his spirit recovered itself; or David, when fleshly lusts cast him down, and the recovery he gained when Nathan showed him his sin, and in the spirit he confessed his fall, and rose superior to it; or the bride in Canticles, (chap. iii. 1,) when she grieved her beloved through fleshly indolence, and he withdrew, and she knew not where to find him, until her spirit bestirred itself, and she rose and sought counsel, and was then soon restored, and recovered the communion of her dear one, and was negligent no more; or as Christian, when the weakness of the flesh in the arbour lost him his assurance and time and ground in his progress, until his spirit moved him to retrace his steps, and he recovered his loss and became his own man again.

We shall think of past experiences, and what lion or bear we have slain, the Lord being our helper, and shall encounter a present danger in the strength of the Holy Ghost, though we may seem in ourselves to have but a sling and a stone. The sword we have sometimes wielded well, may have fallen from ou hand through forgetfulness, but an effort of recollection by the spirit will recover it, and the conflict be renewed unto victory.

We may sometimes be shut up as in a castle of doubt or despair, but the key will be found through recollection of some promise or other, and freedom gained. We may sometimes groan, being burdened under the weight of our sins, but the cross will not be far off. Even if we come into the valley of the

shadow of death through some part of our conflict which we cannot understand, we have a rod and a staff through the good care of our God, and see light in the end, and reach it.

Never forget that the warfare is internal, and chiefly with obvious difficulties and infelt besetting sins. No one knows anything of it but God and yourself, except you tell them.

A confidant will be a great help and comfort; but not a confessor. Confess your faults one to another for healing and help; but more especially confess your sins unreservedly to God. And if you notice accurately the allusions I have made, you will see how the force of most of them rests upon our recollection of the Word of God, and the real use we make of it in the trials and temptations actually in hand at any time. We cannot make too much of secret intercourse with God.

To all these means of carrying on the conflict positively, I would add another of a negative character. The significant question of one cabinet minister to another, who was complaining of his inability to cope with a difficult measure, and come to a final issue upon it, was as conclusive as it was simple, "Can't you let it alone?" The question is one which I have often put to myself, when contending in vain with some temptation, or some fleshly or worldly object, which has been too much for me, or when I have been feeling its approach. "Can't you let it alone" has swept it all away, often to be known no more.

The evil has" died of neglect." A neglect, however, not of permission for libertine action, but of "the cut direct," knowing it no more. Get thee behind me, Satan," is of similar import. Truly, in more senses than one, neglect is effectually mortifying. "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing." Keep yourselves from idols." "Foolish and uninstructive 1 questions avoid." Let them alone; but especially fleshly temptations, which hurt the spirit.

1 απαιδευτους, (2 Tim. ii. 23.) See ver. 25, παιδεύοντα.

SECTION IX.

TWO ESSENTIAL EVIDENCES OF OUR MAINTAINING THE CONFLICT IN PRESENT EXPERIENCE.

WITH reference to the subject of self-examination, the points expressly stated in Holy Scripture, as the evidences of our being in Christ, ought to be leading matters of inquiry. Am I truly "walking not after the flesh ?" will be the first. To be walking after the flesh, or minding the things of the flesh, is evidently yielding to inclinations of the body, animated by the old fallen and unregenerate spirit. This is that concerning which St Paul says, "I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing;" the essential primary movement of which is "enmity against God," being the precise contrary to His law. Now, true it is that no real Christian will walk after this flesh as the unconverted man walks, wholly subject to its control, and following the world, the flesh, and the devil; but the propensity to do so will ever be felt, and upon that propensity temptations will always be acting, and concessions will more or less. be made to them. Against these concessions we shall always have to watch; and examination must

ever be renewed into the falls of which we have been guilty, or to which we may have found ourselves liable. Have I yielded, it will be asked, or have I denied myself, refusing to walk after the flesh? Am I under subjection to any evil disposition, or temper, or habit, which I know I ought to leave off and to mortify? Does a spirit of pride prevail within me, a spirit of precedency, a spirit of resentment, of censoriousness, of jealousy, of envy, or of unkind judgment of others? Am I unduly busied or anxious about my work, and the objects to be gained by it? Am I unguarded in the indulgence of bodily appetites, and lusts, and passions; in the participation of food, or wine, or the enjoyment of pleasure? Is indolence or idleness, on the other hand, a hindrance to me in work or duty, whether of a religious or secular kind; or do I reprove and bestir myself to be about my proper business? Do I distinctly keep myself from public amusements or associations, which would call in question my Christian integrity and consistency, and invalidate the protest I ought to make against worldliness amongst religious people? God calls us to real inquiry: let me take it up now for one fair review, and hereafter again from time to time.

In connexion with this part of our subject we should not forget the special dealings of God with us in a way of discipline; in which he teaches and moves us, and, as it were, forces us to self-inquiry, and examination. As a gracious Father He often lays affliction upon our loins," and chastens in sore

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