appear, what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall Appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him, as He is: and every Man, that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself even as He is Pure. And then he falls into the like reasoning with St. Paul, proving that to be truly in the faith is to avoid, as a consequence, a continuance in sin, Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the Law; for sin is the transgression of the Law; and ye know that He was Manifested to Take away our sins and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen Him, neither known Him. Let no Man deceive you! He, that doeth righteousness, is righteous, even as He is Righteous: he that committeth sin is of the Devil; for the Devil sinneth from the beginning. For this Purpose The SON of GOD was Manifested, that He might Destroy the works of the Devil. Whosoever is Born of GOD doth not commit sin; for His Seed Remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is Born of GOD. In this the Children of GOD are manifest; and the Children of the Devil: Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of GOD, neither he that loveth not his Brother-1 John iii. 1 to 10. The Regenerated Soul, Regenerated through the influence of a lively faith, thus makes its object and its aim not only to shun transgression, but to perfect Righteousness, in the reverential fear of GOD, in the holy love of CHRIST, and in grateful adoption of the Proffered Grace of The HOLY SPIRIT-See Heb. ix. 14.

VERSES 27 to 29.-For as Many of you, as have been Baptized into CHRIST, have put on CHRIST. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither Bond nor Free; there is neither Male nor Female: for ye are All One in CHRIST JESUS! And if ye be CHRIST's, then are ye Abraham's Seed, and Heirs according to The Promise.

Baptism by The HOLY GHOST, in the sincere adoption of the Grace of GOD, from the conviction of the Salvation Held out to penitent Believers in CHRIST JESUS, will Induce a Spirit of Holiness so to shape our conduct after the Example of CHRIST, and to have His Precepts so habitually cherished and pursued by us, as to be like the garments in which we are clothed, nearest to us and never separated from us; and being so habitually One with CHRIST, all other distinction is lost in this all-absorbing Union of the Christian indeed : neither climate, nor language, Nation nor Station, Sex nor Age, present a difference, as regards the Christian Fellowship, when faithfully formed and consistently pursued. As the Love of CHRIST Embraces All, and His Sacrifice was offered for All, so should our love for Him be paramount in every other feeling, and pervade every sentiment and action of our Lives. This feeling is the truest test, if we have put on CHRIST so as to insure the Efficacy of That Purchased Redemption by Him of our Immortal Souls, that they will be Clothed in that Sanctity, which alone can qualify for the fruition of Heavenly Beatitudes. It is faith, after the like confidence of Abraham, in the Word and Will of GOD, Directed to the Mediation of His Blessed SON, that may look forward in full assurance of the Exhaustless Realities and Glories, Which, according to The DIVINE Promise, will be Dealt out and Exhibited so Bounteously to its Possessor. How poor are all Earthly expectances! how precarious withal! but These Riches. Reserved in the Heavens are obtainable by All, who will truly seek Them; relying in meekness and thankfulness on CHRIST, as Their Merciful and Gracious PROCURER; and, when obtained, will delight the heart with inconceivable and unalloyed pleasure through all Eternity. In another of his Epistles St. Paul, dwelling upon Baptism, when in CHRIST, speaks of it, as Leading the Soul figuratively through the death of old irreligious habits into newness of life; and indeed to be in CHRIST and to be like Him, through the love of Him, is

assuredly to be found in newness of life. Without distinction of Persons CHRIST Receives All within His Kingdom, who come unto Him through the Baptism of faith and repentance-Rom. vi. 3. These are they, who have put on the New Man, which is Renewed in knowledge after the Image of Him, That Created him; with whom CHRIST is All, and in All-Coloss. iii. 10, 11. And the Apostle elsewhere corroborates This gladdening Doctrine, Which, if in our individual experience, should be our most cherished possession, The SPIRIT Itself Bearing Witness with our Spirit, that we are the Children of GOD; and if Children, then Heirs: Heirs of GOD, and Joint Heirs with CHRIST; if so be, that we suffer with Him, that we may be also Glorified together-Rom. viii. 16, 17.

CHAPTER IV.

VERSES 1 to 7.-Now I say that the Heir, as long as he is a Child, differeth nothing from a Servant, though he be Lord of All; but is under Tutors and Governors until the time appointed of the Father. Even so we, when we were Children, were in bondage under the elements of the World: but when the Fulness of the Time was come, GOD Sent forth His SON, Made of a Woman, Made under the Law, to Redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the Adoption of Sons: and, because ye are Sons, GOD hath Sent forth The SPIRIT of His SON into your hearts, Crying, ABBA, FATHER!'Wherefore thou art no more a Servant, but a Son; and, if a Son, then an Heir of GOD through CHRIST.

In the rich current of his imagination, the Apostle thus illustrates the Gradual Consummation of The Gospel Dispensation, by a comparison between Its introductory Process, in the Ministration of the Mosaic Law, and the relationship between Parent and Child during the period of nonage, in which the Child is subservient to his natural Guardian; but, when attaining the fulness of Manhood, the Guardianship ceasing, the Man enters upon the full and exclusive rights of Manhood; which the preparatory training during his Wardship should have amply qualified him to exercise; since on the one hand, a wise system of management and instruction should have emanated from the Guardian, and on the other, a single-minded and steady observance of order and of rule, even as the faithfulness of a Servant, should have been exemplified in the Ward. In CHRIST and His Gospel, the Consummation of the Revealed Will of GOD is Manifested; and a faithful following of the Precepts and Example of The DIVINE SAVIOUR constitutes so entire a Perfection in the Human Character, as to leave nothing attainable beyond it, calculated to enlarge the influence of faith, hope, or charity. And blessed be GÓD, through the Love and Condescension of CHRIST, The Influence of The HOLY SPIRIT is Ready to be Imparted to every true Believer in CHRIST and His Covenant of Grace and Reconciliation, to Give the ability to fulfil all righteousness, which is wholly otherwise unattainable; and whereby the likeness to CHRIST is so obvious, as to lead to the inexpressibly comforting assurance, that GOD The FATHER hath Adopted that Soul as a Child, and Reserves for it an Inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven-See Rom. viii. 14 to 17.-In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul describes CHRIST as the End of the Law for Righteousness to every One, that believeth-x. 4; and then he goes on to urge the dependance upon faith in CHRIST, and not a reliance upon the observance of the Mosaic Law, even if that in all its minuteness were ever fully acted up to by Man in his degenerate state. Oh that the Full Measure of the Graces of The HOLY SPIRIT may be Poured out upon our hearts through the Interceding Merits and Mediation of JESUS CHRIST, that we may be Received among the Family of the Faithful in CHRIST JESUS, and be Made Partakers of the Glory and the Unfailing Bliss of a Communion with CHRIST in the Equal Manifestation of His Power and

Vensrs 8 to 11.-Howbeit then, when ye knew not GOD, ye did service unto them, which by Nature are no Gods; but now, after that ye have known GOD, or rather are Known of GOD, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days and months, and times and years! I am afraid of you; lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

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Their devotedness was manifested more to the Creature, than The CREATOR; the People being led by Guides blind through their infatuated self-love, pride and prejudice, and obstinate adherence to customs, however absurd and unreasonable. But when The SUN of RIGHTEOUSNESS Arose, A Light Burst forth, Which Brought Light and Immortality to view; and All, who closed not perversely their eyes against It, could not but be Led by It to a right judgment, especially in Matters pertaining to Everlasting Salvation, presenting Peace with the hope of future and endless Joy in the Purity of a Sanctified Nature. St. Paul therefore in the uncompromising language of a Preacher, feeling that Immortal Interests were at stake, uses the strongly characteristic language of beggarly elements, as indicating the utter destitution of such means towards a justifying faith; and that a dependance on ceremonial and ritual observances, without the heart's believing unto Righteousness, and That The Righteousness of CHRIST, must terminate in the most absolute despair, at the frustration of every hope founded upon such vain expectations. To be within the Knowledge of The MOST HIGH is the inseparable state of all Creation; but to know The LORD is the Peculiar Privilege of Man and Angels only. Still when Man makes light of this knowledge, or impiously or wantonly rejects it, the heart becomes vitiated, and the imagination and passions and habits are surrendered unto evil continually. When the Riches of The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST are Poured forth through Apostolic preaching, and the All-Sufficiency of the Sacrifice of Him, The Incarnate SON of GOD, is Laid open to the understanding, and an unlimited faith Therein urged as the assurance of possessing That Inestimable Treasure, Reserved for Such as reverently love and truly trust in Him; how inconsiderate and how ungracious, as well as unwise, is it to return to the vain confidence of selfrighteousness, or the outward observance of mere ceremonies, which give no salutary direction to the Soul, unless they be secondary and subservient to the heart-changing and Heaven-guiding faith in CHRIST. To build a confidence. upon the observance of days by fasts, and what may serve to gain the praise of Men and Women of weak and superstitious minds, is to rest upon a shadow, and forsake the substance. What must be the feelings, other than of the deepest disappointment and sorrow, of a faithful Minister of The Gospel of CHRIST, striving by all means and unweariedly to fulfil his Heavenly MASTER's Will, by seeking the Salvation of Others' Souls, to find his labours so in vain, as to witness such backslidings amongst Members of his Flock from the Truth, as It is in JESUS!

VERSES 12 to 16.-Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am! for I am as ye are : ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how, through infirmity of the flesh, I preached The Gospel unto you at the first; and my temptation, which was in my flesh, ye despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an Angel of GOD, even as CHRIST JESUS. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? For I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I, therefore, become your Enemy, because I tell you the Truth?

In the kind and familiar and attractive relationship of Brotherly regard, the Apostle continues his exhortation, urging All to be as he was, that he might be like them, and All bear similitude to the Love and Labour and Devotedness of CHRIST. As the natural Man, Paul was like his Fellows-subject to bodily infirmities and sufferings-and with much, therefore, to struggle against and

overcome in his conflict between the flesh and the spirit; and, more than Wany, amongst his much more than any Other's toils and labours, subject to much anguish of body from some physical or muscular sensation of pain or uneasiness, that would have checked the efforts of a less-ardent zeal. Not only had these Galatians not despised nor rejected Paul for such infirmity, as was apparent in him, but they had not lessened his influence with Others. On the contrary, the estimation they held him in, when he put forth, in all the Gifted powers of his eloquence, the Saving Love of CHRIST and the Great Truths of The Gospel, led them to regard him as a Heavenly Messenger, feeling in his presence the Qualities of The SAVIOUR so illustrated in the Apostle's holy love and fervent zeal towards both Him and His Cause, as to reverence the Apostle with as much deference and attention as they probably would have shewn to CHRIST Himself, if He had Presented Himself to them in His Human Nature. But the Apostle never preached up himself as an object of veneration; on the contrary, as CHRIST JESUS was in deed, and in faith, All in All with him, so did he ever set Him forth as the True OBJECT of Worship and confidence and hope. Under the winning influence of the Apostle's doctrine, and the full exemplification of the Christian character in his habits, they, who heard him attentively and with singleness of heart, felt doubtless at the time the sensation of Spiritual Blessedness, to which their judgment, as well as consciences, bore witness. But alas! how fickle is the mind of Man! how prone to change! and how soon does a return to intercourse with worldly Characters, and worldly objects, dissipate the hallowed influence of Scriptural impressions, and shut out the blissful prospects of a Heavenward Futurity, and the pure Communion with Spirits of Holiness in the World to Come! Such hold, however, had the Apostle, when personally with them, upon their attachment, that they would in the instant have made any sacrifice towards the furtherance of his wishes, and in proof of their supreme respect and regard. In his after communication by letter, the interval of their personal separation having cooled their affection, and witnessed a partial return to the World and its allurements, his reception seems to have undergone a change, prejudicial to his object, though it was still aiming at their pursuit of a course of true wisdom, that they might obtain the Mercy of Redemption. He had spoken the Truth when with them--he now wrote to them with the same honest and unflinching spirit, and doubtless, when he had considered, from report or otherwise, reproof was called for, he reproved with faithfulness, such as a truly Christian Minister should never shrink from, as thereon might depend the recovery of Souls, otherwise interminably lost to Holiness and consequent Happiness. No One is so true a Friend as he, who imparts and impresses Truth, calculated through faith in The Gospel of CHRIST to lead from error, and advance to Heavenly-mindedness and Spiritual consolation. To withhold Such Truths, as Tend to the Saving the immortal Soul, is to be the false Friend, if not indirectly the Enemy.In weakness and in fear, and in much trembling, St. Paul reminds his Corinthian Correspondents he was with them; and yet, under both bodily and mental suffering, and occasional depression, he continued the good fight of faith, and proved himself a most indefatigable, as well as an able Soldier, under The Great CAPTAIN of his Salvation-1 Cor. ii. 3.When the Fulness of the Grace of The HOLY SPIRIT is Working both inwardly and outwardly on the heart of the Faithful in CHRIST JESUS, the Angelic resemblance is almost attained, and a reverence almost supernatural is cherished by the true Lovers of Holiness towards the Individual. Such should be the qualities, and such the character, in a peculiar degree, of every professed Minister of The Gospel; for as the Prophet Malachi observes, The Priest's lips should keep Knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth; for he is

the Messenger of The LORD of HOSTS-ii. 7.- -Our SAVIOUR had Said unto His Disciples, The SPIRIT of your FATHER Speaketh in you! Be ye therefore wise as serpents, but harmless as doves! He, that receiveth you, receiveth Me; and he, that receiveth Me, receiveth Him That Sent Me-Matt. x. 20, 16, 40. Our SAVIOUR's Words had in this respect been fulfilled; for Paul had been received in such a Spirit as was here pointed out.

VERSES 17 to 31-They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them; but it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little Children, of whom I travail in birth again, until CHRIST be Formed in you; I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice, for I stand in doubt of you! Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, do ye not hear the Law? for it is Written, that Abraham had two Sons, the one by a Bond-Maid, the other by a FreeWoman; but he, who was of the Bond-Woman, was born after the flesh; but he, of the Free-Woman, was by Promise; which things are an allegory, for these are the Two Covenants: the One from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar; for this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her Children; but Jerusalem, which is Above, is Free, which is the Mother of us all; for it is Written, Rejoice, thou Barren, that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the Desolate hath many more Children than she, which hath an Husband!' Now we, Brethren, as Isaac was, are the Children of Promise; but as then, he,that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after The SPIRIT, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what Saith the Scripture, (Gen. xxi. 10), Cast out the Bond-Woman and her Son! for the Son of the BondWoman shall not be Heir with the Son of the Free-Woman;' so then, Brethren, we are not Children of the Bond-Woman, but of the Free.

The observance of the Mosaic ceremonies, though followed with perseverance and earnestness, was not profitable to Spiritual advancement. When the True Sacrificial Offering, even The Incarnate SON of GOD, Appeared, the continuance in such ceremonies, to the virtual slighting, if not rejecting the Sacraments Appointed by CHRIST, was risking an exclusion from the Inestimable Benefits of The Gospel Dispensation. A steady devotedness to what is intrinsically good, is indeed right and wise; but much of what the World calls good, and all that Spiritual Pride so characterizes, is far from the true savour of the quality of goodness in the Infallible Judgment of The MOST HIGH. And a zeal really possessed needs not the stimulus of the Admonitor's continual presence and controul; it acts in one uniform course upon principle binding on the conscience, and resting for Countenance and Support on DIVINE Light and Love-See 1 Cor. xv. 58.-The Apostle, now far in the advance of years, addresses his Galatian Correspondents in the figurative character of Maternal love, as, in a Spiritual Light, the Fruit of his preaching, and as continuing in an embryo state, until the Fulness of the Image and Likeness of CHRIST was formed within them. With Parental anxiety the Apostle expresses his earnest wish that he might still be personally present with them-that he might so enlarge his discourse from its previous tone and tenor, as to fix that faith in them, which, he conceals not from them, was in his apprehension wavering. Again adverting to the Law, which he fears had superseded in their mind an exclusive dependance on the Sacrifice of CHRIST, he urges upon them, that either they had not fully heard It, or not rightly understood It; and then he illustrates his own views and conviction, by a reference to the Scriptural history of Abraham and his two Sons, (Gen. xvi. 15, xxi. 3,) and argues from thence the freedom of his Descendants through Isaac, as Children of Promise, and Heirs of the Better Covenant, Which, being Sealed with the Blood of CHRIST, Granted that freedom of Spirit, to which the first Covenant under the Law was a Stranger, even the hope and assurance of Salvation, through faith in the Merits and Mediation of The SON of GOD. Under persecution this is the Consolation, and this the source of holy joy, that the Heavenly Jerusalem will Open freely its gates of