your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." "Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness, IN THE FEAR OF GOD”2 "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles; that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may, by your good works, which they shall behold, GLORIFY GOD IN THE DAY OF VISITATION." "3 Such is the view which the Scriptures give of the exalted end sought in the holy demeanour of a christian. Take this end away, and our morality is degraded, beggared, and jeopardized. It wants worth, dignity, motive, and security. It may seem fair and inviting to the eye, but it is frail and treacherous. Morality without God resembles a vessel, convenient and pleasant, it may be, sailing for the present upon an untroubled sea, and beneath a serene sky, but under no authorized command, without competent management, and destined to no port. What but disaster can await it? Its crew will mutiny or starve: itself will founder or become a wreck.

V. God's glory is to be sought in our demeanour in circumstances of adversity and affliction. One

1 Cor. vi. 19. 2 2 Cor. vi. 17. 18. vii. 1. 31 Pet. ii. 12.

great peculiarity of God's entire system in the management of our world, is to educe good from evil, and to make the ills and disasters of man subserve his own designs of wisdom, righteousness and goodness. He has launched his scheme of glory upon the troubled sea of human sorrow, and makes every wave to help and every blast to favour its course. He demands our acquiescence in this arrangement; and a christian falls in with it, and is willing to come under its operation. He would not be excluded from this system of wise, and perfect, and salutary discipline. He glories in the great purposes to be accomplished, and is disposed to leave the modes of working out those designs to Infinite Wisdom. He feels assured that methods, however dark and severe, cannot be wrong, which are to issue so righteously; nor unkind, however painful, which are to end so benevolently; nor needless, however perplexing, which are to result so gloriously. And these persuasions are more than cold and untried notions. They are gathered by experiment. It is in pain, in loss, in disappointment, in bereavement, in destitution, he has learned to say, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good," "Even so Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight," I was still, for thou didst it," "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." Then do we indeed glorify God, when in the depths of sorrow, we can still believe, and trust and love; when we do not barely submit, but cheerfully rest and even rejoice in the divine government; when, instead of dissatisfaction and repining, and revolt, we readily "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God," and cherish

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a meek, subdued, contrite and filial spirit. This aim will appear in a christian's anticipation of affliction. Looking upon it as a sort of theatre on which Providence is about to place him to shew his regard for God, he will study to demean himself worthily. Anxiously will he desire as the day approaches, to "arm himself with the same mind," which marked his suffering Lord. During the afflictive season also, these are the anxieties which occupy his mind. He watches, and prays, and strives, lest he should dishonour God by impatience, fretfulness, unworthy suspicions and surmises, unbecoming fears, or unfilial distrust. And the same principle will mingle itself with the relief and gladness of freedom or recovery. If he has reason to believe that he has been strengthened to glorify God in the fires," he will rejoice in the tribulations through which he has passed. will bless the hand that inflicted them, and count them among his treasures. The review of seasons of affliction and of interpositions of mercy for its removal or mitigation, contributes to the same high end. Devout acknowledgement and fervent praise tend to bring about the divine design : • Thou shalt call upon me in the day of trouble. and I will answer thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Never does the aim to glorify God appear in greater strength or beauty, than when it remains steady and grows brighter in the extremes of human endurance. "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." 66 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield

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* Job xiii 15.

He

no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stall: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."1 "When heart and flesh shall fail, thou shalt be the strength of my heart, and my portion for

ever. "2

If in all suffering we may glorify God, how especially when we suffer for God! How truly do we honour him, when we can bear the loss of all things for him! When for his sake we can bear patiently, meekly and cheerfully, reproach, scorn, want, "the spoiling of our goods," exile, torture, imprisonment, loss of life! It is indeed a grand occasion of glorifying God; and how nobly improved by those who "rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ." Upon the great end to be attained by this christian endurance, how exalted were the maxims and instructions of these same men, and how fitly uttered by those who had so well exemplified them: "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part HE IS GLORIFIED. If any man suffer as a christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him GLORIFY GOD on this behalf."3

VI. In our general intercourse with others we should set the Lord always before us. The application of our principle will be easy, where the positive and Scriptural directions are clear and explicit. Here our course is plain. But the value of our great

1 Hab. iii. 17, 18.

Psa. lxxiii. 26.

31 Pet. iv. 14, 16.

rule is felt especially in cases which are sometimes thought to be doubtful, and which are left to the operation of holy principle, and the decisions of christian prudence and judgment. The question to be asked in such cases is, what will be most to the divine glory? Ordinarily it will not be difficult for a mind truly honest, and genuinely sensitive upon this point, to decide. And even if through infirmity of judgment, the individual makes either a fastidious, overscrupulous, and needlessly austere choice, on the one hand, or an ill-advised, and somewhat perilous compliance, short of positive evil, on the other; yet if the rule of doing all to the glory of God, be faithfully and closely applied, he is accepted, notwithstanding minor circumstantial incongruities.

When the question is, how far is it right to select irreligious persons, as my associates, and to enter into their recreations and amusements, I am to ask how far such society and engagements are likely to promote in me a state of mind acceptable to God? How far will they conduce to spirituality, devotion, lowliness of mind, tenderness of conscience, christian temper, circumspection and holy diligence? How far will they deprive me of company and engagements certainly calculated to promote these ends? How far will they interfere with the positive duties of religion and benevolence? How far can I seek the blessing of God upon them, enjoy God in them, and praise God for them? How far are the will and grace and ways of God likely to be recommended and promoted by this compliance? Can I speak freely to God about it? Does he smile upon it? Will he bless it?

In all cases where intercourse with the world is