thing, and have recourse to the Father alone? O goodness inexpressible, which so smooths the way to God, and our return to the grace of Him who is Allmerciful! O thou lovely, heavenly Jesus, what thanks do the sinners upon this Earth owe Thee, for Thy teachings, Thy invitations, Thy encouragements, Thy promises!

My dearest Luke, If I think to day, that my love to the Lord cannot rise higher, to morrow I learn and experience new kindnesses, new excellencies, excellencies that cannot be surpassed, from Him, and in Him, so that I think the love I felt yesterday was but cool indifference.

O Luke, what happiness, to know Him who is Love, to love Him who is Love, and to be assured, that we are beloved by Him!

Grace be with thee!

PAUL.

PART IV.

LETTERS TO INSTRUCT, WARN, RE PROVE, AND DIRECT, PERSONS IN ERROUR AND BACKSLIDERS.

LETTER I. PAUL TO ONE OF THE PHARISEES. LETTER II. PAUL TO A YOUNG MAN NAMED EUBULUS.

LETTER III. PAUL TO JOHN MARK.

LETTER IV. PAUL TO HYMENEUS THE FALSE

TEACHER,

PART IV.

LETTER I.

PAUL TO ONE OF THE PHARISEES.

On Moses and Christ, the letter and the spirit of the Law.

DEAR BROTHER!

I Rejoice at thy daily searching the Scriptures, and thy desire of learning: only I pray thee, brother, never to forget, that the Messiah is the spirit and the end of all that is written, and all that has come to pass. Moses and the prophets are only heralds and guides to Him. They cannot, therefore be compared with Him: they are all servants: He alone is the Master. They are all witnesses of God to Israel: He is the living Word that sets in motion all tongues: He, the Sum of all the promises, the Point to which every eye is turned, the Object of all the sacred writers.

Moses, great as he was, could give to Israel no law capable of conferring righteousness and salvation. He said indeed: He who doth these things shall live in them,' but he gave neither the desire nor the power to do it. Christ says: The works that

I do shall he do also, and greater thau these:-but without Me can he do nothing: with Me, through Me, and in Me, can he do all things.' Dear brother, entangle not thyself in the means, lest thou lose sight of the end, and make it unattainable to thee. The law is not the end, but the means to that end, which is Jesus Christ. The law maketh. itself unnecessary, but Christ indispensable. The Christian fulfilleth the law, as no one can fulfil it, but a Christian. He satisfieth both it's letter and it's spirit. The law liveth in Him. He is a living, not literal, but animated and spiritual law. He is the comprehensive sum of the law. To him Moses is nothing in comparison of Christ. What Moses requires he can and will satisfy, to it's full extent, according to it's spirit and essence. Be zealous for Moses on account of his excellence, I have nothing to say against it: but I add, be more zealous for Christ on account of his supreme excellence. thy former love give place to a superiour and more worthy. Being made free, be a slave no longer. Thou bindest thy own hands, if, being a Christian, thou wilt still be a slave to Moses. Every thing to be found in Moses, that is generally valid, that is generally good, is to be found in the most perfect manner in Christ and his Gospel. By being baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah, thou art

dead to Moses as a lawgiver.

Let

Thou knowest no

other law giver, who can save or condemn, but Christ. Moses is swallowed up in Him.

H 2

Solomon's temple

and ark of the covenant were to the tabernacle and ark of Moses, what the religion of Jesus is to the Mosaic ritual. After the dedication of the temple the tabernacle was forgotten. He, who still adheres to the letter of the law, is ignorant of the spirit both of the law and of the Gospel : he enjoys not what was given him to be enjoyed. He renounces the exalted privileges, that were conferred on him at his baptism in the name of Jesus. The enlightened Christian, on the contrary, is the slave of ceremonials no longer. He looks on all the creatures of God as good, and to him nothing that God has created is common or unclean. The time of his childhood, when he required a tutor, is past; and he is arrived at full age. We are no longer under the schoolmaster, who was Moses; we are under Him, to whom Moses conducted, nay I may say drove us. Renounce, my learned brother, that adherence to the letter, which is not only joyless, but which robs us of all joy. Take not up again the chains, from which Christ has released thee. The law condemneth thee as a transgressor of the law: wilt thou then remain a slave of the law, by which thou art condemned? Christ promiseth thee full and perfect forgiveness : He promiseth thee, not length of days upon Earth, but eternal life with Himself in Heaven. Is it possible, that a hankering after the law which condemneth should so often assail, pursue, and again seize thee? Thou settest a value upon things, which Christ pronounceth to be no longer of any account.