treating it with coldness or carelessness-giving attention to other things in preference-not being openly unbelieving, but being indifferent-this is what the Apostle speaks of; and this is quite enough to ruin a man's soul for ever.

Among the lost hereafter we shall find, I believe, but few who openly rejected Christianity, when it was placed before them, but few who were bold and daring enough to own themselves altogether unbelievers. But there will be millions, whose sad tale will be, that they intended to accept the gospel, but delayed to do so. They were fully convinced of its truth, but they never seized hold of it for themselves.

Oh! let us take care, "lest a promise being left us of entering into rest, any of us should seem to come short of it!"

My dear brethren, there is not one of you, to whom salvation is not offered. Oh, let it not be said of you, "You knew of this salvation, you talked of it, you thought of it, but after all you refused to accept it. Words will not save you. Good intentions will be worth nothing. It is only Christ, heartily accepted; Christ firmly laid hold of; Christ received into the very heart-this, this alone, is salvation. God has provided it. Christ has purchased it. The Holy Spirit urges our acceptance of it. How then should we escape if we neglect it?

SERMON X.

THE CHRISTIAN SAFE AND HAPPY.

LUKE 10, 20.

"Rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

THE gospel of Christ, my dear brethren, is able to make you happy. It can remove every sorrow from your mind, and can give you the purest, the most solid, joy.

But is there no other way of happiness than this? Are God's people the only happy people? Perhaps

some one of you who is living a life of worldliness will tell me, that you are very happy as you are. I quite believe you. I know that a man may be happy, though he is unforgiven. Your very sins may give you pleasure. Your forgetfulness of a world to come may make this world delightful to you. No sorrow may cloud your brow. No tear may fill

your eyes, no scruples may disturb

you.

Oh yes, you may be happy-happy in your unconverted state happy just as you are. Satan may be folding you in his arms, and you may say to the Minister of Christ, Disturb me not.

But ah, is not this just the saddest thing of all; that you should be happy whilst you are a child of wrath; that you should smile, and eat, and drink,

Р

and be merry, and sleep soundly, when this very night your soul may be in hell? Happy, at enmity with God! Happy, whilst unpardoned! Oh, what an awful happiness is this!

The gospel of Christ tells us of another happiness. It calls upon us to rejoice, not in the world, not in sin, but in the Lord. These are the words of Christ, "Rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

Let us inquire into the great truth, contained in these words; that the names of all God's people are written in heaven.

We

And what does this mean? cannot suppose that God has actually a book, in which are written down all the names of his servants. No: our Lord speaks here, as He often