to Christ in heaven and earth, there is given to Him the power of
making men what they ought to be--like His own blessed, and glorious,
and perfect self. Ask him, and you shall receive; knock at the gate
of His treasure-house, and it shall be opened. Seek those things
that are above, and you shall find them. You shall find old bad
habits die out in you, new good habits spring up in you; old
meannesses become weaker, new nobleness and manfulness become
stronger; the old, selfish, covetous, savage, cunning, cowardly,
brutal Adam dying out, the new, loving, brotherly, civilised, wise,
brave, manful Adam growing up in you, day by day, to perfection, till
you are changed from grace to grace, and glory to glory into the
likeness of the Lord of men.

"These are great promises," you may say, "glorious promises; but what
proof have you that they belong to us? They sound too good to be
true; too great for such poor creatures as we are; give us but some
proof that we have a right to them; give us but a pledge from Jesus
Christ; give us but a sign, an assurance from God, and we may believe
you then."

My friends, I am certain--and the longer I live I am the more
certain--that there is no argument, no pledge, no sign, no assurance,
like the bread and the wine upon that table. Assurances in our own
hearts and souls are good, but we may be mistaken about them; for,
after all, they are our own thoughts, notions in our own souls, these
inward experiences and assurances; delightful and comforting as they
are at times, yet we cannot trust them--we cannot trust our own
hearts, they are deceitful above all things, who can know them? Yes:
our own hearts may tell us lies; they may make us fancy that we are
pleasing God, when we are doing the things most hateful to Him. They