to their faith virtue, and to their virtue knowledge, and to their knowledge brotherly kindness, and to their brotherly kindness charity" He had been urging them to give "diligence, all diligence to do these things," to improve with a becoming earnestness the various means which are appointed for the attainment of these ends. A variety of these means, secret prayer, meditation upon the scriptures, attendance on the duties of the sanctuary, mutual exhortation and the sanctification of the sabbath have been explained and enforced in the preceding pages. It is designed in this concluding discourse to illustrate the happy issue of a life thus spent in the communion of God, and devotion to his service.

"If ye do these things;" if ye keep my commandments from a principle of respect for mine authority, and gratitude to my love; if ye walk in mine ordinances as the appointed means of enjoying my fellowship in this world, and preparing you for my immediate, everlasting communion in the world to come, "ye shall never fall:" Ye shall not utterly fall, nor finally be disappointed of your hopes; these graces which I communicated to you by my Spirit, and which you have improved by a diligent use of the means of my appointment, shall be crowned with glory in the end. That sovereign purpose of Jehovah which from eternity had decreed their recovery; which was partially executed in calling, and justi

fying and sanctifying them shall receive its complete accomplishment in their full and eternal salvation. That Jesus by whose free, omnipotent agency they were brought into the covenant is able, and not only able but gracious "to keep them from falling, and to present them faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." The spark of grace which is imparted to the soul in its effectual calling is not, cannot be extinguished by all the floods of corruption, but is preserved and improved until it shines forth unobscured in heaven, its native element.

"If ye do these things ye shall never fall:" They shall not be permitted to apostatize from their holy profession, nor commit those abominations by which the christian name might be reproached, or the peace of their own consciences interrupted. Although corruption resides as a neighbor to grace in the believer's heart, and occasionally leads. him captive, so as to plunge him into the pollutions of the world, yet this advantage of the flesh is usually obtained by a loose, careless walk on the part of the christian; either from the neglect of ordinances which are instrumental in sanctifying and confirming, or from a formal attendance upon them.. Peter fell grossly in the open denial of his Master, yet this fall may be considered as a chastisement for his presumptuous reliance upon his own strength in opposition to the warnings of his Lord. The promise secures that the righteous shall hold on his way;

that they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; that they who trust in him shall be like mount Zion which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever," and these promises will infallibly be accomplished to such as keep their hearts with all diligence, and are attentive in the use of instituted

means.

To suppose the contrary would be to question the truth of Jehovah, and to deny the tendency of his own means to accomplish the purposes for which they are appointed. We might as readily suppose that a healthful branch could remain barren from year to year althongh connected with a flourishing tree, or that the stream could become dry although supplied from a living fountain, as to suppose that the believer could fall into spiritual decay, or be given up to the gratifications of the flesh while he attends with diligence the means of grace, and in them aspires after fellowship with his living Head. As it is the character of a righteous man that "he delights in the law of the Lord," it is his security" that he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth its fruit in its season:" And our Master promised to his disciples, "if ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love" Again, "he that abideth not in me," he who does not continue in my commandments, and receives not influences from my covenant fulness, "is cast forth as a

branch, and withered, but he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit."

It is natural to infer from this passage that the sovereignty of God in determining the progress of his children to perfection does not militate in the least against secondary means, nor will excuse them in neglecting the ordinances which are appointed for their perfection. There is no doubt but "the election will obtain," yet the objects of this election have neither reason nor scripture to expect obtaining the prize except by running with patience the "race which is set before them," and at the end of which the prize of glory is suspended. They are as really, and infallibly predestinated to the means of salvation as to salvation itself: And their habitual, wilful neglect of the ordinances of grace either evinces that they were not elected to eternal life, or that the decree of their election has not yet received its accomplishment. They are particularly, and unalterably "chosen to salvation," but they are chosen to this salvation "through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth;" and therefore they who do not believe, and obey the truth; who do not evidence their sanctification by a hatred of sin, and desires after holiness, shew that if they were chosen to salvation, the divine decree as it relates to them remains yet to be executed. The Lord God, although absolute in his purposes, yet deals with man as a ra

tional being; he addresses his fears by the threatnings of the law, and his hopes by the promises, and consolations of the gospel; he offers him the prize of glory, but he prescribes a "race to be run" in order to obtain that prize, not indeed as the procuring cause, but as an evidence of our respect for his authority, and as a means of preparing us for enjoying that prize. Thus while this apostle asserts that all who are " begotten again to this lively hope are kept by the power of God unto salvation," yet he urges the indispensible necessity of diligence in pressing on towards "the mark for the prize of the high calling;" and declares that he who does not use this diligence" is blind, and cannot see afar off;" he is ignorant of his duty, and glory, and privilege.

Again, it may naturally be inferred from this passage that activity in the Redeemer's service is amply rewarded even in the present world. All that temporal sacrifice which the christian makes by devoting a portion of his time, or substance in attending the duties, or promoting the interests of religion is fully made up to him by the assurance of his Father's love, and his fellowship with Jesus in the joys of his salvation. That little fatigue of body which he may feel in attending the ordinances of divine grace either private or public is more than overbalanced by an increase of light, and strength, and consolation. He is frequently enabled to "joy in God through our