by devotedness to his service, and loving one another; for then God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us, as love is the bond of perfectness: then we know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like unto him. But, my Christian friends, suffer me still to remind you that we must imitate him here, or we cannot resemble him hereafter-we must in this life be daily growing in grace, as well as in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour: so shall we go on from strength to strength, and shall be more than conquerors through him who hath loved us, and gave himself for us.

I shall now in this place take occasion to observe, that there are some persons who scarcely understand what is meant by sons of God; and possibly, even while I have been addressing you, one may have said to himself, "Why are we not all sons of God?-Does not baptism make us children of God?" O my friends, would to God it were so! but as all are not Israel who are of Israel, neither are all those who have been received into the visible church of Christ really of the household of faith. By baptism we are indeed admitted to partake of the means by which we may obtain salvation, and shall be shown the way we re

ceive the sign and seal; but melancholy experience has proved, that many who have been baptized never sought reconciliation with God, and to be renewed in the spirit of their minds; and it is only "to him that overcometh," on whom the Saviour will write his new name-his own name. A child, as soon almost as he can lisp, may be taught to pray; and as he grows older, pray more and more for that inward and spiritual grace, by which alone he can say, Abba, father! And my text very strongly supports and proves this point; as only to those, we understand, who receive and believe in Christ, is any power given to become sons of God. Now we know that an infant is brought to Christ; he does not, he cannot, in faith come to him, neither in faith receive him, till by the power of the Spirit his grace from on high is poured into his heart, and works in him to will and to do. According to what is here stated, I must refer you to the Articles of our Church, which I need not read to you; and shall only add, on this part of my subject, that a child may at a very early age come unto Christ, and be received unto the arms of his mercy. Our almighty Father not only hears and attends to the weakest voice of a child who prays to him, but his grace will even de

scend to meet the uplifted eye! And our blessed Saviour's words remain as unchanged as when he spake them on earth

"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

And here I would exhort all, of every age, to cultivate assiduously the gifts and grace which you already possess-pray earnestly for the divine unction of the Holy Spirit. Every plant, though brought to be planted in God's house, will die unless nourished and sustained by the dew of his blessing. How many do we see who make a fair appearance for a little while, and in time of temptation fall away! They had no root -they bring no fruit to perfection, and they wither and die, as it were, in a day !— their goodness has vanished like the morning cloud, and as the earl-- I cannot hel у dew. And here p observing, that even the far vanced Christian, when he thinks the enemy of his peace is nearly dislodged, or in some measure subdued, and he can for a time abstract his mind and meditate on heavenly subjects, still every thing sublunary seems to have passed away, or, at least, scarcely appears to retain any hold on him, and he feels as if he could dwell on the divine perfections for ever,-frequently will

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some outward, nay, even some insignificant circumstance, in a moment, suspend all the aspirations of his soul, and call him back to mingle with the dross of earth again. And he is ready to exclaim with the apostle, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this death-from this bond of cor. ruption? But we know that there is a deliverer, and one who will deliver us if we earnestly call upon him; and then we shall walk abroad in all the liberty of the sons of God in his light we shall see light. Let us then, whilst we are here, walk in the light, in order that we may be enshrined in that glorious and divine light before which the angels veil their faces. Well might St. Paul say, who had only seen some rays of that effulgence, "For me to live is Christ, but to die is gain." Having a desire to be with Christ, which is far better.

And this

leads to the third point for our consideration: viz. the blessedness of those who believe in, and receive Christ. This clearly means, that only those who receive and believe in him, can have any claim or share in the blessing promised. As we read, "that whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God;" therefore to them is given power to become sons of God here, by adoption and grace; and they shall hereafter

enjoy the glorious liberty of becoming his adoring saints, and heirs of the heavenly inheritance-an inheritance incorruptible, that fadeth not away; and they shall in this life partake largely of the favour of God, and enjoy the peace of God. He will love them, and manifest himself to them; his eye will be on them: the Lord knoweth them, that are his; they are the preserved of the Lord: his faithfulness shall be their shield; he will guide them with his counsel, and afterward receive them to gloryto that glory which is to be revealed, and is reserved for all those who continue steadfast in the faith. And that we may be enabled to do so, let us watch and pray for grace and strength to persevere to the end, that we may attain that full weight of glory which remaineth for the children of God. And if we are assured that there is such a state of blessedness as the Scriptures: promise, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness?

In order, therefore, to ascertain whether we have any well-founded hope that we are the sons of God, and shall obtain the rewards which are promised, I would still further inquire, how far we are manifesting in our lives and conduct the visible signs or marks of our adoption? Have we put