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 WHAT IS YOUR 
 HOPE? 
 
 SIS ™, RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY; 
 
 fkH 1 ■ 56, Paternoster-row; 164, Piccadilly, NlJrJ] 
 
 , t& { LONDON. JM« 
 
 to tvj 
 
 
WHAT IS YGXTE HOPE? 
 
 ome Hindoos were on a jouf» 
 ney in India. The road was rough 
 and long, and the sun burner! 
 hotly in the skie3. Slowly they 
 passed on their way, and as o&« 
 
 m 
 
2 WMAT IS YOUR HOFE ? 
 
 day after another came to an end, 
 many of the party grew faint and 
 weary. There was one poor man 
 who seemed a stranger to the 
 rest. He was old and feeble, and 
 was ready to sink from the heat 
 and labour of the way. At last 
 he fell, and could not rise again. 
 The Hindoos looked upon him, 
 and finding that he was likely to 
 die, they left him to perish with- 
 out pity or help — for these hea- 
 then are unkind to the sick and 
 dying. But there was among 
 those travellers a Missionary, on 
 his way to a distant place to 
 preach the Gospel; he saw the 
 old man fall, and ran to aid him 
 while the rest passed along. 
 Yet all his help could not now 
 save his life. He knelt by the 
 
WHAT IS TOUE HOPE ? 8 
 
 poor man's side, and softly said 
 in his ear, " Brother, what is your 
 hope?" The dying traveller 
 raised himself to reply, and with 
 a great effort said, " The blood of 
 Jesus Christ cleanseth from all 
 sin ;" and then he laid down his 
 nead again and died. The Mis- 
 sionary was greatly astonished at 
 the answer ; and, in the calm and 
 thoughtful manner in which the 
 words were spoken, he could not 
 but feel the man had died safely 
 in Christ. "How, or where," 
 thought he, " could this Hindoo 
 have got this hope ?" And as 
 he looked at the dead body, he 
 saw a piece of paper grasped 
 tightly in one of the hands. He 
 carefully took it out ; and what 
 was his surprise and delight, 
 
1 WHAT IS YOXJE HOPE? 
 
 when he saw it was a single leal 
 of the Bible, on which was the 
 first chapter of the Eirst Epistle 
 of JoIid, where these words are 
 found ! On that page a heathen 
 man had met with the Gospel ! 
 
 This short account of the Hin- 
 doo and the one leaf may teach a 
 useful lesson. 
 
 Youthful lieader ! have you a 
 Bible f — the whole Bible ? Then 
 you have more than the poor 
 dying Hindoo had. You are 
 more favoured than were kings, 
 and priests, and righteous men 
 of old. They desired to hear the 
 things which you hear, but heard 
 them not. David had only a 
 small portion of God's "Word, yet 
 it was to him sweeter than honey, 
 End more to be desired than fine 
 
 I 
 
WE1T 18 YOUR. HOPE ? 9 
 
 gold. Even now there are whole 
 nations who do not possess the 
 Bible ; whilst you have a com- 
 plete copy — not one leaf alone, 
 but every leaf. Not simply one 
 truth, but every precious truth. 
 All the histories — all the prophe- 
 cies — all the promises — all the 
 doctrines — all the precepts — all 
 the prayers, that are written in 
 the Holy Word. Perhaps you 
 call it your own Bible ; for you 
 bought it with your own money, 
 or it was the gift of a parent or 
 a friend. And because it ia your 
 own, you value it the more. 
 
 How do you use the Bible ? It 
 is plain how the Hindoo used the 
 one leaf whieh he held in his 
 dead hand. Where is your Bible ? 
 Is it on a dusty shelf, or shut up 
 
WHAT IS TOUR HOPE ? 
 
 in a bos, or put away where yon 
 cannot easilv find it ? "When did 
 you last read it ? Did you think 
 sf what you read, and pray oyer 
 it ? Did you ask of God to give 
 you his Holy Spirit to teach you, 
 saying, " O Lord, open thou 
 mine eyes, that I may behold 
 wondrous things out of thy 
 law ?" 
 
 If you have read your Bible, 
 what is yottr Jtope ? You hope to 
 go to heaven when you die ; but 
 on what do you rest your hope ? 
 
 Can you answer this question 
 like the dying Hindoo, and say, 
 "The blood of Jesus Christ 
 eleanseth from all sin ?" Timothy, 
 when a child, was taught in tha 
 Holy Scriptures, but he had nofe 
 then this great truth so clearly 
 
WHAT IB YQXJE HOPE-? 7 
 
 before hini as you have now. 
 Solomon, with all his wisdom, did 
 not know it as you may know it. 
 it is not only to be known, it is 
 to he felt ; it is to be believed ; it 
 is to be received into the heart. 
 If this truth is rightly known, 
 then you feel you are a sinner ; 
 that you cannot save yourself, 
 and that Jesus is able and willing 
 to save you. 
 
 Think also of the poor Hindoo 
 dying on a journey. See him far 
 away from his home, sinking on 
 the road, and left to perish. Yet, 
 when the kind stranger kneeled 
 by his side, and asked, " Brother, 
 what is your hope p" he could 
 calmly say that the blood of Christ 
 was the hope of his soul. How 
 would it be with you, who are 
 
8 WHAT IS YOTJE XIOFE f 
 
 called by the Christian name, if 
 you were called to die far away 
 from those you love ? Could you 
 truly speak of Jesus, and by faith 
 rest on him alone? "Will jou 
 think of these things ? 
 
 Lord, thy *,eaching grace impart, 
 That I iuay not read in vain ; 
 
 Write thy precepts on my heart, 
 Make thy truths and doctrines plar 
 
 Let the message of thy love 
 
 Guide me to thy rest above. 
 
 Bmjamin Pardon, Printer, Paternostet Row. 
 

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 THE BIBLE. 
 
 Blessed Bible ! book Divine, 
 Let me ever read and learn ; 
 
 >Th of truth the golden mine, 
 'Tis my highest, best concern 
 
 Shine upon the sacred page, 
 Holy Spirit, while I read ; 
 
 Open to my tender age, 
 That I may be wise indeed. 
 
 SI any snares my steps surround, 
 Teach me how to guide my way ; 
 
 Timothv here wisdom found, 
 Let me find it, Lord, I pray. 
 
 Thou wilt not a child despise, 
 Thou hast many children heard, 
 
 Thou canst make the simple wise ; 
 Lord, instruct me by thy word. 
 
 
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