elf by its fruits. The
first words of the apostle after his conversion were, 'Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?' When he says, 'so run that ye may obtain,' he could
never mean that we could obtain by sitting still, nor would he have
talked of 'laboring _in vain_,' if he meant that we should not labor at
all. We dare not persist in any thing that is wrong, or neglect any
thing that is right, from an erroneous notion that we have such an
interest in Christ as will excuse us from doing the one, or persisting
in the other."

"I fancy you think that a man's salvation depends on the number of good
actions he can muster together."

"No, it is the very spirit of Christianity not to build on this or that
actual work, but sedulously to strive for that temper and those
dispositions which are the seminal principles of all virtues; and where
the heart struggles and prays for the attainment of this state, though
the man should be placed in such circumstances as to be able to do
little to promote the welfare of mankind, or the glory of God, in the
eyes of the world; this very habitual aim and bent of the mind, with
humble sorrow at its low attainments, is in my opinion no slight degree
of obedience.

"But you will allow that the Scriptures affirm that Christ is not only a
sacrifice but a refuge, a consolation, a rest."

"Blessed be God, he is indeed all these. But he is a consolation only to
the heavy laden, a refuge to those alone who forsake sin. The rest he
promises, is not a rest from labor but from evil. It is a rest from the
drudgery of the world, but not from the service of God. It is not
inactivity, but quietness of spirit; not sloth, but peace. He draws men
indeed from slavery to freedom, but not a freedom to do evil, or to do
nothing. He makes his service easy, but not by lowering the rule of
duty, not by adapting his commands to the corrupt inclinations of our
nature. He communicates his grace, gives fresh and higher motives to
obedience, and imparts peace and comfort, not by any abatement in his
demands, but by this infusion of his own grace, and this communication
of his own Spirit."

"You are a strange fellow. According to you, we can neither be saved by
good works, nor without them."

"Come, Mr. Tyrrel, you are nearer the truth than you intended. We can
not be saved by the merit of our good works, without setting at naught
the merits and death of Christ; and we can not be saved without them,
unless we set at n