be still more surprised and mortified: and yet _the saint_ and _the Christian_ are the same person, according to the language of the New Testament; and the apostle assures us that “without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.” Let us consider, 2. THE REAL IMPORT OF THIS TITLE—A CHRISTIAN. A Christian is _one who has a relation to Christ_; not a professed, but a _real_ relation—not a nominal, but a _vital_ relation—yea, a very peculiar and pre-eminent relation, arising above every other you can mention; spiritual in its nature, and never-ending in its duration; and deriving the possession and continuance of every enjoyment from Christ. _Beware of a Christianity without Christ_: it is a stream without a fountain—a branch without a living root—a body without a soul. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power.” A Christian is _a lover of Christ’s doctrine_. In all systems there are some common principles; but my receiving what is _common_ in the system of a master does not entitle me to be named after him. My believing with a Socinian that there is a God, and that there will be a resurrection from the dead, does not render me a Socinian; but my believing what is _peculiar_ in his creed—that Christ was a mere man, that he was born in the ordinary way of generation, that he died only as a witness of the truth, and not as a sacrifice for sin. Deism has _some_ principles in common with our Christianity: now my believing these will not constitute me a Christian, but my holding those _peculiar_ to Christianity. These are to be found only in the Scriptures; _there_ a Christian searches for them; _there_ he kneels before the oracle of divine truth; _there_ he takes up these principles, and says, these, however mysterious they may be to my reason, however humiliating they may be to the pride of my heart—these I take up on the authority of him who has revealed them. I sit with Mary at Jesus’ feet; I pray to be led by his spirit into all truth, and to be able to say with John, “We have an unction from the holy one, and we know all things.”