2. Operative —
[You desire to obtain salvation. It is well : but to what purpose will this desire be, if it do not stimulate you to action ? Will a desire of knowledge render any one a philosopher, if he neglect his studies ? Will a desire of a harvest enrich a man, if he neglect to cultivate his land? How then can you hope that a desire of heaven will ever bring you thither, if you neglect the concerns of your souls ? You must read the Holy Scriptures with meditation and prayer : you must search out your sins, and mourn over them before God : you must get views of Christ as the only Saviour of the world, and must go to him continually that you may receive out of his fulness the grace that shall be sufficient for you. You must be gaining an increasing victory over the world, and the flesh, and the devil, and be growing more and more like unto your God and Saviour in righteousness and true holiness. You must be living more for God in the midst of this corrupt world, and be bringing glory to his name by your exertions in his sacred cause. It is in this way that your good desires must work, if you would have them productive of any saving benefit to your souls. The stony-ground hearers, whose desires were only temporary, perished, notwithstanding the fair appearances which for a season they assumed ; as did the thorny-ground hearers also, because they " brought forth no fruit to perfec- tion." And you also must not only begin well, but " endure unto the end," and " be faithful unto death," if ever you would be saved in the great day of the Lord Jesus. The " slothful," be they who they may, shall be condemned in that day as " wicked «!."]
3. Supreme —
[" You cannot serve God and mammon." The world may have your hands ; but God must have your heart, your whole heart". He will not accept a divided heart". " The world must become crucified to you, and you unto the world p." " Your affections must be set on things above, and not on things below'':" and "your conversation must be altogether in heaven"^." " There must be nothing either in heaven or earth that you desire besides God^"
You must resemble David, who says, " This one thing have I desired^,'' and St. Paul, who says, "This one thing I f/o"." Then shall God fully answer you in the desires of your heart, and your efforts be crowned with glorious success.]
m Matt. XXV. 26. n Prov. xxiii. 26. ° Hos. x. 2.
P Gal. vi. 14. <i Col. iii. 1. ^ Phil. iii. 20.
■ Ps. Ixxiii. 25. t Ps. xxvii. 4. " Phil. iii. 13.