X. O Christendom! my soul most fervently prays, that after all thy lofty profession of Christ, and his meek and holy religion, thy unsuitable and un-Christ-like life may not cast thee at that great assize of the world, and lose thee so great salvation at last. Hear me once, I beseech thee: can Christ be thy Lord, and thou not obey him? or, canst thou be his servant, and never serve him? "Be not deceived, such as thou sowest shalt thou reap." (Gal. vi. 7.) He is none of thy Saviour whilst thou rejectest his grace in thy heart, by which he should save thee. Come, what has he saved thee from? Has he saved thee from thy sinful lusts, thy worldly affections, and vain conversations? If not, then he is none of thy Saviour. For, though he be offered a Saviour to all, yet he is actually a Saviour to those only that are saved by him; and none are saved by him that live in those evils by which they are lost from God, and which he came to save them from.
It is sin that Christ is come to save man from, and death and wrath, as the wages of it; but those that are not saved, that is delivered, by the power of Christ in their souls, from the power that sin has had over them, can never be saved from the death and wrath, that are the assured wages of the sin they live in.
So that look how far people obtain victory over those evil dispositions and fleshly lusts, they have been addicted to, so far they are truly saved, and are witnesses of the redemption that comes by Jesus Christ. His name shows his work: "And thou shalt call his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sin." (Matt. i. 21.) "Behold," said John, of Christ, "the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world." (John, i. 29.) That is, behold him whom God hath given to enlighten people, and for salvation to as many as receive him, and his light and grace in their hearts, and take up their daily cross and follow him; such as rather deny themselves the pleasure of fulfilling their lusts than sin against the knowledge he has given them of his will, or do that they know they ought not to do.
1. By this Christendom may see her lapse, how foul it is, and next, the worse for her pretence to Christianity.--2. But there is mercy with God upon repentance, and propitiation in the blood of Jesus.--3. He is the light of the world that reproves the darkness, that is, the evil of the world; and he is to be known within.--4. Christendom, like the inn of old, is full of other guests: she is advised to believe in, receive, and apply to Christ.--5. Of the nature of true faith; it brings power to overcome every appearance of evil: this leads to consider the Cross of Christ, which has been so much wanted.--6. The apostolic ministry, and end of it; its blessed effect; the character of apostolic times.--7. The glory of the cross, and its triumph over the heathen world. A measure to Christendom, what she is not, and should be.--8. Her declension, and cause of it.--9. The miserable effects that followed.--10. From the consideration of the cause the cure may be more easily known, viz., Not faithfully taking up the daily cross; then, faithfully taking it daily up must be the remedy.