do all things. It is by your fruits that you must be judged, both by God and man. See to it, then, that you guard against that conceit which so prevails in heretics and apostates. To your latest hour you must retain a childlike spirit, and particularly in the simplicity and docility of your minds. You must guard, too, against every corrupt bias. " If your eye be single, your whole body will he full of light: but if your eye be evil, your whole body will be full of darkness." In particular, be careful not to make the truths of God an occasion of needless contention. For the fundamentals of religion you must indeed contend, and that earnestly, if need be; but even in reference to them, it would be better to recommend to your adversaries, and to cultivate for your- selves, the study of the Holy Scriptures with prayer. In this way, you will " grow both in knowledge and in grace;" and " your light will shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day."]
1 John iii. 1. Behold, ivhat maimer of love the Father hath bestoived upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
RELIGION is altogether a mystery : every part of it is deeply mysterious. The restoration of a fallen soul to God ! The means of effecting that restoration — the death of God's only dear Son, as a sacrifice for sin; and the operation of his Spirit in the sinner's heart ! The effect produced — the translation of a soul from the family of Satan to the family of Almighty God ! This is the point which the Apostle is contemplating in my text : and it fills him, as we might well expect, with the profoundest wonder and admiration: " Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God !"
That we may enter into the Apostle's views, and attain somewhat of his spirit, I will endeavour to shew,
I. What is comprehended in the relation of sons —
No one need to be informed on this subject, as far as it relates to men. But in the relation as borne to