Sermon by Rev. John Brown, Haddington: “Behold, I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” —Rev. iii. 2

*This sermon was preached by Rev. John Brown at Bathgate on the Monday of the Communion held there on 22nd August, 1768. The preacher is one whose fame is in the Churches of Christ.
(Continued from page 383.)

III. But let us now consider, what is implied in, or necessarily connected with our holding fast what we have.

1. Let us make sure work of having what is proper to be held; that we have Jesus and his grace in us, his truth known, believed, and professed by us, and a course of true holiness begun by us.

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves; know ye not your own selves? Let us search ourselves, yea, search ourselves. Let us prove all things by the unerring standard, and discriminating touchstone of God’s word.¹ My dear brethren, let us not amuse ourselves with fancies, while the Judge standeth at the door: while the day hasteneth, that shall try every man’s stock, temper, and course, of what kind it is. Let us not deceive ourselves; Christ is not in us, except he sanctify us, soul, body, and spirit, save us from our sins, and turn away ungodliness from us. His grace is not in us, unless we can shew it by our good works. Faith, or hope, or love, or repentance, without works, is dead.² His truth is not in us, except we have received it at the mouth of the Lord, and it work effectually towards our sanctification.³ A proper course of virtue is not begun by us, unless it flow from union to, and fellowship with Christ by faith, and imply in it, a denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present evil world, and be fulfilled, because this is the will of God, even our sanctification.⁴ For the Lord’s sake, and your soul’s sake, make sure of receiving Jesus offered in the gospel, as your righteousness and strength; give all diligence to make your calling, the effectual change of your nature, and your election sure. Fix on no religious principle, but in the way of the most diligent search of God’s word, and of the most earnest prayer for his direction. To the law and to the testimony of God, if we believe not; if we speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in us. Let us receive the truth in the love of it, and that not as the word of men, parents, ministers, or others; but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh in us that believe. Let us beware of being Papists under a Protestant name, taking up religious principles on the testimony of parents, pastors, or our own fancy; but be like the noble Bereans, receive the word with all readiness of mind, and search the scriptures daily, whether these things be so.¹ Let us use our excellent public forms of sound words, our Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and Form of Presbyterian church-government, as excellent helps, but rest no faith here; but push up the matter to a Thuis saith the Lord; trying whether the scriptures there adduced, or others of like import, establish what is asserted. Such as lightly take up their religious principles, are, on the one hand, ready to be extremely fond of imposing them on others. You can scarce talk with them a few moments, but they will drag the conversation upon some of their darling nostrums; and if people cannot as easily believe these matters as they did, they may lay their account to be reproached, as poor, weak creatures, ignorant bigots, or even loose connivers at sin. And, on the other hand, they are no less ready to abandon their principles, on the smallest temptation. A little offence, or even the shadow of it, from a court, a minister, or neighbour, or a marriage, or the hope of one, or the prospect of the smallest advantage, or a little inclination to imitate the world in their vain sports, or to have a little more freedom to employ their itching ears, will make them at once, perhaps contrary to the most solemn vows, abandon their religious principles, and the party they have for many years adhered to. Let us, like true Protestants, seriously fix our religious principles on a divine bottom, that will enable us to cleave to them, amid offences, crosses, reproaches, and even flames of fire.
¹ 2 Cor. xiii. 5. ² Zeph. i. 1. ³ 1 Thess. v. 21. ⁴ James ii. 18, 20. John xiv. 15. ⁵ 1 Thess. ii. 13. ⁶ Tit. ii. 11, 12.
¹Is. viii. 20. Acts xvii. 11.

2. Let us commit to a God in Christ, the holding us fast, and what good we have.

Let us commit our spirit, our heart, into the hand of a God of truth. Let us commit our way to him, and trust that he will bring it to pass;—commit the keeping of our souls to him in well doing, as to a faithful Creator;—casting all our care upon him, as one that careth for us. Let us be sober and vigilant. Let us imitate the man according to God’s heart, in crying, Preserve me, for I trust in thee; and the apostle who committed unto God his good things, to keep for him, against that day.¹ Alas! how many self-conceited professors, who, in their own eyes, are fully capable to keep themselves, turn out a shame and scandal to the cause which they professed!
¹Psal. xxxi. 5, and xxxvii. 5. I Pet. iv. 19, and v. 7, 8. Psal. xvi. 1. II. Tim. i. 13.

3. Let us, with great earnestness, consult God’s word, and ask his direction by prayer, in the particular circumstances we have to do with.

In all our ways let us acknowledge him, and he shall direct our paths. In every thing by prayer and supplication, let our requests be made known unto God.² And let us not only study to consult God, but to have his answer from his word, ere we proceed in an action or course. Would we but follow this one rule, what sin might be prevented? For, alas! how many things we do, that we durst not so much as consult God in; and our conscience would stare us in the face, if we should say, we had God’s warrant for them. Is it, my friends, like Christians, or even like men that have rational souls, and are to answer for their conduct at God’s tribunal, to run headlong, and first act, and then think, what could be a proper reason for such actions? Yet, alas! how much of our conduct is of this kind!
²Prov. iii. 6. Phil. iv. 6.

4. Let us avoid every approach towards, or temptation to make ourselves or others quit what we ought to hold fast.

Let us watch and pray, that we enter not into temptation, nor prove tempters to others. Let us, not ignorant of his devices, be sober, be vigilant, because our adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Let us beware of loose companions. Forsake, faith God, the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. He that walketh with wise men, shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.¹ If men begin to eat and drink with the drunken, accompany with scorners, profane swearers, etc., you need not be surprised, though you should quickly see them drunkards, scorners, profane swearers, or the like, instead of tender Christians. Alas! Sirs, how oft it has been mournfully manifest in our own times, that professors, turning intimate companions of graceless and profane men, have quickly cast their solemn vows, their high profession, and their once tender practice, all at their heels! Let us therefore be on our guard, lest our entering into the counsel of the ungodly, issue in our standing in the way of sinners, and at last in deliberate sitting in the scorner’s chair.² When we have no soul to be in danger, no God, no conscience to commune with, no eternity to think of, then, and not till then, let us make openly wicked men our darling companions. Ah! how few that go in to them, return again, or take hold of the paths of life! How truly is their house the way to hell! how many of the dead are there! how many of their guests are in the depths of hell! Therefore if sinners entice us to their intimate fellowship, let us not consent. Let us also beware of a loose practice, which indeed may be called the worst of heresies. Let him that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity. Since the day of judgment is at hand, let us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light, that we may do all to stand in the evil day, against the wiles of the devil. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy; but put on the Lord Jesus, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.³ If once our life became untender and unholy, none can say, what good we may not quit hold of, to cover or defend our wickedness, screen ourselves from censure, or procure indulgence in sin. The loose practice of professed Christians, or witnesses too, has a mighty influence, in making others disrelish the good way of the Lord, and abstain from it, as if all were but a farce of dissimulation. One loose professor may do more hurt to religion, than an hundred profane persons. What, Sirs, can we think of these of you, that are professed witnesses against the evils of others, and yet indulge yourselves in looseness of practice, against any commandment; but that you are Satan’s agents, instigated by him to join a good cause, to be a noted disgrace to it, and to God by means of it? Let each of us, with a trembling heart, think, Lord, is it I? Finally, let us beware of loose hearing of preachers, whose mission to us, and perhaps his proper practice and principles, we know next to nothing about. Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge, by craftily instilling error, or preparing us for it, or decoying us to own, as Christ’s ambassador to us, one to whom he never gave a commission, or at least none to preach in the circumstances in which we heard him, or gives us no call to hear him therein.¹ We are charged to mark such as cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrine we have received, and avoid them.² Satan, and his agents, like the Jesuits, oft, by good words, and fair speeches, exert themselves, first to unsettle people, as to almost every principle, or body of professors, as if it were a small matter, what principles they held, whom they heard or joined with; and having done so, they can easily fix them in almost any thing they please. Who sees not, that the hearing of a few English preachers, deserting their mechanic trades, or deserting wholly, or in part, the charges they had undertaken the curacy of, has made multitudes in our nation quite indifferent, as to all form of church discipline or government; and has better prepared us for the reception of abjured Prelacy, that mother and daughter of Popery, than twenty-eight years of bloody persecution did? Shall I ask, is the notion of hearing, what preachers come in our way, and of the coal-essence of all supposed to be good men, be of what principle they will, of God, or of men? Not of God, who hath charged us, as above, to withdraw from every brother that walketh disorderly, and to come out of Babylon, or the Antichristian state, where yet there may be excellent sermons, and even some saints.¹ Before God, the communion of saints chiefly lies in their centering their love on Jesus the head of the church, and its thence reflecting on the saints, as bearing his image. Wherever this is, there is the grand essence of the communion of saints : and where this is awanting, there is none : real Heathens often attend with saints at sermons, and sit with them at the Lord’s table ; yet it is impossible they can share of the communion of saints, properly so called. This notion must therefore be of men ; yes, and of the very worst of men. For ought I find in the history of the church, the Socinians, the most noted heretics and blasphemers that ever breathed, were the parents thereof. To decoy people to their party, they insisted, that the whole substance of real religion, consisted in mens embracing the promises, and obeying the commands of God ; and that there was little matter what principle men were of in other things ; that as no man will ever be called to account at the last judgment for his particular sentiments, there ought to be no difference in church-fellowship, on account of them. Meanwhile, these gentlemen, and their disciples, the Remonstrants, heartily hated the Calvinists, and others, who were not so complaisant as to embrace their new trimmed blasphemies, or join with their synagogues of Satan. Is it honourable to copy after such ? As roving about, even where one would think there was least need, and, like a wandering star, shooting from place to place, with a blazing glaze, may suit the inclination of an ostentatious preacher, who conceits himself an almost apostle, far superior to others, and is fond of wide-spread admiration ; but cannot consist with the character of an ordinary minister of Christ, whose work is to feed the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made him an overseer, and to rule over, and labour among them in the Lord.² So the giddy rolling of people from one party to another, without so much as thinking on the grounds of their conduct; or giddy wandering in respect of hearing, at the expense of their pastor’s comfort, the peace of the congregation, the grieving of tender Christians, and the stumbling of the weak; and especially, when they have access to all the ordinary means of grace, in a regular manner, may suit the inclination of these who have itching ears, are desirous to heap up teachers; and being heady and high-minded, have so much self-conceit, as to imagine themselves, valuable enough, to be a sufficient rule to themselves, regardless of all others; and must have their itch gratified, or their mind a little delighted, at the expense of marring the peace of the congregation, and hindering the success of the gospel in the body, wherewith they are connected; but how it can consist with the character of not being as children, tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, or of a humble Christian, who reckons himself less than the least of all saints, and studies to please his neighbour to his edification, and to know such a pastor as is over him in the Lord; and studies to do all things decently, and in order, and to edifying,¹ or, who makes a sufficient account of a ministerial mission, I know not. In times of division, the utmost care ought to be taken, to class ourselves the rightest way we can; but if after we have been convinced of sufficient grounds to separate from any body of professed Christians, as to the external part of church-communion, with what consistency can we, at every turn, gratify our fancy by occasional returns thereto? Where can you find me, the person, that has, all circumstances considered, demonstrably gained by such a course? On the other hand, in our neighbouring nation of England, I can see, even Independents and Episcopalians, who have acted singly and consistently with themselves, that have been highly honoured of God, to appear in the defence of the leading truths of the gospel; while the Presbyterian party, whose profession was better, and whose keenness for occasional conformity to the English Church was long ago manifest, have been mournfully left to looseness enough. How many of them Arians, or thorough paced Arminians? Nay, how mournful to find their most noted, and, I cannot but believe, pious writers, so strongly disposed to part with not only a hoof, but almost the half of many divine truths, in order to gratify Arians and Arminians; and as their friend asks one of them, what did he gain hereby, but harden the adversaries, and make them triumph over him, as a proselyte to their cause?—Let us, Sirs, take heed, lest we fall, after the same example of looseness. These things, I have hinted, not to shame you, but that, as my beloved children, I might warn you. As I am fully apprehensive of the return of Antichrist to this and other Protestant churches, I would have myself, and all my friends, on their guard, against the smallest approaches towards him, or the least going forth to meet him.
¹Mark xiii. 38. I Pet. viii. 5. Prov. ix. 6 and xiii. 20. ²Psal. i. 1. ³II. Tim. ii. 19. Rom. xiii. 11-14. Eph. vi. 10-20.
¹Prov. xix. 27. ²Rom. xvi. 17, 18.
¹II. Thes. iii. 6. Rev. xviii. 4.
²Acts xx. 28. I. Thes. v. 12.
¹Eph. iv. 14 and iii. 8. I. Thess. v. 12. I. Cor. xiv. 26, 40.

IV. Let us therefore, in the 4th place, assign some reasons, why we should hold fast what good we have attained. We are to do so, that no man take our crown.

1. Great is the pleasure which God takes in them who hold fast what good we have attained.

When he saith, If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him; it is plainly hinted, that his soul hath great pleasure in such as do not draw back. With a pleasant countenance, he beholdeth the upright.¹ Is it not far better, to please our God, with our constancy and uprightness, than to please Satan, and a carnal world, with our apostacy, and unstedfast giddiness in religion.
¹Heb. x. 38.

2. Great is the happiness which God bestows on them here.

The righteous nation that keepeth the truth enter into the city whose walls and bulwarks are salvation. Such as keep the word of Christ’s patience, he keeps in the hour of temptation, that comes on all them that dwell on the earth. What large measures of holiness he gives them! The righteous holds on his way; and he that hath clean hands, shall wax stronger and stronger. What inward peace they enjoy! Their rejoicing is this, the testimony of their conscience, that in simplicity, and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, they have had their conversation in this world.² How plainly verified were these things, in the case of our own zealous fathers and martyrs! How marvellous was God’s kindness to them both about 1638, and during their double persecution! How noted their holiness! how abundant their inward joy! how ravishing their fellowship with God! The Holy Ghost was not given, till Jesus ascended to his royal throne; even so now the Spirit is not with us, because Jesus as a king, is not glorified amongst us.^1
2Psal. xi. 6. ³Is. xxix. 2. Rev. iii. 10. Job. xvii. 9. II. Cor. i. 12.
¹John vii. 39.

3. Great is the honour which God puts upon them.

Them that honour me, saith he, I will honour; and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed. If any man faithfully cleave to, and serve Christ, him will his Father honour.² How plainly has this been verified in Scotland! The very haters of our zealous ancestors could not forbear honouring them. Was ever a man a more faithful reprover than Knox? And yet the wicked Mary avowed, she was more afraid of his prayers, than of ten thousand armed men. Was any of our martyrs more faithful than Renwick? And we may observe, that even his murderous persecutors could not but regard him. But now, when a number of us called ministers, are become so complaisant cringers to the great, do they esteem us? Or regard our prayers? No, but the very reverse. Nay, I cannot remember to have ever observed a man, that did not study to act up to his profession, but made himself, in so far, the object of contempt.
²I. Sam. i. 30. John xii. 26.

4. Such as faithfully hold fast what they have attained, are a blessing to their nation, and their posterity after them.

³ Twice Prelacy, with its perpetual attendants in Scotland, perjury, profaneness, persecution, and murder, had brought our nation to the brink of ruin. Did our fathers cringe? No, they chose strangling and death, rather than so much as submit to the ministry of curates. And to this faithfulness, British liberty, under God, is owing. Had they, in our manner, tamely, nay voluntarily, heard such preachers, the nation had been sleepened; Scotland had been in the religious circumstances of England; or rather both had been in the condition of France. But their faithful witnessing kept the nation awake. The blood they cheerfully lost in the cause, drew vengeance on the Stewartine race; and twice, in answer to their cries, God wrought for them a marvellous deliverance. By means of these righteous persons, was our British Sodom preserved, and partly purged. Let not us basely requite them, by courting back that apostacy that bereaved them of their precious lives. If we do, let us think what we shall entail on our country, and how we shall leave our name for a curse unto God’s chosen, while he shall call his servants by another name.^1
3Psal. xii. 1. Is. vi. 13 and ivi. 1, and lxv. 8.
¹Is. lxv. 15.

5. Great is the future reward of these who faithfully hold fast what good they have attained.

Such as are ashamed of, and deny Christ and his truths, before an adulterous and sinful generation, him will Christ deny, and be ashamed of, when he cometh, in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels; but such as faithfully confess him, will he confess before his Father, and his holy angels: such as follow him in the regeneration, shall sit on thrones, judging the tribes of mankind. Such as forsake houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for Jesus’ name’s sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Whosoever will sacrifice his life, at the expense of denying Christ, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for Christ’s sake, shall find it. Be thou faithful unto the death, saith Jesus to us, and I will give thee a crown of life. Let us then faithfully fight the good fight, and finish our course: and the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give us a crown of righteousness at that day.^2
2Mark viii. 38. Luke xii. 8. Matth. xix. 28, 29. Rev. ii. 10. II. Tim. iv. 7, 8.

Let us now shut up the discourse with a double address. That to you, redeemed of the Lord, shall be very short, as what we have hitherto said, has been little else than an address to you. O study to have your heart filled with Christ, and the fulness of God in him;³ that out of a heart abundantly inflamed with his love, your zeal may proceed. Zeal springing from any other source, is but a spark of our own kindling. No witnessing will be accepted of God, but what proceeds from Jesus, and his Spirit, dwelling in, and actuating our heart. Ah! how hypocritical, how base for us, to have our tongue, and outward profession, more full of Jesus than our heart! Let your mouth be filled with his honour all the day.¹ Woe’s me, Sirs, are we not ashamed to talk trifles, unworthy of one who has an immortal soul! Are we not ashamed to speak evil of our neighbour, or to boast of ourselves; and yet ashamed to speak to the commendation of Jesus! Nevertheless, let not our tongue outrun our deeds. Too oft tonguey professors are but wretched workers. Let us remember, Jesus doth not ask us, what we say, but what we think of Christ? Does not ask what we say, but what we do more than others? Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, let us think on, and practice these things. And whatsoever we do, let us do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, even the Father, by him.² Let us seriously ponder, as in the sight of our future Judge, that we go hence more deeply indebted to the grace of God than before; more frequently consecrated to the service of God than ever; and nearer eternity than ever. O then, let us live more like Christians than ever.

To you, Christless sinners, my address is; and may Jesus open your heart and ear to receive it: 1. O think seriously, what you have, and hold fast. You have Satan as your master and inward lodger; you have sin as your all-comprehensive quality; you have a wicked life, and multitudes of vain hopes; you have the world, the sum of which is the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, for your portion. Thrice dreadful stock!—Dare you meet Jesus on his great white throne, with these in your fast embrace? No; no. Oh quit them, and receive, in the gospel-promise, Jesus, and his grace and truth, in their stead. In a little, Sirs, we must go home from this solemnity; and what know we, but God has determined, that we shall go from the judgment-seat to our eternal home, in the very state in which we go from this spot to-night; and shall we then dare to go Christless!—After these four days striving of Jesus for your heart, to fill it with himself and his grace, must his last word be, They would have none of me; they were called to the Most High, but none at all would exalt him.¹ Just this moment, Jesus and Satan are, as it were, at strife, who shall go home in your heart. Now, the great God your Saviour addresses you, Men and brethren of the stock of Adam, give audience, To you is the word of this salvation sent. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The Son of man is come to seek and save that which is lost. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man will open unto me, I will come in, and sup with him, and he with me. Come with me, from Lebanon, my spouse; with me from Lebanon. Open to me, my sister, my love, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. And now, Satan whispers into your ear, Oh retain me, and I will promote you to honour; give you the pleasures of sin; give you all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.—Ah dreadful thought! methinks, your heart, man, and yours, is just now replying, High valued devil, pleasant lusts, and precious world, I grant you my whole heart and soul, from henceforth and for ever.—And thou Jesus, depart from me, for I desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What have I to do with thee, thou Son of God? Art thou come to torment me before the time? Not thee, but Barabbas. Does not thy conscience echo back. Oh, Sir, that is true of me. Ah then must we ministers leave you contradicting and blaspheming! Oh! could we bewail your madness with tears of blood! Are you indeed content to be for ever shut out from God, the fountain of life! content to be the endless prey of filthy and vexations lusts! content to be the everlasting derision of devils! content to lie for ever in the arms of the almighty vengeance of God as a consuming fire! content to be for ever without the blessed Jesus, the wonder of angels, the ravishment of saints, and the delight of JEHOVAH! Do ye well to hate him! Why, what evil hath he done? Has he not made you? Has he not preserved you? Has he not loved our tribe, and suffered the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God? Ah! what hell-hardened steel must thy heart be, that can say him, Nay. And Oh, how will you hold up your face to him, at the tribunal.—Listen—a voice from the excellent glory addresses you. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him. Let him speak for himself, *To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither; and as for him that wanteth understanding, let him eat of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mingled. Whosoever will, let him come unto me, and drink. Let him that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let him come, and take of the water of life freely. O that you were wise! that you understood this! that you would consider your latter end! Oh! that you would know in this day, the things that belong to thy peace! As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of you, wicked; but rather you should return and live. Turn you, turn you, why will you die? Come, let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Harken unto me, ye stout-hearted, and far from righteousness; behold I bring near my righteousness, and my salvation shall not tarry. The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead in trespass and sins shall hear his voice, and shall live. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and from all your filthiness and idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. My son, give me thy heart. Are you, man, saying, Blessed Jesus apprehend mine?—and you, Lord Jesus, take mine, by thy strong hand and stretched-out arm? Are you, man, saying, Content, I am the Lord’s? And are you subscribing with your heart to the Lord? O faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ is come into the world to save sinners; of whom I am the chief. Now, as in the presence of God, I take you witnesses against yourselves, and let listening angels, and every thing around us, bear witness against the day of Jesus’ coming, that your blood is on your own heads, if you go hence refusers of him. Methinks, some person’s conscience is replying, Yes, Sir, I am witness; and now while you utter your last sentence, I call God for a record on my soul, that I am content that Jesus take my heart as it is; take my brutish heart, and instruct it in the knowledge of himself; take my naked heart, and cover it with his robe of righteousness; take my polluted heart, and wash it in his blood; take my heart full of enmity, and conquer it with the power of his love; take my graceless, godless heart, and fill it with all the fulness of God;—take my carnal heart, and put his Spirit within me, and cause me to walk in his statutes, and keep his judgments, and do them.—Thus, thus, blessed Jesus, apprehend our hearts.`
³Eph. iii. 17, 18, 19.
¹Psal. lxxi. 8.
²Phil. iv. 8. Col. iii. 17.
¹Psal. lxxxi. 11. . Hos. xi. 7.