themselves to the Lord. This was the beginning of their being in Christ.

Dear friends, have you had this beginning? Have you undergone conversion, the new birth, grafting into Christ? Call it by any name you will, have you the thing? Has this union to Christ taken place in your history? Some say, I do not know. If at any time of your life you had been saved from drowning, if you were actually drowned and brought to life again, you would remember it to your dying hour. Much more if you had been brought to Christ. If you had been born blind, and by some

remarkable

operation your eyes were opened when you were full

grown, would you ever forget it? So if you have been truly will die in your sins. Whither Christ has brought into Christ, you may easily remember it. If not, you

come.

perish."

gone, thither you cannot "Except ye repent and be converted, ye shall all likewise

2. Perseverance is implied.-Not all that seem to be branches are branches of the true vine. Many branches fall off the trees when the high winds begin to blow; all that are rotten branches. So in times of temptation, or trial, or persecution, many false professors drop away. Many that seemed to be believers went back, and walked no more with Jesus. They followed Jesus; they prayed with him; they praised him, but they went back, and walked no more with him. So is it still. Many among us doubtless seem to be converted, they begin well and promise fair, who will fall off when winter comes. already; some more may be expected to follow. These will not be blessed in dying. Ó of all death beds, may I be kept from beholding the death-bed of the false professor! I have seen it

before

now,

Some have fallen off, I fear,

and I trust I may never see it again.

They are not

blessed after death. The rotten branches will burn more fiercely in the flames. O think what torment it will be to think that you spent your life in pretending to be a Christian, and lost your opportunity of becoming one indeed! Your hell will be all the deeper, blacker, hotter, that you knew so much of Christ, and

were

endure

the

so near him, and found him not. Happy are they who

to the end, who are not moved away from their hope of gospel, who, when others go away, say, Lord, to whom can In prosperity, they follow the Lord fully; in adversity, they cleave to him closer still, as trees strike their roots deeper in

we go?

storms.

Is this your case? endure it to the end. Be not moved away from the hope of the gospel; Coloss. i., 23. We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; Heb. iii., 15. Even in the dark valley you

will cling

to him still. Come to him as ye came at first, a guilty

creature, clinging to the Lord our Righteousness. Thou wast made my sin. This is to die in the Lord, and this is to be blessed.

III. Reasons why they are blessed.

1. Because of the time, "From henceforth." The time of the persecutions of Popery was coming on. He was to wear out the saints of the Most High; he was to overcome and slay the follow ers of the Lamb. Happy are they that are taken from the evil to come. The righteous perish and no man layeth it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, none considering that he is taken away from the evil to come. This is one reason why it is better to be with Christ. Persecutions and troubles are not easy to flesh and blood. If in our day we be called to them, we must bear them boldly, knowing that a good reward is provided for those that overcome; see Rev. ii., 3. "And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored and hast not fainted." But if it be the will of God to call us away before the day of trial come, we must say, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth." There will be no persecutions there. All are friends to Jesus there, every one contending who shall cast their crowns lowest at his feet, who shall exalt him highest in their praise. No discord there. None to rebuke our song there.

2. They rest from their labors.-That which makes everything laborious here is sin; the opposition of Satan and the world, and the drag of our old nature. Some believers have a constant struggle with Satan. He is standing at their right hand to resist them; he is constantly distracting them in prayer, hurling fiery darts at their soul, tempting to the most horrid sin. Their whole life is labor. But when we die in the Lord, we shall rest from this labor. Satan's work will be clean done. The accuser of the brethren will no more annoy. No lion shall be there, neither shall any ravenous beast go up thereon, but the redeemed shall walk there. But above all, the wicked heart, the old man, the body of sin, makes this life a dreadful labor. When we wake in the morning, it lies like a weight upon us. When we would run in the way of God's commandments, it drags us back. When we would fly, it weighs us down. When we would pray, it fills our mouth with other things. "O wretched man that I am." But to depart and be with Christ, is to be free from this. We shall drop this body of sin altogether. No more any flesh, all spirit, all new man; no more any weight or drag; we shall rest from our labors. Oh, it is this makes death in the Lord blessed. We shall not rest from all work; we shall be as the angels of God; we shall serve him day and night in his temple. We shall not rest from our work, but from our labors. There will be no toil, no pain, in our work. We shall rest in our work. Oh, let this make you willing to depart, and make death look pleasant, and heaven a home. "We shall rest from our labors." It is the world of holy love, where we shall give free, full, unfettered, unwearied expression to our love for ever."

3. Works follow.-Our good works done in the name of Jesus

shall then be rewarded. 1st, Observe, they shall not go before the soul. It is not on account of them we shall be accepted. We must be accepted first altogether on account of him in whom we stand. 2d, Our evil works shall be forgotten, buried in the depths of the sea, forgotten, not more mentioned. 3d, All that we have done out of love to Jesus shall then be rewarded. We may forget them, and say to Jesus, "When saw we thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee?" But he will not forget them: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." A cup of cold water shall not go unrewarded. Look to the recompense of reward, dear friends, and it will take the sting from death.

IV. What followed.-The Lord Jesus "put in his sickle and reaped." See verses 14, 15.

1. Learn that the Lord Jesus gathers his sheaves before a storm, just as farmers do; so when you see him gathering ripe saints, be sure that a storm is near.

2. Learn that Jesus gathers his saints in love. When Jesus gathers his own, he does it in love. Do not mourn for them as those who have no hope. Jesus has gathered them into his bosom. They shall shine as the sun.

ADDRESS

ON THE CLOSE OF A COMMUNION SABBATH.

"What have I to do any more with idols ?"-Hosea xiv., 8.

EVERY one who has been truly united to Christ, and has this day confessed him before men, should now take up these words, and solemnly, in the presence of God, declare, "What have I to do any more with idols?" Two reasons are given.

I. Verse 4.-God loves you freely.-If you are this day come to Jesus, God loves you freely. If you believe on him that justifieth the ungodly, your faith is counted for righteousness. As long as you came to God in yourself, you were infinitely vile, loathsome, condemned; mountains of iniquity covered your soul; but blessed, blessed, blessed be the Holy Spirit who has led you to Jesus. You have come to God's righteous servant, who by his knowledge justifies many, because he bears their iniquities. Your sins are covered, God sees no iniquity in you; God loves you freely, his anger is turned away from you. What have you to do any more with idols? Is not the love of God enough for

then

thee? The loving and much loved wife is satisfied with the love of her husband; his smile is her joy, she cares little for any other. So, if you have come to Christ, thy Maker is thine husband; his free love to you is all you need, and all you can care for; there is no cloud between you and God; there is no veil between you and the Father; you have access to him who is the fountain of happiness, of peace, of holiness; what have you to do any more with idols? Oh! if your heart swims in the rays of God's love, like a little mote swimming in the sunbeam, you will have no room in your heart for idols.

II. The Spirit, like dew, descends on your souls.-Verse 5, "I will be like the dew." If you are this day united to Jesus, the Spirit will come like dew upon your soul. The Spirit is given to them that obey Jesus, "I will pray the Father." When all nature is at rest, not a leaf moving, then at evening the dew comes down, no eye to see the pearly drops descending, no ear to hear them falling on the verdant grass, so does the Spirit come to you who believe. When the heart is at rest in Jesus, unseen, unheard by the world, the Spirit comes, and softly fills the believing soul, quickening all, renewing all within. "If I go away I will send him unto you." Dear little ones, whom God hath chosen out of this world, you are like Gideon's fleece, the Lord will fill you with dew when all around is dry. You are his vineyard of red wine; he says, I will water it every moment, silently, unfelt, unscen, but surely. But, ah! that Spirit is a holy Spirit. "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." He cannot bear an idol in his temple. When the ark of God was carried into the temple of Dagon, the idol fell flat before it; much more when the Holy Spirit comes into the heart will he cast out the idols.

"When Christ came into the temple, he found those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money, sitting; and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple." John ii., 15. So when the Holy Spirit comes into any heart, he drives out the buyers and sellers. If you have received the Spirit, you will be crying now in your heart, Lord, take these things hence; drive them out of my heart. What have I to do any more with idols? Some of the idols to be cast away are,

1. Self-righteousness.-This is the largest idol of the human heart, the idol which man loves most and God hates most. Dearly beloved, you will always be going back to this idol. You are always trying to be something in yourself, to gain God's favor by thinking little of your sin, or by looking to your repentance, tears, prayers; or by looking to your religious exercises, your frames, &c.; or by looking to your graces, the Spirit's work in your heart. Beware of false Christs. Study sanctification to the utmost, but make not a Christ of it. God hates this idol more than all others

because it comes in the place of Christ; it sits on Christ's throne. Just as the worship of the Virgin Mary is the worst of all kinds of idolatry, because it puts her in the place of Christ, so self-righteousness is the idol God hates most, for it sits on the throne of Christ. Dash it down, dear friends; let it never appear again. It is like Manasseh's carved image in the holiest of all. When Manasseh came home an altered man to Jerusalem, would not his first visit be to the holiest of all? With eager hand he would draw the veil aside; and when he found the carved image, he would dash it down from the throne of God. Go and do likewise. If you feel God's love freely by the righteousness without works, then why would you go back to this grim idol? What have I to do any more with idols?

2. Darling Sins.-Every man has his darling sins. Long they kept you from the Lord Jesus. You have this day declared that you were willing to leave them all for Christ. Go home, then, and perform your vows. After Hezekiah's passover, when they had enjoyed much of the love and spirit of God, "All Israel that were present went home, and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, until they had utterly destroyed them all." You might have seen them entering the shady groves and dashing down the carved images. Go you and do likewise. Dash down family idols, unholy practices that have spread through your family. Dash down secret idols in your own heart. Leave not

one. Remember, one Achan in the camp troubled Israel, and they were smitten before their enemies. So, one idol left in your heart may trouble you. Let Achan be slain if you would go on your way rejoicing. What have I to do any more with idols? "If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off."

3. Unlawful attachments.-There is not a more fruitful source of sin and misery than unlawful attachments. How much of the poetry and music of our country are given over to the worship of the idols of a foolish heart! How many are given over to worship a piece of clay that will soon be eaten of worms! O my friends, have you felt the love of God? Do you feel the sweet, full beams of his grace shining down upon your soul? Have you received the dew of his Spirit? How can you, then, any more love a creature that is void of the grace of God? What have you to do any more with idols? Dear young persons, abhor the idea of marriage with the unconverted. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Marry only in the Lord. Remember, if it be otherwise, it is a forbidden marriage. There may be none on earth so kind or faithful as to forbid the banns. Earthly friends may be kind and smiling; the marriage circle may be gay and lovely but God forbids the banns. But may there not be a lawful attachment? I believe there may; but take heed it be not an idol. I believe they are happiest who are living only for eternity, who have no object in this world to divert their hearts from Christ.