path, and all the ways of sin are crooked, because they are counter to the will and word of God, he that goes therein shall not know peace. But,

2. There is a sowing to the Spirit externally, And the apostle's explanation of this sowing to the Spirit is given by himself. "Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." And then tells us what he means by well-doing. "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith," Gal. vi. 9, 10. To do good to them that are not as yet in the faith, is to labour to recommend Christ and his gospel to them by a becoming life and conversation, to drop a word of reproof or instruction to them when opportunity offers, or to use our endeavours to bring them under the word. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely," Rev. xxii. 17. After our Lord had called two or three of his first followers, he made use of these to bring others. Andrew, hearing and seeing John point to Christ, followed him; he then finds his brother Peter, and brings him to Jesus; the next day Jesus found Philip; and then Philip finds Nathanael and brings him: and, blessed be God, this work is going on still.

Moreover, by doing good unto all men, the apostle means liberality. Poor people have more

exalted notions of alms-deeds than they have of any other good work whatsoever. You may talk to them about faith, and about love to the brotherhood, and the patience of hope, and of suffering afflictions, of bearing the cross, and of self-denial, but these are all out of their sight and out of their reach: but circumspection in life and a liberal heart are obvious to all, and stop the mouths of all, unless it be the devil himself. And in this the child of God has a double advantage. The world loves its own; sinners love sinners, and will give and lend to sinners; but sinners cannot love saints as saints, and because they belong to Christ; nor can they relieve them, or be charitable to them, because of God's love to them in Christ Jesus. "When saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?" The answer is, "Insomuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these [my brethren,] ye did it not to me." Not one of all these ever relieved a child of God as such; whereas there are thousands of sinners, persecutors, and even enemies, both to God and to his church, who do partake largely of the liberality of the people of God; and this is acceptable to God, as may be seen in the prayers and alms of Cornelius the centurion, Acts x; and in the nobleness of mind which Abraham shewed to the king of Sodom. By these means some are drawn or won to hear the word of God, and that to profit. The mouths of others are stopped, while the believer makes it

manifest that the kingdom, of which he is a subject, is not of this world. And in all these things God is glorified: and the children of God are a sweet savour unto him, both in them that perish and in them that are saved. "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

But the apostle adds, "Especially to the household of faith." The ties of nature give us a feeling for those who are in the flesh, and fill us with wonder at discriminating grace, when the bond of all perfectness binds us more strongly to the excellent of the earth; for we can only pity the other, but we can delight ourselves in these. To the household of faith, if we sow sparingly, we shall reap sparingly, and if we sow bountifully we shall reap bountifully. To receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, has the promise of a prophet's reward. To receive a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, has the promise of a righteous man's reward. And he that receives one of the little ones that belong to Christ, shall in no wise lose his reward. A morsel of bread, or a cup of cold water only, given to any in the name of a disciple, shall most surely be rewarded at the resurrection of the just; for, "He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." We must sow prayers in their behalf; we may sow the seeds of instruction in their ears, bread and water to their bellies, apparel to their backs, and

relief in their necessities; and reap fourfold in this life, and in the world to come life everlasting. To all this the word of God directs, and to all this the Holy Spirit leads; "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth," Eph. v. 9.

Once more, my dear son. The best of men have no more than their own appointed time on the earth; the strength, the natural and spiritual abilities, the grace, and such worldly substance as it pleases God to give them. Now, as all these come of God through Christ, so from all these things Christ expects some returns; for, when he comes, it will be to know what every one has gained by trading. Some redeem the time while the days are evil. Paul was willing to spend and be spent for the church; he spent his property and his strength in the service of Christ; with the grace that he had received by the Spirit he seasoned many; and by his natural and spiritual abilities he became all things to all men; he instructed many, he silenced many gainsayers, and left a glorious testimony behind of his fruitfulness in the church, of the goodness of God to him, of the blessedness of his state, and of his glorious and triumphant end: and in all these things he sowed to the Spirit; and they that do so shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And this reaping respects this present life as well as the future. God's blessing upon mount Zion is life for evermore. And it has pleased God to put the blessing

of life into every spiritual thing that the believer deals in. Upon his believing he passes from death to life; his repentance is unto life; the promises he obtains are the words of life; his justification is unto life; God circumcises his heart to love God, that he may live; his hope is a lively hope; and the very way in which he walks is the new and living way. In short, the love and eternal purpose of God, the voice of the Son, and the operations of the Spirit, are all life to the believer; and the more we sow the more we reap; the more we love God and the brethren, the more lively we are; the stronger our faith and the firmer our hope are, the more abundant is our life. In all these things lie our sowing and reaping. brother, be constant, unmoveable, and always abounding in this work of the Lord, knowing that our labour is not, shall not, be in vain in the Lord. To get weary and to faint in well-doing, is sad work. "Look to yourselves," says John, "that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward," 2 John 8.

And let us, my dear

And now, my beloved son, seeing we are not ignorant of Satan's devices, and knowing his desperate and inveterate enmity both to Christ and his church, suffer him not to baffle and confuse thee, by setting up any imaginary resemblances of the divine persons in your mind when you are approaching to God; infinity and immensity cannot be circumscribed! God filleth all space. Nor suffer the devil to confound thee, by suggesting that you will