II. Now, this is not a satisfactory condition to be in. "The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by storm," said our Lord, and He meant that if Heaven is to be won, it must be won by those who are in earnest, and vehement in their desire to get it. Half-hearted soldiers are not good soldiers. Half-hearted servants are poor servants, half-hearted workers are unsatisfactory workers, and the battle we have to fight is a hard one, it is a battle against flesh and blood, against Satan and all his host, against the world, and against our own wills. Is such a battle to be won when we go into it without any desire to be conquerors? We are servants of God, and given a work in this world to do. Are we likely to do it if half-hearted? Are we likely to keep His commandments, if we care just a little to please Him, but only a little? Are we likely to win our wage, Eternal Life, if we do not work zealously, but waste the time of work in half-hearted trifling with our task? No, we must be in earnest. We want zeal. How are we to acquire this? This is what the Holy Ghost gives. Before Pentecost the disciples were half-hearted, and when temptation and trial came, they fell away and did not follow their Master. But after the Holy Ghost came down, then they were of one heart and mind, and their souls were inflamed with zeal, they cared nothing what became of them, so long as they won the Kingdom of Heaven. "I count all things as dung," said S. Paul, "if so be I may win Christ." III. The Holy Ghost is still in the Church, and still His mission is to impart zeal. He will come to you, if you pray, and will inflame you with that fire which will make your hearts burn within you, and give you no rest till you have set about the work appointed you by God. "I am come," said Christ, "to send fire on the earth: and what will I, if it be already kindled?" That fire is the fire of zeal; and it is for that fire we pray in the Whitsuntide hymn, "Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, And lighten with celestial fire." LI. _GRATITUDE._ 14th Sunday after Trinity. S. Luke xvii. 18. "There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger." INTRODUCTION,--There is nothing that the merciful God desires more from man than thanks, and there is nothing of which He receives less. In the Gospel for to-day we have an example. Christ performs a notable miracle. He heals ten lepers, and only one returns to thank Him. The disease from which He delivered them was disgusting, and it was one which cut the sufferers off from association with other men. They might not approach, under penalty of death, a man who was sound. All at once they are healed. The disgusting disease is removed, and they are restored to the society of their fellow-men. Yet nine out of the ten are ungrateful, they do not take the trouble to give thanks to Him who had healed them.