shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels ;" and "him will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him my new name;" and "to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne," Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17, 26, 27, 28, and iii. 5, 12, 21. Surely promises so rich and abundant as these, should make us willing to undergo all sufferings for the sake of Christ, who will so gloriously reward us for them all. Once more, consider,

Third, How the Scriptures abound with blessed examples of those that have suffered for Christ's sake.-The Psalmist, speaking of the reproach and blasphemy he had suffered from the enemy and avenger, says, "All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant," Psalm xliv. 17, 18; and again, "The proud have had me greatly in derision, yet have I not declined from thy law; many are my persecutors and mine enemies, yet do I not decline from thy testimonies; princes have

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persecuted me without a cause, but my heart standeth in awe of thy word," Psalm cxix. 51, 157, 161. And the prophet Jeremiah spake boldly for God, though he was threatened with death for so doing, Jer. xxvi. 11, 15. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the golden. image that the king of Babylon had set up, though they knew they would be cast into the fiery furnace, Daniel iii.; and Daniel himself would still faithfully pray to his God, though he expected for it to be shut up in the den of lions, Daniel vi. But the time would fail me to tell of Apostles, and prophets, and martyrs, and saints, and of Christ himself, who were faithful alike through good report and evil report, and in sufferings and trials, and who counted not their lives dear, so that they might be faithful to the end. "Wherefore seeing we, also, are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down

at the right hand of the throne of God," Heb. xii. 1, 2. "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

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LECTURE XIII.

ALL THE GRACES OF CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED.

"Believeth all things, hopeth all things."-1 Cor. xiii. 7.

In these words, the Apostle is commonly understood to mean, that charity disposes us to believe the best, and hope the best concerning our neighbors, in all cases. But it appears to me that this is not his meaning in this place; but rather that he intends to say, that charity is a grace which cherishes and promotes the exercise of all other graces, as particularly of the graces of faith and hope. Mentioning the graces of believing and hoping, or of faith and hope, the Apostle here shows how the exercise of these is promoted by charity. My reasons for understanding the Apostle in this sense, are the following:

First, He had just before mentioned that fruit of charity whereby it leads us to think

the best of our neighbors, in saying that it “thinketh no evil;" and we have no reason to think he would repeat the same thing over again in these words.

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Second, It seems plain that the Apostle had finished speaking of the fruits of charity toward our neighbors, when he summed them all up, as we have seen, in saying, that it "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;" that is, that it tends to prevent all evil behavior, and to promote all good behavior. So that in this verse we might expect him to proceed to mention some fruits of charity of another kind, such for example, as its tendency to promote the graces of faith and hope, which are such great graces of the gospel.

Third, We find that the Apostle does, in this chapter, more than once mention the three graces of faith, hope, and charity, together. And it is but reasonable to suppose, that each time he does so, he means the same three graces. In the last verse of the chapter, we find these three mentioned and compared together; and there, by "faith" and "hope," the Apostle plainly does not mean believing or hoping the best respecting our neighbors, but he does intend those great