forth judgment unto victory." He has said that "of those who have been given him he will lose none ;" and he is faithful who hath promised. " Fear not ; only believe : and according to your faith it shall be unto you."]
1 Cor. XV. 10. Bt/ the grace of God I am what I am.
EVERY one, however exalted, may find points of comparison in which he is inferior to others; and, instead of envying the superiority of others in those respects, it becomes him contentedly to acquiesce in the Divine appointments, and thankfully to adore God for whatever blessings he enjoys.
St. Paul, in descanting upon the resurrection of our Lord, has occasion to mention the different mani- festations of himself which Christ had vouchsafed to his Apostles after he had risen from the dead. And in these respects, as well as in the advantages which the other Apostles had enjoyed from the instructions and example of their Divine Master, during the whole period of his ministry on earth, he acknowledged his inferiority to them : for though at a subsequent period Christ had honoured him also with an imme- diate sight of his person, he considered himself as far less honoured by this than the other Apostles had been ; and, having been himself a persecutor, whilst they were the faithful servants of their Lord, he regarded himself as no better than an abortion in comparison of the children. But still he was not without many grounds of thankfulness, which he was most ready to acknov^^ledge : '' I am not worthy to be called an Apostle," says he ; " but by the grace of God I am what I am."
This declaration of his we propose to consider in a two-fold point of view :
L As a speculative truth —
1. This assertion was true in the Apostle's case —