Col. iii. 18. — iv. 1. Wives, submit yourselves unto your oivn husbands, as it is Jit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things : for this is ivell pleasing unto the Lord. Fa- thers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be dis- couraged. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God : and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reioard of the inheritance : for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth ivrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.
IT is often a matter of complaint with some, that many who have been ordained to preach the Gospel leave the great and mysterious doctrines of the Gospel on the back ground, and bring forward little else than dry morality. But, whatever ground there may be for that complaint, it may be well to inquire, Whether there be not too much reason to complain of another class, who pay such exclusive attention to the doc- trines, as almost entirely to overlook the duties, of the Gospel ? Amongst some it would be almost thought superfluous, and even wrong, to devote an entire discourse to the subject of moral duties ; since, ac- cording to their views, the discharge of them may well be left to the simple operation of faith, without any distinct statement of them from the teachers of Christianity. But so thought not the Apostle Paul. On the contrary, in those two epistles (to the Ephe- sians, and Colossians) in which he enters most deeply into the mysteries of Christianity, he enlarges most fully on the relative duties. We are persuaded that a similar plan ought to be adopted by every minister of Christ. We should have no exclusive preference for doctrines or duties, but should put each in their place, and bring them both forward in their proper
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