the Son of God in his office, and have not yet entered upon the footsteps of his life? Does this seem to you a small matter?.... Paul advises his Timothy to the practice of Godliness, (1 Tim. iv. 7,) and we have no reason to doubt that Timothy was in the constant exercise of it.... Tell me, therefore, what kind of godliness do you practice? How do you hear the word of God? How do you reflect upon it in your hearts? How do you exercise yourselves in prayer? How do you quench the lusts of youth? How do you crucify your sinful flesh? How do you shew forth the Lord's death in the sacrament? How do you examine your consciences? Do all these things proceed from such a state of mind, and in such a way and manner from you, that you feel assured of being really amended and sanctified by them? Certainly, if we look at a student's life, such as is commonly led, even by students of divinity, we see no exercise in godliness, but rather in ungodliBut there may be some, who have renounced this gross outward worldly-mindedness-of such, I inquire, wherein consists your exercise of godliness? I am disgusted with the lukewarmness of the greater part, even of those who know the truth....

ness....

"Timothy's chief exercise, consisted according to the admonition of Paul, first of all, in making 'supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for all men.' Regard yourselves in this mirror, ye students of divinity, and remember that Luther has prescribed three things to you, as constituting a true divine—orationem, meditationem, et tentationem. Therefore prayer is the first thing. Is this your first and principal exercise? I say the truth; amongst a hundred students of divinity, scarcely one is to be

found, who possesses a correct knowledge of what constitutes true prayer, to say nothing of the constant and zealous exercise of it. Therefore, when once you are appointed to be teachers in the church of God, how will you spread forth your hands to the Lord, like Samuel, for the souls committed to your charge? If you continue thus, all your study of divinity is only as a man without a head; because you seek to learn everything, and still are not concerned how you may learn to pray aright.... I faithfully advise every student of divinity, daily to devote at least one hour exclusively, in which he may seek to abstract his mind from everything else, and to converse with God in humble reverence and devotion, by meditating upon his word, and especially by earnest and heartfelt prayer. The devil will soon throw something in the way to hinder it; but he must be resisted, and not allowed to gain a hair's breadth, until it be brought into a regular exercise, and pleasure and delight be found in it-nay, until the individual finds that a single hour is not enough for the purpose, but would gladly converse still longer with God....

"But Timothy also fled the lusts of youth, and followed after righteousness, faith, love, peace, &c. as Paul had commanded him, (2 Tim. ii. 22;) and we dare not doubt, but that this injunction to flee youthful lusts was only given him by way of affording him additional strength against them.... Oh how needful it is, that in this respect also you should place Timothy's example before you! There are indeed some, who occasionally give signs of a good inclination; but they refuse both to shun the former, and to follow after the latter, but wilfully plunge

into opportunities of exciting sinful lusts by useless amusements, bad or unedifying company, assumed liberty in words and works, excess in eating and drinking, the unrestrained cherishing of fleshly lusts which arise in their hearts, unprofitable conversation, by which the heart is inflamed to that which is evil, the perusal of ridiculous or even filthy and obscene books, &c. How is it possible for godliness ever to attain strength in one, who thus never seeks to resist that which is evil; or that a man should repel his enemy, whilst leaving every door and window open to him?

"Persons often complain of the little progress they make in religion; but no one ever failed to make progress who was really in earnest about it. But he that loves his own life and the lusts of the flesh more than Christ, is not worthy of him, nor is it any wonder that such a one cannot boast of the power of Christ....

"I have written to you as simply and plainly as it was possible for me to do; for you have teachers enough who only seek to make you learned by their writings; this is not my object; I only seek to render you pious-yet not I, but the grace of God which is in me, and by the power with which he accompanies the simple testimony of the truth. Try it therefore in simplicity; and if you find it in accordance with the word of God, pay no attention to the person of the speaker, or the mode of his address, but remember that God exhorts and admonishes you through me, and that you must give an account of it, not to me but to God, if you do not listen to the word, which you cannot, on rational grounds, controvert.

"If you will follow that, in which Timothy is set before you as a pattern, you will also easily obtain grace from God to choose a proper guide and teacher, to whom you may safely cleave. For nothing more is requisite for this purpose, than your own sincerity, your not making temporal and earthly, but eternal and heavenly things your aim, not seeking the mere knowledge of divine truth, but the power of true godliness, loving the word of God from your very heart, and daily searching therein for your edification, and daily seeking to amend your life according to it. But if you are so foolish as to let yourselves be deterred by the calumnies of the world, and do not desire to examine the truth for yourselves, nor entreat God to give you the spirit of discrimination -you make it evident, that you are not worthy of Christ.

"Observe, however, that the following things will always prevent you from attaining to the simple knowledge of the truth :

"1. When you suppose you must believe every thing your teachers say to you, without any examination.

"2. When you fix this as a principle within you, that what whole colleges reject, decry, and renounce, must necessarily be bad and worthless; and that what they call good, must necessarily be so.

"3. When you believe that what most men speak evil of, despise, ridicule, and scorn, must infallibly be a wicked, or at least a foolish and ridiculous affair, and that you need not hesitate to join in with them, and make a mock at it with others.

"4. When you gladly believe what is commonly related and mentioned, respecting what some par

ticular individual has spoken, done, or written, make it a subject of ridicule, and gladly tell it to others, in order to laugh with them over it. He that easily believes, particularly common trifling reports, will be also easily deceived.

"5. When you do not minutely try and examine every thing you read and hear, according to the word of God, whether it be so or not; when it has reference to some doctrinal point.

“6. When you even set light by the word of God, and read it only with dissatisfaction, and prefer studying the writings of men to the word of God.

“7. Or when you read writings merely on one side of the question, and do not desire to see what is written on the other, nor consider the matter closely ; especially

"8. When you delight in controversial writings which are acrimonious and bitter, and filled with revilings; but are unwilling to read others which seek to accomplish their purpose from good grounds, and without acrimony.

"9. When you are so presumptuous as to judge of persons whom you do not know, and whose writings you have never read.

"10. When you do not earnestly entreat of God the enlightening influences of his Holy Spirit, and yet venture to speak upon divine things.

"11. When you do not learn properly to know the tree by its fruits, according to the counsel of Christ, but seek to gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles.

"So long as your minds are obscured by these clouds, there is no hope that you will penetrate through them to regard the sun of truth in its beauty.