Salvation, and its Courts of Praise, and its Mansions of Blessedness to the true Believers. To his Corinthian Correspondents the Apostle addresses himself in the same endearing character of Father, claiming that Relationship against ten thousand Teachers, as having in CHRIST JESUS begotten them through The Gospel-1 Cor. iv. 15.-In his Letter to the Romans, in the ninth chapter, the Apostle uses the same course of reasoning, distinguishing between, though only to unite, the Heirs of The DIVINE Promise of Endless Blessedness, and Such as, having the like faith in CHRIST, The SON of GOD, should be in Spirit Abraham's Seed.- -In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Contrast between the Delivery of the Law and the Dispensation of The Gospel is magnificently drawn. Ye are not come unto the Mount that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the Voice of Words, which Voice, they, that heard, entreated that the Word should not be Spoken to them any more, (for they could not endure That Which was Commanded; and if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart, and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake) but ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the City of The Living GOD, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable Company of Angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the First-Born, which are Written in Heaven, and to GOD The JUDGE of All, and to the Spirits of just Men Made perfect; and to JESUS, The MEDIATOR of the New Covenant, and to the Blood of Sprinkling, That Speaketh Better Things -In his address than that of Abel-Heb. xii. 18 to 24. See Deut. xxxiii. 2.at Antioch Paul declared, that by JESUS CHRIST All, who believe in Him, are Justified from all things, from which they cannot be Justified by the Law -St. Paul characterizes the New Jerusalem as of Moses-Acts xiii. 38, 39.the Mother of us all; and the Revelation made to St. John Represents It as Coming down from GOD out of Heaven, Prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband-Rev. xxi. 2, 10.—The Quotation from Isaiah is slightly varied from our Biblical translation of the Original, which is thus worded, Sing, O Barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with Child for more are the Children of the Desolate than the Children of the Married Wife, Saith The LORD-Isaiah liv. 1.— The Spirit, however, of the passage is sufficiently preserved, and this is what So Peter in his Address says, Ye are Paul sought to impress by the reference. the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant, Which GOD Made with And in thy Seed shall All the Kindreds our Fathers, Saying unto Abraham, of the Earth be Blessed.' Unto you first GOD, having Raised up His SON JESUS, Sent Him to Bless you, in Turning away every One of you from his iniquities-Acts iii. 25, 26.- -The persecution of Jacob by Esau would have been unto death, had not Time and Distance under PROVIDENCE concurred to prevent it; and by his flight Jacob lost, and virtually surrendered unto Esau all the temporal estate of their Father Isaac. To His Disciples our SAVIOUR Said, If ye were of the World, the World would love his own; but because ye are not of the World, but I have Chosen you out of the World, therefore the World hateth you; and if the World hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you-John xv. 19, 18. But the hatred of the World will die with itit cannot persecute beyond the grave--the Spirits of the Faithful there are free to take their Rest, and to take It in the Bosom of their SAVIOUR and their GOD.

CHAPTER V.

VERSES 1 to 4-Stand fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith CHRIST hath made us Free! and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage! Behold I, Paul, say unto you, that, if ye be circumcised, CHRIST shall Profit you nothing. For I testify again to every Man that is circumcised, that he is a Debtor to do the whole Law; CHRIST is Become of no Effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the Law; ye are fallen from Grace.

The Apostle then urges and encourages the unflinchingly adhering to that Absolution from the rigour of the ceremonial Law, which the Mediatorial Offering of CHRIST had in That All-Comprehending Sacrifice of Himself, by His Obedience in our Nature unto Holiness, and by His Fulfilling all Righteousness, Obtained for Such as had faith in the Equal Necessity and Sufficiency of That Atoning and Reconciling Intercession. And if such be the feeling of freedom from all other restraint than the pure love of CHRIST and of His Ways, and a desire to resemble Him, trusting to the Imparted Grace of The HOLY SPIRIT as the First-Fruits of That SAVIOUR's Intercession, to Uphold us therein, how should we guard against any the least inroads of Satan and of sin, lest we fall into the snare of Self-righteousness, or yield to the unhallowed allurements of sensuality, and so make shipwreck of a saving faithSee Ephes. vi. 14-See also John viii. 32, 36-Rom. vi, 18. In the stoutness of his zeal, and in the strength of his own feelings, Paul, indignant at the idea of CHRIST, Whom he consistently regarded as All in All, being Laid aside, or made Secondary only to the Observance of the Law, denounces the utter insufficiency of the whole ritual canon, characterised under the initiatory office of circumcision, for the Great and Invaluable Work of Regeneration and Sanctification, essential to be Wrought upon the Soul, to qualify it for Heavenly Communion. A dependance upon the Law, as the Means of Salvation, would only be justified in an unbroken performance of it; and one most material and prominent office in it, is to foreshadow the Advent and Superseding Qualities of The Incarnate SON of GOD. To reject CHRIST after the Full Manifestation of Him in The Gospel, is indeed to fall from Grace; and to what a depth and endless state of remorse and selfcondemnation and despair will such a fall sink the Immortal Soul, when brought at the Resurrection to the Judgment Bar of That CHRIST, into Whose Hand All Power will be Committed! In his Letter to the Romans the Apostle says, Israel, which followed after the Law of Righteousness, hath not attained to the Law of Righteousness; wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the Law-ix. 31, 32. Let us therefore adopt the admonition of the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, by looking diligently lest we fail of the Grace of GOD xii. 15.

Vensrs 5, 6-For we, through The SPIRIT, wait for the hope of Righteousness by faith; for in JESUS CHRIST neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith, which worketh by love.

Through the Illuminating Influence of The HOLY SPIRIT upon the heart and understanding, received into the Soul with gratitude and acknowledgment as of the Procurement of The SON of GOD, (in His Incarnate and Mediatorial Offering of Himself, as a Sacrifice and Oblation to DIVINE Justice, for the sins and degeneracy of Mankind, is it that the Soul cherishes a confiding hope of a Participation in The DIVINE Mercy, and a comforting assurance, that the Righteousness Exhibited by CHRIST will be Placed to its account, and work out for it the Exceedingly Great and Precious Reward of a Communion and Fellowship with the Saints in Light and Glory Everlasting, under the Gladdening and Hallowing Influence of The SUN of Righteousness. In this pious hope and confidence the faithful Soul puts forth unweariedly and unfailingly its powers and

energies, under the supplicated Guidance of The HOLY SPIRIT, to work the work which God hath Placed in its hands, whilst it is day, and ere the door of probation is closed upon it by the first death; the Love of CHRIST, in the continual contemplation Thereof, Sustaining it in all its labours and trials and difficulties, and Inducing a warmth of reverential affection towards Him, and an observance of His Precepts, which will glow in the faithful bosom, as long as the pulsation of life here keeps its action. For, as in his Epistle to the Romans the Apostle justly saith, The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory, Which shall be Revealed, when Delivered from the bondage of this World's corruption, into the glorious Liberty of the Children of GOD-Rom. viii. 18, 21, and see 25th verse. And, (as in his Admonition to Timothy, we should according to our degree and calling, Watch in all things, endure afflictions, finish our course, and keep the faith, that there may be Laid up for us a Crown of Righteousness, which The LORD, The Righteous JUDGE, shall Give at that day unto all them that love His Appearing2 Tim. iv. 5, 8.-On another occasion St. Paul wrote, Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but the keeping the Commandments of GOD-1 Cor. vii. 19.—In his opening Epistle to the Thessalonians he exults in their Christian character, as manifested in their work of faith, their labour of love, and their patience of hope in our LORD JESUS CHRIST, in the Sight of GOD and our FATHER-i. 1, 3. A course of pious practice we shall do well to follow, so proving our faith by our works; for as saith St. James, By works is faith made perfect-ii. 22.

VERSES 7 to 13.-Ye did run well; who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the Truth? This persuasion cometh not of Him, That Calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through The LORD, that ye will be none otherwise minded; but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, Brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the Cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, Brethren, ye have been called unto Liberty; only use not Liberty for an occasion to the flesh; but by love serve one another.

Having begun the Christian race in a right course, and yet not persevering therein, the Apostle asks his Correspondents, Who so unjustly and unkindly and unwisely interfered, by unhallowed influence, to divert a Progress towards the Goal to Truth and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption?' Such influence, the Apostle asserts, came not from The HOLY SPIRIT, Who, through JESUS CHRIST, had in Mercy and Love Called them to repentance and Salvation, by the Apostolic preaching and Gospel dispensation of Paul. Whoever had induced it, had operated to the deep prejudice of the justifiable prospects of Eternal Glory, Set before them by GOD's Chosen Messenger; and the admission of one such fatal error as they had yielded to, operated to the Spread of evil communication over the whole Spiritual Character. The Apostle, in the tenderness of his feeling towards them, and in the remembrance of their heart-prompted assent to his doctrine when with them, manifests a continuing trust, that they will not longer depart from the true and safe Way, That Leadeth unto Life Eternal; and he looks to the Discriminating Visitation of an Inflictive Judgment from The Omnipotent and Omniscient JEHOVAH upon Those, who, through the prejudice and obstinacy of Spiritual pride, had sought to withdraw them from the singleness and simplicity of the Truth, as It is in JESUS. If Paul had entertained regard to the Doctrine of Circumcision and the associated observance of all Jewish rites, he would have both preached and encouraged them, and in that event he would have been spared much at least of the suffering he had endured from the persecuting spirit of the Jewish Devotees to those rites, who insisted on them as the essentials of Religion and the perfection of right

eousness. And had Paul so lent himself to the Pharisaic prejudice, his preaching the Cross of CHRIST also, as an accessory doctrine, might not by Some have been regarded as an Offence against the Observers of the Mosaic Law, in the view, which was by Some taken of It. But impressed with the awful effect of a dereliction from The Gospel of CHRIST, in all Its Fulness and all Its Purity, the Apostle utters the wish, that Such as would pervert Others from the Only Sure. Way to Endless Peace and Glory through a vital faith in CHRIST JÉSUS, might be cut off in their generation, and thence be disabled from continuing a course of perversion so pernicious. The Apostle then in the expressed spirit of Brotherhood, recalls to the minds of the Converts the Glorious Liberty, which they owed to the Advent of CHRIST; so full of invaluable Privileges, that a heart and mind, wisely directed, and Spiritually Influenced, could wish for no more. And in so reminding them the Apostle, with the fervent desire to keep his Flock steadfast in the path of Holiness, and to direct their faith and practice aright, cautions them against any injudicious use of such inestimable Privileges, by abusing the Liberty and yielding to intemperate indulgence; on the contrary he entreats them to love as Brethren, and to let Brotherly love continue and abound as a becoming offering to CHRIST for the Heighth and Depth of His AllWondrous Love to them.- -The penetrating and pervading influence of leaven is used in the best sense by our SAVIOUR, where He Introduces it as characteristic of the All-Embracing Qualities of Heaven, when the Principles of Its Kingdom have real sway over the Human heart-Matt. xiii. 33-See I Cor. v. 6.

-A readiness to revenge all disobedience to the Law of CHRIST, not however with carnal weapons of violence, but with the Sword of The SPIRIT, was a principle with the Apostle as expounded in the 2 Cor. x. 4 to 6.Towards the conclusion of the Epistle under review the Apostle writes, As Many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the Cross of CHRIST-vi. 12. That Cross, Which, amidst the many attainments and many successful labours and arduous contests of the Apostle, was all his Glory, as Manifesting equally the Power of GOD and the Wisdom of GOD-See 1 Cor. i. 23, 24.- -The Liberty we have under The Gospel should be used with caution, lest an undue exercise of it seem presented to the eyes of Unbelievers, and lead superficial Observers to strengthen themselves in the approval of their own assumed freedom and indulgences, as though CHRIST's Atonement would Compensate for a perseverance in courses, which the pleasure-loving, or pride-feeding heart of Man rejoices in; but, as St. Peter admonishes, with well-doing we should put to silence the ignorance of foolish Men; as free, and not using our liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the Servants of GOD-1 Pet. ii. 15, 16.-See also 1 Cor. viii. 9.- -The Disciple, towards whom JESUS Manifested so Peculiar an Affection, and who so well knew what the Riches of That Love were, admonishes us to love in deed and in truth-adding after a succession of powerful reasoning and Apostolic exhortation, This is GOD's Commandment, that we should believe on the Name of His SON JESUS CHRIST, and love One Another, as He Gave us Commandment-1 John iii. 18, 23.

VERSES 14 to 18-For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself;' but if ye bite and devour One Another, take heed that ye be not consumed One of Another! 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; but if ye be Led of The SPIRIT, ye are not under the Law.

Love is the fulfilling of all relative duties, when guided and actuated by a truly Christian Spirit, whether in our Relationship to GOD, our Neighbour, or

Ourselves: it worketh no evil, but on the contrary is always, on every opportunity and under all circumstances, working or devising for good; the Love of CHRIST being the Exemplar continually Set up to view, and Operating as the Polar Star in the voyage through life. And this principle rises above every other feeling, and at once silences every earthly or sensual desire or impulse, not Sanctionable by DIVINE Rule. The injunction of the Apostle is, to regulate all our works and ways, our goings and our doings, by the supplicated Guidance of The HOLY SPIRIT, and by the application of the Revelation of The DIVINE Will, in the fulness of faith in the Regenerating Power of That Intercession Made for us by the Incarnation of The SON of GOD, and by His Exemplification, in our Nature, of the Perfection of Righteousness and the most Devoted Obedience unto Holiness. Consistency is called for, even in the World's estimate of character; if we profess to love CHRIST and to rest our belief and our hope in His Gospel, we should accordingly follow His Precepts, and obey His Injunctions. And as Love towards us individually, as well as to Human-Kind in general, was the uniformly Actuating Principle in the Great Mediatorial Work He Undertook on our behalf, so should love prevail in us towards our Fellow Mortals; and the especial manifestation of it, by seeking the advancement of Christian faith and practice, be the leading point in our own Lives and conversation: whilst bitterness and malice and evil-doing, speaking, or thinking, should be strenuously avoided, as utterly inconsistent not only with our own profession of a love for Him, Who Above All so Loved us, but also with our inward peace and real and lasting happiness. To yield to the evil propensities of an uncharitable heart, is to encourage the workings and devices of the same unsocial principle in others, and thus to counteract in them, as in ourselves, the Peace-Bearing Design of CHRIST's Coming; and amidst the conflict of such evil passions, in a ten-fold degree to increase our own discomfiture and distress. An unhesitating and thankful adoption and application of the Gracious Suggestions of The HOLY SPIRIT, as Conveyed to us in the Still Small but Intelligible Voice of Conscience, or in the Words of Revelation, will at once effectually Fortify us against the inroads of Satan's malice and wickedness and subtilty, and preserve to us the privilege and the joy of a peaceful and approving reflection, stamping upon our hearts the unspeakable consolation of an assured Continuance of DIVINE Love. There is no union between CHRIST and Belial-the rejection of the Guidance of The HOLY SPIRIT is at once an abandonment of ourselves to the Spirit of Evil, and a surrender to the base passions and prejudices and unhallowed inclinations of an unregenerated Nature. But the adoption and habitual use and exercise of DIVINE Grace Offered to us, and Imparted through the Wonder-Working Love of CHRIST, The Only SON of GOD, on our behalf, will Lead us onward through all of this Life's course in the possession of the most unruffled Peace, and in the unfading Prospect of Eventual Glory in Immortality.Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself, was the Injunction of JEHOVAH to the Israelites through the Prophet Moses-Lev. xix. 18. But the Measure of this love is immensely increased, when the Love of CHRIST towards us is considered as the New Standard of it under The Gospel Admonition: Our SAVIOUR in His Answer to the Pharisaic Lawyer's inquiry as to What was the great Commandment in the Law? Said, Thou shalt love The LORD, thy GOD, with all thy heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy mind.' This is the First and Great Commandment; and the Second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself! On these Two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets-Matt. xxii. 36 to 40. So St. James, If ye fulfil the Royal Law, according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself!' ye do well-ii. 8.-The Righteousness of the Law, St. Paul elsewhere says, is