give glory to their God ? What if they be burning at the stake, ought they not to rejoice that God has rescued them from hell, and that they are entering on a state of uninter- rupted everlasting happiness ?
Surely no Christian should rest short of this attainment : but we should all unite in wrestling with our God, till he pour out his Spirit upon us, and form us to the model which was here proposed for the Colossian converts.]
Infer —
1. How glorious are the Christian's privileges! [Did the Apostle incessantly ask of God what God was
not willing to bestow ? No ; " if we opened our mouth wide, he would fill it ;" and all these graces should abound in us, to the praise and glory of our God. What then must the Chris- tian be, in whom these things are found ! O believer, aim not at low things ; but aspire after the highest measures of wisdom, purity, and joy.]
2. How dependent are we upon our God !
[It is not at our first commencement only of a religious course that we depend on God, but to the latest hour of our lives. We can have no knowledge, holiness, or joy, but as we receive it from him. Let us then make our requests known to him, and depend on him for all seasonable supplies of grace and strength.]
3. How great is the benefit of intercession !
[We certainly are not sufficiently apprised of this. But when we recollect the intercessions of Abraham for Sodom, of Lot for Zoar, of Moses for Israel, how can we be so remiss in this duty ! Let us incessantly plead for each other, knowing that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.]