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directly by the operation of the Spirit of the Lord, and which 
is augmented by the consciousness of all the friendly and 
gracious relations in which, by the effected reconciliation, 
we stand to our heavenly Father, which, in the happiness and 
strength it produces, surpasses all other joy, and is declared 
to be “unspeakable and full of glory.” But it must be 
always remembered that the first and largest element of this 
joy is the sense of reconciliation ; that is, the consciousness 
that the condition of rebellion has ceased, and that the subject 
of the joy has been brought into a state of harmony with and 
subjection to God. ‘Thus this richest donation of divine 
grace shows that a condition of actual submission to God 
is not only perfectly proper and natural to man, but that 
it is the highest and happiest condition to which he can 
attain. 
This is evidently the true view of the end and purpose of. 
human responsibility, so far as our Maker himself has shown 
it; and we cannot conceive of any other result but the most 
perfect development of our nature in-all its beauty and 
strength, as the consequence of full acquiescence in the 
divine purpose, by unlimited subordination. This side of the 
question, however, is generally lost sight of, and it is discussed 
as though the subordination was claimed by an alien authority 
for its own selfish purposes. This course is all the more 
strange when we remember the essential peculiarities of our 
nature in this life, as, that we are capable of boundless kuow- 
ledge, and equally of unlimited mistakes; that we begin life 
in total ignorance, and, to perpetuate it, are compelled to 
consider its immediate need and supply it. So far as the life 
of the body is concerned, we cannot go far wrong without 
immediate check; and, in all metaphysical speculation, 
because of the remoteness and uncertainty of its results, a 
mistake is not of much moment; but in the cultivation or 
restraint of the moral side of our nature, which rules our 
practice, and so affects others also, mistake or perverseness 1s 
of most serious consequence to our own character and to the 
happiness of others. 
There is also this peculiarity about all failure in this side of 
our nature; as it can only take place by the determination of 
our individual will, so there is special unwillingness to retrace 
any false step, and thus a course of continuous deterioration 
and mischief follows from a first step, which only diverged 
slightly from the path of uprightness. Is it not likely, there- 
fore, that He who has so richly endowed us in every other 
respect will, with equal care, prompt, restrain, guide, and 
stimulate us in the cultivation of those dispositions, and in the 
prec es 
