and (so) to enjoy Him for ever.' 'Unto Godliness' is to be
the aim of every true life, and it is the only aim which corresponds to
our circumstances and our relations, our powers and possibilities.

II. Notice the discipline which such an aim demands.

'Exercise thyself.' Now, I have no doubt that the bulk of my hearers
know that the word here rendered 'exercise' is drawn from the athlete's
training-ground, and is, in fact, akin to the word which is transported
into English under the form 'gymnasium.' The Apostle's notion is that,
just as the athlete, racer, or boxer goes through a course of training,
so there is a training as severe, necessary for the godliness which Paul
regards as the one true aim of life.

You Christian people ought to train your spirits at least as carefully
as the athlete does his muscles. There are plenty of people, calling
themselves Christians, who never give one-hundredth part as much
systematic and diligent pains to fulfil the ideal of their Christian
life as men will take to learn to ride a bicycle or to pull the stroke
oar in a college boat. The self-denial and persistence and concentration
which are freely spent upon excellence in athletic pursuits might well
put to shame the way in which Christians go about the task of 'doing'
their religion.

I suppose there never was a time, in England's history at any rate,
whatever it may have been in Greece, when modern instances might give
more point to an old saw than to-day does for this text, when athletic
sports of all kinds are taking up so much of the time and the energy of
our young men. I do not want to throw cold water on that, but I do say
it is a miserable thing to think that so many professing Christians will
give a great deal more pains to learn to play lawn tennis than ever they
did to learn to be good, Christian people.

'Exercise thyself unto godliness.' Make a business of living your
Christianity. Be in earnest about it. A tragically large number of
professing Christians never were in earnest about mending themselves.
And that is why they are so far, far behind. 'Exercise thyself.' You
say, How?

'Well, I say, first of all, concentration. 'This _one_ thing I do.' That
does not mean narrowing, because this 'one thing' can be done by means
of all the legitimate things that we have to do in the world. Next
Friday, when you go on 'Change, you can be exercising yourself to
godliness there. Whatever may be the form of our daily occ