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ing of your joy; for by faith ye stand." preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants, for Jesus' sake."*

2. To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse, grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The general character of Christians is, that they are saints and faithful brethren in Christ, holy persons, sanctified by God the Father through his word and Spirit, set apart for himself as his peculiar treasure and property, publicly sealed as his by the grace of holy baptism, and living according to God's commandments; separated from the vanities and pollutions of the world.

The word saint is now a term of reproach; but let it be remembered that none but saints will enter a holy heaven, or see a holy God, or be declared interested in the holy salvation of Christ. When Scripture terms are ridiculed, the things intended by them are soon renounced also.

They are called brethren in Christ, being children of the same family, members of the same body, and born of the same Holy Spirit.

Thus they are all of them mystically in Christ; inserted into Him; interested in all his benefits; united to Him as the branches to the vine; protected and saved in Him, as Noah in the ark, and the manslayer in the city of his refuge.

*See note at the end of the lecture.

The duty to which these are called, and of which the apostle reminds them, is fidelity-the faithful brethren-thus tacitly distinguishing between the faithful and stedfast Christians at Colosse, and the doubtful, wavering, and unfaithful, of whom Epaphras had brought him word, and whom the arts of the seducers had too much shaken.

Let us examine ourselves whether we be really thus in Christ by faith, and whether we are indeed saints and faithful brethren in that holy fellowship.

A time of trial seems coming on—we know not what temptations and persecutions may assail us— men's minds are shaking as the reed with a mighty wind. Let us be "faithful unto death, that we receive the crown of life."

The salutation addressed to these Christians is in the form of a prayer, Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Grace is free favour, the undeserved act of the divine will towards man, a guilty sinner. By grace," saith the apostle, "ye are saved." Being justified freely by his grace." The word also is sometimes applied to those habitual graces which flow from the first unmerited act of mercy, and which God infuses for the sanctification of the soul. "To every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ."

Peace follows grace, reconciliation with God through the blood of Christ, the Prince of peace; peace of conscience, peace in the troubles and trials

of life, peace amidst persecutions and temptations, peace in the hour of death.

These blessings are to be implored from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; not from the saints, nor from the Virgin Mary, nor from the church or the priesthood; but from God our Father, who planned the design of salvation, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, who purchased all its blessings.

Observe here one proof, amongst a thousand others, of the proper divinity of Christ: to receive prayer is the peculiar prerogative of the one living and true God; and here prayer is equally addressed to Christ, as to our heavenly Father.

3. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.

Gratitude is one of the highest duties of the Christian. Charity interests us in the happiness of others, and this interest mounts up to God in gratitude, adoration, and praise. Whenever we hear of any good occurring to the body or soul of others, especially of those with whom we are connected, we should lift up our voices in thanksgiving to the Author of the blessing.

The apostle adds to the sacred name God the instructive and consoling title, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the one a name of awe and majesty, the other of tenderness and grace. As under the old Testament," the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob," was the name by which Jehovah in his

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covenant of mercy was pleased to make himself known, so, under the New Testament, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the old covenant was abolished and the new established in its place. God is now revealed to us "in Christ," and reconciling in Him the world unto Himself."

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Always praying for you. This marks the time and frequency of the apostle's thanksgiving, the season of prayer, which is the most solemn one for rendering thanks to God.

The frequency of his devotions is noted by the word always, that is, at all returning times, morning and evening, at noon-day, and other seasons, as occasion may require. So that though the apostle was not literally at every moment of the day engaged in solemn prayer, yet he was always in the spirit of prayer, and ready to enter upon it-it was his habit, his delight, his perpetually recurring practice.

Thanks to God for past benefits, is a good beginning for imploring others.

Do we pray always? Do our prayers constitute a substantial part and parcel of the duty of each day? Do we fix times, frequent times of prayer? Do we cultivate without ceasing the spirit of prayer? Do we give thanks for the good which is vouchsafed to others? Such questions as these we should often propose to ourselves. Without prayer there is no life in the soul. Without prayer there is no bond of union between a pastor and his flock. Without prayer no blessing can be expected from a God

whom we do not even ask to prosper us.

And acts

of gratitude are an essential branch of devotion. Without it no other part of prayer can be performed aright.

4. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints.

The cause of our gratitude to God for our neighbours and flocks should not so much be that God hath given them health, riches, success, fame, which may be all delusive dreams, and at best can protect neither from sickness nor death, nor the judgment that follows, but that God hath revealed Christ unto them.

Faith and love comprehend the greater part of practical Christianity. Faith is the commencement, love the completion; faith informs the understanding, love purifies the heart; the one is the light, the other the warmth of the soul; what the one believes as true, the other embraces as good.

Faith is a holy trust in all that God has made known to us in his word. It is the grace which receives all the truth contained in the Bible. As the natural eye is adapted to receive the light of heaven, so faith is adapted to welcome all the truth of the Scriptures. And as in the first creation light preceded other external blessings, so in the new creation does the light of faith precede other graces.

Faith is the foundation and root of piety, and the gate of life by which God enters the soul.