive importance to our own particular manner of worshipping God. We must beware of this spirit, and especially when w^e first begin to think seriously about our souls. The heart is the principal thing in all our approaches to God. " The Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. xvi. V.) The most gorgeous cathedral-service is offensive in God's sight, if all is gone through coldly, heartlessly, and without grace. The feeblest gathering of three or four poor believers in a cot- tage to read the Bible and pray, is a more acceptable sight to Him who searches the heart than the fullest congregation which is ever gathered in St. Peter's at Rome.
We should mark, lastly, Chrisfs gracious willingness to reveal Simself to the chief of sinners. He concludes His conversation with the Samaritan woman by telling her openly and unreservedly that He is tho Saviour of the world. "I that speak to thee," He says, "am the Mes- siah." Nowhere in all the Gospels do we find our Lord making such a full avowal of His nature and office as He