into the fire, and they are burned *.” See then how necessary it is that you should maintain a close and constant union with Christ.

If this be duly felt, it will be natural to ask, How is this union to be effected, and how is it to be kept up? I will proceed to satisfy this enquiry.

The union with Christ commences at baptism: for as we are taught to believe that we are members of his body, and members of one body, whereof Christ is the head, so it is to be considered, that we are first admitted into that state of membership by the sacramental grace, of which we become partakers on our admission into the Church. On this (as having been a point of previous instruction) I shall not dwell further at this time: it will be more to my purpose to explain to you, how the blessed union thus begun may be continued and maintained.

First: to fly from sin and to walk in the commandments of Christ, is a great, an effectual, and an indispensable, qualification for keeping up a vital union with Christ. For Christ himself tells us, that if we keep his commandments, we shall abide

* John xv. 4.

Ephes. iv. 15, 16. v. 23. 1 Cor. xi. 27. Rom. xii. 5.

in his love*. This qualification for the love and indwelling of Christ ought to pervade the whole life; we will proceed to consider some of the more particular acts and duties by which this union is maintained.

Secondly then: among these the study of God's word and meditation upon it, hold a chief place. "The words that I speak unto you," says Christ, "they are spirit and they are lifet." God's word is the nourishment of the soul, and the sustenance of the divine life: it is called in Scripture the pure milk of the word, and the growth of a Christian in grace and piety is therein spoken of as being effected by it. I might, therefore, not improperly address you in words similar to those of the injunction which God, of old time, delivered to the leader of his chosen people: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein : for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success §." And remember, most especially, that you are to go to

John xv. 10. 1 Pet. ii. 2.

+ John vi. 63.

§ Joshua i. 8.

tain my

innocence? Should some wrathful or injurious person unexpectedly come into converse with me; am I ready to behave myself with perfect meekness and benignity, unconcerned for myself, and distressed only for the sinner who molests me? Should some dreadful shock of calamity light upon me of a sudden, am I ready to bear it with perfect resignation, and with an entire preference of God's will to my own?-While we thus commune with our own hearts, we may know, what are their most unprotected and assailable points; and, with a special regard to them, we may pray and seek for the strength of God to sustain our weakand for the power of grace to supply the infirmity of the flesh. But especially shall we be made sensible of our danger, and of the necessity of quickening our spiritual improvement, if we thus enquire-Am I now ready to die and to meet God? for I know not that I have an hour to live.-With these thoughts on our minds, we shall be more sensible of the proper force belonging to that divine caution, "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life *."

ness,

Concerning the various means of grace to which I have thus directed your attention, it is hoped, that you will, under God's blessing, receive abundant instruction and frequent exhortation in the public ministration of the divine word, and in the study of pious and devotional books: but a word in season may fitly now be introduced, because the occasion is strikingly adapted to promote a deep and lasting impression. In relation to the Lord's Supper, I entreat you to give no heed to those idle and weak excuses which are so commonly advanced to discourage from the fulfilment of a most indispensable duty: for, if the commandment of Christ have the power of obligation, you cannot but consider it as indispensable: and you have justly been taught, in the words of the Catechism, to speak of it as "necessary to salvation." Such excuses, be assured, will never, in the sight of God, justify your neglect. Let me hope, that you will seize the first opportunity of presenting yourselves at the holy table; that you will ever delight, at those seasons which the Church affords, to remember, in the way that he himself appointed, the Lord who bought you; and that you will ever be careful to avoid the dreadful condition set forth in those words of our Lord, "Verily,

Ꭰ

verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you*."

With regard also to prayer, to self-examination, and the study of the divine word; I entreat you to make them a part of your daily employment. Be assured that they will shed a benign influence of sanctity and peace over the thoughts of your heart and the work of your hands. And here I most especially wish to guard you against that common excuse, of those who say, that they have no time for such employments. What, no time to pray and to examine your lives! it has often been said, but never, I believe, in one single instance with truth. It is the customary language of those, who make the more weighty engagements of life give way to those that are less so: for these employments, which they neglect, are far more important than those which they pursue, and which, as they allege, afford no time to think of their souls and of the meat which endureth to everlasting life. But it is a vain pretence: for I am fully persuaded, that the more regularly you fulfil these duties, the more time you will have on your hands for every innocent and

*John vi. 53.