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is called a grace-I am sure it deserves the name, not only for its origin, but for its carriage and behaviour.

Lastly. This will make the service more efficient. It will constantly excite us, and we shall think we have done nothing while any thing remains to be done. For love is generous; it does not stand conditioning. It will not be stinted by rules, and set measures; it does not want urgings and excitements, like reluctance and taskings. The person influenced by love, cannot, without shame, sit and enjoy the luxuries of his table, while Penury and Distress are his nextdoor neighbours. He cannot go out of his road to preserve his sensibility from being shocked at the sight of a bleeding traveller. He will let his eye affect his heart. He will not say to the hungry and naked, Be ye warmed, and be ye fed, while he gives them not such things as are needful. He will give, to his power; yea, and beyond his power-if some were to judge. He will not incapacitate himself for beneficence, by indulging extravagance of any kind. He will labour with his own hands, and guide his affairs with discretion, to increase his means. will not grow weary in well-doing; and when he meets with instances of ingratitude, though he will lament the depravity, he will not suffer them to justify illiberality.

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"All this is trying and difficult." It is. And therefore love is necessary-"By love serve one another."

This sweet little verse, if universally acted upon, would immediately turn this earth into a paradise"Owe no man," therefore, "any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another, hath fulfilled the Law"- and the Gospel too: for "the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned."

- You know the grace of our Lord Jesus ChristHow did He-in the face of our unworthiness-and

foreseeing our sad returns-how did he-look at Bethlehem, and Calvary-how did he, by love, serve us? Be ye, therefore, followers of God, as dear children: and walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour.

MARCH 13. "When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." Deut. xx. 1.

ISRAEL was now a camp, rather than a nation. Though Canaan was given them, they were to take and defend it by force of arms. Hitherto they had seen little of war, having had only a few brushes in their journey with inferior adversaries. But things would soon become more serious; and they would see horses, and chariots, and a people more than themselves. Hence they would be liable to alarm; and it was necessary for them to know what they had to embolden them. Moses therefore admonishes and encourages them; and both the admonition and the encouragement will apply to ourselves.

Religion is a state of conflict. All Christians are soldiers. They wage, indeed, a good warfare. It will bear examination. Every thing commends it; and every thing requires it-it is not only a just, but a necessary war-all that is valuable is at stakeand we must conquer or die. But it is a trying warfare. It continues through every season, and in every condition. It is here admitted, that the forces of their enemies may be very superior to their own, in number, wisdom, vigilance, and might.

Hence the danger of apprehension and alarm. And fortitude is the virtue of a warrior; and none needs it more than the man who wrestles with all the powers of darkness. And none has more grounds for courageousness than he. If he considers his foes and himself only, his confidence must fail him: but he has something else to consider

First, The Divine presence: "For the Lord thy God is with thee." And, "How many," said Antigonas to his troops, dismayed at the numbers of the foe; "How many do you reckon me for ?" But God is all-wise and almighty. Nothing is too hard for the Lord-and if He be with us, "they that be with us are more than they that be with them""Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world."

Secondly, His agency: "Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." This, to the Jew, was not only a proof, but a pledge: it not only shewed what he could do, but was a voucher for what he would do. For He is always the same: and will not suffer what he has done to be undone. It would have been strange, after opening them a passage through the sea, to have drowned them in Jordan. What would he have done for his great Name, after placing himself at their head to lead them to the Land of Promise, if he had suffered them to be overcome by the way? He who begins the good work, is not only able to finish, but begins it for the very purpose. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

"Grace will complete what grace begins,
"To save from sorrows or from sins:

"The work that Wisdom undertakes,

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Eternal Mercy ne'er forsakes."

MARCH 14.-" That I may win Christ."

Phil. iii. 8.

Is this the language of Paul? Is he the candidate for Christ? How well might he say, that in the subjects of Divine Grace, old things are passed away, and all things are become new! What a change must have taken place in his own experience! Compare the man with himself. Now a blasphemer of the Name of Jesus-and now asking, at his feet, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Now persecuting his followers-and now preaching the faith that once he destroyed. Now living a Pharisee, and boasting of his Jewish privileges and attainments-now saying, What things were gain to me, these I count loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung-that I may win Christ.

But had he not won him already? Yes, for many years he had known, and served, and enjoyed him. But intense affection makes us think that we are never sure enough of the object. Intense delight in any good makes us long after more fruition. There is this difference between a convinced sinner, and an experienced believer in Christ: the former desires only from a sense of want; the latter desires also, from the relish of the enjoyment. For he has tasted that the Lord is gracious. And hence he the more earnestly cries, Lord, evermore give me this bread. Taste provokes appetite. Advancement, by increasing knowledge, and improving skill, produces humility and dissatisfaction. Hence the nearer any one approaches completeness in any thing, the more easily he discerns, and the more mortifyingly he feels, his remaining deficiencies. And no wonder, therefore, the Apostle should here say, "I have not attained, I am not already perfect:" for here, so

immense is the blessing, that what is possessed will never bear a comparison with what remains and as the object is infinite, and the faculty finite, there will always be a possibility of addition; and the happiness derivable from the Saviour will not only be eternal, but eternally increasing.

But is this prize attainable by us? How is He placed before us in the Scripture? Is he exhibited only to our view-or proposed to our hope? Are not all allowed, invited, commanded to seek him? And all without exception? And could any be condemned for rejecting him, if he was not placed within their reach?

But what is necessary to make him our own? Not desert. Witness the characters of those who are encouraged to hope in him: He came to seek and to save that which was lost; He died for the ungodly. Indeed, if any meritorious qualifications were to be possessed, or conditions to be performed, in order to our obtaining him, our case would be desperate.

But desire is necessary. Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find. Warrant is one thing, disposition is another: unless we are convinced of our need of him, we cannot long after him; and unless we value him, the blessing could not gratify and content us, if acquired.

Sacrifice is therefore needful; and when the desire is supremely urgent and active, and nothing can be a substitute for the object, we shall be ready to part with whatever stands in competition with him. Hence we read in the Scripture, of selling all to buy the pearl of great price. Buying, here, does not signify giving an equivalent for him-who could think of this? But, as in buying, something is parted with for the purpose; so it is here. And whether it be the pride of reason, or self-righteousness, or our worldly connexions and interests, or our sins, that keep us back from him, we must

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