kept the faith. Christ, the King of Zion, has provided security that these gates shall never be shut day or night. He comes forth from the secret place of his power and of his glory, and he takes his ransomed ones by the hand, and leads them to his Father's feet, and says, "Behold I and the children thou hast given me;" he brings them near and presents them faultless in the presence of his Father, with exceeding joy. He says, "I bled for them, and washed them in my blood; I have clothed them with my righteousness; they have been regenerated by the Spirit, they have been sanctified and made meet for the inheritance; Holy Father, I present them as thine." Hence the blessed Jesus says, "I have set before thee an open door." It is by his mercy and his prerogative that no man can shut that door.

I shall be more brief in the consideration of the testimony which Christ bears to the character and consistency of his faithful people. "Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." You will observe he does not flatter them or deceive them: thou hast a little strength, not a great measure of strength; do not boast; let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall; boast not of thy strength, for what hast thou which thou hast not received? boast not, then, of thine own strength, thou hast none as in thyself; the strength which thou hast is a little, but it has

been derived; I am thy strength and thy righteousness. But perchance this word conveys something more; and whilst he cannot flatter or deceive, it may be he would gently reprove: thou hast but a little strength, thou mightest have had more, for thy strength, if thou wilt apply, is infinite; thou art not sufficient of thyself to think anything as of thyself, but thy sufficiency is of God; the Lord is thy strength and thy Redeemer, the Almighty is thy refuge; and though the treasure has been infinitely abundant, yet hast thou only applied for a little. Notwithstanding, he bears testimony to his people, as well as of them. Ah, beloved brother! he knows whether your strength be little-whether thou be able to run with the footmen and they have not wearied thee, whether thou be able to contend with the horses; whether in the land of peace wherein thou trustedst they have wearied thee, thou art likely to be swallowed up in the swellings of Jordan. He knows what you are, and he knows, I am sure you will confess, whether you ought to have had more strength than you now have; and with more than a father's tenderness he knows both how to pity and to sustain his fainting and faltering children.

But in the next place, he gives encouragement for perseverance. Thou hast, notwithstanding all thy past weaknesses and short-comings, besetting sins and infirmities, thou hast a little strength. En

compassed with temptations, oftentimes induced, it may be, to look behind in consequence of the halting steps of others, yet hast thou been enabled, having faith, to pursue; thou hast a little strength. Jesus knows whether you have kept the faith; Jesus knows whether you are still clinging with the tenacity of life to him in whom your life is hid; whether you are diligently coming as for your life to the fountain of life, and to the source of all strength; and though it be as fainting, yet, pursuing, he takes notice of it, he bears testimony of it, and gives you encouragement to persevere. And, moreover, he acknowledges adherence to his own standard"Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word." His word is the rule: he will not give his glory to another, nor his praise to graven images. He has sent the rod of his strength out of Zion, to rule in the midst of the people, and that rod is his Word. Thou hast kept my word. The believer, like David, has been ready to say, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.' Holding by the word, we are strong; and when we keep to this standard succour is near. He bears testimony by the word of his grace; he bears that testimony by making his word effectual; and he bears that testimony by giving the witness of the Spirit, whose word it is for consolation to the heart.

He bears that testimony by bringing forth the fruit of the word divine, as the immortal seed of the kingdom, through the influence and operation of the Spirit, in the life and conversation of his people. It is Jesus that gives us his testimony, when we are enabled to say, "Lo, this God is my God: I have waited for him; and he will save me. This is the Lord; I have waited for him; I will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." This is Jesus bearing testimony to his word in his people. He bears testimony to their stedfastness; he acknowledges that they have adhered to his standard; and, finally, he applauds their fidelity. In the midst of dangers and difficulties "thou hast not denied my name." They have been tempted to deny; their own hearts have been tempted to doubt, and hesitatingly to say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" The world has been ready contemptuously to reproach, saying, Why do you place your confidence in a crucified man, who has disappeared, and left his followers to contempt and helplessness? Have any of the rulers or of the wise men of the world believed on him, or assumed his name? His first adherents were counted an ignoble, a mean, and a despicable community. They had been marked out for reproach; they had borne reproaches for his sake; they had been cast out for his name. Yet they would not deny-yet they would not withdraw their allegiance: they still

clung to him. We need not to be assured that he, and he only, was their strength and salvation. And he applauds them-"Thou hast not denied my name," and I know where these affectionate and generous feelings of attachment have been assailed. I know where temptations have assaulted thee; I know how flesh and sense have hesitated and faltered, and have been ready to fail. But I have been thy strength and thy salvation, and thou hast not denied my name: thou hast willingly, thou hast readily confessed, that in me is thy strength found; that by me, and only by me, canst thou come off as conqueror, and more than conqueror, in the holy warfare to which thou hast been called.

Does

We should consider, does Christ possess an intimate knowledge of all our past conduct? Oh! then, how we should be humbled!-how low in the dust we should prostrate ourselves! How earnestly should be our pleading at the Throne of Grace, that he would pardon our short-comings, and blot out our sin! he know our works? Then let us be up and doing, giving all diligence to make our calling and election sure; adding to our faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. Oh, let us work while it is called to-day! "Awake, thou that sleepest! arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee life!"