incapable of being prompted by human respect.

No

eye of man is upon us when we enter into our closet, and shut our door, and pray to our Father which is in secret; and therefore here it would seem no motive but a religious one can well intrude. And we may apply the same remark to all the ordinary actions and commonplace business of life, which must be transacted by all in some way, and may be transacted by the Christian with a spiritual intention. What does growing in grace mean, but that this spiritual intention should lengthen its reach-should extend itself more and more to every corner of our life? Some little business of routine calls my attention at a certain hour, having nothing sublime or extraordinary in it, but the neglect of which would entail discomfort and annoyance,- —a visit, or a letter of courtesy, or an interview, in which a few necessary words pass, and then it is over. Well; even the most earthly of earthly actions, those which are most bound up with this transitory state of things, and which have no intrinsic dignity or sacredness whatever, may be spiritualized by importing into them a spiritual intention. The little courtesies, for example, which society requires, may be yielded simply because they are social requirements, in which case they will be often done "grudgingly, and of necessity;" or they may be regarded as so many opportunities of compliance with the inspired precept, "Be courteous," in which case they will be done cheerfully, "as to the Lord, and not unto men." And (generally) the meeting all calls upon

us, however humble, with the thought that they come to us in the way of God's Providence, and in the working out of the system of things which He has appointed, and are indications of the quarter in which He would have us direct our energies, is a great means of purifying our intention, and so of advancing in spirituality. For nobody is aware what is going on in our hearts, when we meet these calls in a devout spirit; our friends only see us doing commonplace things which others do, and give us no credit. But in so meeting such calls, we have praise of God, who, like a good Father, marks with a smile of approbation the humblest efforts of His children to please Him.

I have traced the bearing of the subject on our Sanctification. But I must not omit to call attention to its bearing on our Justification also. It is possible that a man, who judges himself by his outward conduct exclusively, might think with some complacency of his devout, regular, reputable life. But no man can do so who, laying to heart Our Lord's maxim that the intention determines the character of actions, brings his heart with all its motives to the touchstone of God's Word. Then it is, if the Holy Spirit co-operates with his self-examination, that catching sight of the miserable shortcomings even of his virtues and his devotions, he exclaims with the Prophet; "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." And then it is that he looks about for a ground of acceptance with God wholly independent of his own righteousness, and finding this assured and

stable ground in the obedience of the Second Adam unto death, plants himself upon that ground exclusively, never more to shift therefrom; and in his transactions with a holy and heart-searching God, puts forward no plea of merit but that which is contained in those precious, pregnant words of another Prophet; The Lord our Righteousness.

The connexion of singleness of aim with the subject of the present work, which is the pursuit and attainment of Holiness, will I think be apparent. To live holily is nothing else than, in every thing we do, to act from a single desire to please God, out of love to Him, and from no other aim whatever. The more we can succeed in stripping ourselves bare of every motive save this highest one, the nearer shall we be to the standard at the attainment of which we are aiming. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways; a heart divided between two motives, halting between two opinions, cannot plant its steps firmly in the way of righteousness. Nor let any one who seeks after this simplicity of motive, and sincerely endeavours to do all (even the most trivial) things, "not with eye-service as a men-pleaser, but as a servant of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart," be dismayed by finding that only a very partial success attends his early efforts. By constant watchfulness, much ejaculatory prayer, and at first a somewhat stern recalling of the mind from its wanderings to its centre, progress will be made slowly

though surely. God never fails to prompt and teach a soul,

which is simply desirous of pleasing Him. He will, if we are faithful to Him, show us how to escape the snares of a morbid self-consciousness and scrupulosity, which seem to the eye of the natural man to beset the path we are advocating, and which it is too true the Devil knows how to set. A man with his eyes in a right condition does not, when he walks, study every step he takes, nor even make the reflection that he is using his eyes; but he guides himself instinctively by his eyes, and with their help enjoys the landscape. And a man whose ruling aim is right and single, comes at last, through all perplexity, to feel that God's service, so far from being a bondage of oppressive restraints, is perfect freedom, and that the only true way (as the Psalmist indicates) "of walking at liberty " is, "to seek His commandments."

CHAPTER XIV.

PEACE OF CONSCIENCE AND OF HEART THE ELEMENT OF HOLINESS.

“Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means."-2 THESS. iii. 16.

"ALWAYS."

The Apostle is imploring for his Thessalonian converts a state of mind which shall be absolutely permanent, which shall know of no intermission. The same expression is used where Our Lord says of the little ones, that their guardian angels do ALWAYS behold the face of God; and again where St. Peter represents Christ as saying in the words of David, "I foresaw the Lord ALWAYS before my face." The constancy of the Christian's peace, then, is to be the same constancy wherewith angels wait on the behests of God, wherewith the Lord Jesus Himself perpetually realized God's Presence.

And again; "Give you peace by all means,"-literally, "in every manner." Thus he says of the preaching of Christ among the Philippians, which in some instances did not proceed from a pure motive; "Notwithstanding EVERY WAY, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ