abandon us at last that he has hitherto given " grace sufficient for us :" his past favours are an earnest and pledge of others yet to come : he will continue to " strengthen us in our inward man," and will " perfect his own strength in our weakness g." Let us then acknowledge the force of the argument in this view; and, assured that "our strength shall be according to our day," let us " be steadfast, immoveable, and always abound- ing in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lordh."~\
3. As an incentive to vigilance —
[Since it is " God who gives us both to will and to do, and that entirely of his own good pleasure," we must of neces- sity be altogether dependent on him ; if he keep us we shall stand : if he leave us, we shall fall. Now God is a jealous God ; and will surely manifest his displeasure if we walk unwatch- fully before him. We may easily "grieve his Spirit1;" yea, if we continue in wilful habits of neglect, or in any allowed sin, we may " quench his Spiritk ;" for he has warned us that "his Spirit shall not always strive with man1 ;" and that, " if we rebel and vex his Holy Spirit, he will turn and become our enemy"1." The Israelites, who, notwithstanding they were brought out of Egypt, and fed with manna from heaven, perished in the wilderness, are set forth as examples to us". And to many under temporal or spiritual afflictions may that pungent question be addressed, " Hast thou not procured this to thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord, when he led thee by the way0?" Well may this consideration stir us up to watchfulness and circumspection, lest by intermitting our labours, and relaxing our exertions in the work of our salva- tion, we bring upon ourselves his heavy displeasure p.]
From hence we may see,
1. The beauty and harmony of Scripture doctrines —
[Our entire dependence on divine grace, together with the absolute sovereignty of God in the distribution of his favours, are here clearly stated. Yet the necessity of our working out our own salvation is as strongly declared, as if every thing depended on our own efforts. Now these are often set in opposition to each other, as though they were contrary and inconsistent doctrines. But God sees no inconsistency in them ; nor shall we, if we only once learn to receive the Scriptures with the simplicity of little children, instead of
g Phil. iv. 13. with 2 Cor. xii. 9. '> 1 Cor. xv. 58.
1 Eph. iv. 30. k i Thess. v. 19. ' Gen. vi. 3.
m Isai. Ixiii. 10. Exod. xxiii. 21. "1 Cor. x. 11.
0 Jer. ii. 17. P 2 Chron. xv. 2.