and mind and soul and strength." And every one of us should be able to say with David, " Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides theec" ]
2. In affiance on his care —
[Whatever our trials be, there should be no leaning either upon our own strength or on any created power: for "cursed is the man that maketh flesh his arm, whose heart departeth from the Lord his Godd." Our trust should be ha God alone: and on him should we rely without the smallest measure of diffidence or fear. Our continual boast should be, " The Lord is on my side ; I will not fear what either men or devils can do against me."]
3. In zeal for his glory —
[As we have received our all from him, so we should improve every thing for him. We should live entirely for our God: and, if only he may be glorified in us, it should be a matter of indifference to us, whether it be by life or by death. Are we called to act? We must resemble Asa, who, with im- partial energy, dethroned his own mother for her idolatry, and ground her idols to duste. Are we called to suffer? We should yield our bodies to be burned, rather than swerve an hair's breadth from the path of dutyf. In the whole of our Christian course we should be " pressing forward continually towards the goal, if by any means we may obtain from God the prize of our high calling." This is the true nature of Chris- tian perfection s.]
Such being the injunction, I will proceed to, II. Enforce its authority —
Without real integrity before God, we can have, 1. No comfort in our souls —
[A man may, by an overweening conceit of his own at- tainments, buoy himself up with somewhat of a pleasing satisfaction respecting his state : but there will be secret mis- givings in hours of reflection, and especially in that hour when he is about to enter into the immediate presence of his God. Even at present, an insincere man feels no real delight in God : and a consciousness of that will occasionally disturb his ill-acquired peace. But the man whose heart is right with God will have a holy confidence before him ; according as the Psalmist has said: " Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace h." Hezekiah's
c Ps. lxxiii. 25. d Jer. xvii. 5. e 1 Kings xv. 13.
f Dan. in. 17, 18. e Phil. hi. 15. h Ps. xxxvii. 37.