o the way
of thy commandment; I _will_ keep thy testimonies," and let us all say
amen.

The blessings and joys the Lord bestows upon us are the rewards of
willing service, for which things you should be very thankful; but never
let them influence you in your conduct toward God. There have been
those, who, in the hour of seeming desertion, refusing to use their
will-power, have turned back to the world. This is faint-heartedness and
cowardice, ignobleness and unmanliness.

Every faculty of the body or soul that is unused or unexercised will
weaken and die. The muscles if unused will grow weak, the mind if unused
will weaken, and the will if unexercised will lose its power. Should God
always keep us soaring aloft on the wings of peace and joy and
blessings, without the exercise of the will, this important faculty
would degenerate into weakness and slavery. O may my young readers arise
in the strength of their manhood and womanhood and use, in choosing and
doing the right, the will God has given them. The tempter may come, yea,
will come, and endeavor to get some of the affections of the heart set
upon the world; but you must reject all such temptations, and by the
force of your will set your affections on things above. God does never
will for us, but he gives us power to will if we will but use the power
he gives us.

You are exhorted by the Scriptures to "work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling." The "crown of life" lies at the end of the
Christian race. When we step over the boundary between time and eternity
our salvation is then eternally secured. Praises be to God! It is for
this crown of amaranthine glory, or blessed eternal salvation, that we
are to watch and labor with fear and trembling. O may you be very
careful! Be watchful, lest something should hinder you in your Christian
race, and you miss at last the blessedness of heaven. Guard the
affections of your heart with the strictest vigilance.

I said above that God would always give us power to will, if we would
but make use of that power. For proof of this I shall refer you to Phil.
2:13, which in our common version is rendered thus: "For it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The meaning
of this text is not so readily comprehended by this version as it is by
some others. By Conybeare and Howson it is translated in these words:
"It is God who works in you both will and deed." Upon examination of the
differe