we need to be pressing forward for higher attainments. Even Paul himself, towards the close of his life, did " not consider himself as having attained perfection, or apprehended all for which he had himself been apprehended of Christ Jesus : and hence he, like a person in a race, forgat all that was behind, and reached forward for that which was before s." As the body, though perfect in its parts even in the earliest infancy, grows in every part till it arrives at manhood ; so does the new man advance toward " the full measure of the stature of Christ*." We should " grow in grace;" and so grow as to make our "profit- ing to appear." We may not indeed be able to see any actual advance at very short intervals, any more than we can see the advance of the sun every minute : but yet we perceive after a time that the sun has proceeded in its course ; and in like man- ner must our path be like the shining light, which " shineth more and more unto the perfect day." We must be " going on unto perfection," and aspire after that which is proposed to us as the proper object of our ambition ; namely, " to stand perfect and complete in all the will of Godu."
It must be uniform. Nothing under heaven is to divert us from our duty. We are not ever to be influenced by times or circumstances, so as to decline a positive duty through fear of man, or to commit a positive evil for the sake of any earthly advantage. The changes which we see in the conduct of St. Paul, did not proceed from any deviation from principle, but from a strict adherence to principle. His one object was to save the souls of men: and in things that were non-essential, he accommodated himself to their habits and prejudices, in order to promote his main design : but when he saw that any evil was likely to arise from a particular act of conformity, he was as immoveable as a rock. Thus we may vary our conduct on particular occasions, provided we can appeal to God that we are actuated by a regard for the welfare of others, and not by any personal considerations of our own. But in no instance whatever must this principle be extended so far as to violate any known duty or the dictates of our own conscience : life itself must be of no value in our eyes in comparison of God's honour, and the preservation of a conscience void of offence towards God and man.
It must be unreserved. Not only must we labour to undo what we have done amiss, by making restitution of ill-gotten gain, and warning those whom we have led into sin, but we must strive to mortify sin of every kind in every degree. Every man has some " sin that more easily besets him," and to which he will be more strongly tempted. This sin is different in different persons ; in one, pride ; in another, passion ; in
* Phil. hi. 12—14. * Eph. iv. 13. » Col. iv. 12.