faith only : but by love we must prove the truth of our faith. We must not imagine, that, because love is greater than faith, we are therefore to be saved by love. The eye is more excel- lent than the ear ; but it cannot on that account perform the office of the ear, nor supersede the necessity of hearing, in order to the perfection of our present state : faith, hope, and love, have all their distinct offices, and must all be exercised for their respective ends ; — faith, to justify our souls ; hope, to keep us steadfast in our spiritual course ; and love, to form our meetness for the heavenly inheritance. Let all then be sought, and all be exercised, that God may be glorified in all.]
2. Let them all be held fast, whatever trials you may have to encounter in the exercise of them —
[No one of them can be maintained without much diffi- culty. Your great adversary will assault them all in their turn. In Adam he succeeded to destroy them all : and he would succeed to root them out of our hearts also, if the Lord Jesus did not secure, by his continual intercession, the establishment of them in our souls'. Not that they can be maintained with- out strenuous and unintermitted exertions on our part. We must " watch and pray that we enter not into temptation:" and when temptation comes, we must " not stagger at the promises through unbelief, but be strong in faith, giving glory to God." We must also " hold fast the rejoicing of our hope firm unto the end*"." Under the influence of love too, we must " let patience have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing." Thus shall we " grow up into Christ as our living Head ;" thus shall we attain " the full measure of the stature " which he has ordained for us ; and thus shall we be fitted for those regions of love, where we shall completely resemble Christ, and participate, with all the myriads of his redeemed, the glory and felicity of the God of love.]
' Luke xxii. 31, 32. m Heb. iii. 6.