Address —
1. The ignorant Christian —
[Wherein are you superior to John and all the prophets ? Truly you are less than heathens, because of your neglect of
your superior advantages Remember that God will
" take vengeance on them that know him not, and that obey not his Gospel."]
2. The formal Christian —
[You value yourselves on your moderation : and, if there be a person striving to take the kingdom by violence, you dis- courage him. You approve of violence in every thing else ;
and disapprove of it where alone it should be used Did
you never hear that " many seek to enter into heaven, but fail,"
because they do not strive ? Beware lest that be your unhappy case.]
3. The fainting Christian —
[Be not weary in well doing. You have many difficulties, it is true; but you have omnipotence on your side: and " if God be for you, who can be against you?" The temptations you have, may seem peculiar to you ; but they are only " such as are common to man :" and God engages that you shall have " none without a way to escape" from it, or strength to with- stand it. " Be strong then in the Lord, and in the power of his might."
But beware of sloth : that will soon enervate the soul, and paralyse every effort in the way to heaven. The promises of God and the assistances of his Spirit do not supersede your own exertions : it is true at this day, as much as in the days of Christ, that " the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent must take it by force."]