and the word preached to them in his name, will be " a savour of death unto all, to whom it is not a savour of life." The receiv- ing of him into our hearts by faith, put us into possession of all the blessings which he had purchased for us.]
2. By the continued exercise of the same faith we must ultimately secure the harvest of which we have reaped the first-fruits —
[" As we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so we must walk in hime." We must " continue in the faith grounded and settled, and not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel." It is a fact, that many do make shipwreck of the faith. The Scriptures abound with instances of it : and we also shall feel many temptations, both from without and from within, to follow their sad example. Like the stony-ground hearers, we may through the influence of persecution " fall away :" or, as in the case of the thorny-ground hearers, the good seed in us may be so choked by the cares and pleasures of this life, as to " bring forth no fruit to perfection." And, from whatever source the defection arises, " if we turn back, we turn back unto perdition," and " God's soul shall have no pleasure in us." Would we then be " presented faultless before the presence of God's glory with exceeding joyf ?" we must hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering:" we must be more and more "grounded" in the faith by a constant exercise of it on every occasion : we must be so firmly "settled" in it, that a man may as well attempt to pluck the sun from the firmament, as to shake either our faith or hope. This is the way to " endure unto the end ;" and it is in this way only that we can fulfil that salutary injunction, " Look to yourselves, that ye lose not the things which ye have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward6."]
Address —
1. Are there any who are here yet unreconciled to God?
[O ! think what a mercy it is that God's wrath has not broken forth against you to your utter and everlasting destruc- tion ! Think how many of the human race are now suffering the penalty due to their sins in hopeless sorrows, and in tor- ments of which we have no conception. Do not, I entreat you, let the efforts made for your salvation be in vain. Let not "Christ have died in vain ;" and "receive not the grace of God in vain:" but " to-day, 'whilst it is called to-day, harden not your hearts, lest you provoke God to swear in his wrath that you shall never enter into his rest."]
e Col. ii. 6, 7. f Jude, vcr. 24. e 2 John, ver. 8.