SERMON IV. THE DIFFICULTY OF THE SALVATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 1 Peter iv. 18. “If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” SERMON V. THE DEW FROM HEAVEN. Hosea xiv. 5-7. "I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. "His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. "They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. SERMON VI. JUSTIFICATION BY GRACE, THROUGH FAITH. Rom. iii. 24-26. "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." SERMON VII. PASTURES IN THE WILDERNESS. Psalm xxiii. "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. "He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lovd for ever." SERMON VIII. THE WAY TO HEAVEN. John xiv. 6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." SERMON IX. THE DAY BREAKETH. Romans xiii. 12. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." SERMON X. SONGS IN THE NIGHT. Job. xxxv. 10. "But none saith, where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night ?" SERMON XI. PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER. Eph. vi. 18. "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, and supplication for all saints." SERMON XII. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. Rom. iii. 21, 22. "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe." 46 SERMON I. THE FULL ASSURANCE OF HOPE; OR, THE KNOWLEDGE THAT GOD IS "OURS." Heb. vi. 11, 12. 6 AND WE DESIRE THAT EVERY ONE OF YOU DO SHEW FUL, BUT FOLLOWERS OF THAT YE BE NOT SLOTH THEM WHO THROUGH FAITH AND PATIENCE INHERIT THE PROMISES." THE chapter from whence our text is taken is a striking and solemn one. The design of the Apostle is evidently to deter the Hebrew Christians from apostacy, and to stir them up to greater diligence and riper knowledge in their Christian profession, lest that "having been enlightened, and tasted of the heavenly gift, and made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the good word of God, and powers of the world to come""they should fall away, and crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame." Ver. 4, 5, 6. These verses have filled many anxious and sincere Christians with fears, and alarm lest they may have fallen into such a state of departure from God. Our subject will not allow us to notice this remarkable passage of holy writ, except to express our conviction, that these fears are the best evidence of our not being in such a state; and we may add, the best preservative against it. B Though the state of the Hebrew Christians, or some among them, were such, that the Apostle found it necessary thus to write; yet, with that "charity that believeth all things, hopeth all things," he says, "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister." Ver. 9, 10. The desire of the Apostle was not only their continuance in their Christian profession; but, their advancement in divine knowledge; even to go on unto perfection, until they arrived at a full assurance of salvation, that God was "their" God, and heaven their eternal inheritance and home. I. THE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN HOPE. II. THE GROUNDS UPON WHICH IT RESTS. III. How THE FULL ASSURANCE OF HOPE IS ATTAINED, AND IN WHAT DEgree. May the Lord the Spirit be present to assist our endeavours. I. The nature of Christian hope. (1.) As to the hope itself. We need not define in the general what hope is which enters into our almost every action of life. We are moved onwards to actions principally by our hopes and fears. Hence, Christian hope and fear, but of a different kind, are joined together in holy Scripture, as jointly characterizing the children of God. Ps. xxxiii. 18; Ps. cxlvii. 11. ChrisÎ1. tian hope may be defined to be-"That joy in the mind which arises from the expectation of a future |