SERMON VI.

TRANSIENT RESOLUTION.

PHILIPPIANS, IV. 1.

Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

THIS affectionate exhortation of the Apostle to constancy and perseverance in the christian profession, was rendered peculiarly necessary by the circumstances of his early converts. It was addressed to men, who, in embracing christianity, had exposed themselves to some of the heaviest of earthly evils. They were the objects of the scorn and hatred of their fellow-men; and were not merely obliged to renounce the hope of fortune and fame, but to be prepared to endure persecution, and, it might be, death itself, in the cause of Christ. The temptation to be false to their religious obligations under these circumstances, or at least so far to relax them as that they might be restored to the favour of the world, was very

great; and the Apostle, knowing the weakness of our frail nature, could not but tremble for the steadfastness of his converts, for whose conversion he had laboured with so earnest and pure a zeal, and whose faith in the gospel was the glory and solace of his ministry. His warm and affectionate heart, filled with a sense of their danger, pours itself out in the words of our text. "Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved."

The circumstances of believers at the present day no doubt are greatly changed. To be thought a sincere, uniform, unaffected, exemplary christian, so far from being a disgrace, is among us a title to confidence and respect. Still, however, the exhortation of the Apostle has not become superfluous. The sources from which our temptations to wavering and inconstancy in the christian profession arise, are different, it is true, but they are not less real, nor less dangerous. We see too many examples of infirmity of christian purpose; we feel, if we know anything of our own hearts, too many seductions from the path of our christian duty; not to acknowledge that we need often to be reminded of our danger, and earnestly exhorted to "stand fast" in our christian profession. Let us then review at this time some of the causes of our inconstancy in religious resolutions, and some of the cautions and counsels which our danger should suggest.

I. The first cause, which I shall mention, and that to which perhaps all others might be reduced, is a want of a proper impression of the importance of the christian character. If we constantly felt, as we ought to feel, the necessity of being what the gospel requires us to be, we should need no exhortations to steadfastness and perseverance in our christian calling. To be a christian, that is to say, to be virtuous in the christian sense of virtue, is not a thing that is simply useful, or simply ornamental. It is essential. Heaven, and God's eternal favour, are suspended on it. I speak of those who live in a christian land, and enjoy the means of christian knowledge and the opportunities of christian improvement. I refer not to their case who are denied these privileges, nor to that of those who from causes distinct from their own perversity or negligence, are incredulous as to its claims. But I speak of those who have it within their power to understand the nature and authority of the gospel; to them, I say, it is a thing absolutely essential to become, and to continue Christians. "It is not a vain thing; it is your life." This is saying no more of christianity than this; that it was not a matter of indifference whether God gave it to us or not. It is saying only, that Jesus Christ did not come into the world, and lay down his life, for a matter of little moment. It is simply asserting, that if it is true that we have in the gospel a revelation of the will of God, and a certain state of the mind

and heart is there declared to be such as He requires in order to admission to his favour, then it is of the last importance, that we should comply with this condition. There is no object on earth to be compared in value for a moment with this " of great price."

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But though this statement of the importance of the christian character will hardly be objected to in theory, it is not always practically felt, as it ought to be, by those who take the name of christians, and enter on the obligations of a religious life. There are many who content themselves with very slight and superficial notions on this subject. They are christians, because they have a general belief that christianity is of divine origin, and a prevailing impression that it is creditable, desirable, and safe, to be numbered among believers. While therefore the gospel interferes not much with their favourite pursuits, they continue sufficiently steady in its outward profession. But they feel very imperfectly its controlling and sanctifying power. It occupies only a subordinate place in their thoughts. Their hearts' best and warmest affections are given to other objects. Instead of seeking first and chiefly the kingdom of God and his righteousness, they desire to be first rich, then holy; first learned, then good; first great and elevated, then pure and devout; they would first exhaust the world, and then they will be ready to turn their affections supremely on heaven. With so divided an empire, or ra

ther with so subordinate a rule in the breast, it is evident that what influence religion possesses must always be insecure. When it comes in competition with the riches, pleasure, or power, which they pursue as the first and chief ends of life, it is found unequal to the contest. If one or the

other must be given up, it is their character and hopes as christians, which they feel they can best spare. If we look over the melancholy list of those, who have sacrificed the religion which they once embraced, we shall find that their apostacy is to be traced, more than to any other cause, to a want of a profound and practical conviction of its supreme importance.

II. Another cause of infirm and transient religious resolutions, is an imperfect knowledge of the nature of the Christian character. We do not study the requirements of the gospel in their full extent; the labour and vigilance which its duties require; the difficulties and discouragements which it may call us to encounter. It too often happens that the Christian profession is entered on without counting its cost, without weighing its consequences. The fabric that is raised is tottering and insecure, because the foundation on which it stands is not laid broad and deep. I speak of the case of those who begin a religious course under some temporary excitement, and not from a full and solemn and well-meditated conviction. The truth, beauty, and value of religion, have sometimes, perhaps,