true holiness there can be no excess. In this we may vie with each other, and strive with all our might. St. Paul says, " This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they who have believed in God might be careful to main- tain (or, as the word imports, to excel in) good works." By these we shall evince the sincerity of our love to Christ ; and by these we shall be judged in the last day. I would therefore recommend to every one to ask himself, What is there which I have left undone ? What is there which I have done de- fectively ? What is there which I have done amiss ? What is there that I may do more earnestly for the honour of God, for the good of mankind, and for the benefit of my own soul ? O that such a pious zeal pervaded this whole assembly ; and " that there were in all of us such an heart !" To those amongst us in whom any good measure of this grace is found, we would say in the language of St. Paul, " We be- seech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and mored."
d 1 Thess. iv. 1.
Deut. v. 28, 29. They have well said all that they have spoken : 0 that there were such an heart in them!
WHEREVER the word of God admits of a literal interpretation, its primary sense ought to be clearly stated, before any spiritual or mystical application be made of it : but when its literal meaning is ascertained, we must proceed to investigate its hidden import, which is frequently the more important. This has been done in relation to the passage before us ; which primarily expresses an approbation of the request made by the Jews, that God would speak to them by the mediation of Moses, and not any longer by the