1. To us divine ordinances are what the pool of Bethesda was to the Jews —
[Here, my brethren, is healing for every disorder of the soul ■ — -But the waters have no healing virtue in them- selves : " If Paul plant, or Apollos water, it is God alone that
can give the increase" But Jesus is present here, as he
has said, " Wherever two or three are met together, there am I in the midst of them." And his address to every individual amongst us is, " Wilt thou be made whole? " Nor should any one have reason to complain that others run away with the bless- ing, provided that he himself were really desirous to obtain it. It is not the most active, but the most humble, that shall succeed here. O that we were all as sensible of our wants, and as anxious to obtain relief, as were the people that frequented that pool ! Verily, not one should depart without obtaining the desired benefit. Dear brethren, you are too apt to be satisfied with attending upon ordinances, and to think that the mere attendance is sufficient, though you reap no solid benefit from them. But it is not in this way that you can hope to receive any blessing from the Lord. You must be sensi- ble of your urgent and pressing wants : you must come to God's house, expecting to receive benefit to your souls : you must implore of him to give effect to his word, and so to accompany it with his blessing that it may prove " the power of God to your salvation." Then shall you find "the word quick and powerful" as in the days of old ; and " being renewed in the spirit of your minds," become happy monuments of God's power and grace to all around you.]
2. If we have derived benefit from them, we must manifest it by a holy and consistent walk —
[Every man that has received the grace of God in truth, will revolt at the idea of continuing in sin, as the Apostle did ; " Shall I continue in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid. How shall I who am dead to sin, live any longer therein h ? " Nor must we be unwilling to listen to the motive suggested by our Lord to this favoured man ; " Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." It is quite a mistake to imagine that a fear of God's judgments is legal. It is often inculcated both in the Old Testament and the New1. And, if Paul himself cherished this principle in his bosom as an incentive to watch- fulnessk, who are we, that we should conceive it to be unworthy of a place in our hearts ? Doubtless " the love of Christ is to
h Rom. vi. 1, 2.
1 Job xxxvi. 13. Heb. x. 38. 2 Pet. ii. 20, 21. Rev. ii. 4, 5.
k 1 Cor. ix. 27.