o, perhaps, were nearer Jesus Christ on the day of their
conversion than they have ever been since, and how many cases of
arrested development there are amongst professing and real Christians;
so that when for the 'time they ought to be teachers, they have need' to
be taught again; and when, after the number of years that have passed,
they ought to be full-grown men, they are but babes yet. And so I say to
you, dear young friends, stand fast. Do not let the world attract you
again. Keep near to Jesus. 'Hold fast that thou hast; let no man take
thy crown.'

III. Lastly, we have here a great motive which encourages obedience to
this command.

People generally pass over that 'Therefore' which begins my text, but it
is full of significance and of importance. It links the precept which we
have been considering with the immediately preceding hope which the
Apostle has so triumphantly proclaimed, when he says that 'we look for
the Saviour from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change the
body of our humiliation that it may be fashioned like unto the body of
His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue
all things to Himself.'

So there rises before us that twofold great hope; that the Master
Himself is coming to the succour of His servants, and that when He
comes, He will perfect the incomplete work which has been begun in them
by their faith and steadfastness, and will change their whole humanity
so that it shall become participant of, and conformed to, the glory of
His own triumphant manhood.

That hope is presented by the Apostle as having its natural sequel in
the 'steadfastness' of my text, and that 'steadfastness' is regarded by
the Apostle as drawing its most animating motives from the contemplation
of that great hope. Blessed be God! The effort of the Christian life is
not one which is extorted by fear, or by the cold sense of duty. There
are no taskmasters with whips to stand over the heart that responds to
Christ and to His love. But hope and joy, as well as love, are the
animating motives which make sacrifices easy, soften the yoke that is
laid upon our shoulders, and turn labour into joy and delight.

So, dear brethren, we have to set before us this great hope, that Jesus
Christ is coming, and that, therefore, our labour on ourselves is sure
not to be in vain. Work that is done hopelessly is not done long, and
there is no heart in it whilst it is being done. But if we know that