ip was to be
wrecked, all her crew were to come safe to land. But was there on this
account any effort on his part relaxed to secure their safety? No! he
toiled and laboured at the pumps and rigging and anchors as
unremittingly as before; and when some of the sailors made the cowardly
attempt, by lowering a small boat, to effect their own escape, the voice
of the apostle was heard proclaiming, amid the storm, that unless they
abode in the ship none could be saved!

The true philosophy of the Gospel system is this, to feel as if much
depended on ourselves; but at the same time entertaining the loftier
conviction that _all_ depends upon God. Jesus, when He invites to the
strait gate, does not inculcate remaining outside, in a state of
passive and listless inaction, until the portals be seen to
move by the Divine hand. His exhortation and command rather is,
"Strive"--"knock"--_agonise_ to "enter in!" We are not to ascend to
heaven, seated, like Elijah, in a chariot of fire, without toil or
effort, but rather to "_fight_ the good fight of faith." The saying of
the great Apostle is a vivid portraiture of what the Christian's
feelings ought to be regarding personal holiness--"I laboured, ... yet
not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

As the Lord of Bethany gives the summons, "Roll ye away the stone," His
words seem paraphrased in this other Scripture, "Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure." You may feel assured that
He will not impose upon you one needless burden; He will not exact more
than He knows your strength will bear; He will ask no Peter to come to
Him on the water, unless He impart at the same time strength and support
on the unstable wave; He will not demand of you the endurance of
providences, and trials, and temptations you are unable to cope with;
He will not ask you to draw water if the well is too deep, or withdraw
the stone if too heavy. But neither, at the same time, will He admit as
an impossibility that which, as a free and responsible agent, it is in
your power to avert. He will not regard as your misfortune what is your
crime. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

Oh! let life be, more than it ever has been, one constant effort to roll
away the stone from the moral sepulchre--carefully to remove every
barrier between our souls and Jesus--looking forward to that glorious
day