shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away, 1 Pet. v. 4.

Yet ministers are not stewards alone, for the apostle Peter in his first epistle, speaks of believers in general “as stewards of the manifold grace of God:" and it is evident from the parable of the talents, that "a measure of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal," and all will on that ground be examined, Matt. xxv. 19; those who have improved their's will be rewarded, and those who have not will be deservedly reprehended, disgraced, and punished, ver. 28-30.

This may be illustrated by shewing what a servant is required to be and do. He is required

1. To be faithful.—A servant or steward has the care and management of the property of another, and he ought neither to waste it himself, nor suffer others to waste it, but improve it, to the best of his judgment, agreeable to the intentions and interest of his employer; and believers should always remember that their time; grace, abilities, property, and influence, have all been received from God, and must be improved for his glory, their own salvation, and the good of others; and this should be uprightly and faithfully performed as he bas ordained, and that to the very last: "Occupy till I come," Luke xix. 13..

2. Should love and esteem his employer.-A steward must regard his master and his service in a peculiar sense, and not suffer any other of different interests to lead him astray, or cause him to neglect his service. So the christian must acknowledge but one Lord and Master, as he himself shews, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." The spirit, principles, temper, and fashions of the world, can only be prevented from domineering, by a due attention to the commands of the Saviour. He is the Master; we must all obey, and in obeying him we must fully renounce the service of every other master.

3. Kind and affable to others.-He should not, if in a

more exalted station, set himself up, or lord it over his fellow servants, but be courteous and compassionate; the same is required of the christian; he is to consider the obligations under which the grace of God has laid him, and from the clemency and goodness of our common Father, must imitate him in his conduct towards others, Matt. xviii. 30; and in a word, should breathe a hearty good-will to all.

4. Should be sincere and diligent.-We have an example of this in Abraham's servant. Though ruler of all he had, and before the birth of Isaac, heir of all; mark his conduct when sent after a wife for his young master, Gen. xxiv. He appears truly religious, offering up prayer for direction, and returning thanks to God for an answer, verses 12 and 27; preferred his master's interests to his own convenience, ver. 33; and ceased not diligently to attend to all his instructions till he had fully accomplished the end of his mission, verses 56 and 66. Such should the christian be. He should seek the blessing of God in all his undertakings, and for the supply of all his wants; and offer without ceasing, unfeigned thanks and praise for all his mercies. The honour of his Lord, and the prosperity of his cause, should be preferred to his own private and individual interests; and he should be ever careful to know the will of his God, that he may perform it from the ground of his heart. Whatever he does he should do heartily as to the Lord, and be diligent to be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless, 2 Pet. iii. 14.

A PILGRIMAGE.

HEAVEN is properly the home of man, who, in the present life, in consequence of sin, is regarded in the light of a ba nished child or subject of it; and while under the power of iniquity, a captive exile, or a stranger to his God, and a foreigner to his household, his case is extremely wretched and deplorable. And even when he is reconciled to God, and made a partaker of his favour, as long as he is in the body, whatever grace he may receive, he is considered as absent from the Lord. We will consider

1. The country they are seeking.-This is not an earthly country, but a heavenly one, where God hath prepared for them a city, Heb. xi. 16. All that can be said of the most highly favoured nation falls infinitely short of that kingdom which is sought after by the church of the living God. There the Lord Jesus reigns over his redeemed, without interruption from moral evil, and all his subjects rejoice incessantly before him undisturbed by any natural evil whatever. There are no wars, no animosities, no envyings, no ingratitude, no unkindness, no doubt, no grief or fear; no temptations, no buffettings of Satan, no want or weariness; in a word, all is joy and harmony, and the saints are unutterably blest eternally.

2. The road leading to it.-Our Lord, describing it, informs us that "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." By this way we are to understand the path of holiness, without walking in which no man can see the Lord. The narrowness of

it arises from the difficulty of always preserving purity of intention, and purity of affection before God; which require constant care, resolution, and watchfulness. The straitness of the gate implies the difficulty of being truly converted to God; without which no man is able to walk in the paths of truth and righteousness. This is, however, the way in which all that travel to Zion must go, or they can never arrive at the city of habitations.

3. Discouragements the travellers meet with.-These arise partly from themselves, and partly from others. Those which arise from themselves are, the misgivings of weak faith, the numerous weaknesses and infirmities of human nature, false reasonings, yielding to temptations, spiritual indolence, and too great a compliance with the spirit of the world and those which arise from others; these are many. Some arise from the general state of the world, its persecuting spirit; the uncertainty of events; its disappointments, false hopes, and flattering appearances; its envies, emptiness, and troubles. Some from the many temptations of the evil one, who seeks to deceive, retard, or destroy all that

travel to "Zion with their faces thitherward." Other discouragements arise from unpleasant circumstances in our families, business, and connexions; and from the mysterious dispensations of Divine providence towards us, which we cannot comprehend, and perhaps never shall till we arrive at that blessed state of rest and happiness where we would be. Thus there are both difficulties and dangers in the way. But there are also

4. Great encouragements afforded these travellers.-They have the numerous promises of their gracious God, that he will never leave nor forsake them. He also says expressly, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." We have also the company of those who are like minded with ourselves, and these often render travelling exceedingly pleasant. The Lord of all hath provided refreshment for them by the way: he gives them the bread and water of life in rich abundance. He prepares a table for them in the presence of their enemies; he anoints their heads with oil, and makes their cup to overflow, Psal. xxiii. 5. There are special directions given, that no traveller may miss his way, and the voice of the divine Spirit behind them, saying, This is the way, when they turn to the right hand or to the left, Isa. xxx. 21.

All who have been devoted to God in all ages have considered themselves as bearing this character: thus David speaks, "Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage," and again, "I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner." And the apostle tells us that they of whom he speaks in the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews, "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims upon earth,” seeking a better country ; that is, an heavenly one, ver. 13, &c.

The same thing appears from the cautions given and the observations made to the first christians: thus, St. Peter in his first epistle, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." And lest we should be too closely attached to

this world, and forget our true character, St. Paul says, "Brethren, the time is short: it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep as though they wept not; and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy as though they possessed not; and they that use this world as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away," 1 Cor. vii. 30, &c.

From hence it will be seen how impossible it will be to preserve holy walking with God, unless we look to him continually for direction and strength; where that is done, we shall not fall from our steadfastness, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus to eternal life: when this is not done the life of God is soon lost, we leave "the way of understanding," and are again "found in the congregation of the dead." To prevent this as much as pos sible, let us consider the evils attendant on backsliding, and propose means for the furtherance of holiness in heart and life.

CHAP. II.

ON BACKSLIDING.

Why Trials are permitted-The causes of Backsliding—Its various kinds and degrees.

As the gospel is confessedly a system of the purest and most perfect benevolence, as its great Author calls himself the God of love, and is every where represented as opposed to every kind and degree of moral evil, it is impossible that he should cause any to depart from his service, to enter again into that of folly and iniquity. He does, it is true, permit his children to be variously tried and exercised; but so far