knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."

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5. The prayers dictated by Christ aim at the same result. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through thy word; that they all may be one in us. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me." If the will of God should be done, if Christ should dwell in believers as the Father dwells in him, agreeably to this prayer, would they not be perfect in love?

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6. The attainability of this blessing is evident, also, from the prayers of inspired men. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect in all the will of God." "Now the God of peace, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ."

7. Some of old did attain the blessing. St. Paul says of himself: "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which

I now live in the flesh, I live by faith on the Son of God." "Ye are our witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and unblamably, we behaved ourselves among you that believe." St. John, the loving disciple, was evidently an example of Christian perfection. Speaking from experi ence, no doubt, he declared: "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world." "There is no

fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear."

If this doctrine has created some prejudices against us, if it has occasioned some of our members at times to be extravagant in word or deed, and thus brought upon us undeserved trials and reproach, it has, on the whole, been an infinite blessing. The church has enjoyed more religion. than she would have done under different views, though, in common with others, she has fallen far below her own standard. There has never been a time when we have been without witnesses to this glorious truth; and these witnesses, where they are consistent and reputable, are the moral strength of the church. They have sustained our prayer, class, and other meetings; have spoken when others were silent, believed when they doubted, and have held on when their brethren were discouraged and gave up in despair. Long may such characters grace our assemblies, and exemplify the truth as it is in Jesus.

CHAPTER VII.

PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.

Ignorance is

ERROR, like some fruit, grows in clusters. contented to stand alone, with her back to the truth; but error is more active, and stumbles on in the direction she looks. Thus Calvin, having embraced the doctrine of par ticular election, found it necessary, to be consistent, to assume that of the infallible perseverance of the saints; that is, that those whom God has elected, called, and renewed, cannot so far fall from grace as to perish everlastingly. This is regarded by Calvinists as a very precious doctrine, and held with the greatest tenacity.

But Methodists have ever viewed it as a deduction from false premises, without Scripture authority, and, therefore, not to be countenanced. We do not deny that every converted soul may and ought to persevere to the end, but rather that every one does so. In our opinion, the argument is against it; for,

1. Thus saith the Lord, "When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." He immediately adds, to show that the death named is eternal, and not temporal: "When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them, [tempo

rally,] for his iniquity that he hath done, he shall die," [eter nally.] The whole scope of the chapter seems to aim at the same point, viz., to prove that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die," and this does not mean the body, certainly, for that will die whether we sin or not.

"When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live; if he trust in his own righteousness and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for the iniquity that he hath committed, shall he die." Ezek. xxxiii. 13. What could be more explicit? And how strange does such language sound in connection with that which avers, that one who has been made truly righteous, can no more die in his sins than God's word can fail. 2. The testimony of Christ is to the same effect. that endureth to the end shall be saved."

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"He

Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see

death." John viii. 51.

Father is the husbandman.

"I am the true vine, and my

Every branch in me that bear"If a man abide not in

eth not fruit, he taketh it away."

me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." John xv. 1, 6. Do these announcements indicate nothing? Does Christ mean to be understood, after all, that his disciples can never prove fruitless or neglect his sayings, so as to be taken away, and cast into the fire?

3. The apostles testify to the same thing. St. Paul had no doubt of Timothy's piety, and yet he exhorted him: "War a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme."1 Tim. i. 18, 19. Of Alexander he after

wards says,

"he did me much evil.

The Lord shall reward

him according to his works."-2 Tim. iv. 14. He exhorts the Romans, "Be not high-minded, but fear; if God spared not the natural brar.ches, take heed lest he spare not thee. Behold the goodness and severity of God! On them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise thou shalt be cut off.". Chapter x. 20, 22.

Another apostle says: "If, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein. and overcome, [a contingency which all admit to be possible,] the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them."- 2 Peter, ii. 20, 21.

In the epistle to the Hebrews we read, "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." --vi. 4, 6. And, "the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."-x. 38.

We make no comments upon these Scriptures, because they need none. They speak for themselves; and any man, not blinded by a creed he is anxious to support, need not err therein. Nor can the most acute reasoner so explain them as to destroy their testimony against the dogma of infallible "perseverance." And yet they are but a small part of the passages of similar import that might be adduced.

In perfect agreement with these announcements, is the ar gument to be derived from free agency. If men are free