to live. They say it is no matter what a man believes, or whether he believes any thing, so he but practises aright, which is as if one would say, it is immaterial what a man eats or whether he eat at all, so he but lives. Can he live without eating, and eating wholesome food? If error is not injurious, poison is not; and if ignorance is not hurtful, starvation is harmless. The man who is indifferent to the interests of truth, is also to those of virtue. It is impossible to love the one, without loving the other. Truth is the principle and pabulum of virtue. Yet, is he not, in many circles, regarded a bigot who contends earnestly for what he believes to be the faith once delivered to the saints? He is no more a bigot than the medical man who by his pen and tongue contends for a wholesome diet. What is truth? Pilate asked that question at the right source. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. This is truth; he says, "sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." Himself is truth; he also says "I am the way and the truth.” The word of God must be understood, believed and meditated on, and especially its testimony concerning Christ, otherwise there can be no growth in grace. Peter exhorts " as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby ;" and Christ says "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." I believe that one principal reason why Christians make such slow and interrupted progress in religion, is that they have such loose and indistinct views ofthe Gospel sys

tem, and that they meditate on the Gospel and the Saviour so infrequently, and with so little concentration of thought. The truth has not the opportunity of producing its sanctifying effect, as the instrument of the Spirit. If you would grow in grace, if you would make progress in holiness, not only read the Bible, but understand it. Do you say "how can I, except some one guide me? The Spirit is given to guide you into all the truth. Not only hear the Gospel, but receive it into the head and the heart; ponder upon it and apply it; and become acquainted with Christ as revealed, in his person and offices; and love to contemplate him as the atoning sacrifice for sin in his death; for he says "except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." In regard to doctrine, be ye careful to separate the precious from the vile. So shall ye live and thrive.

3. The exercise of the moral powers and gracious dispositions in you is essentially necessary to their growth and expansion. How can one grow in benevolence, or in compassion unless he obeys its dictates? in temperance unless he habitually practises temperance? or in meekness, except he be in the habit of forgiving? how increase in humility unless he frequently humble himself? and in patience and fortitude, if he does not exercise these virtues? and as they cannot be exercised without trials and afflictions, hence the necessity of these to the growth of those virtues and the perfection of the human character. Paul understanding this matter says to the Hebrews, "he for our profit (chastens us) that we might be partakers of his holiness ;" and to the Romans, "we glory

in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience." If then you would grow in grace, see to it that you regularly exercise gracious dispositions, and be willing that God should exercise them when and how he will. And I may as well take this opportunity of cautioning you to beware how you exercise and indulge the opposite dispositions, if you would not give strength to them. You cannot get rid of an unhappy temper by the daily indulgence of it. No evil disposition ever yet spent itself by exercise. The more you give way to irritability, fretfulness, impatience, censoriousness and the like, the more they gain strength.

4. According to the doctrine inculcated on the last Sabbath, God is the author, upholder, and finisher of good in us. No use of means, and no making of exertion are of any avail without his secret, spiritual efficiency; hence a spirit of dependance on God must be cultivated and exercised, and hence is prayer an indispensable means of growth in grace. The Holy Spirit is promised only to them who ask him. Prayer, (which is, be it remembered, always generated in the heart, and is its sincere and prevailing desire, inspired into a prepared form, or breathed into the words of him that leads in social devotion, or expressing itself in spontaneous language, or spending itself in groanings that cannot be uttered, yet are intelligible to Him who knoweth the mind of the Spirit,) prayer, I say, which has not unaptly been styled the breath of the spiritual life in man, if any man would grow in grace, he must abound in prayer. He must not only pray, but he must pray in the manner prescri

bed in the Holy Scriptures. Every thing depends on the manner of praying. We have all had proof enough in our own experience, that the mere expression of desire is not effectual. There is a faith that is indispensable in prayer, and a cordial hatred of sin, without which the Lord will not hear, and a uniform doing of the will of God, giving the soul a confidence towards him. And the name of Christ must be the medium and plea, and there is an importunity and perseverance in prayer which are very frequently and strongly inculcated in the word of God. Bear in mind, then, that prayer is the means of obtaining the Spirit, without which there can be neither growth nor establishment in grace.

5. Watchfulness is another important means of growth in grace. Watch and pray is one of Christ's directions to his disciples; be sober, be vigilant, walk circumspectly. The plant of grace requires the most anxious attention and the most constant care. There is no plant that is reared with so much difficulty. It has many enemies; some that grưb the earth, and some that infest the air; and it is exposed to many evil influences. It must be assiduously watched. The heart must be kept, as we are commanded, with all diligence. Nothing is so prone to wander from the right objects, as our thoughts and our affections. How frequently the Christian falls into sin, through mere inadvertence. He relaxes his vigilance, and presently he finds himself thinking evil, and sometimes speaking and doing it he is surprised often to discover how far, without knowing it, he has gone in the indulgence of an evil

temper, and in the expression of unchristian feeling, and what a distance he has gone from God, the little time he has been off his guard, and what advantage temptation has gotten over him in the mean time. I believe there is nothing that interferes so seriously with the exemplariness of Christians before men, as this want of watchfulness. There are certainly few, if any more formidable hindrances to growth in grace than mere inadvertence, and the defect of vigilance.

6. Christians are members of a mystical body of which Christ is the head, and from him, in consequence of this connexion, they derive strength, grace, nourishment, and every needed good. Now faith is the bond of this union, and the stronger the faith, the closer the bond, and the more free the communication. Hence, if one would grow in grace, he must habitually exercise faith in Christ, and increase in faith. He should be able to say with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, and yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God."

7. Striving against sin is all-important to growth in grace or holiness. Why is not the Christian perfect? Because sin remains in him. It is not dominant in him, else he would not be a Christian; but it is extant in him, active and ambitious, ever struggling to acquire its lost ascendancy, and frequently flushed with partial successes. It must be resisted positively, and strenuously. It must not only not be indulged, but active measures must be taken to keep it down and cast it out. One is naturally of an avaricious disposition. Now, what is the change