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quire, in the end, the greatest consistency of character; exhibit the humblest life; enjoy most of the love of God shed abroad in their hearts;" are least moved by temptations, least unsettled about points of debate and idle speculation, least dependent upon themselves, and least shaken from their faith and adherence to their Saviour. While, therefore, those whose religious advantages are great have much to be thankful for, and much to answer for; those whose advantages are more scanty have no cause for despair. As is their trial, so shall be their strength; for he who wrought in the youthful Abijah some good thing towards his name, will never forsake any, however unfavourably circumstanced, who put their trust in him, and endeavour to walk in the ways of his commandments.

But still more powerfully does the example of this youthful servant of God appeal to those who, with every Christian privilege profusely heaped upon them, are still careless and unrepentant. How much will those have to give an account for, who have enjoyed the advantage of religious parents and instructors; who have heard the Scriptures read and explained from their childhood; who have attended the public worship of God; whose understanding is wellinformed respecting points of Christian faith and duty; and whose conscience bears a

powerful witness concerning what is evil and what is good; but who, with so much that is good around them, shew nothing good within them, no anxiety for the salvation of their souls, no love for God, no wish to keep his commandments. How tormenting will be their remorse, when, at the last day, they behold the son of the wicked and idolatrous Jeroboam placed on the right hand of the throne of God, and themselves, notwithstanding their religious ancestry and Christian privileges, stationed on the left! How will the servants of God, in every former age, rise up in judgment against the present generation; for when were the means of religious instruction so abundant? when was religious education so easily to be obtained? when was the word of God so cheaply accessible? when were the outward difficulties in the way of a religious course so few? We are eminently among those servants who know their Lord's will, and who, if they neglect to do it, will be beaten with many stripes. We cannot plead ignorance; we cannot plead want of invitation; the voice of mercy sounds in our ears, "Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die?" the offer of pardon is free; the way to the Father is open; the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin; the Holy Spirit is promised to all that ask him. How, then, shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?

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IT is a melancholy idea connected with every human good, that it is liable to change and decay. If we look at the works of God, they are fixed and durable: the same sun shines upon us which shone upon our forefathers: the same earth supports our steps that supported theirs; and, to a considerable extent, the rocks, and oceans, and rivers characterize the landscape of nature, which marked it in earlier times. Not so with man;-the place that knew him, soon knows him no more; change and uncertainty are inscribed on him, and on all his works; his noblest structures fade before the hand of time;-in a few years his boasted labours are forgotten, and cold oblivion closes the scene of all his achievements.

This perpetual change, this tendency to

desolation and decay, apply also to the human mind and character. Scarcely any person is the same long together. If we meet a friend after a few years' absence, we often discover his mind to be as much changed as his person. We left him, perhaps, kind and affectionate; we find him gradually become cold and selfish; we left him a hopeful and promising character; we find him deeply plunged in iniquity, and despising all that he once practised and approved or if we refer to his religious as well as his moral character, too often may we be ready to exclaim with the Apostle, in the words of the text, "Thou didst run well, who hath hindered thee that thou shouldst not obey the truth?" It is inexpressibly afflicting to the mind of the Christian to behold one who once appeared enlightened, and had tasted of the heavenly gift, and was partaker of the Holy Ghost, and had tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, thus falling away-turning from the simplicity of Christ, and giving heed to the seductions of Satan and the world.

Such appears to have been the painful experience of St. Paul, in the Epistle before us. He had probably founded, and certainly had been the instrument of building up, the Galatian church. The converts of that church had expressed for him the greatest affection and

attachment. They were willing, he himself remarks, to have plucked out their eyes, and to have given them to him. His ministry seemed powerful and prosperous among them, and had been the means of uniting them to him by the strongest ties of gratitude and affection. But let us mark the unhappy result which their want of Christian vigilance shortly produced. Scarcely had he left them when new teachers crept in, perverting their faith, and urging them to rely, at least in part, upon the Law of Moses for justification before God. No error could be more contrary to the Apostle's ministry; none more fatal to their own souls. St. Paul, therefore, employs this Epistle expressly to bring them back, by the grace of God, to the faith which they had deserted. With this object in view, he reproves, he instructs, he corrects, he invites them by various arguments and persuasions. He affectionately demands who it was, to use his own strong language, that had bewitched them that they should not obey the truth. He reminds them of their former joy and peace in believing, and of their once exemplary and consistent conduct. In short, he leaves no topic unnoticed that might convince their understanding or win their hearts.

Now, considering that the case of these Galatians is not a solitary instance, but one of

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