and be ready, whenever he calls thee, to enter in with him into his perfect rest.

Thus the first table duties are kept. By the teaching of the Holy Spirit they become gospel privileges. When he makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus, then we take the Three in Jehovah to be our God. We know our Father in Christ, believe in him and love him. We will have no other Gods, but him. We give his honour to none, his name to none, our time and heartservice to none, but him. His love made known to us, engages our affections, and puts us upon seeking fellowship with him in all appointed ways. Yea, the more

we know of his perfect love to us, the more we are disposed to love him, and to witness it in every thing we do. It becomes our study to walk before him in all well pleasing; for we find it our happiness. Whether we eat or drink, rise up, or lie down to rest, follow our worldly calling, or have any dealings with men, we endeavour to do all in faith. This makes the common things of life spiritual actions: because in them we maintain intercourse with God. This is indeed the heavenly temper of the children of the most High. They seek the presence and the blessings of their Father in Jesus in all they do. They are taught to live in a simple dependence upon him. They acknowledge this dependence by looking up to him for every thing needful, and having received it by giving him all his glory. Then they are returned in heart and life to that God, from whom they had departed by unbelief.

Most blessed return: For now the old sinful nature with its affections and lusts is pardoned, and thereby they have lost their dominion. They have no right to exercise their tyranny any longer. The base selfish tempers, which rendered a man a plague to others, and often a burden to himself, are dethroned. The pardoning them is subduing them. These always go together. They kept the understanding in darkness, but now it is light in the Lord. They blinded the conscience and made it insensible, but now it has seen its guilt, and

has found peace with God. The heart was engaged in their service, but now God has set up his throne in it, and sweetly rules over the affections. Thus a free pardon brings a man into liberty. He ceases to be a slave to his selfish tempers. A full pardon brings him full victory over them; for then he has the blood of Jesus to cleanse him from all sin, and the Spirit of Jesus to subdue all sin. He is taken into the protection of Christ, and is his free-man. None shall make him a slave. The Spirit of Christ rules in him, and makes him willing to live under the reign of grace: He dwells and abides with him to preserve in his heart the love of God, and to produce in it the proper fruits of that love towards men. Thus he brings the sinner to love thee

DUTIES OF THE SECOND TABLE, which our Lord has summed up in one sentence. "Thou shalt love thy "neighbour as thyself." This love was lost at the fall. Nothing is in mankind by nature but selfishness. He is a slave to divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Every age has felt this malady, and complained of it. But no human means have been able to remedy it. Fine systems of ethics, and beautiful plans of natural religion have been tried; the aid of strong reasoning, assisted with the forces of logic and metaphysics, has been called in, but all in vain. Selfish tempers broke through their cobweb arguments, and sported with their imaginary bonds. Sometimes they polished the outside a little, and made a man a courtier: he looked, and smiled, and seemed to love; but they did not reach his heart. This is the prerogative of the Lord God. He only, who made us creatures, can make us new creatures. And until we are new born of God, we have every thing in us opposite to brotherly love. But when we are born of the Spirit, then we are taught of him to love one another. He teaches it, and he enforces it. His lessons are entirely practical. He not only informs the understanding, but also influences the affections. Having disposed and enabled the heart to love God, he evidences

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the power of this divine love by its genuine fruits towards men. These are inseparable from their cause. Divine love is never without brotherly love; for so far as the love of God is felt, it produces loving tempers. It opens and enlarges the heart, as the warm beams of the sun open and expand the flowers. The agency, which performs this, is almighty. The Holy Spirit having begotten the new nature writes upon it the law of love. He keeps it willing to resist, and makes it able to overcome the selfish tempers of the old man. The apostle Peter has given us a delightful description of the manner of the divine proceeding herein, 1 Pet. i. 21, 22, 23. "Christ was manifest in those last "times for you, who by him do believe in God, that "raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, "that your faith and hope might be in God: seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the bre"thren, see that another with a pure love ye heart "fervently; being born again, not of corruptible seed, "but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth " and abideth for ever." The Christians to whom he writes were partakers of the new birth, they were born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. The Holy Spirit was the author of their regeneration. The word of truth was the means, which he made use of, they obey the truth through the Spirit. By believing it they were begotten again to a lively faith and hope in God. They evidenced their love to him by their unfeigned love of the brethren; they love him that begat, and loved those also that were begotten of him. From whence it appears, that the love of the brethren is not in the heart by nature, but is from the grace of the Holy Spirit. He gives a new heart, and he sheds abroad in it the love of God, which by his influence works mightily in opposing and overcoming our selfish tempers, and in establishing the practice of second table duties. These spring from divine love. The Holy Spirit joins them together, as the cause and the effect.

He teaches no man to love God without teaching him also to love the brethren. He rains and shines upon the tree of love: under his cultivation it thrives: He brings forth the sweet and loving tempers of the new man, and they bear fruit abundantly. And blessed fruit it is: for God has great glory from it, and men much good. Love thinketh, speaketh, and doeth no evil. Yea, it cannot be in the heart, without a desire to do good to all men, especially unto them that are of the household of faith-to do good to their bodies and souls-to give honour to whom honour is due-to preserve their lives-their property-their chastity-their good name-to bear no false witness, but always to speak the truth of them-and to covet none of their blessings, either spiritual or temporal. This is morality-christian morality-for it is learnt no where but in the school of Christ. What his Spirit teaches, he enables also to perform, which moral persuasion cannot. He gives a will and a power to put off the selfish tempers of the old man, and to put on the loving graces of the new man: these graces he preserves by his almighty agency, and calls them into daily practice, through faith working by love-love to God from a sense of his infinite goodness and love to man for God's sake. Thus the second table duties, when done out of gratitude to God for his infinite mercies, help the believer on in his walk heavenwards, and are the means of maintaining constant fellowship with his God.

Is this, O my soul, thy happy experience? Examine carefully. What are thy tempers? What is thy practice, with respect to loving thy neighbour as thyself? There is great complaint in the world of the want of brotherly love. And no wonder. It cannot be in them, who are wholly lovers of themselves. But may not the same complaint be taken up of the household and family of faith? Are not the children of the same Father deficient in brotherly love? Yes, they are. Too, too often they live below their privilege, and thereby bring great dishonour upon God, and give great offence

to men. Be humbled, O my soul, for thine own failing. Remember, what reason thou hast to mourn for the infirmities of thy love-how barren it is in its proper fruits-how cold, when it should be fervent-how pol luted, when it should be pure-how covetous, when it should be liberal. Hast thou duly attended to the cause of this, and does it grieve thee to thy heart? Wouldst thou be saved from self-love, and increase in brotherly love, yet more and more? Since this is thy case meditate carefully upon what is promised, and pray earnestly for what is provided, for the subduing of those tempers which are enemies to brotherly love, and which, if not subdued, will hinder thee from enjoying the love. of God in thy walk with him.

First, Consider thy state. Thou art a pardoned sinner, not under the law, but under grace-freely, fully saved from the guilt of all thy sins. There is none to condemn, God having justified thee.

He sees thee in

his Son, washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness; and he embraces him and thee, the head and the members with the same affection.

Secondly, Consider what is promised to them who are in Christ. Sin shall not have dominion over them. Pardoned sin shall not reign. It cannot, for it is dethroned. Thou art therefore free from its bondage. Stand fast in this liberty. Now the condemning power of sin is taken out of thy conscience, make use of the grace provided in Jesus to deliver thine heart from the love of it, and thy conversation from the slavish service of it. And remember this grace is almighty. Trust in it, and thou shalt be saved from the tyranny of every sin. Therefore,

Thirdly, Read the great charter of grace, and mark to what glorious privileges thou art entitled. Being saved from the guilt of all sin, and having a promise of being saved from the dominion of all sin, as the Lord'sfree-man, thou art by faith to claim thy birth-right and to enjoy it. Since Christ has given thee liberty to whom shouldst thou be a slave? Put off therefore the old man