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370

C8RI3TIAN

MORALITY,

VIZ.

tsERM. XRif,

1f

we

are afraid

of

being

thought truly

religious,

we

shall

not

be

able

to

maintain

religion in the

truth of

it.

There

'needs

a sacred courage

to be

constant

in

the faith.

We must learn

to

endure

hardship, as good soldiers

of

Christ,

if

we

would

be

true

to

the

Captain of our.salva-

tion.

All

that

belong to

his

army are chosen

and faith-

ful,

Rev.

xvii.

14.

It

is

a

coward

that

changes

his

side

as oft

as

the enemy makes

a'flourish,

and he

lists

him,

self under

every

banner

:

But

the

constant christian

is

a

soldier

faithful to the death,

and

he shall receive

the

crown

of

life,

Rev.

ii.

10.

III.

Never venture

into the world without having so-

lemnly committed yourself

to

the grace

of

Christ.

Trust

your

soul

afresh

in

the hands

of Jesus

every morning,

that

he may

keep,

you

true

to

himself

all

the

day. All

the

divine

motives you have

learned, and

all the solemn

en-

gagements

under

which you lay

your

own souls, will

prove

but

a

weak defence to

virtue without faith and

prayer. Commit yourselves

to him who

is

able to keep

you from

falling,

and

.

to

present

you faultless.

Your

hearts, your

lips,

and your

lives

must

be in his

keeping,

if

you would have them

true

to

God

or man.

Your ad-

versary the

devil

is

watchful

and

busy with all his

wiles

to

tempt

you to

falsehood and inconstancy

;

none

but

he

who

has,

conquered the

devil can be

your

sufficient

guar-

dian. And

when

and

wheresoever

we

find frailty

and

folly in ourselves, O may

the strength

of Christ

appear

in

our

weakness,

and

be

glorified

in

our preservation

!

Thus

I have finished all

that

I

proposed concerning the

first

duty recommended

in

my

text,

Whatsoever

thing'

are

true

think

on

these

things.

There

may

be

perhaps

some

other instances

wherein

this divine

character

of

truth,

uprightness, or integrity,

ought

to

appear

in

the

conduct of

christians which

do

not

so

directly

and immediately,

fall

under

the general

heads'

which

I

have before named

:

But

they may be

easily

re-

duced to

one or

another

of

them.

'T

here are various

other

methods

of

deceit and

falsehood

practised

in

the

world, which

break in upon

this

sacred

character of

truth,

which

I

have

not

expressly

mentioned

before;

such

as

subscribing

with

the hand

to testify

our

assent

to

opinions,

which

we

do

not

believe; counterfeiting the

naines or writings

of

other

persons

Without

their

know-

3