God; and that therefore we may believe his word when he tells us that through him we, too, may be made the sons of God, as he is, and shall live for ever, like him, and with him.

And here I pause, with a thousand arguments untouched, and necessarily so: but having given, I think, a sufficient reason for that hope which, I trust, exists in us all. If it does not exist, then there can be no interest in being able to give a reason for it; nor by learning the reason, should we therefore only gain the hope. Other means, not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, must give us the hope of the sons of God. He gives it, from whom are all good things, without whose drawing none ever came to Christ, and none can come. But He gives it to those who ask it, for so He has promised; and he who spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all, will, with him, give us his Spirit also; even the spirit of faith, and the spirit of hope, and the spirit of love; in one word, that spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. He gives it to those who ask it, to those who seek for it, to those who, with earnestness of entreaty and desire, strive to win it. But He gives it not to the careless, not to those who ask as if they did not care to have. Ask we therefore for it, and ask also for the desire to ask heartily; let us cultivate the spirit of prayer,

bending the knees, and saying the words, till God gives us the true and earnest desire; till the duty becomes the privilege and the pleasure, and the wish to have the hope of the sons of God is changed into the very hope itself, most reasonable and most lively.

VOL. III.

SERMON XX.

WHO ARE PARTAKERS IN OUR HOPE.

1 COR. i. 13.

Is Christ divided?

In my two last Sermons I have attempted to show, first, the grounds for our hope in God's existence and goodness generally; and next, the grounds for our hope in him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; that we are become, through Christ, restored to the state of children of God, and if children of an eternal Father, then heirs of his eternal blessing. And here it might be thought we might stop; for what more can we need than an assured hope of eternal life? than a restoration of our privileges as God's children? than a knowledge of God revealed at once to our minds and affections in the person of Jesus Christ? In other words, if we can give a reason for our Christian

hope, what further need have we of evidence, so far as religion is concerned? or how can religious truth, as it is called, with the exception of the one great truth of salvation through Christ, deserve to be distinguished from truth of all other kinds, which, indeed, is earnestly to be coveted as one of the best of God's gifts, but yet than which, so far as our salvation is concerned, there is still a way more excellent?

The question, then, to be considered, and for all those who are entering into life it is a grave one, is that of the text, "Is Christ divided?" It is the question of the text, considered apart from the context; the literal meaning of the words, dropping, for a moment, the sense in which the Apostle used them. It is a question of fact, whether, indeed, Christ be so divided, as that some who call themselves by his name are not really his; and if so, then it is a question practically still more important, By what signs may we judge of any man, or set of men, belonging to this number; and if we may conclude that any do belong to it, then how should we feel and act towards them?

There is yet another question arising out of the same words; " Is Christ divided" by any differences amongst his people, such as do not make either part cease to be really his? And if he be not divided, is it not a fatal mistake to suppose

that he is? to confound difference with division, and to break up the unity of the spirit for the sake of a variety in the form?

So, then, the words, "Is Christ divided?" lead properly to these two great duties of all Christ's servants, not to reckon those as belonging to them who are not their Master's; nor, again, to count those as separated from them, whom their Master does not cease to acknowledge as his people.

First, then, is Christ so divided as that some who call themselves by his name are not really his? Undoubtedly we must fear that this is so; for Christ himself compares his church to a net which was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; and that of those so gathered, some, when the net was drawn to the shore, were thrown away. And Paul speaks of some who had a form of godliness or of Christianity, but denied the power of it. From the very earliest, and what are called the purest, times of Christianity, down to this present hour, Christ has been always so divided, as that some of those who are called by his name will be disowned by him at the last judgment.

But, secondly, what are the signs by which we may in a manner anticipate Christ's judgment, and pronounce that any do not belong to him? Here, too, the Scripture is very express; for St. Paul says, "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,