They are limited in duration. Seasons of very severe affliction are not ordinarily of long duration; they bear usually but a small proportion to the whole of human life. How inconceivably small a proportion do they bear to the eternity of coming glory! Surely, then, whether he look on their measure or their period, their degree or their duration, the Christian may well "reckon the sufferings of the present time not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in him."

Then, these afflictions are a part of the Divine plan. It is as much a part of the Divine plan to put them in possession of the fellowship of his eternal glory after they have suffered a while, as to put them in possession of it at all. "It is the Father's good pleasure to give them the kingdom;" but it is equally the Father's good pleasure that "through much tribulation they enter into that kingdom." It is his determination that they "shall reign with Christ, but it is equally his determination that they "shall first suffer with him."1

And finally, here, this connection, though an appointed one, is not an arbitrary one. The glory not only comes after the sufferings, but it is, in some sense, the result of them. Afflictions are, under the Divine blessing, appropriate means of sanctification; of forming the character which fits for the holy happiness of heaven; "that prepared place for a prepared people." The truth on this subject is strikingly stated by the apostle from his own experience: "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are unseen are eternal." "Who would refuse to suffer a while, a little while, anything outward or inward He sees fit? How soon shall this be over, past, and overpaid in the very entry, the beginning of that glory, that shall never end!" 2

IV.--CONCLUSION.

It now only remains that we shortly illustrate the concluding clause of the verse, which is very generally considered as a doxology. The words are, "To him be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen." The word be is inserted by our translators, who consider the clause as an ascription of glory and dominion to God. The word is might as well have been inserted, in which case it is an assertion that glory and dominion belong to God. Had the preceding verse been a prayer or a thanksgiving, the words would likely have been meant as a doxology; but following a promise, they seem to state something corresponding to the promise. "His is the glory forever and ever," and, therefore, he can confer on his people that glory to which he has called them, after they have suffered a while. He has not only an essential glory peculiar to himself, and of which no creature can participate. 1 Luke xii. 32. Acts xiv. 32. Rom. viii. 17. Leighton. 2 Cor. iv. 16, 17.

2

He has a communicable glory; "the riches of his glory," as the apostle, expresses it, by the bestowing of which on others he can make them. glorious. He is "the Father of glory," as well as the God of all grace, who can give not only grace but also glory. And as "glory forever and ever" belongs to Him who has "called Christians to his eternal glory after they have suffered a while;" so "dominion" (a word denoting both power and authority) "forever and ever" belongs to Him, who, as the God of grace, promises that he will make perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle his people. He has power and right to do whatever pleases him, and therefore can do what he has said. "His is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty for all in the heaven and in the earth is his; his is the kingdom, and he is exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of Him, and he reigneth over all; and in his hand is power and might; and in his hand it is to make great, and give strength to all." He who has glory forever and ever, can give to his called that fellowship of his eternal glory which he has promised; and he whose is the dominion, the power, and the authority forever, is "of power to establish his people according to the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ." He is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." 'He can make them perfect in every good work to do his will, working in them that which is well-pleasing in his sight." He is "able to keep them from falling, and to present them faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."1 It deserves notice that the apostle concludes his epistle as he began it, by turning the minds of those to whom he wrote to God, and to the same features in the Divine character-those which make him a fit object of our love and dependence-his kindness and his might. In the beginning he speaks of Him as the God of abundant mercy, who has power to keep his people for the inheritance he has destined for them, and for which he is preparing them and here he speaks of Him as the God of all grace, whose is the dominion, to whom all the power and authority rightfully belong.

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The apostle adds an emphatic "Amen”—a word, in reference to statement, expressive of firm faith; in reference to promises, of confident hope and ardent desire. In the first instance it is equivalent to, 'It is most certainly so; this is the very truth most sure.' In the second, I trust it shall be so; I desire that it may be so.' Such, then, is the comfort and encouragement by which the apostle seeks to strengthen the brotherhood amid the afflictions which must be accomplished in them in the world.

If anything extrinsic could add force to the sentiments expressed in these words-sentiments so instinct with life, so fitted to impart spiritual vigor to the exhausted spirit of the Christian, worn out with watching the wiles and resisting the attacks of his great adversary-it is to be found in the circumstances of him who uttered them. "Truth," such truth, "from his lips prevails with double sway." The word of warning, the word of instruction, the word of promise, the word of encouragement, come all with peculiar force

▲ 1 Chron. xxix. 11, 12. Jude 24.

from the lips of him to whom, on a most memorable occasion, the Master said, "Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

He speaks the things which he knew, he testifies what he had seen and felt. He had disregarded the Master's warning, and the consequence had been shameful discomfiture in his conflict with the great enemy; aggravated sin, followed by deep penitence, and confirmed attachment to the cause of Christ. He had found how faithful he is who had promised, and how able he is to do as he had said. had preserved him from apostasy when on its very brink; and, notwithstanding the partial success of his spiritual adversary, he had "stablished, strengthened, settled" him; "set him on a rock and established his goings."

He

How emphatic the warning, "Your enemy, the devil, goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour," from him who had experienced both his wiles and his ferocity, and would bear about with him the scars of his wounds while he lived!

How forcible the injunction, " Resist the devil;" and that you may do so, "Be sober, and wakeful, and steadfast in the faith," from him, who, notwithstanding repeated warnings, did not watch and pray, and, therefore, entered into temptation, and fell before it, and whose failure in faith had brought him so near destruction and despair; had made him fall into sin, and but for the God of all grace would have made him fall into perdition!

How consoling and encouraging the promise, "The God of all grace, who hath called you unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, shall make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you; His is the glory and the dominion forever and ever," from him whom the God of all grace, in the person of his Son, had so "out of weakness made strong, so strengthened in the faith as to make him one of the chief pillars of the church while he lived; and when he died, enabled him to glorify God, confessing, amid the protracted tortures of a peculiarly cruel martyrdom, the Master whom once he had thrice denied!

We cannot help thinking that the Saviour's words, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren," were ringing in the apostle's ears when he wrote these words. And, certainly, never were addressed to the tempted, struggling, worn out, afflicted christian soldier, words more full of warning, instruction, consolation, and encouragement. They have, by the accompanying power of the Spirit of Jesus, strengthened many a brother. They have been "words in season" to many a tempted, afflicted, perplexed, downcast, weary heart; and will continue to be so, as long as these afflictions continue to be accomplished in the brotherhood in the world.

Oh, may we, my brethren, through their means, be made humble and cautious, vigilant and believing, "steadfast and immovable," rooted and built up in Christ, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath deliv

ered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us unto the kingdom of his dear Son; so that, full of the strength which is the result of the joy of the Lord, glorying in tribulation, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, we may "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." "Consider what has been said, and the Lord give you understanding in all things."

1 Col. i. 10-13.

DISCOURSE XXIV.

POSTSCRIPT OF THE EPISTLE.

1 PET. V. 12-14.-By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you (as I suppose), I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth Marcus my son. Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in

Christ Jesus. Amen.

"ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God," and "all Scripture,” too, "is profitable for doctrine, and for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good work." In the mines of Peru, there are veins of peculiar riches, but even their rubbish is valuable. In the Holy Scriptures, there are portions of peculiar importance, excellence, and usefulness, but there is nothing trivial, nothing valueless in them. The superficial thinker may, indeed, find it difficult, it may be impossible, for him to derive instruction or improvement from passages of Scripture, and may, on this account, rashly call in question their Divine origin, or indulge in reflections against the Divine wisdom, for allowing such a passage a place in the inspired volume; but it is his own imbecility, or ignorance, or inattention, that is wholly to blame; for it may be safely affirmed, that there is no passage of Scripture respecting which the pious, diligent, docile inquirer, cannot easily see that it may have served, or may yet serve, some important and useful purpose; and that there are very few from which, after serious consideration, he cannot draw for himself lessons which may be turned to account for the guidance of his conduct, and the improvement of his character.

To be able to extract from what have been called the barren, from what ought to be called the less exuberant, passages of Scripture, the instruction, and warning, and reproof, and consolation which they are intended and fitted to communicate, is a talent which every Christian should be desirous of acquiring, as, without the possession and employment of it, a considerable part of those Scriptures which are "able to make men wise to salvation," will be utterly useless to him; and it is not one of the least important duties of a public teacher of Christianity, to instruct his audience in the best way of extracting spiritual improvement from this class of scripture passages; on the one hand, guarding them against that passion for allegory, which leads men to make the plainest statements of the sacred writers the vehicle of the dreams of their own imagination, thus converting a