“ Having, therefore, these promises, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.
Therefore, dearly beloved, our joy and our crown, so stand fast in the Lord, our dearly beloved. For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. And what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes, before our God. For what is our hope, and joy, and crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of the Lord? For the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God. ”

“ Prayer and the bible are your anchor and your shield, which will hold you firmly in the path of duty, and protect you from temptation. You had better give up one meal every day, if it is necessary, in order to secure time for this duty. You had better give up any thing else. Nothing is a duty, if the performance of it will interfere with this duty. Remember this is the bread of your life, and the water of your salvation; and that you cannot live in health a single day, without their strengthening and invigorating influence. ”

“ The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes; more to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and the honey comb. Let the word of God, therefore, dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. ”

“ He despairs of all hope from himself. His own fancied merit, the idol so long worshipped, now is a burden of sin that would sink him to perdition, were there not outstretched a divine arm to rescue him from impending ruin, and raise him to hope and peace. He turns, self-loathing, to the cross of Christ, and sees that thereon only can a sinner like him hang his hope of forgiveness and heaven. It is the blood of Christ, applied to his accusing conscience, that alone can calm his agitation, and speak peace to his troubled soul. ”

“ Remember that the commencement of the Christian life is to be like the “dawning light, which increaseth more and more to the perfect day.” Therefore when the hope of peace and pardon dawns in the heart, do not consider the great business of life as accomplished, but only as begun.
2. Keep up as great a strife and earnestness in religion, as if you knew yourself to be in a state of nature. When persons are under conviction of sin, they are advised to be earnest and violent for the kingdom of heaven. ”

“ There still are open opposers, decent objectors, and multitudes thoroughly indifferent to Christ and heaven, the soul and eternity. We see them all around us. The world is full of them. In the straight and narrow path that leadeth heavenward, only infrequent prints of the feet of travellers are to be seen ”

“ Do not hesitate in the performance of all the external duties of a christian, because you do not find satisfactory evidence that your feelings are right.
Religious duty consists of two parts—feeling and action,—and because we find great deficiency in one respect, we surely ought not to neglect the whole. It is as unreasonable, as it would be, not to attempt to feel right till every external duty was perfectly performed. [28] If we are dissatisfied with our evidence, let us go on and do every thing that a christian should do, as the most hopeful way to produce right feelings. ”

“ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ”

“ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God; for they are not all Israel, that are of Israel; for many walk, of whom we have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, who are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ”

“ The most hardened and abandoned criminal is often melted into tenderness by the compassionate sympathy of the person whom he has offended. He not only humbly confesses his guilt, but is overwhelmed with grateful, joyful surprise. So it frequently happens, when the sinner, convinced of his guilt, first discovers that the great God against whom he has been offending all his life long, is actually waiting that he may be gracious; and is exalted on a throne of mercy, as it were, for the very purpose of dispensing the blessings of forgiveness. ”

“ Are you not desirous of telling me, that through the deceitfulness of sin, you are often beguiled of your privileges, and robbed of those spiritual comforts for which your soul pants? It is your wish to love God from every consideration, but especially because he commended his love towards you, in that, while you were a sinner, Christ died for you. It is your wish to live in communion with your God, and to follow after that holiness without which no man shall see his face. ”

“ He may call falsehood contemptible, and intemperance beastly. He may acknowledge that laws are necessary to intimidate, that judges and courts are required to convict, and that prisons and penitentiaries are indispensable to confine the thief and the robber. All this presents to his mind a dark picture of human life and character. But then he contemplates another part of the picture, and finds some relief. He sees the kindlier sympathies of our nature discovering themselves in various forms. ”

“ My dear young Friend,—As your mind becomes more enlightened in the knowledge of divine things, I am sure you will ever find fresh cause to wonder at the goodness of God. The contemplation of his character is a theme of never-ending delight; and in proportion as we discover our own worthlessness and guilt, we shall likewise have the brighter manifestations of his unspeakable excellence. ”

“ Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? ”

“ If a man love me, he will keep my commandments, and my father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down [50] his life for his friends—Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. For every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. And by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. ”

“ That Divine character, once so hateful, is now lovely; that government once so dreaded, is seen to be established in wisdom and goodness; while those perfections, once odious, break forth and beam out with a heavenly splendour, the source of joy and of unfailing confidence to all holy beings. ”

“ Do not expect to be made very happy by religion, unless you become eminent christians. A half way christian can neither enjoy the pleasures of the world nor the pleasures of religion; for his conscience will not let him seek the one, and he is too indolent to obtain the other. The christian may be the happiest [15] man on earth, but he must be a faithful, active, and devoted christian. None are disappointed in finding religion a source of unfailing peace and joy, but those who refuse to drink deep of the wells of salvation ”

“ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And we have known and believed the love which God hath towards us.—God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him. Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God? ”

“ The first question the new born soul puts forth, is that of Saul, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ The will of another being, a being invisible to human eye, impalpable to human touch, whose literal voice no man hears, is now the rule of duty to the new creature. The law of God takes the place of man’s desires, wishes, and propensities. ”

“ In short, as you grow in grace, you will always find growing cause to humble yourself on account of your manifold short-comings, and to exalt the Saviour for the riches of his grace and love, so freely, so suitably, and so abundantly conferred. This is the tendency of the whole gospel dispensation. The sinner is nothing, and can do nothing. ”

“ There are some who profess religion, who never seem to feel any interest on the subject, except when every one else does. It is true, there are special seasons of revived religion in the hearts of all christians, but if it is only at such times that progress is made in divine life, and interest is manifested in the salvation of souls, there is great reason to fear that what is called religion is nothing but sympathy with the feelings of others. ”

“ In all things show yourselves a pattern of good works, that they of a contrary part may have no evil thing to say of you. Be not wise in your own conceits, for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. For the wisdom that cometh from above is first pure, then [55] peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Be kindly affectionate one to another, in honour preferring one another. Be not desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. ”

“ Evidence of piety is not so much to be sought in high emotions of any kind, as in real humility—self-distrust—hungering and thirsting after righteousness, sorrow for sin, and a continual effort, in every day life, to regulate our thoughts, feelings, and conduct by the word of God. It is the nature and not the degree of our affections, which is to be regarded in the [9] examination of our evidences. The best way to know our feelings is, to see how they influence the conduct. ”

“ Be regulated by a principle of duty in little things. This is the way that common christians are to cause their light to shine. Few christians can expect to do any great things to show their love for the Saviour, but all can “deny themselves, [24] and thus daily take the cross and follow him.” Religion should govern the temper and the tongue; should save us from indolence, from vanity, from pride, from foolishness, from levity, from moroseness, from selfishness, and all the little every day foibles to which we are exposed. ”

“ Do not suppose that religion is a principle of such self-preserving energy, as that when once implanted in the soul it will continue to thrive and increase without effort. The plant of divine grace can no more thrive without care, and diligent and patient cultivation, than can those rare and valued plants, that demand the physical efforts and culture of man. ”

“ Remember that the principal duty of a christian, as it respects others, is to excite them to the immediate performance of their religious duty.
Our Lord Jesus Christ appears to have intended that through the instrumentality of Christians, the perishing may be saved. There is no christian but can find some one mind at least, over which he can have some influence; and if we can do any thing to save others from eternal death, nothing should for a moment prevent our attempting it. ”

“ Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk worthy of the vocation whereby ye are called. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of the light. ”

“ The few who have chosen to desert their companions in folly and sin, and become Christian pilgrims, in search of a heavenly city, are called by the Apostle “new creatures.” This, and other language of similar import, the sacred writers frequently employ, to describe a regenerate state, a transformation from the complete dominion of sin to the dominion of holiness. Every truly converted soul is turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. ”

“ Religion should not lessen our love for our friends, or our real enjoyments; but the desire to please God in all our ways should be the prevailing feeling of the mind. Our Saviour says, we cannot have two masters; God and his service must be first in our thoughts and affections, or else the world and its pleasures are first. If then we would find whose servants we are, we must find who has the first place in our thoughts and affections. ”

“ He cannot think complacently of God, as ruling for himself, for the display of his perfections, for the manifestation of his character, and as making the impenitent sinner illustrate that character throughout the universe and through eternity. ”

“ For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. For our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. ”

“ Christians are too apt to feel as if eminence in piety was a distinction made by the sovereignty of God, and to suppose that high attainments are not within the reach of all, and that languid and inefficient piety is the result of divine sovereignty rather than negligence and sloth. A more false or more pernicious opinion cannot easily be adopted by Christians. ”

“ Always speak kindly and affectionately to friends upon this subject; and if you [33] find all your efforts vain, though you cease to urge neglected duty, still continue to express the same kindness and interest for them. Do not give them occasion to feel that, because they will not take your advice, you have cast them off as reprobates, and no longer desire their society. We may still continue to love the amiable natural traits of our friends, even though we find that they refuse to have them crowned and beautified by religion. ”