is able to keep him from falling ; and therefore the believer says, " I know in whom I have believed, that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him8." And lastly, God has confirmed his promise with an oath ; and therefore they who have fled for refuge to the Lord Jesus, have strong consolation; because it is impossible for God to lie; and he is faithful who hath promised'. Thus we see that the weakest Christian stands on a rock, which defies all the storms and tempests that ever can assail it. " Let us then be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might," and look to him to " fulfil in us all the good pleasure of his will," and to " pre- serve us blameless unto his heavenly kingdom."
* 2 Tim. i. 12. * Heb. vi. 17, 18.
Phil. ii. 14 — 16. Do all things without murmuring s and dis- putings : that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
THERE are times for laying the foundations of religion ; and there are times for raising the super- structure. Neither the one nor the other must be neglected, since they are both equally necessary to the completion of the sacred edifice which is to be erected in the soul. St. Paul paid due attention to them both. " As a wise master-builder, he laid the foundation" with all possible care, declaring, that though an angel from heaven were to announce any other ground of hope than the Lord Jesus Christ, he must not be credited, but rather must be held ac- cursed. So extreme was his jealousy upon this point, that, when the Apostle Peter sanctioned, by his con- duct, a sentiment that militated against the doctrine of salvation by faith, he rebuked him openly before the whole Church. On the other hand, this holy Apostle was not at all less jealous respecting the performance of good works. In all his epistles, he