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the Apostles continuing at Jerusalem, the centre of perse- 
cution, — men who had left all for Christ, and would now leave 
Christ for no man ; or the disciples preaching, labouring, 
suffering everywhere, and both the one and the other, as the 
necessity arose, sealing their labours and their testimony with 
their blood, we have a devotion to truth which, so far as I 
know, no disciple of science has ever emulated, and a course 
which mere intellectuality has never exhibited, and for which 
mere self-cultivation, with all the appliances of civilized life, is 
no adequate preparation. It is the fruit of the Spirit. And 
from that hour to this the same fruit — the same in kind, if 
different in measure — has been borne throughout the Christian 
Church; and from St. Paul to the sainted Henry Martyn, 
“the tent-maker” of Tarsus to the Senior Wrangler of Cam- 
bridge ; and from “ the Areopagite,” and “ those of Caesar's 
household,” and “ the honourable women not a few,” down to 
Schwartz and Brainerd, and Neff and Newton (once the 
blaspheming slave-driver), “ men who counted not their lives 
dear unto them,” yea, and the whole family of the new-born, 
the evidence is one and unbroken, the experiment holds in 
all its breadth : the new birth is the forerunner of the new 
life — where the Spirit dwells, thence issue the fruits of the 
Spirit. 
3rdly. The believer's spiritual inheritance sustains him to 
the last, and issues in glory. To this let our sacred penman 
speak. St. Paul, testifying that he had kept the faith to the 
end, adds this rooted conviction : — “ Henceforth there is laid 
up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, and not me only, 
but unto all those also who love His appearing.” St. James 
encourages thus : — “ Be patient, stablish your hearts, for the 
coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” St. Peter : “ Knowing 
that shortly I must put off my tabernacle, even as our Lord 
Jesus Christ hath showed me.” St. John: “Beloved, now 
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we 
shall be ; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall 
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” And St. Jude: 
“ Beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, pray- 
ing in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, 
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal 
life.” But the crowning testimony remains — the true experi- 
mentum crucis — the individual test. St. Stephen : In the 
agonies of a violent death, at the moment that the departing 
spirit was quitting the body, the proto -martyr's triumphant 
cry was, “ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And from the 
stoned outside Jerusalem to the burned at Smithfield and 
