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been accomplished; and let it invigorate our prayers for the hastening that happy time, when the desolate shall enlarge the place of her tents, and stretch forth the curtains of her habitations; when she shall lengthen her cords, and strengthen her stakes; and, though long af flicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, she shall see her pavement of fair colours, and her foundations of sapphires; her windows shall be made of agates, and her gates of carbuncles. In the mean time, let us guard against the disingenuous temper of the son of the bond-woman, against every thing that may look like persecuting our brethren. It is much better, if such be the will of God, that we should suffer ill usage from them; staying our souls upon the promises of God, which shall all be assuredly accomplished in their season. Yet may all this meekness and gentleness be exercised, in full consistency with that generous care to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, which we owe to ourselves, our brethren, and our children; and indeed owe to the honour of our common Christianity, and to the regard we should express to him who hath broken the yoke from our shoulders; who cannot be pleased to see us voluntarily entangling ourselves with it anew, or meanly lying down under the oppressive hands of those who in the abuse of his sacred name would presume again to bind it upon us.

SECTION IX.

Further cautions against returning to Judaism, through the efforts of seducing teachers. Ch. v. 2-15.

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EHOLD, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, and depend on Jewish rites for justification, Christ shall profit 3 you nothing. And I testify again to every man among you who is 4 circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is

become of none effect to you, whosoever of you are seeking to be 5 justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we, through 6 the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in

Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncir7 cumcision, but faith which operateth by love. Ye did run well; 8 who hath hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion which you have entertained respecting the Law, cometh not from 9 him that called you, [but is a palpable and infectious error.] A little leaven leaveneth the whole mass.

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And now after what I have said, I have confidence in you, through the Lord, that ye will be no otherwise minded. Some will still try to prevent you, but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment [when I come] whosoever he be. Some such insin11 uate that I myself favour their principles. But I ask, and leave you to judge, my brethren, If I yet preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution from the Jews? If I agree with them, then 12 the offence of the cross is ceased. But so far from this, I could wish they were even cut off from church communion who disturb 13 you. Brethren, ye have been called to liberty; only abuse not

liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another : 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt 15 love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not destroyed by one another.

REFLECTIONS.

How awful is the supposition which the apostle makes, even with regard to those who had distinguished themselves by so zealous a profession; to those before whose eyes Christ had been evidently set forth as crucified, and who would once have been ready to have plucked out their own eyes for the minister that preached him to them; that he should speak of it with regard to such as a possible case, that on the whole Christ might profit them nothing! Let our souls dread the thought of being in the number of those to whom he should be thus unprofitable.-How heavy will our account be, and how dearly shall we pay for the amusements of the sublimest knowledge, or the most sanguine hopes we entertain, if this be the end of all!-That we may none of us be so unhappy, let us be very careful that we do not think of seeking justification by the law in such a manner as to fall from grace: but, as no right or title to it can be obtained but by an interest in Christ, let us through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness and life, by faith in him. May the blessed Spirit of God form and support in our minds such an hope; which if it be thus formed, will never make us ashamed. Let us be therefore animated by it; and if at first we have run well, let us always consider the dispatch we have made already in our Christian race, as an excitement to further vigour, rather than an encouragement to indolence and sloth. Let the Spirit which these and so many other parts of the New Testament breathe, teach us to moderate our zeal about circumcision and uncircumcision, about the rituals and externals of religion, and to cultivate more and more that faith which operates by love, and therefore will express itself by keeping the commandments of God. This will engage us, by the best and most generous principles, to serve one another in our truest interests, and to fulfil that royal law which is comprehended in this one important word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Surely we have not yet attained to perfection in this excellent grace; surely there is room for new attainments, even in the best. But O, how lamentably deficient are the generality of Christians! yea rather, how scandalously and how fatally hath the opposite principle prevailed! so that, instead of that mutual love, of which our gracious Redeemer was the great teacher and example, the contrary principle of hatred and malignity hath triumphed to such a degree, as to turn the church into a camp of warriors, or rather (as it may be called) into a theatre of wild beasts, where they have been worrying one another almost to death, yea in many instances biting und devouring one another, till they have actually been destroyed one by another. Let us take heed, after all the Christian and the Protestant interest hath suffered by these fatal divisions, that we do not catch the contagion, and bear our part in so common, yet so pernicious, a mischief. It is a spreading evil, and a little of this leaven often diffuses

itself over the whole mass, but nothing is more manifest than that it is a persuasion, which is so far from coming of him that called us, that it is indeed the most direct violation of his distinguishing precept.

Let us remember that the time will come, when he that troubleth the church, either in one way, by unscriptural impositions, to which the apostle here refers, or in another, by an unreasonable stiffness about things indifferent, will certainly bear his judgment, whosoever he be. Let us therefore rather choose to suffer persecution than to share in such guilt; and be continually praying for that divine wisdom which may teach us so to bear afflictions as not to increase the offence of the cross, and so to stand fast in our liberty as not to abuse it for an occasion to gratify those irregular passions, which, to whatever high original they may pretend, are indeed to be traced no higher than a carnal principle, and to be numbered among the works of the flesh.

SECTION X.

Exhortations to a conversation suitable to the dispensation of grace, particularly to purity, spirituality, and mutual love. Ch. v. 16, &c.

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UT effectually to guard you against every evil I say, Walk in 17 the Spirit, and ye will not fulfil the lust of the flesh. the flesh hath desires contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit hath desires contrary to the flesh and these are opposite to each other, 18 so that ye do not the things that ye would. But if ye be led by 19 the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh

are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, 20 lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, strifes, transports of 21 zeal, resentments, contentions, party-divisions, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; concerning which I now forewarn you, as I have also formerly declared, that they who practise such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 23 gentleness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, temperance; against 24 such things there is no law. And they who are Christ's have cru25 cified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the 26 Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be vain-glorious, provoking one another, envying one another.

REFLECTIONS.

Let us learn to consider this our mortal life as a state of warfare in which we are to be always struggling with enemies, with whom we are never to make either peace or truce; and since while we dwell in the body we shall still find the flesh lusting against the Spirit, let it be our constant concern, that the desires of the flesh may be opposed and mortified, and that the interests of the Spirit may be more and more advanced. And though the contrariety is such between them, that we cannot completely and continually do the things which we would, Let us in the main be led by the Spirit, and give up our rational and

governing powers more and more to its holy dictates, that we may not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; and though it still continues to solicit and disturb us, sin shall be kept from reigning in us.-We see what the works of the flesh are; which, if we really belong to Christ, we shall resolutely bind and crucify, with its affections and lusts. Let us endeavour more and more to subdue them, and learn (as it were) to use the instruments of his death most effectually to accomplish the death of sin; bringing the old man to be crucified with him, and nailing it to that cross to which he hath nailed that decree of death which in consequence of sin lay against us.

In opposition to that cursed train of irregular and malignant affections which are here described as the works of the flesh (the continued indulgence of which is absolutely inconsistent with our hope of inheriting the kingdom of God) let us cultivate those amiable dispositions of mind against which there is no law :' and may the spirit of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, the Spirit of faith, meekness, and temperance, work them more and more in our souls!How vain are the cares of the generality of men to adorn their bodies, to improve their estates, to advance their rank, while their minds remain neglected! Yea, how vain are all cares to cultivate the mind with science, when compared with the infinitely more important care of improving it in such habits of goodness, whereby we shall be brought to resemble God, and be fitted for ever to enjoy him! Let this be all our emulation, and in this let us place our glory; nor let us go about to provoke one another to any thing but this.

We profess to live in the Spirit of God, whose gracious influences are indeed the very life of our souls: let us make it our care also to walk in the Spirit, to regulate every action of our lives, every sentiment of our hearts, by a becoming regard to him; guarding solicitously against any thing that would grieve him, and encouraging those friendly offices of his whereby we may be trained up in a growing meetness for the society of the blessed spirits above; and for that world, where the flesh shall be laid aside, till all the seeds of corruption are worn out of its composition, and it be raised as pure as it shall be glorious in the image of that Saviour, whose discipline has taught us to seek the victory over it, and whose grace enables us to obtain it.

SECTION XI.

Practical exhortations continued, especially to mutual love, and zeal in doing good. Ch. vi. 1-10.

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RETHREN, if a man be through surprise overtaken in any fault, do ye who are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, whoever thou art, lest 2 thou also shouldest be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and 3 so fulfil the law of Christ. For if any one think himself to be ♦ something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let

every one try his own work, and then he shall have rejoicing* in 5 himself alone, and not in another. For every one shall bear his 6 own burden. Let him that is taught in the word, communicate 7 in all good things to the maintenance of him that teacheth. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, 8 that shall he also reap. So that he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall 9 of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, but especially to them who are of the household of faith.

REFLECTIONS.

These exhortations of the apostle cannot be expressed in more lively terms, and it is scarcely possible to represent them in clearer and plainer language. The great difficulty here, and in other such instances, is to bring our hearts to submit to what our understanding must so readily apprehend and approve. Let us earnestly pray that God would diffuse more of his Spirit on all professing Christians; that, beholding each other with undissembled and fervent love, every one may affectionately endeavour to advance the happiness of all; and, instead of severely censuring one another, let us endeavour mutual reformation by such exhortations and advices as different circumstances may require; doing all in the spirit of Christian meekness, and in an humble sense of our own infirmities. Let us pray that the law of Christ, the new commandment he has given us to love one another, may in all its extent be ever sacred to us, and that in consequence of the regard we owe to so benevolent a Master, there may be a constant readiness in us to assist each other under every burden, to relieve according to our ability every want, and to do good to all as we have opportunity, but especially to those of the household of faith; who, as belonging to that household, whatever their station or circumstance in life may be, ought to be dear to every member of the family.

Let us remember that there is as certain a connection between our conduct here and our state hereafter, as there is between the kind of grain sown and the harvest to be reaped from it. The generality, alas, are sowing to the flesh, and the harvest to such will be shame and corruption: but for our parts, let us sow to the Spirit liberally and largely, and have our fruit unto holiness, that we may thus inherit everlasting life. And when we are ready to faint, let us encourage ourselves and each other with the prospect of that blessed day, when, though the seed-time may be attended with tears, we shall come again rejoicing, bringing our sheaves of honour and joy with us. It is in due season, it is at the time God has wisely appointed, that we shall receive this reward of grace; let us wait for it, as we well may, with patience and humility. The day is coming when every one shall bear his own burden, and each of us shall answer for himself; that awful day, when every one shall reap the fruit of his own way, and shall receive according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Let us #66 Boasting." M.-" and not against his neighbour." W.

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