ground; or like the mariner, who, instead of guiding his bark according to the rules of navigation, suffers it to go onward without special direction, till it is stranded, or dashed in pieces.

If we are Christians in name, let us be so in deed and in truth; and that so desirable an end be attained, the work of self-examination is to be rigidly practised by us all. And however hard this duty may seem in the outset, perseverance, with the divine blessing, will soon render it more easy of accomplishment. Let the reader then ask himself if he cannot adopt the truly Christian thoughts of the poet;

“My God, permit me not to be

A stranger to myself and thee;
Amid ten thousand thoughts I rove,
Forgetful of my highest love."

CHAPTER III.

WATCHFULNESS AND PRAYER.

ALTHOUGH the mind, in most instances, may discern truth and duty, yet the propensities incident to the flesh too often lead it astray; so that a powerful, continued exertion and watchfulness is needed, in order to escape "the corruption that is in the world." We are called upon to exercise our powers, to shake off all indolence of soul, and work while our earthly day lasts. What is more abhorrent than indolence? What more commendable than vigorous exertion in any honorable calling? If the religious life consisted in nothing more than mere passive belief; a quiet assent of the mind to certain theological dogmas, without being called upon to act, of what advantage would it be? It is "he that worketh righteousness," and not he that talketh or thinketh it, who is accepted of God.

It is a cause of thanksgiving, that our heavenly Father has so connected religious enjoyment with exertion. If the husbandman finds the reward of his toil in the benefit here received for his labors; if the student finds that delight in the attainment of knowledge, which inspires him to be continually seeking it; yea, if all, in every other department of life, are called upon to labor for enjoyment, why should not the citizen of God's moral kingdom? Especially, when we behold in this kingdom one of the greatest possible reasons for continual, vigilant exertion, viz. the weakness of the flesh. Our Saviour had this in view

when he said to his disciples, "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation; the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." And the apostle had a deep sense of the power of temptation over him, when he represented the contention of flesh and spirit. He writes in his letter to the Romans, "For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law, that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members."

Human nature is the same now as it was in the days of Paul. There are in man the same evils to meet, the same passions to encounter and subdue, the same temptations to resist, and the same watchfulness to be practised. The same advice, and the same description of the works of the flesh and the Spirit as were written to the Galatian Christians, will apply to us at the present day. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that

ye would. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which, I tell you before, as I have told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance against such there is no law. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

In order, therefore, to walk after the Spirit and to fulfil its righteous law, we must prepare ourselves for the conflict, and enter upon it with full purpose of heart to be conquerors and more than conquerors through him who loved us," and who gave us the direction to spiritual enjoyment and peace.

In the direction of our Lord, the duties of watchfulness and prayer are connected. There are those who watch, but neglect prayer. There are many who pray much, and watch but little or none.

Prayer alone will not answer.

Each course is wrong.
Watchfulness alone will

not. They must be united. As we propose to treat of each in the present chapter, we will first consider the duty of WATCHfulness.

The true believer is called upon to act where thousands of opposing influences are in operation. He cannot shut himself out of this world, and yet be a member of its society. He must sustain certain relationships; must be bound to others, and have others bound to him. In his intercourse with the multitude, he must feel the power of that multitude acting upon him, whether it be agreeable

to him or not. And it is necessary that he know and understand himself; that he be ready on all occasions, in all emergencies; that he may act as a child of God, a brother to every man, an heir of immortality. If we could always keep where the world would not act upon us; away from its strife and tumult; holding intercourse with God in some holy solitude of nature; in some favorite retreat, some consecrated apartment, and there live in cheering hope and faith; moved by prayer and sacred aspirations, and rejoicing in the bliss of heavenly devotion; then we might not so much need the exercise of a watchful heart. But secret devotional enjoyment, undisturbed, is not our portion. We must descend from this mount of rapturous adoration; dismiss for a while these ecstasies; come out of this solitude, and take our stand with the great world, and hear its clamors, and feel its jostle, and rush onward, and go with it ourselves. And here we must encounter many influences averse to devotion; influences calling on us to indulge and pamper the animal propensities, and to live according to the senses, fast and freely. In the midst of all these counter currents, we must move straight onward; with all these temptations around us, we must keep our hearts and hands pure. And is it not plainly seen, that he who would do this, must constantly watch his own spirit? Can it be possible to live as we ought, if our eyes are not open, and all our powers in array against the forces of sin? With what propriety, then, is the duty of watching enforced in the New Testament.

One great reason why we should be continually watchful is, that religion is a progressive work in the soul. It is not a mere rapture, a transport, a flash of feeling, a fire