August 27

Secondly, temperance of attachment—"Be sober." Some would think to enforce such an article as this was not preaching the Gospel—and it may not be preaching their gospel: but when Paul spake "concerning the faith in Christ," he "reasoned concerning righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." Others think this order only regards excess in eating and drinking. Sobriety intends nothing less than this, but it comprehends much more, at least in the Scripture. One would suppose that common decency, and a regard for life and health, would restrain a man from gluttony and drunkenness. But a Christian is to moderate all his appetites and passions. He is not to be indulgent in sleep; nor suffer this downy foe to rob him of so much of his time. He should consider sleep an infirmity rather than a privilege. It is humbling to think of dying half our time to be alive the rest—Angels are nobly free from this mortifying necessity. We should be sober in all our affections and pursuits as to earthly things. Our Lord speaks of our hearts being overcharged, not only with surfeiting and drunkenness, but the cares of this life—These may morally intoxicate. And as wine oppresses the senses, disturbs reason, and hinders us from any thing useful; so worldly anxieties besot the mind, and unfit us for every good word and work. Paul exhorts "young men to be sober minded." And we see how well they are exemplifying this—How suspicious they are of their own judgments—How disposed they are to consult the aged and the experienced—And how backward they are to decide or speak upon every difficult subject! He also admonishes women to "adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety!" And how well it is to see this also so fully verified "in women professing godliness."

Thirdly, constancy of expectation—"And hope to the end." There is nothing more desirable or necessary than this. We not only rejoice in hope; but "we are saved by hope." It keeps our hearts and minds from the allurements and seductions of the world: and it sustains us in trouble; being, as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. Where is the Christian but has often said—

"Amidst temptations sharp and long, My soul to this dear refuge flies; Hope is my anchor firm and strong, While tempests blow and billows rise."

Yet it is no easy thing to maintain the full exercise of hope; especially under those trying dispensations, which seem as if the Lord was angry with us to destroy: and also under a sense of our unworthiness, arising from our unprofitableness and deficiencies. These ought to humble us; but we must not cast away our confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. There is enough to bear up our hope in every change of condition, and under every moral infirmity, in the promises of the Gospel, and the fulness of the Redeemer. And the time of trial is limited. Though we are to hope to the end, the end is not far off; "for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Then the burden will be removed from the shoulder. Then the warfare will be accomplished. Then we shall be with him, where he is to be bold his glory, and be filled with all the fulness of God. "Be pa-