of the law; the vengeance of the law must be changed into the love of the gospel; thy envy and impatience must be converted into meekness and forbearance, so that thou mayest hate thy enemy no longer according to the law, but mayest be enabled, agreeably to the commandment of Christ, to love him, to bless them that curse thee, to do good to them that hate thee, and pray for them which despitefully use thee, and persecute thee; and mayest evidence by thy fruits that thou art a child of thy Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just, and on the unjust. Verses 43, 44, 45.

Now, dear man, inasmuch as thou art not in possession of these fruits, art yet revengeful, recompensest evil with evil, hatest thy enemy and triest to injure him, suest and goest to law, returnest force for force, and the like, which Christ has expressly forbidden in his gospel, and wo be to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus; for they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. 1 Thess. 1, 8. 9. Learn from this, that as long as thou,

in accordance with the law, takest revenge upon thy enemy or adversary, and render. est evil for evil, thou art no christian. Thou mayest be a christian in the eyes of the world, but not in the sight of God; for thou hast not the disposition of Christ, thou hast not the mind that was in Christ, (Phil. 2, 5.) thou obeyest not his doctrine; and whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. 2 John, verse 9. But if thou wilt console thyself with Moses, appealing to him, like the pharisees, that he permitted and approved such things, then will be applica ble to you what Christ said to the phari. sees. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust; for had ye believed Moses, ye would have be. lieved me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye be. lieve my words? John 5. Gen. 3, 15. and 22, 18. and 49, 10. For Moses said, A prophet will the Lord raise up unto you like unto me, him shall ye hear. Now how is it possible for you to exculpate yourselves by appealing to Moses, who refers you so faithfully to Christ, the per fect lawgiver, that ye shall hear him?

O miserable men, who boast yourselves christians, and receive neither the counsel of Moses nor the word of Christ, what will be your end and eternal destiny! Think ye that his word is but a fable and an indifferent history? Ah no, no. Ye will find it quite different when it shall stand as your judge. For though you may have prophesied, cast out devils, and done many mighty wonders in his name, yet he will not know you. For those only, who hear and do these sayings, are the wise men who have built upon the rock, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. Matt. 16, 18. Those only, who abide in the doctrine of Christ, have both the Father and the son. 2 John, verse 9. With those only who love Christ and keep his word, will the eternal Divinity make his abode. John 14, 23.

Therefore, dear man, contend no longer with thy God, for he is a consuming fire, and it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands. Behold, against him thou canst accomplish nothing; therefore humble thyself before him; lay down thy weapons, and take hold of the sceptre of his mercy, and follow Christ in all that he commandeth thee, and thou shalt live, and live for ever through Jesus Christ. Amen.

V.

Now some will grant that brethren of the same persuasion ought not to go to law with one another, inasmuch as Paul reproved the church at Corinth sharply for this very thing, saying, Now there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another: why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, you do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. 1 Cor. But they, nevertheless, think they are at liberty to go to law with those who do not belong to their denomination.

But I wish that all such persons might receive instructions from Christ, and hear his doctrine; they would then in a short time perceive their mistake. For Christ says, If ye love those who love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. Verses 16, 47, 48.

Behold, dear man, we ought to be perfect, even as our Father who is in heaven is perfect. That is, we ought in this life N

to exercise meekness and patience towards all men, even as the Father makes his sun to rise upon the evil and on the good, and sends his rain on the just and on the unjust, and is longsuffering towards them, even when they offend him and despise his laws; that we also ought to be perfect and do good to all men, not only to our brethren or those who love us, but to our enemies who injure and wrong us, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. Matt. 5, 16. But this is a hard saying, who can hear it? John 6, 60.

VI.

None but those who are dead to themselves and to the world; whose old man is crucified with Christ, (Rom. 6, 1.) and who are dead to the law by the body of Christ, (Rom. 7, 4.) that they might bring forth fruit unto God through the love shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, by which they are bound and united unto God; for God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4, 11.); and this love is the fulfilling of the law. Rom. 13, 10. For it knows no revenge, no retaliation of injuries, but is patient and peaceable, mild