called you unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, will make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you; His is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever," from him whom the God of all grace, in the person of his Son, had so "out of weakness made strong," so strengthened in the faith as to make him one of the chief pillars of the church while he lived; and when he died enabled him to glorify God, confessing, amid the protracted tortures of a peculiarly cruel martyrdom, the Master he had once thrice denied! We cannot help thinking that the Saviour's words, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren," were ringing in the Apostle's ears when he wrote these words. And certainly never were addressed to the tempted, struggling, worn out, afflicted Christian soldier-words more full of warning, instruction, consolation, and encouragement. They have by the accompanying power of the Spirit of Jesus strengthened many a brother. They have been "words in season" to many a tempted, afflicted, perplexed, downcast, weary heart; and will continue to be so, as long as these afflictions continue to be accomplished in the brotherhood in the world. Oh, may we, my brethren, through their means, be made humble and cautious, vigilant and believing, "steadfast and immoveable," rooted and built up in Christ, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the powers of darkness, and hath translated us unto the kingdom of his dear Son; so that, full of the strength which is the result of the joy of the Lord, glorying in tribulation, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, we may "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."1 "Consider what has been said, and the Lord give you understanding in all things."

I Col. i. 10-13.

DISCOURSE XXIV.

POSTSCRIPT OF THE EPISTLE.

1 PET. V. 12-14.-By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you (as I suppose), I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son. Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

"ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God," and "all Scripture," too, "is profitable for doctrine, and for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished for every good work." In the mines of Peru, there are veins of peculiar richness, but even their rubbish is valuable. In the Holy Scriptures, there are portions of peculiar importance, excellence, and usefulness, but there is nothing trivial, nothing valueless. The superficial thinker may, indeed, find it difficult, it may be impossible, for him to derive instruction or improvement from many passages of Scripture, and may, on this account, rashly call in question their Divine origin, or indulge in reflections against the Divine wisdom, for allowing such passages a place in the inspired volume; but it is his own imbecility, or ignorance, or inattention, that is wholly to blame; for it may be safely affirmed, that there is no passage of Scripture respecting which the pious, diligent, docile, inquirer, cannot easily see that it may have served, or

may yet serve some important and useful purpose; and that there are very few from which, after serious consideration, he cannot draw for himself lessons which may be turned to account for the guidance of his conduct, and the improvement of his character.

To be able to extract from what have been called the barren, from what ought to be called the less exuberant, passages of Scripture, the instruction, and warning, and reproof, and consolation which they are intended and fitted to communicate, is a talent which every Christian should be desirous of acquiring, as, without its possession and employment, a considerable part of those Scriptures which are "able to make men wise to salvation," will be utterly useless to him: and it is not one of the least important duties of a public teacher of Christianity, to instruct his audience in the best way of extracting spiritual improvement from this class of scripture passages; on the one hand, guarding them against that passion for allegory, which leads men to make the plainest statements of the sacred writers the vehicle of the dreams of their own imagination, thus converting a Divine oracle into a human figment; and, on the other, showing how important purposes are served, by what at first sight may seem inappropriate and unnecessary statements, and how replete such passages, when viewed in their connexion and design, often are with religious and moral instruction.

The subject of to-day's discourse, the postscript of the First Epistle of the Apostle Peter, belongs to the class of Scripture passages of which we have been speaking. It is not, indeed, to be compared, in point of intrinsic importance, deep personal interest, and extensive usefulness, with the admirable doctrinal and practical discussions by which it is preceded, and which, for a considerable time past, have not unpleasantly nor unprofitably, I trust, formed the subject of our consideration, when we have come together on the first day of the week, to wait on the "doctrine of the apostles ;" but it is far indeed from being unimportant, uninteresting,

or useless and if it wants many of the attractions which belong to them, it will be found to have attractions peculiar to itself. It is with the word, as it is with the works of God. "There is one glory in the sun, and another glory in the moon, and another glory in the stars, and one star differeth from another star in glory." Let us look at the passage a little more closely, that we may perceive its meaning and ascertain its use.

It obviously forms a postscript to the Epistle, which, as a doctrinal and hortatory address, is most appropriately and gracefully concluded in the eleventh verse. This postscript is occupied with recapitulation, salutation, exhortation, and benediction. The recapitulation is contained in the twelfth verse. The salutation in the thirteenth. The exhortation in the first clause, and the benediction in the last clause, of the fourteenth. Let us attend to them briefly, in their order.

I. RECAPITULATION.

It has been supposed, by some interpreters of high name, that the twelfth verse has in it nothing recapitulatory, but that the Epistle referred to in it, is not that which the Apostle had just finished, but one that he had sent to the same churches on some former occasion. This supposition is an entirely gratuitous one. It is not required by the words, though, were it otherwise supported, the words might easily be reconciled with it. But there is no trace in Scripture, or in ecclesiastical history, of the Apostle having written such an Epistle; and there is satisfactory evidence that he did not write it, for he terms an epistle which he subsequently addressed to these churches, his second Epistle. "This second Epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which, I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance."

The recapitulation refers to three things, the subject of the Epistle, and the duty of Christians in reference to it; the

form of it, a testimony and an exhortation, and a brief testimony and exhortation; the testimony, that "the grace of God," which is the great subject of the Epistle, is "the true grace of God," and the exhortation to stand, with regard to that grace; and, finally, the mode of writing or transmitting the Epistle, "By Silvanus, a faithful brother."

CHAP. I.—THE SUBJECT OF THE EPISTLE.

§ 1. The grace of God.

"The grace of God" properly signifies the kindness, the free favour of God, as a principle in the Divine mind; but is often employed to signify the deeds of kindness, the gifts and the benefits in which this principle finds expression. It has been common to interpret the phrase here as equivalent to the gospel, the revelation of God's grace; and the Apostle has been considered as affirming that the doctrine which those he was writing to had embraced, and to which they had adhered, to use the Apostle Paul's phrase, “which they had received, and in which they stood," was the true gospel. But I doubt if the gospel is ever called "the grace of God" in the New Testament; and I equally doubt, whether the words, thus understood, are an accurate statement of what this Epistle actually contains. There are just two other passages in the New Testament, in which "the grace of God" has been supposed to be a designation of the gospel. After stating the message of mercy, which the ministers of reconciliation are called to deliver, the Apostle in his Epistle to the Corinthians, says, "We beseech you that ye receive not the grace, or this grace, of God in vain."1 The reference here is, no doubt, to the gospel, but the meaning of the phrase, "the grace of God," is plainly just, this Divine favour, this benefit which so expresses, and, as it were, embodies the Divine grace. And, in the Epistle to Titus, the same Apostle states, that "the grace of God,

12 Cor. vi. 1.