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church of Philadelphia, and remember that he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my Name."

JULY 5.-MORNING.

"Submit yourselves to God." JAMES iv. 7.

God is our Saviour. Under each of these willing to submit to

THIS is the great thing. This is the excellency, the essence, the proof, of religion. Our Lawgiver. Our Disposer. characters his people are made him in the day of his power. And nothing but the efficiency of divine grace can influence a man cordially to resign himself to God in all these relations.

We must submit ourselves to God, as a Saviour. Here our concern with him begins. And here it must begin. We are condemned; and the first thing is, to obtain deliverance. We are diseased and dying; and the first thing we want is the physician and the remedy. When, therefore, the Jews asked our Lord, What must we do that we may work the works of God? "This," said he, "is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." When the jailer asked Paul and Silas what he should do to be saved, they said unto him, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." God is a sovereign, at whose mercy we absc lutely lie. We have no claims upon him; and it is wonderful that he is disposed to undertake our case at all. But he requires us to submit; and never will

allow us to prescribe. He will have the entire management of our case, or he will have nothing to do with it. And it might be supposed that there would be no great difficulty here. But men are not sensible of their condition and danger; and there is much in the nature and manner of this salvation that is not palatable to the pride of the human heart. No court is paid to our reason: but we are required to trust in a plan concerning which we have never been consulted; and even to become fools that we may be wise. However decent and moral our character has been, we must be content to enter into life in the very same way with the chief of sinners. We must renounce our own righteousness, and plead for acceptance as guilty. We must depend on another for all our strength. We must acknowledge that all we have is from the exceeding riches of his grace; and be crying to the last, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake."

But to this every awakened and humble sinner is brought. And his submission is not the effect of necessity only. It is accompanied with acquiescence and approbation. He sees a consistency and an excellency in it that delight him, while they relieve. And though he knows there is no other way, yet if there were a thousand other ways, he would turn from them all, and say, God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We must submit ourselves to Him, as the Law. giver; and be willing to live, not to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. He is only the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

We cannot love Him till we hope in his mercy; nor run in the way of his commandments till we are freed from the load of guilt and terror-a burden too heavy for us to bear. But faith is followed by love; and love, by obedience. We are delivered from the hand of our enemies, says Zechariah; not to be lawless, but to serve Him, who has made us free, without fear, in holiness and righteousness, before him, all the days of our lives. Our obligations are infinitely increased by redeeming grace and dying love. And every believer feels them, and acknowledges that he is not his own; for he is bought with a price, and bound to glorify God in his body and in his spirit, which are God's. The love of sin, as well as the love of self, is subdued in him: and he gratefully asks, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me?" "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" "He finds his yoke easy. He accounts his service to be the truest freedom. He cannot, indeed, do the things which he would; and this is his grief: but he delights in the law of God after the inward man. He would not bring down the Divine commands to his deficiencies; but longs to rise to the level of their perfection. And though he is full of complaining, it is of the servant, and not of the Master -He always speaks well of his Name; and recommends him to others.

We must also submit to Him as our Disposer, and be willing that he should choose our inheritance for us. Man naturally loves independence: he wishes to be at his own control; and to have the management of events, both as they affect others and himself. Many, also, who talk much of the providence of God, are constantly striving with it. Hence they envy the

success of their fellow-creatures; and are discontented and repining when things do not fall out according to their mind. And, especially under their trials, they think God deals improperly with them: and so charge him foolishly or unkindly.

This temper is at least dethroned in the Christian: and he is disposed to say, "Here I am; let him do what seemeth him good." I am ignorant, and liable to be imposed upon: but He is all-wise; and, by not sparing his own Son for me, he has justified the impli cit confidence of my heart. Let him therefore determine the bounds of my habitation, and arrange all the events of my condition. If things are not such as I had wished and reckoned upon, I have no reason to complain. He has a right to do what he will with his own; and he always uses it in a way the most conducive to my welfare. How often have I desired him to undertake and act for me! And when he complies, is it for me to murmur, and dispute; or say unto him, What doest thou?

JULY 5.-EVENING.

"Exceeding great and precious promises." 2 PET. i. 4

Nor only "great," but "exceeding great, and precious"-Exceeding all example-exceeding all expression-exceeding all conception.

They are exceeding great in their contents. For what do these promises contain? or rather, what do they not contain? They are adapted, and they are adequate to all our woes, wants, and weaknesses. They include all things pertaining to life and godliness; time and eternity; grace and glory. Let me

make a selection, and judge of the whole by a part. Let me look at three of these promises-The first peculiarly the promise of the Old Testament-The second of the New-The third of both. The promised SEED. The promised SPIRIT. And the promised LAND. O my soul, let me dwell on each of these till I am filled with wonder; and constrained to exclaim, "O how great is the goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee, before the sons of men!"

They are exceeding precious in their estimation. This does not regard all to whom these promises are addressed; for many make light of them, and neglect so great salvation. But there are others in whose experience it is fully exemplified. The promises are exceeding precious in the esteem of awakened and convinced sinners. A sense of our wants is necessary, to render all our supplies desirable and gratifying. The full soul loathes the honeycomb: but to the hungry, every bitter thing is sweet. It is owing to this that many read and hear the word of God without impression; and that the invitations of the Gospel, instead of being attractive, are rather offensive, being by implication a kind of reflection, like the offer of pardon to the innocent, or of alms to the wealthy, or of liberty to those who say, we were never in bondage. But when we see and feel that we are in the condition the dispensation is designed to relieve, the tidings will be glad tidings; they will be like cold water to a thirsty soul; they will be the break of day to one that watches for the morning. When weary and heavy laden, how precious is the voice that cries, "I will give you rest!" I am lost, but here is a Saviour.

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