labour. You are not like the poor cripple at the pool of Bethesda, helpless to reach the healing waters (save, alas! that you are crippled by sin) for you have help from above, and you are carried down to the very brink-oh! why then, at that moment, struggle to get away? The perishing Israelites, in the agony of their temporal thirst, cried bitterly to Moses, and when he struck the rock, did they refuse to drink of the gushing waters? That rock, you are told, was typically designed to prefigure Christ; that rock was struck for you... Was He not stricken by the rod of affliction as he passed through this dreary wilderness of sin? Was not THE ROCK OF AGES stricken in Gethsemane ? was it not pierced upon Calvary? if not-then the "living water" would have never streamed down for you: but if it was, why not make it your own ?-everlasting life is in the well! But we entreat you to remember that without it everlasting thirst must be the doom: oh! when that agony begins, it will be too late to cry for a single drop of the water; but if you ask of Him now, and drink of it now, spiritually and faithfully, you" shall never thirst:" for there will be no painful or parching thirst where the river of life is always flowing: the only thirst will be the rapturous desire to know more and more of the wonders of redemption, and the supply will be as exhaustless as the desire.vi

COLOSSIANS II. 6, 7.40 vm

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."

IN the three last discourses, we have been viewsing salvation under the several scriptural images of "Everlasting Meat," "The Bread of Life," and "Living Water." An attempt has been made to exhibit some of the fundamental doctrines which are the root and ground-work of the religion we profess. But we trust, brethren, that you have been long ago convinced of the truth of Christ's precious atonement, as the only fountain open for the cleansing of sin-that you have been long since persuaded of the necessity of faith-we mean by pon!ཤ i༔2 m,

faith, such a belief in the doctrine, as to apply it practically to one's own case, faith evidenced by its fruits, which will constitute that production in the heart, known by the name of 'true repentance.' We trust that you have been equally impressed with the indispensable need you have for prayer, in order that the Holy Spirit, who is promised in answer to prayer, through Christ, on account of the atonement, may not only commence the practical work within you, but continue the operation, and so build you up higher and higher every day towards heaven. In short, my Christian friends, we fervently hope that you have already received these doctrines, not merely with the conviction of their truth, but with a thorough persuasion that they are intimately connected with yourselves, and entwined, as it were, around your everlasting condition; and whilst you have been embracing the doctrines, we pray also that you have been at the same time forming a spiritual union with the great "Author and Fin

isher of our faith;" for thus will the words of our present text, which the Apostle addressed to the believing Colossians, be rendered applicable, so that, by the reception of these doctrines into your hearts, and your communion with the divine head of the church, you may truly be said to have 95 received Christ Jesus the Lord." But in addition to what we have advanced on the one hand, and what you have received on the other, we still deem

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it right to invite your attention to the distinction which must be drawn between the mere outward hearing of the Gospel, and the practical doctrine of receiving Christ Jesus the Lord. Now to illustrate this by an example-if an ambassador from some foreign court were to announce an offer from his monarch to form an alliance with us, by which our interests would be advanced, we should be said practically to receive the monarch, not by listening merely to his ambassador with attention and respect, but by accepting at once the offer, and taking immediate steps to effect the connection ; and in like manner, the true practical reception of Christ will be proved by our "walking in him," that is, by our living in conformity with his example, and walking in his footsteps. Now to walk with a person, is a common expression to signify an association of mind, a union of will and affection, a community of interest, and a brotherly or filial kind of companionship; but the phrase in the text is remarkable: it is not-walk ye with him, but "walk ye "in him;" it clearly indicates a close and intimate connection with him, and by comparing it with other similar expressions, especially those used by our Lord himself, we are persuaded that it refers to the great doctrine of UNION which mutually exists between Christ and the true members of his church. The words of Christ to his disciples "Abide in me, and I in you:" and it is observable throughout the Epistles, that the

are,

"Apostles are constantly making a personal reference to Christ. Instead of saying, put on Christianity, or clothe yourselves with the garment of righteousness, the phrase is, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." To be in heaven, is, to be with Christ. They do not speak of the thing in the abstract, but they unite it with the person of him who is our great pattern, and bringing his image perpetually before our eyes, they refer us to the union he has effected with us, and the necessity, on our part, to abide in him, and to accept, and hold fast the alliance.

But in the connecting words of the text you will observe that there is a degree of proportion stated between the faith which receives Christ and the fruits of that faith which are produced: "As ye have re"ceived Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him;" according as your strength of faith is in the reception, just in the same proportion must you evince it by your daily walk and conversation; so that, if you do not walk at all in conformity with him, that will be the sure witness to yourselves, as well as to others, that you have only heard of, but have not "received

Christ Jesus, the Lord;" and if you walk but feebly in him, with faltering footsteps, hanging back, or turning aside from the right path, this will be the demonstrative evidence that you have not received Christ deeply into your hearts: you may be sure that you are not "stablished in the faith," so as to assume with truth the Apostle's expression of being