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pursuit of that course of life which will enable us to obtain 

 the full measure of benefit from His primary gifts ? 



That this is the tendency of the divine government of man, 

 is plain from the use to which individual responsibility is put. 

 We are not so much called to answer for the number of 

 prayers we offer, of psalms we sing, or of oblations we present, 

 as to how we act to our parents, children, masters, servants, 

 neighbours, friends, or enemies ; in short, to all men, in so far 

 a3 our action touches them. All who are brought into the 

 fellowship of Christ walk as He also walked ; that same mind 

 of righteousness, pity, purity, truth, and benevolence which 

 was in Him is also in them, so that they are fruitful in 

 every good work. They are required not only to be blame- 

 less and harmless, the sons of God without blemish, in the 

 midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom 

 they are seen as lights of the world, but also to remember 

 that " our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, gave Himself 

 for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify 

 unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of 

 good works." In all the Epistles of the New Testament, the 

 fruit of faith is shown to be the fulfilling of every social duty. 

 And there can be no question but that the finest examples 

 of righteous, pure, true, and benevolent living have been 

 the fruit of that thorough submission to the Saviour, which 

 Paul expressed as, " Christ liveth in me." Without such 

 works, faith is declared to be vain and dead. 



It is evident that, as the number of such persons increases 

 in any community, the various forms of iniquity which too 

 frequently appear in the intercourse of men to the dishonour 

 and degradation of the perpetrators and to the mischief of 

 others, must diminish, and, when they are universally pre- 

 valent, must entirely cease. Then all the misery, and more 

 than half the sorrow of life, would end, while the honour, 

 pleasure, and sti-ength of such a community would constantly 

 increase. In such a state, however, there would be nothing 

 beyond a purely natural life, that is, a life in harmony with 

 our relations to our Maker and to our fellow-creatures. But 

 there is no moral power capable of producing this state, but 

 such a full submission to God as is comprehended in our 

 accountability to Him. 



While we are without limit accountable to God, we see that 

 a subordinate and secondary accountability runs through all 

 our relations to others. Children are liable to answer to their 

 parents, and without this subordination it would be impos- 

 sible to train them to the duties of life. No compact of any 



